BPM can pay dividends for sales workers in the field

Integrating sales, marketing and basic accounting processes is an increasingly common method for streamlining business operations. In theory, data gathered by marketers can help sales people in the field target and interact with customers more effectively. Using that information, sales workers generate more deals, and can send sales data directly to accounting, allowing them to process deals as quickly as possible. Connecting the applications and data involved in these operations is vital to supporting cross-department functions, and bpm software for sales and marketing can make this possible.

Using BPM to support sales workers in the field

A good sales worker can use just about any piece of information about a customer to gain a slight edge when it comes time to close a sale. With enough small advantages in place, a salesperson can be positioned to relate easily to customers, reach them through their preferred channels and maximize the company’s revenue. Getting the data edge is not always easy, especially because sales workers are rarely the people gathering that data. Marketing departments often deal with the information pertaining to how potential clients are drawn to a company.

For example, a B2B company selling specialized manufacturing tools to automobile makers may recognize that factories supporting a large number of assembly lines tend to favor one type of product, while smaller manufacturing locations tend to lean toward a different type of solution to perform a similar function. Price may not be the only issue here, so in-depth market data is often necessary to come to this conclusion. However, marketers often research demographics heavily to understand how they should position their product in the market. With this knowledge in hand, a salesperson can walk into a meeting better prepared to make a sale.

However, improving processes is not always enough, as field workers need to know when different parts of the project are complete, who still needs to finish a process in case that person is holding up progress and must understand the context of the marketing information. BPM solutions provide this process integration, connecting the marketing and sales processes effectively and enabling the sales worker to automatically transmit the final sale to accounting, eliminating tedious tasks from the trip into the field.

Malcolm Ross

Vice President of Product Marketing