Do you worry about what would happen if you suddenly lost a sales team member? Could you seamlessly continue to service customer accounts? Or would it take months of repeated conversations and getting up-to-date on current/past/future projects?
As a general manager of an agricultural operation, you appreciate and understand the relationship between your sales team and your producers more than anyone. You also understand the need for producer information such as acreage, tillage, crops, and conversations to be visible to you and the rest of the team.
The Value of Customer Data
Your sales team may spend years working with the same growers. Beyond the basic operational facts, they know about their families, their tendencies, and their future goals. Your team is likely using this knowledge to better serve your customers and promote brand loyalty.
Unfortunately, the value of this data rarely becomes apparent until it is too late. It could take a new team member years to gain the same knowledge and trust as the previous account manager. This is time wasted and can negatively affect your customers, your team, and your bottom line.
Access to the Right Data is Key
The initial reaction to this concern can be to purchase a sales or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. Unfortunately, too many managers implement tools that only track sales activity, resulting in little to no return on investment.
The most valuable information you can provide your team is data such as year-over-year volumes by product, prepay balances, contract balances, prices, and schedule information. This information is usually locked in a different system that requires a call to the office staff, or time wasted sorting through multiple screens.
Providing easy access to this information allows your team to interact with producers in a more meaningful way.
Know Your Customer, with Insight for CRM
An international commodity trading company is using Insight for CRM to provide each member of the sales team easy access to transactional data, balance information, contact details, and more for each customer. This tool also gives them a place to store and organize their personal interactions so they can track previous conversations and items that require follow-up.
Beyond data for internal use, the company also provides account details to its producers in the form of a “producer portal.” Producers can access this information quickly and easily from their mobile devices.
The ability to access key information (without having to call the office) makes interactions more meaningful for the company and its customers. Plus, it provides management with valuable customer information.
When your team leverages this powerful tool, you can rest assured that customer data is safe and easily accessible to those who need it, now and in the future.
To learn more about the benefits of Insight for CRM sign up here for more information.