| CRM has some of the highest failure and lowest | | | | Sales force automation also improves the rate and |
| adoption rates of any software category. Customer | | | | consistency of follow-up. It is amazing the |
| Relationship Management software is famous for | | | | percentage of leads that never get a second call or |
| complex implementations, confusing features, and the | | | | contact. Charging your contact management with a |
| killer--requiring lots of data entry to make it useful. | | | | set of automated follow-up routines will increase you |
| These are the characteristics that make soles force | | | | deals immediately. |
| automation so critical to your CRM success. | | | | Sales Lead Tracking |
| Customer Relationship Management | | | | Are you making your sales force update reports on |
| As marketing channels become increasingly diverse | | | | their sales activities? Are they spending their |
| simple to use CRM becomes increasingly important. | | | | evenings going back and annotating customer |
| Your customers are expecting speedy responses, | | | | records? If so you have the makings of inaccurate |
| unique experiences, and the right person every time. | | | | reporting at best and no reporting at worst. |
| Marketing on the Internet and social media, in this | | | | Sales force automation can turn sales lead tracking a |
| Web 2.0 world, are increasing the challenges of | | | | simple and passive activity. |
| information overload on sales forces. Sales people | | | | Simplifying lead tracking starts with lead statuses. |
| don't have time to figure out software, set-up | | | | Your sales management software should have |
| confusing processes, or feed a system data. | | | | intuitive sales statuses that can be assigned |
| This is where sales force automation can save your | | | | (automated and/or manually) to leads as they move |
| CRM implementation from a costly disaster. Sales | | | | through sales processes. |
| force automation is the digital assistant every sales | | | | By making sales lead tracking easy you can see |
| associate or call center agent wished they had. | | | | specific areas to improve. Your marketing analysis |
| Simple, intuitive, consistent systems that move deals | | | | and sales processes tuning becomes a snap. And, |
| forward and inherently tracks your leads is the magic | | | | individual sales reps are not spending their time typing |
| of good sales force automation. | | | | reports or entering data. |
| Lead Capture | | | | Here are some common sales actions you want to |
| It all starts with lead capture. Helping a sales person | | | | know about in your sales force automation: |
| get leads or load up there own is the first step in a | | | | - Attempt |
| full and productive sales pipeline. Sales force | | | | - Contact |
| automation should have a simple, but robust lead | | | | - Proposal |
| capture suite. An agent flush with leads is typically a | | | | - Withdraw |
| motivated asset to your team. A sales person | | | | - Disqualified |
| struggling to figure out how to get precious leads | | | | - Do Not Call |
| into their sales management system or forced to | | | | - Closed Using simple statuses like these can give you |
| type them in is an anchor on your sales production. | | | | additional opportunities. Incorporating the status data |
| The most basic lead capture methods your sales | | | | in your marketing automation system will enable you |
| force automation should include are: | | | | to give each customer a unique experience. |
| - Spreadsheet imports | | | | Sales ForecastingUnderstanding where and when your |
| - Web form integration | | | | revenue is coming can be a messy art in any sales |
| - Outlook, GMail, Yahoo!Mail imports | | | | force. But, it shouldn't be. Sales force automation can |
| Increasingly, your sales force automation should allow | | | | allow you to quickly see where leads are throughout |
| you to connect in your social networks and Web 2.0 | | | | the pipeline, facilitating real-time forecasting and |
| applications. Some important examples include: | | | | roll-ups. |
| - LinkedIN | | | | Using a lead management software with sales force |
| - Plaxo | | | | automation can give you the flexibility to forecast |
| - Twitter | | | | and drill into answers. Find out who and how your |
| Getting leads into your sales pipeline and fueling your | | | | sales force is producing revenue by viewing: |
| sales force automation needs to be a one-click | | | | - Individual quotas |
| process. | | | | - Team and division production |
| Contact Management | | | | - Territories and product segmentation The |
| Now you have leads. Let's start calling. It seems like | | | | consistency of sales process, provided by sales force |
| the logical next step, but many CRM software even | | | | automation, makes setting quotas, benchmarks, and |
| makes this process challenging. Many sales force | | | | forecasts easier and more accurate. |
| applications leave the sales person wondering: | | | | Sales Accountability and Consistency |
| - Who do I call next? | | | | Once you have efficiently captured, tracked, and |
| - What are the best leads? | | | | analyzed your leads, you know what works! But, |
| - When was the last time I call this lead? | | | | nothing is more frustrating than individuals on the |
| - Which leads are close to closing? | | | | sales team not adopting best practices. With sales |
| - Which leads need follow-up? | | | | force automation you can drive basic compliance with |
| Basic stuff, but often neglected. Sales force | | | | proven sales processes. |
| automation puts contact management into an | | | | Enforcing best practices is not only an accountability |
| intuitive flow. Prioritizing and queuing for follow-up are | | | | issue, but one that simplifies sales persons' challenge |
| key components to simplifying the sales process. The | | | | with establishing their system and getting into a |
| sales force can then concentrate on the sale, not | | | | productive process. With sales force automation the |
| figuring out who to sale to. | | | | process is there, and it will get results. |