CRM for Logistics and Transportation

CRM For Logistics & TransportationWHITE PAPER // Spring 2014

2

Our MissionWe help our clients improve revenue, profit and productivity

by enhancing marketing and sales execution.

Sales Outcomes works with business-to-business companies

that depend primarily on a direct sales organization to grow

revenue. We help connect marketing and sales strategy

to execution in the marketplace, accelerating bottom-line

results and growing the customer base.

Our practice specialties include: Salesforce.com deployment

and adoption; marketing and sales strategy and planning;

sales productivity and coaching; marketing and sales

operations; go-to-market training; sales compensation

and incentive design and organization structure and design.

3

Executive Summary 4

Introduction 4

Critical Considerations 6

PickaCRMsolutionthatis100%inthecloud 6

InvolveyourITdepartment,buttaketheleadintheevaluationanddecisionprocess 6

FocusonthefunctionalitythatmattersinLogistics&Transportation 7

BeclearonwheretheROIiscomingfrom 8

Don’tunderestimatethedifficultyyourorganization

mayhaveinadoptingthenewtechnology 10

Mobile 11

Top CRM Vendors 12

TableB-TopCRMvendorsinLogistics&Transportation 12

Summary 14

Thefinalword(s) 14

Abouttheauthor 15

Table of ContentsWHITE PAPER // Spring 2014

CRM FOR LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION

4

CustomerRelationshipManagement(CRM)

softwaresolutionsandtheirimpactonbusiness

growthandprofitabilitycontinuetoincreasein

importanceforLogisticsandTransportation

leadershipteams.JustifyingtheReturnOn

Investment(ROI)andrealizingthevaluefroma

CRMinvestmentarethecommonchallengesfor

largeenterprisesaswellassmallfirms.

SalesOutcomeshascollaboratedextensivelywith

companiestomanagethecriticalissuesfacedin

selecting,deployingandrealizingvaluefromCRM

investments.Basedonourexperiencespanning

companiesacrossavarietyofindustries,we’ve

compiledourtop6criticalconsiderationsfora

CRMinvestmentintheLogisticsandTransportation

industry:

1. PickaCRMsolutionthatis100%in

thecloud

2. InvolveyourITdepartment,buttakethe

leadintheevaluationanddecisionprocess

3. Focusonthefunctionalitythatmattersin

Logistics&Transportation

4. BeclearonwheretheROIiscomingfrom

5. Don’tunderestimatethedifficultyyour

organizationmayhaveinadoptingthe

newtechnology

6. EnsurethattheCRMsystemhasafully

functionalmobileapplicationforAndroidand

Appledevices.BlackberryandWindowsMobile

applicationsareaplus,butscarce.

Thiswhitepaperisintendedtohelpseniorleaders

inmotorandoceancarriage,freightforwarding,

freightbrokerageandthirdpartylogisticsnavigate

CRMinvestmentdecisionstodriveimproved

businessperformance.We’veelectedtopresent

apragmaticanduniqueperspective,dramatically

differenttootherwhitepaperspublishedonthe

subject.Wehopetoencouragelivelyconversations

withourclientsandreadersofthiswhitepaperto

discussanddebatehowtoharnessthevalueof

CRMintheLogisticsandTransportationindustry.

Executive SummaryINTRODUCTION


5

CRMsolutionshavebeenaroundformorethan

adecade.Functionalityandflexibilityhavesky-

rocketedwithmonthlypricing-per-usertumbling

tolessthanwhatitcoststotakeaclienttolunch.

ThereisanewgameafootwhenitcomestoCRM

thatseniorLogisticsandTransportationleaders

needtobeawareofiftheyplantokeeppacewith

morenimblecompetitors.

Companiesareimproving,leaning-outand

automatingcriticalbusinessprocessesand

customerserviceinteractionsatanaccelerated

pace.HowisthisrelatedtoCRM?TheleadingCRM

vendorsunderstandthattheyhavetodomorethan

providearepositoryforcustomer,contact,leadand

opportunitydata,sotheyhaveexpandedtheirfocus

toplayanimportantsupportingroleinenabling

organizationstobecomemoreagile.

Wearealsointriguedbytheriseofindustry-

specificCRMapplicationsinindustriessuchas

transportationandlogistics,pharmaceuticalsand

spirits,amongothers.Thereasonweareinterested

isthatgenericcantakeyouonlysofar.When

industry-specificCRMfunctionalityandcapabilities

come“outofthebox”,businessimpactmovesatan

acceleratedpace.

