Evolution of Sales Tools into a Sales Force Improvement Aid (by Michael Dickinson)
22th December 2003
Real Software has developed a new type of Sales Tool called SalesStorm that represents an epoch in the evolutionary development of such products. Before we give more details about SalesStorm it is worthwhile reviewing the history of ‘sales’ software products.
Firstly products such as Lotus Organiser provided excellent diary capabilities along with sections for Notes and Contacts. Then Contact Managers were developed. These were, and still are, simply a way of storing contact details along with notes. Over time they added diary functions and in some cases the ability to develop web pages. There was a demand from users to be able to store all the data in a central location, so that when inevitably, a salesperson leaves a company, there would be a record of that persons activity so that this important information was not lost. Unfortunately, the Contact Manager companies developed very complex, costly and often unreliable ‘synchronisation’ methods. This is because engineers and not sales or business people assessed and designed the software. Their focus is always the technology rather than the functionality required.
Next stage was the development of Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM). These were targeted at large organisations and promised the possibility of gathering and sharing data throughout all departments in a company, such as sales, marketing, finance and production. However, the massive drawback with these CRM systems is that they try to satisfy the very diverse requirements of these various groups. The result is a product that does everything in a mediocre fashion that satisfies no one completely. The very complexity of CRM systems makes them extremely expensive, with prices of £5,000 - £10,000 per user not being unusual. Any changes or additions are also very costly. They are developed for each customers in such a way that each customer receives a bespoke system that they have no hope of managing themselves, and so are drawn into spending ever more money trying to get their CRM to deliver any benefit.
The next evolution was the idea of Sales Force Automation. Some Contact Manager companies and web-based companies have described their products in this way. Basically these companies believe that the key to sales success is the ability to generate a quotation automatically. The web-based tools try to differentiate themselves by having a centralised system that is access via a web browser. It certainly gets over the big problems with synchronisation, but conversely mean that users can only access data when they are on-line. This is clearly not good for the majority of salespeople that are on the road.
Contact ‘Manager’, ‘Customer’ Relationship ‘Management’ and Sales Force ‘Automation’. All these products are named in such a way as to insult the people involved. Can people or companies really be 'managed’? Is it possible to ‘automate’ a sales force? We at Real World Software Limited do not believe so. It is only through a professional sales approach that companies can be successful. This involves taking time to understand the business needs of the customer and proposing a solution that reduces pain and improves their effectiveness.
SalesStorm represents the next stage in the evolution of software products for sales teams. By fully understanding the requirements we have been able to develop a revolutionary product that will re-define the market. We describe it as a Sales Force Improvement package.
The key behind any data analysis is having the process in place that does not impose an undue overhead on the person responsible for the data entry (normally the sales people). Using SalesStorm, your team will be able to enter all the data in less time than it takes them to enter a new contact name and address. Sales people typically do not have a problem gathering such data, as long as they believe the information will be used for a positive reason.
It should be a normal question when answering an incoming call to ask the caller what prompted them to make the call. This behaviour needs to be re-enforced on a regular basis so that the capture of data is an automatic, natural process. The result can be quickly entered into SalesStorm and then is made available to all users.
In summary, SalesStorm has been developed specifically to meet the needs of companies to gain control of their sales process and ensure a good ROI with their marketing budget. The effectiveness of not just the sales team, but also marketing and business development teams can be easily seen, thus enabling better decision making processes based on up to date, validated information.
SalesStorm is the first Sales Force Improvement tool – use it to improve your companies’ performance.
Michael Dickinson
Managing Director
Real World Software
Telephone : +44 (0) 1865 390989