Typing vs. Talking: The Real Cost of Sales Data Entry

Sales isn’t won or lost inside a CRM. It’s won in the conversations — the moments between sales reps and customers that drive trust, uncover needs, and move deals forward.

But here’s the disconnect: while the sales world runs on conversations, most sales reps are still forced to type those conversations back into a CRM at the end of the day or week. That’s not just painful — it’s broken.

The average person types around 30-40 words per minute, but speaks comfortably at 140–160 words per minute. That means talking is more than 3x faster than typing. And when you zoom out, that gap doesn’t just waste time — it costs accuracy, consistency, and, ultimately, deals.

Why That Matters

Think about the last time you tried to type up a long conversation after the fact. By the time you sat down at your computer, pieces were already gone. Maybe you remembered the main points, but the nuances? The exact phrasing the customer used? The urgency in their tone? Lost.

Sales reps aren’t skipping CRM updates because they don’t care. They’re skipping them because the process doesn’t match the way humans work. They’re already racing to the next meeting, answering emails in the parking lot, or making another call on the drive over. By the time they finally sit down to type, memory has already started editing the story.

As we explained in Your Post-Meeting Update Strategy Is Costing You Deals, delay is deadly. Notes captured “later” are weaker, incomplete, and less actionable. Add the typing bottleneck on top of that, and it’s no wonder managers are left guessing.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

That’s not a small gap — it’s a workflow disaster. Sales reps can share 3–4x more detail just by speaking. And in sales, detail matters: who the decision-maker is, the subtle objection that came up, the action item promised. Those details are the difference between a deal moving forward or stalling out.

Why Voice Recaps Work Better

This is where the shift happens. Instead of fighting against human behavior, voice-driven recaps lean into it. Sales reps don’t need to slow down, pull over, or sit in front of a dashboard. They just call in, talk naturally, and it’s done.

With DriveRecap:

• One short call captures the meeting recap immediately.
  
  
  

• AI transcribes and structures the conversation at speech speed.
  
  
  

• The recap is routed instantly to the CRM, email, Google Sheet, or wherever it’s needed.
  
  
  

No typing. No logging in. No memory gaps. Just a clean, standardized report that reflects what actually happened.

The Endgame: Why It Matters for Managers

At the end of the day, managers don’t care how the data gets logged — they care that it’s complete, timely, and actionable. DriveRecap bridges the gap.

• For sales reps: less admin, more time in front of customers.
  
  
  

• For managers: instant visibility into the field, better forecasting, and fewer “I’ll update it later” excuses.
  
  
  

• For the organization: cleaner data, faster follow-up, and a competitive advantage.
  
  
  

Typing isn’t just old-school — it’s costing you deals. Talking gets you more data, faster, without pulling sales reps out of the field.

Bottom Line

The average sales rep speaks 160 words a minute but types 40. Which one do you want powering your pipeline?

Stop forcing sales reps to type their way through CRMs. Let them talk, capture the details instantly, and route them where they need to go. That’s how you turn field conversations into field intelligence.

Ready to see that difference? Try DriveRecap live — call: 1-616-920-8209 to experience the demo or visit driverecap.com.