In spite of the suggestive end the crisis continues to IT cost pressures is to the companies. The accelerated changes in the IT industry to on-demand services. In future, software will be offered more frequently than online platforms that will change the business model of enterprise software provider sustainable. This is the result of the recent study by Bain & Company "Preparing for the Game On-Demand in the Enterprise Software Industry". Four trends influence this development strongly: 1) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) licensing revenues distributed to longer periods, 2) increasingly integrated IT provider, the boundaries between hardware, software and services to increase, 3), the service share of IT value increases and 4) open source is establishing itself as a real alternative to traditional software offerings. The success of a SaaS provider to decide a solid platform strategy, the management of software and service partners, and the timely and long-term occupation of the customer interface.
The economic crisis has led to massive IT budget cuts. Same time, the demand on IT development and redevelopment in the company. The recent study by Bain & Company "Preparing for the Game On-Demand in the Enterprise Software Industry" shows that IT managers in companies respond primarily to the conversion of fixed costs into variable costs. Thus increasingly come on-demand software is used, which is paid to usability and needs no large initial investment. Accelerated this trend by vendors of software-as-a-Service (SaaS) such as Sales Tracking Portal - a specialist in customer Releationship management. In the SaaS model takes over the service provider installation, operation and maintenance of software and servers in its data center and provides the use as a service available on call. Customers do not charge for software licenses, implementation, maintenance and hardware. You only pay the usage-based service fee.
For software companies is about to grow with this development, a revolution that threatened their traditional business model. Because they typically earn first by a royalty on the sale and then long term maintenance, ie the regular troubleshooting and software updates. The annual maintenance cost is an average of 18 percent of the original license fee. For providers of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) maintenance costs have averaged 30 percent of sales and 40 to 60 percent of income. "To a result of the crisis increases the risk that many ERP customers negotiate their fees again, do not renew maintenance contracts, or switch to third parties that offer this service for half the price," Matthias Budde, partner and IT expert at Bain & Company. "A price decline in the maintenance of just one percentage point would cost ERP vendors worldwide about 750 million euros and 300 million € income." For this reason, it is for software vendors established even more important to invest in customer loyalty in the they increase the value of their maintenance service for the customer visible.
Four major IT trends will determine the future
The Bain study predicts that the software market over the medium term can not build on past growth rates of ten to 15 percent annually. The growth in 2015 will amount to less than five percent a year. Bain founded the four major trends:
1. SaaS is growing, however, reduce the margins of the software industry: software-as-a-Service enables the acquisition of new customer groups that have not been made complex software. In addition, existing customers can test new features without making large investments have to. SaaS will initially be used primarily on customer relationship management, content management and human resources management. SaaS raises additional revenue potential in new hybrid areas of product and service, but also substituted existing software sales and shares in smaller cash flows. High installation and operating costs for the software provider while price pressures threaten the income of the industry.
2. Back to integrated IT vendors: The differentiation of the industry in hardware, software and service provider begins to dissolve. Companies are, increasingly present in adjacent segments of IT and offer - as Oracle after the Sun acquisition - to integrated IT products. As in the 1960s, when IBM sold its server systems, including software, customers have less and less in the future take care of itself to the integration of components in its own data center. Buy server performance together with the required operating system or completed usable database server, without even match the hardware, operating system and software to another must.
3. Existing IT environments continue to increase the software maintenance costs: Customers who follow the traditional model of separate server architectures and applications that deal with the increasing complexity of their application landscape. Service-oriented architectures could prevail in reality have not felt as leverage to IT simplification. Therefore reinforces the growing complexity of business on the complexity of IT. The cost for the implementation and integration of new software is in relation to the licensing costs continue to rise.
4. Open source is becoming a real alternative: On operating systems and databases has open-source software already has a high double-digit market share. For business-critical and complex applications such as ERP still dominates the closed-source software support and maintenance fee by the provider. But even this model is increasingly under threat from open-source ERP such as Compiere and Openbravo, enabling, in particular in combination with flexible uses on-demand infrastructure services ("cloud"), massive cost reductions and today's enterprise software provider by sales and put pressure on margins.
