Business is tough, especially when it involves sales. You might have a great product or service, but getting leads into customers can feel like attempting to move a mountain. Your people struggle to keep on top of deals, or your customers have specific needs that don‘t fit into a one-size-fits-all approach. These are complex sales issues, and they can slow you down. But here is the good news: customized Salesforce® solutions can help you to overcome them and grow your business. We are a Salesforce Consulting Partner and have seen the difference the right tools can make. Allow us to show you how it all works.

Why is Sales So Challenging?

First, let’s discuss why sales can be tricky. Consider selling software to large corporations. Each corporation may require different features, have a lengthy decision cycle, or require additional support. Your sales reps need to manage all these intricacies while pursuing new leads and closing sales. On top of that, they may be operating with old technology, such as spreadsheets, or siloed systems that complicate things.

To complicate sales further, maybe your team can’t figure out which leads are most likely to buy. Or maybe they’re spending too much time performing tasks like data entry, instead of talking to consumers. These issues pile up and leave you in a bind. That’s where Salesforce comes in —and with tailored solutions, it gets even better.

Why Salesforce?

Salesforce is an ultra-smart toolbox for your business. It’s a system that helps you manage customers, keep track of sales, and have everything in one place. Think of it like a command center for your salesforce. Salesforce out of the box is powerful. It lets you store customer data, see where deals are, and even send emails from within the system.

But this is the thing: each business is different. What’s suitable for a small e-commerce store won’t be suitable for a company selling heavy machinery. That’s where custom Salesforce solutions are so useful. With the proper modifications, Salesforce can be fitted to your business like a glove, solving your most urgent sales challenges.

How Custom Solutions Resolve Sales Problems

Let’s outline some common sales headaches and how custom Salesforce solutions resolve them.

1. Managing Complicated Deals

Large deals can take months and involve a lot of steps, like meetings, proposals, and approvals. If your team loses its way, deals collapse. A custom Salesforce implementation can give every deal a clear direction. For example, we can create a system that shows every step, reminds you, and even nudges you if a deal has lingered for too long. 

2. Handling Special Customer Requests

It’s common for customers to each have some different needs. One might need payment plans, and another needs to be called weekly. With a customized Salesforce solution, we can add fields and functionality to accommodate those needs. Your staff can monitor special requests and skim them over, so nothing gets lost in the cracks. This keeps customers happy and gets your staff closing deals.

3. Saving Time on Busywork

Typing in the same data over and over again is a time-waster. Salesforce custom automation can take care of it for you. For instance, we can set it up so that when a lead fills out a form on your site, their info is typed directly into Salesforce—no extra work for you. 

4. Knowing Who to Pursue

Not every lead is worth pursuing. A customized Salesforce dashboard can tell your team which leads are “hot” based on criteria like their budget or interest level. This enables them to focus on the most probable buyers, boosting your win rate.

Why Bring on a Salesforce Consulting Partner?

You might ask, “Can’t we do that ourselves?” You can try to, certainly. But Salesforce is a big system with lots and lots of options. A Salesforce Consulting Partner like us knows it inside and out. We’ve worked with businesses of all shapes and sizes, so we know what will do the trick for you. And, we spare you the trouble of doing it over by getting it right the first time.

We start with listening. Tell us your sales pain points, and we’ll tailor a solution around them. Do you need new features? Do you want Salesforce integrated with the rest of your applications? Or perhaps you simply need team training? We’ve got you covered. Our goal? To make your sales process simple so you can concentrate on growing.

Tips to Get Started

Ready to begin addressing your sales issues with Salesforce? Here are a few things to get you started:

• List Your Pain Points: Take note of what’s holding back your sales team. Too much paperwork? Too complicated processes? This allows us to hit the right solutions.
• Talk to Your Staff: Ask your sales staff what they require. They are the ones working with the system every day.
• Start Small: You don’t have to fix everything at once. Select one big pain point—like deal tracking—and let us build a solution for that first.

Then, as you start, you’ll see how tailored Salesforce solutions can transform your business, sale by sale.

How AdVic Can Help

Complicated sales challenges—such as lengthy deal cycles, special customer requests, and idle time—can keep your business stuck. Custom Salesforce solutions provide an escape. With custom Salesforce, you can manage deals more effectively, accommodate customer requests, and empower your team to sell more. As a Salesforce Consulting Partner, we’ve helped companies like yours with real results such as reduced sales cycles and improved customer satisfaction. Start with your biggest sales headaches, and then let us craft a solution that fits. Well-tuned, Salesforce is not just a tool—it’s your secret to success.

Related Resources:

Salesforce Sales Cloud: 5 Reasons It’s a Game-Changer for Businesses

Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud vs. Sales Cloud: A Manufacturer’s Guide

Transforming Sales Strategies: The Power of Salesforce Sales Cloud

*Image courtesy of Salesforce

Subscribe to the AdVic Salesforce Blog on Feedly:

The post Overcoming Complex Sales Challenges With Custom Salesforce Solutions appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

In today’s fast-moving digital environment, every new way to make operations easier, customer experience more engaging, and growth faster is sought by businesses. Salesforce Agentforce emerges as a powerful solution that empowers innovative applications of AI agents in transforming how companies interact with their customers and manage internal processes. 

