If the three most important factors in real estate are “location, location and location,” then the three most important factors in sales could be “leads, leads and leads.” Sales reps and managers can both benefit from using customer relationship management, or CRM, tools to maintain productive business relationships and avoid lost business. After all, more meaningful and productive meetings, with new prospects or repeat customers, occur when information is at the salesperson’s disposal.
The informational and analytical capabilities provided by sales force automation (SFA) and CRM applications can first assist by assessing a business’s needs. Once those needs are determined, sales persons may offer better packages to consumers based upon information gathered by the sales tool. Sales teams manage the account from its inception to the point of closing, providing customers with seamlessly integrated communication along the way.
Companies are now integrating their CRM tools with other social networking tools to attract leads to the business. Social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Podcasts, YouTube, email campaigns, blogging and other applications allow a company to host events or facilitate discussions that generate interest in a product or service. Companies may also attend trade shows, conferences, or other events where they may meet potential clients. The customer relationship management tools can aggregate and sort all of this information in order to generate lead reports and other informative metrics.
Alternatively, companies may purchase a lead list from a company. The leads may be qualified or unqualified. For example, a data integration company called Geosemble has developed a new lead generation service. Called GeoPrism, it uses satellite imagery to find homes with cracked or damaged roofs or swimming pools. This information can be captured and stored using CRM tools, and is then cross referenced with maps and city records to locate contact information for the homes and businesses. Geosemble sells the information as leads to pool maintenance companies and roof repairmen.
In order for companies to leverage the sales leads captured, the CRM tool must be tailored to the company’s specific needs. In the case of Geosemble, the cross- referencing tool was specific to their company’s needs.
Another huge advantage of cloud-based marketing and CRM tools is that they can be accessed remotely, from any device that supports an Internet connection. Sales leads are automatically routed to reps in the field; when those reps enter information about a sale, their manager can view that information in real-time—whether they are at the home office or on the road themselves. No longer do sales reps have to jot down hand-written notes and then travel back to the office to transcribe them into a desktop computer. Communication is faster, easier and just plain better when you work in the cloud.
Marketing customer relationship management tools certainly do put the power in your company’s hands. Yet it’s important to remember that just having sales leads in a system, without paying those leads proper attention, do not yield a company results. Companies must research and analyze the data, compile compelling marketing campaigns, and perhaps most importantly, deploy its best salespeople to win the business.
