Over the past decade, companies have spent untold millions on the promise of CRM-that a single, shared view of the customer offers value to the organization, including field support. Yet acceptance of CRM systems by the frontline in the field-the sales representatives-can prove to be a considerable challenge. Low sales representative compliance compromises data quality; and a CRM system with incomplete data is of minimal use.
According to AvantGo Sales Management & Field Representative Survey, the top three obstacles cited by sales representatives for not using CRM/SFA systems were that the systems:
- are too time-consuming;
- are difficult to access; and
- provide limited value in the field.
These key barriers have resulted in lower field adoption and utilization levels than management requires or desires in order to reap the anticipated benefits.
Enter mobile handheld computing, which can provide a highly accessible, easy-to-use version of the CRM functionality representatives need to do their jobs. By extending existing CRM investments, customer data and call reporting becomes accessible to field sales when and where they need it.
Shrinking CRM for the Field-Steps to Consider
In most organizations, field CRM or SFA has been designed around the sales reporting needs of management, not the sales process needs of the end user. As a result, these systems tend to be forced on the sales staff without necessarily addressing their pain points or fitting easily into their daily workflow. What features will increase adoption? What do they think of the current system? When do sales representatives prefer to do their call reporting? What information do they *really* value in the field? These and other important questions help in mapping out a mobile CRM project. Instead of building around management, a successful field CRM implementation will focus on the issues of the user. In stripping down CRM to a pint-size version, the following steps will help to ensure a successful mobile CRM solution.
Step 1: Talk to the Representative
Design from the outside-in. If the sales representatives don’t see value, they simply won’t use CRM, so design the mobile solution around their workflow. Talk to “reps” and identify common frustrations and how best to fix them. Find out what barriers are coming between the rep and the customer. For example, if the sales team member has not been able to access the most up-to-date marketing, product and pricing information in the field, it is likely that he couldn’t answer customer questions. It makes sense to empower representatives with the information they need to answer questions on the spot, to maximize those customer interactions.
According to the same survey, 72 percent of sales reps said they spend 50 percent or more of their time away from their home or work office. Most will agree that much of this is non-selling downtime that could be spent preparing for calls or finishing up administrative tasks. Much of this work consumes their mornings or evenings at home. Mobile solutions give the representative a chance to tap into this downtime and make it more productive, improving their quality of life and effectiveness.
Step 2: Map Information Flow
After identifying the issues that sales reps face, consider the information flow that could address those issues. Sales representatives in the field need information to be effective. Look at the day-to-day process they follow in the field to determine what kinds of functionality or information should be provided to help address any issues raised in step one.
If, for example, quality of life is affected by the demand of administration tasks, there is likely information or functionality missing that might alleviate the problem. Mobile solutions provide an information delivery and capture mechanism that is tailored to the workflow of the sales rep. But first, you must understand what type of information is needed by the team and in what context.
Step 3: Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
Reps need the right information, not all the information. As a rule of thumb, they do not need the entire CRM system on their handheld. More likely, they need specific opportunity management and service histories from the CRM system, marketing and competitive messaging from the Intranet, and inventory information from the ERP system. Don’t be limited to mobilizing information from just one back-end system. That will rarely serve the rep’s needs. Instead, pick and choose based on your specific sales process.
It is critical to build an architecture that will flexibly aggregate corporate information. Despite the progress in mobile devices, a small form factor still presents limitations in screen size and memory, requiring careful thought and planning. Remember-less is more.
Step 4: Build for the Environment
You also need to understand the work environment of field sales. Representatives are mobile by the very nature of the job, and for technology to be useful, it must support their work environment. What type of screen navigation works best? Do they really need wireless connectivity or will an offline solution do the trick? Does the solution map to their workflow? What personalization and flexibility is required? The survey discovered that over 80 percent of sales reps surveyed believe that a PDA sales solution would make them more productive in the field and 90 percent said they would use their CRM/SFA system more if they had handheld mobile access. If you design for usability and value, the sales representatives will adopt the solution.
Mobile computing has successfully provided a pint-size version of CRM for many companies-driving adoption, data accuracy and increased sales effectiveness, and ultimately maximizing existing CRM investments. With all these benefits to mobile CRM, what are you waiting for?
* Originally published at CRMguru.com
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Ojas Rege leads product development and management for iAnywhere’s Mobile
Solutions group. In this role, Mr. Rege is responsible for product strategy
for the company’s mobile middleware, e-mail and line-of-business enterprise
solutions as well as AvantGo, the popular mobile Internet service.
iAnywhere provides software and services that enable the delivery of
enterprise information anywhere, at anytime. Visit http://www.ianywhere.com for
more information.
