Action plan :
meet, listening and dialogue
Upstream and downstream needs analysis
Introducing solutions
reactions studies
implementation
1. Meet, listening and dialogue. Formerly sales people mysels, not so far ago, I keep a very operational way of thinking. I know reality of the market is on the field. The owner of these reality are sales people. I think this is quiet easy for a marketing department to remain locked up in its ivory tower setting up great theories staying to far from the field reality.
According to me, the most important element of a company is its sales force. Never forget that for many people, the sales department brings back money while the marketing department expenses some.From this postulate, it is with a large amount of humility that I started my seduction crusade. The more I dialogue with people and the more I discover abysses of needs in marketing/commercial term. Delivering results or setting up actions (leaflets, presentations), exhibitions, information... helps me to be confident with many and and I associated with me to fulfill my goals.
2. Upstream needs analysis. Sales people needs to have all the contacts, all telephone numbers,addresses. They need also to get all the proposal history, the customer's technical configuration, the ability to see demo files, image of Web site, and all the tools delivered by marketing department .
System have to be user friendly, have basic functionality like personal diary, able to order information quickly, light, and compatible with the future Intranet database of the .
Downstream needs. Sales people wants something allowing to be stored in a large pocket, simple and practical (when they want something!). Especially they want to be consulted and not that a system is imposed to them. Less 1/10e of the population carries its portable computer as customers. On the other hand much of them are equipped on a purely personal basis with one with its Casio Organizer which is no more than an electronic diary.