Sales Leaders: What if your team spent 10% more time selling?
For over a decade, sales professionals have been stuck spending just 30% of their time on actual selling activities. This frustrating statistic has remained unchanged, leaving sales leaders wondering how to reclaim the lost time and unlock their team’s true potential.
But here’s the exciting part: even a small increase in selling time—from 30% to 40%—can lead to exponential improvements in quota attainment and revenue growth.
If your team spends too much time on administrative tasks, distractions, and low-impact activities, you’re not alone. The good news? There are clear, actionable steps to break free from this trap. Let’s explore the problem, and more importantly, the solutions.
The Problem: Why Sales Teams Are Stuck at 30%
Sales reps face numerous barriers that prevent them from maximizing their selling time. Common culprits include:
- Administrative Overload: Tasks like CRM updates, meeting prep, and reporting consume significant portions of a rep’s day.
- Lack of Focus: Without clear definitions of high-impact activities, reps waste time on non-productive work.
- Distractions and Task Switching: Interruptions—emails, notifications, and meetings—pull reps away from selling activities, reducing focus and effectiveness.
- Unproductive Habits: Reps often operate on autopilot, stuck in routines that don’t prioritize revenue-driving work.
💡 Did you know? According to Salesforce’s State of Sales report sales reps across industries report no significant improvement in selling time over the last decade.
The impact is clear: lower quota attainment, decreased morale, and missed growth opportunities. But there’s a way to reverse the trend.
The Solution: Unlocking Incremental Gains in Selling Time
At Portage, we believe in small, strategic changes that lead to big results. Here’s how sales leaders can reclaim their team’s time and maximize productivity:
making this shift:
- Define High-Impact Activities
Reps need crystal-clear guidance on where to focus their time. This starts with:- Documenting what qualifies as high-impact selling (e.g., prospecting, nurturing leads, advancing deals).
- Aligning these activities with broader business goals.
- Reinforcing expectations through regular coaching and feedback.
Reduce Task switching
Reps lose valuable time to task-switching and interruptions. Minimize these barriers by:- Implementing power blocking—dedicated time slots for focused selling.
- Reducing meetings and encouraging asynchronous updates where possible.
- Providing tools to streamline admin work, such as templates for follow-ups or reporting.
Leverage AI Tools
AI can be a game-changer for reps, automating routine tasks and freeing them to focus on revenue-driving activities. For example:- AI-powered call planning assistants can help reps prepare for and debrief calls more efficiently.
- Tools that automate CRM updates save hours of manual input.
- AI-based analytics help prioritize high-value prospects and leads.
Focus Leadership Time on Coaching
The most impactful sales leaders focus on coaching, not training. Research shows that coaching contributes more to rep performance than almost any other leadership activity. Meanwhile, training is best handled by enablement teams or external partners.At Portage, we empower sales leaders to maximize their coaching time by handling the heavy lifting of enablement through services like our Enablement Accelerator.
The Portage Difference: Driving Real Growth
At Portage, we’ve worked with sales teams across industries to break free from the 30% barrier. Our customized enablement programs help teams:
- Reclaim selling time through better processes and tools.
- Develop high-impact habits through hands-on coaching.
- Leverage AI and enablement strategies to streamline workflows.
Take the First Step Today
Imagine what your team could achieve with just 10% more time spent selling. The path to higher quotas and stronger growth is within reach.
Want to dive deeper? Check out our Podcast Season 3 - Episode 2 for actionable insights:
Ready to explore how Portage can help your team unlock its true potential?
Let’s Get Started
Which of these strategies resonates most with your team’s challenges? Drop a comment or get in touch to learn more about how Portage can help you transform your revenue growth.
