Automating Your Sales Processes For Success
Automating Your Sales Processes For Success
Since accidents don’t happen often enough, we have to rely on processes to be successful. Therefore, a Sales Process needs to be defined and implemented so that each sales rep, telemarketing activity, and marketing program performs at the most effective level, thus increasing their success. A Sales Process defines the methodologies for which steps need to be taken, and repeated, to move the process along the sales path toward a purchase. It also includes the methods for qualifying a prospect, listening to the prospect’s needs, analyzing alternatives, and presenting the appropriate solutions so the prospect will want to purchase from you. Therefore, you should develop Sales Processes and methodologies to increase your success. Along with this, you should also provide ample sales training so your teams will understand these new processes and methodologies. The training should also help them understand why the processes exist, how the processes will benefit them, and how to use and implement them.
Once you have your Sales Processes defined, you can look toward technology as a tool to implement and deploy them. There are many sales automation, contact management, and CRM products available today. However, simply choosing the right product will not guarantee success. Remember that technology is used to deploy your Sales Processes and CRM strategy, not drive them.
The right CRM product should replicate your best sales practices. Thus, first understand what your best practices are. If you don’t have any best practices, or what you have is insufficient, then develop them. Then use technology to deploy and replicate them. By designing your product around your processes and successful methodologies, your weaker sales and telemarketing reps will become more successful. Your stronger reps will become more efficient. And, your new reps will have a reduced learning curve since they will have the pre-defined steps for success and a tool to make them more readily effective.
Since there is a lot to consider in choosing a CRM product, be sure to evaluate multiple vendors. Develop specs and give them to the vendors to prove they can meet your criteria, now and in the future. The product you choose should grow and expand with your company and with your future plans. Thus, having a Sales Process and CRM strategy defined and documented at this stage will be critical so you know where you’ll want to be in the future.
The right CRM product should not only handle the obvious functions such as; contact management, calendar events, scheduling, mail merge, and email management, but it should also be able to run your marketing campaigns, handle your forecasting, share information with everyone in your business whether local or remote, and much more. A good CRM product can, in effect, run your company's sales, marketing and support functions.
Finally, as with anything that is powerful and sophisticated, be sure to use specialists to help with both the planning and the implementation phases. Their experience and expertise will prove to be invaluable to your success since you won't end up wasting a lot of time re-learning what experts already know, nor wind up heading down the wrong path or over your head.
Having a Sales Process is akin to having an architect’s plan for a new house. Without one, all the best tools money can buy won’t build the house you want. You need to first have a plan, then buy the right tools to start building. A business, like a house, is best built with a good up-front plan and a strong foundation.
Good Luck & Good Selling!
Russ Lombardo
russ@PeakSalesConsulting.com
702-655-5652
Automating Your Sales Processes For Success - To learn more about this author, visit Russ Lombardo's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
There's a lot of talk about using technology to automate your sales force, telemarketing, and/or marketing activities, as well as to help your business improve it's customer relationships, or what is commonly known as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). No doubt, technology can help any business become more efficient and effective. Purchasing technology alone will not, however, improve sales and marketing performance. It will only allow you to accomplish poor habits more quickly. Sales occur either by “Process” or by “Accident”. An accident happens when a sale comes along that is basically a surprise and wasn’t expected. For instance, a client calls you and says she needs one thousand of your widgets immediately, otherwise she will lose her budget for next year. A Sales Process, on the other hand, is a step-by-step procedure that is executed for each potential customer (or prospect) in order to get her into a position to want to purchase your product or service.
Since accidents don’t happen often enough, we have to rely on processes to be successful. Therefore, a Sales Process needs to be defined and implemented so that each sales rep, telemarketing activity, and marketing program performs at the most effective level, thus increasing their success. A Sales Process defines the methodologies for which steps need to be taken, and repeated, to move the process along the sales path toward a purchase. It also includes the methods for qualifying a prospect, listening to the prospect’s needs, analyzing alternatives, and presenting the appropriate solutions so the prospect will want to purchase from you. Therefore, you should develop Sales Processes and methodologies to increase your success. Along with this, you should also provide ample sales training so your teams will understand these new processes and methodologies. The training should also help them understand why the processes exist, how the processes will benefit them, and how to use and implement them.
Once you have your Sales Processes defined, you can look toward technology as a tool to implement and deploy them. There are many sales automation, contact management, and CRM products available today. However, simply choosing the right product will not guarantee success. Remember that technology is used to deploy your Sales Processes and CRM strategy, not drive them.
The right CRM product should replicate your best sales practices. Thus, first understand what your best practices are. If you don’t have any best practices, or what you have is insufficient, then develop them. Then use technology to deploy and replicate them. By designing your product around your processes and successful methodologies, your weaker sales and telemarketing reps will become more successful. Your stronger reps will become more efficient. And, your new reps will have a reduced learning curve since they will have the pre-defined steps for success and a tool to make them more readily effective.
Since there is a lot to consider in choosing a CRM product, be sure to evaluate multiple vendors. Develop specs and give them to the vendors to prove they can meet your criteria, now and in the future. The product you choose should grow and expand with your company and with your future plans. Thus, having a Sales Process and CRM strategy defined and documented at this stage will be critical so you know where you’ll want to be in the future.
The right CRM product should not only handle the obvious functions such as; contact management, calendar events, scheduling, mail merge, and email management, but it should also be able to run your marketing campaigns, handle your forecasting, share information with everyone in your business whether local or remote, and much more. A good CRM product can, in effect, run your company's sales, marketing and support functions.
Finally, as with anything that is powerful and sophisticated, be sure to use specialists to help with both the planning and the implementation phases. Their experience and expertise will prove to be invaluable to your success since you won't end up wasting a lot of time re-learning what experts already know, nor wind up heading down the wrong path or over your head.
Having a Sales Process is akin to having an architect’s plan for a new house. Without one, all the best tools money can buy won’t build the house you want. You need to first have a plan, then buy the right tools to start building. A business, like a house, is best built with a good up-front plan and a strong foundation.
Good Luck & Good Selling!
Russ Lombardo
russ@PeakSalesConsulting.com
702-655-5652
Automating Your Sales Processes For Success - To learn more about this author, visit Russ Lombardo's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
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 |
|||
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 |
|||
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 |
|||
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 |
|||
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 |
|||
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 |
|||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
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 |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Russ's articles
 |
|
Sales Guru Online - A collection of articles, links, tips, opinions, etc about sales and selling techniques from the Sales Guru himself, Russ Lombardo.
|
|
 |
 |
|
Listening Skills by Russ Lombardo - Sample from a training course on Listening Skills from the Sales Snippets collection of Sales Training Courses. Presented by EvanCarmichael.com expert Russ Lombardo.
|
|
|
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Crazy Busy Make Attitude Your Ally Internet Marketing Campaigns Addictive Entrepreneurship Leadership 2.0 |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
 |
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||