Sales Force Automation is coming for Reps and Agencies

Software tools that help reps and agencies do their job more efficiently and effectively have been few and far between and sales force automation software is not tailored to the needs of reps and agencies, but advances in technology and increased acceptance of “renting” software on hosted websites is starting to crack open the floodgates of inexpensive but sophisticated systems that are just beginning to be make it to long underserved markets. What has changed? Consider that for nearly 2 decades manufacturers have had the use of highly sophisticated and expensive customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Tools with lots of horsepower and, if properly implemented, they deliver cost saving efficiencies. Eventually, developers of this kind of software figured out that there was a profitable market to be served by breaking off just the CRM piece of their programs, simplifying the front end and limiting options, stripping it down, so to speak. They then “hosted” the software on the internet where anyone could subscribe to it and gain access 24/7. They could also offer it at a fraction of the cost of systems they sold to manufacturers because:

1. They had already developed the software. Stripping it down was a piece of cake in the whole scheme of things.
   
2. Individual users were not going to put nearly the stress on the system as some of their bigger, highly complex customers. Developers were targeting users who wanted a basic version of their program.
3. They controlled the environment on which the program ran. Who better to manage the day-to-day control and maintenance of a program than the people who actually wrote it? Privacy of data among users and system security was strictly maintained and monitored closely. Also, with the advent of very large hard drives, the space needed to house tens of thousands of users was less and less of an issue. Finally, the concept of “server farms” had taken hold. These are companies that totally devote themselves to maintaining hundreds of web servers and guarantee minimal downtime, so software developers took advantage of outsourcing that function.

So there you have it. A different world where high powered sales force automation software is available to users at every level of functional need and price point. How does that affect reps and agencies in their day to day activities? Let’s make a wish list for a sales force automation system that would satisfy a rep’s needs and let’s see if it’s reasonable to expect that a hosted system could give you that at an acceptable cost.

Judging from my past experience as a CFO for manufacturing companies, reps and agencies have a demonstrated need for:

• A way to complete all sales quoting activity in one fell swoop and hand it or email it to the customer and the principal. No need to finish the last 5% of work “at the office”
  
• Having all their information in one place, catalogs, products, customers, quotes and orders
  
• Having a way to just get on to the next sale, knowing everything has been done
  
• Spending as little time as possible spent on paperwork
  
• Having tools that help them to keep from making mistakes
  
• Professional looking quote and order forms bearing the rep’s name and logo
  
• 24/7 access to the information
  
• Having an easy way to update and resend quotes
  
• Having a way to track “whose court the ball is in”, customer, rep or principal
  
• Having history on everything ever done with a customer
  

Benefits of having a system that could do all this would be improved communication with principals and customers, streamlined sales process, getting a clear view of the sales pipeline and gaining a competitive advantage over reps still doing things the old way. Finally, you’d own all the information in it forever; it would not be in the control of a principal. In fact, it could also help in securing desirable lines of product since you could demonstrate success in your markets and show that you can efficiently and effectively serve just the kind of customers that principals are looking for.

My point is, in order to fulfill all of this, you’d need the kind of system sophisticated manufacturers have, but it’s clearly within the realm of possibility to expect that systems like this can and will exist at a reasonable price point for reps and agencies, especially given the relative ease it takes to do the necessary program modifications. No need to reinvent the wheel, just give reps a hosted location to work from and modify the interface appropriately. A perfect example of this model is Salesforce.com.

Hosted systems are the wave of the future and ones that satisfy unique needs at a reasonable price are here today or are just around the corner. When researching systems you should expect a reasonable subscription fee ($50-$100 month), a free trial period so you can test it, discounts for multiple users and a discount or extra months free if you pay for a year upfront. Expect the interface to be reasonably intuitive and the training to be done over the internet. Certain reports will come as part of the package, but custom reporting, and data import services will cost extra. For more sophisticated users, look for systems that allow you to export your data into a spreadsheet format and deliver it to you. This puts the transaction data directly in your hands and allows you to create your own reports.

Tony McConn, CPA is President and co-founder of TrueSales Corporation of Everett, WA, a quote-to-order management and configurator software solution provider for manufacturers selling complex products. He has also been an ERP system implementation consultant for Catalyst Corporation and a CFO for manufacturers in a variety of industries. You can reach him at tmcconn@wrighttools.com