Sales Force Automation Overview
As a sales manager, the NetSuite integrated sales features give you power, flexibility, and convenience in managing your sales team.
You don't have to juggle separate applications for commission, forecast reporting, and contact management anymore. The NetSuite integrated sales force automation (SFA) and accounting features save you the time you'd spend exporting data between applications.
NetSuite manages each stage of your selling process from lead generation to lead assignment, from opportunity to order.
The NetSuite forecast and pipeline tools stand out because they include closed sales. With Search, customizable reports, and KPIs on your dashboard, you have the knowledge you need to fine tune your selling strategies month after month.
Managing Your Sales Team
NetSuite SFA gives you all the tools you need to manage your sales teams efficiently.
Start by creating sales teams for the groups of employees who make sales. Then, set up automatic lead routing so NetSuite assigns new leads and customers to your reps.
Before your reps start selling, you can use NetSuite to establish quotas for each sales reps and manager. NetSuite records closed sales so that you can easily see if your sales reps meet quotas each month.
Setting Up Sales Teams
The first step to managing sales in NetSuite is setting up your sales teams.
With the Team Selling feature, you can assign sales transactions to teams of employees. Each team member has a sales role that describes their part in the sale. For example, in addition to sales reps, a sales team might have sales engineers who answer technical questions about products and services.
Set a contribution percentage for each team member. Then, you can decide the percentage of each deal that counts toward their quotas and forecasts. Contribution percentages also determine the amount of the deal used to calculate commission.
For more information, see Team Selling.
Setting Up Lead Management
NetSuite gives you two ways to convert leads to prospects and then to customers. In one workflow, you convert leads by changing their status or entering transactions for them. The second workflow requires the Lead Conversion feature and works best for sales teams that handle deals through individuals linked to companies.
For more information, see Lead Management.
The NetSuite automated lead routing lets you distribute leads evenly among your sales reps based on your rules and territories. When you define sales territories you can channel new leads to the sales reps who are most likely to convert them. When leads come in, from lists or from your website, NetSuite automatically assigns them to your sales reps.
For more information, see Sales Territories.
Setting Quotas
Before your team starts selling, you should set quotas for your reps.
As opportunities convert to orders, sales managers can monitor how close reps are to hitting their quotas. The NetSuite quota management feature lets you set quotas by item, class, or department.
For more information, see Establishing a Quota.
Measuring Your Success
As a sales manager, the bottom line is whether your team meets its quota. NetSuite SFA gives sales managers the tools to monitor sales numbers for a specific time period. When you monitor a period, you can make timely and effective adjustments.
In NetSuite, you can use opportunities to track your sales. Anyone who views an opportunity can see the items in a deal and view all related communication.
Opportunities add another level to your sales process. Opportunities let your sales reps link multiple estimates to one deal while keeping forecasts and pipeline totals accurate.
NetSuite forecast and pipeline analytics provide real-time sales figures so you can make informed decisions about your sales initiatives in time to hit your quota.
For more information, see Sales Forecasting.
Managing Deals
It is essential for a sales manager to know early in the sales period what needs to be done to meet quota. One of the most useful metrics for managing future sales is your pipeline. In NetSuite, your pipeline amount is the total value of open estimates and opportunities.
Sales reps track deals they negotiate with prospects by attaching tasks, meetings, phone calls, and contacts directly on the opportunity record. You can get a detailed look at how your reps close specific deals from the opportunity record.
For more information, see Opportunities and Estimates.
Pipeline Analysis
NetSuite gives you all the tools you need to track and manage deals in your pipeline, helping you close more deals.
With reports, KPIs, snapshots, and search, you can view information about open estimates and opportunities. This information helps you and your sales reps make informed decisions to close deals.
For more information, see Pipeline Reports and KPIs.
Forecasting Your Success
During the sales period, it's crucial to predict your final numbers so you can maintain or adjust your sales strategy.
With NetSuite, you can create aggregated forecast reports across sales territories and teams that include actuals and give you accurate, real-time visibility.
For more information, see Sales Forecasting.
Rewarding Your Team
Sales reps are motivated by the commission they can earn on sales. The NetSuite sales compensation feature lets you award commission based on total sales, quota, profitability, and more. Each sales rep can see their commission earned in real time on their dashboards.
The NetSuite payroll feature lets you pay commission on reps' paychecks, so you can manage each step of your sales compensation program.
For more information, see Commissions.