From the street to the store: Why more telcos are choosing PSI for their retail channel
The highstreet store has become a less prominent feature of businesses everywhere, including for telco brands. Many alt-nets choose to only sell online and door-to-door, while a number of telco giants are shifting their focus to digital.
However, although stores aren’t necessarily the primary sales outlet they once were, they can still be a flagship presence in a city or a small but meaningful presence in a community – and with the right technology to manage leads, the store can remain a powerful sales channel.
Why Vodafone Ireland chose PSI for stores
Vodafone Ireland, for instance, first came to PSI so they could get their own field sales team on the streets – and they’d seen great outcomes. It was a hit with reps and back office teams. Productivity was up. Morale was up. And a new bar had been set for customer experience, lead management, and sales performance.
After seeing these results, the Vodafone team realised that there was no reason their stores couldn’t function to the same gold standard. Because PSI can run on a rep’s tablet as effectively in a store as in the field, there was nothing stopping them from multiplying their success in retail.
How the store can become a smarter lead generator
In their stores, Vodafone Ireland didn’t have the same level of lead capture that they had grown accustomed to in the field. But by introducing PSI into their stores, they could have the same system across all channels, and the back office could receive the same standard and type of data from field sales, tele sales and in-store sales.
“Now all customer details are taken on a tablet in-store, and that information goes to the same back office team that process field sales – and they contact the customer.” says Michelle Brazzill, Channel Partner Manager at Vodafone Ireland. “So we’re leaving sales people to do the sales and office people to do the processing.”
With all the validations and logic built in, the PSI software quickly became popular among both sales reps and processing managers. The Vodafone sales reps found the PSI customer acquisition form so simple to use, so fast to take a customer through, and meanwhile those in the back office could quickly find all the information they needed with very few manual inputs.
The store as part of a multichannel approach
By using PSI across multiple sales channels, it gives you far more flexibility, and visibility, when it comes to following through with sales. An initial conversation in a store can quickly become a phone call the next day, and if the person isn’t ready to make a commitment at that time, a field sales agent can follow up weeks or even months down the line – and when they do, they can be fully up to speed on the prospect’s situation.
This sort of insight-informed multichannel approach can bring a massive uplift to both lead generation and the completion of sales. And with one source of data for all your sales, it makes reporting on this upward trend far easier.
Some brands may prefer to reserve their stores for lead capture only. That’s exactly what Three is doing with PSI’s technology. Three’s teams don’t complete sales in-store, but use PSI anyway to provide an effortless experience for both rep and customer – reps working on other channels can then follow up later.
Protections against fraud and misuse
PSI for stores runs using the same kind of technology that’s behind our Touchstone Embedded web sales product. That means compliance is baked into the customer journey, and you won’t need to worry about too-competitive sales reps, or falling afoul of customers using dodgy account details.
It’s so secure that there’s little stopping you from putting PSI straight into the hands of your customers, even if no reps are on hand. A fixed tablet, like a self-checkout, can be a great option for crowded stores that don’t want to miss a single opportunity. In this scenario, your reps could be there to answer questions and build rapport instead of giving their attention to data input. If you’re looking to reinvent how your stores approach the customer experience, it’s worth exploring this option.
To learn more about how telcos are using PSI, see how Vodafone Ireland created a highly successful field sales team or see why telcos are choosing PSI’s pre-configured sales software.
Data and reporting: how PSI unlocks clarity, performance and intelligence for telco sales teams
In the telco industry, data is crucial for field sales teams. Sales teams need to understand how they’re performing to ensure they aren’t overlooking opportunities, exhausting resources on overworked areas, or being let down by reps who aren’t pulling their weight.
Because of this, data and reporting has always been a core element of PSI’s field sales solutions. With PSI, telcos can effortlessly:
- Capture real-time data from almost every point of interaction
- Connect to reporting suits like Power BI for bespoke reporting
- Manage rep performance and boost campaign efficiency
With that capability, the PSI system doesn’t just help you to sell more and manage your teams more effectively. It also helps your commercial leads to deliver more intelligent and reactive campaigns.
Data that gives you visibility of progress
When you’re digging into data and reporting, the critical factor is detail. You need to know far more than how many contracts were signed each month – you need to know which areas those contracts came from, whether they were upgrading customers or customers won from other providers, which field sales reps were involved in the sale and which ones aren’t performing as well.
PSI Territory Management is designed to give telcos that level of actionable insight into their campaigns. The PSI system records every action and interaction a rep makes while they’re out on their route – that means every door they knock on, every conversation they have with a lead and every outcome from those conversations.
With so many points of data capture available, PSI’s Territory Management platform provides a more granular degree of real-time data tracking than other sales platforms are capable of. It’s about more than just being able to connect to systems like Power BI – it’s about feeding those systems the kinds of metrics they need to build accurate in-system reporting dashboards, and give you a clear overview of what’s going on with your sales reps and customers.
For Kelco Communications, a Vodafone Ireland partner, PSI’s granular level of reporting was integral in helping them understand not only their day-to-day sales results, but also which areas were being overlooked and where to focus training. Aoife Carr, Order Processing Manager at Kelco, says: “We needed concrete visibility of progress – to track metrics on a daily basis, and on a monthly basis.
“PSI keeps track of individual reps and their progress, the amount of sales we’re able to put through, and we use this reporting in our commission structure for reps.”
Report on every element
For an industry so driven by technology, telco sales and back office teams often have to rely on manual data collection and reporting – sometimes even resorting to paper and pen.
The problems with that should be clear enough. For one, it’s incredibly inefficient to have teams manually transferring data from one system to another and building reports that should be automatic. And that’s assuming all of the data makes it across correctly, and isn’t copied incorrectly or lost altogether.
That kind of frustration is exactly what PSI exists to tackle. Everything the PSI system records has a reporting code, meaning any detail can be easily extracted and reported against in a matter of moments.
Then there’s the nuance that’s contained within that data. While other sales platforms might tell you that 20% of customers in an area said no, PSI can deliver the why behind those answers. For example, you can see if those customers aren’t interested because they’re locked into current contracts, and therefore plan for your reps to return when those contracts are ending.