Considerableefficienciescanbeachievedby

automatingmanualbusinessprocesses.Itis

fairtosaythat,inLogisticsandTransportation

today,therearestillfartoomanyroutinemanual

processesthatrequire:

• Rekeyingofdatafromonesystemtoanother

(e.g.shipmenttrackinginformation)

• Transposinginformationfrompaperandfaxes

tospreadsheetsorotherITapplications

(e.g.proofofdelivery)

• Extracting,transforminganduploadingdata

fromsystemtosystem

• Developingandmaintainingspreadsheetsto

supportsalesandfinancialreportingprocesses

(e.g.reconcilingsalesbookingswithshipment

orservicevolumes)

•Managingcustomerserviceinteractionsvia

silosofemailsandphonecalls(e.g.shipment

tracking,accountspayable)

Inadditiontocentralizingaccounts,contacts,lead

andopportunitydata,we’veseenCRMinvestments

inLogisticsandTransportationthatsupportglobal

bidmanagement,trademanagement,contract

managementandvisibilitytometricssuchas

profitmargin,capacityandvolume.Thisisn’tyour

mother’sCRM,that’sforsure!

Executive SummaryINTRODUCTION


6

Critical ConsiderationsPICK A CRM SOLUTION THAT IS 100% IN THE CLOUD

If the CRM vendor answers “Yes” to the questions below, its solution

is 100% in the cloud.

1.Canuserslogintothesystemfromthemostpopularbrowsersandfrom

anycomputer(AppleorPC)ormostmobiledevices(smartphoneortablet)?

2.Istheinfrastructure,hardware,softwareandsupportprovidedbythevendor?

3.Canthesolutionbefullyusedwithouttheneedtoinstallsoftwareorapplications

ontheuser’scomputer?

Iftheansweris“No”toanyofthequestionsabove,andyoustillareinterested

intalkingwiththevendor,youmustbeoneofthe2.5millionpeoplestillaccessing

theinternetwithanAOLdial-upconnection.1

IfyourdecisiononaCRMsystemisanythinglike

yourdecisiononaERPsystem,datawarehouse

orotherITapplications,you’lllikelyendup

focusedoncomparingfeaturesandfunctionality

affectionatelyreferredtoas“speedsandfeeds.”2

We’veobservedonlyonecommoncharacteristic

ofsuccessfulCRMimplementationsacross

companiesofallsizeandindustry–oneormore

functionalleadershavechampionedtheCRM

systemasvitaltodriveimprovementsinprofit,

productivityorcustomerservice.

ITdepartmentsplayacriticalroleinorganizations.

However,mostITorganizations,especiallythose

intheLogisticsandTransportationindustry,are

measuredoncostsratherthanbusinessimpact.

Tothatend,ITorganizationsinvolvedinCRM

implementationstendtobefocusedonback-end

integrations,andnotinmanagingthetoolitselfor

thebusinessprocessesitsupports.WhilesomeIT

organizationshavebeguntomaketheshifttohiring

businessprocess-focusedresources,manyhavenot.

Ourrecommendationistoenlistthesupportand

involvementofyourITorganizationandleavethe

“heavylifting”toyourbusinessleadersthatare

closesttoyourcustomersandtotheprocesses

thatdirectlytouchthosecustomers.

INVOLVE YOUR IT DEPARTMENT, BUT TAKE THE LEAD IN THE EVALUATION AND DECISION PROCESS


1. AOL Inc., FY13 Investor Relations News Release the Period Ending December 31, 2013 (released Feb. 6, 2014), p.3, from AOL Inc. website, http://ir.aol.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=147895&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1897538&highlight, accessed February 7, 2014.

2. Peter Glaskowsky. “The origins of the phrase "Speeds and Feed”. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13512_3-9734037-23.html (25 June 2007).

7

Critical ConsiderationsFOCUS ON THE FUNCTIONALITY THAT MATTERS IN LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION

ToooftenthedecisiononwhichCRMvendortopartnerwithisturnedintoa“featureshootout.”3Inourexperience,

mostfirmsendupusingonlyasmallportionofthefeaturesandcapabilitiesavailableinitsCRMsystem.

Webelievethereareonlyafewpiecesoffunctionalitythatreallymatterfortheindustry.Youwon’tfindthem

onamulti-vendorcomparisonchart,sopayattention!

