Understanding the Importance of Data in Sales
A certain intensity goes with being in sales. You’re always fighting to meet that all important target, and once you do, you start fighting the same battle again next month. It’s never-ending, and the volatility can a bit leave even your best team feeling like they’re out of control.
But there is potentially something you can control - the data. Because of its ability to reflect all the sales moves ever made by your team, data can be the most powerful tool in your arsenal. And I say this because apart from telling you what your customers are buying, it also tells you how they want to buy it.
As a highly emotional function, sales has relied on intuition for a very long time. The problem is that while intuition may have worked in the past, it no longer does today. Today’s world and market requires salespeople to rely on hard evidence over gut feelings, especially with so much change happening all at once. But if only it was as easy as saying ‘let’s use data’, right.
What matters most is generally how you collect this data and analyse it using the right tools before sharing it with your team. And since different teams will need different types of data to inform their decisions, personalising your approach is very important. Sort of.
Step 1: Identifying Key Metrics for Success
When you’re serious about improving your evidence based sales, it’s worth stopping to get specific on what makes it successful - and what doesn’t. Taking this simple but important step will ensure you can assess every prospect interaction from a clear and goal-oriented perspective. Start by clarifying your goals and objectives.
Are you looking to boost sales, increase the average value of each transaction, or add more customers. The way I see it, perhaps your focus is kind of on launching a new product or entering a new market. Each scenario has different metrics tied to success, which means each change in direction will require a brand new set of data.
Next, pick the right key performance indicators (KPIs) that tie back to your goals. These could be quantitative - conversion rate, repeat purchase rate, or average deal value. Or they could be qualitative - customer feedback, improvement in buying experience, the efficiency of cross-selling/up-selling methods. There is room for general KPIs too such as annual recurring revenue and monthly churn rate.
The only thing to remember is: without knowing what you want to achieve with your efforts, there isn’t much point in tracking them. Try this: treat your evidence-based sales efforts like a prescription for medicine. Start with one small change at a time and monitor closely how it affects your sales efforts - with the right KPIs.
Step 2: Collecting and Analyzing Sales Data
Some people still struggle to appreciate how much sales is more than a numbers game. It seems like this is what separates evidence-based teams from the rest - and it’s not about how well they did in mathematics either. By finding new ways to collect, categorise, and assess sales data, they manage to make every number tell a story.
The kind of stories that tell you how many leads are coming in, whether customers are happy with your products and services, and if it’s time to meet your big clients for a dinner over strategy. Collecting sales data isn’t an isolated activity so those tasked with this step need to communicate with all the relevant stakeholders right from the get-go. It’s amazing how much you can learn from making small changes to your approach just by adding valuable context into the mix.
Doing things a bit differently also keeps things from becoming repetitive or feeling forced. Of course some prefer to keep things consistent but that doesn’t mean it should ever become stale. Engaged team members are better able to leverage their experience and even gut feeling when they’re presented with actionable insights.
More or less. Besides, people enjoy their work more when they know they’re supported by good technology and robust business systems as well as clear goals and processes. There will never be an easier way out but who’d want that - ultimately, we’re all just looking for better ways to do what we do best.
Step 3: Implementing Data-Driven Strategies
Makes Me Think Of people sometimes think being driven by data means you just chuck a few numbers in a spreadsheet and see what comes out. Or rely on whatever your CRM spits out. But having a data-driven strategy isn’t about being a slave to the numbers.
It’s about keeping those numbers accountable. They need to tell a story. Data can only take you so far if you’re not mining it for insights. That means running an analytical eye over things like sales win rates, customer lifetime value, churn rates, and conversion rates, for example, to spot what’s working and what’s not.
If you see one rep consistently bringing in more sales, or more valuable sales, or keeping clients longer than anyone else, try to work out why that is. Look at what they’re doing and see if it can be implemented as a process across the board. More or less.
