Door to Door Cable Sales & Auditing 101

5 Reasons Cable CRM Can Still Take Advantage of the World Cup

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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:

1. Demographic lists can be purchased targeting fans supporting tournament teams. These list can then be used to generate routes for maximum effectiveness.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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:

• Selling the World Cup with Cable CRM
• How to Choose a Best Of Breed CRM
• SFA - Going the Last Two Feet to Get the Sale