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Like the Pilot, successful Sales Force Automation solutions should deliver simple answers for complex problems at a reasonable cost.
Sales Force Automation "solutions" generally complicate what should be a simple process - managing relationships and opportunities. By requiring a complete re-engineering of existing sales process while introducing a new tool there is disruption created to the sales force. A disruption that actually decreases individual productivity - a decrease in an organization's ability to identify, qualify, manage and close opportunities.
Interestingly, the Gartner Group found that three out of every four Sales Force Automation projects are ultimately abandoned. Their conclusion is that most companies try to accomplish too much, too quickly for too many, failing to capture the promised return on investment.
So, if you are contemplating automating your sales force, what do you need to know?
Why? For a very simple reason – these "solutions" complicate what should be a simple
process: managing relationships and opportunities.
Software licenses are just a fraction of the total cost.
To really understand the expense of automating your sales efforts start by evaluating all the variables -
Cost to acquire:
- End User Licenses
- Upgrade Insurance/Maintenance for licenses
- Server Database Software
Cost to deploy:
- Identifying business process
- Capturing business process
- Integrating legacy data
- Implementing business process user training
Cost to maintain:
- Dedicated Systems Administrator
- Dedicated Database Administrator
- On-going Systems consulting
Then ask yourself the most difficult question - after installed,
what % of your people will actually use it? Studies have found that
after being deployed for 12 months, on average, 35% of installed
licenses of Sales Force Automation products are used as originally
intended. In fact, when asked about features that were used the most,
87% of users queried responded that the most used functionality was
contact and calendar management.
Avoid the disruption and high costs of Sales Force Automation.
Deliver collaborative contact management and opportunity managment
first, then add specialized functionality when required.
A best of breed relationship management solution for organizations
using Lotus Notes, ACT! for Notes Sales Suite is an affordable, easy
to use, collaborative contact management system with integrated
forecasting and opportunity management. With the key features your
salespeople and managers need to identify and manage relationships
and create and close opportunities, ACT! for Notes Sales Suite
delivers the functionality your salespeople need without complicating
the sales process.
In fact, a fully implemented ACT! for Notes Sales Suite solution is less than 1/3rd the cost of a user license of Seibel or SalesLogix.
ACT! for Notes is rich with features which are easily adapted to
the way you're accustomed to working. More to the point, you can
measure your ROI in terms of the increased productivity of your sales
force, new opportunities with your customers, and the decreased risk
of failure to implement.
Our "Two clicks to content" design philosophy provides application
navigation with a minimum of work. By delivering a minimal amount of
views, forms and buttons, users don't have to learn their way through
a maze of unnecessary features.
ACT! for Notes Sales Suite requires no database server like other
proprietary systems. ACT! for Notes Sales Suite uses your already
existing Lotus Notes infrastructure, leveraging the replication,
security, customizability, and remote usage capabilities of Lotus
Notes. ACT! for Notes Sales Suite creates an inexpensive, open
development platform that you can shape and mold to meet your
requirements at less cost and at your own pace.
Key Features
Single Database Architecture
- Store all Contact, Activity, History and Correspondence information in one place.
- Quickly sort and categorize all the contact information by Contact
Name or Company Name, or by many other means.
Group Calendar Integration and Scheduling
- Users have perspective of activities and To Do's in their personal calendar.
- Managers view individual activities in group calendar - true Activity collaboration.
Full document security
- Assign Read Access to Private documents for users and/or groups, for one or many documents.
- Assign Edit Access to Private or Public documents.
- Maintain group membership centrally - in the Domino Name & Address Book. Easily Customizable
- Easily define and maintain user field labels and popup values
- Have all users employ the same terms when referring to activities
- Develop reporting and statistical output that employs standard terms
Full Web Access
- Make ACT! for Notes available in a web front-end for your users that do not use Notes clients.
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