Big data and aanalytics have been game-changers in the business world as companies try to strategize new ways how they can become more efficient, increase market revenue or recruit top employees. The influence of big data is spreading to sales performance management as managers hope to harness data and determine how they can boost sales. Companies should consider implementing these solutions to measure sales effectiveness metrics and other key performance indicators to optimize sales. Companies may use big data to automatically pinpoint the candidates for a job based on the required job qualifications and keywords, NDTV reported. Companies could easily narrow down the job applicant pool from 1,000 to 500 applications by simply searching for two years of work experience in their work specifications. By quickly scaling down the number of candidates, companies save money and time from viewing resumes, contacting applicants and interviewing the most promising ones. While finding top employees is hard, keeping them may be even harder. But big data may change that. In addition to big data affecting how companies recruit, data analytics is changing the future of employee management, The New York Times reported. “This is absolutely the way forward,” said Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, according to the Times. “Most companies have been flying completely blind.” Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Center for Digital Business at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the heart of science of measurement and data analytics may change organizational economics. Through data analytics, companies can gain insight into their workforce and measure their chances of success. Here are three ways companies can improve their sales through data analytics: Increase employee retention When using big data to measure employee performance, companies may also want to look into how they can increase employee retention. As companies collect and evaluate data, they may notice patterns in their employees’ productivity levels that may suggestion low engagement. Through communicating and working directly with sales staff to enhance their engagement, companies could reduce their rate of turnover and save on recruiting and training costs. Pinpoint the drivers of sales success The most successful salespeople are hitting all of their marks for a reason. Companies tracking sales effectiveness metrics may be able to highlight the factors that go into their top sales reps’ success, Forbes reported. These could include monitoring the number of leads that become customers or whether sales staff are reaching or surpassing their sales quotas. Improve employee recognition With data analytics, companies have an easier time recognizing employees for their accomplishments. Through getting alerts when employees achieve a benchmark, employers can more readily praise workers for their work, increasing retention and employee engagement.
