The Gradient Works Blog

What makes a successful CRM implementation? What does a CRO need to be thinking about when it comes to Salesforce? 

Before you think "oh no, not another blog post about the pandemic," please hear me out for just a minute. We need to talk about fatigue, information overload, and anxiety. Sounds fun, right? No, of course it doesn't. But if you work on or run a customer-facing team, you need to be thinking about what these things mean for your prospects and customers.

One of the biggest issues in lead routing is duplicate accounts. Messy CRM data contributes to sales collisions, process delays, and even lost revenue. You need to be able to quickly match new leads to accounts and route them to the right sales rep. So how do you actually implement lead-to-account matching?

It’s common in revenue organizations to look at an unproductive rep and blame them for “not putting in the effort” or “not following the process”. While that can be the case, it’s worth pausing to ask yourself if you’ve orchestrated a system that enables reps to be effective.

In this post I’m going to take you through a framework for evaluating where opportunity lies for reps, identify some reasons that reps aren’t able to maximize that opportunity, and then provide some suggestions on how to improve. Sound good? Let’s go!

In B2B revenue organizations, sales reps should own accounts - and only accounts. The reason is simple. Businesses are your customers, not individuals. And, well, accounts represent businesses. This seemingly simple statement has far reaching implications for how you construct your processes and your teams.

COVID-19 has turned all sales into inside sales. After all, what is field sales when all the trade shows are canceled and your reps can’t leave their house to visit a customer? As in many other areas of our lives, COVID has accelerated a trend in sales that was already underway: the death of geographic sales territories.

As we’re winding down to the end of the year, many of us are planning for the next normal of 2021 and beyond. If all sales are currently (and maybe permanently) inside sales, what does this mean for the future of B2B sales teams?