Customer face time equals higher sales, according to the consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
A new study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide reveals that sales reps who spend more time with their best customers and less time doing administrative tasks work for high-performing companies, according to Rebecca Aronauer for Sales & Marketing Management magazine.
“There are specific actions companies can take to make their sales force higher performing,” said John Breman, global practice director for Watson Wyatt. “They need (reps) to shift their time away from low-value administrative tasks and other non-selling work toward higher-value selling and scouting tasks.”
The study found that salespeople at high-performing companies spend 40 percent more time each year with their best customers and 30 percent less time doing administrative tasks than their peers at low-performing companies.
Efficient time allocation might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s a simple action most companies don’t take. “Some companies are just stuck in their ways,” Bremen says.
On the bright side, boosting sales figures can be as simple as rearranging sales reps’ schedules.
“Overall, the very good news is that there are specific steps that companies can take to improve the performance of their sales force,” Bremen says. “And many of them are not all that complicated.”
