Let’s explore five ways in which AI can support sales professionals who make in-person sales calls. These are sales tools for every sales toolbox—ones that I personally use and recommend to others.

1. Targeted lead generation

Sales professionals face the challenge of identifying potential customers who are interested in their product or service. With the help of AI-powered lead generation tools, salespeople can target their efforts more precisely, improving the chances of identifying prospects who are most likely to convert and then focus their attention on those individuals. These AI tools can identify prospects by their demographics, behavior, and purchasing history.

One of my favorite lead generation tools is Apollo.io. It uses machine-learning algorithms to analyze data from a variety of sources, including social media, company websites, and public databases, to identify potential leads for salespeople. You can run a search by person, company, job title, and zip code. The dashboard is super simple to use and offers a suite of tools that includes sales automation, CRM integration, sales engagement, and analytics. The best part is that you can use the basic platform for FREE or purchase a plan if you want to get its full power.

LinkedIn and LinkedIn Sales Navigator can be used for lead generation when looking at a specific company. The latter allows you to track a prospect’s activity on its social media platform.

2. Personalized recommendations

AI can support sales professionals by providing them with personalized information about a customer’s behavior style along with preferences on how best to communicate with them. This helps salespeople build stronger relationships with customers by demonstrating that they understand their particular buying style and can offer solutions in their preferred communication style.

is an AI-powered platform that provides a range of tools designed to help salespeople communicate more effectively with customers. Crystal relies on natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to analyze the language and tone used during written communication, such as an email or social media post. This provides insights into the person’s DiSC profile, allowing Crystal to give the sales professional a playbook for conducting a meeting or communicating through emails with the customer. They offer a FREE trial on ten clients before you would need to purchase a plan.

3. Predictive sales analytics

AI can also be used to provide sales professionals with predictive analytics that help them anticipate customers’ needs and behaviors. By leveraging these AI insights, sales professionals

can tailor social media strategies to improve their chances of building trust with their target markets.

Hootsuite.com is a social media management platform that uses AI analytics to analyze large amounts of social media data. This allows it to identify patterns and trends in customer behavior, such as which types of content perform best or which channels are most effective for engagement. For example, Hootsuite analytics recognizes that certain types of posts get more engagement at certain times of day, so it can predict that similar posts will perform well at those same times in the future. This information is useful for sales professionals looking to optimize their social media strategies and engage with customers more effectively. This is not a FREE platform but has reasonably priced plans.

4. Automated follow-up

Following up with potential customers is a critical part of the sales process, but it can also be time-consuming and tedious. With the help of AI-powered automation tools, sales professionals can automate much of the follow-up process, freeing up their time to focus on other activities. AI tools can do things like send follow-up emails, schedule appointments, and record phone calls on behalf of the sales professional. By automating these tasks, sales professionals can improve their efficiency and focus their attention on closing more deals.

The AI-powered automation tools that can help automate much of the follow-up process are found in a good customer relationship management platform, better known as a CRM. Look for one that provides a wide range of tools designed to help salespeople manage their time and energy on more high-value activities. HubSpot.com is my favorite because of its ease of use and powerful mobile app. It has a FREE version but to get enhanced platform applications, you should upgrade to a paid subscription.

5. Enhanced customer service experience

Finally, AI can support sales professionals by enhancing a customer’s overall experience while building a stronger relationship with them. AI can provide customers with on-demand and easy access to information, improving their overall satisfaction with the sales process. By enhancing the customer experience, sales professionals can increase their chances of success and of generating repeat business.

Loom.com and Vidyard.com are asynchronous video platforms that allow sales professionals to provide personalized information, demonstrations, post-meeting recaps, and check-ins. Both platforms offer real-time analytics and insights on video engagements which allow sales professionals to track customer behavior and preferences to improve their sales approach and customer service. Both offer a FREE version but to get enhanced platform applications, you should upgrade to a paid subscription.

