What to Do When Your Sales Team Says They Have Too Much Admin

Often as a sales and business development consultant, I have sales producers come up to me and say, “There’s so much admin. I can’t focus on sales. I’m best in front of my prospects, not sitting behind a computer doing things.” When I hear that, I take a step back and say, “Okay. Perhaps we can improve that a little bit for you.”

The Case for Less Admin

As a Sales Leader, don’t just chalk this up to your sales team being lazy about their reporting. At least once a year ask yourself, “Why do I need the reports I require from my team?” I worked for a company that attempted to incent the salesforce to input data into their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. They offered $300 a month if a certain number of records were updated each month. Miraculously, almost every Sales Professional did this every month. As they looked more closely at the data he realized, for the most part, it was inaccurate. Most reps would set aside the afternoon before month-end to update their records and since there were over 30 data fields to be updated, they made up most of it.

The Case for More Information

An important part of making good decisions is good information. As a Sales Leader you are obligated to ensure you have relevant information to measure the effectiveness of your team. This information should be leveraged to forecast effectively, identify early where there may be trouble, coach your team and report progress to leadership. The team needs to give you all of the information you must have for a well-run organization.

The Solution

Take a look at the basics. Try and keep the data needed as simple as possible so it doesn’t get in their way. As a Sales Leader you need to take the time to show how this will help them succeed. They must perceive and believe the administration is useful. A good question to ask yourself is “If I could only have one report, what information is most needed to understand the performance of my team?” Use this as a starting point to make the administration as relevant as possible for your team and effective for you.

Simplify for Clarity

So, simplify what your sales team needs to give you for an effective report. Let them know that the right information provides the clarity you need on their performance. Good reporting creates greater freedom for them. If they can understand this, and see that value, and see you’re trying to help them with less administration, you’re going to get what you want, they’re going to get what they want, and you’re going to grow your business.