True mobility is empowering sales representatives with real-time data and richer customer experiences.
Salespeople have straddled two conflicting worlds in recent years.
While PDAs and cell phones have proven to be the perfect match for the selling profession's on-the-move work style, key corporate information at many companies has remained stubbornly stationary, stored at headquarters in back-end systems and largely off-limits from the road.
Now mobile technologies are aligning the job of selling with the fast-moving information that supports it. Sales reps can tap remotely into the information that forms the heart of their business—inventory levels, production and pricing schedules—as easily as they check e-mail and calendars.
The result is greater productivity and closer customer relationships. The big business opportunities arise from the versatility provided by mobile devices. Mobile access to corporate data, processes and other tools means not only more communication with buyers but deeper, and more profitable, ties to them as well.
What Has Changed?
Mobility solutions have evolved into key corporate strategies. Enterprises are more enthusiastic than ever about mobile investments for their sales forces. More than one-third of companies surveyed say they're using mobile sales applications to some degree, according to a study by analysts at Forrester Research (see chart, “Enterprise Interest in Mobile Sales Applications is High”).
Enterprise Interest in Mobile Sales Applications is High
Source: Forrester Research, Enterprise Network and telecommunications Survey, North America and Europe, Q1 2007
A combination of forces is behind the push to go mobile. Pressure to meet sales goals and sell more efficiently is the prime motivator. In addition, solutions based on familiar software tools like Microsoft Office offer a minimal learning curve. That's a powerful draw for salespeople, who have made it clear that if software isn’t intuitive, they won’t use it. Reps access core enterprise systems using the same features as e-mail and scheduling.
Another reason for the increased interest in mobile is that the information they're tapping into is potentially up-to-the-minute. On-the-go access to real-time corporate data is relatively new, but it is increasingly available in enterprise software like Microsoft Dynamics CRM. For most salespeople, real-time information is a godsend. Instant information delivery eliminates customer callbacks, for example, to explain why an order has been delayed. More importantly, sales reps can use the data to draw meaningful insights that help them land new deals and better serve customers during sales calls.
From the road, sales and support staffs can use workstations running Microsoft Windows as well as wireless PDAs running Windows Mobile 6 to collaborate on, and post, contracts and proposals. Meanwhile, on-the-go sellers can benefit by having instant access to the latest pricing schedules served up in familiar spreadsheets.
Productivity Picks Up Steam
In a team selling environment, mobility has company-wide benefits. When organizations automate their order, inventory and invoice data, it synchronizes quickly and efficiently with back-office systems. This eliminates clerical error due to manual data entry. Moreover, sales managers can keep better tabs on activities through up-to-date reports and dashboards.
The benefits reach all the way to the bottom line. In addition to increasing revenues, mobile devices improve productivity. A three-year business value analysis conducted last year by market-research firm IDC predicted that organizations implementing mobile solutions would save on average $316,156 USD for every 100 users equipped with the technology. The boost to productivity happens as a result of freeing up time otherwise spent on mundane tasks. Perhaps not surprisingly, sales tops the list for the job function with the most to gain from mobility improvements (see chart, "Going Mobile Saves Time and Money").
For Sales, Going Mobile Saves Time and Money
Source: IDC, 2007, "Windows Mobile 6 and the Benefits of Microsoft Mobile Messaging"
Technologies That Enable Mobile Sales
With the goal of keeping salespeople committed and productive, companies are customizing their line of business applications to adapt to life on the road. In industries as diverse as real estate, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing and retail, salespeople spend more than 20 percent of their time traveling.
A commercial real estate agent equipped with a PDA and Windows Mobile 6.0, for example, can travel light yet still have full access to financial background data stored on SQL Server or Exchange Server back at headquarters. The agent can check on mortgage rates and availability–and have all the information on his or her handheld device—without requiring a full laptop for travel.
Salespeople in retail industries see similar benefits. At Amway Taiwan, access to the company's PDA portal gives sales reps (called independent business owners, or IBOs) a way to plug into key business systems while on client calls. The company, a division of the international multi-level marketing company and one of Taiwan's largest direct-sales operations, reports that IBOs feel more plugged in and appear more confident. Consequently, the company is enjoying improved revenue streams.
Today, Amway Taiwan IBOs can easily view availability of the 400-plus products, anytime and anywhere. They can also place or cancel orders, update sales performance, and answer inside queries. Data is more accurate, collection times are faster, revenue reporting is improved and business transpires more efficiently.
Clothing manufacturers, too, demand efficiency. While Danish designer Wearhouse's business is high fashion, its customer connections were low tech. Sales reps hand-wrote orders for the upscale European retailers that stock its designs, sometimes taking as long as three weeks to fax them to the company's headquarters. Determining which styles and colors were selling well and which stock needed replenishing took weeks.
Armed with PDAs, sales reps now capture orders digitally and often ship them on the same day. And because it can make manufacturing decisions on a day-to-day basis, Wearhouse can refine its collections and garment production to meet demand.
Wearhouse estimates the mobile order-entry saves 50,000 euros (USD $67,000) per year in manual data-entry costs. Order errors due to poor handwriting or faulty data entry have also been eliminated, saving Wearhouse 220,000 euros (USD $296,000) annually.
Life on the road will always have its difficulties, but staying connected to staff, customers and the latest company information is no longer the challenge it once was. As a result, salespeople now have more time to do what they do best—make great deals for their customers and their companies.
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