For any business engaged in sales (and that would be pretty much all of them) sales forecasts are crucially important. Companies normally go to great lengths to create accurate sales forecasts, for entire chains of events are tied to them. These include the procurement of raw materials, creation of products to meet demand, hiring and ...
If you’re in business, one of your primary objectives is, of course, to grow. The expansion is a wonderful thing, but it also carries several inherent problems. As you grow, you need more staff. You require more space if only to park those new employees. If you’re in the manufacturing sector, you may need additional ...
For many years, a CRM software solution has been considered something separate from other vital sales tools—tools such as a sales process, email, web services and, lately, social media platforms. This prevalent consideration has been aptly illustrated by the fact that for salespeople, entering data into CRM was yet another cumbersome administrative task carefully designed ...
In our recent series on Marketing and Sales Alignment, we’ve discussed many ways in which Marketing and Sales can work as a cohesive unit, instead of in traditional isolation and (often) conflict. A recent article in Harvard Business Review entitled Ending the War Between Sales and Marketing pointed out that a case can be made ...
By the time a company is implementing a CRM solution, much has transpired. Traditionally, the IT department has researched various CRM applications, has obtained requirements from various concerned departments and personnel in the company, has pitched the solution to executives, has obtained purchase approval, and is now putting the application to work. Now comes the crucial operation: ...
If any word could be used to describe the manufacturing industry, it would be precision. It begins with the engineered processes used right on the manufacturing floor. It extends back to the exact types and amounts of raw materials ordered so that manufacturing process can occur. It extends forward to the delivery of the specific ...
Recent statistics that have been making the rounds in sales strategy seminars seem somewhat alarming: that 70 percent of buying decisions are made in advance of ever contacting a salesperson; and that 57 percent of the buying process is completed prior to engaging with any sales rep. If a buyer is so educated by the ...
When first starting into business, most start-up companies aren’t really rating opportunities. It seems that any opportunity is worthwhile. There are numerous reasons for this: The company needs the income. A new company needs the repute of having the increasing market share. The more customers you have, the more that can recommend your product or ...
The factor of competition must always be figured into sales strategy. In the past some companies have chosen to ignore competition, but much of the time this ignorance has been at their own peril. Ancient Chinese military philosopher Sun Tzu famously said, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”—and it’s just as true in ...
In recent articles, we’ve been discussing the vital necessity of aligning Sales and Marketing. When each is working in its own sphere and more or less contesting one another, a company is factually crippled. This is especially true in today’s lightning-fast and fiercely competitive business environment; a company needs to operate as a unified team to ...
One vital key to getting the most ROI from your CRM tool is to ensure your CRM application mirrors your sales process. Regrettably, traditional CRM solutions have not done this, and the resulting extra work and “workaround” has been a nightmare for sales. Today, however, there is every reason for CRM to mirror a sales ...
ROI (return on investment) is normally part of every proposal for a software purchase. Those within the company requesting the purchase must do all they can to provide information to senior executives and finance officers showing how quickly that purchase will pay for itself. For a CRM tool, a full ROI statement should not be ...
