Sales analytics-for-smarter-selling-goodsales

Sales Analytics
for Smarter Selling
You can’t manage what you can’t see, so getting access to the right data
at the right time is critical for managing your sales pipeline. With this visibility,
you and your team can act quickly to take advantage of opportunities in
the pipeline and, ultimately, increase sales revenue. Don’t make the mistake
of relying only on past data, when you can have a more holistic analytics
picture at your fingertips.

Sales Analytics for Smarter Selling

Table Of Contents
1. Using “Real-Time” Data to Effectively Manage the Sales Organization

2. The Problem

3. The Solution: Driving Sales with Real-Time Data

4. Current Position

5. Is the Pipeline Changing as Expected?

6. Sales Activity and Velocity

7. Use the Data to Sell, not Gaze into the Past

8. What was Learned?

9. About GoodData


Using “Real-Time” Data
to Effectively Manage the
Sales Organization
As a sales manager, you always have a clear view into the past but, when
managing a dynamic sales organization, the past is only partially prologue.
To manage effectively, you need detailed real-time information for a complete
and accurate picture of your current sales situation. This information must be
continually adapted to immediate needs in order to minimize pipeline risk,
highlight changes in opportunities and enable a laserlike focus on high-value
activities. Successful sales organizations go beyond simply analyzing crucial
data — they manage it to guarantee success.

1.

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can help your business: www.gooddata.com | @gooddata | (415) 200-0186 | info@gooddata.com


The Problem
Sales management are often left reflecting on what happened during the
quarter, where things went well, what caught them out, why deals were
lost. Sales data is largely used to provide a view into the past, and is not
accessed on a consistent basis. By implementing real-time data analysis, sales
organizations can mine the information for a tactical view of the current sales
situation. Immediate and timely access to the sales situation helps ensure the
success of your sales people.
Among many other tasks, managing a dynamic sales organization includes the ability to answer critical
questions about the sales pipeline. Success in meeting goals is extremely dependent on having detailed
answers to specific queries.

You’re at great risk of being left behind by competitors without answers to the following questions:

• Where am I now in all sales cycles?
• What is changing?
• How can I correctly react to what the data is telling me?
• Where do I need to focus my efforts?
• Are there any blind spots in my sales forecast?

2.

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The Solution: Driving
Sales with Real-Time Data
Using sales data to sell instead of viewing it as an historical record will enable your organization
to effectively plan to meet and even exceed sales goals. Your most important decisions will be
completely data driven, and you will get answers to the most pressing concerns in real time.
Where is the quarter going to end up? How many sales agreements have closed, and what else is
expected to close?

Most important is the level of risk in the pipeline. If your organization isn’t on track to reaching
its goals, what can be done to alter the current path. We’ll answer this critical question in the
sections below.

Let’s examine how to handle the concerns mentioned above and more by using sales data in
an actionable way. During this entire process, our major focus will be on positioning the sales
organization to meet its quarterly goals. We will be looking at improving the efficiency of the
sales process and how to make more accurate forecasts and revenue predictions.

Using these methods, the planning of territories and quotas, the management of forecasts and
sales representatives and the final review of what was attained are all scrutinized at the “current
point” in the quarter. By addressing key challenges, we will deliver “intelligence” across your
organization, which can be used effectively to eliminate end-of-the-quarter surprises.

3.

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Current Position
You can’t manage what you can’t see, and access to the right information at the right time helps you
make correct decisions. These decisions are crucial in determining priorities, optimizing sales leads and
giving you insight into every sales opportunity. Your organization may be unable to close more business
and increase sales revenue without this data.

We start by getting the big picture of our current position. This means showing progress towards quarterly
goals across all regions and products, and estimating where the quarter is going to finish. You can use
comprehensive sales data to visually show how much business has closed, what deals are expected to
close, what deals are at risk and if anything significant happened to effect the quarter. In other words,
what is the overall outlook for the quarter?

Finally, where is there progress? How are “actuals” trending towards goals? What is the path to reaching
goals? Is your organization on track? By looking closely at actual performance versus the goals, the sales
organization thoroughly understands the scope of work that still needs to be completed.

See graph.