1 SUPPORT OF KEY BUSINESS PROCESSES

AND WORKFLOWintheareasofmarketing,

leadgeneration,bidmanagement,team

collaboration,sales,customerserviceand

contractmanagementiscritical.Bysupportwe

arereferringtothenotionthattheCRMsystem

isreadytoautomatetheseprocesses“outofthe

box”withlimitedneedforITsupport(otherthan

forpotentialdataintegrationneeds).Specifically,

youneedtheabilitytoeasilycustomize:

a.Workflowtomovebusinessprocesses

forwardonceaspecificeventorbusiness

processphasehasbeenreached

b.Approvalprocessestocontroland

acceleratecustomer-facingactivities

c.Whatemployeesseeontheirscreens,

dependingontheirjobroleorfunction

d.Securityatthefieldlevelsoyoucan

controlwhichfieldsemployeescanview,

notvieworedit

e.Fieldvalidationsanddependenciesto

ensuredataqualityandsupportdifferent

workmotions

f.Salesprocessestosupportthedifferences

withininside,transactionalandcomplex

salesmotions

2. REPORTING AND DASHBOARDfunctionalityis

notcreatedequalamongCRMvendorsandisthe

Achilles’heelformost.Ifyourcompanyspeaks

aboutmetrics,analyticsandbusinessintelligence,

thenyou’llwanttospendplentyoftimeevaluating

whichvendorbestmeetsyourneeds.Atoppriority

shouldbetoidentifywhatmetricsarecriticalfor

themanagementteamandensurethattheycanbe

trackedintheCRMsolution.Overlookinganyaspect

duringthisphasecanseriouslyhinderadoptionand

executivesupport.TheCRMsolutionmusthave

simpleandeasilyconfigurabledashboardstosetup

andmodifykeyperformanceindicatorstodisplay

informatssuchasbar,pieandlinecharts,gauges,

funnelsandsuch.

Butyoucan’tstopthere!Ifyourfirmhasmultiple

businessunits,divisionsorgeographiesthat

operateindependentlyorinter-dependently,then

yourequiretheabilitytoprovidemultipleviews,

filters,drill-downsandvisibilitywithouthavingto

developanencyclopediaofdashboardsandreports.

Finally,pilotthesystembyaskingafewofyour

marketing,salesandoperationsemployeesto

createreportsanddashboards.Iftheycandoitin

real-time,thenyouareontherightpath.


3. Christopher J. Bucholtz. “Top 5 Ways CRM Decision Makers Go Astray.” www.crmbuyer.com/story/69618.html (25 March 2010).

8

Critical ConsiderationsFOCUS ON THE FUNCTIONALITY THAT MATTERS IN LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION

3. TEAM SELLING AND COLLABORATIONto

supportcomplexorlargeprojects,tenders

andopportunities,globalaccountsand

geographicallydistributedindividualsareno

longera“nicetohave”tocompetewithmore

nimblecompetitors.Silosofemails,phonecalls,

textmessages,instantmessagesandShare

Point4siteshavecreatedamélangeofvirtual

Post-it®Notesthatresultinsignificantlossesin

productivityandconsumevaluabletimerequired

todecreasethelineinrespondingtocustomers.

ThebetterwayistofindaCRMsolutionthatis

upforthetask.Rememberthatthe“C”inCRM

standsforCustomer.Someofyouwillbestoring

customerdatasuchascontracts,opportunities,

revenueandinteractions,soyouwillneedtohave

collaborationinyourCRMsolutionthatbrings

sales,operations,pricingandsolutionteams

together.Thisfunctionalitycanpositivelyimpact

andtransformfirmsbothlargeandsmall.

Wehaveyettocomeacrossafirmthatis

consideringaneworincreasedinvestmentina

CRMsolutionthatisnotlookingatasignificant

increaseinexpenseiftheinvestmentismade.

Thisparticularlyappliestofirmsthathavean

inadequateCRMsolutionthatneedsfurther

investment.Thisissimplymoneydownthedrain.

Inourview,significantROIcomesonlyfromtwo

areasinthebusiness:salesperformanceand

productivity.Theleaning-outandautomationof

processeswillwipeoutinefficienciesanddrive

headcountefficienciesintermsofreductionsor

arefocusinheadcounttohigher-valuework.

ToillustratethedifficultyinachievingROI,the

consultingandadvisoryfirm,CSOInsights,

publishedastudy5thatcontainshighlightsofthe

citedbenefitsresultingfromCRMusage.You’llsee,

onthenextpage,thatthefourmostmentioned

itemsaregoodthingstoachieveand,evenifyou

couldmeasuretheirROI,woulditbeenoughto

justifytheCRMinvestment?Nowlookatthebottom

four–ImprovedWinRates,IncreasedRevenue,

ShortenedSalesCyclesandIncreasedMargins.

