"Using Technology to Sell is filled with practical, effective techniques to sell more by leveraging the plethora of tools and information in today’s world. By applying these principles, you'll open more doors, increase your productivity, speed up decisions, and close more deals."

--Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies  

Using Technology to Sell: Tactics to Ratchet Up Results shows salespeople and sales managers the most effective ways to leverage a variety of technologies to increase sales and gain more customers. Topics include making the most of cloud-based customer relationship management software, putting social media to the best use, presenting on three continents simultaneously through advanced video conferencing, using advanced techniques to gain an information edge over competitors, and much more.

As this book shows, while the sales process will remain pretty much the same from now until the end of time, technology used properly can increase sales power at every step of the cycle. Technology, in the right hands, is a strategic weapon and a competitive differentiation tool that can dramatically improve close rates, deal size, efficiency, total sales, and much more. Using Technology to Sell will show you how to:

• Expand your market through the use of technology.
• Employ software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications to keep track of customers, stay organized, present, and sell more systematically.
• Use social media to increase sales.
• Maintain the personal element in a world wired with technology.
• Use the best sales methodology and integrate each step with technology.
• Overcome any aversion to using technology to sell.
• Avoid the trap of overuse or dependency on technology.

What you’ll learn

• How to gain new customers and increase order size through the use of technology
• How to employ cloud applications like SalesForce.com or BatchBook.com to keep track of customers, stay organized, and sell more systematically
• How to use social media to increase sales
• How to maintain the personal element in a world wired with technology
• The best sales methodology and how to integrate each step with technology
• How to avoid the trap of overuse or dependency on technology

Who this book is for

There are many salespeople in the U.S. According to Selling Power magazine, roughly one in every 14 Americans works in a large sales force. The U.S. government puts the total number of salespeople at around 16 million. This does not include entrepreneurs, who don’t usually classify themselves as salespeople but who need to have a strong sales capability. Nor does it include the number of people who use technology to support salespeople.

While this book can help all of them, the primary audience is business-to-business salespeople (selling engines to car makers, ERP software to IT departments, office supplies to large companies, etc.). It is just as useful for the many business-to-consumer salespeople selling cars, electronics, insurance, services, and much more. Although the  numbers are not as big, the book is crucially important to sales management who stand to benefit from systems that work and training staff on appropriate processes. Finally, the IT department in charge of implementing technology for salespeople can turn to this book in order to customize technology for their company's specific needs.

Table of Contents

1. Technology Is Changing Selling
2. What Hasn’t Changed: The Sales Process Past, Present, and Future
3. Foundation: The Sales Process from Beginning to End
4. Technologies Used in Selling
5. Using Social Media to Sell  
6. Utilizing Technology and Sales Skills at Each Stage of the Sales Process
7. Managing the Sales Process with Technology 
8. The New Landscape: The Merger of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service
9. Selling to "X": Varying the Approach Depending on the Audience
10. Tips, Warnings, and Suggestions