Below are 10 key ways Agentforce will revolutionize your business by raising the stakes, from 24/7 customer support and tailored marketing campaigns down to streamlining sales and allowing you to proactively solve issues. We dive into how those capabilities empower your team to focus on strategic initiatives that will deliver remarkable results and substantial business outcomes.

1. 24/7 Customer Support: Never Leave Your Customers Waiting

Consider delivering instantaneous, customized support to all your customers, 24/7, with no large workforce of human agents. Agentforce makes this a reality. The agents can handle large volumes of customer inquiries simultaneously for questions, resolution of issues, and support round the clock. This not only enhances customer satisfaction with reduced waiting times but also enables your human agents to attend to more complex or escalated issues.

2. Proactive Customer Engagement: Anticipate Needs and Build Loyalty

Agentforce is much more than reactive support. By analyzing customer data, AI agents can proactively identify potential issues or needs and reach out for assistance or personalized recommendations. This proactive approach helps in nurturing stronger relationships with customers, improves loyalty, and can even help avoid potential churn. Just think of an agent calling a customer to discuss service renewal or personally recommending products based on past purchases.

3. Personalized Marketing Campaigns: Targeted Messages, Maximum Impact

Generalized campaigns are now irrelevant. Agentforce gives you a full range of possibilities to run only hyper-targeted campaigns depending on a single customer’s preference and behavior. The independent agents will take care of audience segmentation, customization of messaging, and even automatic dispatch of emails or marketing materials. This gives enormous efficiency in enhancing the rate of engagement and conversions and assures top-class results for your marketing.

4. Streamlined Sales Processes: From Lead to Close, Faster and More Efficient

Sales teams very often get entangled in mundane, routine work like lead qualification and appointment setting. It saves the time of a sales team that can be utilized to do what they do best: building relationships and closing deals. Agentforce will enable AI agents to qualify leads using predefined criteria and allow them to schedule appointments or even handle initial sales conversations at incredible speeds compared to traditional methods.

5. Intelligent Lead Qualification: Prioritize Your Efforts for Maximum ROI

Not all leads are created equal. With Agentforce lead qualification, tap into an innovative solution that will take your sales operations to a new dimension by prioritizing qualified prospects. Agents, enabled by autonomy, study a wide range of data on demographics, behavior online, and engagement history from leads, which enables them to rank those most apt to close as customers. This way, you will help your salespeople spend much-needed time on leads likely to bring in results.

6. Automated Order Processing: Efficiency and Accuracy at Scale

Manual processing of orders is very time-consuming, prone to errors, and may lead to delays. Agentforce automates the entire workflow of order processing, right from placing the order to its fulfillment. This not only reduces errors, improving accuracy, but it also frees up your staff for other critical tasks. Automated order processing also enhances customer experience with faster and more reliable order fulfillment.

7. Personalized Product Recommendations: Drive Sales and Increase Customer Value

It can be one of the most effective ways to personalize product recommendations for better sales and customer lifetime value. Agentforce can analyze data about the customer to make very specific product suggestions that increase cross-selling and upselling. Imagine an agent recommending complementary products based on a customer’s past purchases or suggesting upgrades based on their usage patterns.

8. Proactive Issue Resolution: Prevent Problems Before They Escalate

Poor customer experiences can quickly lead to brand damage. Agentforce proactively monitors customer feedback and social media to find issues before they arise and resolves them before they become bigger. This proactive approach helps you maintain a positive brand image and build stronger customer relationships.

9. Continuous Learning and Improvement: Adapting to Evolving Needs

The beauty of AI agents is that they can learn and improve over time. Agentforce agents learn from each interaction, refining their performance continuously to make sure your business is always at its best while providing the best customer experience. This continuous learning alone ensures that your agents are up-to-date and equipped to handle the evolving needs of your customers.

10. Scalability and Flexibility: Grow Without Limits

As your business scales, so does your volume of customer interactions. With Agentforce, this simply means scaling to meet increased demand with the ability to grow, adapt, and scale freely. Be it a seasonal spike in customer queries or new markets coming online, immediate scalability helps your business continue smoothly with Agentforce.

Summary:

Salesforce Agentforce enables businesses to revolutionize customer interactions and internal processes with AI agents. From 24/7 customer support, proactive engagement, personalized marketing, and efficient sales processes, Agentforce has it all in one suite of tools for better efficiency, improved customer satisfaction, and most importantly, growth. Agentforce automates routine tasks and furnishes intelligent insights, thereby freeing your team to focus on strategic initiatives that can drive exceptional results. If you are looking for ways to revolutionize your business by elevating your customer experience, then Agentforce is the answer.

*Images courtesy of Salesforce

How AdVic Can Help

Salesforce Agentforce is more than just an AI tool—it’s a game-changer in the world of customer service. With its ability to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction, Agentforce is poised to become a must-have for businesses looking to enhance their customer service capabilities. Have questions? We’re ready to help you today!

