Field Sales Software vs CRM Software
- Team Geo Rep
As a sales manager, we all know the stress of making the right decisions for you and your sales team. Choosing the right software is difficult at the best of times, but what makes it even more difficult is trying to choose between two very similar, yet very different software’s – both which could benefit you and your sales team. It’s here where you need to ask yourself, Field Sales Software vs Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software? Does it need to be an either / or decision? Could it be both? Do I need both? The questions are endless! But I’m here to help make that decision a little easier.
What is Field Sales Software vs Customer Relationship Management Software? And what is it that we need for the ultimate success?
Field Sales Software
Simply put, field sales software is all about sales, sales reps, and sales performance. Field sales software is primarily designed to focus on optimizing conversion rates and overall revenue-generation among sales teams (generally field sales / outside sales teams). This includes, measuring and managing sales activities and processes within sales teams. Such as tracking customer visits, customer specific tasks, sales goals, and the overall sales performance of field sales reps. The right field sales software will improve sales productivity, sales rep accountability and sales rep management. Field sales software should be customizable to meet the needs of you, your sales team, and your business – this is because although sales is sales, not all sales teams and processes are the same. It’s important to remember when looking at the differences between field sales software and CRM software: when it comes to field sales software, it was developed with sales-specific challenges and requirements in mind. Knowing this, it makes it clear that all sales teams (especially field sales / outside sales teams) would benefit from a great field sales software.
Now, let’s move onto customer relationship management software…
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
CRM software, on the opposite side of field sales software, is all about the customer and their journey through the sales pipeline, from start to finish and beyond. CRM software is what companies use to manage, record, monitor and evaluate their existing customer relationships. CRM software is beneficial to you, your sales reps, and the company as a whole, because it provides details into the sales journey between the sales rep and the customer, on a more informative level. Whereas field sales software is sales orientated, CRM software is undoubtedly customer orientated. What this means is that CRM software can show us as managers, and sales reps’ the essential history about our current customers, including details like their contact info, where the lead came from (social media, a blog post, contact form, etc.), their order history, previous sales reps that they have dealt with, preferred products, order history and so much more that has been gathered during the sales journey.
In short, think of CRM software as a digital and very detailed address book. Using a CRM software enables business’s, sales reps, and managers alike, to develop the perfect customer history database to use for reaching out to and maintaining existing customer relationships, and better yet it doubles as a ‘how to guide’ for contacting, managing, and building new customer relationships based off of methods that have worked in the past. Because I know we’ve all heard that “obtaining a new customer is five times more expensive than keeping an existing one”, so don’t lose out by failing to manage your current customer relationships effectively and efficiently.
I’m sure at this point you’re thinking… both sound like the right software choice… which I know, I know, it’s helpful information… but also not so helpful at the same time, because the question I’d still be asking is do I need to choose only one… or could they work together? Well let’s have a quick recap: A field sales management software enables businesses to streamline and optimize their field efficiency. On the other hand, a CRM tool helps in managing customer communication throughout the entire sales lifecycle. As both field sales software and CRM software focus on two different parts of the company, it makes sense that a company would need and could use both, right? Yes, right!
If you’re in the business of sales, have sales reps, and have customers… then you shouldn’t have to choose between one or the other. With the right tools, your field sales software and CRM software should work together in harmony, increasing your overall sales whilst maintaining and managing your customer relationships. It’s bonus points if you can find one software company that offers both software solutions in one simple and easy to use app (hint hint, nudge nudge: take a look at Geo Rep to find out how we can meet both your CRM and field sales software needs).
To wrap this all up, field sales software and CRM software are both beneficial tools for you, your sales team, and your business. The choice between the two ultimately depends on your budget, your needs at the time and your reason for looking for a software in the first place. At least now, you’re more equipped to make that decision by knowing the differences between Field Sales Software vs Customer Relationship Software.