The benefits that cloud technology can bring a small business are well documented, and range from decreased running costs to increased cyber security. Yet all too often, people disregard the considerable difference that embracing this new technology can make to a company’s sales team.

In order to shine a light on this often overlooked area, here we outline five ways in which adopting cloud technology can lead to sales success in your business.

1. Better customer relationship management

Having an effective customer relationship management (CRM) platform in place is essential if you want your sales team to be able to access reliable, relevant and up-to-date customer data in an instant. A cloud CRM platform empowers employees to see and share real-time information about prospective, current and past customers – irrespective of where they are or what device they are using.

2. Increased productivity

By giving your sales team access to the cloud, you should expect to see increases in efficiency. This is because many cloud sales platforms can bring about improvements in functionality, thanks to features such as:

• Click-to-dial

• Automatic dialing

• Screen-pop

• Automatic call logging

• Centralized call reporting

In addition to streamlining processes, cloud technology can also make your sales staff more productive in their working habits. For example, cloud technology enables salespeople to work from anywhere in the world – giving them greater opportunities to work on the go or to telecommute from home if preferred.

3. More competitive staff

Another useful advantage of cloud technology is that it can make your sales team more competitive. This is because the transparent nature of cloud task management platforms means that employees are better able to track their own performances – and also compare it with that of their colleagues.

The result? Employees who are motivated to do their very best are more aware of the areas that they could improve upon.

4. More effective management

Cloud technology gives sales managers the information and tools they need to manage their teams effectively. Cloud-based problem management platforms enable managers to view their entire team’s workloads at a glance, and so make more informed decisions when it comes to allocating new tasks or projects.

Linking in with this, cloud systems also enable sales managers to monitor their team’s performance metrics in real-time. This means that they are better able to identify particular employees’ strengths and weaknesses, and to make management decisions based on these insights.

5. Smarter reporting

Finally, cloud technology is a useful tool for small businesses, in that it paves the way for smarter, real-time reporting. Rather than relying on monthly sales reports that must be painstakingly compiled by management, cloud-based reporting ensures that a steady stream of sales data is constantly available to all the relevant parties. This gives businesses greater opportunities to be flexible and proactive – for example, by adjusting sales tactics and identifying opportunities or bottlenecks as they emerge.

As you can see, cloud technology can bring about a range of benefits for small businesses looking to improve sales.

Want to learn about how a Salesforce Open CTI adapter can help your sales team reap even better benefits from cloud technology? Then take a look at NewVoiceMedia’s new whitepaper, ‘The Advanced Guide to Salesforce Telephony Integration: How to Compare Salesforce Open CTI Adapters’.

Matt joined NewVoiceMedia in February 2013 to expand the global sales organisation, accelerating growth through new customer acquisition and maintaining successful and trusted partnerships with existing customers. Tuson joined from Salesforce® where he led Service Cloud’s sales distribution and go-to-market strategy across EMEA.

Download our e-book, How to Choose Cloud Software, and learn how other small businesses successfully navigated the cloud software-buying process.