Publication Date: March 28, 1997

Working the Internet To Boost Your Sales Force

By Sue Mellen

The Internet's ability to provide up-to-date information and to reach potential markets can make it a power tool for sales forces. But sales and marketing experts caution that the old rules—like "The customer is always right"—still apply.

George Colombo, president of Influence Technologies in Winter Springs, Fla., says corporate sales forces are just beginning to understand and exploit the potential of the Internet in sales. Eventually, he says, communications technology will completely transform the way salespeople do their jobs.

"Most of us realize that we are at the absolute beginning of the development of the Internet, with no one exactly sure where the whole thing is going. But we do know that it will eventually prompt as fundamental a change in society as the railroad or telegraph," he says.

But at this point in time, "the real value of the Internet is not as a place to actually conduct sales," says Colombo, who is a noted speaker and writer on sales, marketing and technology issues. Rather, he says, the medium is best used as an information resource. Using Internet technology, you can equip your sales force with current information about prospects, giving them the tools they need in sales calls.

"Information technology has raised the whole function of selling up the food chain. Salespeople are now expected to be much more knowledgeable, to have a more global perspective," he says.

Connecting Sales to the Internet

Colombo offers a few hints for effectively connecting your sales function to the Internet.

• Find out from your salespeople what kind of information they need to do their jobs. Then be sure they have ready access to the hardware, software and services (such as specialized online news and information services) that will put that information in their hands.

• Ask your customers how they would like your company to use Internet technology. They are your best source for determining whether or not to institute special Web-enabled services such as electronic transactions.

• Stay close to your customers. "Too often, companies spend a great deal of money to put up Web sites only to produce a lot of ill will. If you have a site with a mechanism for customers to contact you, you have to be sure you have a response system in place. If no one gets back to the customer for three weeks, you've done more harm than good," Colombo says.

One-to-One Marketing

David R. Radin, president of Marketing Masters/Stellar Business Online of Pittsburgh, Pa., sees the Internet as an invaluable tool for targeting sales to a company's most qualified—but until now often unreachable—buyers. A specialist in sales and marketing strategy, he counsels sales forces in the use of the Internet and online services to target important markets.

"As all salespeople know, the best prospect is one who is highly qualified. The Internet allows you to target sales to the most highly qualified audience possible: clients who have self-qualified by contacting you through your Web site. In that way, you're also reaching people who might not fit your normal customer profile," Radin says.

The interactivity of the Internet (through e-mail, Web-based forums and the like) enables savvy sales organizations to learn a great deal about each potential buyer, and, subsequently, to use that information to custom-build a sales strategy. This "one-to-one" marketing approach is one of the best ways a sales force can use the Internet, Radin says.

"The Internet can help you give each buyer exactly what he wants. That makes it easy for customers to buy your products. Remember, buyers are like electrons; they follow the path of least resistance," Radin says.

Everything Has Changed and Nothing Has Changed

Radin emphasizes that, despite the changes the Internet has wrought in sales and marketing, customers still buy for the same three reasons they always have:

• They derive benefit from your products.

• They like doing business with you and your company.

• You make it easy for them to buy.

"The Internet is just a new distribution and communications medium. It can bolster your sales function, but it hasn't really changed the sales process. The old rules still apply," Radin says.

Sue Mellen writes from Tyngsboro, Mass.

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George Colombo and David Radin are featured speakers at DCI's Sales Force Automation Conference and the concurrent Sales & Marketing on the Internet Conference. Please see the latest online brochures for conference and registration details.

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