Overlooked Sales Enablement KPIs You Should Be Tracking
Many sales managers devote considerable time and resources to coaching and training. Most are significantly short on time but under enormous pressure to develop sales enablement strategies that deliver results. Although most have an abundance of data at their fingertips, many don’t have access to the type of information they need to evaluate the long-term impact of their efforts. Do you?
When tracking individual metrics, it’s easy to see which team members are on track to meet their quota, how many leads are in the pipeline at any given time, or who is leading the pack in upsells. Tracking these numbers gives you a snapshot in time. On the other hand, key performance indicators (KPIs) are specific metrics linked to company-wide goals that make it easy to change course as needed. Instead of relying on metrics to determine if you’re providing the tools your team needs for optimal success, there are several sales enablement KPIs you should be tracking.
How Do Sales Enablement KPIs Compare to Sales Metrics?
Many sales professionals talk about metrics and KPIs as if the terms are interchangeable. But they’re not. When you track team member metrics, you’ll gain valuable insight into the effectiveness of your processes and workflow. The data make a single statement about something that has happened. The information stands on its own.
Key performance indicators are used to track team progress toward a specific goal. When a particular metric is linked to an objective, altering your strategy and correcting your course is much easier. As a sales manager or team leader, you won’t need to track every key performance indicator, but you will want to monitor the enablement KPIs linked to your sales team and have a clear expression of the exact data you want to measure.
Related: How You Can Use Data to Train Better Sales Closing Techniques?
Which Enablement KPIs Should Sales Managers Track?
A corporation could track thousands of key performance indicators to gain valuable insight into organizational performance. But that doesn’t mean they’re relevant to your enablement strategy. Instead of setting your team up for a severe information overload, focusing on a smaller range of “SMARTER” KPIs, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound data is best. You should choose targets that can also be evaluated and readjusted as needed.
If you’ve ever tracked KPIs manually, you’ve likely spent a lot of time gathering information from multiple sources, inputting data into various spreadsheets, analyzing trends, and creating complex reports. But with the right sales enablement platform, tracking and measuring KPIs is much easier than you may expect. When you choose wisely, you’ll have robust analytic capabilities to track key performance indicators, recognize trends, and make data-driven decisions. Although every business is unique, most sales managers find it helpful to focus on the following enablement KPIs.
Adoption Rate
Sales enablement tools are of little value if no one is using them. That’s why so many organizations track adoption rate KPIs to confirm (or refute) the overall value of the enablement tools made available to their sales team. But you’ll want to define those adoption rate parameters carefully. You need more than tracking log-in data to provide the information you’re looking for if you have sales reps logging in at the beginning of their shift but not incorporating the tools you feed into their workflow. If adoption rate KPIs are lagging, you’ll want to know why. There may be functionality or practicality issues at play that could negatively impact the return on your investment.
Sales Ramp-Up Time
Even the most experienced sales reps need time to learn new products, services, sales processes, and methodologies when signing up with a new company. But the time it takes to ensure your new hires have the skills required to generate consistent revenue for your organization can significantly impact the overall success of your entire department. Tracking sales ramp-up KPIs will give you valuable insight into your current training processes and the effectiveness of your strategies. You can use that information to fine-tune your approach to ramp up new teammates more efficiently to build confidence faster—reducing ramp-up time results in increased workplace satisfaction.
Sales Content Engagement
There are two types of sales content, the written documentation your sales team uses to provide information about your product or service to prospective clients and the content you provide for your team to help them close more sales. Some more classic examples of the content you likely offer to your team could include anything from “battle cards” and sales scripts to training videos. Content engagement KPIs track how often your team members take advantage of the resources you offer, which are utilized most often, and which might be ignored entirely. If so, you’ll want to know why. As a sales manager, conversations about seldom-used resources could lead you to more impactful alternatives to better fit your team.
