It`s been said that technology is the great equalizer. Nowhere is that more true than in the field of sales. The technology available to businesses today allows just one person to accomplish the same amount of work that would have occupied an entire department just a few short years ago.
What`s more, mobile and cloud-based solutions put the tools you need in the palm of your hand… literally. The information that was once stored in rows upon rows of filing cabinets and only accessible in one location is now available 24-hours a day, anywhere in the world.
But how can you use the advancements in computing and automation to your best advantage? How can you use technology to increase productivity? How can you use technology to increase efficiency? How can you use technology to maximize sales productivity? And how can you use technology to work smarter — not harder — while still yielding more sales?
The answer to these questions is simple: Use tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. CRM software suites provide cutting-edge tools that improve every way you do business which, in turn, generates higher profits. How does a software suite make such a big defference to how you do business?
It`s really quit simple and goes back to those question posed earlier. Firstly, the technology creates the leverage that allows you to increase productivity within the sales cycle. This increased productivity leads to increased efficiency, making every aspect of your sales process — communication, prospecting, relationship maintenance, lead generation, closing, etc. - more effective.
Of course, many of the tools we'll be talking about can be found as separate apps but sometimes you need a bit more integration, so that your contact software and your messaging software communicate effectively. That`s where the CRM suite comes in. So whether you choose to use separate apps or get all the tools in a CRM suit, the result should be the same: increased productivity, efficiency, and sales.
Let`s look first at some specific features of CRM software that can help maximize your sales productivity, and then pull back and examine a few larger concepts that can have a massive impact on how you do business.
Contacts
The heart of any good sales process is the contact manager. We`re all familiar with contact management in one form or another but gone are the days of the Rolodex and file folders overflowing with documents. Contact management software brings everything together in one, easy-to-access place. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most important features of any good CRM software suite.
But there's more to it than just bringing everything together. The contact manager should be intuitive, easy to use, and provide all the details you`re looking for in just one or two clicks because the focus should be on improving productivity and efficiency.
With a good contact manager, there`s no more hunting for that piece of information that would make your follow-up great. Everything is right there at your fingertips. And because all the information is readily and easily available, productivity and efficiency increase, allowing you to get more done than ever before.
Messages
The beaty of a CRM software suite is that it contains all the tools you'll need to get the job done quickly… or at least it should. Too often, business settle for an incomplete set of tools and end up substituting their own, third-party tools that don`t quite mesh.
This is often the case with a suite`s massaging system. Businesses look to cut costs by using their own existing messaging system in conjunction with CRM software, only to find that they would have been better served — and would have saved money in the long run — by taking advantage of integrated messaging within the CRM suit.
A good messaging centre is flexible and allows for the transmission of variety of defferent formats. The best suites make it possible to send not just text-based emailes and SMS, but audio and video messages as well. Imagine the impact a video message could have on a potential client who may be used to text-based communication. Your message certainly would stand out, wouldn't it?
Don't think you'll need such advanced messaging features? Don't get stuck in technology catch-up like those "experts" who thought that personal computers and the internet were a waste of business capital. This time, you can be on the cutting edge and use technology to turn leads into sales
Copying of this content is allowed only with reference to the source and indication of the author of TQM systems' material.
based on the product of the Wolves Summit, in which our team has participated
- Контент-маркетолог TQM systems Nataliya Raevskaya
- 6/3/2020 11:57:33 AM
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