In conclusion, AI can help sales professionals be more effective, efficient, and successful. It can be a powerful tool for those who make in-person sales calls. It can provide targeted lead generation, personalized recommendations, predictive analytics, real-time insights, automated follow-up, and enhanced customer service. As technology continues to evolve, it is likely that AI will play an increasingly important role in the sales process. As such, sales professionals who embrace AI will not need to write their tombstone epitaphs in the near future.

The post Is AI Going to Be the Death of the Salesperson? appeared first on Cleanfax.

My first job out of college was with Shaw Industries, a company that would eventually become the world’s largest floor covering manufacturer. Founder Bob Shaw was a student of the industry and of running a business. In the 1970s, when the carpet industry was in its prime, there were over 400 carpet manufacturers. Shaw navigated the company through the inflationary period of the late 70s, the recessionary period of the 80s, and by the late 90s, Shaw became one of the top three floor covering manufacturers in an industry with less than 100 mills remaining.

During most of my 25 years with Shaw Industries, I called on Tom, the owner of a floor covering store in Ohio who was just like Bob Shaw—a student of business, the carpet industry, and retail floor coverings. I relished the opportunity to visit with Tom to find out what was going on in the local markets as well as the floor covering industry as a whole. Tom had his finger on the pulse of the industry better than most of the industry CEOs! Tom had opened a single retail store in a major Ohio city in the early 80s. By 2010 he had four locations and was one of the top three floor covering retailers in his market. Eventually, he made it into the top 100 floor covering retailers in the country, when ranked by revenue.

A tale of two market segments in the same industry

In his novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” Bob and Tom were in the same industry, but one was a manufacturer and the other a retailer. They navigated the best of times and the worst of times, and both ended up at the top of their respective markets. Much of their success was because of the wisdom they gained by observing other industries and by listening to what was happening around them in their industry. Neither was foolish enough to rely on just their own intuition.

Michael Porter’s Five Forces model  

Every morning I start the day with a couple cups of coffee while I spend an hour catching up on world events and business activities across all industries. I read newspapers and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. I review emails from leading consulting firms like McKinsey and Bain. I review social media sites like LinkedIn where I peruse headings from thought leaders and industry influencers. I then read through emails from industry suppliers and trade associations.

While I’m reading and researching information, I keep Michael Porter’s Five Forces model top of mind. Porter said there are five competitive forces that shape the direction of any industry or market segment.

1. Competition in the industry
2. Threat of new entrants into the industry
3. Power of suppliers
4. Power of customers/buyer
5. Threat of substitute products

Understanding the impact these five forces can have on the industry helps me identify the direction a business needs to take. With this information, I can help you develop a business strategy for your company to sustain long-term profitable growth.

Be a student of the industry

Most successful business leaders like Bob and Tom develop a passion for learning because they understand that lifelong education is their responsibility. Being a student of your business is the best investment you can make in your business. The way of conducting business has rapidly changed this past year. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t learn from the past, because it’s said that history repeats itself. It’s also a given that technology is going to continue to change the way business is done at an ever-faster pace.

Here are some suggestions for what to focus on and how to make learning a part of your workday.

• Understand the history of the industry

Research the history of your industry using the internet and be sure to always read information from multiple sources. Talk to current suppliers and buyers that have been in the industry from the early beginnings. Gain insights from multiple sources about the past players in your market segment and the industry. Find out the reasons for why suppliers, buyers, and competitors have grown or gone out of business. Realize that you must know where the industry has been before you can see where it is going.

• Understand the current changes in the industry

Keep yourself abreast of changes in technology that could improve efficiency in operations, sales/marketing, and administrative functions. Attend industry trade shows and talk with existing suppliers and potential new suppliers about new products. Do research by using the internet and by reading industry magazines and newspapers. Join industry associations to stay in touch with new regulations. Stay up to date on potential new entrants (competitors) in the industry and the market.

