Cooperation Is the Key to Sales

With the release of Selltis Sales 5.0, the latest version of its flagship solution, Selltis is aiming to give all members of a sales team access to the same information, allowing for smoother management of complex sales environments. Version 5.0 also marks the Louisiana-based CRM software company's first hosted, software-as-a-service (SaaS) edition of Selltis Sales. The hallmark of Selltis's products is something the company calls a "Link the Way You Think" approach, which allows users to link key data in a way that Selltis Chief Executive Officer David Erath compares to a neural network. All connected relationships within a sales force are visible within one dashboard -- allowing everyone to know where their colleagues stand. The dashboard also bridges the gap between the sales organization and the IT department, Erath says. "It's really focused on sharing and leveraging information as a team," says Brian Gardner, the company's founder and president. "The more complex the selling situation, the better [a] fit we are." For a major project requiring multiple products and sales representatives -- such as the refurbishing of a chemical-plant production line -- Erath explains that Selltis allows every step of the process and every contact with plant personnel to be easily tracked and accessed. "That allows you to cross-sell, upsell, and really have a finger on the pulse of the sale," he says. The collaborative features of Selltis Sales 5.0 are what elevate the software above its peers, according to Steve Epner, founder of the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group and innovator-in-residence at St. Louis University. "If you have a collaborative CRM system, everyone can look at the same information at the same time, and the person who can correct the problem first can do it," he says. "Nothing beats that to keep customers happy." He relates an example of a customer who has reported a problem to the company, but that information hasn't made its way to the sales reps. As a result, when the reps visit the customer, they're angrily confronted about why the customer's problem wasn't resolved. With Selltis Sales 5.0's information sharing, not only is that scenario unlikely to occur, but sales reps can be prepared for customer meetings by offering to correct an offending situation. This collaborative approach is unique among CRM vendors, Epner says. "Nobody else is even talking about it," he adds. "It's the first step for creating supply teams where everyone is on the same page." In addition to the Web-based SaaS model, which replaces previous hosted, offline versions, other new features of Selltis Sales 5.0 include a redesigned graphical user interface and a new Partner Relationship Management module that allows reps and distributors to maximize sales effectiveness. Related articles: Who's Who in the How of Sales Vendors are stepping up to deliver tools that help reps sell. CRM in Action: Centralize Valuable Sales Data A distributor of industrial fasteners recently deployed Selltis to manage its sales team's complex sales and communication processes. The Emergence of Scientific Selling Technology Salespeople need new tools to sell in a new world.

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