A few years ago, one of the biggest hot-button items for sales force automation that rarely produced satisfactory results was offline synch. The process of creating synchronization modules, coupled with data consistency issues and the dependency of the reps to initiate the synch (some offerings had automatic sync, but that brought its own set of technical issues). Today, the picture is much different. With the advent of mobile WAN, smart phones, and other mobile devices, there is little need for a rep to ever be “offline.”
Mobile SFA can take many forms. The purpose of it is to provide sales reps who are on the road access to the tools they need to be a more successful sales force. It is not simply a scaled-down version of the CRM application, but rather should include a unique set of tools for the sales rep who is on the road (the same could also be said of mobile applications for remote service techs, but that is another post). A few examples of such mobile applications could be:
- An IVR that retrieves basic information from the CRM by voice activation, and responds in text-to-speech.
- An integration with GPS systems on a mobile phone that can retrieve an address from the CRM and auto-plug it into the GPS system.
- SMS integration, so SMS messages sent to clients or on behalf of clients auto-sync with the CRM system.
Trends are still evolving and in the early stage, but Mobile CRM is a high-growth part of the CRM space. With the new rich media phone operating systems such as the iPhone, Google’s Android, and the latest RIM O/S, the possibilities for rich, mobile SFA applications are within reach.
Related posts:
- The Coming Wave of Mobile E-Commerce
- Unified Communications Is Key
- Is Salesforce.com’s approach to Social CRM Correct?
With the new rich media phone operating systems such as the iPhone,