Sales in the Cloud: Different Ways Cloud Computing Is Aiding Sales

In this article, however, we’re going to focus more on how cloud tools and services can be used to help sales. There are some interesting resources and solutions designed specifically to help a business’s sales department become more effective.

Cloud-Based CRM

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a great platform to use for managing customers. The use of CRM allows corporations to offer more personalized services to each customer through the method of collecting data and the history of interactions within the system. I say "history of interactions" because a good CRM platform can record more than just purchases and invoices.

CRM today is more powerful than ever thanks to the flexibility of the cloud. More data can be stored for less, which means businesses can now keep track of specific requests, details about customers, and various other pieces of information more easily. As a result, it is much easier to provide a personalized experience to customers, even when your business is handling thousands of customers at any given time.

Integrated Sales Platforms

Solutions such as SalesForce take CRM to the next level. Aside from offering a wide range of CRM tools that small to large businesses can benefit from, these platforms also allow the entire sales team to work together in real-time, all thanks to their cloud-based nature.

A sales officer visiting a customer no longer has to ask the customer to wait for a custom quote to be approved. All customer requests can be added to the cloud as the meeting is in progress. Decision makers at the office can then take a look at the requests and approve them individually.

Some platforms even allow customers to interact with key personnel within the company directly. Customers have access to their own dashboard, can post purchase orders and other requests, and be an active part of the sales relationship.

Building New Connections

In a market as competitive as today, exploring new opportunities is just as important as maintaining existing ones. There is no shortage of cloud tools to use when it comes to finding new sales opportunities.

One of my favorites is theemailfinder.co, a tool designed to help the search and verification of email addresses. You can find the right people to reach at public companies within seconds instead of having to go through multiple websites manually.

Other tools offer different functions. There are cloud solutions designed to help salespeople connect with industry leaders and influencers on social media. There are even solutions that will help find queries and questions on popular social networks, so the entire sales team can be more proactive in finding opportunities.

It is not difficult to imagine the entire sales workflow being run from the cloud. In fact, some businesses are already taking advantage of cloud computing to boost their revenues. All you have to do to join them is make the first step and start using the cloud to your advantage.