By Dave Kahle

The best sales people have created a system to consistently acquire appointments with prospects, and continually work to improve that system.

All routine, sophisticated work is most effectively accomplished by implementing a system.  That’s one of the observations I’ve made in my 20+ years of experience in consulting.  It doesn’t matter what area of work we are considering.  For example, cleaning teeth, paving a road, painting a house, laying carpet, creating your income tax returns, etc. are all routine, sophisticated jobs that are best accomplished systematically.

The job of the professional salesperson is crammed with such tasks – sophisticated tasks which need to be done over and over again.  Making appointments is one such undertaking.

A system is composed, in its simplest expression, of processes, practices and tools.  Processes are the step-by-step series of events that eventually lead to a goal.  Practices are the behaviors which are part of the process, and tools are the specific things we use to accomplish the process.

So, for example, when it comes to making appointments, the process may look like this:

1.  Create a list of prospects.

2.  Research the list, and determine the highest potential.

3.  Acquire their names and contact information.

4.  Deliver a pre-call touch.

5.  Make a phone call to acquire the appointment.

6.  Repeat at least five times, if necessary.

7.  If necessary, send a personal snail mail letter.

8.  If necessary, make a personal cold call.

I’m not suggesting that this is the only process you could use.  I am suggesting, however, that the best sales people have created a similar process, designed for the specifics of their business.

Within that process, there are certain key practices. For example, the phone call that you make to the prospect asking for the appointment is a key practice. To improve the end results of your process, you improve each of the practices you use along the way.  The best sales people understand that, and work on forever improving them.

The final piece of a good system is the set of tools you use to implement the system.  The pre-call touch, for example, is a tool.  As is the script that you use, the letter that you may send, etc. Like your approach to practices, your approach is to forever refine these tools.

Let’s review.  The best sales people have thought deeply about the best way to acquire appointments, and have put together a system made up of processes, practices and tools.  Then, they consistently implement that system, and forever work on improving each piece of it.

That’s one of the things that make them the best.

Here are some of our resources to help you master this best practice:

*  First Steps to Success in Outside Sales – Chapter Four: Acquiring Appointments.

*  Video – Victory over Voicemail. Visit www.davekahle.com/notch.htm.

If you are a member of The Sales Resource Center ™, consider Pod-32: How to create a system to develop new customers., Pod-38: Mastering the Creative Cold Call, or Cluster CL-87: Making appointments.

About the Author:

Dave Kahle is one of the world’s leading sales educators. He’s written nine books, presented in 47 states and seven countries, and has helped enrich tens of thousands of sales people and transform hundreds of sales organizations.  Sign up for his free weekly Ezine, and visit his blog.  For a limited time, receive $547 of free bonuses with the purchase of his latest book, How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime.

Commence is a cloud based CRM solution that is targeted at mid-size companies and small enterprises that have outgrown traditional contact management software. These businesses now require robust lead management, sales management and marketing campaign management functionality.  What sales managers have found particularly interesting about Commence CRM is the product’s automated business processes that enable the capture and automatic distribution of leads and the ability to rate and color code leads based on specific criteria. Red colored leads represent qualified opportunities, yellow promising new opportunities and blue are ones just starting the sales process.  This unique feature ensures that sales representatives are always working on the most qualified opportunities and not chasing tire kickers.

Commence CRM also incorporates an automated organization chart that details the reporting structure of every lead and account, and highlights the person name, title, telephone number and e-mail.  This allows sales managers to assist in the sales process and quickly identify the economic buyer and influencers within any organization.

Org Chart helps you identify the key contacts

Commence CRM is clearly focused on helping companies improve the management of leads and the selling process and offers functionality not available in competitive offerings such as Microsoft CRM and Salesforce.com. For more information about Commence CRM software, visit the company’s web site at www.commence.com and ask for a free trial.

The new automated business process allows you to rank and color code customers based on criteria such as company size, annual revenue, cost to deliver services, profitability, future growth potential, service level requirements and more.  The pre-defined criteria are completely customizable by the customer, providing them with the ultimate flexibility in determining how to rank their customers.  This customer ranking feature is a unique business process that is not available from competitive CRM software offerings.

By Dave Kahle

Q. I wanted to do some sales training last year, but it just wasn’t the right time for it.  We had too many things on our plate.  Looking at our calendar this year, I am coming to the same conclusion.  Am I ever going to have time to do sales training? Will it ever be the right time?

A.  Great question.  Probably the number one reason sales managers don’t provide sales training for their teams is “the timing just isn’t right.”

Why is it that some companies, regardless of the press of the urgent and the demands of the customers, find time to provide regular training and development opportunities for their sales force, and others, in the same industry, just can’t make the time?