Opportunities and risks for software vendors
On-demand software is undoubtedly the next evolution of the software industry. But the model is also associated with significant risks. SaaS requires high initial investment by providers, as initially set up an online platform and marketed to be. These high installation and operating costs are paid by the regular user fees only slowly. Sales Tracking Portal took ten years to be profitable. On average, it takes a year to generate the distribution costs for SaaS customers.
Bain & Company anticipated due to the high investment requirements that the SaaS market will consolidate relatively quickly to a few software providers per segment. The companies will be successful, their existing hardware, software and service customers can turn into productive SaaS customers. Many other IT vendors are suppliers of SaaS providers with a large buying power for servers, network infrastructure, software and systems integration.
Software vendors have two options in the medium term, to position themselves in the SaaS market: either they are suppliers of a SaaS platform, which is operated by a third party or develop itself into an integrated SaaS provider. Anyone who embarks on the path of a SaaS provider, must build a strong position as a software supplier, not to be replaced in the medium term, for example, by open-source or completely displaced from the market. Those who positioned themselves as SaaS providers need to build infrastructure capacity, or buy and acquire skills for managing a SaaS ecosystem, such as the integration of third-party or usage-based billing. In addition to an aggressive acquisition strategy for new customers, it must also have a migration strategy for existing customers from traditional license and maintenance business to the SaaS model type, aimed at possible long-term commitment to the more profitable, classical model.
IT service companies that want to join the SaaS business need, in addition to their existing skills - provision and management of IT infrastructure - capacity and skills in software development. End, they may enter into partnerships with leading software vendors, or take a software provider.
"Software-as-a-Service is to establish itself as an important segment in the enterprise software market. As the future landscape looks like and whether prevail primarily software companies or IT service provider, is still completely open, "says Bain expert Budde. In addition to developing start-ups such as Sales Tracking portal of software vendors like Oracle and SAP established in the direction of SaaS, as well as infrastructure and service providers such as T-Systems. "Ultimately the industry will probably develop over SaaS out," predicts Matt Budde. "It is likely that the existing business process outsourcing as a process-as-a-service was resumed and on-demand services. Thus, the SaaS cards would reshuffled. "
SaaS ISV Forum subnet: "Should I or should not I ...?"
For software companies or IT service providers who are faced with the question of whether and how to model business software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to enter this in the offers in the SaaS ISV Subnet forum with valuable information,
Article Source : Kenny Blog
Simple, Achieve more sales!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
SaaS ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a computer-based system that handles both internal and external resources. These resources could be financial resources, human resources, materials and capital goods. The architecture is designed to provide information throughout the organization - from department to department - and outsiders who have a stake in the company. Run on a central database, ERP consolidates all so that is very streamlined and uniform throughout the company.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
SaaS vs. Traditional ERP ERP
There are a number of reasons why ERP SaaS is better and worse than traditional ERP. Finally, when you choose one for your business, these differences should be weighed heavily. They will provide insight into which product is right.Flexibility
Traditional ERP can be customized and optimized the way you want, because it is installed directly on the server. SaaS ERP is not. So when it comes to SaaS, you have less customization techniques and, therefore, need less technical skill to run it. However, due to the decrease of customization, if there is something specific you want a do, SaaS may not be able to let that happen.Simplicity
As mentioned above, since it is not as flexible, SaaS is easier to use because you do not need much in technical expertise. Since SaaS is not just, you do not have to worry about putting up new servers or something like that. However, because it is so easy, you might run into some complex that would not otherwise incur when trying to implement various aspects of ERP.Control
Going hand in hand with the flexibility and control. For small businesses that do not have a team of great technique, giving up control for ease of SaaS is not a bad thing. However, for medium to large companies that can afford large technical teams, having more control over the ERP is beneficial and, therefore, ERP is a traditional favorite. For small businesses, however, SaaS is ideal.Accessibility
It is a fundamental. SaaS requires Internet. Traditional does not. In the event of a crash of the Internet, you lose access to the ERP. Traditional, provided that the company has an internal network, you can access at any time.Cost
SaaS is cheaper to implement in the short term. However, since you're leasing the annual costs may well become high when you add more employees. Traditional is a cost single time because you own the software after it is installed on the server. Thus, in the short term, SaaS is definitely cheaper. The long-term traditional is more convenient.Article Source: Kenny Blog
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
SaaS CRM
What is SaaS CRM?