Aren’tthesethekindofbenefitsthatcandrive

significantROI?

BE CLEAR ON WHERE THE ROI IS COMING FROM


4. Microsoft SharePoint collaboration software5. CSO Insights, Inc. 2013 Sales Performance Optimization – Core CRM Usage Analysis.

9

Critical ConsiderationsBE CLEAR ON WHERE THE ROI IS COMING FROM

Sowhythegapbetweenthoseitemswith

softROI(e.g.ImprovedSalesRep/Manager

Communications)andthosewithhighROI

(e.g.ImprovedWinRates)?Frankly,thehigh

ROIitemsrequiresignificantseniormanagement

attention,whilethelowROIitemstypicallydwell

inmiddlemanagementandfunctionalsalesroles.

IdentifyingclearROImetricsbeforetheCRMdecision

isnoteasy.Infact,weoftenhearthat:“Weknow

it’stherightthingtodoandwe’llbenefitbydoing

it.”Weunderstandthesentiment,butarenotfans

ofthisapproach.Investingpotentiallyhundreds

ofthousandsofdollarsperuseraddsupfastand

becomesavisiblelineitemtojustifyeveryyear.

KeeptheROImetricssimpleandfocusonwhat

youcanrealisticallymeasure.Forexample,ifyou

don’tfullyunderstandyoursaleswin-ratiobefore

youimplementtheCRMsolution,takethefirst

6to9monthstoestablishabaseline.Thenset

agoaltoimplementsmallimprovementsforthe

next6to9monthsandyou’llbeonthewayto

measuringtheROI.

BENEFITS OF CRM USAGE


ImprovedSalesR

ep/M

anagerCom

munications

ImprovedForecast

Accuracy

ReducedAdm

inistrativeB

urdenonSales

ImprovedB

estP

racticesSharing

ReducedN

ewSalesR

epR

amp-U

pTime

ImprovedO

rderP

rocessingAccuracy

ImprovedSupport

ofChannels

ImprovedW

inRates

IncreasedRevenues

ShortenedSalesCycles

Other

IncreasedMargins

DiagramA

56% 46% 37% 21% 20% 18% 17% 17% 16% 15% 10% 6%

10

Critical ConsiderationsDON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE DIFFICULTY YOUR ORGANIZATION MAY HAVE IN ADOPTING THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

AsuccessfulCRMimplementationisincredibly

hard.OneofourfavoritemoviesisMoneyball-the

storyofhowOaklandA’smanager,BillyBeane,

turnedhisteamintoacontenderbyusingstatistics

topickplayers.

Thetransformationyourorganizationwillface

duringaCRMimplementationislikeswitching

fromcatchertofirstbase.It’shighlylikelythatmost

peopleinyourorganizationwillnothavebeenpart

ofaCRMimplementation.Ifyouaremovingfrom

oneCRMsystemtoanother,youarelikelydoingso

becausethecurrentonedoesn’tmeetyourneeds

andrequirements.Ineithersituation,userswill

needtolearn,adoptandmasterverydifferentways

ofworkingifyouhopetoachievethevalueyou

plannedfromtheinvestment.

ShufflingnewCRMusersthroughday(s)-long

lengthyface-to-face“keymashing”training

sessionsissimilartosheepdipping.6Studies

haveshownthattwoweeksafteraone-time

exposuretoasinglelearningeventhasaretention

ofinformationrateof2%.7Youwillneedtoplan

forrepetitivelearningopportunitiesand,more

importantly,ensurethatleadershipsupportsthe

CRMinvestmentandleadsbyexample.Nothing

damagesaCRMimplementationlikeasenior

executiveaskingforCRMinformationinaformat

thatrequireshoursofdevelopmentandformatting,

ratherthanaccessingtheinformationintheCRM

system.

So,haveaplanthatdetailstheprocessesthatwill

bemovingtotheCRMsystemandmethodically

ensurethatthe“oldway”makesroomforthe

“newway.”

Anotherimportantfactorinadoptionisusability.

Makesurethatthesystemisintuitiveandeasy

touse,regardlessofability.Westronglyencourage

youtoenlistpotentialusersofallabilitiesto

participateinapilotphasetodeterminewhich

solutionsfityourrequirements.