The answer really does not lie in the ebb and flow of “things to do.” Nor does it lie in the open spaces of the calendar – if only you could find some empty days, you could slot in a sales training event. The answer does not lie in the world of stuff outside of ourselves that so occupies our time and attention.  Rather, the answer lies inside ourselves and our organizations – in our attitudes, our values and our corporate culture.

Let me lay some ground work with a bit of thinking about effective sales, in general and then circle around to address the question head on.

1.  I think everyone would agree with this statement:  Better sales people sell more than average sales people.

Better sales performance is not a matter of inheriting the best customer, or falling into a lucky deal.  Those things happen occasionally, but year in and year out, the best performing sales people are those who ‘sell better’ than the rest.  They do something, and usually a lot of things, better than their colleagues.  As a result, their customers respond more positively to them, and the sales people post better numbers.  They sell more because they act differently.  Not just differently – but better.

There is a direct relationship between what the sales person does and how much he sells.  Here’s a simple example.  One study found that 74 percent of purchasing agents said they would be “much more likely to buy from a sales person, if that person would just listen.” Doesn’t it follow, then, that those sales people who listen better sell more than those who don’t?  So, if you could help all of your sales people listen better, wouldn’t that result in more sales?  Of course it would. And listening is just one of a number of sales practices that are essential to better sales performance.

That’s my point.  What a sales person does directly and measurably impacts how much a sales person sells. And better sales people, because they do things better, sell more than average sales people.

2.  Most of my readers would also agree with this statement:  Almost every sales person can become better.

One of the things that I have most enjoyed about my career as a sales person has been the fact that I have never yet reached my potential.  I can always do better.  And, frankly, I’m a pretty good sales person.

I’m not perfect yet, even though I have tried to get there my whole life. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t find myself saying, “I should have done this or that better.”  Unfortunately, it is in the nature of sales that one is never as good as he can be.  Vince Lombardi aptly summed up the challenge of continuous improvement in a different area:

We will relentlessly pursue perfection, knowing full well that we will never attain it, because no one is perfect.  But, we will chase perfection, because in the process we will catch excellence.

Put these two paradigms together (#1 & #2 above) and you have a pretty good rationalization for continuous and immediate sales training.  If better sales practices bring in more money, and every sales person can become better, then investing in making them better will bring in more money.

How can you afford the luxury of not improving the practices of your sales team?

3.  But wait, some of you are saying, sales training doesn’t automatically mean better sales practices.

You’re right.  It doesn’t.  But it sure outperforms the alternative of not doing anything and expecting everyone will just automatically improve by trial and error. I’m going to make a radical statement here:  I believe that there is not an exceptional performer in any endeavor who is entirely self-taught (with the once in a generation exception for the occasional savant).  Tiger Woods, for example, has a swing coach.

The more sophisticated and challenging is the endeavor, the more likely that the exceptional performer has had multitude of coaches, mentors and trainers along the way. Sales is an incredibly sophisticated endeavor, where learning on your own can only take you so far.

Everyone who wants to improve, in every endeavor known to mankind, sooner or later puts himself in a situation where he/she learns from a coach, trainer or mentor – someone who has gone before and has a gift of being able to discern and communicate the intricacies and insights of the field. It takes someone outside of ourselves to help us see and realize our real potential.

The dedicated sales person, for example, buys all the books, gets the Ezines, listens to the podcasts, etc.  The sales manager who wants his team to perform well, constantly injects them into learning experiences.  He brings in the videos, distributes good articles, sends them to the seminars, etc.

And, like everything else, there are qualities of sales training.  You can bring in old Tom, for example, who is getting ready to retire and is looking for something less demanding than sales to do. Or, you can employ the local unemployed sales person who always wanted to be a trainer. The world is full of both types.

But, if you are going to invest your sales force’s valuable time and your hard-earned money, I’d recommend you invest it into a safe choice – professionals who have an understanding of how people learn and change, real life successful experience in sales, and years of proven experience in the profession of training.

4.  One more point.  Have you ever stopped to calculate the cost of maintaining the status quo?

Today — just this one day — how many opportunities did your sales people not uncover because they haven’t been trained in how to better uncover opportunities?  How many opportunities did they miss because they have not been trained to listen well?  How many new customers should have been developed this month, but weren’t because your sales people have never been instructed in how to develop a new customer?  How many high-potential customers languish in business-as-usual because your sales people have never been taught how to penetrate large accounts?

Just play around with those numbers and the conclusion will stagger you.  The greatest cost in most companies is one which never makes it on the P&L statement – the cost of opportunities lost, customers not created, and sales not made due to a sales force performing at far less than its potential.

