accenture selling-more-with-mobile-solutions

Selling More with Mobile SolutionsBuilding the right strategy, innovation agenda and sales representative experience

| Selling More with Mobile Solutions

As consumer behaviors and preferences dictate enterprise technology trends in unprecedented fashion, companies of all shapes and sizes are struggling with how to effectively enable their sales teams with mobile solutions. The challenges that must be overcome by sales leaders and CIOs alike are threefold: defining a proactive strategy before it is defined by sales representative behavior, continuously innovating by exploiting the newest capabilities of mobile technology, and committing to developing a distinctive sales representative and customer experience. The key to addressing these challenges lies in taking a disciplined approach to mobility. The upside for capitalizing on this opportunity is significant.


The explosion of mobile devices, the increasingly improving wireless network capabilities, and the adoption of cloud technologies in the enterprise have resulted in easy-to-provision and easy-to-use mobile sales tools. In organizations everywhere, sales professionals are writing the mobile strategy, by self-selecting sales tools onto their company-owned and personal mobile devices. While well intentioned, these sales representatives are often making decisions based on personal preference, without regard for company security, data rights, process consistency and total cost of ownership. High performing organizations will need to move quickly in defining a strategy that keeps pace with these trends.

Fueling the behavior is the rate at which mobile and cloud-based CRM technologies are evolving. With smart phones getting smarter, tablets becoming ubiquitous and CRM vendors releasing quarterly enhancements, there is an insatiable demand for new and improved capabilities. The ‘shiny object syndrome’ of mobility is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. High performing organizations will need to show sales representatives a committed path to mobility improvements to quell the demand—and they will need to keep their promise. At the same time, these organizations will need to create a deliberate and well-planned approach that exploits the newest innovations in mobility to solve pressing business challenges.

Perhaps the most important challenge to overcome with mobile sales solutions is the development of a distinctive experience for both the sales representative and the customer that can be proven by

measurable business value. Simply transitioning standard sales force automation functionality to mobile devices underutilizes the technology and by-passes the real potential of mobility. For every basic sales automation capability—account management, contact management, pipeline management, activity management and forecasting—successful mobile solutions can help improve the workflow of the sales professional.

The opportunity for the organizations that effectively capitalize on this growing trend is important. High performing organizations will use mobility to increase deal size, decrease sales cycle timelines and profitably improve sales activity. Additional benefits will include sales representative satisfaction and reduced attrition, improved customer experience, and unprecedented transparency, traceability and predictability for company executives.


Figure 1: Sales forces are using tablets more frequently but without defined policies.

Source: CSO Insights 2012

What percentage of your sales force is currently using tablet devices to support their sales activities?

Which of the following statements best describes your company’s policy towards tablet device usage in sales?

Recognizing employee preference for mobile devices, organizations are exploring initiatives using smart phones, and increasingly tablets, to achieve core objectives such as improving productivity or mobile-enabling sales representatives. The introduction of the Apple iPad in 2010 further spurred this activity, adding to the question about how tablet devices would be used for business transactions. Now the answer is emerging: tablets are quickly becoming the de-facto enablement device for mobile workforces. Gartner corroborates this by predicting that by 2014 as many as 20 percent of sales organizations will consider tablets to be the primary mobile platform for their sales forces.1

The Mobile-Enabled Sales Professional is the “New Normal”

As further substantiation, according to the CSO Insights 2012 Sales Performance Optimization Study, which is sponsored by Accenture, 97 percent of firms are actively using or starting to use tablet devices in their sales organization.2 (See Figure 1.) This number has increased significantly since only one year ago, when only 45 percent of survey respondents had provided their sales forces with mobile-enabled sales capabilities.3 However, nearly half of the organizations surveyed in 2012 do not yet have a formal program around tablet usage.4 (See Figure 1.)

<10%31.3%

10-25%31.3%

26-50%12.5%

51-75%9.4%

Do not know3.1%

Formal program41.9%

We have no program22.6%

We are starting a program25.8%

Informal program9.7.9%

>75%12.5%

Innovations in Sales—Exploiting the ‘Cutting Edge’ of Mobility

Improved representative effectivenessOne leading company is considering leveraging location-based services to notify sales representative when they are near an account where they owe a follow up. Driving more timely and consistent follow through can lift the performance of the sales teams, increase customer satisfaction and help to improve sales.

