How to use RFP tech to better manage sales teams

Kristina: Thanks to layoffs from the coronavirus pandemic, many sales teams are overwhelmed as we head into the heart of 2021. Do you see businesses beginning to increase employment levels at this point?

Ganesh Shankar, CEO, RFPIO: Employment levels and hiring trends will completely depend on the company or business at hand. Some businesses are struggling to keep up with the increased demand and are looking to hire new employees to resolve that issue. Other companies have leveraged technology and solutions to allow their employees to do more with less. Those companies might be slower to hire, as their teams are utilizing technology to optimize their sales process and collaborate seamlessly. Regardless of if a business responds to the pressure placed on sales teams by bringing new hands on deck, or backing up its existing employee base with efficient technology, it’s great to see full sales pipelines and an increase in business leads. At RFPIO, we’re in a fortunate position to continue hiring and growing.

Kristina: What can sales teams do to meet the demand of their companies and their clients while working without a full staff?

Ganesh: Leverage technology to create efficiency is the short and sweet answer. These days, with remote work, successful sales teams are defined by the solutions they’re taking advantage of. Technology and automation is no longer for only the mundane, administrative tasks. Technology, like response management software, can increase what teams and employees are able to take on, as well as ensure that while they are taking on more, they’re also able to deliver their best work. At the end of the day, whether a company has 15 employees or 150, technology allows teams to do more great work.

Kristina: What is response management and how can that help?

Ganesh: Response management software can loosely be compared to data consolidation solutions. Previously disparate content and knowledge, stored on hard drives and in the minds of subject matter experts, is instead stored in a central system and becomes accessible to those who need it, when they need it. Democratizing knowledge allows all teams within an organization to know they are pulling the best and most recent information into their presentations, proposals, and other documents. For example, if a prospect emails about compliance standards, the response can be pulled verbatim by anyone with access to the system, keeping information consistent and accurate, and shaving time off of the employee’s plate that would be spent researching or tapping colleagues to get the answers they need.