How Can Collaboration Programs Benefit IT Resellers?

There can be unique challenges to working as a hardware or software reseller. There are the benefits – you can convince customers that you are offering quality products at a decreased price because it isn’t the latest or the newest. Sometimes, that includes offering more service to the client during the process of the sale. Giving the client information about a product in a timely manner.

Sales and collaboration tools like SharePoint can help sales teams keep in touch with each other and share information with clients and potential clients. Tools like SharePoint enable teams to collaborate and share information on an intranet. This allows people in different geographic locations to share what they are seeing, hearing and doing on the road and to ensure that the entire time is reacting in similar ways to similar situations.

Another way that these collaboration tools can be beneficial is helping find the right person for the job.  At times, a salesperson has a specialty or a focus and a customer is not interested in that product during that particular visit.  But, the customer may say he is interested in a different product or service that the company may be able to help with, but with a different person leading the charge.  A collaboration and sharing platform can be a great way to quickly find the right person to contact that client by sending out an inquiry over the company intranet.

If another member of the organization answers the call to assist this client that another sales team member was unable to help, he also has access to important information through this sharing platform. These platforms allow people to keep notes and files on different clients, so the assisting salesperson who is more well-versed in the potential client’s needs can learn about past orders and other notes that may have been made during previous sales calls.

Tools Common in Collaboration and Sharing Platforms

• File sharing and storage allows different people on a team to learn about potential clients, and to read pertinent information. Connecting with peers while on the road is not always easy. These notes via the shared intranet can answer many of these questions; including the question of whether someone received an important message.
• External sharing is another tool that is possible and allows you to share files not only with specific peers, but you can also share notes or files with clients. Sometimes a quick return of facts to a client who asked for some clarification is the very thing that will allow you to close a deal.
• Manage content so you can pull data necessary to close deals. You’ll have access to different records within your organization.  You won’t have to wait until you’re back in the office to organize and gather different records, and you won’t have to ask someone back at home base to do it for you and hope they really understand what you’re requesting. You can arrange it so each person on a team has access to the necessary data via the intranet.
• Sometimes it seems that quarterly, monthly, or even team meetings are more of a dissection done at an autopsy. The team goes about dissecting data after the patient is no longer with you – you’re often talking about things that happened at least weeks ago. What if you could post information the evening after you’ve made some calls? Information that everyone on your team can read each night before they go out again the next day, armed with better knowledge to do the job. And, your peers are able to do the same thing to make you more effective than you might have been. You will also know that a peer sold 500 units of something when they did it, so you won’t sell 500 more units if your company only had 600 units. That will save embarrassment and angry clients.
• The road can be a lonely place when you don’t have time to interact with teammates. Even if you all leave from the same workspace each morning. You’re still on the road alone. File sharing and storage programs allow you to engage your team as you share resources. You can also share resources with clients and follow up with data that they requested as they consider making a purchase.  Timely follow through can make a big difference in making a sale or not.

File sharing and storage such as SharePoint helps any sale team keep up with different things that are happening in their own organization while they are on the road.  It is also helpful in keeping customers informed about the different abilities of hardware or software in which they may be interested. By allowing quick file sharing, these tools can be beneficial to all sorts of businesses and salespeople.