Tracking Outbound Sales Activity in Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Maximizing Sales Success through Effective Sales Activity Management

One of the most important benefits of using a CRM system for a salesperson is that it improves their ability to sell. Unfortunately, this objective is oftentimes overlooked and is usually a gap in most CRM systems. Enhancing sales management functions such as tracking sales opportunities and forecasting, yes, this objective is often met; making the day to day activities of the salesperson easier and more effective – not so much.

From a salesperson’s perspective, having an easy and systematic way of keeping track of someone to call based on a follow up date they previously set is imperative. It sounds simple, but oftentimes it’s not as simple as it should be. Getting salespeople to prospect is hard enough; let’s not make this exercise counterproductive for them. If it’s difficult and doesn’t bring them personal value, why should they do it?

From sales management’s perspective, if you want to measure the volume and effectiveness of sales activity across the organization it will need to be tracked in a consistent manner. It should also be integrated with a methodology that is aligned to your lead qualification process.

This presents a double-edged sword – if it’s not easy, it won’t get done. If it’s not consistent, it can’t be measured. And as the old adage says, “If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed”.

Let’s take a day in the life of a salesperson as it relates to organizing sales activities. A salesperson talks to a lot of people throughout the day, leaves lots of messages and sends many emails. Each and every day there is a queue of sales activities that needs to be followed up on. This will typically be based on a follow-up date they’ve deemed appropriate based on the last activity they completed. This is a system. And systems are the key to selling. Born salesman? I don’t think so. I’ll take a salesperson that applies a system to their selling process over a born salesman any day of the week.

Let’s now take a day in the life of a sales manager as it relates to measuring sales activity. How does the prospect pipeline look? What salespeople are identifying the most business opportunity and is it attributable to their level of sales activity? How is marketing influencing the pipeline? These questions will be difficult, if not impossible, to answer if you don’t have an easy and systematic way of managing it.

When it comes to prospecting you want to track all sales activity in an easy and methodical way. After all, these outbound calls take time and you want to be able to quantify this investment – this benefits the salesperson and sales management – everyone wins in this scenario.

At a minimum, a good lead management system should meet the following criteria:

  • Integrates with your CRM system for a centralized sales platform
  • Easy to log completed calls, notes and schedule a follow up activity
  • Triggers follow ups and call back periods based on sales activity
  • Quick access to the notes pertaining to the last completed activity
  • Captures new leads through web, email, 3rd party lists
  • Measures the complete lead lifecycle and nurturing process from suspect to revenue

Over the years, AbleBridge has helped many sales organizations simplify and automate the process of tracking sales activity with powerful results. If your organization wants to uncover new business and drive greater revenues, you need a system that supports proactive sales activity by increasing salesperson productivity and empowering sales management’s role in building a unified sales culture.

About AbleBridge

AbleBridge is a Massachusetts (MA) based Microsoft Gold Partner focused on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. AbleBridge has been successfully implementing CRM technology dating back to the inception of Contact Management applications through the evolution of Sales Force Automation and ultimately Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. AbleBridge is 100% focused on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and our involvement dates back to the first beta release in 2002. AbleBridge is uniquely comprised of seasoned Business Consultants and Technical Software Architects; all experienced and focused on CRM implementation success. We are equally proficient in providing sales, marketing and business process consulting as we are in developing rich software solutions on Microsoft’s .NET framework technologies. AbleBridge specializes in providing pre-built Industry Solutions and Add On components that extend the business value and user adoption of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.