The book will cover many areas of selling and will include the sales skills and sales processes I have developed and teach in my sales training and coaching sessions. However, for each area or skill, I will discuss and demonstrate how your contact manager (or CRM product) can aid you in performing the task associated with each skill set. For instance, as you move from Cold Calling to Closing, and then to the follow-on Customer Retention activities, you will learn the sales skills needed to successfully accomplish each step, as well as how CRM can be used to help you move through each phase of the sales process.
I will also be using a popular CRM product as an example with screen shots included to demonstrate each step and point.
Consider that this book will include sections on using your contact manager/CRM to do the following:
- Track prospects, clients, vendors, etc.
- Run marketing campaigns
- Improve communications with your clients
- Manage documents (letters, emails, templates, etc.)
- Schedule your activities (versus using a wall calendar or Daytimer)
- Follow up on activities (no more dropped balls or missed promises)
- Literature distribution (brochures, contracts, corporate presentation, etc.)
- Forecast and Pipeline management
- Report on your activities (pending and completed)
- Share customer information in a team selling environment
- Improve your image as a professional, organized sales pro who always follows up
- Improve your time management and organization skills
- Improve customer retention with automatic and continued follow-up
- and more
These are just my initial thoughts on what I plan to cover. At this point, I would welcome anyone's inputs on:
- Is this an important topic to you as a sales professional or manager?
- What else would you like to see included?
- What might you not want to see included?
- Comments on any of the above topics?
So let's hear your comments please! This is your chance to help create a valuable sales tool and get some useful information out of this project for yourself, as well. Thanks.
Russ Lombardo
2 comments:
Exellent topic, wish you had it ready to go. Many companies including the one I work for truly are not ustilizing CRMs to full capicity.
I will purchase multiple copie of your book when it's published.
BG
Thanks for the encouragement. I was actually thinking of posting sections of the book, as they are being written, on this blog or perhaps another one dedicated to this book, for loyal readers to read and comment on, as it is being written and edited. That would be a great way for you readers to start getting content while I get your valuable feedback. Then, when it is finished and published, you will know what you are buying.
In the meantime, would it help your company to read my first book, CRM For The Common? (www.peaksalesconsulting.com/CRM_book.htm) It helps businesses who are planning to get a CRM product as well as those who already have one but need to "regroup" to do it right. The focus is on PLANNING your CRM project, not DOING one.
Regards, Russ
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