In the era of big data, communication of business intelligence becomes increasingly important as companies come to depend on useful insights from their own data.

Sales reporting is an important feature in this process. Business analytics software has become a key element in tracking and forecasting sales activity. Sales analytics give you the ability to break sales history into operational pieces such as locations, products, time frames, and even individuals. This allows businesses to discover exactly what works and where improvement is needed.

The adoption of business intelligence analytics software has increased dramatically in businesses of all sizes. Here are some of the things your sales team needs to know about analytics software and the benefits it provides.

1. Automated updates

Business intelligence analytics software today can benefit from automatic updates without extra effort or support from your IT staff. Analytics software will always be up to date with the latest technology and features. This gives sales teams more time to pursue their own priorities, such as meeting deadlines or following up with customers. It also ensures a more accurate portrait of the state of business at any particular point in time. Many companies have no choice but to waste time preparing reports well in advance for use in sales meetings, only to have the meeting cancelled or postponed. This means that the effort is wasted or the results outdated. Business analytics software eliminates this problem. Reporting can be done in seconds, rendered in a variety readable, custom formats, and shared with dozens of stakeholders instantly by digital means. Near real-time reports let you make decisions based on the most current and accurate information.

2. Visibility

Tools that allow you to view your data at various levels of granular detail afford greater understanding and insights into sales processes and their value to the company. Most current business intelligence analytics software includes dashboard capability, which allows you to create visual elements to display KPI’s and other user-defined metrics in a format that’s easily understood by everyone involved. Dashboards provide a fast and intuitive means of tracking progress and driving actionable responses.

3. More accessibility

The ability for sales people to access data and generate accurate reports while away from the office saves considerable time and expense. Sales teams can access or share information from anywhere, at any time of day or night. Business intelligence analytics software allows you and your team to view the same reports on any device with internet connectivity. There is no need to worry about a lack of timely reporting. A smartphone or tablet is all you need to review sales progress whenever it’s convenient or necessary. This provides the increased efficiency and flexibility vital to a fast-paced business environment. Quick, user-friendly reporting interfaces simplify decision making processes and ultimately boost sales.

4. Transparency

Sales data allows total operational transparency. This can help in training and improving your sales team. You have visibility into each agent’s strengths, limitations, and growth. Constant improvements have a direct influence over productivity as as your strategize ways to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction. With aggregate information on various teams, or individuals such as new hires and volunteers, you can implement any mentoring or policy strategies needed to improve up-sells or craft meaningful market interactions.

5. Management

Sales managers benefit through increased confidence in their business analytics software. More accurate, detailed, and timely information allows you to make better forecasts and faster decisions. You can improve agent performance and define targets and priorities with more confidence, resulting in more closings. Most accurate projections and higher productivity also means gaining the confidence of upper executives and the trust of your own employees. With faster and better sales analytics, you can spend less time fussing over numbers and formulas, and more time ensuring that your team operates smoothly and efficiently.

Company value

With each step up the corporate ladder comes greater responsibility and greater accountability. CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, and other directing officers normally have heavy demands on their time. There also may be board members, investors, and shareholders all primarily focused on sustaining value and focused on improved revenue. Revenue streams in large part are based on sales activity. These upper-level stakeholders rely on your performance and information.

Business intelligence analytics software that can deliver accurate forecasts and greater revenue provide a greater ROI. Companies that begin leveraging sales analytics will begin to appreciate their usefulness, and that provides greater value to the entire company.

Blog: Guest Post            Author: Robert Cordray