2. Intranet Solutions for Sales and Marketing
Overview
An organization’s sales and marketing efforts are closely aligned with its other business processes. Basically,
all of the goals associated with business operations are directly or indirectly achieved through effective sales
and marketing processes. As such, effective communication, collaboration and orchestration are at the heart
of successful sales and marketing processes. Yet there are many challenges that must be overcome. An effective
intranet solution can result in higher productivity, improved responsiveness, reduced costs, and improved
sales results.
Challenges
Gathering and maintaining accurate and up-to-date sales and marketing information requires consolidating
data from diverse sources. Much essential product, service and market information is paper-based, making it
time consuming and expensive to produce, distribute and update. Further complicating the problem is the fact
that competitive and market information changes rapidly and delays in obtaining it can make it obsolete even
before it is distributed.
Collecting and consolidating sales forecasts, proposal and performance information in a secure and timely
manner is also difficult. Many companies have both direct and indirect sales channels scattered locally or
even throughout the world. Although these channels have various interdependencies, at the same time, each
channel has different requirements for reporting and analyzing forecasts, performance data and other critical
business data.
Typical Sales Staff Challenges:
• Managing a large volume of continually changing information and keeping customers up to date on
changes in products, pricing, services and the market.
• Gathering and acting on sales leads in an effective and timely manner.
• Collecting and consolidating sales forecasts while providing management information needed to
monitor and manage sales performance.
• Coordinating and managing multiple types of proposals.
Typical Marketing Staff Challenges:
• Managing multiple, interdependent, time-critical projects, such as trade shows, press tours and
product launches that may involve multiple groups scattered across wide geographic areas.
• Keeping the sales department informed of marketing programs, such as new pricing strategies, trade
show participation and special promotions.
• Keeping sales and other departments up-to-date on the competitive environment.
• Collecting and responding to feedback on program effectiveness.
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3. In addition to the need for a high level of collaboration and communication between the sales and marketing
groups, there is also a need for communication with other functional groups throughout the organization. For
example, managers in other functional groups may need real-time access to sales forecasts and sales performance data consolidated at different levels. Marketing and sales managers need access to corporate data, such
as manufacturing forecasts and product cost information.
The Intranet Solution
Sales and marketing groups can take advantage of Intranets to enhance communication and collaboration with
each other as well as with other functional groups and external resources. The corporate Intranet enables
centralized publishing of product, service and marketing information. It also provides quick but security
controlled access to relevant company assets that contain product or inventory availability data, sales forecasts,
performance figures and customer information. Corporate Intranets are often used to supplement or enhance
information stored in CRM or ERP systems.
An Intranet is a powerful tool for proposal development as well. Past projects and budgets can be referenced
by size, scope of project and resources required to provide critical background information to insure future
projects are successful and profitable. With an Intranet, marketing and sales personnel can collaborate more effectively and ensure that the field sales, outside contractors, channel partners, distributors and dealers all have
immediate access to the information they need, and can provide feedback to ensure a rapid, quality response.
The result is higher productivity, improved responsiveness, reduced costs, and improved sales results.
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4. Sales and Marketing Uses
Product Demos and Scripts
Sales force access to download standard product
demonstration scripts and sales presentations.
Product Information
Central repository for employees, customers
and business partners to access information
such as product availability, price lists, catalogs,
brochures, data sheets and specifications.
Benefits from Intranet Deployment
• Much faster and less expensive than producing and
distributing paper based materials.
• Ensures inclusion of latest features in presentations.
• Ensures immediate access to the most current informa-
tion to better facilitate consistent branding and
appropriate use of collateral.
• Speeds the locating and distributing of time-sensitive data.
• Facilitates access to current, detailed and informed
product information from the office, as well as outside
the office or even from a customer site.
Sales Forecast and Performance Reports
Sales management posts consolidated sales goals
and performance data.
• Enhances communications among field sales, regional
sales management and headquarters. All have access
to the most current sales attainment and quota information.
• Gives management better tools for tracking sales
performance, such as comparing forecasts to actual sales.
• Helps manufacturing perform more effective production
scheduling.
Sales Lead Management
Capture, distribute and track leads through the
sales process.
• Ensures timely collection and distribution of leads to
maintain their maximum effectiveness and delivers
visibility for sales process stakeholders.
• Enables fast follow-up for sales management to
maximize close rate.
Market Research
Researchers access the Internet to locate market
information such as industry trends and competitive products and publish information on an internal
web site.
• Instant access to a wealth of Internet data improves
product planning, marketing strategy development and
product pricing.
• Provides a central source of critical information, allowing
the capturing and sharing of competitive information,
changing customer requirements, and emerging
market trends.
Input from Field Personnel
Distribute questionnaires and surveys gathering feedback on products, services and marketing campaigns.
• Ensures that products and services meet the needs of
the market.
• Helps tune marketing programs for maximum effectiveness.
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5. Sales and Marketing Uses
Prospecting
Sales reps collect and share information about prospective customers.
Press Releases
Publish press releases and other company announcements.
Sales Team Collaboration
Establish newsgroups, online discussion groups, and
chat sessions for sales teams that are geographically
dispersed.
Calendars
Publish schedules and calendars for trade shows,
seminars, advertising and PR campaigns and project
plans in a central location.
Sales Training
Post online training and reference material for products, services, competition, sales skills and other
subjects useful to field personnel.
Sales Proposals
Sales teams post and collaborate on complex sales
proposals.
Benefits from Intranet Deployment
• Increases productivity of the sales force by providing
easy access to in-depth information regarding the
prospects in their assigned territories.
• Faster distribution of corporate communications.
• Can be archived for historical purposes.
• Increases sales by enabling sales and support reps to
coordinate activities for national and multinational
accounts.
• Sales representatives and marketing teams can take
full advantage of marketing events in their areas to
tighten relationships with customers and help boost sales.
• Improves skills and knowledge of sales force in a costeffective and timely manner.
• Provides centralized repository for easy access.
• Improves access to proposal documents by sales
process stakeholders.
• Reduces the likelihood that an out of date or incomplete
proposal is forwarded to the customer.
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6. Weidenhammer Intranet Solutions
In today’s world of instant access to information, Weidenhammer provides services and solutions
that improve organizational communication, collaboration, and workforce productivity through the
establishment of web-based gateways. Through a combination of industry and technical expertise,
and leveraging “best of breed technology” from partners such as Microsoft and IBM, Weidenhammer has assisted hundreds of clients in delivering improved business performance and functionality
in the areas of Portals and Intranets. Weidenhammer provides solutions that help connect people,
processes, and information, ensuring that information reaches recipients quickly, through the most
appropriate medium.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Technologies
Microsoft Office SharePoint Technologies provides a single, integrated location where employees
can efficiently collaborate with team members, find organizational resources, search for experts
and corporate information, manage content and workflow, and leverage business insight to make
better-informed decisions.
SharePoint Technologies provide services that enhance:
• Collaboration - Allow teams to work together effectively, collaborate on and publish
documents, maintain task lists, implement workflows, and share information.
• Search - Quickly and easily find people, expertise, and content.
• Document management – Including integrated records management, version control,
and Web content management.
• Workflows and electronic forms - to automate and streamline your business processes.
• Information worker access - to critical business information, data analysis and review,
reports to make more informed decisions.
> For more information, visit our website at www.hammer.net.
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