August is an important month for cable MSOs as swarms of college students descend upon communities. Students armed with the latest high tech tools make broadband access a top priority for cell phones, laptops, desktops, and TV.
Recent financial results from the cable industry have indicated that DSL may be falling out of favor as bandwidth requirements for new technology toys have increased. Students want uninterrupted access for cell phones, laptops, video and content streaming. To capitalize on the broadband needs of returning students, MSOs need to make sure their salesforce is ready using state-of-the-art Sales Force Automation (SFA) tools.
Why Use SFA
Easy to learn and implement, a quality SFA from a proven CRM provider can help make sure Direct Sales Representatives (DSRs) remain in targeted route areas for the maximum amount of time. A SFA tool accomplishes this by:
7 Reasons SFA keeps DSRs in the field making cable sales
- Having flexible route criteria such as zip code, bridger number or node.
- Being able to assign priority to specified addresses.
- Organizing streets into routes.
- Setting measurable time frames for route completion.
- Automating the work order process from DSRs using handheld devices.
- Speeding up the sales cycle through on-demand credit checks from the field.
- Reducing the amount of time a DSR needs to spend in the office filling out paperwork.
How Important Is It for Your SFA to Come From a Proven Provider
Choosing a SFA vendor is not always an easy decision. Some MSOs base their decisions on price, glitz or support promises. Unfortunately, decisions made for these reasons only provide MSOs with a false sense of security. When selecting a SFA tool it is very important that MSO management consider:
5 Reasons to choose a proven Cable SFA provider
- The total cost of ownership (TCO) of the SFA system is lower with a cable specific designed product. TCO for quality SFA is less than new technology vendors because of:
- Durability of handheld devices; Cheaper non-commercial devices will break more often and cost more in the long run.
- Reliability; How often is technical support needed, how long do the batteries last? How much downtime can be expected as a result of software bugs?
- Ease of use; Handheld devices should be easy to use with large enough screens to input or retrieve sales information yet stay portable.
- Technology platform; Will changes in technology render the current hardware obsolete requiring new hardware each time the operating system is revised or a new model comes out?
- Established cable CRM vendors have greater industry knowledge which provides for a better understanding of needs and product design.
- Cable MSOs are their business, products integrate with the major cable billing systems.
- Technical support is more established with experienced staff.
- SFA system capabilities can be verified by industry leaders
Capture the Cable Sales Opportunity
Students are returning to school now which means the opportunity is now. Smoother sales cycles, better bandwidth than DSL and the ability to offer triple play packages, make this the ideal time to capture a customer for years. Although students may have more technology at their disposal than a few years ago, they are still going to be resistant to change if they find something that works for them.
Tell us how your MSO is going to increase student subscribers. If you liked this article you may also enjoy reading:
The USA-Ghana match in the 2010 World Cup on Saturday was the third most watched soccer game in US history. Despite the heartbreaking 2-1 loss, Cable operators should recognize the opportunity presented by a record number of people streaming the World Cup to handheld devices and personal computers. This trend is most certainly going to continue for the remainder of the World Cup as well as for other sports. The opportunity for MSOs is to use their cable CRM to create routes for DSRs to sell and cross-sell the multiple cable platforms of data, cable and cell so subscribers do not miss any game action.
One of the reasons for the increased use of cell phones and PCs during the 2010 World Cup is because the games are scheduled everyday of the week and with the huge time differential (South Africa) many people are unable to watch TV from their homes or sports taverns during weekdays. This makes the choices for listening or viewing limited to recording games or streaming. A CRM specifically designed for the cable industry can help increase sales because:
- Demographic lists can be purchased targeting fans supporting tournament teams. These list can then be used to generate routes for maximum effectiveness.
- The sales cycle approval time is greatly reduced. The availability of online credit checks, customer and promotional information using handheld devices slashes the approval times and allows the subscriber to watch, listen or record games faster. Sales are made faster and subscribers are happier.
- DSRs can offer subscribers multiple platforms for watching games. For example, watch weekend games at home with HD cable, recording games if subscribers are unavailable during games and cellular service for streaming gamecasts.
- Many tournaments have multiple games scheduled at the same time but on different channels and some sports fans will want to have the capability to watch all the scheduled games at one time via multiple TVs or combination of TV and computer.
- DSRs will be able to visit more potential subscribers in the same amount of time by replacing a paper based sales systems with an automated solution. This occurs because DSRs can retrieve route information and submit sales online thereby reducing the number of visit to the office and keeping them in the field longer.
Whether it be the 2010 World Cup or the next NCAA basketball tourney, Cable MSOs have much to gain by transforming an archaic sales process into a streamlined and directed sales organization using Sales Force Automation(SFA). MSOs only need to be careful to limit their own DSR streaming capabilities so that DSRs are working instead of watching the games themselves on their cell phones.
Tell us how you take advantage of major sporting events to increase sales. If you liked this article you may also enjoy reading: