Will Sales Technology actually improve your company's Sales?
Will Sales Technology actually improve your company's Sales?
In the 90's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) was the saviour of the world. With this great tool, customers would be treated the same when they interacted with a company regardless of the channel they used. I could look at a the latest bells and whistles microwave on the web, see it was in stock and go down to my local bricks and mortar version of the same shop and pick one up. I mean it was in stock according to the web wasn't it?
Joe behind the counter would tell me knowingly, that actually that microwave, was not actually on the market yet, and the marketing guys had just got ahead of them selves. All of this as I spied the Joneses from next door walking out with one under the arm! What was more, I actually did not have any money in my account, because jean at the bank had cross sold me the latest critical illness cover, to ensure I could still get paid, even if the intended microwave I wanted to buy blew up in my face!
So why did the reps shun CRM at first?
That was how Joe Public, the humble customer fared with CRM, but did Jimmy Rep on the road feel about CRM. This amazing management tool, to provide nirvana for customers, had actually another great benefit. It meant that rather than spending hours preparing excel spreadsheets for his boss, the sales manger could put all of the onus on Jimmy Rep, who would have to spend hours after each sales call filling in hundreds of meaningless fields, that no-one ever cared about.
And what was more, the filofax in his head, was now no longer his ticket to job hopping pay rises, since the company now owned all of the information about his customers on this database. What was more; they knew where he was, when he tried to sneak off playing golf, and how few sales he really made.
So what did Jimmy Rep do, he did nothing! He forgot to fill in the data, his boss screamed at him, he moved jobs, and started the whole frustrating, non-selling process all over again, albeit on a higher base salary, with still little or no commission!
Quantifiable benefits of Mobile Sales Tools
OK, enough moaning about the terrible life of Jimmy rep, on the other hand, there are immense productivity gains to be had from well employed use of sales tools.
If your CRM system is implemented in a way that ensures its number one intended beneficiary, the customer, is actually the number one beneficiary, then you will truly reap the rewards on its expenditure. We all have heard the maxim that happy customers, will not only buy more from you, they will also refer you to other customers.
First your customers will be served they way they want to be served. The three key areas where they will benefit are as follows;
* They will enjoy a consistent and excellent level of service, what ever channel they use to interact with your company.
* When they get a visit from either a sales rep or a service engineer, that person will know all about them, and be able to serve them in the best possible manner.
* They will only receive marketing communications, about offerings which are suitable to their requirements, needs or wants.
Meanwhile the sales reps will benefit from tools that enable them to be more productive, and thus earn more commission as follows;
* By having the support of a CRM system and an appropriate sales methodology, they can ensure that success gets repeated and mistakes eliminated.
* Having the ability to use all of the company tools, they do not waste time travelling to the office, and can have all the information at their finger tips, to go straight out to customers. This eliminates wasteful travel time, and gives them more customer face time.
* When their company employs inside sales reps, all information, including appointments generated can be passed to the field sales rep in real-time, to keep their commission earning schedule full.
* Being able to access the latest company information on the road, ensures that the mobile sales rep, can be fully up to date, enabling them to be their customers source of information, forging stronger bonds, which results in increased sales.
* By having access to the company's ordering systems, while being with a customer, facilitates faster and more accurate ordering of what the customer wants, increasing what the customer can buy.
Conclusion
Driving to Cork in a tractor, is about as smart as using a mini to drag load of hay across a field. Selecting the correct tools, with appropriate training and motivation will yield tangible benefits, by delivering increased sales, higher commission and shorter working hours to a good sales rep.
The Job Advert "carrots" of Laptop, PDA, Mobile phone and car, are essential tools of the trade, when backed up by systems that measure and assist in sales rep productivity. When these tools lead to shorter hours and higher commission, then mobile technology will have been used as intended.
Will Sales Technology actually improve your companys Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Lawless's Website.
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Was CRM really about customers?
In the 90's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) was the saviour of the world. With this great tool, customers would be treated the same when they interacted with a company regardless of the channel they used. I could look at a the latest bells and whistles microwave on the web, see it was in stock and go down to my local bricks and mortar version of the same shop and pick one up. I mean it was in stock according to the web wasn't it?
Joe behind the counter would tell me knowingly, that actually that microwave, was not actually on the market yet, and the marketing guys had just got ahead of them selves. All of this as I spied the Joneses from next door walking out with one under the arm! What was more, I actually did not have any money in my account, because jean at the bank had cross sold me the latest critical illness cover, to ensure I could still get paid, even if the intended microwave I wanted to buy blew up in my face!
So why did the reps shun CRM at first?
That was how Joe Public, the humble customer fared with CRM, but did Jimmy Rep on the road feel about CRM. This amazing management tool, to provide nirvana for customers, had actually another great benefit. It meant that rather than spending hours preparing excel spreadsheets for his boss, the sales manger could put all of the onus on Jimmy Rep, who would have to spend hours after each sales call filling in hundreds of meaningless fields, that no-one ever cared about.
And what was more, the filofax in his head, was now no longer his ticket to job hopping pay rises, since the company now owned all of the information about his customers on this database. What was more; they knew where he was, when he tried to sneak off playing golf, and how few sales he really made.
So what did Jimmy Rep do, he did nothing! He forgot to fill in the data, his boss screamed at him, he moved jobs, and started the whole frustrating, non-selling process all over again, albeit on a higher base salary, with still little or no commission!
Quantifiable benefits of Mobile Sales Tools
OK, enough moaning about the terrible life of Jimmy rep, on the other hand, there are immense productivity gains to be had from well employed use of sales tools.
If your CRM system is implemented in a way that ensures its number one intended beneficiary, the customer, is actually the number one beneficiary, then you will truly reap the rewards on its expenditure. We all have heard the maxim that happy customers, will not only buy more from you, they will also refer you to other customers.
First your customers will be served they way they want to be served. The three key areas where they will benefit are as follows;
* They will enjoy a consistent and excellent level of service, what ever channel they use to interact with your company.
* When they get a visit from either a sales rep or a service engineer, that person will know all about them, and be able to serve them in the best possible manner.
* They will only receive marketing communications, about offerings which are suitable to their requirements, needs or wants.
Meanwhile the sales reps will benefit from tools that enable them to be more productive, and thus earn more commission as follows;
* By having the support of a CRM system and an appropriate sales methodology, they can ensure that success gets repeated and mistakes eliminated.
* Having the ability to use all of the company tools, they do not waste time travelling to the office, and can have all the information at their finger tips, to go straight out to customers. This eliminates wasteful travel time, and gives them more customer face time.
* When their company employs inside sales reps, all information, including appointments generated can be passed to the field sales rep in real-time, to keep their commission earning schedule full.
* Being able to access the latest company information on the road, ensures that the mobile sales rep, can be fully up to date, enabling them to be their customers source of information, forging stronger bonds, which results in increased sales.
* By having access to the company's ordering systems, while being with a customer, facilitates faster and more accurate ordering of what the customer wants, increasing what the customer can buy.
Conclusion
Driving to Cork in a tractor, is about as smart as using a mini to drag load of hay across a field. Selecting the correct tools, with appropriate training and motivation will yield tangible benefits, by delivering increased sales, higher commission and shorter working hours to a good sales rep.
The Job Advert "carrots" of Laptop, PDA, Mobile phone and car, are essential tools of the trade, when backed up by systems that measure and assist in sales rep productivity. When these tools lead to shorter hours and higher commission, then mobile technology will have been used as intended.
Will Sales Technology actually improve your companys Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Lawless's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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