What is a Sales Audit?
“The Sales Audit is the comprehensive, systematic, periodic, analysis, evaluation and interpretation of business environment, objectives, strategies, principles to determine the areas of problem or opportunities and recommending the plan of action to improve the sales performance.” - Business Jargons.
Put simply, it is the analysis of sales and marketing data to identify opportunities and threats. It covers the following aspects:
Figures relating to leads, eg. The number of leads generated in a month, or the percentage of leads that become highly qualified leads
The number of sales pitches conducted
How many deals were closed in a period
The acquisition channels for new prospects and most successful marketing steams for leads
The average length of time spent uk email address list in each stage of the sales funnel
The content needed by salespeople that most effectively secures deals
If there is an adequate number of leads
If there is an adequate number of salespeople and are they well-trained
What the stats are for each of the salespeople
Why Sales Audits Matter?
Analysis matters in business, especially when it comes to studying the sales funnel. Its importance can be broken down into two primary areas: revenue and marketing.
The sales team also influences the work of the marketing team. When these two departments are working in alignment, there is a better flow of information with regard to leads. With this in mind, it is important for sales and marketing to work together congruently.
Salespeople have the all-important task of converting qualified leads into paying customers. They are the final point in the customer journey and are responsible for securing the generation of revenue for a business. Their work has a direct impact on the bottom line.
To bring this topic full circle, we understand that sales audits are necessary as they help salespeople to improve their forecasts and planning, which needs to be done as it affects both your marketing department and your ROI. The audit consists of a range of relevant data which is then analyzed for insights to then be denoted.
Conduct a Sales Audit in 3 Steps
The precise steps involved in conducting a sales audit will depend on your business model and the software that you use. If you’re using a CRM or CMS, for example, you’ll have easy access to data. All sales audits will, however, include the following steps:
Step 1: Set Goals
Before you take the deep dive into the data, you’ve got to base your audit on a framework. This will keep you focused so that you don’t drown in a sea of information. Map out the various elements you need to analyze and identify what you are looking for - we’ve got the details in step 2 ready for you to use. You can simply add these headings into your presentation or report to ensure you conduct a holistic analysis.
For the best outcomes, you’ll want to look at both quantitative and qualitative data. This means you should focus on the numbers, but also be sure to interview people in the sales department to find out about their experiences.