Online Sales Tools Are a Crucial Part of Your Sales Enablement Toolkit

The Aberdeen Group’s PACE Model rounds out with the “E” section, in which they define Best-in-Class sales teams’ “enablers,” or the technologies that promote sales success. While communication skill sets and documented sales processes are strategies that need to be and should be leveraged, there are a number of technological tools that have helped these companies climb to the top of the ladder.

Of course, a CRM system is a central part of this list. A Customer Relationship Management system is an all-purpose solution for the “C”apabilities defined by Aberdeen’s PACE Model; it is a vessel for documented sales processes, centralized account information and “unifying customer information.” It is this multifunctional ability that has made CRM systems so popular and almost essential for sales teams today.  Not surprisingly, some CRM systems likely support the “enablers” that Aberdeen has defined, but these tools can also be provided through alternative solutions like SaaS or Internet services.

Keeping track of campaigns, especially when they are automated, like e-mail marketing, is essential in order to ensure that leads and prospects aren’t falling through the cracks. Campaigns require a lot of sensitivity and observation in order to make sure that they are successful; personalized attention is crucial in turning a prospect to a customer. These communications can be long, drawn-out and complicated, and without a tracking system, prospects can be forgotten, or even worse, disgruntled leads may accidentally be re-contacted. Sales reps need a way to organize the communications that they have with prospects even from the campaign stage, not just during the process of a sale.

Today, e-mail marketing campaigns are an important enabler for successful sales and marketing teams, and in addition to having a solution, whether it be a CRM system or an outsourced service provider, reps need to know not only what their responses are, but also the metrics on open and click through rates. The data on the success of campaigns, whether e-mail or an alternative, is essential to either continue gaining leads, and more importantly, to highlight a campaign’s failure and consequently assess the cause and thus allow for improvement in the future.

Another success enabler is up-to-date company and account information. While it may be obvious, reps that are pressed for time and don’t have easy access to the information often overlook this step. Online sales intelligence resources such as Hoovers allow for CRM integration so that relevant company information like annual revenues can be imported and attached to an account with the click of a button. This additional information can be ignored in the lead qualification process if the access to it is not quick and easy. The list Geoffrey James put together of free online sales tools on his blog, Sales Machine, provides extremely helpful reviews.

The centrality of a CRM and the simplicity of online research tools and integration capabilities are important enablers for sales reps to be educated and efficient.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107