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Frequently Asked Questions |
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A.
Why use a sales workflow process?
A sales workflow process accomplishes many things;
• It creates a picture of what a typical sales process is, the diagram
• It creates a guideline for your sales team to align themselves with other business areas like service delivery and accounting
• It defines the business process
• It can specify customer touch points
• It can describe the links to software or other sales toolsA defined process, worked properly can smooth out the humps and bumps in the sales cycle. For companies with a high rate of sales force turn over it can assist in the training of new recruits helping to insure the business process remains stable.
When linking the Sales workflow process to software like vTiger CRM it creates a powerful set of tools to help keep the business on track. At iDEAL we supply more than a CRM software contact management tool, we offer an entire system that can be customized to suit your business requirements.Written by Robert DelGarbino 12/22/2014
About the Author:
Robert DelGarbino has been working with business processes for over 30 years, the last 15 he has specialized in Information Technology. He has earned an Engineering degree and a Master’s in Business. He is highly certified, PMP, MCSE, CCNA, CSSA, VTSP, ITILv3, Six Sigma, Agile CSM, VSP and has experience in many industries. He consults for small, medium and large organizations. Some notable engagements were with ANN INC, Manhattan, NY, Wells Fargo, American Express, Vanity Fair, Honeywell etc. -
A.
What should a Sales Workflow process include?
It should include every part of the business processes starting with how the lead is developed to the invoicing of the sale. How detailed it becomes is up to the creator. The Sales Workflow process, pictured in figure 1, includes the major parts of the business process. For example the mid left box, Marketing Campaign does not list the specific instruction for the Marketing Campaign. Subsequent diagrams or directions would be developed for each process box.
Figure 1
A Sales Workflow process should include many layers starting with the 10,000 foot over view and ending with a detailed description so detailed that a new employee could follow it without having to ask questions. This will save time training new personnel and allow someone to replace a missing employee.This brings to mind the chaos created in one company that relied heavily on an undocumented manual accounting processes. Without warning their bookkeeper of seven years had a stroke, was hospitalized and had to take six months off to recover. Only the company owner knew the bookkeeping process. He spent many nights and weekends doing the book work until a substitute was identified and began learning all the idiosyncrasies of the bookkeeping process.
The Sales Workflow process, perhaps a misnomer as the diagram in Figure 1 presents, has the service delivery functions included as a fairly complete business process overview starting with a lead and moving that lead through to invoicing. Most sales workflow process do not include service delivery, ours does. In our industry, we believe it is the sales person’s responsibility to insure the customer is happy throughout the entire process. Sales processes vary from organization to organization. They typically encompass the Sales stages:
• Prospecting
• Qualification
• Needs Analysis
• Demonstration
• Value Proposition
• Id. Decision Makers
• Perception Analysis
• Proposal/Price Quote
• Closed Won
• Negotiation/Review
• Closed Lost
• Closed QuotedThese are included in the Opportunity module of our vTiger Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) as sales stages. Sales stages identify the stage that opportunity is in.
The sales process workflow can be developed over time. Typically a 10,000 foot overview is enough to get employees thinking about the process. They often begin fleshing out the document by adding the more descriptive information needed for each process. The process documentation can mature with time. The main point is to get it started, get employees thinking about the process. Encourage them to document their opportunities, input their stage in for that opportunity and the accompanying information such as last contact date, next step and date. Acknowledge them for gaining ground for each step closer they get to closing the sale.
The vTiger CRM software along with your sales workflow process will provide the tools to organize the sales team. It will enable your organization to track opportunities from leads to invoices. This will lead to more sales.
Written by Robert DelGarbino 12/22/2014
About the Author:
Robert DelGarbino has been working with business processes for over 30 years, the last 15 he has specialized in Information Technology. He has earned an Engineering degree and a Master’s in Business. He is highly certified, PMP, MCSE, CCNA, CSSA, VTSP, ITILv3, Six Sigma, Agile CSM, VSP and has experience in many industries. He consults for small, medium and large organizations. Some notable engagements were with ANN INC, Manhattan, NY, Wells Fargo, American Express, Vanity Fair, Honeywell etc. -
A.