New levels of flexibilityA leading global pharmaceutical company is redesigning its traditional sales tools for tablet devices to create new levels of role and geographic flexibility. By disaggregating the individual functions into smaller, bite-sized functions, the company can use one common sales force automation platform to deploy different combinations of sales force tools to different types of sales representatives across the globe.

Locating nearby opportunitiesA leading telecommunications company is taking advantage of location-based services on Apple iPads to show nearby opportunities and unclaimed leads. With this information in hand, representatives can take advantage of downtime between sales calls to prospect qualified leads that are in close proximity.

Remote presenceSeveral high-tech companies are exploiting the connectivity and rich media capabilities of tablets by implementing live video conferencing to enable their sales representatives to bring remote subject matter specialists directly into the customer conversation. In this case, mobility is making it possible for the sales representative to deliver answers at the point of need and minimize follow-up work.

Richer customer dialogueA number of companies are exploring ways to make sales representatives’ conversations more interactive and engaging by using a tablet’s touch screen

capabilities to deliver content. For example, the instant-on capabilities of the Apple iPad make it easier for sales representatives to launch quickly into customer presentations. In addition, tablets can deliver rich, interactive media based on customers’ preferences as they select content that is directly relevant to them. This might include collaboratively building a customer’s quote or proposal in real time, or viewing a customer’s order history to answer questions during the meeting.

Real-time order placementAn organization is enhancing the use of its existing enterprise systems by building a front-facing ordering application for the Apple iPad. The application leverages the 24x7 connectivity of tablets and allows sales representatives to place a customer order immediately after making the sale. This makes it possible for the organization to realize revenue more quickly and allows the sales representative to confirm orders with customers on the spot.


Figure 2: The introduction of tablets is changing computing behavior. Mobile devices will be a part of a long-term sales enablement strategy. To effectively enable sales team with mobile solutions, sales leaders and their technology partners have their work cut out for them.

Define a proactive strategy to meet the opportunity, and equally the challenge, of quick user adoptionHow do companies balance strategy with speed? In the past, organizations deploying new, application-centric technologies to the sales team typically have been challenged with mediocre user adoption. Tablets, however, with their unique user-friendly nature, are bucking this trend; the hardware is promoting adoption of once-scorned CRM software, and altering how sales representatives divide their work time. As shown in Figure 2, a Gartner study of a large sales force found that representatives were spending 20 percent more computing time per day when they used a tablet, a smart phone and a laptop, as opposed to a smart phone and laptop alone, to execute the same or similar activities.5

This preference for tablets bodes well for organizations, giving them the opportunity to drive higher sales process and methodology adoption rates for sales forces deploying mobile sales force automation. Higher adoption of these tools can result in more consistent sales processes, increased sales productivity, and improved predictability and management insights. These are the potential benefits that sales tools should drive, but today often fail to do so given low user adoption.

Rising to the Challenge

3.5 hrs./day

Laptop

Device

Laptop

Smartphone

An example:

As reported by mobiles sales force workers.

Sessions

7

26

Duration

24.0 minutes

1.5 minutes

Tablet

4.2 hrs./day

SmartphoneLaptop Smartphone

Device

Laptop

Tablet

Smartphone

Sessions

4

12

19

Duration

36.0 minutes

7.0 minutes

1.2 minutes

However, the rapid pace of adoption also poses a challenge for sales and sales operations leaders. According to recent research by Morgan Stanley, sales representatives are increasingly using their own tablets to access sales tools, store customer and account information, and manage sales activities—and it is happening quickly.6 (See Figure 3.) In many cases, sales organizations do not have line of sight or control of this activity. Instead, sales teams are defining the mobility strategy organically.

Source: Gartner, June 2011

Figure 3: The number of employee-owned tablets used in the enterprise doubled in one year.

CIOs Surveyed on Tablet Usage

Not Allowed

An example:

Employee-owned Purchased for employees

33% 16% 51%

71% 8% 21%

Without an intentional and well-planned strategy, this ‘Wild West’ approach to mobile device usage can create issues for both the sales and technology teams to overcome. These issues include:

•Adoptionratesforthesalestoolsmightclimb, but utilization of important aspects such as activity management may plummet, with sales representatives capturing and managing their activities, follow-up, and notes on their independent smart phone or tablet applications.

