"Marketing Strategy: New Business from Old Clients"

"Business Marketing: Warming Up to Cold Calls"

"Business to Business Marketing: Making Sales His Number-One Priority"

"During the Sale"

Technology plays a key role in all effective sales systems. Sales Force Automation has become a standard platform for sales organizations to use as a means of increasing sales performance and efficiency. However, when sales technologies become a business driver instead of a supporting tool, most sales organizations suffer from the conflict between the two. Technology should be analyzed once the “concept” of the sales system has been defined. This allows management to develop a sales system that operates the way in which our clients business can be most effective. By introducing new or allowing existing technologies to drive sales system development management is generally confined to the limitations and capabilities of that tool set. Technology should be a means to support and extend the vision of the sales system down to the every day routine of our client’s sales force.

Baker Communications has helped develop a clear and concise sales model strategy, supporting processes and appropriate resource allocation. The next step is to identify technology that is capable of supporting all of the expectations and demands of the newly designed sales system. Too often companies will purchase a new tool in hopes that it will solve their problems or make life easier. In many cases, management doesn’t take the time to document “how” the business should operate and therefore they buy a tool that forces them to change their business. Once the sales system has been developed and documented, tool selection or customization is a much simpler and straightforward process.

Our step-by-step approach to Sales Force Automation looks like this:

Identify and assess existing sales system tools.

Review new sales system requirements.

Develop technology requirements list for supporting new sales system.

Identify any gaps in technology support for the new sales system.

Develop feasibility study for keeping or buying new technology support.

Deploy new tool set or customize existing tools to support new sales system.