There was a time when salesmen could crack a sale using the brand value or a brand name, but now the customers’ buying behaviors have changed drastically. They have become more radical about the products and services they want to use. As per research conducted by the Marketing Leadership Council in association with Google, customers tend to self-progress and complete around 60% of their buying decision before meeting a sales representative. Does this mean that the role of a salesman has become less significant? In fact, it is another way round. Now the salesmen's productivity is more needed; they need to be more empowered, more equipped, and more prepared than ever as in the current market, they are dealing with a much smarter and more self-aware base of customers.
Are your salesmen empowered with decision-making capacity?
Nowadays customers are more focused on the utility of a product and service, they speak to a sales agent only after doing their own share of research, so they are likely to attend to the sales agent several focused questions. Thus, gone are those days, when sales representatives could sell a product or service using the same sales pitch. Now salesmen need to have strong decision-making capacities so that they can judge and pitch to a customer in the right manner. So, how to empower the salesmen so that they become smart enough to match up to customers' improved purchasing behavior. Here listing out three ways:
Not messed up with administrative tasks: As mentioned above, customers tend to self-progress in their buying decisions before actually meeting a salesman, which means they have become very selective about which salesman they are meeting. In such a scenario, missing an appointment with a customer because of a wrong or overlapped or duplicate scheduling is very frustrating for the salespeople. A company must make use of software programs like Field Sales CRM to ensure proper job scheduling for the sales reps.
Besides the productive hours of the sales reps often get drained out because of other administrative mess like reporting, creating sales reports, extended traveling, etc. Such non-productive aspects can also be fixed with the help of a field sales mobile app. For instance, the sales rep can remotely fill their timesheet, digitally submit their reports and reimbursement claims using the app, route planner in the app can guide them through the safest and fastest routes to save travel time.
Real-time access to the knowledge database: To deal with a learned customer, even the sales rep need to become knowledgeable. Training and development lessons are of fixed format and don’t suffice the flexible needs of the sales reps. For situational decision making, the sales reps need real-time access to information, also the flexibility to prepare themselves while on-the-go. Field sales management software serves as a digital centralized database, which can be accessed by the sales reps at any time and from anywhere.
Handy with adequate sales tools: If a salesman is not empowered enough to prioritize customer convenience, then he has a thin chance of surviving in the competition. On-the-spot invoice generation, digital payment modes, real-time tracking of the salesmen's whereabouts, instant notifications about a sales deed, there are various small but highly influencing aspects that enhance the customer experience with a sales representative. So, without these kinds of sales tools, it is difficult for a sales rep to function in the current market. A field sales mobile CRM can be a comprehensive sales tool, that makes a sales rep digitally and technologically empowered.
Using the software, he can generate instant proof of purchase, provide the customers with various digital payment options, share with them the digital copies of the documents, digitally capture their feedback, send them updates and notifications, and do much more.
The Key Takeaways
Companies can’t overrule the digital disruption that is highly influencing the customers’ decision-making and buying behavior. So, no business and its salesmen can think of functioning fluently without being technologically or digitally empowered. A Field Sales CRM is a must for the new-age salesmen to be in coherence with the changed consumer metrics.