With radio selection, you can drill down into exactly the data you need to see and interrogate specific details, rather than trying to make sense of unstructured free text. You have complete control over what you want to examine, allowing you to aggregate your data and run reports that will give you true clarity.
Michelle Brazzill, Channel Partner Manager at Vodafone Ireland, highlighted PSI’s depth of reporting as crucial to Vodafone Ireland’s field operations. “The reporting aspect of PSI means we can report on anything we want,” Michelle says.
“Now we can dig down into how many doors have been knocked vs opened vs opportunity”.
The building blocks of business intelligence
The snapshot reports and dashboards that the PSI platform creates are perfect for giving sales managers a clear overview of their team’s performance, but that’s not all the insight that PSI is capable of delivering.
For one, it’s not just sales teams that can benefit from the volume of raw data that PSI collects. Once that data has been pulled into a reporting suite like Power BI, it’s possible for marketing, finance and operations to all get reports on the aspects of sales activity relevant to them.
That makes it possible to add a new layer of business intelligence on top of the performance analytics. As well as knowing which reps are performing well and which would benefit from more training, you can see which products perform best across different territories and demographics, or understand the trends affecting each campaign area and where to focus your resources for warming up or selling to customers.
It takes someone from the data science world, not the sales team, to analyse that level of information and translate it into a clear vision for the business. Involving a data architect ensures there’s someone able to keep the large amounts of gathered data organised into what’s relevant to each team, meaning everyone can get the full benefit of PSI’s data capture capabilities.
If you’re ready to take your sales campaigns to the next level, speak to us to find out more about how PSI can help, or read our guide to PSI’s sales solutions.
Unsere Vertriebssoftware wird ständig weiterentwickelt: Produktübersicht von PSI für 2023
Unsere Vertriebssoftware wird ständig weiterentwickelt: Produktübersicht von PSI für 2023
Die Anforderungen von Vertriebsteams verändern sich ständig und auch die Vertriebssoftware muss mit diesen Entwicklungen Schritt halten. Im Laufe des Jahres 2023 haben wir viel in die Entwicklung des PSI-Systems investiert, um den Bedürfnissen regulierter Branchen wie Telekommunikation und Energieversorgung noch besser gerecht zu werden.
Von der Einführung neuer Produkte und der Gewährleistung der Sicherheit von Außendienstmitarbeitenden bis hin zur Verbesserung der Konnektivität des PSI-Systems, der Customer Journey und der Benutzeroberfläche – hier finden Sie eine Zusammenfassung unserer wichtigsten Produktaktualisierungen der letzten zwölf Monate.
Frank Egan
CTO
“In 2023 we were thrilled to unveil our latest User Interface/User Experience for our Fusion Core and Fusion Pulse applications. This cutting-edge design introduces a sleek and intuitive interface, ensuring a seamless experience for multichannel customer journeys across the platform. We complimented this with improved analytics and dashboards, numerous new features in our Campaigns and Routes module, and much more.
We also introduced the Outcomes API. With it our customers can leverage actionable sales outcome data by integrating PSI into their systems for business intelligence and sales processing. With a user-friendly interface and robust functionality, the Outcomes API transforms the way our customers utilise information, empowering teams to make informed decisions.
In 2024 we’ll be adding to our Campaigns and Routes module and working on a range of dynamic business APIs to complement the existing Outcomes API, opening up the possibilities for data integration, business intelligence, and sales processing.
But that’s not all! Our commitment to seamless user experiences extends to more out-of-the-box integrations that effortlessly connect your workflows. Analytics takes centre stage with enhanced features, providing you with deeper insights into your operations. And we’ll be introducing a brand-new feature: Appointments! No more scheduling headaches as we streamline the appointment and callback processes, ensuring a hassle-free and organised workflow.
This is just the beginning – stay tuned for much more innovation, enhancements, and surprises throughout the year!”
Unsere Vertriebssoftware entwickelt sich ständig weiter...
Vordefinierte Customer Journeys für Telekommunikationsunternehmen
Zu unseren größten Neuerungen in diesem Jahr gehört die Einführung der von PSI vordefinierten Customer Journeys, mit denen unsere Kund:innen unsere Software schneller einsatzbereit machen und ihren Vertriebsteams zur Verfügung stellen können.
Wir haben alle Erfahrungen aus den ISP-Integrationen und Customer Journeys, die wir in den letzten zehn Jahren umgesetzt haben, gesammelt und die häufigsten Herausforderungen in der Branche identifiziert. Auf der Grundlage dieser Erkenntnisse haben wir anschließend eine marktreife Vertriebslösung entwickelt.
So können Telekommunikationsunternehmen die PSI-Lösung jetzt noch schneller einführen und ein speziell auf ihre Bedürfnisse zugeschnittenes Vertriebssystem implementieren, ohne Zeit und Ressourcen in eine komplett maßgeschneiderte Lösung zu investieren. Nach der Implementierung können wir die Plattform mit benutzerdefinierten Integrationen ausbauen. Mit einer vorgefertigten Lösung können Sie jedoch sofort mit dem Vertrieb loslegen und müssen das System nicht erst von Grund auf neu konfigurieren.
Ein besseres Toolkit für die Sicherheit von Außendienstmitarbeitenden
Für Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen, die Vertriebsmitarbeitende im Außendienst einsetzen, hat Sicherheit oberste Priorität. In diesem Jahr haben wir unser neues Produkt Fusion Guardian auf den Markt gebracht. Damit stehen den Vertriebsteams mehr Werkzeuge zur Verfügung, mit denen sie ihre Außendienstmitarbeitenden auf ihren Routen im Auge behalten und ihre Sicherheit gewährleisten können.
Von GPS-Warnmeldungen in Echtzeit für alle Außendienstmitarbeitenden bis hin zu Funktionen wie einem unauffälligen Notfallknopf und anpassbaren Reaktionsmöglichkeiten: Mit Fusion Guardian profitieren Ihre Außendienstmitarbeitenden von besserer Unterstützung im Falle von Problemen und Ihre Vertriebsteams behalten auch aus der Ferne die Kontrolle.