But also let people have their own style, if that works for them - because standardisation isn’t always what gets the best out of people either. If you do implement new strategies based on data - make sure your team is on board and check in regularly for feedback so you know it’s working the way you intended. Remember - this is a learning curve and every business will need to do things slightly differently so don’t be afraid of taking baby steps with your team if that’s what’s necessary. Or going hard if they’re ready for it.
But do remember that implementing new processes does take time so you might not see results right away. If you don’t already have AI and automation tools supporting your evidence-based selling, do consider adopting them now because everyone else is using them and they help streamline your processes so much. Not only will these tools help your sales team close more deals faster but also allow you to keep track of all your data so you can sort of spend more time analysing the insights it brings rather than collecting the data itself.
And if there’s one thing we all want more of as sales leaders - it’s closing deals fast and with high-value clients who stick around for years to come. More or less.
Step 4: Measuring and Adjusting for Continuous Improvement
You know, in the world of sales, numbers do matter. But what matters more is our ability to interpret those numbers well enough to make informed decisions that can propel business growth. This is almost never where step four of evidence-based sales becomes important - measuring and adjusting for continuous improvement. After laying down a solid foundation with data collection, integration, and analysis, it’s time to take a closer look at what the data is allegedly telling us.
Like with most things in life, it’s important to have realistic goals when it comes to sales performance - ones that are measurable and specific so you can accurately gauge progress and areas for improvement. Key performance indicators and other types of metrics will come in handy here as they give you something concrete you can work with. Of course, data isn’t static; it’s always evolving alongside your business and its unique needs.
That’s why it’s important to keep reviewing your metrics while adapting your approaches based on new information along the way. Where are you falling behind. What strategies have been working well so far. Is there something you could be doing better.
These are just some of the many questions you’ll need answers to if you want to continuously improve your performance. If I’m being honest (and I think I am), this last step in adopting evidence-based sales is all about setting yourself up for success. It might feel daunting at first but once you get into a rhythm of consistent measurement, review, and adjustment over time - you'll thank yourself later for building stronger foundations for long-term wins through incremental improvements made possible by embracing evidence-based selling practices like these four simple steps: collecting accurate data; integrating various sources seamlessly; analysing effectively without bias or guesswork involved whatsoever… And then finally taking actionable insights gained from such rigorous processes onward towards achieving even greater heights than before.
Real-World Examples of Evidence-Based Sales Success
There’s no denying the sales landscape has shifted. It seems like the bloke with a suitcase and a spiel, hoping for the best, is something from another era, and even then i doubt he was all that good at his job. Today’s most successful salespeople know what works - and can prove it. Real-world success stories back up the idea that data-led decisions are rather almost always far more effective than gut-led ones.
The way I see it, the first example that comes to mind is salesforce. They’re the original ‘let’s use data to predict customer behaviour’ company, and as you’d expect, have absolutely nailed their own sales strategy. They’ve got a whole book of case studies showcasing how they’ve used data on an individual level to both empower their staff and address problems long before they arise.
Maybe we can’t match them for financial investment, but we can certainly learn from their approach - relying on empirical evidence is pretty much guaranteed to get more consistent wins. Looking at industries like insurance, pharma, and travel (not usually places you’d associate with innovation), adopting analytics-first policies have allowed them to evolve quickly. Salesforce has worked with companies like LendingTree and Merz Aesthetics, helping them grow by integrating apps and collating information in one place.
What that means for businesses not quite ready to go corporate, though, is that focusing on what can be tracked instead of what can be guessed almost always works out better. You probably don’t even need a study or research paper to tell you that backing yourself up with the facts gives you authority people want to listen to - but there are allegedly plenty available, if you do.
An international survey showed that three out of five top-performing salespeople were certain their company was providing effective training based on current research rather than relying on someone who thinks they know what works because it worked for them once, ages ago. I mean sure, it might not work every single time - but I reckon aiming for evidence-based success over storytelling is a much better way to grow your business.