Cloud computing is bringing about an entirely new business paradigm. Steel and glass buildings, oppressive cubicles, office politics, and traffic jams are being replaced with reporting to work over the web, virtual companies with staff scattered throughout the world, and individual freedom to contribute and create as never before.

What does all this mean for employers, employees and their relationship? How does it affect the knowledge worker of today? Perhaps most pertinently, how does cloud computing affect sales and sales management?

Chapter 1: Cloud Computing and the Brave New Corporate World

Throughout history, there have always been visions of the future. For example, Jules Verne showed us submarines and flying machines long before they came about. But with cloud computing and the technological advancements all around us, it doesn’t take a science fiction writer to point out how our corporate world will soon appear – for not only are we seeing examples of it right before us, we all now have the tools to bring it about.

Chapter 2: Cloud Computing and the New Employee Democracy

The new virtual office model now proliferating through the business world means that company stakeholders are all working from their own locations, “coming to work” via cloud computing.

Chapter 3: Cloud Computing and the End of Office Politics

The advent of cloud computing is bringing about a new corporate environment in which there is no office. Everyone is working remotely from their own locations and the physical building is a thing of the past. In addition to many other benefits, this scenario spells the end of office politics.

Chapter 4: Cloud Computing Business Environment: The Three “Cs”

Cloud computing is bringing about a whole new business paradigm. Such an environment could never happen without adequate supporting technology. If we take a broad overall look, this technology can be broken down into three “Cs”: Communication, Collaboration and CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

Chapter 5: Cloud Computing and the New Employer-Employee Relationship

Thanks to the innovations of cloud computing, the whole morbid office system is being completely challenged and is disappearing. The “drudge workers” of yesterday are today becoming free, able to live their lives without being imprisoned in offices and – most importantly – becoming truly active participants in their employers’ success.

Chapter 6: The New World Sales Force

For the sales force, the revolutionary new cloud computing business model has a particular significance, requires vital tools and engenders some new methods of operation.

Chapter 7: Cloud Computing: Impact on Sales Management

Thanks to cloud computing, it’s a new virtual business world. This new model has a profound impact on everyone involved. It has a particular significance for sales management.

Chapter 8: Could Computing Corporate Culture: Are You Alone?

Science fiction long ago predicted that a totally automated age would bring about a complete departure of the human element. Are these dire visions coming to pass – or is it merely a matter of adjusting what we do within the new paradigm?

A CRM solution is the backbone of a company’s sales efforts. For that reason choosing a CRM solution should be done with the greatest of care and attention—this isn’t a task that you should take lightly or skimp on.

The next step is CRM implementation—which also must be undertaken with care. In fact, it will be found that skimped implementation, especially with users, is a primary reason for costly CRM failure.

In this ebook we guide you through the steps necessary to choose and implement a CRM solution wisely.

Chapter 1: Before Choosing a CRM Solution, Define Your Terms

“If you would argue with me, first define your terms!” This famous demand was first made by French philosopher Voltaire way back in the seventeenth century, yet it finds complete applicability today—especially when it comes to the specification and selection of automation tools such as CRM solutions.

Chapter 2: 5 Qualities of Your Own Self-Designed CRM Solution

Completely putting aside the real world for the moment, what if you could build your own ideal CRM solution for your company, from the ground up, that functioned exactly the way the company needed it to?

Chapter 3: CRM Solution Implementation: Doing It Right

All too often a company purchases a CRM solution, implements it, and gets everyone using it—without having taken some very necessary steps beforehand.

Chapter 4: Finding the Perfect Marriage of Sales Force Skill and Automation

With the sales force, the skill of selling must be perfectly supported with computerized automation in the form of a CRM solution. But as with a car and driver, both the salesperson and CRM solution must be brought to certain levels before they work well as a unified whole.

Chapter 5: CRM Solutions: Issues for Sales Management

Sales reps often complain that traditional, cumbersome CRM solutions benefit sales management, not the sales force. What the reps can’t see—simply because they are not there—is that sales management is suffering because of these CRM applications also.

Chapter 6: Sales Forecasting Begins with Sales Force Organization

We’ve all been there. A sales forecast is done and a corresponding sales quota set for a quarter or a year. About four-fifths of the way through that sales period everyone realizes that without a few miracles the quota will not be met. Taking a very broad look, this is actually a problem of accurate sales forecasting.

Download Choosing and Implementing CRM now.

Generate, evaluate, and nurture the most promising leads into your sales pipeline.

Leads Lead…To Sales!

If you want your business to be successful and thrive, you need to have an effective lead generation strategy – because, well – no leads, no sales!

Without a constant stream of fresh leads, you’re going to struggle to hit sales targets. So how can you attract enough new interested prospects to your business to insure your sales teams have enough opportunities to follow up?

In this ebook you learn:

• What lead generation strategies are the most effective and how to implement them
• How to properly evaluate your leads so you know which to act on first
• How to nurture leads and work them through the sales pipeline to close

Enhance Your Lead Management with a Smart CRM Solution

If you’re managing lots of leads and a number of sales reps, it can be challenging to keep that all-important, high-level overview of your sales pipeline.

The right CRM system will quickly become an invaluable asset. That’s because CRM software will not only allow you to manage your customer contact details, but also help you direct and monitor your entire pipeline – all from one place.

