BGS Customer Relationship Management Chapter 9 CRM Technology and Sales Chapter 9 CRM Technology and Sales Thomson Publishing 2007 All Rights Reserved

Technology and Sales

What is the Relationship between Technology and Sales? Current communication and data management technology is essential to sales performance. To achieve objectives, sales organizations must increase their productivity. SFA enables sales performance. – Sales force automation (SFA) is the acronym in CRM that describes the relationship between sales and technology

What is the Relationship between Technology and Sales? At the core of sales force automation is the management of – Accounts – Contacts – Opportunities – Selling activities – Sales operations Automation is possible because of the creation of a new generation of portable personal hardware.

What is the Relationship between Technology and Sales? Today’s sales professionals are – Better connected – Better prepared – More involved in the decision making In order to provide value, salespeople must – Provide customers insight – Otherwise…. competition degenerates to pricing for differentiation.

What is the Relationship between Technology and Sales? Technology requires salespeople to work on an expedited customer schedule – Measured in hours not days! CRM solutions have been developed to provide salespeople with – Timely information – Access to sales materials – Visibility of field problems at headquarters Sales force automation is the heart of a CRM system for sales organizations.

What is Sales Force Automation (SFA)? SFA is the automating of specific sales tasks customarily done manually. – According to Gartner Research, it is likely that only 25 percent of (U.S.) sales organizations will have a documented sales technology strategy to increase sales productivity through the year 2006.

Who is Using SFA? The companies that have adopted CRM are driving the sales innovation curve, while at the same time increasing profitability. The adoption of CRM and SFA will be a requirement for businesses to remain competitive in the future.

Why are SFA Tools Important? 1 Rep X 50 Contacts X 12 month = 600/Year X 15 Years = 5000 Contacts 50 Contacts600 Contacts 5000 Contacts Figure 9.1

What About Older Sales Representatives? If older sales representatives are very experienced and have extensive contact databases, why then is the trend toward termination of older employees? Boomers X’ers Millennials

Trends in Sales

Customers and Information

CRM as a Bridge If salespeople do not record information in a CRM system, how will account data be effectively transferred?

What about Data Collection? The point of CRM is to allow proper management of customers – Regardless of the individual involved Part of the reluctance of salespeople to divulge complete account information is – The insight they input may allow other salespeople to replace them – The data may have taken years to accumulate – Who owns the data? – This issue is grounds for perhaps both an ethical and moral debate.

Sales Communication

Who Are the Participants in Sales Communication? Headquarters Internal sales organizations Sales managers Customer service

What are the tools of SFA? Networks – Hard wired networks WANS LANS

Wireless Networks Figure 9.2

What Are the Tools of SFA?

Hardware – Computers Speed Flexibility Storage capacity

What Are the Tools of SFA? Hardware – PDAs are truly remarkable sales tools. These devices offer a variety of services Wireless telephone service access Contact and calendar management Blue tooth networking GPS navigation CRM connection

What Are the Tools of SFA? Hardware – Telephones VOIP -The process is called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and involves placing telephone calls through a network generally used to serve Internet data.

CRM Systems and Sales Force Automation Applications CRM systems for sales – Major CRM suppliers in the enterprise space are: – CRM providers in the on-demand market include:

CRM Systems and SFA

CRM Systems and Sales Force Automation Applications While the elements of a system are common, sales force automation must be customized depending on the dynamics of the selling situation and the particulars of the industry. Factors to consider are – Selling organization size – Nature of the sales activity – Buyer interaction required – Complexity of the sale – Competition

CRM Systems and Sales Force Automation Applications In a transaction-oriented sales environment, the focus of sales force automation is on lead generation and on sales opportunity management or pipeline management. – In more complex sales environments, such as the sale of a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners using many matrix sales teams, the needs are focused on selling solutions, including Contact management Contract management Sales operations Reporting Analytics

Sales Management’s Responsibilities It is sales management’s responsibility to ensure participation in and performance of the CRM system. – The sales manager controls and motivates his or her organization through reviewing activity in the system in the following areas Lead management Sales opportunities Key account activity Territory management

Sales Management’s Dashboard Dashboard

Contacts Contact database

Contacts and Calendars Calendars

Contacts and Calendars The ability to review availability of key managers and to schedule a meeting quickly is important to making progress against business objectives. – Contact and calendar management provides salespeople in the field the same access to decision makers as those employees working at headquarters.

Sales Prospects Prospects

Sales Analytics

CRM Sales Analytics Analytics are the means by which we evaluate the success of the CRM effort. – We use a number of performance metrics to conclude successful CRM implementation. In reference to the sales function We measure sales force usage of the system Accuracy in forecasting Ability to manage operations Allocation of sales resources

The Heart of Sales and CRM Analytics are the heart of any CRM system. The immediate availability of sales data following input is what makes CRM so valuable.

The Heart of Sales and CRM Two measurements are critical – Opportunities won or lost – Pipeline The information reported in these two displays reveals the capability of the salesperson involved, or the quality of their competition.

Forecasting Obviously, the forecasting function is the foundation for production, inventory, warehousing, and logistic functions. – The financing and profitability of any company is therefore dependent upon sales forecasting. – A CRM system is essential in monitoring this volume schedule and becomes more important as the scale of the task increases regionally, nationally, and globally.

Forecasting CRM helps pipeline management by providing: – More accurate forecasting – Early indication of erroneous elements within the forecast – A comparison of territories, regions, and nations with regard to past trends and business history – The ability to track all individual forecast changes by individual

Data Integrity and Quality The effectiveness of any CRM system is dependent upon the quality of the data stored in the system.

Dashboards The dashboard has two metrics that identify CRM acceptance – System usage – Areas within the CRM system accessed by each salesperson

Dashboards The dashboard also provides management with key performance metrics to evaluate a salesperson’s performance individually, within their peer group, and across the company. Some important measurement metrics can be seen on the example of a CRM dashboard posted on salesforce.com’s web site. Those analytical measures exposed are – Sales volume, which can be expressed in units, dollars (or local currency) – Open Deals- Top Five sales opportunities (for example) – Sales Leads - Source of prospect by quantity – Key Account – A review of sales by key account – Open Cases – A review of customer service issues and resolutions – Pipeline – A forecast of upcoming sales by type, by month – Sales Activity – a review of sales activity by source

Pipeline The pipeline graphic utilizes data input into the forecasting module of CRM. – Best estimate – Each sale is assigned a probability-estimated closing date. – The net forecast results from committed cases – Individual forecasts combine to comprise a regional forecast and then regions for national pipeline estimates.

Campaign Management Campaign management helps sales professionals plan, develop, and deliver major account promotional programs and informational efforts.

Product Information

Single Location for Product Information CRM systems provide salespeople a single source for a variety of sales needs, including – Specifications – Design – Pricing – Collateral materials – Company documents – Products purchased

Single Location for Product Information Using the CRM system as a single source of information can save hours of time for salespeople to – Collect information – Reduce huge inventories of collateral materials – Ensure the use of only current information

E-Catalogues Electronic catalogues maintained within CRM systems provide salespeople access to the latest source of product and pricing information. – Online catalogues ensure accuracy, flexibility, and greater control of pricing information. – Pricing exceptions are better controlled and system acceptance of pricing changes accepted only with management involvement.

E-Catalogues

Collateral Materials CRM improves the efficiency of many business operations. The ordering and distribution of collateral materials is far more efficient when handled in a CRM environment.

Project Tracking In a CRM system, you can automatically track the progress of any sales project.

Questions?