Sales productivity and efficiency are not the same, and if you’re involved in the sales industry, you need to know that these are terms that have different meanings, and that implies some level of rigor, precision, and measurability.
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” –
Peter Drucker, father of modern management theory
According to the 2018 State of Sales Enablement report, nearly 55% reported that the increasing level of sales process complexity impacted their sales performance. With these new sales process challenges, it’s more important than ever to focus on optimizing sales productivity, because this means profit.
The simplest way to express the differences between productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness is with a formula (because formulas make things, you know… rigorous, precise, and measurable):
[ Productivity = Efficiency x Effectiveness ]
Sales Productivity: The ultimate goal of a business in 2020
Sales productivity is the product of sales efficiency and sales effectiveness, and when we talk about sales productivity we refer to the fact that they are the baseline factor in the success and health of any company.
According to Forbes Insights in collaboration with Brainshark, 71% of C-level executives describe sales productivity as “critical” to future growth and rank it ahead of other key areas such as product excellence and branding.
Productivity is the ultimate goal of any sales improvement effort, this means that when you improve the efficiency or effectiveness of your sales team, their productivity will increase.
Sales Efficiency relation with Sales Effectiveness
Sales efficiency is related mostly, to sales resources like computers, marketing or financial budgets, and time as the most important asset for a sales team.
When everyone has exactly the same number of hours in the day, achieving sales efficiency is the most important challenge. Make sure to eliminate low-value activities, replace them with high-value activities, and your efficiency will be on the rise.
Sales effectiveness and sales efficiency are related to how you utilize the sales resources you have to achieve your goals.
Efficiency is about how you go out and seek for opportunities, while effectiveness is about what you do with them, but the most important things are to set this clear; Efficiency and effectiveness are two different concepts that have the ability to influence the productivity of your sales team with just a little thought and discipline.
While efficiency is really simple to improve, effectiveness is more challenging because it requires improved sales teams’ capability.
Of course, improving both efficiency and effectiveness is the ultimate objective of a good sales team, but you should approach these two factors in different ways because effectiveness requires a lot more effort to improve because it involves the development of additional capability on the part of your sales team.
In terms of productivity and efficiency, it will take time to improve the capabilities of your sales team but don’t forget that Blitz is here to help you simplify any process!
In fact, according to a TechRepublic article, 37% of respondents to a PwC survey believe that technology should be adopted in workplaces, and Blitz is the perfect sales commission platform that will transform the way your sales team collaborates and work across your whole organization, improving productivity and efficiency while you accomplish your sales goals.
Let’s talk about how we can help you drive a high-performance sales team.