Salesforce Automation (SFA) has been around for many years in various forms. For most of its existence it’s been a tool for large corporations with significant IT budgets and IT staffs. Recently, it was reported by GetApp®, a site that connects businesses with sales management software vendors, that “48% of SMBs are migrating from manual methods to SFA software for the first time.”
What’s changed? The cloud, the cost, and software/service compatibility are key factors.
Today’s cloud offerings have turned previously complex software deployments into simple turn-key services that eliminate the need for complex infrastructure and support. GetApp® recently ranked the Top 25 Small Business Sales Apps and all are simple and secure cloud-based services with excellent support offerings. (See the rankings below.)
The cost of SFA is no longer calculated in the thousands of dollars but instead in the hundreds, for even the most comprehensive offerings. In many cases the cost is even lower for very simple cloud-based services.
The compatibility of these services has advanced greatly from antiquated offerings that only compile native reports. Today’s SFA tools integrate with productivity software, digital marketing tools and social media solutions. It’s becoming commonplace for small businesses to use automated marketing tools that are either part of the SFA service or easily integrated with it.
The advancements in SFA are substantial and with the help from services such as GetApp® it’s easy to find the right applications for your company. But there’s a caveat – even though SFA tools are simple to find and implement, the biggest barrier to success continues to be usage. Can you get your salespeople to use the tools effectively and will the data result in more sales or just more work for salespeople?
This is a conversation inside every company that implements SFA and the focus is usually about how you force salespeople to use the tool. Unfortunately, that’s the wrong conversation because the success of SFA starts with management, both sales and non-sales. The foundation for a successful SFA deployment is when management expressly needs and uses the information produced by these tools.
Three things that management can do to motivate salespeople to keep SFA tools updated:
Coaching: Managers and executives can use the information in the SFA tool to structure one-on-one coaching sessions. The SFA tool, when updated honestly by salespeople, will outline successes and difficulties. When sales managers and other leaders, base coaching on helping with those difficulties it motivates salespeople to keep them updated.
I worked with a marketing executive who met with salespeople weekly in order to stay current on customer issues. She would have 45 minute meetings with agendas built from the sales challenges she saw articulated in the SFA tool. Meetings with her were highly valued and she would only meet with salespeople who had current and relevant information in their tool. No surprise – salespeople were motivated to stay current with their tool.
Executive updates: It’s common for salespeople to build executive summaries when executives make customer visits. When required briefing documents are different than what is in the SFA tool, salespeople will forgo tool updates and just focus on creating pristine briefing documents. If, instead, company leaders review information in the tool and don’t require extra work by field personnel, it’s amazing how motivated salespeople are to keep their tool updated.
Smooth change management: The only certainty in any business is that things will change. Salespeople and sales managers earn promotions and/or move on – executives do the same.
When I took over the Asia Region for one of Microsoft’s divisions, I learned from one of my mentors that all I needed to know should be in the SFA tool. He suggested that I not ask for transition reports from my predecessor or any of my directors but instead just review the tool. By acting on his suggestion it helped me learn the unfiltered realities, it helped me to see who wasn’t performing, and it helped me see where my support was needed. It was much more effective than having everyone build customized reports which resulted in more work and occasionally fabricated information.
You’ll see better utilization of SFA tools when sales and corporate leaders consistently use the information to enhance coaching, simplify executive updates, and smooth the constant change management that is required in all organizations.
©2016 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities® LLC