Now that I’ve laid some ground work, let me go back and answer the question.  Is there ever a good time to do sales training?  It depends on your values, your attitude and your culture.

If you believe that your sales people can not become any better, then NO, do not make the time for sales training.

If you are perfectly content with the numbers your sales force is producing, then, NO, do not make the time for sales training.

If you think everyone will improve forever on their own, then NO, there will never be a good time for sales training.

If, on the other hand, you believe that just a small change in the behavior of a sales person can leverage into huge increases in sales and profits, then by all means make the time, as soon as possible.

Is there a good time to do sales training?  That really is the wrong question.  The question you should be asking instead is: How can you justify continuing to bear the costs of a sales team performing at less than optimum?  How can you justify the maintenance of the status quo?

Parenthetically, our Sales Resource Center provides a virtually unlimited number of sales development lessons, delivered to every sales person’s computer, 24/7, for one low monthly fee.

About the Author:

Dave Kahle is one of the world’s leading sales educators. He’s written nine books, presented in 47 states and seven countries, and has helped enrich tens of thousands of sales people and transform hundreds of sales organizations.  Sign up for his free weekly Ezine, and visit his blog.  For a limited time, receive $547 of free bonuses with the purchase of his latest book, How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime.

Click the image above to download the free eBook

TINTON FALLS, N.J. / MMD Newswire/ April 21, 2011 –-  Commence Corporation, a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for mid-size and small enterprises, has announced the release of a CRM Best Practices E-Book which may be downloaded from the company’s web site at no cost.

Today’s sales environment is characterized by intense competition, strategic sourcing contracts, online purchasing, customer pressure for self-service and an ongoing debate over fee-based services. To thrive in this environment, businesses need more than leading CRM technology to achieve long term growth and many are beginning to look outside their four walls for growth ideas. In an effort to help businesses sell more and sell more effectively, Commence Corporation has developed a compendium of more than 40 Smart Business Practices, culled from interviews with leading executives within high growth companies and building on a comprehensive review of published perspectives on smart selling.

“… the only path to successful selling is to first develop a consistent marketing and sales process…”

Larry Caretsky
Commence Corporation CEO

“Commence Corporation knows that the information technology investments of sales departments are often wasted due to failed implementations and lack of structure,” says Larry Caretsky, president of Commence and author of the e-book. “This study focuses on the keys to successful selling, all of which can be enhanced with the proper application of technology.” Based on the company’s extensive experience, Commence believes that the only path to successful selling is to first develop a consistent marketing and sales process, then utilize these processes in a disciplined manner reinforced by dynamic training and carried forward through effective coaching. Many companies are contemplating adding a centralized sales and marketing database system sometimes called CRM, sales force automation or contact management. The objective of the e-book is to ensure that these initiatives, by whatever name, succeed for sellers and deliver the results promised.

About Commence Corporation:

Commence develops and delivers a diverse suite of award winning CRM software that integrates people, processes and technology. Commence CRM solutions are using throughout the world to streamline sales and customer service front office business processes. Commence is delivered online as a cloud based CRM solution or as a desktop CRM system. For more information about Commence’s web based CRM offerings visit the company’s web site at www.commence.com.

Click to View the Article

TINTON FALLS, N.J. /MMD Newswire/ April 14, 2011 –- Commence Corporation a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management Software was recently highlighted in the FEDA News & Views March/April magazine about the merits of automating the sales process for improved sales execution. Managing editor Stacy Ward, interviewed Commence CEO, Larry Caretsky about the company’s experience and work in this area. Caretsky expressed concern that too many companies view CRM software as a technology component rather than a business strategy for improving sales execution. As a result, the adoption rate of CRM software has been very low in the sector he stated.

Caretsky goes on to offer valuable advice about the commitment required for the proper implementation and utilization of CRM software and to make sure you are fully prepared to invest time and resources to the project. “The ROI associated with automating the sales process is well documented says Caretsky, but so are the failures. Typically a lack of commitment and focus are the culprits. This is where experienced firms like Commence Corporation can be a valuable partner. We have established a series of CRM best practices for sales execution which has resulted in hundreds of successful implementations. The CRM best practices coupled with Commence’s top rated CRM software ensures that new business opportunities do not fall through the cracks and that sales management can review each opportunity from introduction to closure”.

The magazine also offers its readers assistance in selecting the right CRM solution for their business. A full copy of the article 7 Points to Consider Before Selecting a CRM Solution written by Caretsky, is incorporated in the article. “We certainly hope that the information we have provided will assist the FDA member organizations who may be looking to use CRM software to improve sales execution and call on Commence Corporation for our expertise” concluded Caretsky.

