Can Sales Technology Help Your Bottom Line?

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More companies today are leveraging technology in the area of coaching, sales management, and sales operations to drive not only selling efficiencies, but also the overall effectiveness of their sales team. Traditionally, investments in sales technology have been looked at as a necessary evil, and are often shunned by IT departments who think they can build it themselves. The reality is that it took sales guys like Tom Siebel, of Siebel Corporation, and Mark Benioff, of Salesforce.com to build true CRM systems, while IT guys were building and throwing away miles of code.

Forward-looking organizations like Lenovo, Corning, Innovex, Motorola and many others are leveraging the capability and domain expertise of technology built by sales managers to empower their sales force. Many of these solutions utilize SaaS technology to build flexibility in sales management, measurement, and coaching. However, as organizations tighten their belts, resources including financial and human capital become difficult to obtain and managers must work harder than ever to ensure that their employees are focused on achieving critical objectives.

The good news is that technology can be a key enabler in achieving these goals. If employees, especially sales people, are coached, and have clear objectives that are tied back to the organization's strategy and operational plan, it's more likely that the strategy will be achieved. In a recent study done by the Aberdeen Group, it was confirmed that this economic downturn has placed even greater pressure on the sales function. Sales leaders must increase sales effectiveness while external forces reduce the number of real opportunities and threaten top-line revenue growth.

Business leaders need actionable data to align sales behavior with business objectives and rapidly adapt to changes in the market. Aligning and automating sales execution with organizational goals requires a holistic approach that includes compensation management, process optimization, and data analysis. Research reveals that traditional manual coaching and sales management processes reduce productivity for multiple functions, not only sales; finance, operations, and IT are all impacted as demand for sales information increases, in turn affecting both top and bottom line growth.

Companies must keep abreast of the latest technology strictly from the standpoint of whether or not it can help you increase your business volume. Regardless of the industry, sales people must be held accountable to know the products, know the marketing message, understand the sales process, and have the skill set to use the arsenal provided by the company or institution. Face it: If you don't make sales, you're not in business.

One way to use technology to your advantage in coaching and SPM is to have it accessible while the coaching session is taking place. To have the ability to coach on the spot and track what you have taught is invaluable. Being able to follow up immediately with the sales person on the objectives set and create an ongoing dialogue, will lead to more effective and more productive sales people.

In the highly competitive sales industry, a key source of competitive strength is the execution skills possessed by your on-the-ground or telephone sales force. This has become more critical than ever as the economy has slowed down and workforces are shrinking. Without a system to track the ability, skill, and overall effectiveness of your sales team you will suffer consequences in today's competitive environment.

Do you have examples of how your company has utilized sales technology to optimize your bottom line?