Use your suppliers and customers to keep informed about what your competitors are doing. You will be enlightened by what you can learn if you ask them and then really listen to their responses. Tom talked to his suppliers regularly to stay on top of what they knew about changes coming to the industry, and he was always asking them about what other companies were doing. Bob studied other industries and talked to executives who weren’t even associated with floor coverings.

• Understand where the industry is headed

As the saying goes, “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.” Recognize that all five forces can impact your business and put you OUT of business. Tom and Bob both knew the inherent risk the five forces played, but they stayed focused on their short-term strategies as well as their long-term goals. Do your research and stay on top of changes in the industry. To not implement new strategies on information you gather, choosing instead to continue to do business the way you have always done, is a waste of knowledge.

Be a student of the industry and your business by reading, researching, listening, and then acting on the information you have gained. Every day, wake up and make it your goal to become wiser about your business skills and your industry. Surround yourself with people who are always looking for opportunities to build a thriving business.

According to Adam Grant, “If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.” Be curious and never stop learning!

John Monroe is a Business Development Advisor for Violand Management Associates (VMA), a highly-respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Monroe is a leading expert in marketing, sales and sales management for the restoration and cleaning industries with over 30 years of experience in those fields. Through Violand, Monroe works with companies to develop their people and their profits. To reach him, visit  or call 800-360-3513.

The post Be a Student of Your Industry appeared first on Cleanfax.

After more than a year of social distancing, we are finally starting to feel a sense of normalcy, and I am excitedly greeting pieces of my former life. I am enjoying, like most of you, the opportunity to once again socialize with friends and family, the weekend gathering at someone’s home or at a restaurant to laugh and talk about each other’s lives, or going to movie and sporting events with my friends.

With my euphoric attitude, I must remember that our world has forever changed because of this pandemic. The reality is that social distancing and doing things virtually will continue to be a part of our vocabulary for years to come. There is a lot of opportunity to become a better company in the post-pandemic world, yet how we live and work now is framed by the past year and a half.

Business opportunity

The playbook for conducting business has dramatically changed, whether you are a small business or a large corporation. The most seismic change has been in working remotely. Every business leader has struggled with the decision of whether to bring people back into the office, and if they do, how to create a socially distanced workplace that accommodates collaboration. This will be a differentiator for all organizations over the next six months.

COVID-19 and the shelter-in-place orders caught most every business leader unprepared for remote working and business shutdowns. It created a heightened need for every company to embrace a digital transformation in all four functions of their business: sales and marketing, operations, human resources, and finance.

Partnership with sales and marketing

There is a mantra in business that states, “without sales there is no business,” and of course, being in sales throughout my busines career, I believe it to be true. Business is built upon sales, and when businesses grow, the economy accelerates the creation of opportunities. The challenge for growing businesses post-pandemic is how to connect with the customer when they are not leaving their home to go to work, to shop, or to socialize as in the past. How do you find customers if they are not in their office when you knock on the door?

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Marketing and sales teams need to work together more than ever before in this new digital business world. If you do not have an in-house marketing person, then hire a digital content marketing company to help you develop a marketing strategy. The companies that embrace digital marketing now will have a better opportunity to increase revenue. This is the time to develop a marketing plan that has an objective and strategies that help differentiate your company’s brand to the consumer. Be sure to measure your marketing results by establishing return on investment (ROI) metrics that demonstrate increased leads along with increased profitable revenue.

Marketing can play a major role in helping sales develop content that is tailored more to what the buyer wants to hear and less on products, services, and value propositions. Marketing content should educate and create thought leadership on challenges and issues that are unique to the target market. Marketing should be focused on a buyer-centric strategy that encourages conversation. The content must be relevant, valuable at each stage of the client’s journey, and found on the channels where the client searches for information.