“ A good view into the current position
“
highlights risks in your pipeline in time
for you to course correct.

4.

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Is the Pipeline Changing
as Expected?
The sales pipeline is extremely important when attempting to make an accurate prediction of how the
quarter will end. Pipeline opportunities should be thoroughly analyzed to determine actions that may be
required. Changes in the pipeline profile need to be watched closely as you move through the quarter.
Are deals moving through the pipeline to closure? Are they getting lost or delayed? Are there competitive
vulnerabilities? You need to be able to see this flow of movement at a glance without having to try and
manage hundreds or thousands of opportunities.

Changes in the pipeline over the period will show you where your dollars are going and what business was
lost, won, reforecast or moved out to another quarter. As your sales organization becomes more complex
with multiple product lines and business units, it is extremely important to see pipeline information for
those teams. A visual view of the various sales stages shows change and progress in the pipeline.

Good Pipeline Movement

“ As your sales organization becomes
more complex with multiple product

“
lines and business units, it is extremely
important to see pipeline information
for those teams.

5.

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Sales Activity and Velocity
To determine if the sales organization is executing effectively, many
important questions should be answered. What activities are driving sales?
How productive is the sales organization? Are sales reps focusing on high-

“
value activities? What is the average pace and duration of won deals?
Which deals are off pace and getting stuck? Understanding the ideal velocity for a winning
deal can help the sales organization identify
Every organization has an ideal sales pace and velocity. Deals that follow this which deals are off pace or which deals got off
progression are more likely to close than deals that lose momentum or get to a good start but got stuck in stage. Focus

stuck in stage. Understanding the ideal velocity for a winning deal can help
“
your efforts on these deals, as they are the ones
that can save your quarter.
the sales organization identify which deals are off pace or which deals got
off to a good start but got stuck in stage. Focus your efforts on these deals,
as they are the ones that can save your quarter.

Identifying “Stuck” Deals
Sales Pace & Velocity

6.

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Use the Data to Sell,
not Gaze into the Past
Great sales organizations use data to manage success, not review what’s already happened. Without
the right data, you’re at risk of not delivering the revenue that is expected from your organization. With
up-to-date sales data and effective views into that data, you’ll have the actionable information you need
to consistently meet goals.

An intelligent, 360-degree view of where the quarter is now, how it is shaping up and which deals have
smooth sailing or roadblocks help you drive sales through the quarter and beyond. As a manager, you can
use this information to focus on the most lucrative opportunities and identify risks early enough to correct
them. Analyzing sales data in real time will save you time, help you ensure the success of your organization
and make you a valued member of your team.

7.

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What was Learned?
Some people define insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different
results.” While the definition is debatable, a sales organization certainly shouldn’t do the same things
that didn’t work in previous quarters. It’s important to use the sales data to learn from mistakes, assuming
there were missteps. Mistakes aside, the data should also be carefully examined for trends and the rates
at which opportunities were created.

Are there any trends that can be discerned in the rate of customer wins? Opportunities and sales ramps in
various regions and across all product lines provide invaluable information when moving forward. The overall
objective of examining the data is to gain a view into the business to effectively plan for the next quarter.

Shifting your most effective sales reps into the most profitable territories, and identifying specific products
that sell well in particular regions, are examples of what can be done to ensure sales success. By managing
effectively, you can increase your team’s motivation and performance in many different ways. Clear
visibility into the sales pipeline allows you to easily identify areas where changes should be made. Where
should you place your best sales rep? What is that rep doing to close opportunities successfully? Which
competitors did we come up against most often, and how do we win against them?

With the pipeline constantly in clear view, and increased accuracy of your sales forecast, you have time
to coach teams to turn opportunities into wins.

8.

Learn how GoodData


GoodData is a disruptive, cloud-based enterprise platform for business intelligence. The GoodData technology
is intuitive, secure and fast. It helps convert big data into profitable insights and strategies for business
executives. GoodData is trusted by companies like Enterasys, Capgemini, and Software AG, and embedded
into offerings from cloud innovators like Zendesk, Get Satisfaction and Pardot. Headquartered in San Francisco,
GoodData is privately held and backed by leading venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz,
General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners, and Windcrest Partners.

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