Einfache und intuitive Benutzeroberfläche
In der Regel konzentriert sich PSI auf das Backend unseres Systems, denn dort befinden sich die einzigartigen Funktionen. In diesem Jahr haben wir jedoch nicht nur das Backend, sondern auch das Frontend von PSI ausgebaut, damit Ihre Vertriebsmitarbeitenden und Backoffice-Teams auch in Zukunft problemlos auf diese wichtigen Funktionen zugreifen können.
Das PSI-System verfügt jetzt also über eine aktualisierte und moderne Benutzeroberfläche. Dabei konzentrierten wir uns insbesondere auf eine einfachere Handhabung des Systems und eine intuitivere User Journey. Das Ergebnis: Unsere Kund:innen verbringen weniger Zeit in Gesprächen mit unseren Schulungs- und Support-Teams und können die Funktionen für den Verkauf besser nutzen.
API für nahtlose Integrationen
Unabhängig davon, ob Sie Ihr CRM oder Power BI einbinden müssen – wir wissen, wie wichtig es ist, dass Ihre Vertriebssoftware mit dem Rest Ihres Tech-Stacks verbunden ist. Aus diesem Grund haben wir in diesem Jahr eine neue Outcomes API entwickelt und die Integration mit PSI noch schneller und nahtloser gestaltet.
Mit unserer neuen Outcomes API können Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen Daten aus dem PSI-System extrahieren und sie direkt in ihre Berichtssuite und CRM-Software einspeisen. Sie können unabhängig von Ihren Tools auf unsere API und die zugehörige Dokumentation zugreifen und so Ihr ideales Netzwerk von Integrationen aufbauen.
Für diese Art von Konnektivität waren bislang bei jeder Implementierung eigene Integrationen erforderlich. Mit unserer API können Sie nun Daten in kürzester Zeit integrieren. Wir können natürlich trotzdem mit Ihnen gemeinsam eine benutzerdefinierte Integration entwickeln, aber diese Option ist nicht mehr standardmäßig vorgesehen.
Zusätzliche Tools für die Bearbeitung von ausgehenden Leads
Im Vertrieb von Telekommunikations- und Versorgungsunternehmen spielt die Pflege von Vertrauen und Kundenbeziehungen eine entscheidende Rolle. Der Aufgabenbereich Ihres Vertriebsteams geht daher weit über die Erfassung von Leads hinaus. Ihre Mitarbeitenden müssen auch in der Lage sein, diese Leads sofort zu bearbeiten. Deshalb haben wir in diesem Jahr eine neue Funktion für ausgehende Leads im Vertrieb entwickelt.
Auf diese Weise profitieren Sie von einem schnelleren Multichannel-Vertrieb und mehr Möglichkeiten zur Verwaltung von Leads. Leads aus allen Kanälen können durch neue Workflows geleitet werden und von dort aus in ein Kanban-Board eingespeist werden. Anschließend kann ein Mitglied Ihres Telefon-Vertriebsteams einen Rückruftermin vereinbaren oder die Leads in einen Verkauf oder Nichtverkauf konvertieren.
Kurz gesagt: Mit der Funktion können Sie Ihre Erfolgschancen maximieren, Leads erfassen und verwalten und Ihr Geschäft ausbauen. Zudem erhalten Sie eine auf Ihre Branche zugeschnittene Multichannel Customer Journey, die Sie in kürzester Zeit bei Ihren Vertriebsteams einführen können.
Wenn auch Sie Ihre Vertriebskampagnen effizienter gestalten möchten, kontaktieren Sie uns. Wir erklären Ihnen gerne, wie PSI Ihnen weiterhelfen kann. Alternativ können Sie auch unseren Leitfaden zu den Vertriebslösungen von PSI durchlesen.
Die Auswahl der richtigen Vertriebssoftware: 4 Gründe, die PSI für Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen besonders interessant machen
Die Auswahl der richtigen Vertriebssoftware: 4 Gründe, die PSI für Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen besonders interessant machen
Für Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen ist die Wahl einer Plattform für den Vertriebsweg Außendienst eine wichtige Entscheidung. Mit der richtigen Lösung können Sie die betriebliche Effizienz Ihres Teams steigern, für eine höhere Kundenzufriedenheit sorgen und den Weg für die Erschließung neuer Vertriebsgebiete ebnen.
Es gibt erhebliche Unterschiede zwischen den verschiedenen Softwarelösungen für den Vertrieb. PSI wurde jedoch speziell für anspruchsvolle Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen entwickelt, die den Anforderungen der Branche und der Kundschaft gerecht werden, schnell neue Geschäftsmöglichkeiten wahrnehmen und ihren Außendienstmitarbeitenden, die ihre Marke repräsentieren, die nötige Unterstützung bieten möchten.
1. PSI unterstützt Ihr Vertriebsteam beim Verkauf – auch offline
Eine gute Vertriebslösung sollte den Außendienstmitarbeitenden ermöglichen, unabhängig von ihren Routen so produktiv wie möglich zu sein. Allerdings mangelt es der meisten Vertriebssoftware an einem zentralen Element, auf das alle Außendienstmitarbeitenden dringend angewiesen sind: Sie müssen in der Lage sein, auch offline Verkäufe zu tätigen.
Das gilt insbesondere für Telekommunikationsunternehmen. Allerdings können Vertriebsteams im Außendienst aufgrund der fehlenden Anbindung, die diese Regionen erst so attraktiv macht, keine Geschäfte abschließen. Eine Vertriebslösung, die offline nicht funktioniert, bedeutet Stillstand für Ihre Außendienstmitarbeitenden – und möglicherweise für Ihre gesamte Kampagne in diesem Gebiet.
Die Offline-Funktionen bilden das Kernstück des PSI-Systems. Sobald die Verbindung von Außendienstmitarbeitern unterbrochen wird, schaltet unser System sofort in einen Offline-Modus, damit der Server auf dem neuesten Stand bleibt. Auf diese Weise können Vertriebsmitarbeitende weiterhin Daten erfassen und Neukund:innen registrieren, ohne vor Ort auf die Wiederherstellung der Verbindung warten zu müssen.
2. PSI sorgt für zufriedenere Kundschaft und mehr Sicherheit für das Vertriebsteam im Außendienst
Ihre Außendienstmitarbeitenden müssen jederzeit in der Lage sein, ihre Geschäfte abzuschließen. Vertriebssoftware bietet jedoch noch zahlreiche weitere Möglichkeiten. Mit den richtigen Funktionen können Sie nicht nur die Erfahrung Ihrer Vertriebsmitarbeitenden im Außendienst, sondern auch die Ihrer Kund:innen verbessern.
