Sales
Top 10 Ways to Improve Field Sales Strategies
Hybrid Sales, Human Touch:
The Winning Formula
Research shows hybrid sales drive up to 50% more revenue by enabling broader, deeper customer engagement. Not surprising, given that decision makers are interacting through more channels than ever before. In fact, today’s customers use more than ten channels during the purchase journey, including email, web chat, self-service platforms, phone, and video calls.
In-person meetings still hold great value too, and the results speak for themselves. POS platform provider Toast closes 80% of deals face-to-face, while cybersecurity leader Splunk and spend management platform company Brex see conversion rates triple compared to virtual channels.
The takeaway: this isn’t by chance. Nothing builds trust and commitment faster than meeting in person. These stats are the result of a repeatable playbook built on field-tested strategies that maximize every mile, every handshake, and every opportunity.
Let’s dig into ten field sales strategies that top performers use every day to grow their pipeline and boost win rate.
1. Start Each Day With an Anchor Meeting
Top performing teams kick the day off with at least one confirmed appointment. That single meeting acts as an anchor and shapes the rest of the day. It helps create structure and momentum for everything that follows, and guarantees at least one high-value interaction. Here’s how:
- A week before, use CRM filters, intent data, or LinkedIn to find top prospects
- The day before, confirm via phone, email, and text.
- Multi-touch winsMorning of, send a short text reminder (20 words max) to reduce no-shows
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The result is a CRM full of half-filled fields, outdated notes, and only 10% of information that actually ends up in the CRM. Poor data quality equates to poor meeting prep and missed opportunities, while eroding trust in pipeline reports.
Conclusion
Top performing teams kick the day off with at least one confirmed appointment. That single meeting acts as an anchor and shapes the rest of the day. It helps create structure and momentum for everything that follows, and guarantees at least one high-value interaction. Here’s how:
Related articles
Learning Salesforce in 3 days is realistic for field sales reps if they focus on the essentials instead of trying to master the entire platform. By concentrating on the four core elements, accounts, contacts, opportunities, and activities, and following a simple daily workflow, reps can become productive quickly. Mobile usage, timely note capture, and consistent opportunity updates are what matter most, not memorizing features. With support from a proactive AI assistant like Donna, which captures notes automatically, updates opportunities, and prepares reps for meetings, Salesforce becomes an intuitive selling tool instead of an admin burden.
Sales
Salesforce is a powerful foundation for field sales teams because it centralizes customer data, tracks opportunities in real time, and gives managers clear pipeline visibility. But for reps on the road, its value depends on how easily it fits into daily workflows. When updates are slow, manual, or postponed until after hours, data quality suffers and deals lose momentum. By pairing Salesforce with field-first habits, mobile workflows, and an AI assistant like Donna that captures meetings hands-free, updates opportunities automatically, and drafts follow-ups, teams reduce admin, improve CRM adoption, and give reps more time to focus on the conversations that actually close deals.
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Opportunity management creates the heaviest admin burden for field sales reps, especially in the middle of the sales cycle where notes, stage updates, stakeholders, timelines, and follow-ups pile up. Because reps work on the road with unpredictable schedules, manual CRM updates get delayed, data quality drops, and deals lose momentum. The result is stalled opportunities, unreliable forecasts, and managers coaching from incomplete information. Reducing manual data entry requires capturing information in the moment, automating repetitive updates, and using AI assistants like Donna that structure notes, update opportunities, add stakeholders, and trigger next steps automatically, so reps can focus on selling while the CRM stays accurate in real time.
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Discover how Donna can simplify life for field sales teams
FAQs
Got questions? Donna got answers. Here’s what field sales teams ask most.
What is Donna and how does she help field sales teams?
Donna is a proactive AI assistant for field sales reps delivering hyper-personalized briefings, capturing every detail, and killing the admin time. She helps sales reps save time by preparing meetings, taking notes, updating the CRM, and drafting follow-ups automatically. With Donna, sales teams spend less time on admin and more time selling. Faster execution, stronger CRM adoption, and more wins, without longer hours. Happier, sharper teams start today with Donna.
Does Donna take notes during meetings automatically?
Yes. Donna listens, online and in person, to your meetings or calls, captures key points, and structures them into clean notes. Everything is stored and ready for review, so you can stay focused on the customer instead of typing. If you are not comfortable having a notetaker in your meeting, you can always update Donna afterwards.
Can Donna really update my CRM for me?
Absolutely. Donna automatically updates or creates contacts, opportunities, prepares quotes in your CRM and drafts follow-up mails. All data stays accurate and up to date without manual entry.
What tools and CRMs does Donna integrate with?
Donna integrates with Salesforce, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Outlook, Google Calendar, and more. Even if your CRM includes custom objects and fields, Donna connects seamlessly to keep everything in sync. Find all integrations here.
How much time can sales reps save by using Donna?
Sales teams typically spend less time on admin by 75%. By automating meeting prep, note-taking, and CRM updates, Donna helps reps reclaim time to focus on customers and close more deals.
Is Donna secure and GDPR-compliant?
Yes. Donna is ISO 27001 certified and fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and SOC 2. All data is encrypted in transit and never used to train AI models.
Our CRM is customized. Can Donna handle this?
Yes. Donna works with both standard and custom CRM objects and fields. Whether your setup is simple or highly customized, Donna connects seamlessly and keeps all your data accurate and up to date.
How is Donna different from other AI sales tools?
Donna’s purpose is built for field sales. Unlike generic AI assistants, Donna connects with your CRM, captures meeting notes, and updates contacts and opportunities automatically, even on the go. As Donna is deeply integrated into the day-to-day of field sales teams, she delivers a proactive, voice to voice and hyper-personalized experience.
How long does it take to set up Donna?
Donna connects to your CRM and calendar quickly, with most teams fully onboarded in less than two weeks. Setup requires less than a month, and our team supports every step of the process.