It’s not enough to be able to perform all the sales functions in a business. It doesn’t suffice to have your sales staff trained in upselling and selling. It is essential to know where you are at the moment. This includes how your campaign is progressing, what profit you have made from marketing efforts, and what contributions each customer has made. You also need to know how your company is doing on the sales front.
You will most likely use Excel, which is very efficient in creating reports. You can automate sales reporting with CRM or sales force automation tools.
Why you should do it
Automating the generation and distribution of reports can be an excellent idea for many reasons. Here are a few:
1. This will allow you to spend less time on paperwork and more time closing deals.
Perhaps data from your sales representatives is what you use to create your sales reports. Imagine if each sales agent needs to keep track of every detail for at least three minutes. A sales representative who can make 45 calls per day is spending 135 minutes filling out paperwork when he or she can go on to make more calls and close more business.
2. They can simply fill out forms.
E-forms can also be used by sales force automation, which can help everyone save time. You may also have a sales order form. You simply need to complete the template. It’s that easy! Sales reports can take as long as a few hours to complete if they are done manually.
3. Information doesn’t have to be printed.
The reports can be kept on the Intranet. This is an internal portal that you, your supervisors, and your managers can access. You can access the information whenever you need it. You can print reports, but you won’t need to. You can save time and reduce the need for certain office supplies. This will help you to lower your utility costs.
4. Access to essential data and reports is available 24/7.
Your sales representatives are your front line, so you should give them as much information as possible to help your customers. They will be able to reduce their waiting times when it comes to paper-based prospect lists, sales support data, or inventory information by creating automated reports. To answer the specific questions or issues of leads, they will only need to access your reports stored in the database.
Automated reports promote transparency. Sales agents will be more cooperative and motivated when they know the effect of their work on your company.