CRM software is designed to ensure that your relationship with customers is strong. It ensures that, through sales and communication, there is a growing relationship between the various parties. The general hope is that the customer will be comfortable returning to the company time and again for their business. SaaS CRM, then, is the software that you rent this power relationship.
The name of the software as a service shows that the software can take the part of customer service in some cases. In this case, the software takes care of keeping the customers happy. It provides information to the customer. The overall objective is to attract new customers, retain existing customers, convince customers to go above all by reducing marketing costs.
The benefits of SaaS CRM
The benefits of SaaS CRM are great. To begin with, because you pay as you go, you do not have to worry behind the actual software. They can not manage the server. Therefore, the cost of entry is very low. And 'cheap to start using this CRM. Another advantage is that since it is not in management, the program is ready and faster and can be used first. This means more profits. Finally, security of infrastructure and power to put behind the CRM SaaS by the seller has no rivals. So, you've found a very strong product.
SaaS CRM Disadvantages
For starters, you are in rent. While it is cheap to enter and use at first, will be perpetually pay for CRM. If you decide to stop paying, you lose the CRM. If you went with a more traditional formula, you have to buy it, but do not pay a monthly, quarterly or annual fee. Sometimes, you can not go CRM SaaS specific field. If you had an expert working for the company and a traditional CRM, you would be able to specialize the CRM. Unless you have clear objectives, SaaS will be a waste of money. It's not magic. Without goals, it will simply drain resources from society.
The decision to go with whom, however, is fully in society. For the most part, if the company has the funds to run a traditional CRM package, they will. Otherwise, you can choose to go with a CRM SaaS and spend it later.
Article source: Kenny Blog
CRM software is designed to ensure that your relationship with customers is strong. It ensures that, through sales and communication, there is a growing relationship between the various parties. The general hope is that the customer will be comfortable returning to the company time and again for their business. SaaS CRM, then, is the software that you rent this power relationship.
The name of the software as a service shows that the software can take the part of customer service in some cases. In this case, the software takes care of keeping the customers happy. It provides information to the customer. The overall objective is to attract new customers, retain existing customers, convince customers to go above all by reducing marketing costs.
The benefits of SaaS CRM
The benefits of SaaS CRM are great. To begin with, because you pay as you go, you do not have to worry behind the actual software. They can not manage the server. Therefore, the cost of entry is very low. And 'cheap to start using this CRM. Another advantage is that since it is not in management, the program is ready and faster and can be used first. This means more profits. Finally, security of infrastructure and power to put behind the CRM SaaS by the seller has no rivals. So, you've found a very strong product.
SaaS CRM Disadvantages
For starters, you are in rent. While it is cheap to enter and use at first, will be perpetually pay for CRM. If you decide to stop paying, you lose the CRM. If you went with a more traditional formula, you have to buy it, but do not pay a monthly, quarterly or annual fee. Sometimes, you can not go CRM SaaS specific field. If you had an expert working for the company and a traditional CRM, you would be able to specialize the CRM. Unless you have clear objectives, SaaS will be a waste of money. It's not magic. Without goals, it will simply drain resources from society.
The decision to go with whom, however, is fully in society. For the most part, if the company has the funds to run a traditional CRM package, they will. Otherwise, you can choose to go with a CRM SaaS and spend it later.
