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Building the right strategy, innovation agenda and sales representative experience
As consumer behaviors and preferences dictate enterprise technology trends in unprecedented fashion, companies of all shapes and sizes are struggling with how to effectively enable their sales teams with mobile solutions. The challenges that must be overcome by sales leaders and CIOs alike are threefold: defining a proactive strategy before it is defined by sales representative behavior, continuously innovating by exploiting the newest capabilities of mobile technology, and committing to developing a distinctive sales representative and customer experience. The key to addressing these challenges lies in taking a disciplined approach to mobility. The upside for capitalizing on this opportunity is significant.
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The explosion of mobile devices, the increasingly improving wireless network capabilities, and the adoption of cloud technologies in the enterprise have resulted in easy-to-provision and easy-to-use mobile sales tools. In organizations everywhere, sales professionals are writing the mobile strategy, by self-selecting sales tools onto their company-owned and personal mobile devices. While well intentioned, these sales representatives are often making decisions based on personal preference, without regard for company security, data rights, process consistency and total cost of ownership. High performing organizations will need to move quickly in defining a strategy that keeps pace with these trends.
Fueling the behavior is the rate at which mobile and cloud-based CRM technologies are evolving. With smart phones getting smarter, tablets becoming ubiquitous and CRM vendors releasing quarterly enhancements, there is an insatiable demand for new and improved capabilities. The shiny object syndrome of mobility is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. High performing organizations will need to show sales representatives a committed path to mobility improvements to quell the demand and they will need to keep their promise. At the same time, these organizations will need to create a deliberate and well-planned approach that exploits the newest innovations in mobility to solve pressing business challenges. Perhaps the most important challenge to overcome with mobile sales solutions is the development of a distinctive experience for both the sales representative and the customer that can be proven by
measurable business value. Simply transitioning standard sales force automation functionality to mobile devices underutilizes the technology and by-passes the real potential of mobility. For every basic sales automation capabilityaccount management, contact management, pipeline management, activity management and forecasting successful mobile solutions can help improve the workflow of the sales professional. The opportunity for the organizations that effectively capitalize on this growing trend is important. High performing organizations will use mobility to increase deal size, decrease sales cycle timelines and profitably improve sales activity. Additional benefits will include sales representative satisfaction and reduced attrition, improved customer experience, and unprecedented transparency, traceability and predictability for company executives.
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Figure 1: Sales forces are using tablets more frequently but without defined policies. What percentage of your sales force is currently using tablet devices to support their sales activities?
Do not know 3.1% >75% 12.5%
Which of the following statements best describes your companys policy towards tablet device usage in sales?
51-75% 9.4%
<10% 31.3%
26-50% 12.5%
10-25% 31.3%
Locating nearby opportunities A leading telecommunications company is taking advantage of location-based services on Improved representative Apple iPads to show nearby effectiveness opportunities and unclaimed leads. With this information in One leading company is hand, representatives can take considering leveraging locationadvantage of downtime between based services to notify sales representative when they are near sales calls to prospect qualified leads that are in close proximity. an account where they owe a follow up. Driving more timely and Remote presence consistent follow through can lift the performance of the sales teams, Several high-tech companies increase customer satisfaction and are exploiting the connectivity and rich media capabilities of help to improve sales. tablets by implementing live video New levels of flexibility conferencing to enable their sales representatives to bring remote A leading global pharmaceutical subject matter specialists directly company is redesigning its into the customer conversation. traditional sales tools for tablet In this case, mobility is making devices to create new levels of it possible for the sales role and geographic flexibility. representative to deliver answers By disaggregating the individual at the point of need and minimize functions into smaller, bite-sized functions, the company can use one follow-up work. common sales force automation Richer customer dialogue platform to deploy different A number of companies are combinations of sales force exploring ways to make sales tools to different types of sales representatives conversations representatives across the globe. more interactive and engaging by using a tablets touch screen
capabilities to deliver content. For example, the instanton capabilities of the Apple iPad make it easier for sales representatives to launch quickly into customer presentations. In addition, tablets can deliver rich, interactive media based on customers preferences as they select content that is directly relevant to them. This might include collaboratively building a customers quote or proposal in real time, or viewing a customers order history to answer questions during the meeting. Real-time order placement An organization is enhancing the use of its existing enterprise systems by building a front-facing ordering application for the Apple iPad. The application leverages the 24x7 connectivity of tablets and allows sales representatives to place a customer order immediately after making the sale. This makes it possible for the organization to realize revenue more quickly and allows the sales representative to confirm orders with customers on the spot.
