Sales tools are the key to shifting sales methods online. More and more companies are introducing sales tools for a variety of purposes, including the following
Sales expansion
Improve business efficiency
Sales process management
DX (Digital Transformation)
In fact, data from companies that plan to introduce CRM (customer relationship management tools) and SFA (sales force automation tools) shows an upward trend, as follows.
The usage rate of CRM/SFA https://slimtime.co.jp/ has changed from 12.9% in 2014 to 32.9% in 2020
The number of companies planning to introduce CRM/SFA changed from 29.0% in 2014 to 36.7% in 2020
However, the introduction and utilization of sales tools poses challenges depending on the size of the company. For example, if we look at small and medium-sized companies and large companies separately, we see the following challenges.
Small and medium-sized companies: Even if multiple tools are introduced at once, they cannot be fully utilized.
Large companies: want to use multiple tools to improve efficiency and sales.
Small and medium-sized companies often have a small number of salespeople and business units. Therefore, there are many companies that do not currently have sales tools in place, or are considering introducing new sales tools to go online.
Sales, however, encompasses a wide range of tasks such as planning sales strategies, managing the status of negotiations with customers, and providing customer care by sending emails and responding to inquiries.
Even if you want to streamline many types of operations, it is difficult from a cost perspective to introduce multiple tools for each.
It is preferable to introduce one tool that covers all the functions necessary for sales activities and gradually become familiar with it.
On the other hand, large companies have a large number of salespeople and business units. Therefore, many of them may have already introduced sales tools for each business unit, such as customer management tools, sales management tools, and deal management tools.
However, due to the large number of tools, data linkage may not work well, and it may take time just to organize the information needed to create a sales strategy.
It is necessary to consider sales tools that match the challenges of the company.
The introduction of sales tools is essential for strengthening non-face-to-face sales. However, there are many sales tools and their effectiveness varies. It is recommended to consider sales tools after sorting out what you want to solve by using them.
In some cases, it may not be possible to introduce multiple tools at once. If you want to consider a sales tool that has comprehensive functions while keeping costs low, it may be a good idea to introduce a tool that will help sales in a consistent manner, taking into account future sales scale-up.
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