About Commence Corporation:

Commence Corporation is a leading provider of cloud based CRM software for mid-size companies and small enterprises. The company has been providing web based CRM software and sales consulting services for more than two decades and has several thousand customers around the world. For more information about Commence CRM, visit the company’s web site at www.commence.com.

Commence CRM has been designed for mid size and smaller enterprises and as such is modular in design, easy to use and affordable.  Commence CRM software is also very customizable and can be deployed and operational within 24 hours.  Perhaps the greatest strength of this online CRM solution is the products home page or CRM dashboard.  The dashboard displays information such as your e-mail, today’s calendar and to-do’s, new leads, sales opportunities to follow-up on, alerts, service tickets, projects, and even a sales funnel that displays where each new sales opportunity is in the sales cycle.  End users find that they can conduct 90% of their daily business without ever leaving the CRM dashboard home page, making the learning curve extremely short and enabling them realize a rapid return on their investment.

Commence online CRM is ranked among the top ten cloud CRM systems in the industry. Learn more about Commence online CRM and how it can help grow your business.

This all changed for me a few years later when I joined Commence Corporation, a provider of Customer Relationship Management software.  At Commence, I was forced to trade in my spiral notebook for a sales automation tool and while I was a bit dubious that a sales automation system would help me, after a few weeks of use I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I began capturing every customer and prospect interaction from basic telephone calls, quotes and documents I had sent to e-mail correspondence.   I learned to enter follow-up activities on my calendar and set alerts that reminded me to contact people on the dates and times I committed to.  Each day new leads with contact information were dispatched to me electronically and an automated sales methodology helped me to manage each opportunity through a structures sales cycle.  Best of all, with the simple click of a button I had the ability to view a complete 360 degree view of all current and historical information about my customers and prospects.  This was truly unbelievable.   I even learned that I could integrate a Smart Phone so that I could have contact information at my disposal and have also begun to utilize the systems mass e-mail feature to help generate more business.  I had never imagined that I would attain so much value from this tool.

“On a personal level I am more productive than ever.”

The CRM system has impacted me both personally and professionally.  On a personal level I am more productive than ever.  I have access to customer and prospect information anytime and anywhere and I am confident that things are no longer falling through the cracks. On a professional level I have become almost fanatical about the product, which has helped me to serve potential customers more effectively.  I continue to utilize my past experience as a vehicle for delivering a powerful testimonial of how CRM software has helped me better manage the sales cycle and improve sales execution.  It’s a well known fact that prospects are more likely to buy from someone who believes whole heartedly in the product or service they are selling and my newly found enthusiasm for CRM software has enabled me to gain credibility with potential buyers.

As I talk with new prospects each day I understand and appreciate the reluctance they may have in implementing a Customer Relationship Management solution.  I’ve learned that It’s a lot easier to understand their concerns and provide valuable assistance if you have been in a similar position, so I tell my story.  Their interest level grows and often turns into a new sale. If you are considering a CRM system give me a call.  I am confident that I can help you consolidate data, and improve sales execution so that your team and sell more and sell more easily.

About the author: Steve Fischkin is an Account Manager at Commence Corporation, a leading provider of CRM software which can be deployed in a web-based, cloud-computing environment or on premise. For more information about Commence visit www.commence.com or e-mail Steve at sales@commence.com

Commence Corporation has moved beyond traditional Customer Relationship Management software programs that are primarily focused on managing the sales cycle to delivering a solution that enables you to increase the effectiveness of your sales organization and focus on business with the greatest potential. Commence has introduced an automated business process that ranks and scores leads based a set of pre-defined criteria.  The criteria consist of a series of questions that are used to automatically score each lead based on the responses entered into the system.  The questions are completely customizable and users may create as many as required. (See sample below):

Lead Scoring Questions

The lead qualification questions and rating criteria are determined by sales management and ensure that every new opportunity is ranked according to the criteria.  It’s an efficient process that results in a high level of consistency because every opportunity is scored using a standardized set of qualifiers and is no longer dependent on the experience level of the sales representative.

Each lead is then automatically color coded as highly qualified (red), requires additional follow-up (yellow), or not qualified (blue).  (See diagram below)

Lead Qualification

The value here is two-fold:  First, there is no question with regard to where the sales team should be focusing their attention.  The leads coded red are the most qualified opportunities based on the company’s lead qualification criteria and need immediate attention.  Secondly, sales management can quickly view the most qualified opportunities and assist with the process of moving them toward closure.