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Define a proactive strategy to meet the opportunity, and equally the challenge, of quick user adoption
How do companies balance strategy with speed? In the past, organizations deploying new, application-centric technologies to the sales team typically have been challenged with mediocre user adoption. Tablets, however, with their unique userfriendly nature, are bucking this trend; the hardware is promoting adoption of oncescorned CRM software, and altering how sales representatives divide their work time. As shown in Figure 2, a Gartner study of a large sales force found that representatives were spending 20 percent more computing time per day when they used a tablet, a smart phone and a laptop, as opposed to a smart phone and laptop alone, to execute the same or similar activities.5 This preference for tablets bodes well for organizations, giving them the opportunity to drive higher sales process and methodology adoption rates for sales forces deploying mobile sales force automation. Higher adoption of these tools can result in more consistent sales processes, increased sales productivity, and improved predictability and management insights. These are the potential benefits that sales tools should drive, but today often fail to do so given low user adoption.
Laptop
3.5 hrs./day
4.2 hrs./day
Smartphone
Laptop
Tablet
Smartphone
Sessions 7 26
Sessions 4 12 19
However, the rapid pace of adoption also poses a challenge for sales and sales operations leaders. According to recent research by Morgan Stanley, sales representatives are increasingly using their own tablets to access sales tools, store customer and account information, and manage sales activitiesand it is happening quickly.6 (See Figure 3.) In many cases, sales organizations do not have line of sight or control of this activity. Instead, sales teams are defining the mobility strategy organically.
Figure 3: The number of employee-owned tablets used in the enterprise doubled in one year. CIOs Surveyed on Tablet Usage An example:
33%
16%
51%
71%
8%
21%
Not Allowed
Employee-owned
Without an intentional and well-planned strategy, this Wild West approach to mobile device usage can create issues for both the sales and technology teams to overcome. These issues include: Adoption rates for the sales tools might climb, but utilization of important aspects such as activity management may plummet, with sales representatives capturing and managing their activities, follow-up, and notes on their independent smart phone or tablet applications. With the availability and ease of installation of small, independent mobile sales applications, representatives may even download other sales productivity tools, creating an uncontrolled plethora of tools being used by representatives across the organization.
With customer data being accessed and stored on mobile devices at the edge of the network, information security issues can put organizations at risk if unsecured devices are lost, stolen or used improperlygiving rise to possible legal and other risks. To help mitigate these potential risks, sales organizations should take control of their mobile strategy by defining a deliberate plan, and working closely with technology and information security counterparts. These risks are possible to overcome and should promote, rather than stifle, innovation. Additional device questions to answer include: Who will own the devicethe organization or the individual sales representative? How can companies verify mobile devices are both accessible
and connected in emerging markets? What happens when a sales representative leaves the company? How do organizations deliver a consistent experience to representatives, regardless of their chosen device? Should companies standardize on a single platform or allow many? High performing organizations have answered these questions as part of an enterprise mobile technology strategy, collaborating with sales leadership and CIOs to lead to a successful path forward.
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Figure 4: CRM implementations do not always deliver desired results. What measurable improvements in performance are you seeing as a result of implementing your CRM system?
Improved Sales Rep/Manager Communications Improved Forecast Accuracy Reduced Administrative Burden on Sales Reduced New Sales Rep Ramp-up Time Improved Support of Channels Improved Best Practices Sharing Improved Order Processing Accuracy Improved Win Rates Other Increased Revenues Shortened Sell Cycles Increased Margins 22.8% 19.9% 19.1% 17.6% 16.9% 15.4% 15.4% 11.8% 3.7% 35.3% 47.1% 57.4%
than 15 percent responded that these implementations resulted in increased revenues.7 (See Figure 4.) Investing in re-enabling sales force functionality on a tablet device can be exciting and is often justified with softer benefits such as convenience, connectedness and portability. However, mobility technology brings some truly new capabilities such as location-based services, 24x7 connectivity, richer and more interactive media presentation, and emerging technologies like QR codes and near-field communications. High performing companies will figure out ways to exploit these capabilities in order to solve their most important business challenges.
