Sales organisation, administration
Sales organisation, administration
Data entry is eating into selling time
Data entry is eating into selling time
In one of our recent assessments, the largest cost item was not a salary line. It was selling time lost to duplicate data entry: around €73,000 a year across the sales team alone.
In one of our recent assessments, the largest cost item was not a salary line. It was selling time lost to duplicate data entry: around €73,000 a year across the sales team alone.
When salespeople underperform, the usual management response is to demand more effort: increase activity, tighten discipline and build a bigger pipeline. This treats the issue as a lack of motivation.
Our observations tell a different story. Core selling activities—meeting customers, supporting proposals and opening accounts—take up less than a third of working time in the situations examined. The rest is lost to duplicate data entry, internal decisions and fixing incomplete work. At one client, salespeople spent their days compensating for unfinished work earlier in the process. In practice, they were doing their own prospecting and qualification.
Our observations tell a different story. Core selling activities—meeting customers, supporting proposals and opening accounts—take up less than a third of working time in the situations examined. The rest is lost to duplicate data entry, internal decisions and fixing incomplete work. At one client, salespeople spent their days compensating for unfinished work earlier in the process. In practice, they were doing their own prospecting and qualification.
Asking that person to ‘sell more’ means asking someone whose work has become 70% administration to excel in the 30% that remains.
Asking that person to ‘sell more’ means asking someone whose work has become 70% administration to excel in the 30% that remains.
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Article
Asking that person to ‘sell more’ means asking someone whose work has become 70% administration to excel in the 30% that remains.
Article
This shift reflects neither a lack of commitment nor a skills gap. It shows how a job can change under pressure without anyone formally agreeing to it. The salesperson still wants to sell; the organisation keeps adding administrative tasks.
Asking that person to ‘sell more’ means asking someone whose work has become 70% administration to excel in the 30% that remains.
Before revising targets, measure one specific indicator over two weeks: the hours actually spent with customers. Explain the purpose of the exercise to the team and distinguish selling time from the administrative work surrounding it. The result can challenge management’s assumptions.
Explore further: our lead-to-cash assessment.
Duplicate data entry needs to be addressed across the process, from quotation to cash collection. Our industrial equipment case shows how to estimate this workload and sequence actions that could free up selling time. Explore the example lead-to-cash action plan. It is a composite case based on our engagements; the gains shown are estimates.
This shift reflects neither a lack of commitment nor a skills gap. It shows how a job can change under pressure without anyone formally agreeing to it. The salesperson still wants to sell; the organisation keeps adding administrative tasks.
Asking that person to ‘sell more’ means asking someone whose work has become 70% administration to excel in the 30% that remains.
Before revising targets, measure one specific indicator over two weeks: the hours actually spent with customers. Explain the purpose of the exercise to the team and distinguish selling time from the administrative work surrounding it. The result can challenge management’s assumptions.
Explore further: our lead-to-cash assessment.
Duplicate data entry needs to be addressed across the process, from quotation to cash collection. Our industrial equipment case shows how to estimate this workload and sequence actions that could free up selling time. Explore the example lead-to-cash action plan. It is a composite case based on our engagements; the gains shown are estimates.
