Advanced Sales Processes using Sitecore and Salesforce

Many of us get indoctrinated from an early age! We puzzle over how to make something and don't spend time understanding the problem we are trying to solve. In our business, we don't think enough about what the customer wants!

Steve Jobs famously said, "You've got to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology." It seems obvious yet this is not intuitive to technologists who tend to revel in the how and worry less about the what. "What" requires forgetting technology and immersing yourself in the needs of someone else (just like a marriage!). It's a very interesting experience that can yield amazing results.

FuseIT is currently thinking about the question, "What do the sales team need?" This is a better question than, "How can we help the sales team?" because that takes us down the "how" path and limits our thinking. If we ignore technology and focus on what sales operators want, a whole new world opens up. 

Consider a salesperson selling high-end products like luxury holidays, designer watches, supercars, aircraft, power stations, or even university applications. Their basic tasks are:

1. Process inbound leads
2. Gather information
3. Have an informed conversation
4. Schedule face-to-face meetings
5. Close the deal

We let's make the sales team more productive by thinking about what they need!

Process leads

• A prospect submits a web form that pushes the field entries to a CRM lead. The CRM controls workflow and tracks progress. For lead qualification, website platforms like Sitecore track visitor browsing behavior which can be pushed to the CRM with the form fields.
• A prospect calls a freephone number and engages the operator on a voice call. If the prospect is on the company website, the salesperson can create a new CRM lead and see their browsing behavior in the CRM. 

Gather Information

• Having the website browsing behavior in the CRM is invaluable in helping research the visitor prior to sales calls.

Informed conversations

• During calls, sales operators can drive content to the website from the CRM to strengthen the conversation. For example, they can show product detail pages, images, FAQ's, parts catalogs, or support information. The visitor can be shown pages that are normally hidden, like comparisons between competing products or a page where email preferences can be set.

Face-to-face meetings

• Discussing the availability of both parties, and where to meet is easy if the sales operator can open calendar and map pages on the visitor's browser.

Close the Deal

• Sharing legal or warranty documents and assist with electronic completion or signing.
• Land the visitor on pages that disclose other product details not visible to other visitors. 
• Opening third-party websites like a payment provider.

Conclusion

It is clear that thinking about the needs of a salesperson has created innovations that make a real difference. These features exist today, for example, our expertise lies in integrating Sitecore websites (for personalization) with Salesforce (for CRM features) using our S4S integration (for passing web form and personalization data to Salesforce and controlling the website from Salesforce).

FuseIT created S4S specifically to connect Sitecore to Salesforce in real-time. To learn more about how to add value to your business in this way please contact us for more information.