Part of the Commence value proposition also comes from an integrated marketing application that is directly tied to the lead qualification system.  Yellow and blue coded leads may be placed in an automated drip-marketing program that nurtures each lead with periodic mailings while your team is focused on the most qualified opportunities.

The Commence lead scoring feature provides critical intelligence and has proven to deliver measurable results.  It will ensure that your sales team has a laser-sharp focus on the most qualified sales opportunities.  With the Commence CRM features, you’ll shrink the sales cycle and improve your bottom line results.   I guarantee it.

About the author: Larry Caretsky is the president of Commence Corporation, a leading provider of CRM software which can be deployed in a web-based, cloud-computing environment or on premise. Caretsky is considered an expert in Customer Relationship Management and has written numerous white papers on the subject, which may be accessed via the company’s web site at www.commence.com.

The Role of Technology

The last several years have brought a radical change in the relationship between the customer and business as a whole.  More and more customers are collaborating with businesses and technology is playing a key role in this new collaboration. An increasing percentage of interaction with customers is coming by way of social networks and online communities.  These interactions include suggestions for product improvement, requests for help, information requests and even customers assisting their counterparts directly.  These customer conversations are driving the need for the business to respond in a timely fashion and to also convince potential customers of their ability to adequately address their needs.

This is driving executives to focus more attention on discovering the “favorite” customer or target market and crafting a marketing message that resonates with that target market.  To do this effectively, the business needs to gather and analyze all of the relevant customer data points,  In addition to demographic and geographic data, the business needs to understand why customers are buying their products or services and more importantly, what specific language the “favorite” customer is using to describe the buying experience.

The Changing Customer Role

This calls for the establishment of a close collaborative effort between the business and the customer base.  Sales and any other part of the organization that is in direct contact with the customer needs to listen closely to the conversation in order to hear what the customer is saying.  The data gathered needs to be analyzed so that not only does the business then understand which customers comprise the target market, but also how those customers think and how they communicate.

This effectively achieves two goals.  First, it allows the sales force to be immensely more productive by getting them to concentrate on that part of the general marketplace that has these pre-qualified prospects that have the same profile as the “favorite” customer. Secondly, it gives the marketing side of the business the ability to script a marketing message that resonates with the customer since it uses the information gleaned from the customer and can be written in a language that the customer understands.

Even more importantly, with more customers using online communities and social networks, it is essential that the key phrases that the business uses are the same as the key phrases that the customer uses in their posts on Facebook and LinkedIn or in their tweets on Twitter.  It also allows the business to search engine optimize its web site because the language and the keywords used are the ones the favorite customers are accustomed to.

So now, the business has a marketing message that resonates with the customer.  The sales force has a sales pitch that is geared towards solving the customer pain and is in a language the customer understands.  The customer feels that the business is listening and hearing them and prospects not only find the business, but when engaged by the sales force are easier to bring to a close.

Can current CRM systems play in this arena?

Most current CRM systems are very effective at helping the sales force automate the sales process and manage the sales cycle.  The way they do this is by collecting customer and prospect data that the sales force uses to manage sales campaigns, schedule sales calls and keep the sales cycle moving along.  To meet the new paradigm of target marketing that requires collaboration with our customers, these CRM systems need new functionality.

Commence Corporation is taking a leadership position in this area and understands that the future of customer relationship management will be centered on the collaboration and partnership with customers.  Commence is busy restructuring the data points that their system collects to include the needed demographic and psychographics data that CRM system do not capture today.  Commence is also looking closely at interfacing the product with social media applications so that it can collect and analyze all of the different streams of customer conversations that are currently on the web, then use this information to targeting effective marketing campaigns.

As a result of the economic downturn, many SMBs are struggling to justify the capital outlay to upgrade or implement a new CRM system because of cost and business uncertainty.  To survive in today’s economy, you need to implement a CRM software solution, but you need to do it for the right reasons.  Don’t implement a CRM solution to simply automate the sales process.  Growing your business will require the ability to capture, manage and share vital customer information from several data sources and then use the information to gain a competitive edge.  Select a CRM software provider that offers a platform that can support the customer collaboration that will need to take place in the future.

About the author: Larry Caretsky is the president of Commence Corporation, a leading provider of CRM software, which can be deployed in a web-based, cloud-computing environment or on premise. Caretsky is considered an expert in Customer Relationship Management and has written numerous white papers on the subject, which may be accessed via the company’s web site at www.commence.com.

The answer is no.
“If it aint broke, don’t fix it” does not apply to your small business application programs. Your application is like a good race horse, you run it until it can’t race anymore and then you retire it. You don’t try to patch it up.

