Hidden Workload: The Prevalence of Non- Sales Activities

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It 's a huge blow to morale: Nothing is more frustrating for an experienced salesperson than spending hours on the phone only to receive calls from people who have no need, no budget , and no authority . This fruitless activity can severely damage a salesperson 's self-confidence, lead to burnout, and result in the loss of your most valuable asset .

They waste valuable " sales time " : every minute wasted chasing dead ends is time wasted nurturing real opportunities . It 's not just a waste of time, it's a huge opportunity cost. The few truly closeable deals in your sales pipeline end up going unappreciated because your team is bogged down by a large number of low- potential contacts .

They distort your data: When your sales pipeline is clogged with unqualified leads , your conversion metrics become meaningless . A 2% success rate may seem low, but if 90% of your leads are never real opportunities in the 1000 mobile number database first place, your true success rate in acquiring qualified leads is actually much higher. These bad data prevent you from understanding what parts of your sales process are truly working and what parts are going wrong .

The second major factor that slows down sales velocity is the time sales teams spend on tasks other than selling . Industry research consistently reveals a shocking reality : most sales reps spend less than 35% of their time actively communicating with prospects . So where do the other 65% go?

Manual Prospecting: Search names on LinkedIn , look for company contact information, and try to identify potential targets .
Data Entry : Manual Update CRM , record call logs and manage contact records .

call research: Try to find out a little information about the prospect or his or her company to avoid cold calling .
Internal meetings and administrative tasks : necessary overhead in any corporate environment .