Build a strong relationship with the customer

Sales work in the field is, despite the steadily increasing importance of online sales, an important pillar in the sales mix. Personal contact, especially in a B2B environment, is a feature that should not be underestimated when it comes to building a strong relationship with customers. When customers are visited in person from time to time and visited by a permanent contact person, this creates trust on the customer side. The customer feels comfortable and can immediately address grievances with the contact person. In personal sales, problems that may arise once during the business relationship, such as delivery delays, quality problems, etc., are more easily resolved than when the contact is purely virtual or online.

Evaluate potentials better

Personal on-site visits to the customer also have the advantage that the sales representative can better assess the customer's needs. Customers often have much more potential than meets the eye. For example, if only a small department of the customer buys from the supplier, but the products and services could also be of interest to other departments, it is easier to recognize this potential during a sales representative visit. In addition, the sales representative's personal commitment to the customer makes it easier to hope for recommendations within the customer company. But who would recommend an anonymous contact person?

CRM software to help

Even though sales representatives often establish a personal bond with the customer and therefore know from their own memory what concerns the customer, it makes sense to keep records of conversations with the customer. This not only serves as a reminder, but also helps sales colleagues, who may work in the back office or are to be used as a vacation substitute, to get an overview. Modern CRM systems such as Mister James also regularly analyze these meeting minutes and suggest concrete actions. Even though artificial intelligence can bring far less personal charm to customers, it is superior to humans in one thing in particular: in identifying patterns. Based on past business transactions, AI can identify business opportunities across customers that we as humans find difficult to identify.

Identify customer conurbations

A modern CRM system also helps the sales representative to identify geographical areas of customers. Once the sales representative has collected a list of potential customers, geographical clusters of customers can be discovered in Mister James, for example, using the “Find geo-clusters” function. For this purpose, a radius is defined (e.g. 50 km) and a desired number of minimum contacts (e.g. 10). Mister James then shows on an interactive map in which regions the minimum number of contacts within the defined radius is reached. The sales representative can then use this information to plan their tours and focus on specific regions without constantly driving across the country.

Plan travel routes in the field

Once the regions have been defined, the sales representative is faced with the challenge of planning the most economical route possible to visit customers. It's not that easy, especially when it comes to more than 4 or 5 contacts. The Mister James CRM system helps its user to determine a suitable route. It works with a simple click - and the CRM software shows the appropriate route within Google Maps. By using Google Maps, you can even choose the transport route - regardless of whether the visit is to be made by car or bus & train.

Cold calling in the field

Acquiring and identifying new customers via a sales force can also be a very efficient way to get new customers. For example, if you are looking for new B2B customers, it is advisable to drive to industrial and commercial areas and then “clean clinics” in the traditional way. This demanding job requires a lot of skill and strong sales people who are not easily intimidated and have a lot of stamina. It should be clear to the sales representative that most of his contacts will turn him away - yet the few successful customers can justify the effort.

When making cold calls in this way, a CRM system is actually indispensable. If the customer is in front of the potential customer's front door, he should find out more about the company in advance. For example, in Mister James, he can identify the company based on its current location. Mister James uses the smartphone's GPS function to recognize which company the sales representative is currently visiting and can then research further information, e.g. via the company's website. In addition, the contact can be saved directly in the CRM system and transferred to the sales pipeline.

If the sales representative then talks to the potential new customer, he can directly add notes to the deal feed in the sales pipeline. In addition, the back office staff, for example, can send additional information. With Mister James, this can even be done automatically using automations.