How Technology Improvements Can Fuel Sales Growth

In today’s fiercely competitive, technology-fueled world, there is one thing that businesses must provide their customers to survive: a great customer experience.

This cyclical process begins with the sales cycle, follows through post-sale support, and then repeats itself when the customer is ready to buy again. It involves selling more, fulfilling orders faster, and offering the best customer service.

This process commonly referred to as “customer relationship management,” or CRM.

Many businesses manage this process using a CRM system. This tool is the master of all sales activities. It can be as simple as an address book, or it can be a sophisticated system with powerful automation and integration built in. When planning on how to use technology in your sales process, the first thing you need to consider is your CRM.

Here are a few tips to help technology fuel sales growth.

Use the Right Tool for the Job

There are many business applications that have a CRM component built in. Using the CRM that’s built into your enterprise resource planning, or ERP, application, for example, might seem like a great choice since you already own it and it’s already integrated with your back-office operations. But there are several challenges with this.

In most cases, your ERP wasn’t built for CRM. Usually, the development of these systems stems from a need to better manage inventory, track service time, provide more accurate quotes, and other operations- related functions. As such, sales and marketing activities are not what developers built the system for.

In some cases, these features were added as an afterthought with little attention paid to innovation.

Second, there’s no other word to describe them than “clunky.” These systems weren’t designed to be powerful, sales-enabling machines. So trying to set up workflows, lead nurturing activities, or even update contact information can be cumbersome. If it’s too hard to use, your sales team won’t be able to harness the power that CRM tools contain.

There are hundreds of choices available in varying price points.

Make Sure It's Easy to Update on the Go

Think of this scenario: you have three meetings with customers today — one in Corona, one in west L.A., and one in Irvine. And all the while you’re trying to work with clients on ongoing requests over the phone. Are you going to have time to find a place to access your ERP, enter notes, and set up follow- up activities after each client interaction? Doubtful.

Most times, salespeople want to update the system from the car immediately after each meeting. If it can’t be done that way, then it might wait until the end of the day … which slips to the end of the week … and sometimes never gets done. Your CRM is only as good as the data it contains. If it doesn’t have a mobile app, then you can bet it won’t be updated as regularly as you’d like and it will be missing pieces.

Process First, Tool Second

Before you even consider your tech tools, map your sales process and figure out what CRM should look like in your company. Train your team on it. Only then should you pick your tool. Implementation will then take place with your company’s CRM process in mind.

You can get a powerful tool like Salesforce today if you want to, but how will people use it? Picking the tool is the easy part — the process is what’s hard.

Eliminate Double Entry

Entering data into two systems is a great way to make mistakes. If you already have a process that results in double-entry of data, see if there’s a way to connect the systems. Evaluate whether that data really needs to be in both places.

For example: if you have separate ERP and CRMs that don’t talk to each other, then data for new orders, contacts, and other information will need to be entered twice. This may result in errors or, even worse, orders that are incorrectly processed.

Technology can be an awesome tool to fuel your sales process. Whether you have an internal IT department, or work with a managed IT services provider, make sure that they understand how customer relationships are managed in your company. 

Related: Improve Your Sales Process with Technology

Tech Girl

Written by "Tech Girl" Courtney Kaufman. Courtney Kaufman is Director of Marketing for VC3 in Rancho Cucamonga. For more information visit www.vc3.com.

As featured in May 7th issue of The Press-Enterprise.