Collecting and Organizing Account and Prospect Information
9.4 Explain common methods of collecting and organizing prospect and account information
The Internet and information revolution continue to make acquiring and managing sales leads much easier.34 When it comes to collecting and organizing prospect information, salespeople have a large assortment of computer-based systems available. Companies such as Salesforce.com, Oracle, NetSuite, Sage, and Microsoft all offer software applications designed to collect and organize prospect information. Most of these sales force automation (SFA) systems or customer relationship management (CRM) systems, as they are now known, have preset categories or fields that contain sales data on the prospect. This sales data is the information seen in most CRM systems, including the contact name, title, address, phone number, e-mail, and so forth. It may also include information about what products have been purchased, what sales opportunities exist in the future, who the various members or influencers are in the buying center, what their preferred communication styles are, past sales and forecasted sales, volume, and percentage change and date of closing the sale. All of the sales data information about a prospect in a CRM system is presented in the account screen report. Figure 9.4 shows an account screen report for Aeroflot Airlines. The information in this report, including any notes about previous sales calls, is accessed and studied before the salesperson makes a sales call.
Figure 9.4 The CRM Account Report
This account report shows purchasing data for Aeroflot Airlines. Information in both the Contact Screen and Notes Screen, from previous sales calls, was entered by Account Manager Lee Bizon, of NewNet Systems. (For more information on NewNet Systems, see Regional Accounts Management Case Study on p. 395.)
When bringing new prospects into the database, it is expected that the salesperson will acquire this sales data and enter it into the records kept on the prospect. In most CRM systems, this information goes into a shared database that allows other members of the sales team to access the information and make additions as they work with prospects. In the event a new salesperson takes over an existing prospect database, all of this information can be accessed quickly and used to plan sales strategies to work effectively with prospects.
Sales Intelligence
In addition to collecting sales data, the collection of sales intelligence is necessary when the sale is complex and requires a long closing cycle. Sales intelligence goes beyond data, giving salespeople access to insights into the prospects’ marketplace, their firm, their competitors, even about the prospects themselves. Sales intelligence is needed today over and above sales data because prospects are looking for insights and knowledge from salespeople above and beyond the product features and benefits. In many buying situations today, prospects using advanced search engines have already learned about features and benefits. In terms of sales intelligence, prospects and accounts expect salespeople to know answers to many of the following questions. Answers to these questions create much of the value that results in successfully turning prospects and accounts into long-term customers:
Do You Know Me? You need to know more than my name and title. Do you know my role, my goals, how I am evaluated, and how long I have been with the organization? Do you know the projects I am working on, my style of doing business, and what the requirements are for me to meet my objectives? Do you know about previous dealings I have had with your company? Do I have a favorable opinion of your company and do you know my role and the role of other influencers in the decision-making process?
Do You Know My Company and My Marketplace? Do you know our company mission statement, culture, and vision for the future? Do you know clearly what we are doing, how we are performing in the marketplace, what issues keep us up all night, and who and what our competitors are doing? Do you know where we fit into the existing competitive landscape? Are we the leader or are we in the position of having to play catch-up to survive? Can you relate what you sell directly to what we need to accomplish our goals? Do you know who our partners are? What is the effect the current economy has on our business?
Do You Have Any Special Value-Add? You have a product or service you think we need, but what else can you bring to the table? Are there additional resources you can bring to bear to solve my problems or improve my internal business processes? Can you educate me on how you are truly different from the other players in your area of expertise so I can support my recommendation to work with you? Can you help me build a case for return on investment (ROI)?35
Answers to these questions come from many sources. CRM suppliers like Salesforce.com, infoUSA.com, Sales-i.com, and Vecta.net have programs that supply this kind of sales intelligence to companies and salespeople. Salesforce’s Radian6, used by more than one-half of the Fortune 500 companies, tracks social media for pertinent information on prospects.36 Their Data.com product tracks B2B account information and supplies prospect and account information to their subscribers.37 infoUSA’s OneSource is one example of a supplier of sales intelligence. OneSource supplies sales intelligence to Cardinal Logistics Management, a major provider of logistics, transportation, and supply-chain solutions to large retailers, manufacturers, and distribution companies. Cardinal’s salespeople must know each account inside and out in order to sell logistics solutions effectively to their 5,000 customers. OneSource supplies 24/7, anywhere access to detailed customer profiles, executive contact data and biographies, financial statements, news trade articles, and analyst reports. A special feature keeps salespeople up-to-date on any and all developments within their customer’s company and their industry, including both their customer’s customer and their competitors.38
Most importantly, this information must be entered into the company’s CRM system to get a 360-degree view of the prospect. This information will also be used to move the prospect through the steps in the sales process.