Mit Document Reader, unserem Add-on, können Vertriebsmitarbeitende beispielsweise die aktuelle Rechnung von Kund:innen abfotografieren und die entsprechenden Daten automatisch eingeben. Die Mitarbeitenden sind dadurch nicht nur produktiver, sondern die Kund:innen profitieren auch von einem reibungsloseren Ablauf im Vergleich zu anderen Vertriebslösungen der Konkurrenz.
Ein weiterer Vorteil: Wir haben vor Kurzem Fusion, ein Tool zum Schutz von allein arbeitenden Vertriebsmitarbeitenden im Außendienst, eingeführt. Das PSI-System verfügt über wichtige Funktionen wie GPS-Warnungen in Echtzeit, einen unauffälligen Notfallknopf und anpassbare Reaktionsmöglichkeiten und erleichtert somit den Vertriebsteams die Erfüllung ihrer Sorgfaltspflicht.
3. PSI ist eine auf Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen spezialisierte Lösung
Der Erfolg Ihres Vertriebsteams hängt davon ab, wie gut Sie Ihre Branche und Ihre Kundschaft kennen. Darüber hinaus müssen Sie ebenfalls einen umfassenden Überblick über Ihre Vertriebsplattform haben, um sicherzustellen, dass Ihr Team die Best Practices der Branche befolgt und die Erwartungen der Kund:innen nicht nur erfüllt, sondern übertrifft.
Eine gewöhnliche Vertriebsplattform reicht für die grundlegendsten Aufgaben aus – die Erfassung von Leads und die Verwaltung der Customer Journeys. Sie möchten neue Märkte erschließen, langfristige Kundenbeziehungen pflegen und von den Wettbewerbsvorteilen eines effektiven Gebietsmanagements profitieren? Dann brauchen Sie umfassendere Funktionen.
Das PSI-System wurde speziell für Telekommunikationsunternehmen und die Energiebranche entwickelt. Wir wissen, wie wichtig es für Energieversorgungsunternehmen ist, die Kundenbindung im Zuge des Verkaufsprozesses zu überwachen. Die komplexen Bedingungen, unter denen Telekommunikationsunternehmen den Anbieterwechsel von Kund:innen durchführen, sind uns zudem nur zu gut bekannt. Mit unserer Plattform sind Sie von Anfang an perfekt auf diese Herausforderungen vorbereitet.
Mit unserer Touchstone-Software können Sie Ihrer Kundschaft beispielsweise ganz einfach eine Frist zur Prüfung der Unterlagen und des neuen Vertrags vor Vertragsabschluss einräumen. Die Software erleichtert Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen nicht nur die Einhaltung der Verbraucherschutzvorschriften, sondern bestärkt Kund:innen auch in ihrer Entscheidung. Gleichzeitig wird die Kundenbindung durch den Aufbau enger Beziehungen gefördert.
4. PSI bietet einfache Skalierbarkeit
Bei der Wahl der richtigen Vertriebslösung müssen Sie auch Ihre zukünftigen Ziele beachten. Möglicherweise liegt Ihr Schwerpunkt derzeit auf der Produktivitätssteigerung des Vertriebsteams im Außendienst, aber in Zukunft könnten sich diese Prioritäten ändern.
Andere Vertriebsplattformen konzentrieren sich auf die Automatisierung von Aufgaben und die Optimierung von Prozessen – sie sorgen also dafür, dass Ihr Team seine bestehenden Aufgaben noch effizienter erledigt. Eine Lösung mit nur einem Vertriebskanal bremst Ihr Team jedoch langfristig aus. So kann es sein, dass Sie Ihre bestehenden Möglichkeiten ausgeschöpft haben oder viel Zeit und Ressourcen in die Migration Ihrer Kundendaten und Vertriebspipelines in ein neues, umfangreicheres System investieren müssen.
Das System von PSI ist in verschiedene, skalierbare Stufen unterteilt. Sie benötigen lediglich eine Lösung für das Gebietsmanagement? Mit PSI zahlen Sie nur für die Funktionen, die Sie tatsächlich nutzen. Sollten Sie jedoch den End-to-End- oder Multichannel-Vertrieb ausbauen wollen, können Sie ganz einfach ein Upgrade auf eine höhere Stufe vornehmen. Ihre Daten und Prozesse befinden sich weiterhin am selben Ort und Ihr Vertriebsteam muss sich nicht bei jeder Skalierung in ein neues System einarbeiten.
Wenn auch Sie Ihre Vertriebskampagnen effizienter gestalten möchten, kontaktieren Sie uns. Wir erklären Ihnen gerne, wie PSI Ihnen weiterhelfen kann.
Leads +, Sales + oder Enterprise: Ein Leitfaden zu PSI für Käufer:innen
Leads +, Sales + oder Enterprise: Ein Leitfaden zu PSI für Käufer:innen
Bei der Suche nach der richtigen Plattform zur Optimierung Ihres Vertriebsprozesses spielt nicht nur der Preis eine Rolle. Vielmehr müssen Sie eine Vertriebssoftware finden, mit der Sie Ihre aktuellen Anforderungen erfüllen und gleichzeitig Ihre zukünftigen Ziele erreichen können.
Möchten Sie die Leistung Ihrer Vertriebsteams im Außendienst analysieren? Möchten Sie einen ganzheitlichen Überblick über die gesamte Sales Journey erhalten? Vielleicht möchten Sie aber auch mehrere Vertriebskanäle an einem zentralen Ort zusammenführen?
Die Vertriebssoftware von PSI ist in drei Ausführungen erhältlich: Leads +, Sales + und Enterprise. Leads +, Sales + und Enterprise. In diesem Leitfaden stellen wir Ihnen alle drei Optionen vor, damit Sie das richtige Paket für Ihre Anforderungen auswählen können.