Related Resources:

Introducing Salesforce Agentforce: A Revolutionary Tool for Customer Support

AI Meets Human Touch: Understanding Salesforce Agentforce (Podcast) 

Subscribe to the AdVic Salesforce Blog on Feedly:

The post 10 Ways Salesforce Agentforce Revolutionizes Business appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

In the hustle and bustle of the sales game, keeping one step ahead of the competition should be every business’ goal. These days, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and generative AI (GenAI) are the superheroes of modern business strategies. And they aren’t just some trendy terms; they are game-changers ready to shake things up and boost sales productivity that will send your business soaring to greater heights.

Understanding the Power of AI in Sales

Within sales, AI is like having a super-smart assistant, always ready to help. It’s not about replacing humans but enhancing their capabilities. AI can analyze vast amounts of data faster than you can say, “closing the deal.” Now, sales teams can focus on what they do best – building relationships and sealing the deal. Let’s look at what your sales team will accomplish when you embrace AI:

1. Smart Data Analysis:

AI is a data-crunching genius. It sifts through mountains of information to identify patterns and trends, helping your sales team make informed decisions. Imagine having a personal research assistant who never gets tired – that’s the power of AI. It can analyze customer behavior, predict trends, and foresee potential roadblocks in your sales process.

2. Personalized Customer Experiences:

Generative AI takes personalization to a whole new level. Creating tailor-made content, emails, and product recommendations ensures your customers feel seen and heard. It’s like having a salesperson who knows your customers’ preferences better than they do. Personalized interactions build trust and increase the likelihood of converting leads into loyal customers.

3. Automating Repetitive Tasks:

Say goodbye to mundane tasks that eat up your team’s time. AI is a productivity powerhouse, automating routine activities like data entry and follow-up emails, freeing your salespeople to focus on what they love – engaging with customers and driving sales. Efficiency skyrockets, plus your team can concentrate on high-value tasks directly impacting the bottom line.

4. Sales Predictions and Forecasting:

AI doesn’t just analyze historical data – it predicts the future. Through advanced algorithms, it forecasts sales trends, helping your team strategize and plan effectively. No more relying on gut feelings – AI provides data-backed insights, making your sales approach more precise and adaptable to market changes.

5. Lead Scoring and Qualification:

Not all leads are created equal. AI helps your team prioritize by scoring and qualifying leads based on various factors. It ensures your efforts are focused on leads with the highest potential, maximizing your chances of conversion. Say goodbye to chasing dead-end leads and hello to a streamlined, efficient sales process.

6. Chatbots for Instant Customer Engagement:

In the era of instant gratification, customers want quick responses. Enter AI-powered chatbots. These virtual assistants are available 24/7, providing instant support and information. Whether answering FAQs or guiding customers through the sales process, chatbots enhance customer satisfaction and keep your sales pipeline flowing smoothly.

7. Enhanced Communication with Natural Language Processing:

Understanding customers is essential to making sales. AI’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities enable it to interpret and respond to customer queries, improving communication and ensuring that your team identifies customer needs more effectively.

8. Continuous Learning and Improvement:

AI is not static – it learns and evolves. Through machine learning, it adapts to changing market dynamics and customer behaviors, guaranteeing your sales strategy is always up-to-date and ready to tackle the latest challenges. A sales team powered by AI is a team that stays ahead of the curve.

Summary

Artificial Intelligence and generative AI are not just futuristic concepts. They are the present and future of sales productivity. From data analysis to personalized customer experiences, from automating repetitive tasks to predicting future trends – AI is the ultimate ally in the sales world.

Embrace the power of AI, and watch your sales team soar to new heights. It’s not about replacing the human touch but amplifying it. With AI as your trusted sidekick, your sales superheroes can focus on what they do best – building relationships and closing deals. The future of sales is here, powered by the unstoppable force of Artificial Intelligence.

So, gear up, embrace the change, and let AI be the driving force behind your sales success!

How AdVic Can Help

Businesses must carefully consider the challenges associated with AI and GenAI before implementing these technologies. But do not worry, AdVic’s Team is well-equipped to design your personalized AI roadmap to success. If you have any questions or are ready to start today, book a meeting with us now.

Related Resources:

Harness the Power of Data with Salesforce Analytics Cloud & GPT-Powered Tools
Salesforce Introduces Generative AI Tools for Marketers
Decoding Salesforce: Unveiling the Messaging Behind AI+Data+CRM
Why Forecasting Sales with AI is Important Across All Industries

Subscribe to the AdVic Salesforce Blog on Feedly:

The post Boosting Sales with AI & GenAI: The Game-Changers for Productivity appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

The importance of integrating digital technology into the sales process cannot be overstated. In today’s digital age, customers are increasingly using online channels to research products and services, and they expect to be able to interact with businesses in a digital way. In short, by integrating digital technology into the sales process, businesses can improve their ability to reach, engage, and convert customers. This can lead to increased sales and revenue.

To discuss the importance of integrating digital technology into today’s sales processes, we invited Erik Nelson, Co-Founder of Carve Consulting, to the Ad Victoriam “Salesforce Simplified” podcast, where he also talked about how businesses can lay the groundwork to upgrade their digital technology to better compete and better serve their customers. Here are some highlights from that conversation.

What Does a Successful Integration Look Like?