Pipeliner CRM makes it easy for you to manage your customers and track the progress of prospects as they move through your sales pipeline. In fact, this smart, intuitive, easy-to-use software application could prove to be the perfect tool to support your lead generation strategy. That’s because it provides the visibility you need to ensure leads and opportunities are quickly followed up, and nothing slips through the net. Not only this, but it starts to build a number of key metrics for you, enabling you to gain real insights into how your sales process works.

Download our free ebook and get information on proven tools and techniques that will help your salespeople generate leads for your business.

Inbound marketing is a highly effective lead generation strategy, but there are some key challenges you need to overcome if you are to make it a success in your business.

This white paper consists of 6 sins that salespeople should avoid at all cost. Of course we also cover how to avoid them, and the exact actions to take to make sure they never occur at all.

Why is it important to avoid these sins? It’s quite simple: Because you want to sell, and win more sales than you lose! We want that for you, too.

We have categorized these sins by the 6 W’s: Who, What, When, Why, Where, hoW.

Who

The first sin of sales falls under Who. The first question any company needs to ask is, “Who is my buyer?” And the first sin is trying to sell to the wrong buyer, or someone who isn’t a buyer at all.

What

The What of a sale is the product or service. Hence the sin of What would be attempting to sell the wrong product for that potential customer.

When

Trying to push the wrong timeframe becomes the next sin, that of When. Once you know Who the buyer is, and you are certain of What to sell them, it then becomes a question of When to sell it to them.

Why

The Why of selling comes about by the seller discovering why a buyer would buy that product or service. The sin comes about through a failure to discover why a prospect didn’t purchase. This Why lies in the mindset of the buyer.

Where

The sin of Where doesn’t, in this case, deal with a location. It deals with where your prospect stands in their own process, and your address of the prospect in relation to where they are in that process. Your failure to understand precisely where they are is the sin that can almost immediately lose you a sale

hoW

The sin of hoW deals with how you are selling. No matter what sales methodology you use, there are factors that must be part of it that today you cannot do without.

Any activity is governed by principles or natural laws. Some are obvious—skydiving, obviously, is governed by gravity. Flying is also subject to gravity, as well as wind and air patterns.

Some are not so obvious. A fantastic example is economics, which for hundreds of years has been subject to “principles” in various schools of thought that actually contradict each other.

When an entrepreneur creates and builds a successful enterprise there are proven basic principles that increase the probability of success. In this book Nikolaus Kimla has narrowed down 10 of the most important.

1. If You Can’t Totally Trust This One Person, You’re Done For

When times get rough, there has got to be someone to fully trust, to fall back on, to pick you up and dust you off. If that person isn’t there, if that person fails you, you’re sunk. That person must be you.

2. 4 Things Entrepreneurs Won’t Ever Learn In School

1. Learn all about your field…from your field
2. Learn to confront and handle risk
3. Learn to cross disciplines.
4. Learn social skills

3. Drop That Piccolo and Grab the Conductor’s Baton

A conductor stands before an orchestra, and firmly sets the tempos and moods of the piece being played. The players carefully follow the conductor’s guidance and vision. Like that conductor, an entrepreneur should guide his company, smoothly and skillfully unifying the vision and moving it forward.

4. 6 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Mozart

If the music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote centuries ago is still being played all over the world today, he obviously did something very right. What lessons can we as entrepreneurs learn from such a legendary example?

1. Business is a marathon, not a sprint.
2. Don’t be an ultra-perfectionist.
3. Your actions are everything.
4. Find and use your leitmotif.
5. Create a spectacular melody and harmony.
6. Generously invite participation.

5. Advice for New Entrepreneurs: How Not to Fall on you’re A**

While some may try hard to ignore them, there are hard and fast economic principles that are very much like Newton’s Law of Gravitation. According to Newton, if you jump out of a tree, you will crash to the ground no matter what. Similarly if, in business, you don’t follow certain economic principles, your business is going to fail.

6. Find Your Cathedral

Entrepreneurs can become caught up in the endless activity of creating and running a business. If you’re going to survive, there must be times when you can shut off that stream of thought and examine things more objectively. This process can be called “finding your cathedral.”

7. The Vital Importance of “Why?”

Here’s the difference between the entrepreneur and an ordinary person: The ordinary person encounters an irritating situation in life, kind of gives in and says, “Okay, guess that’s how we have to do things.” The entrepreneur, though, instead asks, “Why do we have to do it that way? Why can’t we do it better?”

8. Entrepreneurs with an Edge: 6 Ways to Build on a Winning Attitude

Many look at a “winning attitude” with cynicism and often make fun of it. You see it made fun of in movies and sitcoms. But if you don’t have in mind that you can win, you’re in the wrong game. Let’s examine a few ways you might reinforce your “winningness” and continue it.

9. Places, Everyone, Places!

A critical part of being an entrepreneur is the solution you bring to market. The naming and development of this solution could be referred to “finding your place.” It is fitting in a missing piece of a puzzle, something that perhaps others now see is missing but didn’t before you came along.

10. Are Entrepreneurs Agents of Happiness Who Could Change the World?

For the first time in history, happiness is more available than ever before—and believe it or not, its primary carrier might be you, the entrepreneur.