I have some info on ROI, but don't have the time right now to write it up. Perhaps over the weekend.
I agree with Bobo's analysis 100%. Re your comment:"...perhaps the vntv approach would reduce sales force resistance because the architecture is designed to make the lives of the sales rep easier, not the sales manager..."
Perhaps, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The point is: unlike manufacturing, distribution, financial etc. processes, sales processes are not as structured or well-defined. Salespeople, especially those not involved in team-selling, develop their own unique ways of keeping and tracking relevant data. For the most part salespeople are measured on the revenues they generate, not on the quality of the data they collect. As Bobo says, what needs to happen is a cultural change in sales organizations, such that salespeople see the value to THEM of undertaking the (sometimes, but not always) perceived burden of using a SFA app. A sort of an ROI at the salesperson level, as it were. In team-selling situations, the salespeople can more readily see the value of sharing information.
This cultural change may happen one day, but it will be a while. Hell, I've implemented CIS systems in customer support groups and even there, where support processes are relatively well-defined and people reasonably technical, it takes a long time before support reps use the automation as it is supposed to be used. |