This is something that probably keeps many people up at night: What would a successful integration of digital technology into the sales process look like? Here’s what Erik told us:

“In my mind, a successful integration of technology in the sales process is when the technology mirrors the intended sales process and ultimately data’s flowing through the system in a way to serve the seller or the customer with information at the right time. It needs to learn things along the way based on inputs from the users I think, so you can adjust the processes as needed and it should ultimately identify the lower value activities and automate them to free up the seller to focus on those high value activities so they’re most productive and likely to close business. When successful, I think it’s also a seamless experience for the end users and they should be ultimately clueless to which technology does what under the covers.

“You don’t want the users to focus on the technology, just the process. Finally, I think it’s important to get to an important goal to get to the point where technology covers the entire life cycle of the customer journey. So, I think of that as all the way from the top of the funnel through the sale and future renewals. So, a closed loop process.”

Customer Experience in the Sales Process

One of the things that should be talked about in any business these days is customer experience.

“Customers are smart these days,” Erik remarked. “They’ve got many of their own avenues to do their own research. They might engage you later in the process, and in many cases I think they know as much as the average salesperson about the market and their product. So, it’s important not to waste their time and spam them with basic information they can find on their own. I think technology needs to help sales with more relevant and targeted information, doing it at the right time, and it should help customers get a better experience, including self-service if that’s what they want. So, I think you need to give to get here and you should bring gifts of insights to your customers all the time.”

Key Technology Considerations

With Erik’s deep Salesforce background and what he’s doing now at Carve Consulting, we asked him about what key considerations businesses need to take seriously when choosing the right technologies to integrate into their sales process.

“I think you need to always start with identifying the gaps of automation in your current process. Salesforce is the CRM you use. You need to understand the roadmap of what they will deliver as part of the platform to fill those gaps. I would think about a platform approach as much as possible. It can be very difficult to integrate other technologies, consolidate all that data and keep a seamless experience going for your users with too many different technology platforms. But if you do need to look at alternatives, I think the first thing you consider is are you partnering with the right company to help you? Are they proven? Have they invested in your pain and can they support your needs? And be sure the technology fits into the current environment so you can continue to have that seamless process outlined for your teams.”

Erik added, “In my experience, if you get people out of the process too much along the way, we used to work on this with our customers all the time to try to streamline the process. Don’t go too many places for too much information because they’ll struggle with adoption if there’s too many places to go. And just be sure that anything that you’re going to add is going to add significant value above what you have. So this is an area we’re helping a lot of companies today, small and large.

Data and Analytics in the Sales Process

During our conversation with Erik, we also asked him how data and analytics can be utilized to optimize the sales process.

“Data and analytics are important obviously in every area of your business,” Erik remarked. “They’re used to run your business and forecast your future. I think it’s important to monitor data to continually measure what’s working and what’s not in the sales process as well. Assuming you have a defined process to start, then you can utilize many metrics to iterate the effectiveness of your sales process. So, for instance, who is the ideal customer? How did you get them? How long does it take to close a deal or how long does it take to get to value and ultimately why they churn? Those are several examples and metrics you can measure to understand areas, you can improve the process. So, you have to be able to track these and others so you can make changes to your process, which make a measurable impact on these metrics and ultimately your business.”

We covered many more topics with Erik during the podcast, including digital technology adoption within the workplace, the challenges and limitations of integrating technology into the sales process, and much more. Listen to the entire conversation here. 

Related Resources:

Inside a Salesforce Implementation: From Initiation to Go-Live
When Outsourcing a Salesforce Implementation Makes Sense
Sales Cloud Implementation Best Practices
Tips for a Successful Salesforce Implementation

Subscribe to the AdVic Salesforce Blog on Feedly:

The post How to Integrate Digital Technology Into the Sales Process appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

For those who don’t know, Salesforce Sales Cloud – often referred to as the World’s #1 CRM – provides a platform to manage end-to-end functioning of the sales department for companies. It offers everything that is needed, such as, logging product information, creating campaigns, managing customer contacts, triggering emails, reports and dashboard features, and creation of order and opportunities based on progressing deals with customers and much more. 

It does so much, that most don’t know where to start. Let’s focus on some of the best features of Sales Cloud.

Increase Your Relationships

With Sales Cloud, your Sales team will win trust and close more deals with a 360-degree view into every customer, at every stage.

Account and Contact Management: Attain a complete view of your customers, including activity history, key contacts, customer communications, and internal account discussions. You’ll also gain insights from social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter — right within your Salesforce® org.

Opportunity Management: Get a complete view of your sales team’s deals with Opportunity Management. See stage, products, competition, quotes, and more. And best of all, stay connected to the people and information you need to close every sale.

Lead Management: Track your leads all the way to close, while continually optimizing your campaigns across every channel. Bonus Benefit: You’ll also make smarter decisions about where to invest your marketing dollars.

Increase Your Revenue

When you implement Sales Cloud, you will accelerate smarter business decisions with real-time intelligence.

Reports and Dashboards: Dashboards offer a real-time snapshot of your business at a glance. Dive deeper with detailed reports that anyone can create, plus access your reports and dashboards from anywhere.

Pipeline and Forecast Management: Maintain a real-time view into the health of your business. Stay up-to-speed on your team’s pipeline, improve forecast accuracy, and do it all with the help of custom KPIs, in-line editing capabilities, and more.

