sales management pain points: how important is technology to sales management?
TRANSCRIPT
Just How Importantis Technology to Sales Management?Pain Points of Sales Management and How to Overcome Them
Nikolaus Kimla
Email: [email protected]: www.pipelinersales.com
CEO at Pipelinersales Inc.
Written by...
Choosing Technology
Nothing can happen in today's business world without technology. This is no less true for a sales manager or a sales team.
Choosing Technology
A sales manager should pay attention to the CRM technology at use in their company.
2 crucial questions should be asked:
What kind of technology does this sales team need in order to really compete and succeed?
Does the current technology answer the question in “A”, or is new, more modern (or more simple or more powerful) technology required?
A
B
BenefitTechnology should be something that salespeople will love to use,
and that is easy to learn.
FlexibilityNo 2 companies are alike—hence the
technology should be extremely flexible so that it can be rapidly and easily customized to a company’s
requirements.
TurnoverWhen a rep leaves and a new one
comes on board, the new rep must be able to get rapidly up and running
with the technology, and the leads and opportunities from the departed
rep must be rapidly and efficiently turned over to the new rep.
Choosing Technology
ImplementationGetting a technology up and running, and trained in on users, should take
days or, at the very outside,a week or so.
Within Each StageAlong with process stages,
technology must make actions within each stage very easy for salespeople
to follow and accomplish, and for sales
managers to observe.
ProcessesYour technology must be totally and
rapidly adaptable to buyer patters and your company’s processes.
Choosing Technology
Accurate Answers
Technology should assist the sales manager to see that a rep is doingan efficient job, and highlight ways the manager can assist the salesperson
to do an even better job.
Accurate Answers
The sales manager must be able to rapidly tell how many opportunities of what size should be in the pipeline for a rep to close a certain percentageof the quota.
For a sales manager to truly provide help to reps, lead conversion ratios and opportunity closing ratios must be known. That’s the kind of data that is extracted froman empowering CRM solution.
“Speak My Language?”
When evaluating technology, ask this about the companies you are talking to:“Do they speak my language?”
Do they truly understand your pain points, what you are going throughin managing a sales organization?
“Speak My Language?”
CRM applications were originally designed by programmers who perhaps had some understanding of sales, but had never actually “sat in the hot seat.”
At Pipeliner, we are salespeople—and hence Pipeliner is built by salespeople for salespeople. We are keenly aware that it’s not so much the data that you put into CRM, but what you get out of it.
After The StartOnce a technology has been implemented and users trained, now comes the beginning of the story.Now you need to find out: how does this technology perform under real business conditions?It requires thorough testing.
Navigate ComplexityThe technology you chose has to act as navigation through the complexity of today’s sales. Without technology, this won’t happen. And even with the wrong technology, it won’t happen, either.
As a sales manager, make sure that you are choosing the right technology.
NEXT SLIDESHARE IN THIS SERIES: The Pain Point of People
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