•Withtheavailabilityandeaseofinstallation of small, independent mobile sales applications, representatives may even download other sales productivity tools, creating an uncontrolled plethora of tools being used by representatives across the organization.

•Withcustomerdatabeingaccessedandstored on mobile devices at the edge of the network, information security issues can put organizations at risk if unsecured devices are lost, stolen or used improperly—giving rise to possible legal and other risks.

To help mitigate these potential risks, sales organizations should take control of their mobile strategy by defining a deliberate plan, and working closely with technology and information security counterparts. These risks are possible to overcome and should promote, rather than stifle, innovation. Additional device questions to answer include: Who will own the device—the organization or the individual sales representative? How can companies verify mobile devices are both accessible

and connected in emerging markets? What happens when a sales representative leaves the company? How do organizations deliver a consistent experience to representatives, regardless of their chosen device? Should companies standardize on a single platform or allow many? High performing organizations have answered these questions as part of an enterprise mobile technology strategy, collaborating with sales leadership and CIOs to lead to a successful path forward.

Source: Morgan Stanley, 2011


Figure 4: CRM implementations do not always deliver desired results. Continuous innovation defines the winnersThe rate at which tablet devices, cloud computing and social media are evolving represents a new paradigm. In response, high performers commit and undertake an agenda of continuous improvement, and opt for speed and agility over completeness and perfection. The best companies recognize that technology is stale almost from the moment it is launched, and that sales representatives’ behaviors are changing at an unprecedented pace. These organizations choose to embrace the challenge and focus on a promise of ongoing, rapid innovation. (See sidebar entitled “Innovations in Sales—Exploiting the Cutting Edge of Mobility” for examples of how companies are pursuing mobility sales solutions.)

Organizations can help enable this new approach to sales by maintaining a relentless focus on what is new about mobility for today, and by staying ahead of the curve for what the future holds. Key aspects of this innovation agenda include:

Bring innovation for today It would be unproductive for organizations to simply re-enable sales representatives with current sales force automation functionality and stop there, but it is tempting for companies to do this by piloting mobile devices without exploiting any of the leading-edge features that mobility has to offer. These efforts fall short of expected return on investment, while burdening the sales force with additional tasks and unwieldy tools that do not drive results.

Case in point, implementing new CRM tools was a top priority initiative for more than 40 percent of chief sales officers surveyed for CSO Insights 2012. Unfortunately, only 17 percent of respondents indicated that previous CRM implementations had improved win rates and only slightly more

What measurable improvements in performance are you seeing as a result of implementing your CRM system?

Improved Sales Rep/Manager Communications

Improved Forecast Accuracy

Reduced Administrative Burden on Sales

Reduced New Sales Rep Ramp-up Time

Improved Support of Channels

Improved Best Practices Sharing

Improved Order Processing Accuracy

Improved Win Rates

Other

Increased Revenues

Shortened Sell Cycles

Increased Margins

57.4%

47.1%

35.3%

22.8%

19.9%

19.1%

17.6%

16.9%

15.4%

15.4%

11.8%

3.7%

than 15 percent responded that these implementations resulted in increased revenues.7 (See Figure 4.)

Investing in re-enabling sales force functionality on a tablet device can be exciting and is often justified with softer benefits such as convenience, connectedness and portability. However, mobility technology brings some truly new capabilities such as location-based services, 24x7 connectivity, richer and more interactive media presentation, and emerging technologies like QR codes and near-field communications. High performing companies will figure out ways to exploit these capabilities in order to solve their most important business challenges.

Continue innovation for tomorrowThere are many new capabilities on the horizon for mobility that will continue to drive change in how sales organizations will use mobile tools. For example, near-field communications will allow mobile devices to physically pass information between each other. In the future, consumers may see an advertisement for a product and touch it with their phone, generating a real-time, ‘hot’ lead sent immediately to the nearest sales representative based on the location as determined by their mobile device.

Source: CSO Insights 2012

Why Sales Representatives Typically Hate their Sales ToolsMore often than not, sales representatives consider their sales force automation tools to be a burden. Why? Business author and thought leader Tammy Erickson has some possible answers in her Harvard Business Review post that examines why organizations may fail to get employees to adopt social media tools:

•“Oftenweareinstructedtouse it by someone in authority, rather than invited by friends.