Get the Best from Your Sales Team – From Anywhere

No matter the size of your company, all sales reps share one common goal — the desire to be a top performer. Salesforce’s Sales Cloud software has features that can help your team to reach their goals.

Mobile: Salesforce Sales Cloud turns your mobile device into a portable sales office. You can log calls, respond to hot leads, work opportunities, or check dashboards, no matter where you are. 

Process Automation: Use Visual Workflow to rapidly design and automate any business process with the ease of drag-and-drop functionality. And drive success with flexible approvals processes for deal discounts, expenses, and more.

Without a doubt, Salesforce Sales Cloud is an effective tool you can put in your sales team’s arsenal to help them collaborate and manage their accounts so they can shatter their sales targets and quickly achieve better margins – all while keeping your business data safe and secure. Have questions? The AdVic Sales Cloud Consulting Team has the answers! Reach out to us today and start growing your sales tomorrow!

Related Resources:

Sales Cloud Implementation Best Practices

Sales Cloud Transforms Sales Operations

Follow in a Reader

The post The Best Features of Salesforce Sales Cloud appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

Not to be confused with a sales funnel – which looks at the whole customer journey and the various stages a consumer will go through in their journey towards purchase – a sales pipeline looks at the different steps in the sales process, from gaining the lead to closing the sale. It is brand-focused, in that it looks internally at the stages that your sales and marketing teams need to move a prospect through in order to gain a customer and retain them.

And while you could do an internet search and come up with various numbers of stages – and numerous names for them – that people feel are in a sales pipeline, these seven are generally considered to be the “standard” stages for a business that follows a typical sales process.

1) Lead Generation: Sometimes called prospecting, lead gen is typically done through advertising to let your potential customers know that you exist, community initiatives/volunteering/giving back, or other promotional activities.

2) Lead Qualification: At this step, you are determining if a viable opportunity is worth adding to the pipeline and adding applicable information into your CRM. Also at this point, you have to consider if this marketing qualified lead (MQL) has the potential to become a sales accepted lead (SAL) or sales qualified lead (SQL).

3) Initiate Contact: Here’s where the real work begins in the various pipeline stages, as this is where the sales rep attempts to contact the lead to understand their business and requirements. This stage will help you map your business services against the lead’s needs.

4) Schedule a Meeting and/or Demo: So you have had your initial conversation with the lead. If the lead is convinced that your services could possibly be a solution for them, you may schedule a demo during this pipeline stage. You may also try to set up a meeting with the decision maker with a goal of negotiating the deal.

5) Negotiation: Many salespeople will tell you that the negotiation stage of the pipeline process is the most exciting to them. This is where top sellers separate themselves from others. And in a perfect world, your proposal would check every box, and your prospect would immediately sign on the dotted line. But in the real world, this doesn’t happen often. The goal of your negotiation is to find common ground. Sometimes it’s simple, and other times it seems like a struggle. Be prepared for everything that the prospect could throw at you, and rely on your experience to bring you across the finish line.

6) Closing the Deal: Here’s the coveted finish line! You found and qualified the lead, provided a proposal during a meeting/demo, and successfully negotiated a deal that works for everyone. But before you get too excited, you still need to close the deal, and that only comes when you have a signed contract in your hand – and not a moment before.

7) Post-Purchase: Now that the contract is signed, it’s time to seal a positive future relationship and you do that by providing exceptional service during onboarding and regularly monitoring the account’s progress. At opportune times, you can cross-sell existing customers on new services and upsell them on premium solutions. When the contract is about to expire, you can explore renewal options with them. And among your happiest clients, don’t forget to ask for referrals to other potential customer

“AdVic has become a true business partner for us. We are seeing improved sales rep morale due to system simplicity, speed of execution for quoting, and accuracy of data entered into the system. Every interaction with the team has been positive and their work is top notch.” – Ryan Hesske, Sales Operation Manager, ConnectWise

---

Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM platform, helps you streamline, manage, and track your sales process and pipeline – so your team can close the deal more times than they are today. And as a Salesforce Partner, the AdVic® Consulting Team has the breadth of experience to quickly implement a CRM system that will make your sales team’s pipeline steps a seamless success. Let’s get your business on the road to closing more deals today! Schedule a call with us below.

Related Resources: 

How to Improve Sales Forecasting in Salesforce with AI

Salesforce Tools for Retailers

Inside a Salesforce Implementation from Initiation to Go-Live

Follow in a Reader

The post The Seven Stages of a Sales Pipeline appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

From the top of the sales funnel to closing, the sales process has a lot of steps. In many cases sales begins with marketing initiating the first touching point. It could be socials, ads campaigns, or email marketing, and from there, prospects flow through the funnel hopefully landing in a closed deal. This process has many steps that are supported across several departments. Closing deals takes time, resources, and collective effort. Sales automation automates all the sales steps for an efficient buying process for customers, the team, and the business. 

And speaking of efficiency, if you already have a sales automation tool in place, and it’s ineffective, you’ll find information here, too, that can get you on the right track quickly.

Why is This Important? 

Sales automation increases productivity, accelerates the sales cycle, and increases revenue.

