If you’re using software to collect and analyze sales data, you’ve probably already encountered sales visualization tools. Things like forecasting, rep performance, or lead generation can be easily viewed in the form of basic charts, tables, or graphs.
But how do you know it’s giving you the smartest visual interpretations of all your precious data?
There are many specific considerations to make sure what you see is showing you the whole story. But before diving into the details, let’s reflect on why data visualization is so powerful.
What is data visualization?
If you think about it, data visualization is as old as the human race. Consider cave drawings, hieroglyphs, or maps of any kind. They are all ways to visualize ideas.
If you’ve ever tried interpreting data by looking at spreadsheets or infinite lines of text, her words ring true. This is because humans are hard-wired to be visual learners.
Check out examples like Bill Gate’s favorite infographic or the finalists of this year’s Data Journalism Awards to see the potential of this storytelling strategy, and consider whether you’d rather read an article about those subjects than viewing those images.
It’s clear that data visualization can communicate correlations and conclusions much faster than text. Now it’s time to harness its power to supercharge your sales team in reaching their sales goals and making sense of their map sales territory.
How does sales visualization work?
Most companies know that dry reports and KPIs are difficult for most people to read and understand in an actionable way. The use of data visualization is quickly becoming standard amongst sales teams as leaders discover the use of presenting information in easy to digest ways.
A typical CRM can show graphics about the sales and contacts they have already made, but what you want are snapshots that help them understand how to best reach new clients and prospects. The best sales visualizations help you look towards the future in order to make meaningful goals.
By utilizing this kind of communications strategy, your sales team will be able to see prospects and patterns in a new and useful way that will make them far more efficient in how they make their sales.
4 Things To Look For In Your Sales Visualizations
When leadership utilizes visualization, sales can be more efficient and understand what needs to be done without constant oversight. A great lens to look at your graphics is by considering how it enables your team to look toward the future just as much as the past.
When assessing your current sales visualization goals, consider how it helps when it comes to these four key areas:
Identify Trends and Opportunity Markets With Mapping
It makes sense that creating visuals of territory mapping and sales route planners will make it easier for traveling sales teams to understand where they need to focus their time and energy — yet few options provide for this level of visualization.
It’s a great way to discover specific areas that have a need for a product or whether there are more opportunities with small businesses versus large enterprises. By understanding your sales trends in the context of an actual map, your team can quickly identify efficiencies while sketching out their next moves.
Increase Speed With Easily Understood Graphics
Not only will your sales team be more efficient if they can see what needs to be done, but they can be faster at it as well. When there are too many words to look over, digest and draw conclusions from, sales can waste a significant part of their day that could best be out making sales. Visuals are meant to be understood and processed much faster, which means less time interpreting data and more time for sales.
When you consider that it takes the brain a mere 13 milliseconds to interpret an image, it makes sense to utilize our fastest sense to increase the speed of your sales team. Whether identifying a better market or creating a sales route planner, opportunity visualization means more sales if they are easily and quickly created.
Inspire Your Sales Team With Projected Potential
A study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that when smokers saw graphic images of the results of smoking they were more likely to give up smoking than those who only read texts about the same exact thing. Although sales do not carry the same weight as the devastating effects of smoking, it does go to show the emotional weight of images versus text.
An inspired sales team is a team that will create a better company culture and has better enthusiasm to pass on to prospects. All of this translates into better sales and a more successful company. The emotional response to your sales visualizations will make for a more solid sales team. How inspiring are they?
Monitor and Achieve More Specific, Personalized Goals
Making and reaching goals is a core component of sales. Understanding where you are and where you need to be is essential for growing businesses. A stagnant company is a company in trouble, so goal setting is a priority in growth and sales.
Utilizing sales visualization gives your team a chance to track where they are in relation to their goals. If they are specific enough to show key performance areas, you and your team can quickly see and understand how well they are using their opportunities, which can lead them to work towards meeting their sales targets. If they find themselves falling behind on their goals, visualizations give them the chance to reach more, or better, prospects in order to meet or exceed them going forward.
Useful Sales Visualization Creates More Sales
Sales managers are starting to see how their team can create more opportunities by giving them the information that they want and need in a way that they can better understand. You can leverage your information to make more sales by creating useful visuals of prospects, markets, and trends that go beyond the basics.
With Map My Customers, you can create the visuals that your team needs to become faster and more efficient, which means more sales for you. Try a 14-day free trial and start creating more opportunities today.
