Adding automation to sales processes can get you 16 percent more leads. Sales automation has immense potential to reduce sales costs and free up time spent on managing and reporting sales processes. Sales teams can save up to 2 hours and 15 minutes daily by automating manual tasks like scheduling, note-taking, and data entry.
But to leverage the complete benefits of sales automation, enterprises need to transform their sales processes, identify opportunities for automation, and build streamlined workflows.
Let’s look at how automation in sales processes can improve efficiency and productivity.
What is sales automation?
Sales automation involves using workflow automation tools or software to automate sales processes like email marketing, sales forecasting, and lead generation.
It provides sales representatives the tools to close more deals without sacrificing direct, personalized human interactions.
Sales automation tools also provide reporting and analytics capabilities to help users drive insights. Typically, sales reports include information about the different sales campaigns, allowing you to analyze which ones were successful and which needed improvement. You can also keep track of the different sales KPIs and metrics to make better data-driven decisions.
Why automate the sales process?
Sales representatives spend time researching the right leads, identifying which leads can qualify, and customizing their outreach strategy. These tasks can take up much time, which the sales reps could have otherwise used to build long-lasting relationships with potential prospects. By automating repetitive and manual tasks, the sales team can use the freed-up time to focus on more complex tasks and projects.
Here are the different ways automation can increase efficiency in sales processes:
Follow-ups with leads:
Forgetting to follow up with leads can quickly lead to losing potential customers. By automating the follow-up process or setting reminders for follow-ups, sales reps can promptly reach out to leads without any potential customers falling through the cracks.
Onboard new team members:
Onboarding multiple sales reps simultaneously and ensuring they have all the information required to get started can be incredibly time-consuming. Automated onboarding can speed up the process by establishing workflows to automatically collect employee data, provide new employees with relevant information, and eliminate manual data entry.
Identify the most valuable leads:
Some leads will always be more valuable than others. By relying on the same old first-come-first-serve lists, sales reps risk missing out on many potential prospects. Sales automation can analyze the list of leads and prioritize them based on which ones are most likely to buy. It can help sales reps close more deals faster.
Benefits of an automated sales process
1. Increased efficiency
By eliminating time-consuming and manual tasks from sales processes, automation allows sales reps to focus less on admin tasks and spend more time nurturing leads.
2. Improved sales
When sales reps have more time communicating and nurturing the leads, it helps them move more prospects through the sales funnel and increase sales.
3. Increased lead generation
By taking a data-driven approach, sales automation helps identify prospects more likely to convert into customers. Instead of focusing on every lead that interacts with the sales campaigns, the sales rep can focus on first warming the leads that are more likely to make a purchase.
4. Generate custom reports
While many sales teams still rely on manual data entry and spreadsheets to create reports, it can take up much time and leave room for error. With sales automation, you can generate accurate custom reports anytime.
5. Reduced response time
The sooner you reach out to leads, the more chances you have to make the sale. While your marketing and sales campaigns may be generating numerous leads, there are never enough members in the sales team to reach out to all the leads on time. With sales automation, you can enable leads to schedule available slots directly on the sales team’s calendar, significantly reducing turnaround time.
The role of workflows in automating sales process
Workflow automation involves a series of if/then statements that trigger another task. The automation can then branch off depending on the action taken by the lead, sales team, or any other stakeholder involved.
Sales process automation workflows allow you to automate sales processes that are part of the sales funnel. Well-planned and executed sales automation workflows help sales teams save time, avoid errors, and move potential customers down the sales funnel faster.
Automated sales workflows can automate numerous tasks, including:
- Enrolling prospects in drip campaigns
- Moving a lead out of the funnel if they have completely stopped responding to emails
- Place leads at the right stage of the sales funnel when they take action
- Send reminders to sales reps after a lead has scheduled a meeting
How do you get started with process automation?
First, apply those logical programming skills to the sales cycle and create an automated sales workflow that will boost your team from the start.
1. Create a flawless first Impression
An in-person meeting is probably the best chance to clinch a deal. However, there are so many moving parts that there’s always a chance that something could go horribly wrong. An automated workflow can help bring some order to that chaos.
Sync up a process, including salespeople, administration, and technical teams. Plan out every detail, from the travel arrangements to what happens if the demo doesn’t load. Like your software, your workflow will act as a multi-person checklist to ensure everything is perfect.
2. Identify repetitive tasks and processes
Find the processes that could benefit from automation. Here are the different types of tasks that you could consider automating:
- Repetitive and recurring tasks
- Time-sensitive or time-consuming tasks
- Error-prone tasks
- Tasks where the same data is used across different disintegrated systems
Not all tasks can be successfully automated. It's necessary to identify the tasks that comprise a process and then find the ones that could be automated for improved efficiency.
3. Define automation goals
Articulate your team’s expectations from automation and what makes adopting automation a success for you. Also, outline the benefits of automation you expect to achieve from your sales workflows, including faster time to market, increased ROI, and improved team productivity.
4. Design the workflow
Create the sales process automation workflow with a workflow management tool.
Kissflow is a low-code platform that allows IT and business users to build customized workflows with little to no coding. The platform offers pre-built templates, a robust form builder, and a visual editor, making it easy to build workflows and assign permissions and rules for every step.
5. Keep the human element of automation
Marketing automation has a lot of promise, but salespeople know nothing compares to a chat over coffee or an impromptu phone call. Create an ideal flow for each prospect, including content pieces, phone calls, and casual check-ins. Use Kissflow’s integrations with Zapier to mix and match automated emails with personal calls to find the right blend.
6. Document Every Step of the Way
One great advantage of an automated workflow is that you can see what has been completed and what is left to do at any moment. In sales, when you are juggling many different leads at once, this is great for the individual salesperson. However, it can also be a lifesaver if you need someone else on the team to pick up a step along the way.
7. Close the Deal
The worst thing in sales is to spend weeks or months nurturing a lead only to have it all fall apart at the last minute. The easier you make it for a client, the better. The fewer hoops you and the client have to jump through, the more likely you are to actually close. From signing proposals/contracts electronically to eliminating manual paper trails for audits/post-sale support, don’t let the closer stage of your sales process drag out. Never miss a signature or credit card number with a quick workflow.
Sales is exciting, but that doesn’t mean it has to be chaotic. Provide some structure at the most important parts of the sales process, and set your team up for great success.
Sign up with Kissflow and see for yourself that simplifying is easy, and once you start, it only gets better from there.