According to a CSO Insights study, 62% of a salesperson’s time is spent on responsibilities that do not produce revenue. Businesses invest a substantial amount of money in their sales team, only for them to spend most of their time on administrative tasks.  Sales automation grants sales teams more time to dedicate to generating revenue for your company. From eliminating manual tasks to shrinking the sales process, automation greatly benefits businesses. And, incorporating AI into the sales process not only brings innovation to the sales cycle but smart insights that allow you to share accurate and necessary information with your customer. 

Where to Start? 

Prospecting is the perfect place to start. There are hundreds of databases packed with data that enable your sales team to streamline hunting. Many customer databases such as ZoomInfo also incorporate job titles, personas, company size, revenue, along with prospect’s contact, thus eliminating the daunting task of doing this manually. What also comes with this is the ability to create prospect campaigns that trigger a series of emails, calls, and other touchpoints as soon as a prospect enters your sales funnel. 

What to Take Into Consideration?

We mentioned all of the benefits of incorporating automation into your sales process. However, like all things, there are things to take into consideration. 

If your implementation is not done diligently, there may be a lack of personalization. Imagine a prospect enters your sales funnel only for them to be bombarded with emails that do not address them by name. It comes off as a scam and can scare off potential customers. Another thing that comes with implementing automation into the sales funnel is the challenges. Money, time, and effort are all important when investing in digital tools. Incorporating collaboration and setting aside time to discuss and learn your company’s pain points, gaps, and needs will make for a successful implementation. Why is the tech stack important? The CRM your company decides to implement must integrate with the sales automation that your company is interested in. 

At some point or another, closing a deal may require cross-functioning departments to be involved. Having an automation process, clear communication, and concise data make this easier. 

At AdVic, our Salesforce® consultants will take a dive deep into your sales operations – or your current inefficient sales automation tool –  to understand the best ways to revolutionize your sales processes through customized automation solutions. Let us show you how we’ll do that today.

Related Resources:

How to Use Automation to Accelerate the Sales Cycle

Top 3 Reasons to Integrate Billing with Salesforce CPQ

Follow in a Reader

The post Do You Need Sales Automation or An Upgrade? appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

Synergy within companies ensures that everyone is pulling in the same direction towards the same goal. Aligning the sales and marketing teams means seamlessly engaging, informing and retaining customers through content, conversation, and sales conversion. Strategies within the departments should be built on solid foundations, as marketing studies leads and sales converts leads into customers. 

On a recent AdVic “Salesforce Simplified” podcast, Fangled Tech CEO Andrew Deutsch spoke to the success that teamwork can bring to any company. 

How would you advise sales and marketing teams to go about building and executing a strategic, go to market playbook?

“I would inform and make sure that they understood that it is a team approach to developing that strategy. The marketing team will be responsible for truly looking at the qualitative study of who that customer is. What are the personas?  And there may be multiple types of customers that you’re dealing with. But in looking at each of those, what are the actual problems that they have that you can solve? What are the challenges, what are the needs, the desires? And then look to the organization as to what do we make and do, and how do we behave in ways that actually matter to that consumer? And then involving the sales team in the development of the strategy so that when they go out, they can speak to the actual things that matter.

“An example, imagine you’re a car manufacturer and you as the engineer who happens to be the CEO decides that all customers out there are excited about the fact that we use thicker steel and quality paint. Things that you think matter. When actually your consumer for the model car that you make is more interested in safety for their family, reliability, and comfort. So there’s a disconnect. Now you’ve got your salespeople out on the word of the CEO, talk about steel and the customers don’t relate. Well, if we knew that there was this niche in the market that wanted those things that we just described, and the marketing team gets that feedback from the sales team, then they’re equipped with the messaging and all the work that marketing does to the world and the audience. Now, the salespeople can speak to that, to the customer who’s the fit. I know it’s a little contrived way of bringing it around, but it’s about the team. It’s not about just making the sales guys go out and do their job.”

Bottom Line:

• Unify across teams.
• Study and understand the customer.
• Develop strategy around customers needs.
• Frame questions around brand alignment to customer interest.
• Translate strategy to the sales team, so that they can communicate essential information to customers.

So, it’s really a synergy that needs to be built between Sales and Marketing departments…

“Look at construction of a house. The designers design a house… And, of course, the guys who come out to dig the hole go, the guys who designed it don’t know what we do. They dig a hole. Then, the next crew comes in and they have to build the foundation. The foundation isn’t right because the guy who dug the hole isn’t right, according to them. And then the next guys who do the framing blame…. So, each is passing it to the next. Well, what would happen if in the design process of a house, you knew who was going to be doing the building and you brought them in and shared the plans with them before you finalize them? Wouldn’t it be great if everyone along the way understood what they’re going to need… and then you start building?

“It’s that way in a powerful business, too. If you listen to teams where marketing and sales are constantly butting heads, the sales guys will tell you, ‘the marketing guys create these programs that can never be implemented because they don’t know anything about our customers.’ And the marketing team is saying, ‘those sales guys, they’re just doing what they want to do. If they would only follow our plan.’ And that’s when the truck hits the telephone pole and everybody gets hurt.”