Sales Performance
Sales performance KPIs often measure how closely a sales team tracks its predetermined sales goals. Monitoring sales performance KPIs helps keep everyone on your team focused on proven strategies for meeting and exceeding the results essential for corporate growth. The KPIs within sales performance parameters include anything from lead generation targets to upsells, crossover sales, or the number of closed deals in a particular quarter. Some of the most important sales KPIs track foundational sales and can also be used to measure contract values, monthly recurring revenues, or sales rep retention. You can also use sales performance KPIs to track emerging trends or determine where you may need to alter your enablement strategy.
Could Monitoring KPIs Help You Fine-Tune Your Sales Enablement Strategy?
Your sales processes give your team a roadmap to convert prospective buyers to long-term customers. While you do your best to ensure your sales team has a clear understanding of the people most likely to benefit from your product or service, the tools they need for customer relationship management, and an above-board knowledge of some of the best industry-specific sales practices, KPIs alone won’t give you a complete picture of your team’s skill set. For that, you’ll get the best results by investing in an enablement platform that makes monitoring and tracking KPIs easy while helping individual team members perfect their skills in an atmosphere that encourages continuous learning. You’ll soon discover several advantages of today’s rapidly advancing AI technology as you compare various options.
Why Are So Many Organizations Investing In AI-Powered Enablement Solutions?
AI-powered sales coaching is helping numerous companies assess the performance of individual sales representatives by evaluating their physical presentation, message content, and vocal delivery. Most often, sales team members have ample opportunity to record practice sessions, upload calls for evaluation and scoring, or have their skills assessed in real-time. Within minutes they’ll have a detailed critique of their performance and suggestions for improvement. With the right platform, AI-generated evaluations are forwarded to sales managers for performance reviews and in-person coaching sessions.
Although multiple AI-powered options are available, their range of features can vary. Most make it easy to track KPIs but focus solely on the type of knowledge-based “hard” sales skills that have been taught for years, even decades. In today’s increasingly competitive environment, many organizations looking for the most impactful enablement tools for their sales teams are choosing platforms dedicated to improving “soft” skills that are far more complex and difficult to measure, including vocal tone and speech patterns, active listening skills, facial expressions, gestures, and persuasiveness.
Related: 4 Reasons Why You Need a Sales Enablement Platform
How Could Improving Soft Sales Skills Help with Overall Performance and KPIs?
AI technology is designed to prioritize soft skills, “sees and hears” behaviors and habits other software solutions and even human observers can miss. Once the submission is evaluated, the technology delivers dynamic, actionable, AI-generated guidance to improve verbal and non-verbal conversation scores. While used primarily for helping sales teams close more deals, this type of training is valued in numerous fields, including executive leadership programs and higher education. With the right platform, you’ll have access to a sizeable benchmarking database, impressive integrations with leading business systems, and the advantages of realistic avatar-enhanced sales simulations. That benefit allows your reps to practice their skills with a digital representation of a “customer” trained to react and respond realistically.
Over time, this type of soft skill enablement training could significantly impact the KPIs you’re tracking. AI technology can help close the gap between your top performers and the rest of your sales team. As such, you’ll soon reap the benefits of a system designed to encourage ongoing employee engagement (adoption rate and content engagement), reduce ramp-up time, and fine-tune the skills that could help your entire team close more sales. This benefit could also have a positive impact on key sales performance indicators.
Are You Missing Out on the Benefits of AI-Powered Sales Enablement?
A quick internet search will lead you to several providers offering AI-enhanced services. At Quantified, we set the standard for measuring and scoring communication skills. We also give you robust analytic capabilities on a platform that integrates with your workflow. Whether your sales reps choose to upload a video or have a live presentation evaluated, our AI-powered system analyzes more than 1,400 individual behavioral signals with technology firmly grounded in behavior science.Once submitted, we provide individual scores based on 24 attributes of effective communication. Our AI platform also evaluates content and anticipates audience perception. To learn more about how your organization could benefit, contact us to request a demonstration. With Quantified, sales managers and team coaches have the peace of mind that comes with knowing every member of your sales organization is equipped with the communication skills they need to close more deals.