One of the most egregious things that companies do to hamstring their sales efforts is having numerous computer software systems that do not inter-operate; they don't speak to each other.
Let's assume for a moment that it's true* that there isn't one system that you can use in your company that can:
• automate the sales process (CRM)
• send and receive e-mail,
• calendar, and
• track customer and product information for your particular widget.
Even if that's true, there's no reason on God's green earth why you would consider saddling your sales reps (or internal staff for that matter) with software that can't share data. It's 2007 for god's sake!!
I'm sure there are some companies that have it together, but judging from what I see every day, there's not many. A company I'm working with right now uses a CRM system and Lotus Notes. While these two programs can share contacts and appointments (not automatically mind you; you have to specifically force the link and the procedure is different in each program), neither of them can share data with the separate customer/product database**. In other words, once someone actually buys a product, their data and product specs go into this separate silo never to be linked with the sales CRM system or Notes again, unless someone does it manually.
Cross sell much? What happens if you want to sell them something else, or the contact person changes, or they move? Again, it's 2007 - how can you not deploy a unified customer/client database that is one central depository for prospects, clients and their current or future product information?
And I'm not saying this because it sounds like a nice thing to do. Not doing so wastes time and resources, is costing you sales and is frustrating your sales force.
If you want to maximize sales, you should get with the program. It's 2007.
* and I don't believe this is true in 95% of companies. Software can be customized to handle just about any configuration of any product. This process is further aggravated because firms often don't deploy the latest versions or all the capabilities of software they have.
** not to mention the issues with mobile electronics which sync only with Notes, so you've got to remember to sync everything twice (CRM to Notes, Notes to Blackberry) before and after every outing.
Showing posts with label revenue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revenue. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Everybody knows Sales, right?
Everybody knows Salespeople – they’re everywhere, and everybody thinks they know what Salespeople do. Now your experience with Salespeople probably depends on what sort of experiences you’ve had with them. Everybody’s got a Bad Car Salesperson experience, and a boring Insurance Salesperson experience and I’m pretty sure nobody likes telemarketers. Having been in Sales for a really long time, I dislike sleazy Sales folks as much as, maybe more than, the next guy. But if you deal with professional Salespeople in your working life you know that Sales is what makes the business world go ‘round.
In business, the problem is that everybody knows Salespeople, but very few people who aren’t in Sales don’t know what Salespeople really do. Since, as someone much smarter than me once said, “Nothing happens in business until someone sells something”, not knowing how that happens is a problem.
If you went to Business School, you learned about lots of interesting things and one of those things was Revenue (often referred to as the “Top Line”) and obviously, Profit (the “Bottom Line”) and one of the big items between those two Lines is something called the “Cost of Sales”. Now your Salesforce isn’t all of that line item but it can be, and usually is, a big chunk. My question (and Tom Peter’s question and a bunch of other folks question) is – since the Sales job is both the major driver of Revenue and a large chunk of Cost, how come they don’t take more time explaining what, exactly, the job of Sales is? And I don’t mean “the job of Sales is to produce Revenue”, I mean “what do Salespeople do and how does one help them better produce Revenue”. I mean if, as a businessperson, your job is to maximize Revenue & Profits, how can you not know, intimately, how those things are produced?
This blog is an outline of a textbook that will attempt to rectify some of the shortcomings of the b-school curriculum by providing a firm appreciation of what Salespeople bring to an organization.
Because, like it or not, businesses live or die by the sales force.
In business, the problem is that everybody knows Salespeople, but very few people who aren’t in Sales don’t know what Salespeople really do. Since, as someone much smarter than me once said, “Nothing happens in business until someone sells something”, not knowing how that happens is a problem.
If you went to Business School, you learned about lots of interesting things and one of those things was Revenue (often referred to as the “Top Line”) and obviously, Profit (the “Bottom Line”) and one of the big items between those two Lines is something called the “Cost of Sales”. Now your Salesforce isn’t all of that line item but it can be, and usually is, a big chunk. My question (and Tom Peter’s question and a bunch of other folks question) is – since the Sales job is both the major driver of Revenue and a large chunk of Cost, how come they don’t take more time explaining what, exactly, the job of Sales is? And I don’t mean “the job of Sales is to produce Revenue”, I mean “what do Salespeople do and how does one help them better produce Revenue”. I mean if, as a businessperson, your job is to maximize Revenue & Profits, how can you not know, intimately, how those things are produced?
This blog is an outline of a textbook that will attempt to rectify some of the shortcomings of the b-school curriculum by providing a firm appreciation of what Salespeople bring to an organization.
Because, like it or not, businesses live or die by the sales force.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
