Can a Salesperson Be Too Organized?

Yes. As a matter of fact, an entire sales force can be too organized.

This is the danger of elaborate CRM systems. Too be sure, they are great tools, but since they are capable of keeping track of everything, there’s a terrible temptation to do just that.

Salespeople need to guard against creating data monsters. The more information you store, the more time you are forced to spend–

1. Entering data.
2. Reviewing data.
3. Updating data.

When you’re caught up in the thrill of designing a new system, it’s easy to underestimate the time necessary to perform these three (seemingly) simple tasks. But over-engineer your…

How to Get an Order

Sales people can waste an enormous amount of time learning “closing techniques”. Tactics such the “assumptive close”, when the seller continues a conversation as if the buyer has already placed the order; asking a series of questions where “yes” is the only response, and then asking for the order in hope that the buyer will mechanically reply “yes”; presenting the buyer with an either-or order proposition; are gimmicky, manipulative, and ineffective.

You want an order? Just ask.

“Are you ready to order?”

“Would you like to place an order now?”

What’s wrong with being direct and to the point? If the sales person has…

Mystery First

Yesterday in Funny Business I wrote about a mysterious advertising message. While that particular message might be a little too mysterious, the principle behind it is sound. Sometimes, the less said, the better.

People are naturally curious. If you tell them too much too early, they won’t have anything to be curious about. Bombarding prospects with facts and figures can be a gigantic turnoff. Much better is to engage the prospect by telling a story. And as we all know, one element of an engaging story is mystery.

Lexus has been doing a superb job of creating mystery with the rollout of its new…

Debra Kurtz on CRM for Small Business

CRM Interview–Tom Wieczorek, Sales Automation Specialists

To follow up to my recent post on CRM, I asked CRM consultant Tom Wieczorek a few questions about how CRM can help small and midsize businesses. Tom’s company, Sales Automation Specialists, is located in St. Charles, Illinois. He works with several CRM packages, especially ACT!.

Please tell me a little bit about your business.

We’re a firm that helps small business sales teams get a return on their investment with ACT! contact management software. We also work with firms that use GoldMine and Maximizer. Act! is just our strong suit. ACT!, of course, is not expensive, but so many firms buy…

CRM–Do I Need It?

A Customer Relationship Management package can make you or break you. There are scores of software packages out there, and most of them have ten times as much functionality as the average company needs. A few of the more popular options:

GoldMine, sold by FrontRange Solutions, has been around for years, offers a dizzying array of functions, and is designed to work well in networks so that information can be shared easily throughout the organization.

Act!, sold by Sage Software, is also tried-and-true. It is nearly as robust and more intuitive than GoldMine, but is not primarily designed as a network solution. However,…