Article source: Kenny Blog
Sunday, November 21, 2010
How Does Cloud Computing Work
Cloud computing is a phenomenon made possible from the increasing speed of broadband Internet and the ability for people to access web pages at lightning speeds. Without these lightning speeds, people would never access to compute in the clouds. In order to better understanding of mechanism of cloud computing, it is vital to understand what it is.
Cloud computing is a grid or farm of computer servers that provide software and data to other computers(users). Its purpose is to deliver software and the software functionality that might be put on the farm by a company to individual computers connected to the Internet. For example, Google Documents is software that is “in the clouds” that delivers a word processing software to people without software installation required on their computer. And, with the power of Google’s servers, they can then save those files right “in the clouds” without requiring to store on their own hard drive.
How Does Cloud Computing Work?
To understand how it works, it is important to think of cloud computing in two levels. The front level is the user level which is what you use such as your Google Email or the webpage where you are downloading the latest version of Flash or even a Sales Tracking Software. The other level is the backend which is all of the hardware and the software architecture in the Grid. It’s here that the actual Gmail or Facebook or Sales Tracking Software is held waiting to be accessed by you.
Because all of the different servers in farm are running together in cloud computing approach, one application can have the computer power of multiple servers. This allows something like Facebook to run and able to serve million of users.
Thus, the cloud brings together a large collection of server computers to operate a single service application. And anything that is stored anywhere other than your local hard drive is labeled as being in the clouds.
One of the main advantages of cloud computing is it enables companies to deliver files or services to customers without having to send an physical disk or CD. For example, if you are using a HP laptop and you need to get a patch for your Driver. Instead of having to have it sent to you, HP can deliver to you over the Internet. If HP wants to sell you a new piece of software, they can do that over the Internet and have it installed without needing the physical CD. It saves time and money both company and customers.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Sales Success Requires a Tracking Process Part 3
Previous article: Sales Success Requires a Tracking Process Part 2Sales Success Requires a Tracking Process Part 2
Today, automated sales tools, which help to increase success and improve the sales process. Tools for small business a person may be different from the forces of the emergence of a hundred people. Before taking control of sales and customer service, you must understand exactly what is covered.
Having started several businesses, I found one or two person company, simple tool, the better. For a company, I started with Outlook contact information and business. As we became more sophisticated and had to share knowledge, we used a free online CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. This allowed more people to follow the customer information and tracking input from our telemarketing team rented. I know that other start-ups have been using Wiki, or shared spreadsheet. The more customers you have and the more your business the most advanced tools to improve the effectiveness of your sales effort.
automated tools are wonderful as successful marketing and / or promotions. Maybe you start with a newsletter (using tools such as rapid and constant contact page). This is followed by a special offer on your blog. Then you can send an updated offer announced on Twitter. Monitoring the success of this campaign may be linked to your automated sales tool and to help you to renew the program for better focus and achieve spectacular results. To start using a CRM tool, start with the simplest tools and easy at first. Next, find what you like and dislike.
Extract the sales process, you reveal what the minimum requirements, and you can remove some of the tools are too simplistic for your needs. It is each department and / or the person who touches the customer to contribute, as he uses the instrument. Use a small portion of their sales staff if you can segment them, one solution is to test the short period of time. Then you can add a couple of other units being tested. Finally found a tool everybody can use and accept. The usefulness of the tools are only as good as the information is stored, and everyone must participate.
With the right tools, you can listen very carefully to what the client says and touch them when necessary. Can provide the right information when they want and create a desire for your product. Automated tools can help track sales and keep your company name at the top of the minds of customers. The result is more sales, and sales efforts more effective.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
Today, automated sales tools, which help to increase success and improve the sales process. Tools for small business a person may be different from the forces of the emergence of a hundred people. Before taking control of sales and customer service, you must understand exactly what is covered.
