Attracting new prospects is a noble goal for a trade show. However, if you are able to take actual orders or transact sales – all the better. But achieving trade show automation can be challenging. With some advance thought and planning, you may be able to transact business from the trade show floor yourself. Mobile technology, especially when connected to your back office systems, can be just the ticket.
Keys to success
The keys to success include creating a great user experience, having a mobile app that is always available, and having a system that will provide flexibility as your needs change.
Creating a great user experience
Quite simply, if the app is not intuitive enough for the sales rep to learn without a lot of expensive training, they’ll never adapt to it. Intuitive workflow is important, but a great user experience also requires comprehensive access to all the information and data they’ll need. Here are some examples:
- Customer pricing
- Inventory availability
- Payment processing, including credit card acceptance
- Sales history
- Customer credit information
- Ability to capture a signature
- Receipt printing or emailing
Always available technology
Some mobile sales apps are web-based and some are native Android or iOS. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A key advantage to using a native app is that the information you need is always available whether you have a live connection to the internet or not. But even a native app will require an internet connection to perform certain tasks such as processing a credit card payment.
System flexibility
Building a custom app to accommodate your exact preferences is an expensive luxury not every small or mid-market business can afford. However, when choosing an off-the-shelf mobile sales that will be the best for you there are certain things you should make sure you have.
- Rules and security by salesperson
- Ability to limit access to certain customers
- Ability to limit access to certain items and warehouses
- Price override control
- Control over display of sensitive information such as inventory cost or warehouse availability
- Restrictions over customer credit, payment terms, shipping and delivery options
Working with xkzero
If your outside sales reps attend trade shows or special events, xkzero can help you. If you’d like to accelerate sales, eliminate administrative work, speed up the order to delivery process and position your business as the most modern in your industry then we should talk. Telephone 847-416-2009 or email us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
Trade Show Automation for Sage 100
You can learn more about our solution for trade shows with iSales 100 here.