It has been said, a workman is only as good as his tools, and it’s true. In order to maximize the efficiency of your sales team, you must equip them with the best tools. The best salespeople can be rendered ineffective if they don’t have the tools they need to succeed.
In today’s world, information is power. The tools a salesperson needs is centered on having the information he needs at his fingertips on-demand. Information is what can prepare a salesperson for meetings, and give them the ammunition they need to make successful pitches. On-demand information is needed in order to give visual representation to the pitch, to answer questions, and shorten sales cycles.
That’s why enterprises are rushing full-steam ahead to supply their sales departments with mobile apps. Having on-premise applications for sales is no longer efficient. Salespeople need access to all their systems, CRM, and customer data while in the field, away from the office.
In this article, we’re going to explore the mobile apps Sales Operations should be building for their sales teams right now.
6 Critical Mobile Apps for Sales Teams
1. Mobile CRM
Sellers have always been mobile by nature; it was a necessary part of connecting with leads, but it also made it difficult to get access to important data when away from the office. Today, sellers no longer have to worry about this: with a CRM app on their mobile device, they can take the sales data they need with them wherever they go. This includes information on accounts, opportunities, pipeline activity, and more. Simply put, if a seller needs to understand a lead to do their job better, the information on every contact can be found on their mobile CRM app.
2. 360-Degree Customer Views
Customers today have many different options available to them when it comes to connecting with a business. This is great for customers, but makes it more difficult for sellers to keep track of all the information pertaining to the customer relationship.
Businesses must be able to implement technology that inform the salesperson of everything they need to know about a customer, including sales information, order status, shipment status, prior issues, and more. If you don’t have access to this information, you won’t have an accurate profile to know how to approach them.
3. Red Flag Tracker
If a customer has an open service ticket or an unaddressed complaint, your seller must know about it before they enter a meeting with that customer. Not providing them with this information when they need it is just setting them up for an ambush. On the other hand, if they know about these red flags in advance, they can make a plan to address them in a way that will mollify the customer.
4. Pricing Calculators
In certain industries, coming up with accurate prices that allow your company to be competitive without eating too much into profit margins is key to success. At the same time, sellers must be able to price orders quickly in order to appear professional and keep the customer’s attention. A pricing calculator can address both of these issues. By walking the seller through the pricing process, the calculator can make sure that the seller is considering all of the important issues, and providing the customer with their quote quickly.
5. Interactive Sales Catalog
Today’s customers don’t want to see boring old pictures of products. An interactive catalog app can provide the static view of products that customers are accustomed to, while also providing an interactive twist to keep them interested.
The catalog can allow the customers to play around with different combinations, and even see products in action. For instance, a home goods app could allow the customer to virtually place a piece of furniture in a room, allowing them to see how it might look. This ability helps the seller close the deal faster.
6. Sales Presentation Apps
When your sellers go on sales calls, it’s important that they be able to present all of the important information that they want to share with the customer. At the same time, needing to hook up a computer in order to conduct a slideshow presentation is a great way to waste time and lose a customer’s interest. A presentation app such as Keynote can provide the ability to conduct a presentation quickly, with no cords required.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the many different apps Sales Ops should consider providing for their sales teams. Some of these apps may already be pre-built, but most of them will have to be custom enterprise apps, able to sync with multiple on-premise enterprise applications and CRMs.
In that case, Sales Ops teams have outsourced their mobile app development in the past, or relied on I.T. to build the apps they need. Both options have been frustrating for Sales Operations, and have led to low user adoption and less-than ideal functionality in their mobile apps. Today, Sales Ops are building their own apps using code-less mobile app development platforms.
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