As the new year begins, commercial organizations often see an opportunity to reset and optimize. But for many teams, this well-intentioned effort leads to a slow start. Sweeping changes to commercial technology and data processes can leave sellers overwhelmed and distracted, taking up valuable time that could be spent selling.
Fast starters, however, take a different approach, by prioritizing productivity and immediate impact over compliance and lengthy ramp-up.
Clean Data Alone is Not Enough
A solid foundation of clean, consistent, and quality data is critical for making informed commercial decisions. Many organizations use the turn of the year to introduce new approaches to data entry, cleaning, and reporting. This typically involves significant change management efforts, requiring buy-in from frontline reps, marketing teams, and managers across the commercial org.
The cost of these changes is often underestimated. Time spent learning new data entry methods and reporting tools is time that can be spent selling. It creates confusion, hesitations, and inefficiencies that ripple across the organization. For many, this results in a slow start to the year, which is the exact opposite of what they intended.
What Fast Starters Do Differently
Lead with Productivity Over Compliance
Fast starters recognize that seller productivity is more critical than enforcing compliance. According to seller time-spend assessments, the average seller spends 4.7% of their time entering information into the CRM. That is more time than they spend tailoring offers (2.9%), opportunity planning (3.5%), or receiving coaching (2.2%). For fast starters, reducing this time burden is essential.
Instead of asking sellers to take on the responsibilities of data quality assurance, fast starters deploy automation and AI “co-pilots” to handle data entry and cleansing. These tools ensure back-end precision while enabling sellers to focus on their highest-productivity activities.
Tech Stack Optimization
Fast starters also take a deliberate approach to evaluating their tech stack. They focus on enhancing technologies and processes that commercial teams are already engaging with, ensuring a fast and seamless impact without needing to ramp-up users on a completely new system. This is coupled with a critical review of existing tools to identify what is driving value and what is not, especially as many organizations face early-year contract renewals.
By doubling down on high-impact tools and eliminated low-value components, fast starters streamline their tech stack, reduce distractions, and position their teams for success. The result is a fast, confident start to the year driven by clarity and efficiency.
Impact of Achieving a Fast Start
Slow starts are the result of inefficiencies and compliance. Continuing to remain compliant with an inefficient tech stack leads to a slow start that creates a ripple effect that is hard to recover from. When sales reps are spending time cleaning data and learning new technology when they could be driving early deals. The longer it takes to ramp-up to new tech implementations, the higher the risk of long-term delays with negative impact on growth.
Fast starters drive productivity through technology optimization. By deliberately evaluating and implementing tech with the goal of driving efficiency, sellers can focus on selling. By providing the commercial org with automation that streamlines processes, fast starters are able to start the new year with momentum.
Dive deeper into the research report, How a Fast Start to the Year Defines Your Growth Outcomes.
