What are you doing to track your sales force? Are you simply adding numbers for activity? As managers, we often get excited when a sales team is having a great week out in the field. We might bend the rules a bit, be more flexible, we all have fallen to the “great post sales week blues”. While the bells were ringing in the office, the darkness was upon us on Monday. Typically when a company generates high volume of sales there is no time dedicated to prospecting to make sure the funnel stays full the following week. Monday morning arrives and the meeting starts off with a bang. Then the darkness arrives, “So team, what you all have lined up for the week?” The room becomes dead silent. What now?

Panic usually sets in and then you start implementing some actions to take. Is it the reps or is it my fault? Both are to blame, the sales reps for forgetting the funnel and yours for not keeping the reps accountable. It is important to set targets with each individual rep. Not one rep is the same. We would love to have the ability to clone one or two on the team. That won’t happen so we have to spend time with each rep, go out in the field to observe, etc. With this information we tailor a plan based on his or her performance / skills. For example, you need to hit 15 doors per day; this will give you 4 appointments and generate one sale. Based on this, you will have 5 deals per week. You have to stay with them and don’t wait for a week end report, request a 5 minute end of day meeting with the reps. It can be in person, on the phone or they can send a report via email. Create a report designed for each individual. Included in the report are businesses contacted, result (appointment made or not), and plan moving forward. FutureOn This will keep them accountable and productive, everybody wins. Ok, I can track their activity but what about during the process?

Two invaluable tools for monitoring a sales force are inbound call tracking and outbound call tracking. How are my reps behaving on the phone with their prospects and customers? Recording their calls will give you a world of new information to use for staff improvement and training.

If your staff is using company cell phones, you can use local or toll free inbound call tracking numbers and forward the call to their cell. Each incoming call will be recorded and include information such as caller ID, if call was answered or not, length of the call, etc. The real time reports available through a web based platform will indicate how the rep is handling incoming calls from prospects or customers. You can review these calls with them during your weekly one on one meeting or share the call with the group if it is a great one. It’s a good idea to consult with the rep before sharing as some people might not feel comfortable with it.

If you are managing an inside sales team or working with sales and marketing consultants, outbound call tracking would be a great solution for you. Each member of your staff would be assigned a 4 digit code which identifies them as the caller. With the outbound tracking number programmed in your phone system, the rep would simply press the assigned line, enter their 4 digit code and dial the 10 digit telephone number they want to call. You will have a detailed report of each reps activity for the day, including the recording of the call. Also, with the ability to listen to live phone calls in progress, you can help your sales team increase their closing ratio, book more appointments and spend less time on the phone.

Whether you are a small company with 3 sales representatives or a large one with 200 reps, make sure to include call tracking to help evaluate the performance of your sales team. Keep your staff accountable and productive with daily reporting on activities and inbound and outbound call tracking.