Here are five marketing tools that the marketing team can create for the sales team to use as touch points with a target market:

1. Articles, blogs, whitepapers, infographics, and slide decks that support ongoing conversations. These should be posted on social media sites as well as your company’s website.
2. Video testimonials recorded by current customers to be posted on social media sites or embedded in emails to prospective clients.
3. An inventory of pre-written emails in your CRM. This ensures all emails are written with correct spelling and grammar and have a clear, concise point. They can be personalized and customized to the context of your sales team’s conversation.
4. Thought leadership videos that can be used on social media sites and company web pages or embedded in emails, social media messages, and text messages.
5. Live group learning webinars and podcasts that create value for a target market to gain insight on how to resolve industry-specific pains.

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Virtual sales plan

Just as the marketing team should have a marketing plan that outlines the message and platforms used to create prospect engagement, the sales team should have a plan that outlines the virtual sales process from prospect engagement to the first order and through to maintaining the client.

The sales plan begins with a sales objective that is supported with measurable metrics. The next step requires the sales and marketing teams to define the target markets (customers). Who are you wanting to do business with? How can your company’s services or products resolve the target market’s needs and pains?

Sales and marketing teams need to recognize that Shakespeare’s famous quote, “the world is your oyster” does not hold true for them due to limited capacity and budgets, so they must limit the number of target markets. Narrow your focus and personalize your sales and marketing efforts to target the best accounts. This strategy is known as account-based marketing. Once the sales and marketing teams understand the needs and pains of the target market, they should conduct a SWOT analysis of the competition and of your company. This analysis will uncover areas where opportunity for differentiators exists along with the differentiators your company can already offer the defined target market.

Sales process/map

The biggest opportunity for all businesses in the current climate is to create a well-designed, documented sales method that is executed the same at each stage of the sales process. Start with defined approaches for each prospect and then lay out a tactical map from the first touch to the close.

Accept the reality that face-to-face selling is not coming back. Accept the new virtual sales process. Learn alternative forms of communication.

Map out every touch point in your sales process that supports your virtual meetings. Your goal is to stay top of mind with the prospect by continuing the conversation even when you are not talking to them. Here are some touch points clients I work with have found successful:

• Follow-up emails with an embedded video message
• Follow-up emails with value-add handouts (VAH) attached
• Handwritten notes sent through the mail
• LinkedIn messages with a video message or VAH attached
• Text messages with a video message or VAH attached
• Purposeful phone calls.

Do not underestimate these touch points, as they can differentiate your company from the competition. If you spend time planning for success, you will have much more success in selling virtually in our post-pandemic reality.

John Monroe is a Business Development Advisor for Violand Management Associates (VMA), a respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Monroe is a leading expert in marketing, sales, and sales management for the restoration and cleaning industries with over 30 years of experience in those fields. Through Violand, Monroe works with companies to develop their people and profits. To reach him, visit  or call 800-360-3513.

The post The Post-Pandemic Business Growth Playbook appeared first on Cleanfax.

Just accept it—the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world forever. I am part of the baby boomer generation, and I have worked hard this past year to embrace the fact that many of the ideas I held about the way business should be conducted and what makes an effective leader have been thrown out the door!

Prior to the pandemic, I would have terminated a sales rep who spent more than two hours a week in the office during prime selling hours. It was all about in-person face time. These days, sales reps should spend at least an hour or two in the office each day making phone calls or holding video conferences with those clients who are not working in their office anymore.

Boomers and millennials

I believe that the workplace culture in a company is defined by the leader’s generational traits and characteristics. As of 2021, baby boomers represent those ages 58-75. They are referred to as the “me” generation and for good reason. They place great value on being recognized by their peers and subordinates for their expertise and knowledge. They thrive on holding positions of power and authority that give them perks and recognition. Baby boomers relish long work weeks and define themselves by their professional accomplishments. Since they had to sacrifice to get to where they are in their career, this workaholic generation believes that the younger generations should also have to pay their dues.

Millennials embody the age group 25-40 and make up the largest generation, over 35%, in the American workforce today. They are also the most tech savvy. This group was born with a cell phone in their hand and learned how to read, write, and do arithmetic on a laptop as early as the first grade. They are expected to change jobs up to 20 times in their career, and one of the key determinations they look for in a company is the culture. They want a company that demonstrates its care for the overall wellbeing of their employees and provides work-life balance through flexible work hours and generous paid time off.