Leads +
Leads + ist unser unverzichtbares Vertriebstool für den Außendienst – eine umfassende Plattform für die Verwaltung von Vertriebsgebieten, mit der Sie Kampagnen steuern und Ihre Mitarbeitenden zu Höchstleistungen antreiben können.Mit diesem Paket erhalten sowohl Ihre
Außendienstmitarbeitenden als auch Ihre Vertriebsleiter:innen mehr Möglichkeiten. Im Rahmen von Leads + kann Ihr Vertriebsteam im Außendienst eine unbegrenzte Anzahl von Adressen und Leads bearbeiten und eine taktisch bessere Strategie zum Umgang mit ihnen entwickeln.
Mit dem Opti-Route-Algorithmus können Sie die Routen für die einzelnen Vertriebsmitarbeitenden optimieren und stellen so sicher, dass alle Bereiche ohne Überlastung bestmöglich abgedeckt werden. Zudem können Sie die in Leads + erfassten Daten in Echtzeit an Ihren Prozess für den Vertriebsweg über das Internet übermitteln.
Bei der Arbeit im Außendienst haben Sie dank GPS-Tracking und Echtzeit-Tools für das Management von Vertriebsmitarbeitenden jederzeit einen genauen Überblick über deren Leistung. Sie erhalten Rückmeldung zu jeder einzelnen Kontaktaufnahme und können so aussagekräftige Daten im Hinblick auf die Optimierung zukünftiger Kampagnen sammeln.
Die Funktionen von Leads + bilden die Grundlage für all unsere anderen Pakete, denn wir wissen, wie wichtig der Vertriebsweg Außendienst für Telekommunikations- und Energieversorgungsunternehmen ist. Unabhängig davon, ob Sie Ihren Multichannel-Vertrieb ausbauen möchten oder bereits auf diesem Gebiet etabliert sind: Sie müssen stets in der Lage sein, Ihr Vertriebsgebiet und Ihre Außendienstmitarbeitenden zu verwalten.
Sales +
Basierende auf unserem Toolkit zur Gebietsverwaltung erweitert Sales + die Funktionen auf ein umfassendes Vertriebspaket.
Der gesamte Verkaufsvorgang, von der ersten Kontaktaufnahme mit potenziellen Kund:innen bis zum Geschäftsabschluss, wird an einem Ort abgewickelt. Dazu gehören neben der Terminplanung, digitalen Verträgen und Bankvalidierungen zum erfolgreichen Abschluss auch Dokumentenvorlagen, ein Kundenportal für Dokumente sowie Kommunikation per E-Mail und SMS. Die Interaktion zwischen Kundschaft und Vertriebsteam ist in jeder Phase des Prozesses nahtlos. Darüber hinaus können Sie die gesamte Kommunikation an Ihr eigenes Branding und Ihre rechtlichen Anforderungen anpassen.
Dadurch müssen weniger manuelle Maßnahmen zur Abwicklung des Prozesses durchgeführt werden und es gibt keine Datenlücken, die den Verkauf gefährden könnten. Ihr gesamtes Team kann an einem Ort und nahezu in Echtzeit auf alle benötigten Informationen zugreifen und wird zeitnah über den genauen Bearbeitungsstatus eines jeden Verkaufs informiert.
Mit Sales + verfügen Sie über sämtliche Ressourcen zur Optimierung Ihres Verkaufs- und Bereitstellungsprozesses und fördern so Ihr Wachstum. Dabei kann sich Ihr internes technisches Team auf die Steigerung des Geschäftswerts konzentrieren.
Enterprise
Mit Enterprise können Sie die Zufriedenheit Ihrer Kundschaft steigern und Ihr Vertriebsteam mit einem nahtlosen Multichannel-Betrieb unterstützen, indem Sie alle Vertriebskanäle in einen einheitlichen Prozess integrieren.
Enterprise vereint alle Vertriebskanäle in einer einzigen Lösung, egal wo sie ihren Anfang oder ihr Ende haben. Die Customer Journey beginnt mit dem Besuch eines Mitglieds des Vertriebsteams beim:bei der Kund:in und endet online? Der Verkauf wird im System als durchgängiger Prozess behandelt. Auf diese Weise gibt es keine Verzögerungen beim Wechsel zwischen den Kanälen und es besteht keine Gefahr, dass Kundendaten verloren gehen oder doppelt erfasst werden.
Enterprise zeichnet sich außerdem durch noch mehr Flexibilität aus. Sie haben die Möglichkeit, benutzerdefinierte Journeys, Workflows und Datenberichte einzurichten. So können Sie die PSI-Plattform auf Ihren bestehenden Vertriebs-Workflow abstimmen und ihn uneingeschränkt optimieren.
Wenn auch Sie Ihre Vertriebskampagnen effizienter gestalten möchten, kontaktieren Sie uns. Wir erklären Ihnen gerne, wie PSI Ihnen weiterhelfen kann.
Our sales software continues to evolve: PSI’s 2023 product wrap up
PSI's 2023 Product Wrap Up
The needs of sales teams are never static, and the sales software they use has to keep up. Throughout 2023 we’ve been investing heavily in developing the PSI system to deliver more of what regulated industries like telco and energy need.
From launching new products and ensuring field rep safety, to enhancing the PSI system’s connectivity, customer journeys and UX, here’s a wrap up of our biggest product updates from the past twelve months.
Frank Egan
CTO
“In 2023 we were thrilled to unveil our latest User Interface/User Experience for our Fusion Core and Fusion Pulse applications. This cutting-edge design introduces a sleek and intuitive interface, ensuring a seamless experience for multichannel customer journeys across the platform. We complimented this with improved analytics and dashboards, numerous new features in our Campaigns and Routes module, and much more.
We also introduced the Outcomes API. With it our customers can leverage actionable sales outcome data by integrating PSI into their systems for business intelligence and sales processing. With a user-friendly interface and robust functionality, the Outcomes API transforms the way our customers utilise information, empowering teams to make informed decisions.
In 2024 we’ll be adding to our Campaigns and Routes module and working on a range of dynamic business APIs to complement the existing Outcomes API, opening up the possibilities for data integration, business intelligence, and sales processing.
But that’s not all! Our commitment to seamless user experiences extends to more out-of-the-box integrations that effortlessly connect your workflows. Analytics takes centre stage with enhanced features, providing you with deeper insights into your operations. And we’ll be introducing a brand-new feature: Appointments! No more scheduling headaches as we streamline the appointment and callback processes, ensuring a hassle-free and organised workflow.