Having started several businesses, I found one or two person company, simple tool, the better. For a company, I started with Outlook contact information and business. As we became more sophisticated and had to share knowledge, we used a free online CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. This allowed more people to follow the customer information and tracking input from our telemarketing team rented. I know that other start-ups have been using Wiki, or shared spreadsheet. The more customers you have and the more your business the most advanced tools to improve the effectiveness of your sales effort.
automated tools are wonderful as successful marketing and / or promotions. Maybe you start with a newsletter (using tools such as rapid and constant contact page). This is followed by a special offer on your blog. Then you can send an updated offer announced on Twitter. Monitoring the success of this campaign may be linked to your automated sales tool and to help you to renew the program for better focus and achieve spectacular results. To start using a CRM tool, start with the simplest tools and easy at first. Next, find what you like and dislike.
Extract the sales process, you reveal what the minimum requirements, and you can remove some of the tools are too simplistic for your needs. It is each department and / or the person who touches the customer to contribute, as he uses the instrument. Use a small portion of their sales staff if you can segment them, one solution is to test the short period of time. Then you can add a couple of other units being tested. Finally found a tool everybody can use and accept. The usefulness of the tools are only as good as the information is stored, and everyone must participate.
With the right tools, you can listen very carefully to what the client says and touch them when necessary. Can provide the right information when they want and create a desire for your product. Automated tools can help track sales and keep your company name at the top of the minds of customers. The result is more sales, and sales efforts more effective.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sales Success Requires a Tracking Process Part 2
Previous article: Sales Success Requires a Tracking Process Part 1
The focus of your selling cycle is to match the buying cycle of your customer. The first step the customer goes through is identifying that they have a need to solve a problem. Your sales force must identify the customer's problems before they can start their selling. Listening is an important attribute at this stage. By listening to what the customer says, types in an email, posts on a blog or a tweet, or places in printed material, you can learn plenty about your customers.
Once the customer has found that they have a problem, they gather information. During this stage of the buying cycle, specific information must be fed to the prospect. Too much irrelevant information forces the prospect to look elsewhere for a solution. The whole company can be involved in providing the right information such as product benefits and features, demonstrations, trials, customer support, referrals, etc. During this gathering stage, the desire for a solution builds within your prospects, as they want a solution. Experienced sales people will build upon that desire and direct it towards their solutions. Tracking the interaction with an automated tool will increase the efficiency of your sales process.
Knowing the buying cycle is paramount for success and you need to map this cycle to your unique customer. Some significant points to know about your ideal customers are:
As you touch your customers, you need to understand who else touches them (departments and other employees in your company). In addition, it is important to know how and where the touches take place, and how these touches correspond to the buying cycle (need, information gathering and desire). Tracking this process is helpful for success, and today's automated tools can do just that.
You know your customer, you know their buying cycle, and you know what your company strategy is. The interaction between you and your customers is a series of touching and listening. Listening to your customers and prospects is getting more complex every day, as you must track what they are saying verbally as well as electronically (websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Do you have a process in place to listen to your customers? The more listening you do, the better you can touch the prospect and provide what they need and want. The goal is to create a great flow of the appropriate information to capture a larger share of your customers' wallets.
You need a proper tool to help you track your interaction with customer. History of message flow between you and your customers should be logged which will help you achieve your goal. A simple sales tracking tool like Sales Tracking Portal will help you greatly. Check out and register for free at its official website.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
The focus of your selling cycle is to match the buying cycle of your customer. The first step the customer goes through is identifying that they have a need to solve a problem. Your sales force must identify the customer's problems before they can start their selling. Listening is an important attribute at this stage. By listening to what the customer says, types in an email, posts on a blog or a tweet, or places in printed material, you can learn plenty about your customers.
Once the customer has found that they have a problem, they gather information. During this stage of the buying cycle, specific information must be fed to the prospect. Too much irrelevant information forces the prospect to look elsewhere for a solution. The whole company can be involved in providing the right information such as product benefits and features, demonstrations, trials, customer support, referrals, etc. During this gathering stage, the desire for a solution builds within your prospects, as they want a solution. Experienced sales people will build upon that desire and direct it towards their solutions. Tracking the interaction with an automated tool will increase the efficiency of your sales process.