Gallup conducted a poll at the end of 2020 and found that over 50% of millennials work remotely compared to less than 20% of boomers. When you consider that over 50% of the Fortune 500 CEOs are baby boomers, there should be no surprise as to why they are struggling to lead in this COVID era. Boomers are wrestling with the work-from-home model since they believe “face time” at the office is crucial to producing quality work. If they are not able to see their employees, then how do they know their employees are actually working?

The typical boomer CEO

The business news channels have been buzzing the past few weeks about David Solomon (59), CEO of Goldman Sachs, and his statement that he desired to see the firm’s offices fill up again. “I do think for a business like ours which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us. And it’s not a new normal [to be working from home]. It’s an aberration that we’re going to correct as quickly as possible.” Since the beginning of the year, four key Goldman Sachs executives have left the firm. It has been stated in the business papers that the departures were partially caused by Mr. Solomon’s approach to turning the company back into “a more top-down, hierarchical culture in which the institution is bigger than its people.”

The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed the top executives of 25 major U.S. corporations to get their temperature on when they think we will come back to work. It was interesting that those executives who are baby boomers said they wanted people back in the office as soon as possible. Yet the younger CEOs said it could be another year or more and that it would most likely be a hybrid office environment when people did return.

Embracing a changing culture

Yes, I am a baby boomer, but I must agree with the younger generations. I just don’t see us returning to the way things used to be once the pandemic is over. As hard as this might be for some leaders to accept, I’m of the opinion that being prepared for a new normal can only help, not hurt, our business. To get started, here are three leadership characteristics that are worth embracing.

Characteristic 1: Be flexible, not tone deaf

To be an effective leader in the new pandemic era, ask for input from your teams. Then listen to that input and support their ideas. Author and speaker Simon Sinek states, “The leaders who get the most out of their people are the leaders who care most about their people.” Stop digging in your heels and drawing lines in the sand because of your generational thinking. Instead, empower your people to perform their jobs without everyone needing to be present together in the office. Henry Ford said, “If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”

Characteristic 2: Build trust by showing empathy

In his book, The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek presents the idea that businesses play either a finite game with winners and losers or an infinite game where company leadership transforms a group of stressed and overworked employees into a cohesive team of innovative risk takers. Sinek says that for a company to play the infinite game they must build trusting teams. An infinite company hires the best people and trusts each one of them to do their job.

An effective leader in the new normal knows that trust is built from the top down, always doing what is best for the employees and with the success of the company in mind. Teams that have thrived through the pandemic are those managed by leaders who have put their people first and recognized that trust is ultimately about building relationships by showing empathy and vulnerability. The empathetic leader looks at every interaction as an opportunity to connect with their employees. This new leader is authentic, humble, and operates with grace under pressure. They are purposeful in building and managing trust.

Characteristic 3: Your purpose is to create an employee-centric culture

As Nick Craig stated in his book, Leading from Purpose, “Whether in business or in our personal lives, a strong sense of purpose offers firm footing on shifting ground.” The leaders who realized early on that the pandemic was going to throw a new curve ball every week understood that their best defense was to over communicate, be transparent, and create a sense of community. They knew that employees needed to feel safe about the workplace and about their jobs. They needed to have a place where they could express their feelings and emotions without being judged. The great leaders of the pandemic will make it their purpose to continue to develop a culture that encourages employees to communicate with the same transparency as its leaders, without worry of being judged negatively. This culture creates trusting teams where people are not afraid to ask for help or admit they made a mistake.

Recognize that we all desire to work for a company that genuinely cares about us and supports our personal development. As the great leader of a world-class company, make it your purpose to continue what you started and develop your employees by focusing on their emotional balance, intellectual growth, and physical health.

