Growing Better and Faster 10 years ago (and now)

Introduction

What do you do when resources are tight and the best-in-class solutions are out of reach?

About a decade ago, I had the privilege of leading a team in Mexico that faced this very challenge. We needed to grow faster and better under a tight budget. What we collectively unearthed were invaluable lessons in operational efficiency.

Things were broken. Our productivity was far from good, a lot of manual repetitive work was happening and the team motivation was low. We had the feeling that we could be working better but something wasn't right. And something had to be done.

After a few meetings, we encouraged our leaders to talk to their teams and identify what was off with our processes in the early 2010s, when CRMs were more a dream than a reality to us. Our journey wasn't just about overcoming roadblocks but transforming them into launchpads.

What we found

• The repetitive manual work of SDRs: Our Sales Development Reps (SDRs) had a slew of manual tasks, from personalizing emails to coordinating multi-tiered meetings based on the potential client's company size. The lack of automatization was clearly affecting everyone's productivity and engagement.
• Focus on deals that move the needle: We needed to evaluate whether we were investing our time and attention in the most significant deals. Were our leaders involved in the deals that mattered the most? Was our focus distributed systematically or randomly among the tasks that needed to be done? It was apparent that we were losing out on a lot of opportunities by not focusing on the right deals.
• The Black Hole in Sales Meeting Quality: We had no insights about the sales meeting's effectiveness. Did the salesperson show up in time? Did any feature of our product was missing in the explanation? Were the benefits clearly explained?
• How close we are to closing the deal: What if after the sales meeting, a few last questions popped up in the buyer's mind? What if all they need is a last double-check to close the deal? Were we able to close the gap and get the deal?

Solutions Forged Through Teamwork

It all starts with mapping the process

After a full session with the leadership team to map our entire process from Lead Generation to Collections - probably this topic deserves an entire article itself - we had a clear idea about what should be done.

Ownership of Automation

Once we discovered the power of the Google Suite orchestrated by Zapier, a team member stepped up to become the dedicated owner of all of the integrations. With the mapped process in hand, we were able to understand what could be automated, improved, and eliminated.

She got really good at it in a week or so and relentlessly explored new functionalities and continually optimized our systems.

Fill the Form, get it done

The process of scheduling a call was completely manual. After a successful call from one of our SRDs, this same SRD had to send a "thank you note" to the potential customer, send calendar invitations to everyone involved, and make sure he was adding our Sales Manager and/or the Sales Director depending on our business rules.

With all the integrations and rules in place, all the SDR had to do was fill out a form with seven fields. Everything else was triggered automatically.

The Pre-Meeting Warm-Up

We've managed to reduce no-shows and increase conversation rates after better exploring the time between the SDR call and the day of the meeting.

A series of case-study emails went out before each meeting. Open rates informed the success of our ongoing strategy.

The Post-Meeting Reality Check

Instead of not knowing how the meeting was, we leveraged Zapier to automate a survey sent three hours post-meeting, with an enticing incentive: unlock our product's trial period only upon survey completion.

We were now getting feedback from the potential buyer, measuring interest in our product, and activating our trials much better.

The Direct Line to Decision-Makers

From only having the sales meeting notes as our unique information source, we decided to establish open communication with potential customers who are about to make a decision.

The last question of our Post Meeting Survey was "Would you like to talk to our Sales Director about the details of the offer you've received?". If the answer was "Yes" we would call them in less than 15 min.

The Ongoing Imperative of Resourcefulness

It's interesting to think that Microsoft Excel, released in the 80s, has become the foundation of many successful companies, while some modern startups still struggle to optimize their software investments.

I don't remember every single figure since it happened about 10 years ago, but what I do remember is that we were at least twice as productive in every step of our sales funnel.

The atmosphere in the office was much better since we were openly discussing and resolving the processes in our operation, and more people were achieving their goals.

In today's world, where advanced CRMs abound, the need for resourcefulness has become more urgent than ever. Though the tools may vary, the importance of teamwork, ingenuity, and efficiency remains constant.

Whether you're working with a basic spreadsheet or a top-of-the-line CRM, the effectiveness of your tools is only as good as your team's ability to use them resourcefully.