What are some potential unintended consequences of heavily investing in a data driven approach? How would you avoid them?
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VP of Sales5 months ago
Sales teams should be more data-driven, but they should also spend more time selling and less time on other stuff. They need the right kind of data to inform themselves to make the right kind of decision. If a Rep is spending a lot of time understanding the data and less time selling, then that's not a productive use of their time. From a GTM operation and DevOps perspective, my priority would be to create dashboards or reports that they need for their activities. This way, they can understand and get all the data they need, freeing up their time to sell. We need data, no question about that, but everyone should spend just the amount of time they need to. They can't just bury themselves in data and say, "I'm just being data-driven and I'm just studying and analyzing." It's about having the right information quickly and getting on with your other tasks.Director of Sales5 months ago
You can take any data and make it say what you want. Part of being data-driven is understanding that working in a silo sometimes allows people to only see the story they want to see, not the bigger picture. There has to be a common sense approach to the data that digs a little bit deeper on the why. Why is the data telling me this? Why does this look like this?VP Sales in Software5 months ago
An overreliance on data can lead to Rep Burnout and can also lead to neglecting the human element of sales. People can often feel like a number on a dashboard, and I believe it's important to lead with empathy, mental health, and family-first values. Over-analysis with data can lead to paralysis, causing us to forget the human element. To avoid this, we should emphasize the importance of soft skills and personalization alongside data analysis. We should not replace a person's judgment with data. Data should empower the reps, not replace their judgment.VP of Customer Success in Healthcare and Biotech5 months ago
I think Lindsey answered that so eloquently. Sales is human, so your conversations are human to human. The data is a tool that helps guide us so we can coach and mentor. We don't want our reps to be overwhelmed.