The contact management sector is a prime example of this.  Thousands of small to mid-size businesses are still operating old versions of desktop programs such as ACT, Goldmine and Maximizer that are no longer meeting changing business requirements, but because they aint broke, they don’t get replaced.  As a result of this, these mid-size businesses are not taking advantage of newer web based CRM programs that are helping businesses become more effective marketing, sales and service organizations.

The great applications replace is upon us and we can’t fight it any longer but how do you go about deciding which applications to replace? See my list below.

• If it was built over a decade ago, no matter by whom, it is a prime candidate for replacement.
• If the underlying business requirements have changed significantly since the application was developed, you can be certain that it is not performing optimally.
• If the application was written to run natively on a mainframe, a midrange or even a personal computer, it’s on the list.
• If the application has a pure character interface and all of the reports are in text, it’s a candidate.
• If the application does not grant web-based access to staff or members, it needs immediate attention.  Some things to beware of:

If the application does not fit the business requirements then you have to go back to the drawing board. To do this properly, presupposes that you thoroughly understand how your business functions.

The good news about replacing older applications is that there is a large number of providers to choose from.  In the CRM sector for example products such as Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce.com and Commence CRM from Commence Corporation are excellent choices for managing customer interaction and improving sales execution and customer service.

About the author:  Jim Smith is the CEO of YChange International, a consulting firm that provides marketing and consulting services to small businesses. Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the field and has held executive level positions with several Fortune 100 software firms.  He is an accomplished author of numerous white papers on the subject of marketing and business development. Additional information may be found at http://www.ychange.com

Photo Credit: by Barbarossa source Wikimedia license GFDL from acobox.com

As an executive of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software firm I understand competition.  There are literally hundreds of CRM vendors from contact management software and sales force automation software providers to vertically based CRM providers all pitching their solution as the best, the easiest and the cheapest.  Some make claims that their product is better than ours, others are offering lower prices and some will do almost anything to win business. Yet despite all of this, our sales team is winning more business based on a few simple tips that may help you.

Lets assume for a moment that you have a new qualified opportunity:

• The prospect has a need for your company’s product or service,
• They have a short decision timeframe,
• There is a budget in place,
• You are dealing with a decision maker.

Life is good! Now let’s go and win this business:

Tip 1. Preparation: Schedule a pre-approach appointment for the sole purpose of finding out the critical business issues in advance of your next call or appointment. This is the time to learn about their challenges and show them you are committed to understanding their business requirements and helping to address them. Too many sales people make the mistake of asking questions during their presentation or demonstration, which often frustrates the prospect and reduces the effectiveness of the call.

Tip 2. Research: The prospect has told you their needs, but before you make that next call to schedule your presentation or demonstrate your product, do some research about the company to learn about their specific industry and any critical business issues that affect companies just like theirs.  This will help you to develop a flow for how you wish to present or demonstrate your product or service as an effective solution for their business. It’s also important to remember that any intelligent prospect will know if you have really taken the time to understand their business challenges or not.

Tip 3. The Presentation/Demonstration: Focus on their critical business issues right away with specific examples of how your product or service will address them. That’s what the prospect is interested in and if you wait too long, you run the risk of losing their attention and the potential for their business.

Tip 4. Sell Value but Know When to Stop: You probably have a lot of things about your product or service that will provide additional value to your prospect, but if you have successfully addressed their core business requirements then it’s time to stop selling.  Sales representatives all too often frustrate or irritate prospects by over selling. Your product or service does not have to do twenty different things. It just has to solve one or two critical needs.

Tip 5. Know Your Competition: You know the prospect is shopping around and there is nothing you can do about it — or is there?  Very often there will be a bottleneck in a competitive product that your solution addresses very well, but if you are unaware of this you will lose the opportunity to gain a competitive edge. In the famous book The Art of War, written by Sun Tzu, he states, “know they enemy and you shall not fear the outcome of any battle”.

Outlined below is a brief summary of the article.

Accounting departments are traditionally known for having mature well-documented business processes, perhaps because the federal government requires them. Sales organizations are traditionally void of structure and process, which often results in inaccurate forecast and sales with lower profitability then desired.

Accounting departments have mature people.  This is not to say that sales people are not mature, but accountants are traditionally degreed and well trained on the principles of accounting while sales people often come from different walks of life with different levels of education and sales experience.

Accounting systems have also been around for decades and have a mature set of features that have been designed to address a specific set of rules and guidelines. Sales systems while mature must be flexible enough to support a variety of unique sales functions within multiple sales channels. This often makes these systems overly complex and hard to use.

This brief analysis would indicate that mature business processes, mature people, and mature solutions drive the operational success of your accounting department. If this is indeed true, shouldn’t we be emulating this within our sales organization?

