The smartphone made a dramatic entry into our lives just over 10 years ago. Not only has it revolutionized our personal lives, it has also become predominant in our professional lives. While it all began with access to e-mail, mobile business applications and mobile CRMs have gradually appeared to facilitate the daily lives of sales teams in the field, thanks to a multitude of functionalities.
Even if a large number of long-established CRM software publishers still shun the mobile market, releasing downgraded versions of their products or not always user-friendly responsive mobile versions, the power of the smartphone and its democratization now make it an essential tool for professionals, and for sales forces in particular.
Here are just some of the reasons why you shouldn't neglect the smartphone and mobile business applications in your sales strategy.
With a business mobile crm application, all the data in your company's sales ecosystem is stored and easily accessible by all your employees, wherever they may be. Whether in the office, at home or on the road, your sales reps now have access to the data that will enable them to sell more and better: from the history of exchanges with a prospect to the follow-up of their objectives, via agreements and contracts signed with a customer.
Advantage: real-time access to information
The ability to consult and update customer information and sales data in real time is essential for making better decisions and reacting quickly to opportunities or problems.
Cloud storage lets you store and provide access to all the documents your sales reps need for their day-to-day work: up-to-date price lists, product presentations, dematerialized catalogs... With a smartphone, your sales reps are freer (and less busy): no more briefcases overflowing with loose sheets and incomplete presentations, the mobile is the ideal tool for accessing the right information, at the right time.
As for the information reported is spontaneous, and therefore of better quality, and shared in real time: no more losses and more information retention possible.
Benefit 1:Improved customer responsiveness
By having immediate access to information via their smartphone, sales staff can respond more quickly to customer requests, concerns or needs. This improves customer satisfaction and can help strengthen relationships.
Benefit 2: Reduced administrative tasks
By entering information directly into the CRM via a smartphone, sales staff can reduce the time spent on administrative tasks and duplicate data entry, leaving them more time to focus on sales and customer service.
Let's face it, arriving at a customer appointment or making a visit with loose sheets of paper, files under your arm and a notebook in 2020 doesn't necessarily give a very modern image of your company... And that also counts if your area managers are equipped with a computer. While this may seem trivial, this perception can have an impact when it comes to making decisions, no matter how professional you or your staff have been.
Quick and easy access to information will save you from an avoidable amount of stress and allow you to concentrate on your tasks, or to approach your negotiations calmly.
Avantage: collaboration and information sharing
Mobile access facilitates collaboration between sales team members and other departments, enabling information and updates to be shared easily, even when on the move.
By eliminating or optimizing all time-consuming, low-value-added tasks (visit reports, expense reports, tour planning, etc.), you'll free up precious time for your sales force to focus on what really counts: customer visits and appointments.
Better organization of your staff's time will relieve them of a good deal of frustration, and the availability of tools such as voice dictation of reports or feedback forms will give you much better visibility of your company's sales performance and a precise overview of the field.
Benefit:optimized planning and organization
Mobile CRM tools often enable better management of tasks and schedules, with calendar and reminder functionalities. This helps sales reps to organize their visits and meetings efficiently, maximizing productivity.
The smartphone is an indispensable tool in our daily lives (both personal and professional), and this is all the more true for field salespeople. Whether on the road or in the office, they need reliable, efficient tools to manage their busy schedules, stay organized and maintain a high level of productivity.
And for this, native mobile applications can help them: GPS, contact management, calendars... Their smartphone contains all the information they need on the move, and can really make a difference to their day-to-day work.
Advantage: mobility and flexibility
Area managers and field sales representatives are often out in the field, visiting customers and sales outlets. Mobile access to CRM enables them to stay connected and productive without being tied to a desk or laptop, offering maximum flexibility in their day-to-day activities.
When you put it all together, increased efficiency of your staff will invariably bring you substantial savings. It is estimated that today's field salespeople spend only about a third of their time on selling, with the rest being cannibalised by administrative or low-value-added tasks. It is therefore easy to imagine that reversing this trend will have beneficial consequences for your sales activity.
In order to set up a sales strategy adapted to the mobility needs of your sales representatives, the smartphone is today your main ally to get the best out of your nomadic teams and to finally have visibility of the Field.
Sidely is a CRM software dedicated to mobile sales forces. Mobile first (designed for cell phones, then adapted for the web), Sidely harnesses the full power of smartphones to facilitate the day-to-day work of sales staff in the field.
