How to Ensure Compliance in Sales

In this guest post, tech blogger Alex Morgan dives into the importance of compliance in sales and six steps every sales team should take. For sales leaders and business owners alike, compliance is probably not the first thing you think about — but it should be.

‍What exactly does compliance in sales mean and why is it important? Much like it sounds, sales compliance includes following rules and regulations in order to ensure that both your team and customers are protected. Depending on your company’s size and industry, your regulations may differ. As sales teams often handle sensitive client information, it’s essential that everyone is aware of their responsibilities to stay compliant as well as the associated risks which could include heavy fines or even facing a shutdown.

Sales teams engage with customers through a variety of channels and use a variety of tools and software to optimize the sales process. While these technologies can help teams complete sales quicker, they also offer regulatory difficulties for businesses.Here are six ways to ensure compliance in sales.

1. Require consent for both marketing and customer analytics

One way to avoid privacy risks is to require consent from customers before collecting and processing sensitive personal information, such as their name, email, phone number, or birthday.

This means that businesses must clearly communicate to customers how their data will be used and then require their consent before they collect it.

For example, a sales platform could ask customers to provide their consent when they visit a website or fill out a form.

Once consent is given, businesses can make sure that their sales teams use that information only for the purposes for which it was given.

2. Implement privacy policies

Businesses must also implement privacy policies to make sure that their sales teams comply with privacy laws.

Privacy policies outline how employees should protect customer data and who they should share it with.

For example, a company’s privacy policies must include policies for how employees should handle customer data when accessing it from third-party tools such as email newsletter services or marketing automation software.

Furthermore, the privacy policies should include additional requirements, such as agreeing to privacy terms when users download or update software.

3. Keep communication records

When it comes to sales, one of the most common forms of communication is email.

It’s often required for sales teams to keep the emails they send to customers. Implementing best data archiving practices can enable businesses to keep track of all communication with their customers and comply with laws that prevent companies from sending unsolicited emails.

Additionally, sales teams often receive emails that include sensitive information that must be kept for the duration of the retention period. That is why it is critical to have a robust email retention policy that specifies how long emails should be stored. To help you automate email archiving and ensure compliance, you can implement email archiving solutions that automate email archiving, retention, and disposition.

4. Share the information only when necessary

Businesses should also share customer data only when they have a good reason.

For example, a sales team may be allowed to share a customer’s email address with a marketing company so they can send them emails about new products or promotions.

However, a sales team should not share a customer’s phone number with a third party, such as their bank, unless the customer has given specific consent.

Many businesses have policies that allow them to share or sell customer data, but they must ensure that these policies are compliant with privacy laws.

5. Require employees to use data only for designated purposes

In recent years, sales intelligence and data became more important than ever. However, in order to stay compliant, sales teams should be required to use data only for their designated purposes.

For example, a sales representative cannot use a customer’s personal information to make a personal phone call unless the customer has given specific consent.

Businesses should also ensure that employee training on privacy issues is up to date and that employees understand the correct procedures.

6. Update privacy policies when necessary

Businesses should also review and update their privacy policies when they need to.

For example, a company may need to change a privacy policy if a new law or regulation is passed.

It's crucial to always keep policies updated because, as technology changes, it may become necessary to revise or create new policies.

Additionally, a company may need to change its privacy policies if it changes employees or if they acquire another company. Sales teams should make sure that their privacy policies are up-to-date before sharing data with a third party, such as marketing, customers, or business partners.

Conclusion

Sales teams often have access to sensitive customer data, such as email addresses and phone numbers, so it is essential that they are aware of the risks of sharing that information.

Implementing privacy policies, keeping communication records, and sharing customer information only when necessary can help sales teams comply with privacy laws.

By following these six steps, businesses can ensure that their sales teams comply with privacy laws and boost their sales without putting their companies in jeopardy.