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2010: iPhones were soaring in popularity. Employees had started banging on IT’s door to demand the ability to use them for work. Many IT professionals resisted. Then the CEO bought an iPad and wanted company email. The dam started breaking. I remember one panicked IT manager telling me, “If we don’t do something, the inmates will be running the asylum!”
2013: iPhones, iPads, and Android devices are here to stay. BYOD (bring your own device) is booming, and IDC reports that almost twice as many personally owned smartphones will ship this year for business use, as corporate-owned smartphones. Mobile is a catalyst for business change and a true platform for the delivery of business processes. Employees are tech-savvy, self-sufficient, and becoming their own “Citizen CIOs.”
Mobile is now a strategic priority, but going mobile haphazardly with your sales team can result in missed expectations and long-term support pain. Success requires internal cooperation between the VP of Sales, the salesforce.com team, and traditional IT. Each has a role to play.
Below are four steps the VP of Sales can use to get the ball rolling:
Giving iPads to your entire sales team is a great perk, but the excitement dies down pretty quickly unless the fancy new devices actually add real value to the sales process. There are three “killer” apps to consider. The first is email, which is essential for communication in the field. But make sure you let your employees use the native email app that comes with the device, instead of downloading a new one. Native is the best user experience and that’s what they want. The second killer app is extending Salesforce to mobile so that the entire CRM process can be managed without a laptop or desktop. The third killer app is electronic collateral. High-quality documents look fantastic on a tablet, and your sales team will absorb and share them better than ever before.
Many sales teams have hired developers to build mobile sales apps, especially for electronic collateral. Unfortunately, the contract developer disappears once the app is launched, and it’s a complete surprise to your IT helpdesk when calls start coming in. The app quickly gets out-of-date, support can’t respond, and user satisfaction drops. Don’t forget that there are hundreds of high-quality packaged business apps already available for mobile, so, in most cases, you can actually use something off the shelf instead of building it. If you decide to build anyway, make sure to involve those in the organization who can help with proper design and ongoing support.
Mobile changes behavior. That’s why many of us will not drive back home if we forget our wallet but will absolutely do so if we forget our smartphone. Now that data and computing are available to your sales team at any time and in any place, you have the opportunity to change your sales and customer interaction processes at a fundamental level. A mobile culture of customer responsiveness, strong communication, and teamwork can drive that change.
What do mobile technology and Boston weather have in common? “Don’t like it? Just wait. It’ll change.” Mobile evolves rapidly. So do user expectations. Keep close tabs on how your sales team is using, or not using, the mobile tools and apps you have given them. You can be sure they will have lots of innovative ideas for what could be done better. They will also expect you to be responsive to their suggestions, because, in mobile, a great user experience that evolves quickly is essential for success.
Mobile has already changed the way we live. Now it is changing the way we work. This post has focused on how the VP of Sales can drive a mobile field enablement strategy. The next two posts in this series will do the same for your salesforce.com and IT teams.
Join us at Dreamforce '13. Click the button below for information on how to register. And don't miss Ojas Rege’s session on Best Practices for BYOD and Mobile Salesforce Apps.