•Littleofwhatweactuallygetpaid to do (or believe we get paid to do) requires information or input from the vast majority of other people on the network.

•Participationfeelslikedroppingpearls into a black hole. There is often no sense of getting something in return for sharing an idea or suggestion.

•Wehavenocontroloverwhosees our information and little idea what ‘they’ are doing with it.

•Thesiteisunattractiveandrequires a manual to get started.

•Thesoftwareisgenericandrequires a work-around to do the specific things we would really like to do.8

These adoption issues run parallel to the reasons why sales representatives often do not like to use sales tools built by the sales organization. When implementing mobile sales tools, organizations can avoid these pitfalls by providing value directly to sales representatives at every interaction with the sales tool.


These kinds of innovations will drive appreciable new opportunities for sales organizations.Leadingorganizationswillnot only exploit what is new about mobility now, but will also build a culture and process that encourages continuous and iterative innovation as the technology develops.

Commit to a distinctive, value-led experience To help improve sales effectiveness through mobility, sales organizations need to focus on creating a unique and productive experience for sales representatives that directly improves their workflow, while also adding value to the customer dialogue and interaction. Developing this distinctive, value-led experience for both sides can result in immediate and long-term payoffs as companies will be able to sell more profitably in a shorter amount of time. Achieving this dual purpose with mobility requires sales executives to:

Ensure sales tools provide clear value directly to the sales representativeMany organizations have deployed CRM solutions with the intent to collect information from the sales tools, and provide business insight to executive-level management and headquarter processes. Information collected from the sales force is often used to drive more accurate pipelines and forecasting, provide better customer and offering insights for marketing, or round out activity and performance management data.

Unfortunately, this approach has a downside: low adoption of the CRM tools by the sales force, as they see these tools as only data capture avenues for management. (See sidebar entitled “Why Sales Representatives Typically Hate their Sales Tools.”) To reduce this risk, some companies have made sales representative adoption metrics part of the performance management process. However, using the ‘stick instead of the carrot’ typically has failed to yield the benefit sought by either the organization or an individual sales representative.

High performing organizations will take a different route and focus on how their mobile sales force automation tools can provide direct value to the sales representatives themselves. For every input sales representatives are asked to provide, they should get a useful and tangible output from the sales tool. For example, if recording a follow-up task for a customer enabled the mobile device to alert a representative when near an account with an overdue task, the representative would be more likely to use the task functionality. Providing this distinctive sales representative experience is an important piece of an effective mobility sales program.

Enrich the customer experienceWe often hear that sales representatives can be accused of talking too much, and not spending enough time understanding customer issues and business needs. An interactive mobile platform can help the sales representative follow a balanced approach of assessing a customer’s needs, and presenting the features and potential benefits of an offering.

The rich media and real-time connectivity capabilities of mobile devices help sales representatives to use the mobile device as the facilitator to the conversation. Representatives can use a tablet together with the customer to configure solutions in real time, review pricing options and capture signatures to close deals. In addition, they can leverage video technology to include remote participants who may offer specific experience. And with a constant connection to the underlying CRM systems, sales representatives can also answer questions about cases or order status in real time.

For the broader sales organization, an Internet-connected mobile device can instantly aggregate data across multiple sales conversations to help companies identify best practices, refine sales processes and methodologies, or review marketing content and overall go-to-market strategies. Organizations can also collect voice-of-the-customer data from how the customer is actually interacting with the sales representative and the mobile device, rather than gathering it anecdotally from the sales representative.

Many organizations find themselves enamored with mobility. They want to try the ‘shiny new object’ and jump into smart phone and tablet pilots, or full implementations, without adequately defining the purpose and proceeding with discipline to deliver value.

Focusing on the following success factors to plan and implement a mobility strategy will help organizations to successfully deliver a distinctive experience with tangible business value:

Enable process with technology to help achieve strategic objectivesAsGaryW.LovemanoftheHarvardBusiness School aptly observed: “Gains come not because of technology, but because it supports breakthrough ideas in business process.” This axiom serves true with mobility; deploying tablets alone will not improve sales execution, which Accenture defines as the planning, design and implementation of selling methods, sales and sales supporting processes,enabled with appropriate selling tools. Determining where mobility fits into the overall sales execution approach is a critical component for achieving measurable results.

