When you are running a Software Services company working to provide a comprehensive workflow and support system for something as complicated as the sales process for the electronic manufacturing industry, you see all kinds of things as you work with companies to implement, adapt, and use a system to support their business. Over the [...]
Generic CRMs can be made to work but the hidden costs kill your plans. There are alternatives to generic CRM systems and some, like NEHANET, are specifically designed for the electronic component manufacturing industry. That choice will set your destiny, both can work, one costs less and is easier to implement. The first thing you [...]
The pandemic hit manufacturers hard and their channel partners just as painful. Luckily the market didn’t just collapse, but the impacts of the disruption are still being felt and dealt with by everyone. Remote working became much more prevalent, forecasting got harder and more important, programs got rescheduled, delayed, and modified to fit the [...]
There are a thousand things that you have to do to successfully drive sales programs with Distributors and Reps. Many of them revolve around doing the things they need to avoid getting into problems with delivery, quality, or technology. All of these get handled with good customer service people and good data about the [...]
Everyone is glad 2020 is over, it was like no other in my lifetime and I sure hope 2021 will get back to normal so we can all get on with business. I am sure many of the changes that happened when we all faced a pandemic will stay with us for a while [...]
One of the most frustrating aspects of working with Distributors as an essential part of your sales team is the difficulty of getting real-time insight into what they are doing and what results in you should expect from their efforts. Distributors tend to be a bit like black boxes in the overall sales process. [...]
When reviewing the progress made by companies implementing Account-Based Engagement programs in large and small companies we find that most made significant progress in building an interconnected strategy and execution culture across Marketing, Sales and Service teams in their companies. They could deliver measurable improvements in the customer experiences as described in surveys conducted [...]
Making the change to Account-Based Engagement requires significant changes to the roles and responsibilities of marketing, sales, services, and management. Orchestrating this change is Leaping a well-functioning Account-Based Engagement, culture is challenging but essential if you are serious about changing the way you go to market. Sales, marketing, and services must be working together [...]
Companies starting an ABE program often find they are easy to start but hard to expand and sustain as priorities change and problems arise. Usually, companies try focusing the attention on a few strategic accounts or maybe a new market segment. At this initial, tightly focused effort, it usually doesn’t take more than a [...]
Companies implement CRM systems to understand what is going on at the customer level for their business. There are a lot of ways companies track what is going on - Finance reports what is happening from an accounting profitability level - Program Management tracks development and investment programs and manages all the steps it [...]