Managing your sales representatives is an absolutely vital part of any business. Although old techniques still work, you'll notice that you are falling short of the marks that your competitors reach without using modern technology and management software for your sales team. Great sales rep management software provides your sales reps with more vital information during the times that they need it most throughout the sales process. There are many options for sales rep software out there today, but the one that you choose should provide you with some standard features that help your sales reps to do a better job, grow your company revenue, and better interact with customers and prospects on a day-to-day basis. Take these features into account when you are searching for highly effective sales rep software.
Communication and Relationship Management
Perhaps the most important part of the sales process is communication and relationship management. You need to make sure that you are able to effectively communicate with current customers, past customers and prospective customers in a way that not only builds upon your previous communications, but opens new doors for new interactions. There is nothing more frustrating for a customer than feeling like they are starting over with a company every time that they speak with a new representative and great sales rep software can help you to greatly reduce how often that happens for your customers.
Placing Orders
By giving the sales reps the ability to place orders into the system without needing to send them to the office can greatly reduce the sale cycle time. Inside sales staff no longer has to decipher a sales persons order and the order can get sent right to the warehouse for shipping. Less hands touching the order, the less chance of error.
Keep Track of Inventory
Knowing how much inventory is on hand is an absolutely critical aspect that sales representatives need to know to do their job appropriately. Great sales rep software will be plugged in to your inventory processes and allow your team to have a good idea of what is currently on hand, while going through the sales processes. Not only does this help them to better interact with their customer, but it allows them to set timetable expectations throughout the process and reduce the number of angry customers that they must deal with due to out of stock products.
Detailed Account History
Having a detailed account history is vital for your sales rep team. Being able to scroll through the system and look at every order a particular customer has placed with your company is absolutely imperative and will help ensure you are able to deliver a high quality experience to every customer that calls your company. Additionally, the ability to accurately detail their own interactions with customers will allow them to examine their own efforts and make improvements to their processes as time goes on.
Monitor Customer Activity
Once a sale has been made, and the order moves through the system, it is important that sales reps are able to monitor the activity of those orders. Being able to give their customers up to date shipping information is imperative for a good relationship. When sales reps are on the road they can still check statuses of orders with a few clicks rather than calling into the office and waiting for a response.
Real-Time Alerts
One of the most crucial and often overlooked aspects of an excellent sales rep team is the ability to quickly identify opportunities and issues, and act on them. Real-time alerts will allow your business to ensure that no new order, cancellation, or support ticket from a current customer goes unnoticed, and also allow your sales rep team to respond appropriately and in timely fashion. Real-time alerts are excellent for building trust with your audience.
Great sales rep software can mean the difference between hitting your sales growth goals and having another average year. By giving more power and information to your sales reps, you allow them to be creative and find new, innovative ways to grow your revenue and make new sales rather than being bogged down with placing orders and chasing information.