How to automate and track your marketing efforts using vTiger CRM
Start by importing your Lead data. It is usually stored as an Excel or CSV file provided by your market research team or vendor. While importing, map the fields to the appropriate fields in the vTiger CRM. If the fields need to be added, simply add them.
Now open vTiger customer relationship software. Select the Lead module and begin working through your leads. If it’s sales calls then an autodialer can be used via Voice over IP systems or by adding a fax card to your PC and connecting it to an analog phone line. Clicking on the number tells the PC to dial for you. The system can also be integrated with screen pops for most autodial integrated systems.
As you make the calls update the information for that Lead. We update the Next Step, the Date of Next Step or with the click of the mouse button change it into an Opportunity and assign it to a sales person.
Email based campaigns can also be managed with vTiger CRM. Perhaps you just spoke to a lead and they want an email for more information and someone to follow up with them next week. Select that lead, press the send mail button, select the appropriate email template (email templates can be created and stored in the system). Then after emailing change the lead to an opportunity and assign it to a sales person. The sales person will be notified by email that they have a new Opportunity and see it included in their filtered Opportunity list complete with the Next Step, the Date of Next Step, the product or service of interest, and what email was sent.Written by Robert DelGarbino 12/30/2014
About the Author:
Robert DelGarbino has been working with business processes for over 30 years, the last 15 he has specialized in Information Technology. He has earned an Engineering degree and a Master’s in Business. He is highly certified, PMP, MCSE, CCNA, CSSA, VTSP, ITILv3, Six Sigma, Agile CSM, VSP and has experience in many industries. He consults for small, medium and large organizations. Some notable engagements were with ANN INC, Manhattan, NY, Wells Fargo, American Express, Vanity Fair, Honeywell etc. -
A.
How to keep leads and opportunities even when your sales people move on, exit, or otherwise leave the company.
It’s hard to keep track of all those conversations, emails and other forms of leads coming across your sales person’s desk. In our experience the great sales people are less likely to stay organized but are fabulous at relationships. We need them. Keeping them on track can be challenging.
Bill was one our top producers. A very amicable guy, easy to befriend and always kept us smiling with new jokes every day. Bill was always the top salesperson, typically reaching 60% of our revenue generation, at least until that fateful day he got hit by a bus. Bill never kept track of all those leads or opportunities. We didn’t have a CRM like sales force or vTiger Client Relationship software, Act!, Goldmine, Microsoft CRM or any of the others. We lost all those leads and opportunities along with all the marketing dollars spent to get them.
We vowed to never let that happen again. Over the years we first tried Goldmine but found it was limited. Then we tried Act! As suggested by our newest sales person who used it before. People typically like what they are familiar with. Again we ran into limitations. Limits are to be expected when buying off the shelf CRM software. Next at bat was Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Dynamics which was based on a SQL database which we had skill sets for. We tweaked and adjusted and created custom options but then we hit a wall. We found ourselves and our workflow process limited by software tools once again.
We had just acquired a hardware company and with it a top producing sales person. So we went to him and asked him why he was so successful. He said vTiger. “V what” we asked. He went on to explain about the Open Source CRM and more software system vTiger, a Client Relationship software on steroids. Open source soft software allows a programmer to access the base code to modify it. He praised the tool as being key to his success because it was adaptable to his business and sales process. It kept track of everything going on with that customer from opportunities to trouble tickets and returns. It also tied into his website sales and accounting system providing an end to end solution.
We investigated. Open source software makes the system limitless! We fell in love on the spot. We proceeded to look deeper. It was accessible over the internet and displays as webpages, there was a mobile phone module that would allow a sales person on the go to get information fast or update the system from almost anywhere. It seamlessly tied into a website that took orders like Amazon. It can be tied into any accounting software that allows it. That was over eight years ago. We have not found any CRM that comes close to the vTiger CRM.
Written by Robert DelGarbino 12/30/2014
About the Author:
Robert DelGarbino has been working with business processes for over 30 years, the last 15 he has specialized in Information Technology. He has earned an Engineering degree and a Master’s in Business. He is highly certified, PMP, MCSE, CCNA, CSSA, VTSP, ITILv3, Six Sigma, Agile CSM, VSP and has experience in many industries. He consults for small, medium and large organizations. Some notable engagements were with ANN INC, Manhattan, NY, Wells Fargo, American Express, Vanity Fair, Honeywell etc.