Purpose and beliefs

I say to my fellow boomers, learn from your past but stop living in the past. Open up your mind to learning new ways of running a business. The key to leadership is leading ON purpose with a sound set of beliefs on which you base all your policies and actions.

John Monroe is a Business Development Advisor for Violand Management Associates (VMA), a highly-respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Monroe is a leading expert in marketing, sales and sales management for the restoration and cleaning industries with over 30 years of experience in those fields. Through Violand, Monroe works with companies to develop their people and their profits. To reach him, visit  or call 800-360-3513.

The post Three Leadership Characteristics Baby Boomers Need to Embrace appeared first on Cleanfax.

I consider myself an avid student of sales techniques. I have been selling for a living for over 35 years and still learn something new every day. With the evolution of communication and technology, I believe that today’s buyer has become much more discerning and their expectations are higher than ever before. To remain competitive sales and marketing must adopt new methodologies to exceed the high expectations of the buyer. Beware of the one-size-fits-all sales strategy as there is no perfect pitch, nor is there a magic wand that can be waved over anyone to make them the perfect salesperson.

It’s my belief that a company needs to constantly be training and coaching their people on the art of sales for their service or product. The salesperson is but one part of an effective sales strategy. There are many external factors that also affect the selling process as Michael Porter discusses in his book, The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, but we will save those for another article. For now, I want to focus on the best practices of a salesperson.

I’m considered a “Sales Road Warrior” by the fact that I have spent over 75 percent of my working career traveling in a car or airplane and living out of a hotel to sell clients my service or product. With that much time on the road, I’ve had plenty of experience interacting with customer care representatives .

A customer care representative is the company’s salesperson. If the customer care representative gives me service above my expectation, then the company has a customer for life. But if the customer care representative gives me less than expected, I most likely will give them a poor review on social media, which can be the beginning of the end for a business. In today’s world, social media reviews can make or break a company.

The first expectation I have when encountering a customer care representative is for them to be friendly, smiling, and acting glad to see me. Then I expect them to ask several basic questions to find out who I am, why I’m in their place of business, and how they can help me. First lesson in sales: Never underestimate the first impression; it’s a lasting one. Have you ever had a waiter come to your table and not smile or act like you are bothering them? I find it especially annoying when I go to a service counter and the person, never looking up from the computer, says they’ll be with me in a few minutes. Really?!

When I’m in a restaurant I want my server to know everything about the menu, and I want them to tell me about their personal favorites, but never bad mouth any item. I want them to ask me questions about my taste for food that evening and listen intently to my response before giving limited suggestions. Have you ever had a server say, “Everything is good,” or “I don’t know, I’ve never tried any of the meals.” Second lesson in sales: Make the buyer feel like their experience with you is special, and have them looking forward to the next experience with you or your company.

An example of great customer service is when I walk up to a car rental desk and the clerk says, “We’ve been expecting you, Mr. Monroe. We see you are here on business for 3 days. Would you like to upgrade to one of our luxury cars with more leg room?” This is how to make an offer—by setting an expectation for my needs. Lesson three in sales: Offer appropriate add-ons or alternatives. Present a full package that offers something more but fits the customer’s needs. Use the assumptive selling approach.

My favorite hotels are ones where I enter the room and, uncannily, the telephone rings; it’s the front desk asking if everything is okay with the room and if there is anything else they can do for me such as set a wake-up call or order up room service. Lesson four in sales: Don’t wait for the buyer to ask for the next step. Be prepared and know your customer’s needs, or at least anticipate the next step in the sale based on what you have heard from the customer.

When you are about two-thirds finished with your meal, the server asks if you are interested in dessert or an after-dinner drink. The timing is not an accident. A good server never waits until you are full to ask for the rest of the order. Instead, they ask at the point where you are still enjoying the meal and wondering what you might want to finish off that great meal. Lesson five in sales: Value your customer’s time and let them know you are there for them even after they’ve given you an order. You want them to keep coming back.

