Are your sales team adequately equipped? In the present context with mergers and acquisitions and layoffs, many businesses don’t have a complete method for utilizing the tools their remote and mobile employees carry around with them on a daily basis.
Your sales team probably is using a cell phone or smartphones (Blackberry, iPhone, etc. ) as well as a laptop and modem card as well as an assortment of home office expenses. It’s crucial that these resources are managed by your company to ensure the effectiveness of sales forces as well as efficient expenditure.
There are four top-level steps your organization must be following to establish or revise the sales force toolkit
Assess your present situation
Create your toolkit
Select the vendors you prefer and discuss rates
Implement
Evaluation of the Current State
Before you begin to convert all of your sales staff to iPads and iPhones first, you must know the apps your team uses and the amount you’re spending. It’s easier to start with the existing services currently being managed by your company. You’ll have to make an account of all the corporate services, while scouring for expenses for the services. Does your sales force pay for broadband at home as well as landline and fax service? Do they pay for the use of cell phones, or hotel wifi? These costs are difficult to uncover.
To begin your state evaluation , you’ll have to:
Audit the corporate services provided by the company (cell phones and hardware, software etc.)
Audit expense reports for communication spending (landline, internet, fax, etc.)
Conduct a survey to determine the patterns of spending, usage and other needs
A survey is a fantastic method to gather information to help you with your audit findings as well as obtain demands from members of your sales force. Incentivize your sales team by making sure they know that the survey directly connects to the tools they’ll utilize soon. I would suggest that the survey be anonymous in order to obtain genuine responses. One of the organizations I worked for had more than 80 percent of respondents that is impressive.
Create your Toolkit
Once you’ve identified the tools the sales team has and how much your organization is spending, it’s time to start defining your toolkit. Keep in mind that this isn’t just a simple cost-cutting exercise. The aim is to identify the best possible solution to your team’s sales. It is likely that you will save money, however, based on the current service you have you could end up spending more. But, the improved efficiency and sales potential you can easily justify the cost of your investment.
Don’t limit yourself to your wireless network, be sure to include cost-based services and landline services, as well as software and hardware.
A Toolkit that could be a potential toolkit includes:
Corporate Liable smartphone (Blackberry, Android, iPhone, etc.)
Wireless Modem Card
Femtocell
Mobile applications and mobile-formatted intranet pages
Fixed Mobile Convergence
Broadband internet
EFax or a similar
Multi-function office printer for home use
An iPad?
It is evident that, this toolkit could meet all the requirements of remote workers. Your company may not require every one of these options however, with a complete toolkit like this will ensure that your staff will be most well-equipped.
Choose Vendors and Negotiation Rates
Once you’ve analyzed your current situation and established your strategy, you’re in a position to choose your vendors and negotiate rates. Based on the state that your contracts are in you might need to submit an RFP in full or start negotiations with your existing suppliers pool.
There are a few tips to remember.
Make sure you focus on the expenditure that is important. Strive for a reduction in charges for services, not only the chance to get a percentage discount.
Don’t pay attention to the tiny amount, or the expense that isn’t important. Do not ask the carriers to lower the text messaging price even if your sales team does not make use of (or requires) texts.
Start with the third and second tier providers Utilize their dynamism to help you leverage your primary provider.
When you’re negotiating for hardware do not forget about that the major box retailers are available. Staples, Office Depot, CDW and others. All offer corporate programs that could be comparable to having to deal directly with the manufacturer.
The selection of vendors and the negotiation rates will differ for each method. There’s no one-size-fits approach. However, as long as you adhere to the above guidelines you’ll be on the right track.
Implement
Implementation is the final stage in the deployment of your sales toolkit for your force. There are many moving parts therefore, you must have a comprehensive plan that incorporates all the stakeholders. It is essential that you take into account the following aspects:
Be aware of who gets the equipment.
Updating your user database
Make sure your model of support is up to the current
Update your wireless policy to reflect possible modifications
Determining the activation and delivery model
The plan for communication
This is a bare listing of the tasks that must be accomplished before sending the first brand new device out to the market. Do not let a bad execution plan derail your newly developed sales toolkit.
The creation of a sales force toolkit should be a top priority for any company that have a large remote workforce. A sales force toolkit must be a component of your wireless management plan.
