Geofencing appears to be making a comeback in a big way, according to a new study by Salesforce. The technology, which allows marketers to send messages to smartphone users when they enter a defined geographical area, was first trialled several years ago. It wasn’t as widely adopted as first hoped, but improvements to the service have drastically increased the number of retailers and shopping centers signing up.

Using the technology, sellers can choose to send potential customers a message when they enter their store, shopping centre or neighbourhood. The technology only requires GPS and an app to work, and can easily be integrated into most CRM systems. On a very basic level, this can be used to alert potential customers who may not have visited otherwise. Retailers can also choose to send information, such as directions to the stall, or run hyper-local promotions. 1-800-Flowers deployed this tactic successfully back in February, when they offered a 20% discount on roses to customers who entered their town. It lead to a 300% increase in sales.

Geofencing can also report back on customer behaviour. Some apps will record which shops a customer ended, and almost all will show success metrics. This data can then be used to see which offers and locations actually attract more customers, and whether that translates into more sales. Other possible metrics include the effectiveness of window displays, how often a customer visits the store, and how long they shop for.

Finally, Geofencing can lead to better rewards systems. Once you know where your customers are and how they behave, you can encourage and reward them effortlessly. Neiman Marcus stores even use Geofencing to detect when VIP customers are in store, and look at what they typically buy. This gives the customer a much more personalised service.

While the privacy concerns that blighted the first Geofencing offering still exist, the Salesforce survey indicates that customers are happy to trade their personal information in favour of a better service – but it needs to be additive, not intrusive. Done right, geofencing could revolutionise location-based sales.

Hays Sales UK are experts in all areas of sales recruitment. To find out more about how our highly skilled consultants can support you, please visit our website.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools undoubtedly revolutionised data. Not only do they make data very easy to access, but they provide endless analytics and reports, and may even offer additional monitoring services depending on your choice of CRM. If your CRM isn’t collecting the right information, though, you could be sabotaging your sales team.

Imagine yourself making a sales call, and taking a glance at your CRM before you begin. Most CRMs would show contact details for the customer, as well as their projected revenue, and the anticipated close date. This pipeline-orientated CRM system is the most common type, but it’s not the most efficient. In fact, it often leads to mediocre sales calls, where the sales person is fixated on their own targets, and provides no more than a generic overview of what they are selling.

Now imagine making that call using a customer-orientated CRM. Rather than information about close dates and revenue, you’d see a brief description of the customer, their environment, their goals and challenges, and what success looks like for them. You can make a more personalised call, explaining exactly which of your services are ideal for the customer, and how they will help. The customer will feel that you have spent time and effort on the call, producing a solution that perfectly matches them, rather than feeling like the next in a list of prospects. The CRM has provided more relevant information – and allowed the sales person to quickly link the customers’ idea of success with their own solution.

Telling sales people to focus on the customer isn’t new advice, and it’s still the best tactic. Make sure that your sales strategy aligns with your CRM, though. Move internal metrics and pipeline management behind critical customer information, to ensure that every call is tailored and individual. It’s a competitive advantage that will be quick. It’s a competitive advantage that will be quickly reflected in your bottom line

Hays Sales UK are experts in all areas of sales recruitment. To find out more about how our highly skilled consultants can support you, please visit our website.

The September slump is well known in sales. Selling can be a tough job, and it’s easy to become disillusioned and demotivated. Seasonal fatigue doesn’t need to reflect in your sales figures, though. There are a number of motivational techniques that can be used in the short-term to boost sales and combat finicky customers and grumpy prospects, leaving your sales team and your bottom line much happier.

The most important point when using motivation to fight fatigue is to remember who you are targeting. While motivation campaigns are usually targeted at a group or employee in particular, seasonal fatigue needs to be targeted in the whole team. Only rewarding your leading sellers won’t fix the actual problem, and could further demotivate your other employees. Your motivational program needs to allow everybody to win, at some level.

One of the easiest ways to motivate employees over a short period is to change commission structures. Offer a higher cut for new models, or low-sellers. Ensure that staff members are encouraged and motivated to sell big, by rewarding them proportionately. Another effective way to reward your staff is to talk to them. Ask your sales team what incentives they’d like. The thing that would get them working the hardest may not be what you expect – while some sales people are motivated by cash, others would prefer the opportunity to telecommute. Business consultants regularly encourage companies to offer vacation days with a paid-for activity, such as golf or fishing, as a sales reward.

Giving employees a quick break during the day has also proven to have excellent results. Try offering ‘power hours’, where an employee can take an hour in the staff room or gym, whenever they need it. Staff will return to work energized and refreshed, and will quickly move through their tasks, often achieving more than they would have done without the hour off.

Some sales teams may also be motivated through the September slump using competitions. Publicly posting sales, margins and conversion rates, for example, can create a game and motivate everyone involved. Telling the whole company about campaigns and targets can help to build energy, too. It’s important to discuss this with your staff, though, to ensure it would be well received.

Have you found any great motivation tactics for your staff?

The recession may have finally ended for the FMCG market, with more shoppers than ever before claiming that they are unaffected.

Shoppercentric, a leading independent shopper research agency, have been monitoring the effect of the financial crisis through a series of reports. Their latest research indicates that shoppers now feel that they can spend freely, and reflect talk of a recovery for the industry.

Back in January, consumer confidence was at an all-time low, with just 8% of shoppers claiming that they were not at all financially impacted by the recession. That figure had risen to 18% in July. The number of people identifying themselves as planners, who don’t need to make changes but do so incase of future issues, decreased from 8% to 6% during the same period.

Parting customers from their cash still requires some savvy selling techniques, however. 28% of UK shoppers admitted to hunting around for bargains, up from 14% in January 2009. Shoppers are still keeping their eyes on prices, with 23% claiming that they record prices and are far more aware than they used to be, and 33% of shoppers admitted to avoiding shops which have a reputation for being expensive or up-market.

The thrifty mind-set is here to stay, too. 28% of shoppers claimed that they actively seek out ways to make products last longer, up 12% from 2009, and 24% of shoppers plan out what they’ll buy before they enter a supermarket, an increase of 10%.

Danielle Pinnington, the Managing Director of Shoppercentric, has claimed that the thrifty habits consumers have learnt during the recession are here to stay. “Even if confidence is starting to grow, the fact is that shoppers continue to show strong feelings towards budgeting and careful spending/consumption…Retailers and brands need to continue to work hard to tune into shopper needs and ensure that promotions reflect this. Retailers need to proactively sell – helping and inspiring shoppers to spend whilst providing good value.”

Do you agree? Are brands and retailers going to have to learn new marketing methods for a thriftier future, or do you think the economy stabilising will promote pre-recession spending levels?