Sales is an art that requires repetition, but it also requires learning new techniques. Good managers will have regular meetings with their sales team to review best practices and even role play. On the job, learning is crucial so travel with your salesperson and listen to their presentation, then give constructive feedback once you are together in the car. Effective sales training requires feedback from the manager and interaction with the customer. As Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, told his people, “There aren’t many customers at headquarters.”

John Monroe is a Business Development Advisor for Violand Management Associates (VMA), a highly-respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Monroe is a leading expert in marketing, sales and sales management for the restoration and cleaning industries with over 30 years of experience in those fields. Through Violand, Monroe works with companies to develop their people and their profits. To reach him, visit  or call 800-360-3513.

The post 5 Sales Lessons from a Road Warrior appeared first on Cleanfax.

In today’s sales environment, all sales manager and their sales teams should be incorporating the use of technology into their daily sales and management activities. Managers need to embrace and train their teams on using new technologies to drive productivity, profitability, and competitive advantage in the selling process. Remember that technology is just one tool in the sales toolbox; face-to-face relationships are still foundational to sales and sales management.

It’s the time of year for all businesses — large and small — to create a sales and marketing plan for the coming year. The major objective of this plan is to reach a revenue target. Whether your company is focused on growing or just maintaining your current market share, you will first decide your target markets or client base. Then you will determine your company’s differentiators, meaning what makes your company unique to those markets. Finally, you will decide how to approach the target markets and the action plans needed to support that approach.

Let’s review five ways your sales manager and sales team can use technology as a differentiator, approach, or action plan.

1 |Customer relationship management/Sales force automation with voice recognition

The customer relationship management (CRM) is a tool that provides accountability for the action plan and allows the salesperson and sales manager to track relationships and sales as they progress through the pipeline. Sales managers use the notes and dashboard in a CRM to coach sales reps on improving their sales performance.

The timeliness and quality of the information put into the CRM is critical. Voice-controlled digital sales assistants allow sales reps to record information from their mobile phone or tablet, making it easier and faster for the sales rep to enter critical information.

2 | Virtual learning/Virtual proposal

Today’s salespeople no longer need to wait for an in-person meeting to make a critical presentation. Cloud-based software like Loom and Vidyard allow the salesperson to create a short presentation for clients to watch at a time that’s convenient for them.

Imagine you want to convince a large property management company to give you their restoration or cleaning business, but you just can’t get a meeting with the decision maker. You could make a five-minute video talking about the unique service your company offers, being sure to include good information that makes the decision maker want to meet with you to hear more.

Consider polling your audience the next time you’re conducting a lunch and learn with a group of agents or property managers. Presentain and Swipe are two software programs that make conducting a poll as simple as sending a URL to the participants’ mobile device. These tools could be differentiators, approaches, and action plans.

3 | Social media/Website

Making social mediaand your website work for B2B and B2C sales should be a top priority for every business in 2019. It’s all about target marketing and building a relationship with your target audience versus selling to your audience. This job should not be assigned to a salesperson, as it takes a lot of time to build relationships with potential leads and to engage your target market on social media. I would recommend hiring a part-time marketing person or an outside marketing company.

We’re a visual society, so your differentiator should be to use content that focuses on visuals (pictures) and videos (stories). The consumer is too busy to read a bunch of text about how you can solve their problem.

Consider bringing your website to life by adding chat pop-up software like Intercom or Drift. This tool allows you to engage in conversation with prospective customers and qualify their needs with just a few questions.

4 | Mobile devices and apps

With 77 percent of Americans owning a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, many aspects of the selling process have changed. Mobile technology gives salespeople instant access to product-service specs and other tools that increase the effectiveness of their sales presentations and result in better customer experiences. Consider the approach of collaborating with clients, vendors, or subcontractors in a single place for messaging, sharing files, and other tools. Software like Slack can bring all project stakeholders together in an organized format that emails just can’t provide.