6. Sheep dipping is the practice of pushing sheep through a bath of insecticide and fungicide that absorbed in the wool to protect from parasites and ticks. Eventually the dip wears off and must be repeated. We use this term when companies rely on an abbreviated in-person or Web-based training sessions to rollout the CRM system.

7. Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Internal Changes Deliver External Sales Results, http://processspecialist.com/increasesales/sales-training/internal-changes-external-sales-results/ (January 22, 2014).

11

IfyourCRMuserstraveland/orworkinthefield

withdemandsfromcustomersandprospectsfor

nearreal-timeresponse,you’llneedrichmobile

capabilitiesinyourCRMsolution.

Howsalesteamsworkindividuallyandtogether

isfastchangingandmobileisattheheartofthe

transformation.8We’renottalkingonlyabout

accessviathedevicebrowser,youwillneeda

full-featuredmobileapplicationthatrunson

AndroidandAppleiOS.Ifyourfirmisacommitted

BlackberryandWindowsMobileuser,youroptions

aremorelimited.

MostofthepopularCRMsolutionspurportedlyhave

mobile.Therealityisthatmosthaveaccessviaa

devicebrowser(whichcanbeincrediblydifficult

touseonanythingbutthefastestconnections)

or,iftheydohaveamobileapplication,thereare

significantlimitationsinfunctionality.

MobileisincreasinglyimportanttomostCRM

users.Rememberwediscussedtheimportanceof

embeddingbusinessprocessintheCRMsolution?

Withoutafully-functionalmobileapplication,you

simplywon’thavetheabilitytomirrorbusiness

processesbetweenmobileandcomputers.

Critical ConsiderationsMOBILE


Don’t take a vendor’s word for it.

Take the mobile application for a long

test drive and then make your decision.

8. Louis Columbus. “What’s Hot In CRM 2013: Strong Interest In Mobile For Streamlining Sales And Service.” http://onforb.es/10pVoEo (28 June 2013).

12

Top CRM VendorsTOP CRM VENDORS IN LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION

ORACLE CRM ON DEMAND

SUGARCRMMICROSOFT

DYNAMICS ONLINESALEFORCE.COM/

LANETIX

“Cloudness” H H H H H H H H H H H H

KeyBusinessProcessSupport H H H H H H H H H H H H

Reporting&Dashboards H H H H H H H H H H H H

Team-sellingandCollaboration H H H H H H H H H H H H

Mobile H H H H H H H H H H H H

OracleisjugglingdifferentversionsofCRMsinceitpurchasedSiebel

severalyearsago.Oracle’sonlineproductisfeaturerichandhasmadebig

stridesintheonlineCRMmarket.IfyouhaveOracledatabases,ERPor

othersoftwareinstalled,you’llgetabigsalespushthatOracleCRMwill

beeasiertointegratethanotherCRMsystems.Don’ttakethebait.The

technicalsideofintegratingaCRMsolutiontoyourback-endsystemsis

straightforwardwithalonglistofsoftwaretoolstohelpyoudothejob.

Theheavyliftingisonharmonizingdata,whichyou’llhavetodoregardless

oftheCRMsolution.Reports,dashboards,collaborationandmobileare

weakspots.Theabilitytosupportkeybusinessprocessesisgood.

NotethatOraclehasacomplexCRMofferingatthemoment.The

commentsaboveapplyonlytoOracleCRMOnDemandbuttheyalso

haveOracle(Fusion)SalesCloud,SiebelCRMandPeopleSoftCRM.


TableB

13

Top CRM VendorsTOP CRM VENDORS IN LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION

SugarCRMistheleastcapableofthevendorsonthischart,basedonourcriteria.

However,SugarCRMisalsotheonlyoptionthatisOpenSource.Thismeans

thatclientscanchangeandextendthesourcecodetoadapttotheirspecific

businessneeds.Inourexperience,modifyingthesourcecodeeventuallybecomes

acompetitivedisadvantagethatconsumesinordinateamountsoftimeandmoney.

IBMusesSugarCRMbutthathasmoretodowithcompetitivedynamicswithOracle

andSalesforce.comthanitdoeswithSugarCRMbeingabetterCRMsolution.