This is just the beginning – stay tuned for much more innovation, enhancements, and surprises throughout the year!”
Our sales software continues to evolve...
Pre-designed customer journeys for telcos
One of our most important updates this year has been the launch of PSI’s pre-designed customer journeys – giving our clients a quicker way to get our software ready to launch and into the hands of their sales teams.
We’ve essentially taken all of our learnings from the ISP integrations and customer journeys we have delivered over the last 10 years and identified what comes up time and again in the industry. We then built a market-ready sales solution with those lessons as a backbone.
It means that telcos can now get up and running with PSI quicker than ever, and deploy a telco-specific sales system without investing time and resources in a fully custom build. After implementation, we can continue to evolve the platform with custom integrations, but having a pre-designed solution allows you to get a head start on selling rather than configuring everything from scratch.
A stronger toolkit for rep safety
For telcos and energy companies putting sales reps out into the field, safety has to be one of their highest priorities. This year we launched our new Fusion Guardian product to give sales teams more tools to observe their field reps on their routes and manage their safety.
From real-time GPS alerts for every rep in the field to features like a discreet panic button and tailored response frameworks, Fusion Guardian puts more power in the hands of your field sales reps should they find themselves in trouble, and it also helps your sales teams stay in control from a distance.
Easier and more intuitive UX
At PSI we’re typically focused on the backend of our system, since that’s where its unique capabilities lie. This year though, as well as the backend, we spent time refining PSI’s frontend to ensure your sales reps and back office teams can continue accessing those key features as effortlessly as possible.
All of that means that the PSI system now has a refreshed and modern UX. Our focus has been on making the system easier to use and the user journeys more intuitive – as a result, our clients are spending less time speaking with our training and support teams and more time using those features to sell.
APIs for seamless integrations
Whether you need to hook up your CRM or Power BI, we know how important it is for your sales software to speak with the rest of your tech stack. Because of that, we developed a new outcomes API this year to make integrating with PSI quicker and more seamless than ever before.
With our new outcomes API, telcos and energy companies can extract data from the PSI system and feed it directly into their reporting suites and CRM software. Whatever tools you use, you can access our API and its documentation, so that you can build the unique network of integrations you need.
In the past that kind of connectivity would have needed custom integrations for every implementation. But our API now puts the power back into your hands to integrate data at speed. We can still work with you on a custom integration if that’s what you need, but it’s no longer the default option.
More tools for working outbound sales leads
When so much of telco and utility sales is about nurturing trust and customer relationships, your sales team needs to be able to do more than just capture leads. They also need to be able to effortlessly work those leads as they arrive – which is why we developed a new outbound sales feature this year.
The idea behind this is to give you a shortcut to multichannel sales, and more power to nurture leads. Leads from any channel can get funnelled through new workflows – and from there they can be fed into a Kanban board for someone in your outbound telesales team to arrange a call-back appointment or convert them to a sale or a no-sale.
In a nutshell, it allows you to maximise your chance of success, capture and manage leads, and win more business. All of this with a multichannel customer journey that’s pre-designed for your industry and quick to roll out to your sales teams.
If you’re ready to take your sales campaigns to the next level, speak to us to find out more about how PSI can help, or read our guide to PSI’s sales solutions.
How PSI’s sales software raises the game for customer experience
When it comes to improving your customer experience, it’s all too easy for software platforms to promise the world. If marketing were gospel, almost every field sales solution on the market would be a silver bullet, with its one unique feature ready to transform your customer journeys overnight.
But the reality is that customer experience doesn’t work like that. There’s no single box you can tick that will flip your CX to first class. In truth, what makes the biggest difference is multiple marginal gains – which you can only achieve by drilling down to every facet of your customer journey and making improvements across all areas of your organisation.
In the years we’ve been supporting telco and energy provider sales teams, seamless customer experience has regularly been highlighted as part of what sets PSI’s sales solution apart. And how we do that isn’t by promising one golden feature, but by giving sales teams the tools to sharpen up every aspect of their customer journey.
Removing friction from customer sign-ups
When you want to understand what your customer experience really looks like, there are few people better placed to ask than your sales reps. After all, they’re the ones speaking to your current and potential customers every single day, seeing both their frustrations and their delights as they move through the stages of signing a contract.
That’s why it’s always important to us when our clients’ sales reps return positive feedback on both their own experience of using the PSI system, and on the ease it delivers for their customers. The PSI system is designed to remove as much friction as possible from the customer journey, and that in turn creates a slicker sales process from the rep’s perspective as well.
With PSI, customers can get their contract documents and summary emailed directly to them by a field sales rep on their doorstep, and can review and sign their contract on their own device. That gives customers more control and ownership over their contract, but it also means that they aren’t left waiting for someone in the back office team to log their details and chase them up at a later date.
Providing a more efficient sign up process also means there’s less risk of customers falling through the cracks while their details are passed from one team to another.
Rep management that builds brand trust
Customer experience isn’t all about how quick and simple it is to sign a contract. In the telco and energy sectors, trust is a huge component behind customers choosing one provider over another, and the more they trust a company and its sales reps, the better their experience.
And while products, service and pricing all play into building consumer trust, your field sales team also has a significant role to play – and one that PSI’s Territory Management solution can go a long way towards helping them fulfil.
It’s no secret that poor territory management can lead directly to poor brand reputation. Picture this scenario. You send out your field reps on a Monday, and one of them knocks on every door along their route. But when it comes time to record the results of those visits, they don’t bother because the form is too long-winded to fill out.
The following week, another rep knocks on those same doors again because they aren’t aware that the previous visit took place. If those leads said they weren’t interested before, they’re now going to be frustrated at being ignored, and they’re less likely to trust your brand as a result of that customer experience.
Recording customer dispositions is straightforward with PSI, meaning you can get all the information you need about each customer interaction while ensuring potential leads don’t get overworked because of incomplete records. And with rep management tools like GPS location tracking, in-system training and real-time performance metrics, you can be certain that your field reps are giving customers the best first impression of your brand.
