Using the Internet & automation as tools for salespeople
Will the Internet cause the death of the outside salesperson?
Pick up any trade journal or sales and marketing publication
these days and chances are you'll run into some comments
addressing that question. I rarely teach a seminar without that
question popping up somewhere in the course of the day. Almost
every sales manager, executive and sales person I know has
pondered it recently.
So what's the answer? Like most others, I have to admit that I
don't know. It is certainly possible that some aspects of
today's outside sales jobs will be replaced by point-and-click.
But the answer to the big question remains unclear and a ways
into the future.
I am sure of one thing, however. The Internet, specifically,
and computers in general can be powerful tools in the hands of a
capable salesperson, and those salespeople who take the
initiative to become automation-enabled will find themselves
growing in importance to their customers and in value to their
companies. Rather then wait fearfully for an answer to appear,
the wisest course for the professional salesperson is to
proactively make computerization work for him or her.
We all understand that computer technology, particularly the
on-line segment, is moving so rapidly that parts of this article
my be obsolete by the time it is printed. Keeping that
perspective in mind, here are some ways that an
Internet-enabled, computer- savvy outside salesperson can use
this technology to excel.
How salespeople can use the Internet
1. Qualify new prospects. Just because you have the name of new
prospect doesn't mean that it's worth your time to call on that
prospect. Why not use the Internet to qualify your prospects
before you spend time trying to see them? Let's say you've
developed a list of 25 new prospects in your territory, one of
which is XYZ tool and die shop. Do a search for that XYZ tool
and die through the search engines and see what develops.
You may discover a website with a wealth of information about
the prospect. It wouldn't be unusual to find out the names and
titles of the key people, the key product lines or customers
they serve, the mission or vision statement of the company, etc.
You may also find the company mentioned in a number of other
ways. For example, you may find them mentioned in a press
release by an association to which they belong. They may be a
new member, or have been mentioned in an article in a trade
journal, or listed as a customer by another vendor. The
possibilities are endless. Every piece of information can be
useful to you in determining whether or not to call on them,
and, if so, how to approach them. And all that information may
be available over the Internet.
2. Email. This is clearly one of the greatest advantages to the
Internet. Think of how many hours per week you spend on the
phone with all the people in your own company. Now add the hours
spent on the phone with customers, or more accurately, trying to
reach customers. Suppose you could dramatically reduce that time
by using email to communicate with your support people and your
manager. And now, suppose that you could virtually eliminate
voice mail frustrations by communicating via email to your
customers. You could transform dozens of hours each week that
are currently spent in frustrating and tedious tasks into
productive sales time.
You could even go beyond using email for personal
communications. It can also be a sales tool. Collect the email
addresses of those customers who agree to this, and then use
mass email as a sales tool. Here's an example. Let's say you
have 100 customers, and it takes two months to see all of them.
You have a hot new product to tell all of them about. Why not
mass email the information overnight, and then visit first those
who first expressed interest in it? You could dramatically
reduce the time it takes to turn that new product into sales
dollars.
3. Contact management. Contact management software has been
around so long, the benefits so clearly established, and is so
commonly used that I hesitate to even mention it. However, it's
my personal experience that even today at least 50% of the sales
forces with which I have contact are not automated. There is no
longer any excuse for this. You need to be using a laptop with a
contact manager program to collect and record information
customers, to record contacts and conversations, to create
schedules and to do lists, to file quotes and record sales
information. One of the characteristics of the turn-of-the-
century marketplace is the rapid increase in the amount of
information a salesperson must handle. Using a computer to
assist in the organization and processing of information is no
longer optional. If you're not using a laptop daily in this
manner, shame on you. You are behind.
The initial cost is no longer an obstacle, as several Internet-
based programs have been introduced recently which allow you to
use contact-management software via the Internet on a monthly-
rental basis.
4. Presentations. The computer-enabled salesperson uses a laptop
with presentation or video programs to present a new product or
service to the customer. Using these tools means that you can
prepare a colorful, animated, talking presentation, and view it
together with your customer. That allows you to make sure you
get all the important details into the presentation, and present
the product as positively as possible. Taking time to create a
presentation in a stress free environment of your home or office
ensures a far higher quality in the presentation than if you
attempt to adlib as you go in front of the customer.
Store your supplemental paper-based literature on the computer,
and print sell sheets with a portable printer on an as-needed
basis. Watch all the clutter in the back seat of your car
disappear.
You can take this concept to a deeper level. Your company's
marketing department, for example, can create the product
presentations and make them available for all the salespeople
via CD ROMs, downloads over the web, or internal networks.
Manufacturers can do the same for their distributors. Instead of
relying completely on a salesperson visiting and training your
distributor salesforce on new products and promotions, why not
create those product presentations and make them available to
automation-enabled distributor salespeople over the Internet?
5. Become the customer's search engine. There's no doubt that
the amount of information available on the web in growing
exponentially. It takes time to search through it all to find
answers to the questions you, and your customers, have. Yet all
of your customers are suffering today with more to do and less
time to do it than ever before. Time is the most precious
commodity of the Information age.
The person who can find information on the Internet for someone
else, and thereby save him or her time, is of great value. I
routinely pay people to search the web for information that I
want. I don't have the time to do it myself, and it's a service
that is of value to me. You can serve that function for your
customers, becoming the trusted source of applied information.
Learn to use the Internet to research product applications,
competitive products, the competition, technical details, and
whatever other questions tempt you or intrigue your customer.
One way to prevent your customers from using the Internet to
replace you is to preempt the process. Build your Internet
skills to the point where your customers come to rely on you as
a trusted source of important information, and you'll become
irreplaceable to them.
6. Share your success. We've only just scratched the surface of
the ways in which an automation-enabled outside salesperson can
use computerization to become more effective. There are probably
thousands of specific things you can do more effectively via
computerization. You may have some powerful and unique
applications yourself.
Here's an invitation to share your techniques with other
salespeople. If you have a technique you'd like to share, visit
Kahles Korner, a bulletin board for salespeople, and submit your
idea. Use your browser to open this page: www.davekahle.com, and
click on the button For "Salespersons Members Board." When
prompted for a username, type "slspeople," then use "sales" as a
password. Post your idea, or review the ideas of others. To
entice you, we'll send a free copy of my new book, The Six-Hat
Salesperson, to three salespeople every month in the year 2000
who submit the best ideas that month.
You can no longer afford to be computer or Internet ignorant if
you expect to prosper as a salesperson in the 21st Century. The
time to make proactive moves to become automation-enabled is
now. ###
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