I have a joke for you.
Q: How many salespeople does it take to manage a sales pipeline?
A: Only one, if you have a cloud-based customer relationship management system.
OK, OK, it was a pretty lousy joke. But you must admit that the “punchline,” if you can even call it that, is nevertheless impressive.
Cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software integrates the use of several applications to make the sales process more streamlined and efficient. For instance, opportunity analysis, sales invoices, sales analysis, and sales forecasting may each be integrated into CRM software to provide a more efficient sales process. Each salesperson has instant access to the application, whether in the office or out on the road. Increased productivity frees time for the salesperson to actually focus on strategies, and connect with customers, to close the deal.
CRM software allows salespeople to analyze data captured in order to identify key opportunities and generate leads. When managers are aware of the potential needs of a customer, they can address these needs before the customer pursues a competitor’s product. Analysis also helps the sales person remain competitive. Many CRM software solutions also integrate competitor analysis into the software, in order to assist sales people with this task. Identifying major competitors and key customers will assist managers in allocating the resources available.
Sales are easily tracked through CRM software. From sales data, managers can determine top performers, profit makers, future product demand and key customers. If the manager knows this information, he or she can assign top performers to major accounts or more equitably managed resources. This will assist the company with customer retention and increase sales volume. Anticipating customers’ orders will ensure the product or resources are available, thus building the company’s credibility and customer loyalty over time. Tracking each aspect of the sales process is essential to maintaining a productive, profitable and viable company.
Thanks to CRM software, some companies have cited as much as a 20-hour per week reduction in the amount of work that must be manually produced. That reduction provides salespeople with at least two more days of face time with the customer. Alternatively, this time could be spent strategizing about how to best approach a client to close a deal. Collaboration occurs easily through CRM software, because each salesperson has access. Seasoned sales people can share ideas and strategies with their colleagues in order to become more effective as a team. As the team becomes more effective, profits will increase as well.
Managers no longer have to constantly ask their sales people about the status of the deal. Sales people can update the CRM applications while they are on location. Managers can log into the system and view the progress of the sale in real time.
Virgin Money–a financial division of the corporate giant–recently adopted CRM software to improve their sales process. At a glance, managers can determine their sales, quotas, deals, and other pertinent sales information. Each salesperson has access from any place in the world. Sales teams may easily add new users, products and locations as they organization expands. The company has saved significant amounts of money through sales automation.
