Mobilizing & Modernizing Your Sales Force
February 2012
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Mobilizing & Modernizing Your Sales Force
According to some sources, sales people are a dying breed. The idea holds some merit but of course it is mostly far from the truth – most Business-to-Business (B2B) owners and managers know their sales people still play an enormous role in their organization’s success. The question is: how to keep these sales people up-to-date and as effective as possible.
B2Bs Take Notice
The power of online research and online purchasing is undeniable. The online purchasing trend is of extreme importance for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) businesses; but what about B2B businesses?
B2B Businesses are being influenced by internet trends in a variety of ways:
- Customers expect to find products and services through an online search (lead generation)
- Customers expect to be able to make purchases online (eCommerce)
- Customers expect ever-greater service from sales reps (to match or exceed what they would otherwise be able to find online)
In this article we will focus on the changes necessary for sales reps to compete with evolving buying behaviour.
Leveraging Technology
The bad news is that the entire paradigm of selling is changing. This may not sit well with organizations that are set in their ways. However, the good news is that there is a solution: technology.
Many consumers are now accustomed to searching for products and services online with images, pricing and additional information available right at their fingertips. So what happens when a sales rep is unable to provide customers this experience? The answer is they go elsewhere. Hopefully to your website, if you have an online offering. If not, off to a competitor they go.
In order to meet these more complex consumer needs, a number of software solutions have become available to enable sales reps in the field.
Tablets & In-the-Field Devices
Most sales reps take with them an arsenal of collateral including brochures, pamphlets and images to aid them in selling product. This collateral can be cumbersome and may not contain exactly what a particular customer needs. Tablets or netbooks are now finding their place in the field to help sales reps keep track of this collateral and facilitate the sales process.
With the right technology, sales reps can then check live stock levels and enter orders right at that moment, on-site. This level of service is highly appreciated and proves to be far more effective than manually recording orders to be entered later (especially if you then have to inform customers that you are out of stock). Blue Link, for example, offers remote accessibility, whether on a tablet or netbook through a Remote Desktop Connection.
Back-End Integration
Modern ERP software will also allow you the ability to integrate with visually appealing customer-facing apps that your sales force can use to present products in the field. Tablet apps exist that integrate directly with back-end ERP solutions to allow sales reps to present products to customers with product images pulled from the database, customer-specific pricing and, of course, the ability to enter in orders on the fly. Blue Link is currently working to offer this functionality.
With product information, images and dynamic presentations available at your sales forces’ fingertips, you can keep up with changing buying behaviours. Properly equipped, your sales force can be very effective and will continue to be B2B’s most valuable assets into the foreseeable future.
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Blue Link Tips & Tricks
There are many subtleties to Blue Link Elite that you may not have noticed in your day-to-day operations. This section of the newsletter will help you discover more time saving features!
Tracking In/Out of the Office
When working in an office, and you need to track who is in or out, you can use Bluelink In/Out Board by Pressing on the “Running man” figure. A screen will open up with the various persons showing you who is in or out and if out, when they will be back. You can update the board and change who is in or who is out.
In order to see these persons, they need to be setup with a name for this screen. Users without a name will not show up here (they will be excluded).
To set up, simply add a “Display Name for In/Out Board” under Security > Users and Permissions.
Blue Link, Integrating eCommerce
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"When I met Mark Canes, I was thrilled to find a solution that I believed would get us off to a good start. I had only hoped it would be able to stay with us for a long time. Over the last 12 years, every 2 years I have done a major software review of our ERP system and every time I have decided to stay with Blue Link." | |