Knowing the buying cycle is paramount for success and you need to map this cycle to your unique customer. Some significant points to know about your ideal customers are:
- Industry
- Geographic coverage
- Size (revenue & employees)
- Company history
- Lifestyle
- Psychographic (Values)
- How do they buy?
- What problems do you solve for them?
- Who are their ideal customers?
- What are their key products?
- Who else sells to them?
- Why would they buy you over your competitors?
As you touch your customers, you need to understand who else touches them (departments and other employees in your company). In addition, it is important to know how and where the touches take place, and how these touches correspond to the buying cycle (need, information gathering and desire). Tracking this process is helpful for success, and today's automated tools can do just that.
You know your customer, you know their buying cycle, and you know what your company strategy is. The interaction between you and your customers is a series of touching and listening. Listening to your customers and prospects is getting more complex every day, as you must track what they are saying verbally as well as electronically (websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Do you have a process in place to listen to your customers? The more listening you do, the better you can touch the prospect and provide what they need and want. The goal is to create a great flow of the appropriate information to capture a larger share of your customers' wallets.
You need a proper tool to help you track your interaction with customer. History of message flow between you and your customers should be logged which will help you achieve your goal. A simple sales tracking tool like Sales Tracking Portal will help you greatly. Check out and register for free at its official website.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sales Success Requires a Tracking Process Part 1
The most challenging task in business is selling. Everyone in your company should be selling, as they are an ambassador for the company, no matter where they are. This is very evident in today's social media world, where employees need to heed what they post on a public web site.
When we talk with CEO of a company, we tell them that they must be selling all the time, or they are just overhead. The head of a company must constantly sell to customers, partners, suppliers, bankers, investors and employees.
Today's companies need a tool to track their successes, failures and interactions within organization. Creating a process with a sales tool will increase your success, plus improve the efficiency of your sales force. This article describes a series of steps to take as you evaluate different sales tools.
Selling is perceived to be difficult. Selling is just a process that you establish, follow and track. Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth, has shown that everyday people create wildly successful companies with processes. One of the most important processes in sales is the follow up. Follow up should occur any time you and your customer interact. An interaction happens when you are either listening to them, or reaching out to touch them. Success comes from making sure that the right information flows to your customer at the right time.
Your customers go through a buying cycle. This buying process may vary, but the primary steps are need, information gathering and desire. Throughout the whole buying decision process, emotions direct the customer. People buy with their heart and then justify the decision using the gray matter between their ears. Therefore, all information that flows to your prospects and customers must guide their emotions at that particular point in time. Follow up is critical at each step. Good Sales tracing system will be valuable for your sales force in helping you achieve this critical process.
As you provide information to potential buyers, you must focus on them. You need to please their requirements and wants. The sales cycle will focus on your customer and their buying cycle. You must identify their process, and find the steps your customer goes through. Then get the right information and right people involved to please your customer. It is not easy to keep track and get the right correspondent to your customers at all time. Different customers possess different buying process. You need to have an efficient tracking system to aid your sales operation to keep up performance.
Most of us provide more than one product to a customer, as we can usually sell ancillary products and on-going services. Every customer should be looked upon as a future referral. The result is that we must focus on all customers for the long haul.
From the owner's or boss' point of view, critical indicators to track include sales increases, number of customers, sales efficiency, and sales per customer (or better yet, profit per customer). Sales managers want metrics to measure their sales force efficiency - calls per day, close ratio, new calls, etc. Your customer only has so much money to spend, and you want as large a share of his wallet as possible. An effective sales reporting system should be put into place to track these vital indicators, plus others that you deem important.
