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People from my generation might remember the expression about the early bird getting the worm. Used to be that salespeople literally got up early, hit the road and started visiting clients. These days, things have changed. So how do you become an early bird in the computer era? One way is to adopt trending technologies, like cloud computing, that will enable your sales team to close deals with mobile CRM software.
Get the edge on the competition with fast response. It’s no longer enough to provide a good product or service at a competitive price; you have to be first, or one of the first, on the scene of the sale. Now that we can express ourselves with the click of a button or a mouse, and can change our Facebook status to reflect every change in mood, customers want things quickly. If they don’t get a fast response, they’ll move on. Heck, even the President of the United States relies on his BlackBerry for fast communication.
By equipping the sales force with mobile CRM software, they get full access to all the data needed to close deals. No one in sales—not the customer, not the salesperson—wants to wait longer than they have to; waiting for the laptop to get online or looking for lost notes prior to an important meeting just gets frustrating for everyone.
Mobile CRM, on the other hand, gives the sales representatives access to accounts, schedules, contact information, notes, customer details, previous sales, inventory, and even competitors’ prices. After the sale is complete, the rep has the ability to give real-time updates to the office, so that everyone can stay in the loop. This technology cuts downtime while it increases productivity. Customers get more valuable one-to-one time with less office detail time wasted.
Additionally, the sales staff can get little advantages that can help them beat out the competition, like being able to quickly review details about a customer and their sales history just prior to a personal meeting. They are better able to please the corporate office because it is so easy to do their reporting about customer calls they have just made.
For a case in point about the benefits of using mobile CRM, let’s look at the transportation and agriculture equipment supplier, Platinum Equipment. They track about 4,000 customer and prospect records on their mobile CRM software program. This allows their sales team to constantly update customer information about buying habits and equipment needs. This gives them a heads up when they have a special offer that a certain customer would most likely be interested in. The results? Higher sales figures by the field force. Sales representatives can also send their customers things like specification sheets and quotes on their BlackBerry smartphones.
In addition the sales force, those in the warehouse and main offices can keep tabs on inventory and orders with a good CRM system. Customers are always asking salespeople for discounts, and want to know if any sales are coming up. With a cloud-based CRM application, all relevant data can be accessed by the sales force, including future planning for promotions. Having this information available at the touch of a finger can make the difference between good customer relations and a sale, or a customer who will shop around for a better deal.
The better a company can enable their sales team to be flexible and have all the information they need when they need it, on the spot, the more deals those salespeople can close. Mobile CRM can really help your salespeople to be the early birds, and to get all the best worms—without too much digging.
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