In one of our previous posts, we started demonstrating why ASPEC is sales-centric.
We were talking about 4 core competencies – or skill sets – of selling, that are embedded in ASPEC. These 4 pillars are the Territories, Accounts, Contacts and Sales Opportunities management skills. Sales reps cannot work with only fragmented information that is out of context.
We began by showing how the navigation in ASPEC supports these skills sets. You can view the lists of Accounts, lists of Contacts or lists of IBOs. Each list has Territory filter, relevant sorting options, and other actions.
Fig: Navigation bar in ASPEC
ASPEC goes beyond listing your data from the perspective of the 4 skill sets.
Sales reps are busy and don’t have any time to fumble adding new information. Data entry follows a similar pattern. It is logical how and where to enter new records.
An Opportunity must be linked to at least one Contact. You cannot add a Contact if you don’t have an Account. In other words, first, you create an Account, then a Contact, and then an Opportunity. You can enter Account, Contact, and Opportunity in one step, as described here, or one step at a time. Either way, it’s logical and easy.
When you are in the Account, you can quickly add a Contact. It will be automatically linked to that Account.
Fig: Account form – button to add Contact
In like manner, while in a Contact, you can add a new Opportunity for that Contact.
To support the flow of information and the quality of data, ASPEC does not permit “floating”, disconnected Sales Opportunities. Having individual sales deals, detached from any Contacts or Accounts, just doesn’t make sense.
Reading the data is as easy and logical as entering it.
If you open any of the records, the layout is consistent. For example, on the Opportunity form, you see Account information and a clickable link at the top. Below, you see more information about the Primary Contact and Secondary Contacts, all with clickable links.
Fig: Sales Opportunity form
On the Contact form, you see the same Account widget (summary information) with a link to view all the remaining details.
Fig: Contact form
Use this information and your Contact Management skills to decide how to approach this Contact.
You can click the Account link from any record, but always at the top of the form. ASPEC allows a 360-degree view of Accounts, very consistent and easy to follow. Each Account displays a list of its Contacts on the left and Sales Opportunities in the middle.
Fig: Account form
You can quickly see who is working for the Account, take a list of all current and previous deals and any other activities related to that Account. If you highlight a Contact or a Sub-Account, the list of Opportunities and Activities will be filtered.
Imagine you are working on selling to ABC Printers. While looking at the history of ABC Printers, you discovered a past Lost Opportunity that is similar to a deal you are working on. Wait, then you see that Louise Adams, the Contact on the Lost Opportunity, is no longer there; the Contact is marked as Historical. Another decision maker still works for ABC Printers.
If you look at the history of interactions and the reasons why the IBO was lost, you can figure out what happened. Use this information to NOT repeat the history. You also have the details about Louise’s new position, as this is the standard – and a very popular — feature of ASPEC. Use all this information to overcome obstacles at ABC Printers and reach out to Louise. Most likely Louise is still working in the same industry and may become interested in your product.
Stay tuned on that and more articles to follow on the subject of sales-centric ASPEC.