Neil Saviano, President of CRM International (one of sales-i’s valued partners), has recently published an article discussing the massive value in ensuring that the technology decisions made by salespeople are the correct ones.
Technology can act as your ‘sales assistant’, coupling a company’s ERP system together with Business Intelligence, CRM, and sales force automation software.
sales-i integrates seamlessly with a number of CRM solutions, including world-leading SugarCRM, Goldmine, salesforce.com, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, to name but a few.
Salespeople must work closely with their ‘sales assistants’ to effectively manage and take action on the plethora of information available. Not only will this allow salespeople to optimize their sales process, but they will also be addressing two key strategic areas:
- the penetration and retention of existing customers
- the development of new customers
The penetration and retention of existing customers…
Neil is a firm believer in the power of these virtual ‘sales assistants’, pulling sales history from an ERP system and integrating this with a CRM program to provide salespeople with the capacity to classify customers based on their buying status and introduce customer segments for effective, targeted strategies.
The development of new customers…
No salesperson can doubt that this is a key strategic area and one that can be heavily enhanced with the use of these ‘sales assistants.’ New customer development is reliant on the consistent touching of prospects at perfectly timed intervals. Consistency of touching stands to provide favorable conversion ratios and, ultimately, more new customers. Automated workflow prevails here, as a key set of tactics within a prospecting process also includes automated tasks such as emails and scheduled activities. These cutting-edge technologies can literally command the salesperson to perform essential. manual activities such as sending a note.
Neil concludes with resounding advocacy for these technologies, stating that the vast amount of information and analytics within sales force automation technologies is essential for any salesperson, but taking action on this information should be a fundamental element of their daily sales process. Companies need to look at their technology mix and make sure their salespeople have the help they need for success to take action and begin fostering the relationships that convert to more business and more income.
