Prior to the emergence of Covid19, most companies which were on their path to growth have had their revenue lines receded with the advent of Covid-19 and the corresponding lockdown globally.

The manufacturing industry is tasked with converting specific raw materials to finished products. Manufacturing companies must find a way to convert their finished products back into cash in the quickest of way possible.

This is to ensure Cash is not tied down in the form of finished goods inventory which may lead to illiquidity in the company if the products are not sold and converted to cash within a particular period.

Data analytics

Data Analytics is simply drawing meaningful insights from large sets of data. Companies must now leverage data analytics to draw insights on their sales and sales activities in order to propose process improvement in their sales function.

Companies usually employ sales representatives, tasked with the duty to upsell and cross-sell company products to generate revenue. An avenue to draw insights from the sales function is by studying the company’s top 25% sales representatives for certain correlation in their activities and comparing against their bottom 25% sales representative.

The ability to close the disparity between the top 25% Sales reps and the bottom 25% of sales reps is a sure way to increase revenue growth. Companies must now find ways to step up their game, by putting their best foot forward in other to make up for the loss which they suffered during the lockdown period.

A new data-analytics strategy can help. Using machine learning to mine behavioural data from sales and marketing, companies can survey large numbers of individual deals and sales rep interactions (emails, meetings, and phone calls, for example) to find patterns in completed deals.

This can generate insights into which behaviours can help win deals and boost customer satisfaction scores. These data-driven insights can then help sales leaders to steer and coach their sales force in a way that will drive both top and bottom-line growth.

Four strategies from data analytics

We discuss below, four strategies that companies can adopt from their data analytics to grow revenue.

1. Spend more time on interactions - remotely

High-performing sales reps tend to spend more time with customers and customers. And they often prefer that time to be spent remotely. Top reps spend just as much time on unappealing internal tasks as low performers, but they take the important step of putting in additional time to connect with customers, whether by email, phone, or in person.

But how much more? Most companies do not quantify this additional effort, but doing so can give managers a clear benchmark for how low-performing sales reps should adjust their behaviour. Top sales reps spend more time on external interactions than low-performers, and the interaction didn’t need to be face to face.

Managers can also encourage the habit of additional customer contact by minimizing the administrative and internal tasks for which all reps are responsible. When the internal monotonous administrative task is reduced for Sales reps, this should give them an ample amount of time to spend with customers, whether on-field or off-field.

2. Align your interaction methods to sales type

Face-to-face interactions do not really matter for closing both small and larger deals. Face to face interaction with customers has long been the gold standard for sales especially in a country like Nigeria, and the assumption has been that this is still true when large sums of money change hands.

Customers often want to feel the sense of trust that develops from in-person interactions. But for a range of deal sizes, face-to-face meetings may not be necessary at all. Small sales (not involving large sums) were completed without any form of meeting and even with fewer email.

Sales Reps should not spend unnecessary time and energy on smaller sale volumes. Companies with a range of deal sizes should make sure their sales reps are differentiating their interactions. Firms with many small sales sizes should focus on developing specialized, well-trained teams of inside sales reps who send emails and make phone calls.

3. Use more cold calls

Top sales reps favour cold calls over cold emails. Videoconferencing is emerging as a top channel of interaction. The old-fashioned telephone calls still seem to be superior in getting people’s initial attention. A huge chunk of high sales performers relied on cold calls more than unsolicited emails.

Strikingly, new research shows that most sales leaders believe that remote sale interactions are equally or more effective than traditional in-person engagement in prospecting for new customers.

Knowing the value of phone calls and video lets sales managers coach sales reps to get better at them. Companies can develop specific cold-call training, including scripts or talking points, and focus on hiring people comfortable on the phone.

4. Adopt global practices

Studies show that more deals are closed remotely in the United States than in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Successful deals in North America involved double the amount of phone calls and 40% more emails than other parts of the world.

