CRM Technology Assignment Online

Sales Technology Impact Project

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Name: Panther ID:

MAR4400 Online Section: __________

Project Description

The objective of this individual project is for you to analyze the use of CRM technology in

sales and explain the qualitative and quantitative impact of this technology investment on

sales productivity, sales effectiveness and competitiveness. The assignment links back to

Learning Outcome #5 for the course, found in your Syllabus.

1. First, glance through the background and scenarios provided to you in this document

so you have an understanding of what you will be analyzing.

2. Next, you will need to learn about CRM technology. In Blackboard, you have several

resources available to you. Take advantage of them. Some are short videos on

YouTube; others are websites on specific CRM technology companies. If you are on

campus, you can also visit RB 170 (Ryder Building) when it is not occupied with a

course, and log into the most popular web-based software application (cloud-based),

Salesforce.

3. Finally, you will answer the questions at the end of each scenario.

Assignment Deliverables

READ CAREFULLY - You will turn in one (1) Microsoft Word document using this file as your

template. Please follow this template and type your name and ID on each page in the

header. Then simply type your response in the space provided below each question. Follow

these guidelines:

 The answers should be based on the information you have researched and gathered.

 This is a professional paper. Proofread and spell check before submitting. Format

should be professional. We sell even in written form! I am not a mind reader so use

complete, clear and descriptive sentences. Use as much space as you need but don’t

ramble.

 Use the footnote feature to cite every source you used. Citation should include:

Complete name of source/publication, author, date published, and Internet link (if

applicable). For personal interviews, include the position/title, employer and contact

information of the person you interviewed.

Sales Technology Impact Project

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BACKGROUND

You are a sales rep for a company headquartered in Miami that sells office supplies to

retailers, distributors and businesses in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and

Collier counties. In your district, there are nine other sales reps; together, you are a sales

team of ten, each with a specific territory, and prospect and account assignments.

Occasionally, your sales manager, Susan, will ask one or more of the salespeople to work

together on an opportunity.

Each salesperson is responsible for managing his/her time. Suppose each salesperson works

48 weeks (subtract 4 weeks for vacation and time off) for 8 hours each day. That results in

1,920 available hours per year. You currently have many responsibilities, but the main ones

are those shown in the table below:

Key Responsibility Average % of Time Spent

Conduct face-to-face sales calls 25

Travel by car (no air) 15

Complete sales status reports for management 15

Attend conferences and trade shows 10

Follow up on existing account issues/service & support

10

Prepare written proposals 10

Manage relationships with your suppliers and middlemen

5

Research prospect information 5

Other 5

The average sales cycle is 12 weeks for new prospects and 3 weeks for existing accounts.

Although there is a lack of formal processes for sales, each sales rep prepares a proposal

when they are far along in the opportunity and relationship-building process with the

prospect/account. Proposals require the feedback and approval of the sales manager as well

as sales team members, when the prospect/account has multiple locations and more than

one sales rep is involved in the relationship.

Current Situation (Scenario A)

Your current sales production is $500,000 per year and you have to manage 1000 accounts.

Your company has no formal CRM system. There is no standard process for capturing and

sharing contact information, tracking the progress of leads and sales calls, and managing

opportunity information. Each salesperson uses the tool(s) that best suites his/her style. For

Sales Technology Impact Project

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example, one salesperson may use a Microsoft product like Outlook while another may

choose to keep all records manually.

QUESTIONS for SCENARIO A

1. What is the average sale for your accounts ($/account)?

2. How frequently can you visit each customer assuming that it will take you 3.5 hours

to visit each customer (including travel)?

3. What type of information would be relevant and necessary to prioritize your visits to

customers? Please list the top 5 questions you will want to ask.

4. What information would you need to present to your boss in order to assess how

you are doing? Please list the top 5 activities or parameters that your boss will want

to monitor.

5. Given that you don’t have CRM, what information do you want to manually maintain

for each customer? What would be the best way to keep this information and

how/where would you access it?

6. Please provide a schedule of activities you have to perform every day in order to

have a meaningful visit to each customer.

Proposal for CRM being evaluated by your Company (Scenario B)

Your Company is evaluating the adoption of CRM to support and enhance their sales

operations. They need help to justify the return on investment for CRM.

Note: Please go to http://www.salesforce.com/sales-cloud/overview/ or any other CRM site to

answer the following questions.

QUESTIONS for SCENARIO B (with CRM)

1. What are the benefits of CRM for the sales person and the sales manager?

2. Do you think CRM will help you be more efficient in doing your sales job? Explain

why.

3. Can you estimate the savings that CRM would bring to you compared to Scenario A?

Give an example of how you can estimate the savings.

4. What activities would you perform faster and more efficiently every day after CRM is

implemented.