In a struggling economy, it’s more important than ever to look for ways to increase your inside sales productivity. With more businesses competing for fewer dollars, even a small dip in your inside sales productivity can disrupt your revenue stream. Stagnant inside sales productivity doesn’t do you any good either. Your costs and expenses are increasing daily, and your revenue stream has to keep up. Some sales managers are willing to try anything to increase their sales. From wacky promotions, to high-priced advertising campaigns, they’ll pull out all the stops to try and pull in a few more dollars. Unfortunately, those methods are, at best, hit or miss-with the misses becoming increasingly costly. The best methods for increasing inside sales productivity are simple, affordable, and stand the test of time. The three methods listed here can help you increase your inside sales productivity without having to stand on a sidewalk spinning a sign.

Whatever Happened to Goals?

Every salesperson has the same individual goal-to make sales. A quick look at the big picture shows how everyone pursuing their own sales goals can derail productivity. The efforts and skills of each salesperson must be aligned with the best interests of the company. Organizing and directing salespeople according to their strengths and experiences can help them become far more productive.

As a sales manager, you get a bird’s-eye view of all the sales and marketing data. You know the strengths and weaknesses of your entire sales team. Set goals that will directly benefit your inside sales productivity, and then assign people to meet those goals according to their abilities. Do you have a senior salesperson who excels at landing the big fish? Give them a big client, a big figure, and tell them to make it happen. Are some of your salespeople better in person, on the phone, or through other channels? Set specific sales goals that tap into their abilities, and watch your inside sales productivity climb.

Sweeten Success

Most businesses have some kind of incentive program. They have these programs because they’ve been proven effective time and time again. Don’t be afraid to offer prizes, bonuses, and benefits for salespeople who meet or exceed their goals. Vacations, electronics, and good-old-fashioned dollars can go a long way to motivate your sales staff. If your salespeople can consistently meet and exceed their goals, a few dollars spent on incentives is a worthwhile investment.

Incentives don’t have to be strictly material in nature. A lot of people thrive on attention and the spirit of friendly competition. A primo parking space or plaque for the monthly sales leader can give your sales staff something to strive for other than numbers on a page. Here’s a crazy idea-ask them what would be a good motivator. How about a trip to the spa, or sports tickets? You may be surprised at how easy and inexpensive it is to motivate people and increase inside sales productivity.

Automatic Results

Over the past decade, it’s become increasingly clear that automated marketing and CRM are essential to increasing inside sales productivity. These systems give your sales staff the right leads, with the right information, at the right time. Even a small sales staff will be dealing with dozens of prospects a week. That could translate into thousands of interactions every month. If they’re not collecting, collating, and sharing data, most of those interactions will fall through the cracks.

Moving prospects efficiently into and through your sales funnel is all about the data. Trying to collect and analyze that data using pen and paper or spreadsheets is a nightmare of errors waiting to happen. Everything from marketing campaigns to support services depend on that data to work effectively. Without all of that information, your sales staff is working in the dark. If you want to increase your inside sales productivity, give your staff the tools and information they need to succeed.