January 6, 2012
Social media and technology often lead to employees working more, not less, since it's so much easier to close a deal with the right tools and move quickly to the next one. "You don't have to spy because [good salespeople] should be motivated to not hide," said Rob Rose, principal at Deloitte Consulting. "The right people who are team-based and happy are motivated, so there is no need to spy. I believe in culture and coaching."
Mobility, intuitive cloud-based tools, iPads, iPhones, and social media have forever transformed the sales ecosystem. Across all industries and sectors, salespeople are no longer chained to a desk or landline, and managers and executives agree that integrated technology makes selling more efficient. The biggest challenge is getting salespeople to adapt to new technologies and finding tools that tackle tedious tasks and make time for more deals.
Where there's WiFi, there's a way to communicate with and learn about clients both professionally and personally, and capture and input data. However, salespeople want tools that eliminate the burden of re-entering the same information. Most sales managers believe that a deal is owned by both the client and the salesperson, but there's mixed opinion when it comes to monitoring employees. Some say it's spying, while others see it as accountability, and most salespeople spend a good deal of time on social media or other tools that reveal their whereabouts anyway. At the end of the day, it's all about selling -- and choosing the best tools to help, not hinder, the process. Often, simple and single-source is best.
