Sales have come a long way since the times of Mad Men – a good sales representative today should be able to successfully collaborate and utilise the content collateral produced by the marketing department. Why? Because in a post-demand generation world, leads need to be educated and engaged to convert – you can't just go for the cold sales call and rely on the belief that "people buy from other people". With marketing automation solutions being ever so popular, there's a lot of talk about sales and marketing alignment, as well as sales enablement. But with the rapid adoption of mobile devices and tablets, sales enablement has taken a new leap forward. The challenging and highly competitive business environment and the shift in consumer preferences are driving companies to completely reinvent their go-to-sales strategies.
The current state of mobile sales enablement
More and more sales departments are realising the potential of mobile technologies and how creating an engaging mobile experience could deliver positive business results. "Though only 40% of salespeople are currently equipped with tablets, 70% of executives in sales organisations using tablets are already realising ROI, and more than 90% of sales organisations plan to invest more in tablets in the coming year." [1] For that reason, implementing and adopting mobile sales enablement solutions will help both marketers and sales representatives to accomplish the following:
- Have real-time access to the appropriate sales enablement assets to advance a sale;
- Streamline and simplify the sales process as well as shorten the overall sales cycle;
- Personalise the client experience with customised content;
- Utilize the back-end analytics to optimise the sales approach;
- Improve up-selling/cross-selling opportunities
Go mobile or go obsolete: the importance of MSE
The sales-engagement process is in a constant state of evolution – yesterday's techniques won't be relevant tomorrow. By now, you should have said goodbye to your PowerPoint presentations – today's savvy customer needs informative, relevant and personalised experience. Leads are looking for solutions rather than products and your role is to help them, rather than push for an immediate sell. If your field sales reps are not yet talking about mobile sales enablement, maybe you should be the first one to break the ice. If you are planning to adopt mobile sales solutions, here is how you should go about it:
1. Create a strategy
First off, make sure you really need sales enablement solutions. Get an idea of the capabilities and their role in your overall sales process. Make sure you involve your entire sales team, allocate your resources and create a strategy for your mobile sales enablement solutions.
2. Focus on the end user
This one is important. When adopting mobile sales technologies, don't think about your prospects – put your sales force at the centre of your strategy. It is their needs you should be concerned about since they will be the ones using these solutions.
3. Choose a vendor
Once you've established your needs and implemented your strategy, choose a partner who will help you integrate mobile sales technologies within your sales environment. Look for a company with in-depth expertise in inbound marketing, sales enablement and marketing automation solutions.
If you are still wondering whether it's worth investing in mobile sales solutions, keep in mind that mobile technology have forever changed how products are presented. In a market over-populated with well-informed customers, your sales reps will be competing against time. Your leads will seek solutions and financial justifications to purchase a product or service and your field sales reps will have only a few minutes to capture their attention. With mobile sales technologies, you will enable your sales force to use highly customised and engaging content assets to give the feel and show them the benefits of your product or service to prospects.