Organizations can begin their mobility initiative by establishing a strategy with a clear definition of the targeted benefits and a focus on overcoming the challenges outlined above. Sales leadership should have a crisp understanding of which mobile capabilities will be truly new, and how these capabilities will deliver value both across the enterprise and to individual sales representatives.

Take a Disciplined Approach to Mobility

Integrate with current CRM toolsIf new mobile tools are deployed to the sales force without investing in integration with current CRM tools, the sales representative experience will fail to meet expectations. This lack of integration can result in lower mobile tool utilization, which will limit the value gained and set a perception among the sales force that can be difficult to overcome in subsequent efforts.

Ensuring that mobile tools fit into a seamless sales representative experience is critical to the potential success of any mobile sales enablement initiative expected to deliver tangible outcomes. To do this, organizations will need to understand the mobile strategy and roadmap of the sales force automation vendor that will be used. In some cases, an off-the-shelf solution will meet the core needs of the sales force and can be fully integrated with other tools. However, there will likely be differences in timing as well as role- or function-specific needs for which companies will have to build custom tools. In these cases, organizations should factor integration efforts into the solution plan.

|Selling More with Mobile Solutions

Mobile solutions have the potential to create dramatic benefits for a sales organization. Effectively planning and then executing a strategy that is focused on the sales representative and customer experience, through alignment with existing process, methodologies and technology, is critical to help drive success.

As smartphones and tablets evolve, CRM and cloud technologies become more powerful, and consumer behaviors continue to drive enterprise innovation, the opportunity for defining a mobile-enabled sales strategy has never been greater.

Summary

References1 Gartner, “iPads: Customer-Facing Selling Will Drive iPad Use for Sales,” May 20, 2011, by Robert P. Desisto, ID: G00213136.

2 CSO Insights 2012 Sales Performance Optimization Study



5 Gartner, “Enterprise Applications for Tablets,” June 13, 2011, by Scott D. Nelson and David A. Willis, ID: G00214074

6 Morgan Stanley, “Tablet Demand and Disruption,” February 14, 2011


8 Harvard Business Review, HBR Blog Network, “Why We Use Social Media in OurPersonalLives—ButNotforWork,”February 16, 2012, by Tamara J. Erickson

Contact Us:For more information about the Accenture Sales Mobility offering and how Accenture can help your organization improve sales with mobility, visit Accenture.com or contact:

Yusuf Tayob Partner, Accenture Sales Execution and Enablement [email protected]

Ray Pressburger AccentureSalesMobilityOfferingLead [email protected]

About the Accenture Sales Mobility OfferingThe Accenture Sales Mobility offering provides clients with a good perspective on where to focus sales mobility efforts to help to maximize value and solve the sales organization’s challenges. We have an array of assets, including:

•Pre-designedsalesmobilitysolutions•Mobilesaleseffectivenessframework•Collaborationswithsalesforce

automation providers.

The Accenture Sales Mobility offering is backed by the CRM and sales enablement experience of Accenture’s global Sales Transformation and Mobility Services practices.

About the Accenture Sales Transformation PracticeThe Accenture Sales Transformation Practice helps sales executives improve sales performance by realigning strategic resources, managing sales force behavior, harnessing sales talent and enhancing operating capabilities. We help companies improve outcomes across a wide spectrum―such as refocusing from sales volume to sales margin, shifting from selling products to selling solutions, and creating efficiencies in the sales cycle― to drive change in leading indicators of improved revenue.

About Accenture Mobility ServicesAccenture is focused on helping its clients to achieve breakthrough growth throughout the rapidly changing mobile ecosystem. The Accenture Mobility Services group offers five mobility services including consulting, software services—applications, software services— devices and platforms, managed services, and business integration services. These are designed to help organizations embrace business to employee (B2E), business to consumer (B2C), business to business (B2B) and machine to machine (M2M) business opportunities. Accenture offers mobility and embedded software services across a wide range of industries, devices and platforms, including Symbian, Microsoft® Windows® Mobile, Windows® Phone, Android™, Blackberry®, iPhone®, Java™,LinuxandMeeGo™.

About AccentureAccenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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