Increased efficiencies for sales people usually mean more sales per day or week. The more that you can automate the tasks of the sales force, the more time they spent pleasing the customer, and more time in front of them. All sales tools must be easy to update from any wireless devices. Sales people want efficiency in their lives and they will spend as little time as possible entering data.
Part of the tracking process is capturing information about the customer. Customer information includes customer dynamics, demographics, history of interactions between your companies, customer needs, buying habits and how often the customer is touched. Touching a customer or prospect includes face-to-face discussions, phone calls, emails, ordinary mail, your website, blog postings, tweets, and other information your customer can find out about you. Do you know what your customer is posting on their blogs, websites or in tweets?
In conclusion of this part 1, you need to know buying cycle of your prospects and organize your tasks properly to response with right action in the right time. You need to know how to gather customer information properly in order to help they solve problem. A good sales tracking system will be like your magic wand in helping you do these jobs. I will discuss more about how to take into next step in order to seal the deal in Part 2 of this article.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
When we talk with CEO of a company, we tell them that they must be selling all the time, or they are just overhead. The head of a company must constantly sell to customers, partners, suppliers, bankers, investors and employees.
Today's companies need a tool to track their successes, failures and interactions within organization. Creating a process with a sales tool will increase your success, plus improve the efficiency of your sales force. This article describes a series of steps to take as you evaluate different sales tools.
Selling is perceived to be difficult. Selling is just a process that you establish, follow and track. Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth, has shown that everyday people create wildly successful companies with processes. One of the most important processes in sales is the follow up. Follow up should occur any time you and your customer interact. An interaction happens when you are either listening to them, or reaching out to touch them. Success comes from making sure that the right information flows to your customer at the right time.
Your customers go through a buying cycle. This buying process may vary, but the primary steps are need, information gathering and desire. Throughout the whole buying decision process, emotions direct the customer. People buy with their heart and then justify the decision using the gray matter between their ears. Therefore, all information that flows to your prospects and customers must guide their emotions at that particular point in time. Follow up is critical at each step. Good Sales tracing system will be valuable for your sales force in helping you achieve this critical process.
As you provide information to potential buyers, you must focus on them. You need to please their requirements and wants. The sales cycle will focus on your customer and their buying cycle. You must identify their process, and find the steps your customer goes through. Then get the right information and right people involved to please your customer. It is not easy to keep track and get the right correspondent to your customers at all time. Different customers possess different buying process. You need to have an efficient tracking system to aid your sales operation to keep up performance.
Most of us provide more than one product to a customer, as we can usually sell ancillary products and on-going services. Every customer should be looked upon as a future referral. The result is that we must focus on all customers for the long haul.
From the owner's or boss' point of view, critical indicators to track include sales increases, number of customers, sales efficiency, and sales per customer (or better yet, profit per customer). Sales managers want metrics to measure their sales force efficiency - calls per day, close ratio, new calls, etc. Your customer only has so much money to spend, and you want as large a share of his wallet as possible. An effective sales reporting system should be put into place to track these vital indicators, plus others that you deem important.
Increased efficiencies for sales people usually mean more sales per day or week. The more that you can automate the tasks of the sales force, the more time they spent pleasing the customer, and more time in front of them. All sales tools must be easy to update from any wireless devices. Sales people want efficiency in their lives and they will spend as little time as possible entering data.
Part of the tracking process is capturing information about the customer. Customer information includes customer dynamics, demographics, history of interactions between your companies, customer needs, buying habits and how often the customer is touched. Touching a customer or prospect includes face-to-face discussions, phone calls, emails, ordinary mail, your website, blog postings, tweets, and other information your customer can find out about you. Do you know what your customer is posting on their blogs, websites or in tweets?
In conclusion of this part 1, you need to know buying cycle of your prospects and organize your tasks properly to response with right action in the right time. You need to know how to gather customer information properly in order to help they solve problem. A good sales tracking system will be like your magic wand in helping you do these jobs. I will discuss more about how to take into next step in order to seal the deal in Part 2 of this article.
Article Source: Kenny Blog
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