You may already be using Salesforce to track sales data, share key information, and keep your teams connected. But did you realize that Salesforce is also a great tool for opportunity management?
You may be wondering, “What is opportunity management in Salesforce?” This post will take a deep dive into this topic. We’ll look at the benefits throughout your sales cycles, discuss the opportunities in Salesforce, and discuss strategies to increase revenue, build strong contacts, and implement solutions.
Effective opportunity management means a steady progression through your sales cloud, from qualifying leads to closing deals. It also means successfully nurturing relationships so that new customers turn into repeat customers. Ultimately, the goal is to create loyal customers who will spread the word about your business.
Salesforce can help make all this happen — if you use it correctly.
Lead and opportunity management in Salesforce helps teams make data-driven decisions. The platform captures data in fields and provides a wealth of information about potential customers, so that sales reps can understand exactly what drives each customer.
Salesforce even creates an activity timeline of customer activity and sends out notifications whenever action is necessary. This means that your reps will never miss the chance to move a step closer to closing a deal.
Challenges Behind Managing Opportunities
Today’s sales teams face a growing number of challenges and constraints. Here are a few of the most common and frustrating challenges.
Remote Work
Most sales teams are far-flung. With an increase in remote work, workers are often located hundreds of miles apart from each other. They may also be far apart from their leads and their customers.
The result? It’s difficult to share information with colleagues when you don’t see them in the office. This becomes even more complicated when people are working in different time zones.
It’s also difficult to build strong relationships with customers when you don’t see them regularly. Developing customer loyalty can be tricky when relationships are online only.
Higher Expectations
Sales teams today face greater pressure and demand than in the past. Sales reps are expected to perform at a high level, with no room for error. They are often expected to cover a broader territory as well.
At the same time, businesses today are all competing on a global scale.
Customers have become more demanding and expect a higher level of service and personalization than ever before.
Salesforce’s opportunity management tools can help your sales personnel overcome the challenges they face.
The platform makes data sharing easy so that your teams can work together easily, even when they are physically far apart. Salesforce’s data analytics tools can also help you develop a stronger understanding of your customers so that your teams can offer each customer the personalized service they expect.
Salesforce also helps you to understand your competition — giving you the edge you need to move to the top, even when you’re competing on a global scale.
Effective opportunity management has a number of built-in benefits for sales teams. Here are just a few of those benefits.
1. Increases Accuracy and Accountability
Having accurate data is key to success in sales. Your teams need reliable, accessible information about their prospective clients and their shopping habits.
You’ll also need accurate data about your team’s activity so that you can make smart planning decisions. How often has a member of your team contacted each potential customer? How did the customer respond each time?
Salesforce can log your team’s interactions with customers so that you always keep up the right cadence of interaction. Having accurate data about customer relations also ensures that you can build up a rich understanding of each customer’s unique set of tastes and preferences.
2. Provides Better Visibility Into Sales Pipeline
Your sales pipeline lets you track the progress of potential customers, as they move through the different stages in the buyer’s journey. As buyers progress through the stages, they learn more about your brand and your products.
It’s important to make this pipeline as transparent as possible. Your sales reps need to treat each customer differently based on where they are in the buyer’s journey.
The bigger your operation, though, the harder it is to have visibility into the sales pipeline. All too often, information gets siloed.
Salesforce can fix this. By storing all of your data in one central, easy to access location, Salesforce establishes a single source of truth for everyone on your team. No matter where your teams are located, they can always log in and gain the insights they need.
3. Improves Lead Management
A great lead management system requires implementing a consistent approach.
Your teams can achieve this by tracking the steps they take to qualify leads. It’s a good idea to regularly assess your teams’ process in order to figure out what’s working and what’s not working.
Salesforce makes it easy to document the stages of this process. And, because the platform shares data in a central location, it’s easy to change and update the process so that your teams are aware of the changes right away.
4. Automates Repetitive Processes
Automation eliminates the risk of human error. It also ensures that tedious jobs get done in a timely fashion.
Salesforce can automate a number of repetitive tasks that would otherwise be done by people. For example, your teams can program Salesforce to send a welcome message to each new lead. You can also automatically create a ticket whenever you generate a new lead.
Data collection can be automated as well. In fact, many of the processes currently done by your teams can be automated. This frees up your sales reps to do meaningful work.
5. Allows You To Better Forecast Sales
The Salesforce forecasting tool uses your historical sales data and your current pipeline data to project your future sales figures.
Having accurate forecasts allows you to plan out your budget, set goals, and create benchmarks for your whole team.
Streamline Your Sales Process With Better Opportunity Management
Every sales team has room for improvement. Building a leaner, smarter opportunity management system will take your team to the next level.
Astreca can work with your teams to ensure that you’re using the full Salesforce functionality. Our experts can help you develop a unique, customized solution that fits your needs. Get in touch today and get started on your journey.
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