A system that keeps selling – even when offline
Sometimes a customer’s experience when speaking with your reps can feel outside of your control. That’s often the case in rural areas or connectivity blind spots. You can put the best rep team possible out in the field, but if nothing will load when they’re trying to showcase deals or complete a sale, their professionalism and ability to deliver a pitch are going to be completely overshadowed.
Offline functionality is a core feature of PSI’s sales software, and contributes to customer experience in a number of ways. For one, it ensures that reps always have all the address and route data they need to execute a campaign.
But when the rep is at the customer’s door, it also means they’re able to show the full range of products and packages available as easily as if they were online. Reps can focus on delivering their pitch without dreading a spinning wheel or a blank loading screen, and customers can see the same deals as others in better connected areas.
And if the customer does choose to sign up, they’re still able to do so even if the rep’s device is offline, meaning they won’t need to wait for a slow mobile connection to catch up – or have to wait to complete the sale at a later date with another rep. The sale will process quickly, and the system will update and complete validations as soon as the rep achieves connectivity again.
If you’re ready to take your sales campaigns to the next level, speak to us to find out more about how PSI can help, or read our guide to PSI’s sales solutions.
How our pre-configured sales solutions give customers a head start
When people hear the term “pre-configured”, they might think that’s code for constraints and limitations. They picture an off-the-shelf solution that might meet a need right now but offers little room for customisation – the software equivalent of a microwave ready meal.
Now to be fair, there’s some software out there that fits this bill. It’s stretched thin to serve a too-broad audience, and in an attempt to meet the needs of a thousand dissimilar businesses, it fails to satisfy most of them.
But to think of pre-configured software in these terms does it a huge disservice. At PSI, our goal with a pre-configured solution isn’t to sell to as many companies as possible. Instead we’re only looking to serve the select sectors we work in – telco and energy. And we’re essentially packaging up the systems that are best practice in those industries.
It’s not a limitation, it’s a head start. We can continue to build upon the solution, evolving and further customising the platform to your needs after you’re up and running – and crucially, making sales.
So what exactly do you get with a pre-configured sales solution?
The first thing is speed. We’re using a tried-and-tested recipe that’s based on our learning from all the custom implementations we’ve built up until this point – and by using this recipe, we save you a lot of headaches, and you win back a lot of valuable selling time.
While every telco is unique and will have their own requirements that others don’t, there are some things that every telco sales solution needs to have – a set of products, address data, a sales form, customer communications, and so on. It doesn’t make sense to use valuable time and resources building each of those elements from scratch for every project when they already exist.
Rather than starting from a blank slate, a pre-configured solution means you’re able to begin with all the essential elements you need to complete a sale or speed up a delivery. And because it’s already fully wrapped up, it’s a solution that you can go live within a matter of weeks, compared to the many months you’d need to wait for a fully bespoke solution.
And even though it’s pre-configured, that doesn’t mean you get what you’re given. There is still room to add your own branded communications and logos, to tailor things to your product list, and to incorporate any additional questions or adaptations to the customer journey once the core foundation has been laid.
But as well as speed, you’re also getting expertise. PSI’s pre-configured sales solution is built off the back of every one of our previous integrations, strengthened by every learning we’ve gained when things have gone right, and when we’ve had the chance to learn or refine our platform.
It’s also designed specifically for the telco and energy sectors, meaning it’s sophisticated enough to incorporate ever-changing industry-specific regulations and security factors into the sales process, and update quickly to meet new requirements.
Don’t let sales platform perfectionism hold you back
With any software product launch, there’s an important balance to strike between achieving a comprehensive solution and a solution that doesn’t take an age to build. There’s no use rushing out a platform that’s lacking the features your sales team needs to do their job – but at the same time, too much perfectionism can stop a product from ever going live.
The advantage of a pre-configured platform is that “complete” and “quick” don’t have to be mutually exclusive – and just because a solution comes configured a certain way on day one, that doesn’t mean it’s the only shape it’s ever going to have.
With PSI’s pre-configured platform, you launch with everything that’s already designed and built, then add on additional features as and when you need them after launch. When you have a day one solution that’s already deployed and working, it’s not a huge project to scale it up and add in multiple channels later.
Even if you had the luxury of resources and time to launch with everything on your features list, sometimes that’s still not the best way forward. You often have to try things out in the field before you know for sure what needs to be added or what isn’t working. Otherwise, you can delay the launch for the sake of custom features that are based on untested assumptions.
For instance, we previously worked on an extensive custom build for a client that wanted to focus on sales rep engagement right from the jump. So they asked for features like a step counter and an integration with Spotify to make routes more interesting, as well as leaderboards and gamification to incentivise sales performance.
But when they launched the platform, those features went largely unused – it turned out the reps cared more about completing sales and getting paid than having fun on their routes.
A faster launch is a safer launch
When you’re building a fully bespoke solution from a blank slate, delays have the potential to derail the entire project. The longer it goes on, the greater the risk that you’ll just never go live – the business will move on in the background and targets will change, and the goalposts for your solution keep getting moved as the specification tries to keep up.
Then there’s the human element. If your sales team aren’t fully invested in the project, they’ll start losing confidence in it as delivery drags on. Even if they are invested at the beginning, there’s the possibility that they will also disengage if the solution takes too long, or even move on from their role before seeing it through to completion. Whatever the case, that kind of engagement is difficult to win back once it’s been lost.
One of the easily overlooked benefits of launching with a pre-configured sales solution is that it keeps the momentum of the project high. Rather than everyone getting excited during the planning phase but tiring through the months it takes to piece that vision together, they can have access to the staging system within weeks and start getting to grips with a real, working product.
That can also help with change management. There’s nothing worse than spending months building a complicated system, only to reach UAT and find that someone has new suggestions they haven’t voiced before, or an emotional reaction to the change that derails the launch.
On the other hand, when they can get their hands on a pre-configured solution within weeks, your team can get comfortable with the way the system works – and they can bring up any changes that need to be made well before it reaches user testing.
If you’re ready to take your sales campaigns to the next level, speak to us to find out more about how PSI can help.
Choosing sales software: 4 reasons that set PSI apart for telcos and energy providers
For telcos and energy companies, choosing a field sales platform is a big decision. The right solution can optimise a team’s operational efficiency, elevate customer satisfaction and open the way forward for penetrating new territories.
