Think fast! One of your sales reps or channel partners sends you a special pricing request at the eleventh hour. There’s no time to do any research into how this will impact your business, and this is a must-win deal. Time to go with your gut, right?

Well—don’t get me wrong. It isn’t that I doubt the abilities of your gut. In fact, I’m confident that your gut has made a lot of great decisions in the past. But there is a more reliable—not to mention defensible—solution that you might want to try.

Apprivo Special Pricing provides the transparency you … Continue Reading

Quiz time. You want to minimize channel conflict and improve sales alignment. What’s the best way to do that?

If you answered “Named Accounts,” then you’re absolutely right.

But named accounts aren’t a native feature of Salesforce. That means, in order to use named accounts, you’ll have to develop distinct lead assignment rules for every desired account. Even with a medium volume of accounts, this process will quickly become unmanageable.

Quiz time, part two. Is there an easier, more manageable way to apply a named accounts approach to Salesforce?

If you said “Yes,” well, don’t be too proud of yourself—it was a 50/50 shot.

With … Continue Reading

Recently I was in a sales cycle with a prospect that had already made the decision to use Salesforce for their 20 sales people, but was unsure about which version of Salesforce they needed based on their business requirements.

They were trying to decide between the Professional and Enterprise Editions. They felt that their needs were basic and were therefore inclined towards the Professional Edition. At a high level they needed:
•    Basic lead and opportunity management
•    Account and contact management
•    Reporting and dashboards

They asked me as the implementation partner which factors they should consider in their selection.

My advice was to approach … Continue Reading

When designing a deal registration system on Salesforce, is it best to use the lead or opportunity object? The answer is: it depends. There are a number of factors to consider when determining which object to use. Consequently, this seemingly simple question has generated a lot of confusion and debate.

To help guide your decision, we’ve indentified the top five factors to consider when determining whether leads or opportunities offer a better starting point for your deal registration system.

Who Approves Deal Registrations?

The question of who approves deal registrations impacts the decision of whether to use leads or opportunities. Let’s … Continue Reading