Bottom Line:

• Each member of the team should know and understand their part of the project.
• Work together as one for the goal of the bottom line.
• Sales and marketing teams on one accord to execute the goal.

Are there any new tools that you’re excited about these days that would be of interest to sales and marketing teams to be aware of?

“One that we’ve brought to market, and again, it isn’t our software, but we provide the training is, is a system. And this is great being an audio podcast because people will have to check it out afterwards called the Virtual Presenter Course*. We found ways to answer the question, how can you be present in the room in a Zoom meeting when you can’t physically be there? How can you be more interesting, impactful, all of those great things in a sales meeting or presentation? So we’ve developed training to use this open source software that’s out there so that when you’re in a Zoom meeting, you can properly do a PowerPoint presentation, walk through a video, demo a website. Rather than being that little head in a box off to the corner, you can be actively in the window while you’re doing that.

“What we found is that salespeople that are using this tech are keeping people interested are much more memorable than that boring guy who isn’t quite focused and doesn’t understand how to give a presentation well and loses his audience. So that’s one tool that we’re advocating for.“

Bottom Line:

• Virtual Presenter Course
• The Virtual Presenter Course trains salespeople to effectively present virtually. 

During AdVic’s podcast chat with Andrew, we also touched on CRM implementation, AI, and turning sales teams into selling machines. Listen to the whole episode here. 

And if you’re looking for CRM solutions for your company to help create a better synergy between your sales and marketing departments, AdVic has a solution, so let’s chat today! Fill out the quick form below, or click here.[gravityform id=5]
*Note: The link offers AdVic Salesforce Blog readers an already-applied $50 off coupon at checkout for the Virtual Presenter Course.

Follow in a Reader

The post How Sales & Marketing Can Create a Winning Synergy appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

Andrew Deutsch, CEO of Fangled Tech, was a recent guest on AdVic’s “Salesforce Simplified” podcast and talked about converting sales no’s into yes’ by analyzing important data he says may be “leaking” within your sales funnels. Then we dug into transforming sales teams into selling machines, and more. Here are some highlights from that conversation.

What changes are we witnessing in the sales world today when it comes to generating, nurturing, and converting leads into customers? 

“I don’t know if I would call it a change as much as a maturity. Many people are starting to recognize that they don’t know what a lead is. And if you asked a bunch of different salespeople, even those in the CRM world, there’s a piece of lead that’s missing that really it’s become valuable. The difference between a suspect and a lead. So suspects are people who you don’t know, but very possibly could do business with you. Once they become a lead, there’s at least a clue that says that this is somebody who could do business with you as you start to narrow those things down. I think that the maturity now is that people are recognizing that the sales funnel leaks. And it’s good that it leaks. And it has more stages in it. Although, many times the sales process allows stages to be in microseconds rather than having to actually, physically in your mind, go through each stage. So, those are some of the concepts that I’m seeing that are different as folks are maturing and really understanding that process.”

Bottom Line: 

• Lead vs. Suspect.
• Suspect: unknown, however can possibly become a customer.
• Lead: provides greater detail on who the suspect is.
• Maturity: understanding leaks in the sales funnel.
• Maturity in the sales funnel allows for greater understanding of “leaks” and the expansion of phases throughout the sales journey.

It was interesting that you used the term “leaks” when referring to sales funnels. What would be leaking?

“I’m speaking in generalizations because it’s not everyone, but there’s always been what I’ve called the ‘kiss or kill’ mentality… As you’re going through the leads in your funnel, if you get a ‘no,’ they’re gone. They’re not viable. There’s no future for them. And now with tech that’s out there, those no’s have value. When you rule out a lead, you may discover that if you’re paying attention to those pieces of it, it may lead to the need for a new product development. Maybe the reason that all of those people left your funnel is because there’s a need that you’re not meeting, or they don’t recognize that you do meet the need that they’re looking for. In the old days of the sales funnel, you would see a chart where the first two steps are sales. I mean the first two steps are marketing and then they turn it over to the sales team. And of course, I always call that throwing a turd over the wall. ‘Here it is guys, go sell it.’

“A true sales funnel is an hourglass. You’re collecting customers at the bottom of the hourglass and continuing to nurture them.”

“In the maturity of the sales funnel, now marketing needs to go further down the funnel before sales. Marketing has learned that they need to be involved at every level to check the leaks, the stuff that’s leaking out of the funnel that didn’t make it. And also at that point of sale, because if marketing is not involved at that point, how are you going to convert all those people who just bought your product into voracious advocates for your brand? They’re going to go out and shout from the hilltops, how wonderful it was to do business with you. So, a true sales funnel is an hourglass. And you’re collecting those customers at the bottom of the hourglass and continuing to nurture them. Not just because you expect them to buy again, because you expect them to love your brand so much that they’re going to convince the world that there’s no other business out there you should be doing business with.”

Bottom Line: 

• A “leak” is no longer a lead. 
• Leaks provide valuable insight to a company’s future development, as their needs can become a new product.
• Marketing is more involved in the sales funnel from  checking  ‘leaks’, to point-of-purchase.
• Sales funnels are comparable to hourglasses, as customers are continuously nurtured even after purchase  to become ambassadors for the brand.

