Windmill is designed to make the lives of sales managers easier and create a better work environment for their teams. By proactively collecting feedback and tracking accomplishments, Windy—our Slackbot—helps managers stay informed, provide actionable coaching, and streamline communication, ensuring that managers receive timely insights without having to ask. Here are six practical use cases that show how a sales manager can effectively leverage Windmill to enhance team efficiency and employee experience.
Deal Reviews and Time Management Insights
Understanding where sellers are spending their time and which deals are progressing is crucial for any sales manager. Windmill's accomplishments feature helps managers answer the question, "Where are your sellers focusing their efforts, and what progress has been made?" Every Friday, Windy prompts team members to list their key wins, deals in progress, and notable client interactions, enriched with relevant details like CRM notes or email threads. This provides sales managers with an easy-to-read summary of each team member's progress and time allocation without the need for manual check-ins. Managers can easily follow up on key deals or allocate resources effectively, ensuring they have a complete picture of the team's focus while giving sales reps the autonomy they need.
Reflecting Post-Quarter
Post-quarter reflection is key to understanding what worked and what didn't across the sales cycle. Windmill helps sales managers gather relevant, real-time feedback throughout the quarter, which can be used to inform these reflections. Instead of relying solely on memory or hastily compiled notes, Windy's collected insights provide a detailed log of how key deals progressed, what challenges arose, and what client feedback was received. This helps managers and their teams reflect comprehensively, identify successful strategies, and learn from any setbacks, making the next quarter even more productive.
Leveraging Windmill During Pipeline Reviews
Pipeline reviews are a critical part of the sales workflow, helping teams reflect on deals in progress and determine next steps. Windmill provides sales managers with relevant, real-time feedback collected throughout the deal cycle, making pipeline reviews more informed and impactful. Instead of relying solely on what team members remember during the meeting, Windy's collected feedback provides a detailed log of insights into key opportunities, client feedback, and challenges. This allows the team to have more meaningful discussions, identify root causes more effectively, and agree on actionable steps for improvement.
Making One-on-Ones More Efficient
One-on-one meetings between sales managers and their direct reports are key opportunities for coaching, support, and development. Windmill helps make these meetings more efficient by providing a summary of recent accomplishments, peer feedback, and collaboration insights. Before a one-on-one, managers can quickly review Windy's insights to get a clear understanding of the individual's recent work, challenges, and successes. This means less time spent catching up on basic context and more time focused on meaningful conversation, coaching, and problem-solving.
Building a Culture of Recognition and Growth
Windmill isn't just about identifying issues—it's also about amplifying the positive. The continuous collection of peer feedback means that recognition isn't limited to an annual cycle. Sales managers can use Windmill to regularly recognize team members for their accomplishments and contributions, even small wins like successful client calls or internal contributions. This ongoing recognition not only boosts morale but also aligns well with a growth-focused culture where people receive appreciation and know where they stand. By making feedback a regular part of work, Windmill fosters a culture where team members feel valued and more open to learning.
Streamlining Performance Reviews
Most organizations that leverage Windmill choose to simplify or even remove annual reviews entirely. With Windmill, continuous feedback ensures that everyone is always in the loop, reducing the need for a time-consuming formal review process. However, if you still want a more deliberate time for feedback, Windmill makes it easy. By continuously collecting feedback throughout the year, Windmill helps reduce recency bias, ensuring that both positive achievements and areas for improvement are captured over the entire review period rather than just the most recent weeks. By the time semi-annual or annual performance reviews come around, sales managers have a rich, organized set of insights about each team member's contributions, growth, and areas for improvement. This allows managers to create more meaningful, well-informed reviews without the stress and scramble of gathering information at the last minute, ultimately making the review process more efficient and impactful.