However, since the COVID-19 crisis, sales organizations on both sides of the Atlantic have found that remote sales models for reaching and serving customers are as effective or more than traditional approaches. Companies that refine their sales strategies based on sales-behaviour insights have seen an average improvement in sales productivity.

Although communication with customers will always involve a large measure of intuition and emotional ingenuity, bringing science to this art is an essential part of creating a modern sales organization. Additionally, companies benefit from data analytics as it helps to bring new sales reps up to speed faster.

Takeaway

Interestingly top sales reps spend more time on external interactions than low-performing sales reps. The interaction didn’t need to be face to face. Recent analysis shows that since COVID-19, interacting remotely has led to an upsurge in B2B customers and closing more deals than with face-to-face interactions. This is a critical insight for sales efficiency.

Since COVID-19 has increased the need to interact remotely, the power of video as a way to connect with customers has surged. Digital interactions with sales reps have increased since the pandemic began, and so has online chats. The use of Zoom for meetings has remained the dominant platform.

When companies like Dangote, BUA, and Lafarge leverage the use of data analytics to review their sales model, they can draw relevant insights and correlation which can be used to ensure sales targets are met and exceeded.

These data analysis and business intelligence can be personalized to fit into the specific company objectives and the insights they seek to draw.

Is your company working to utilize data analytics to drive revenue growth? Contact us at Gabriel Domale Consulting.

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Author

Peter Reuben | Nigeria

Dr Leesi Gborogbosi | CEO – Gabriel Domale Consulting | Nigeria

Dr Leesi Gborogbosi – CEO, Gabriel Domale Consulting

Dr Leesi Gborogbosi is the CEO of Gabriel Domale Consulting, a management consulting firm based in Nigeria, that helps companies in Africa to grow, provides insights to leaders and transforms institutions.

He has about three decades of leadership experience in the oil and gas industry (Shell Nigeria). He is an expert in finance, strategy, corporate governance, transformation, cost management, leadership development and due diligence.

Dr Leesi Gborogbosi was Project Finance Manager of Upstream Oil & Gas Projects (7 projects - Headline size: $8 bln) - Southern Swamp Associated Gas System, Forcados Yokri Integrated Project, Otumara, Adibawa, Agbada and Assa North/Ohaji South Projects.

He provided advisory services namely, strategic planning, budget management, funding strategy, risk management, governance, due diligence and investment plan covering the full life cycle of the seven major upstream oil/gas projects, power facilities and export pipelines.

He collaboratively works with business leaders and their organizations to identify growth opportunities and create value through operational excellence in strategy implementation and capital efficiency by delivering projects within costs, building strategy and planning frameworks and crafting of innovative funding solutions.

Dr Leesi Gborogbosi provides support to finance leaders to make crucial decisions and optimize performance through financial excellence in finance systems and accounting operations, budgeting, finance transformation, cost reduction, governance, risk, and compliance.

He has doctoral degrees in strategy and business studies and MSc (Research Methodology in Management) from IE Business School, Madrid and an MBA (Finance and Banking) from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria; and BSc (Accountancy) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He had his secondary education at Federal Government College, Jos, Nigeria.

His doctoral dissertation focuses on strategy implementation, collaboration, the role of middle managers, and the dynamics of social movements (host communities).

Dr Leesi Gborogbosi leverages his professional experience as a Certified Management Consultant (CMC); Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria; and The Institute of Management Consultants. He is member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, London; Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered); and Strategic Management Society, Chicago, United States.

He was nominated by the Strategic Management Society, Chicago for "Best International Conference Paper Prize Awards" in 2017 and 2015. He was appointed the Chair for the Session on “Leading change implementation processes” at the Strategic Management Society conference in Denver, United States in 2015.

Dr Leesi was a member of the Strategic Management Society “Special Committee on Diversity and Inclusion”, Chicago, USA, with the responsibility of providing the Strategic Management Society Board of Directors with a good audit of where the Strategic Management Society stands with respect to inclusiveness in its activities.