The next time you want to have a conversation with a client or salesperson don’t just talk with them. Instead, add a personal touch by holding a visual call with apps like Zoom, Teams, Google Hangouts, or WhatsApp. It’s a fact that when we can see each other, we’re going to better listen to each other. Having a mobile app improves the customer service experience, which equals better customer satisfaction. It’s also a major differentiator, and it’s just plan cool!

Be sure you keep your apps simple. They are not websites and, therefore, shouldn’t be packed with content. When a customer needs immediate help, they should be able to open the app, press a button, and presto, the customer is immediately connected to a company representative.

5 | Reviews and customer advocacy

This is the age of customer engagement, so your marketing approach should include the involvement of raving customers to help generate more business. According to Meghan Durett at Square 2 Marketing, advocacy is an approach that identifies your best brand advocates then creates an action plan for their participation in your process, tracks their involvement, and rewards them for their efforts. Software platforms like Influitive and Engagio can help with this approach.

If you don’t have at least 100 Google reviews and a 4.5 star or greater rating, your business is dead to your target market, so this differentiator and approach should be in your sales and marketing plan. Make sure your customer service team knows this is a priority for the company and reward them for every review they solicit. If you need help gaining reviews, there are outside companies like Podium and BirdEye.

Better sales with technology in the new year

These were just some ideas to put into your business plan for 2019. It’s now up to you to sit down with your team and actually put a plan together for the coming year. If you don’t have a written plan, then you’re just doing what you have always done … which is a recipe for failure.

Wishing you good selling and a happy new year!

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Although it can be difficult to distinguish between a coach and a manager, especially when they are both described as “managing,” each role has a unique purpose and focus. The coach primarily develops people, whereas the manager is more dedicated to the company itself. To help you understand these roles, let’s examine the parallels between how they function in a company versus on a sports team.

The coach

On a baseball team, there are several coaches. Each is responsible for developing the players’ skills. A coach spends his time in practice working with the players on fundamentals and technique. They are also responsible for motivating the players to play as a team, which can be a challenge when working with a diverse group of personalities and talent. Each coach plays an active role in the game by giving players direction and feedback between the plays.

Wearing the hat of “coach” in a business requires many of the same methods used by those coaching athletes. Business coaches have daily communication with each of their team members using fundamental business techniques and best practices to give support and guidance. They look at each person as an individual in order to help develop their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Business coaches watch and listen to employees while they are active on the job so they can offer suggestions and praise. Just like a baseball coach never jumps into the game and bats for a player, so the business coach should never jump in and do the employee’s job.

The manager

In baseball, the manager is responsible for the team’s strategy. The manager directs the team by telling the players where to play, when to take a pitch, and when to pitch around a batter. Their decisions are based on strategically studying the other team’s stats. The baseball manager’s priority is not to develop the players, but to win games with the players he has been given. Winning means happy fans, and happy fans continue to buy tickets and make the club money.

Wearing the hat of “manager” in a business means you direct people on specific tasks that need to be accomplished in a set time frame. The manager looks at the company as a whole and analyzes reports to make key decisions about the direction of the company. The manager will move people around to better serve the company’s needs based on their skill sets. The business manager’s priority is to offer a quality product to the customer that creates high demand with the least amount of cost to the company.

Wearing two hats

Unlike the baseball team that has separate roles for coaches and managers, the business world requires a manager to wear both hats, whether working for a large corporation or a small company. In order to succeed in both, the manager must understand when each hat should be worn. This requires skill and practice, but is easier when situations are assessed by asking whether the focus should be on coaching individuals to develop their unique abilities and make the team stronger, or on strategy and directing the strengths of the team as a whole. When managers practice making that distinction, it becomes easier to wear the right hat at the right time, making responsibilities toward both the employees and the company that much easier to uphold.

John Monroe is a Business Development Advisor for Violand Management Associates (VMA), the largest consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Monroe is a leading expert in marketing, sales and sales management for the restoration and cleaning industries with over 30 years of experience in those fields.Through Violand, Monroe works with companies to develop their people and their profits.To reach him, visit Violand.com or call (800) 360-3513.

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