IfyourcompanyisadyedinthewoolMicrosoftshopthenMicrosoftDynamics

OnlinemaybeappealingwithitstightintegrationstoallthingsMicrosoft,especially

Office365.Theapplicationisfeaturerich,buttheinterfaceisclunkytouse.One

thinginparticularthatisaburdenforusersistheinabilitytoclickonanypartof

theapplicationtoopenmultipletabsorwindows.Thislackoffunctionalityalone

cannegativelyimpactuserproductivityby50%ormore.Thepricepointcanbelow

andappearmoreattractivewithotherfull-featuredCRMsolutions.Dashboards,

andmobileareweak.Keybusinessprocesssupportisadequateforsmall

businessesbutnotlargerfirmsorenterprises.

NotethatMicrosofthashybridonline/offlineversionsthatintegratetightly

withOutlookthatarenotcoveredinthisdocument.

YoumaynothaveyetheardaboutLanetix(pronouncedlah-net-ix)butyou’ll

needtogetusedtoseeingitsnamearoundourindustry.Lanetixisoneofthe

newbreedofindustryfocusedfirmsthathasbuilttheirCRMsolutionontop

oftheSalesforceplatform.Inadditiontoawholenewuserinterface,Lanetix

hasembeddedbusinessprocessautomationspecifictotheLogisticsand

Transportationindustry.

IfyouselectLanetixforyourCRMsolution,youaregettingindustry-specific

functionalityontopofthebenefitsofSalesforce.Thefirmhasafewlarge

clientsandisexpandingrapidly.

Salesforce.comistheCRMleaderinalmostallcategories.Wecannot

rememberthelasttimeindependenttechnologyadvisoryfirmsdidnotrank

themonthetopoftheirlists.Theyhaveover100,000customersand$4billion

inrevenue.ItsCRMsolutionisthestrongestoverallnon-industryspecific

cloud-basedCRM.


14

Withinthiswhitepaper,we’vepresented

informationtohelpseniorleadersinmotor

andoceancarriage,freightforwarding,freight

brokerageandthirdpartylogisticsnavigateCRM

investmentdecisionstodriveimprovedbusiness

performance.Webelievethethemesoutlinedin

thiswhitepapercanhelpsignificantlyimprove

yourbusinesssuccessandsupportpowerfuland

durableimprovementsinprofit,productivityand

customerservice.

Wedidnotmentiondozensofvaluablefeatures

andcapabilitieswithinalltheCRMsolutionsthat

mightendupbeingofgreatimportancetoyour

companyanditsCRMimplementation.You’ll

needtocarefullyweighthebenefitsofthose

featuresversusthosewe’veoutlinedascritical

forcompaniesintheLogisticsandTransportation

industry.Aswell,therearemanyotherCRM

solutionsthatwedidnothavespacetomentionor

researchthatmightbeagoodfitforyourbudget

andbusinessprocesses.

WhenyoureceivetheproposalfromtheCRM

solutionvendors,you’llturntothelastpagesto

peekattheprice.AlltheCRMsolutionsinthis

whitepaperaretypicallypricedinthe$70–$125

rangepermonth,peruser.Youcandoublethe

subscriptionamountforthefirstyearandyou’ll

comeclosetothecosttoconfigurethetooland

roll-outwithbare-bonestraining.Ifadoptionand

ROIareimportant,thenplanonspendingmuch

more–you’llhavepaybackinafewmonths.

Alsoconsiderthat,ifasalespersonlosesone

hourlessofproductivitypermonth,themonthly

subscriptioncostwillbedwarfedbycostof

theinefficiency.Ifyourusersdon’tfullyadopt

thesolution,andyourteammigratesbackto

spreadsheets,thecostbecomeshigher.So,we

recommendyoutakealookatthebigpicture

andnotjustthemonthlysubscriptionfee.

SummaryTHE FINAL WORD(S)


15

Hernan Vera is the managing partner at the consulting and

services firm, Sales Outcomes, and works with business-

to-business companies that depend primarily on a direct

sales organization to grow revenue. He is a proven sales and

marketing leader with over 25 years experience including

executive management positions with major corporations,

including: Pitney Bowes and Ryder System. Vera is a

recognized expert in the implementation of sales automation

tools, marketing and sales operations, sales performance

management and sales compensation. He is a board member

and past chairman, president and vice-president of the

Transportation Sales and Marketing Association. He holds an

MBA from Florida International University and a Bachelor of

Science in Accounting from the University of Florida. Vera was

born in Santiago, Chile and lives in Coral Gables, Florida.

SummaryABOUT THE AUTHOR

16

14100 Palmetto Frontage Road

Suite 112

Miami Lakes, Florida 33016

305-740-7300

www.salesoutcomes.com

Internet

CRM for Logistics and Transportation