It has been said repeatedly: ‘you can’t manage what you don’t track.’ When it comes to sales pipeline, sales managers must be able to track what their team is doing. But before that, Individual sales reps must be able to track what they are doing and be accountable for their own pipeline. Salesmen like to sell, not to get tied up in administrative tasks like reporting. So for them to be successful at monitoring and reporting their pipeline, it has to be made easy for them. That is where Microsoft Dynamics® CRM comes in. Here are 4 key questions that sales reps must be able to answer and how Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Crowe EditAble CRM Grid makes it easy for them to do so.
1. What opportunities are you forecasting to close this Quarter?
What is the total revenue value and the estimated closing date? Where is each opportunity located in the sales process?
2. How do the sales forecast numbers compare to your quarterly goal?
The numbers need to line up with the goals each week or you need to account for the gap.
3. What is your upside?
What opportunities are in your sales cycle that could be brought forward if any of your forecasted deals fall through? Are there incentives or discounts you can offer to move them along?
4. What is your total pipeline?
Looking even beyond this quarter, we need to have prospects for next quarter.
A sales rep might be managing a pipeline of four times their forecasted goal. They need to be able to enter and track all of their opportunities. This can be easily done in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, in fact, it is what the system is designed to do. With Crowe EditAble CRM Grid, an affordable add-on tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM that turns any Dynamics CRM form (or page) into an Excel-like grid format, records can be updated quickly and easily with calculations and groupings done right on the screen.
With Crowe EditAble CRM Grid you can:
- Quickly update estimated close dates, sales stages and potential revenue without opening individual CRM records.
- Group opportunities by sales stage or sales rep for instant revenue totals.
- Calculate the total revenue of forecasted opportunities.
- Compare forecasted revenue against sales rep and / or territory sales goals
With Crowe EditAble CRM Grid, sales reps can track their ongoing status rather than waiting for weekly reports.