Small to mid-size businesses that have a CRM initiative should make sure that they add the ability to have a flexible sales methodology to their functional criteria list.

CRM vendors like Commence Corporation offer fully integrated solutions for contact management, lead management, sales management as well as consulting services that help businesses deploy proven sales methodologies or create custom programs to match unique selling requirements.  The flexibility of web based solutions like Commence coupled with high level sales expertise can help make your sales organization as efficient as your accounting department.

Commence CRM Home Page

Commence CRM Opportunity Form

TR Cutler, a leading business journalist, recently interviewed Larry Caretsky, CEO of Commence Corporation, to learn more about the company’s significant success in the CRM space and plans for competing with the large players in this space.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is growing at a significant pace with other hosted solutions significantly surpassing traditional client server technology offerings.  This growth has allowed several smaller companies, like Commence Corporation to quickly capture marketshare in the small to mid-size business sector.

TR CUTLER: The CRM field has big players, like Salesforce.com.  Why did Commence choose to enter the space?
CARETSKY: A few years ago industry experts asked Jet Blue executives why they choose to start an airline when the industry was in turmoil and even the giants were struggling to stay alive.  Jet Blue succeeded in becoming a significant carrier.  Unlike the airline industry, the CRM space and is growing rapidly and no single vendor has more than a 5% market share. The new battlefield is the SMB market, which Commence has been servicing for almost twenty years.  This is our core competency and we know how to compete effectively.

TR CUTLER: What was missing in the CRM market that Commence addresses more effectively?
CARETSKY: Hosted solutions such as Salesforce.com addressed the difficulties associated with deploying traditional client server based CRM solutions, but utilization rates have remained low and customer renewals have been problematic. This is the direct result of a business model that does not include the proper planning and coaching required to ensure customer utilization.  Regardless of the deployment model (in-house or hosted), there is still a reasonable degree of planning and mentoring necessary for the successful implementation and utilization of CRM.

Commence has addressed this requirement with extraordinarily effectiveness through the use of a proprietary implementation methodology called STEP (Selling Tools Enablement Program).  STEP outlines the planning and responsibilities required by the customer and Commence staff to ensure a successful implementation and use of our CRM solution.  This critical training functionality has been missing in the industry and has become a significant differentiator for our business.

TR CUTLER: How does a company like Commence compete against the Goliath of Salesforce.com and other CRM giants that are publicly traded and well-financed?
CARETSKY: Well in this “pay to play industry” it is hard to rise above the noise of Microsoft and Salesforce.com. The way Commence succeeds is to simply be better at one or two aspects of the business then the big guys.  Commence has been very clear in differentiation and continues to quietly and consistently earn new customers and build solid references.

The single most significant differentiator Commence possessed versus the big CRM giants is our business model.  Saleforce.com’s objective, for example, is to sell their solution to as many companies as possible regardless of size or industry. The only way to do this is to develop a generic set of features that supports the general business requirements of companies across all industries.  This one size fits all approach does not work in all industry sectors.

Salesforce.com has recognized this short-coming and created an add-on development tool that allows for the customization of their CRM solution. The problem is that the SMB space has no interest in doing custom development, nor has the infrastructure to support it.

Commence CRM, unlike Salesforce.com, is developing specific vertical industry solutions that are already tailored to the unique business requirements of the customers in each particular sector. The result…customers can achieve a rapid return on their investment (ROI) without costly development work.  Commence currently has a tailored solution for manufacturers and distributors and a construction vertical CRM is in development.

TR CUTLER: Why should a company with a general database such as ACT, jump up to a more sophisticated CRM solution?
CARETSKY: Many of SMB companies, while small, have simply outgrown their contact managers and are looking for tools to help them improve sales execution and customer service effectiveness. In order to achieve these improvements, SMB companies require an integrated CRM system that supports sales, marketing, and customer support, while providing better collaboration and disparate system integration.  In the past, this level of functionality was too expensive for small to mid-size companies and required IT support.  Hosted solutions like Commence make this level of functionality affordable, easy to use, and simple to deploy.   Additionally, Commence has developed conversion tools that make the transition of contact management databases such as ACT and Goldmine virtually seamless to Commence.

TR CUTLER: What do you see as the drawbacks for those firms that have selected the big CRM solutions, like Saleforce.com?
CARETSKY: The problem with CRM today is that companies often look at CRM as a commodity and it’s really not.  Having interviewed many customers that purchased their CRM solution based on brand recognition, they have been extremely disappointed with the end result.  All of us at Commence Corporation believe that there is more value in the domain experience a CRM technology vendor can provide to the customer than in the product itself.   The big guys specifically SalesForce.com and Microsoft are severely lacking in this aspect…  their business model does not provide them with the ability to engage the customer directly.

