Commentary
Key sales training vendors are increasingly integrating sales methodology, sales force automation (SFA) technology, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. These vendors range from The Complex Sale, with its GPS software suite, to OnTarget and Wilson Learning with their relationship with Oracle/Siebel's CRM suite, to Knowledge Advantage and their sales automation process. Some technologically leading-edge sales training and sales process firms, such as Select Selling (based in Dublin [Ireland]), have gone one step further, developing a software-enabled methodology (a sales force automation suite) that integrates with existing CRM platforms.
The Problem
Most frequently, salespeople and sales trainers say that CRM and SFA tools are great for management—after all, they organize, summarize, and consolidate pipeline and account status information—but that they don't do much for the salesperson. Indeed, they are often viewed as additional work that adds little value, and detracts from time spent on valuable selling activities.
There are four potential causes for this perception:
Let us examine each of these causes and identify possible solutions.
SFA and CRM tools do not help the salesperson: The salesperson's fundamental goal is to convert qualified leads and prospects into buyers. If these tools neither store crucial customer information (and then provide easier access to this data), nor reduce the salesperson's workload somehow, the tools will be additional overhead to the salesperson and their use will likely be rejected. Here's the real question to ask: If this is the case, does the benefit to management (through the tool's ability to monitor and coach the sales force) outweigh the direct sales overhead of such a tool? Most organizations to whom we have spoken have not asked the question, nor done the analysis.
The selling methodology and the CRM or SFA tools are misaligned: Most CRM and SFA systems implicitly or explicitly impose a series of tasks or milestones, as well as a nomenclature for reporting on the status of those milestones. If the milestones and status messages are not consistent with the sales methodology, a translation must occur at the salesperson level. This translation may be the cause of errors or inaccuracies. In addition, the very need for translation is, by definition, overhead that does not progress the sale through the cycle.
In this particular case, there are three potential solutions:
The methodology and tools are aligned, but are underused or unused: This is actually a common occurrence, and is similar to sales force inertia (below), but is a result of a lack of understanding on the part of the sales team. The solution lies in more effective sales training, to delineate the benefits of the CRM or SFA system for the salesperson, and to answer the question: How does this help me qualify prospects, close sales, and put more money in my pocket?
Sales force inertia: Assuming that an organization has a functional selling methodology and an effective CRM or SFA tool suite, then training is the core to overcoming sales force inertia. In our ESR/Insight brief, The Value and Perils of Customized Training, we pointed out that customization of sales training programs can be a risky endeavor. However, using a firm that has formal processes for customization (such as Richardson Group, Sales Performance International, or Wilson Learning) can be a viable solution to the need to build workshops, exercises, and classroom experiences that demonstrate the value of the CRM or SFA tools to the sales force, through live examples.
To the Point
There may be many reasons for ineffective use of CRM or SFA solutions by a sales force. However, sales training programs can be catalysts for optimizing the CRM or SFA investment. It is vital to carefully analyze the sales person's selling methodology, the implied methodology of the tools, and the capacity of a sales vendor to either bridge the technologies, or craft a tailored program.
One or more of these endeavors can reap significant improvements in CRM and SFA adoption, as well as a return on the technology and on the investment in sales process and training.
ES Research Group Phone: +1 (845) 621-0000 Fax: +1 (845) 621-3723 info@ESResearch.com
2006 — Effectiveness Solutions Research Corporation
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