Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 - (Page 28)

“Tying into the POS networks,” says Fogel, by way of example. “When a rep walks into their store, they know where the out-of-stocks are because it hasn’t been scanned on the point-of-sale system in the last 10 hours or X days. So they can be very pointed on issues that need addressing. “Maybe there’s a promotion that is running in the store and they need to build a display,” he adds. “Once the task has been completed, it routes back up to the home office. Headquarters knows the status. Conversely, if the representative either hasn’t done it or couldn’t do it because the store wouldn’t let him, the headquarters knows that as well.” Talking shop Orthopedic surgeons may not be fans of SkyMail, owing to the likely decrease in carpal tunnel cases it portends. But for sales managers and their teams, this innovative technology from Pacific DataVision is a godsend. “There’s lots of great technologies out there for the mobile worker, but it all comes down to simplicity and adoption How easy is it for them to use?” says John Pescatore, the Clifton, N.J.-based CEO of PDV. It doesn’t get much easier than SkyMail, an applica- tion that allows you to wirelessly dictate, document and share any random thought that pops into your head, courtesy of your cell phone (the service is available on all major carriers). The sender selects a preassigned recipient or subject line from their contact list and speaks a message, which is then delivered to the recipient or recipients’ inbox. That’s it—no futzing around on a tiny keypad necessary. “Basically, a SkyMail message is just making a phone call, and the recipient is just clicking on a link and typing a text message back,” Pescatore says. “We embed a reply path in our text message so that it makes it very easy for the recipient to respond while they’re driving. They can be running to a sales call, and they’re able to get a message back to one or many. “It gives you a powerful messaging and documentation tool that everyone can use, because everyone knows how to make a phone call from their cell phone,” he continues. “All of this information’s also stored for documentation and risk mitigation purposes on a secure server, so the company has access to it later.” Want specific examples? “I have all my sales team on one contact,” Pescatore says. “I can push a button and say, no matter where I am, ‘How’d your day go?’ or ‘We

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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