Instead the CRM Goliaths rely on third party companies which rarely have the industry knowledge or experience to ensure the successful implementation and use of these products. This has resulted in higher cost implementations and a low level of customer satisfaction among many SMB organizations.

TR CUTLER: Other than a price advantage, what do you see as the top reasons people should consider CRM solutions, Commence specifically?
CARETSKY: Commence’s staff recognizes that improving the customer experience is one of the few excellence differentiators.  CRM has shown to significantly impact sales execution and customer service by providing the end user with access to the vital customer information needed to perform their jobs more efficiently.  Few question the value of CRM anymore, but rather are concerned with the high failure rate and low adoption usage that has plagued the industry.

TR CUTLER: Your literature indicates that your solution is modular and priced in license packs rather then by user. Can you elaborate on this?
CARETSKY: Commence is modular in nature which allows the end user to only select the departmental applications required for their business.  Other vendors, such as Salesforce.com, force customers into more expensive solutions in order to add a minimal amount of functionality.  This means customers are paying for functionality they don’t need.

The Commence licensing program is designed for the SMB sector…these margin-conscious business owners have made it very clear that they do not want to pay additional fees every time they need to add a new user. They refer to it as “paying by the drink.” Commence has created user packs that are designed for smaller businesses.  SMB Customers can purchase a 5, 10 or 20 pack for instance at a discounted rate.  This way the customer can add users at no additional cost. The significance here is that the solution actually gets cheaper as they add users and they don’t have to call Commence to change their license.

TR CUTLER: Where do you see Commence in five years?
CARETSKY: I believe that Commence will most likely continue to focus on those industries where our product offering and domain experience make us the logical and best choice among CRM technology solutions available.

TR CUTLER: Where do you see Salesforce.com in five years?
CARETSKY: I think Salesforce.com will continue to be impacted by the increased competition in the general purpose space from players such as Microsoft and Oracle and from industry specific players that are trying to carve out a vertical niche, like Commence Corporation.  I suspect that the company would be a good acquisition target during this timeframe.

TR CUTLER: Where do you see the CRM marketplace in five years?
CARETSKY: The continued growth of CRM has attracted some of the largest software companies in the world and I suspect that the industry will go through a high level of consolidation as these companies look for strength in specific vertical sectors.  It’s fair to say that many of the companies in existence today won’t be five years from now…after twenty years, we know Commence will still be here.

Industrial CRM Solutions That Eliminate Company Inefficiencies

When it comes to using Contact Management and Customer Relationship Management software for Industrial Sales, Commence literally wrote the book. Using Six Sigma, lean practices, Commence CRM can help you implement smart business processes that will make your company a more efficient sales and service organization. Manage the selling cycle from introduction to closure though our contact management, lead management, activity management, quoting and sales automation software. Our off-line or disconnected capability is ideal for field sales representatives who need customer information with them at all times.

Our Sales Tools Combined with Smart Business Practices will Help You To Maximize Every Business Interaction and Achieve Your Sales Potential

Industrial Sales Tools

Rapidly deployable, easy to use tools for managing the sales cycle from introduction to closure. Commence takes the guess work out of sales management, contact management, lead management, pipeline management, forecasting and reporting. Commence can even help your company set up it’s own sales force automation services.

Smart Practices for Industry

This compendium of CRM smart practices offers real life examples of how to create a customer centric marketing strategy, efficiently manage the sales process and use CRM technology to achieve industrial selling results.

Amazon EC2 is a Web service that provides resizable computing capacity for the “cloud,” enabling users to increase or decrease capacity needed for applications within minutes. In the EC2 environment, Commence’s popular CRM software will be run on secure, shared servers; customers will not need a data center, additional office space, or a technology team. The service will be offered under a subscription model, enabling customers to pay only for the functionality they desire.

“We are excited to leverage Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing environment and take advantage of the increased scalability, high availability, reliability and disaster recovery options that it offers, ” commented Todd Pape, chief technology officer at Commence. “This approach enables us to offer a world-class solution to our customers at a fraction of the cost of implementation on their own. In addition, the service leverages Amazon’s global cloud data centers enabling Commence to further extend our service within Europe.”

Commence provides a central CRM database for capturing, managing and sharing vital customer information, while customers retain ownership of data and business processes. It can be tailored to fit different industries and business requirements and, with the cloud technology, there are no restrictions on customizability. Its adaptable, modular design allows users to select applications from a comprehensive suite of business CRM functions, including contact management, lead management, activity management, sales force automation, marketing and campaign management, quoting, project management and customer service.