Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 - (Page 27)

technology s ales professionals are a mobile lot by nature—a status quo that hasn’t exactly been threatened by technology’s nonstop march. Indeed, if you’re looking for the embodiment of the word “mobility,” the cell phone-, laptop- and PDA-tethered sales force of the 21st Century pretty much fits the bill. Of course, for all of its benefits, having an increasingly mobile team poses its own unique challenge: How do you maintain a high level of productivity with everyone always on the go and out of sight? To answer that question, we again turn to the marvels of the modern age. Today’s sales manager has a wide array of tech tools at his disposal, any of which can significantly help keep him and his team performing optimally while on the move. Here’s a sampling Tapping into genius and don’t get adopted is because it’s too hard to use. “So, the e-mail that the sales manager might send to everybody based on a question that he or she got from one seller—instead of ‘replying all,’ and copying the entire organization, simply copy SAVO. Everyone will have it at their disposal immediately.” The in-store solution Ostensibly a sales enablement platform, SAVO might better be described as a portable teleportation device for your reps—one that enables them to summon the entire organization to their aid at a moment’s notice. “When you talk about keeping sales managers and their teams at peak performance, it’s being able to always arm them with the latest and greatest of how we, as an organization, can solve a problem that you, as a customer, are describing to me,” says John Aiello, co-founder and CEO of the Chicago-based company. “And what’s interesting is, absent of some help, that doesn’t happen very well.” Enter SAVO. “The way that we approach this challenge, quite simply, is we have an Your clients can also get in on the mobility act, and it’s very much to your benefit that they do so. Consider the potential of TimeTrade, a Bedford, Mass.-based on-demand application that really looks to provider of appointment scheduling software. harness the collective genius of the organi“If I need, in the course of my day—whether I’m a salesperson or otherwise—to zation,” Aiello says. Collective genius? “We schedule time with somebody or some party, to be able to do so through a selfrealize sellers don’t just need the PowerPoint, service interface is a tremendous efficiency gain,” says Chris Murphy, TimeTrade’s the PDF and the Word doc,” he explains. vice president of sales. “It alleviates the need for me to even deal with anybody “What they really need, in addition to those [and engage in] phone tag and all of the back-and-forth that’s typically involved with getting some kind of an appointment.” things, is non-structured information “Another piece of it is the 24-7 aspect of self-service,” adds Cindy Johnson, the The three questions to ask that can overcompany’s vice president of marketing. “The sales guy’s on the road all day long, come certain objections, or the latest and and then he’s making phone calls back to his customers at the end of the day. greatest competitive intelligence that some“He might not have an opportunity to even make an appointment, or call during body’s got on a competitor that I’m going business hours to make an appointment. But he can get online at midnight if he in to pitch against in 30 seconds,” he conwants to.” tinues. “Content doesn’t just come from And should the hypothetical rep happen to be logging on at midnight, odds are very good he won’t still be on at 1 a.m. trying to make sense of the interface. “No marketers. It comes from the field, as well.” confusing screens,” Murphy says. “Just a simple transaction. And they’re 10 times As you can imagine, for such a service to happier than if they have to call and deal with a receptionist or a call center agent.” work effectively, ease of use is paramount. As Johnson notes, there’s one additional benefit for you and your team. “When you “We’ve got to make it easy for people to schedule an appointment, whoever you’re scheduling with has the opportunity to ask get information into a solution like this,” you some questions,” she explains. “You get a confirmation e-mail and then a reminder Aiello says. “We’re partially content mane-mail. In that reminder e-mail, there can be all sorts of tips and information. agement. The reason why a lot of content “It can give you specific information to make sure that when you come for that appointment, you come ready with whatever it is you need to bring.” management solutions fall by the wayside MARCH/APRIL 2008 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT Narrowing our focus somewhat, let’s shift the spotlight to O4 Corporation, a leading provider of nextgen mobile software solutions for CPGs—an industry with distinct on-the-go needs. “Our focus is all about mobility,” says Harris Fogel, president of O4’s North American operations.“Mobile solutions for the consumer products industry. Now, we define ‘consumer products’ quite broadly. It’s basically any company that wants to sell a product to a retailer or outlet—like a store or restaurant—and ultimately is going to sell it to a consumer.” Armed with their PDAs and handhelds, O4’s software enables reps to more effectively meet their daily objectives. “Typically, a field representative would have a device,” Fogel says. “They walk into a store or outlet, and on their handheld [is] their route planner, journey planner, call planner … whatever you want to call it. Where are they supposed to go today? What are the key tasks they’re supposed to accomplish? DON’T FORGET THE CUSTOMERS Getty Images/Michael Goldman www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com 27 http://salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Sales Marketing Management Cover Story: Lessons From the Master Maximum Mobility Training Technology Incentives/Motivation Travel/Meetings Book Excerpt - Value Merchants The Way I See It - End the Discounting Habit

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

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