Not all sales software solutions are made equal. While many offer a generic, one-size-fits-all solution, we built the PSI system specifically for ambitious telco and energy companies – to help them meet industry and customer demands, move fast in the face of new opportunities and empower the field agents who represent their brand.
1. PSI keeps reps selling – even offline
Any sales solution worth its salt should aim to empower field reps to be their most productive, wherever their routes take them. But most sales software is missing a crucial element that every field rep needs – the ability to keep selling even when they’re offline.
That’s especially the case for telcos. Rural areas are a crucial market for expanding telcos, but the same lack of connectivity that makes those regions an opportunity also keeps field reps from closing sales. If a sales solution can’t operate offline, it brings your reps – and potentially your entire campaign in that area – to a halt.
Offline functionality is a core part of the PSI system. When a rep loses connection, our system immediately switches to an offline mode that keeps the server updated. That means sales reps can keep on logging data and signing up customers without waiting on the doorstep for the system to reconnect.
2. PSI supports enhanced customer satisfaction and field rep security
Ensuring reps can always close their deals is vital, but it’s not the limit of what sales software can do. With the right features, it can also elevate the experience of both your sales reps and your customers.
For example, our Document Reader add-on allows reps to take a picture of a customer’s current bill and automatically input their data from that image. Not only does that make reps more productive it also gives customers a smoother experience than they’d have with a competitor using another sales solution.
We’ve also recently launched Fusion Guardian, a tool for ensuring the safety of lone workers while they’re out in the field. With key features like real-time GPS location alerts, a discreet panic button and customisable response frameworks, the PSI system helps sales teams go further in their duty of care.
3. PSI is a specialised solution for telcos and energy companies
The success of your sales team is rooted in how well you understand your industry and your customers. That understanding should extend to your sales platform too, to ensure your team is following the industry’s best practices and exceeding expectations for customer experience.
A general sales platform will still do the basics you need it to – input leads and keep an eye on customer journeys. But if you’re trying to penetrate new markets, cultivate long-term customer relationships and reap the competitive benefits of effective territory management, the basics aren’t going to cut it.
The PSI system has been designed specifically with telcos and the energy industry in mind. We know how vital it is for energy companies to monitor customer engagement as part of the sales process, or for telcos to fulfil complex requirements around customer switching, and have built our platform to handle that out of the box.
For example, our Touchstone software lets you easily give customers a grace period to review their documentation and new contract before they sign up. As well as helping telcos and energy companies satisfy the regulations around consumer care, it also ensures customers feel confident about making the right decision – and boosts customer loyalty by building trusting relationships.
4. PSI provides effortless scalability
Choosing the right sales solution isn’t a short-term question. While you might be looking to maximise your field sales productivity today, that might not be what you need tomorrow.
Other sales platforms focus on automating tasks and optimising processes – in other words, making your team more efficient at what they already do. But if a solution is limited to a single sales channel, it’s going to hold your team back in the long run – either when you hit the glass ceiling, or when you have to spend time and resources migrating your customer data and sales pipelines to a new, bigger system.
With PSI, we built our system in tiers that are designed to scale. If all you need is territory management, you can get that without paying for more features than you’ll use. But if you want to expand to end-to-end or multichannel sales, it’s a simple case of upgrading to a higher tier. Your data and processes remain in the same place, and your sales team doesn’t have to learn a new system each time you scale.
If you’re ready to take your sales campaigns to the next level, speak to us to find out more about how PSI can help.
Leads +, Sales + or Enterprise: a buyer’s guide to PSI
Leads +, Sales + or Enterprise: a buyer’s guide to PSI
Finding the right platform to support your sales process isn’t always about looking at the price. It’s also about finding sales software that can deliver what you need today, and empower you to get where you’re going next.
Do you need to dig deep into the performance of your field sales teams? See the bigger picture of end-to-end sales journeys? Or do you need to tie multiple sales channels together in one clear place?
PSI's sales software comes in three configurations: Leads +, Sales + and Enterprise. We’ve put together this guide to all three to help you find the package you need.
Leads +
You can think of Leads + as our essential field sales tools – a foundational sales territory management platform for overseeing campaigns and rep performance.
At its core, this package is about giving more power to both your field reps and your sales managers. Leads + lets your field sales team work on an unlimited number of addresses and leads, and think more tactically about how you engage with them. With the Opti Route algorithm you can optimise routes for each sales rep, to ensure that each area is maximised without being overworked.
While your agents are out in the field, GPS tracking and real-time rep management tools give an eagle-eyed overview of their performance at all times. And as they report the results from every door, you can follow and collect powerful data insights to hone future campaigns.
The features in Leads + underpin the rest of our packages because we know that field sales is essential for telcos and energy companies. Whether you’re planning to grow to multichannel sales or you’re an incumbent who’s already there, you will always need the ability to manage your sales territory and your field reps.
Sales +
Sales + takes the foundation of our territory management toolkit and builds on it with an end-to-end sales package.
The entire sale - from first recording potential customers to closing the deal - is wrapped up in one place. As well as digital contracts and bank validations to complete the sale, that includes document templates, a customer document portal, and email and SMS communications. Engaging with customers at any stage of the process is seamless for both them and your sales team, and all of the communications can be customised with your own branding.
That means there is less manual intervention required to move the process along and no data lags that risk breaking a sale. Your entire team can access all the information they need in one place and as close to real-time as possible – they’ll be able to know the exact status of each sale as soon as the rep leaves the customer’s door.
If you’re trying to grow quickly, Sales + gives you everything you need to tighten up your sales and provisioning process, while letting your internal tech team focus on adding value to the business.
Enterprise
If you’re operating on the level of multichannel sales, Enterprise is the package that helps you integrate each channel into one cohesive process.
Enterprise brings all sales journeys together under one roof, no matter where they start or finish. If a customer journey begins with a field sales rep visiting their door but finishes online, that sale is treated as one end-to-end process within the system. There’s no lag as they move between channels, and no risk of customer details being lost or duplicated along the way.
Enterprise also comes with even greater flexibility. With the power to set up custom journeys, workflows and data reporting, you can map out the PSI platform to fit your existing sales workflow and optimise it fully.
If you’re ready to take your sales campaigns to the next level, speak to us to find out more about PSI can help.