The site is unattractive and requires a manual to get started. The software is generic and requires a work-around to do the specific things we would really like to do.8 These adoption issues run parallel to the reasons why sales representatives often do not like to use sales tools built by the sales organization. When implementing mobile sales tools, organizations can avoid these pitfalls by providing value directly to sales representatives at every interaction with the sales tool.
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These kinds of innovations will drive appreciable new opportunities for sales organizations. Leading organizations will not only exploit what is new about mobility now, but will also build a culture and process that encourages continuous and iterative innovation as the technology develops.
Unfortunately, this approach has a downside: low adoption of the CRM tools by the sales force, as they see these tools as only data capture avenues for management. (See sidebar entitled Why Sales Representatives Typically Hate their Sales Tools.) To reduce this risk, some companies have made sales representative adoption metrics part of the performance management process. However, using the stick instead of the carrot typically has failed to yield the benefit sought by either the organization or an individual sales representative. High performing organizations will take a different route and focus on how their mobile sales force automation tools can provide direct value to the sales representatives themselves. For every input sales representatives are asked to provide, they should get a useful and tangible output from the sales tool. For example, if recording a follow-up task for a customer enabled the mobile device to alert a representative when near an account with an overdue task, the representative would be more likely to use the task functionality. Providing this distinctive sales representative experience is an important piece of an effective mobility sales program.
The rich media and real-time connectivity capabilities of mobile devices help sales representatives to use the mobile device as the facilitator to the conversation. Representatives can use a tablet together with the customer to configure solutions in real time, review pricing options and capture signatures to close deals. In addition, they can leverage video technology to include remote participants who may offer specific experience. And with a constant connection to the underlying CRM systems, sales representatives can also answer questions about cases or order status in real time. For the broader sales organization, an Internet-connected mobile device can instantly aggregate data across multiple sales conversations to help companies identify best practices, refine sales processes and methodologies, or review marketing content and overall go-tomarket strategies. Organizations can also collect voice-of-the-customer data from how the customer is actually interacting with the sales representative and the mobile device, rather than gathering it anecdotally from the sales representative.
Ensure sales tools provide clear value directly to the sales representative
Many organizations have deployed CRM solutions with the intent to collect information from the sales tools, and provide business insight to executivelevel management and headquarter processes. Information collected from the sales force is often used to drive more accurate pipelines and forecasting, provide better customer and offering insights for marketing, or round out activity and performance management data.
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Summary
Mobile solutions have the potential to create dramatic benefits for a sales organization. Effectively planning and then executing a strategy that is focused on the sales representative and customer experience, through alignment with existing process, methodologies and technology, is critical to help drive success. As smartphones and tablets evolve, CRM and cloud technologies become more powerful, and consumer behaviors continue to drive enterprise innovation, the opportunity for defining a mobile-enabled sales strategy has never been greater.
References
1 Gartner, iPads: Customer-Facing Selling Will Drive iPad Use for Sales, May 20, 2011, by Robert P. Desisto, ID: G00213136. 2 CSO Insights 2012 Sales Performance Optimization Study 3 CSO Insights 2011 Sales Performance Optimization Study 4 CSO Insights 2012 Sales Performance Optimization Study 5 Gartner, Enterprise Applications for Tablets, June 13, 2011, by Scott D. Nelson and David A. Willis, ID: G00214074 6 Morgan Stanley, Tablet Demand and Disruption, February 14, 2011 7 CSO Insights 2012 Sales Performance Optimization Study 8 Harvard Business Review, HBR Blog Network, Why We Use Social Media in Our Personal LivesBut Not for Work, February 16, 2012, by Tamara J. Erickson
Contact Us:
For more information about the Accenture Sales Mobility offering and how Accenture can help your organization improve sales with mobility, visit Accenture.com or contact: Yusuf Tayob Partner, Accenture Sales Execution and Enablement yusuf.a.tayob@accenture.com Ray Pressburger Accenture Sales Mobility Offering Lead ramon.w.pressburger@accenture.com
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About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the worlds most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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