How do we turn sales teams into selling machines?

“The mistake that people have made in the past is thinking that salespeople are only motivated by commissions. So, one of the things that we do is we actually look at our salespeople as human beings, not as selling machines, as we convert them into that. Because when you really understand what are the personalities, and motivation structures, and the attributes of the human, and compare those to high-performing salespeople, what you find are the true motivation strategies of your sales folks.

“The way to create monstrous sales teams that go out is to actually understand and know the personas and every detail of your people. And treat them as individuals in ways that get them to work together as a team.”

Bottom Line:

• By understanding that sales people are human and not machines, enables a relationship that influences them to perform at their best.
• Understanding what motivates salespeople.
• Design training and development in a way that people can connect and identify with.

If you think your company’s lead, sales and brand advocates need better tools to navigate your company’s sales funnels and stop the “leaking,” why not have a chat with an Ad Victoriam consultant today about solutions that will plug those leaks? Fill out the brief form below, or reach us here. 

[gravityform id=5]

Resource Articles:

Four Ways Salesforce CRM Improves Lead Conversions

Sales is Not a ‘Churn and Burn,” It’s a Partnership (Blog or Podcast)

Follow in a Reader

The post What’s Leaking from Your Sales Funnel? appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.

As the world evolves in the way we buy and sell, now more than ever is the time for sales teams to focus on relationships and genuinely understanding the needs of our customers in order to fulfill their needs, and provide them with solutions to help expand their businesses.

To that end, in a recent AdVic “Salesforce Simplified” podcast, Diane Helbig, Chief Improvement Catalyzer at Helbig Enterprises, explained – among other things – the importance of sales teams engaging with prospects to gain accurate insight into their needs, along with the parallels that come with relationship development and business growth. 

What are sales managers getting right and wrong these days?

“What they are getting right is that they understand that sales is about relationships and that it’s important for their salespeople to be out having conversations with people who may or may not be prospects. The ones that are doing it right also understand that continuing to nurture those relationships is really important. It’s just not hunt and kill. It’s hunt, kill, nurture, because more business comes from those relationships.

“I would say the ones who are doing it wrong are the ones who are expecting their salespeople to behave in ways that are unnatural for that salesperson. That they’re saying, ‘Do it my way. It worked for mem so do this,’ and that behavior isn’t right for that salesperson, and so they try. They struggle. They don’t succeed. They leave. And there’s that revolving door thing in the sales department that actually negatively impacts the company on a huge level. I mean, outside of the cost of that, there’s a reputation cost that goes along with it.”

Bottom line:

• Understand the importance of building and maintaining relationships.
• From existing relationships comes opportunity for growth in new relationships.
• Allow flexibility; salespeople should have the flexibility to communicate with prospects in a way that they are comfortable.
• Not allowing individuality can negatively impact business.

What are your top tips for struggling companies to help them increase their sales productivity and bring those deals to a close?

“I think my biggest tip is listen more than you speak, ask really meaningful questions, and make sure you get answers to them. I think a lot of times the reason why salespeople aren’t able to close is because they might ask a somewhat uncomfortable question like about the budget. And when the prospect doesn’t answer it, they move on instead of really going to that topic and understanding that… The salesperson has to know the answers to all of the questions in order to be able to propose accurately, so make sure that you’re asking the questions. And if the prospect is uncomfortable answering it, ask them why. This is about a relationship. You’re allowed to say, ‘Could you help me understand why this is a subject that you don’t feel comfortable talking about or that you don’t feel comfortable sharing with me? Because in order for me to determine whether I can help you or not, I need to know the answer to this.’”

Bottom line:

• Listen to understand.
• Ask necessary and ‘hard’ questions to correctly understand customer needs.

Has the way companies hire salespeople changed in recent years?

“That’s such an interesting question. A lot of companies are looking for those people who understand it’s not one and done. It’s not churn and burn. That their job is not to be slick and eloquent and persuasive. That their job really is to partner with the prospect to problem solve. And that it is about the relationship and that’s what sets the company in the best possible light. They are looking for a different kind of salesperson and thank goodness because it’s more effective.”

Bottom line:

Companies have come to the realization that salespeople should:

• Understand the importance of long-lasting relationships.
• Know that sales is a relationship that has potential to grow and multiply.

What’s the next big thing in the world of sales? What are you talking to your clients about? 

“This may sound a little strange, but from everything I’m seeing, the trend is going toward getting very individually connected with clients, whether you sell B2B or B2C, really getting in there and learning as much as you can about them, about what they need as it relates to what you do, but also what they need as it doesn’t relate to what you do, and being that partner with their client.

“Being a problem solver for the client on a greater scale makes that relationship deeper, more sustainable and longer term, and it opens up a lot more opportunity than the way sales has been in the past with getting the business and then moving on.”

Bottom line:

• Customize client interactions; know who you are selling to. 
• Provide solutions to your clients.

Reach Diane Helbig via the Helbig Enterprizes website.

Related Resource:

Podcast: Turn Sales In Selling Machines, CRMs, AI, and More 

Follow in a Reader

The post Sales is Not a ‘Churn and Burn,’ It’s a Partnership appeared first on Ad Victoriam Solutions.