7 MOBILE SUCCESS STRATEGIES FOR SALES / SERVICE TEAMS 2014 imason inc.
CONTENTS 7 Mobile Success Strategies! The Mobile Explosion in Field Sales & Service 1 Have 2 Make 3 Make 4 Have 5 Allow 6 Make 7 Establish an enterprise-wide strategic plan. Different plans for different business units can cause problems sure you have sufficient budget. Too many don t sure you have ongoing access to the latest mobile technologies. This is a gotcha that many overlook a distribution and adoption plan. Lack of a launch plan is one of the biggest reasons for underachieving mobile initiatives for secure access to enterprise data from the field. This one is critical, especially when you involve third party sales teams sure your solution solves a pain for your sales/service teams. Treat your solution like a product. What pain are you solving for the sales/service team? and track measures of success. The single, biggest missed success strategy 2
!The Mobile Explosion in Field Sales & Service Mobile capabilities become imperative 3
1Have an enterprise-wide strategic plan. Different plans for different business units can cause problems There s no shortcut to generating strong business results from mobility. Success in mobility requires a high level of corporate attention (especially from executives), a single-minded dedication of resources to the program, and a willingness to make mobility a core part of the company s operations. Because a successful mobility strategy is such a complex undertaking, a company will be more successful if resources and attention are allocated at a corporate level. Business units who operate in isolation are almost certain to run into longer-term support, compatibility and budget issues that will threaten the success of the mobile program. Accordingly, the successful mobile company requires a formal planning process for identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing ways mobility can benefit the business, resulting in an enterprise-wide mobile strategic plan. no strategy, but intend to develop one strategy held at business unit level 2% 11% 43% no strategy used or planned 44% enterprise-wide strategy employed INSIGHT According to a recent Accenture study, 56% of companies do not plan at an enterprisewide level. Not surprisingly, almost 60% of mobile companies are disappointed with the performance of their mobile initiatives. 2 1,475 Senior Executives, Jan. 2014 2 4
2Make sure you have sufficient budget. Too many don t Many companies embark on mobility projects without a clear picture of the scale and necessary scope of the project. As may be expected, this is often a side effect of incomplete, enterprise-wide strategic planning. In such a context, allocating sufficient budget is extremely challenging. As a result, budget-creep is a common feature of many mobility projects. When combined with poor or nonexistent measures of success, significant corporate stress can result, threatening the viability of the mobility initiative. High-Level Budget Item Development Testing Deployment Launch Incentives Training/Recruitment Measurement Support Maintenance/Updates Insight Implementing in phases can help preserve project flexibility. Sufficient testing cycles must be allowed for, especially with regards to security. Mobile deployments require new or redesigned business processes to accommodate different ways of doing business. A mobile launch must be treated like a product launch. The launch effort needs to breakthrough to the sales/service team and deliver a compelling value proposition. Yes, you may need incentives to get the attention of and encourage trial by your proposed user base especially if you use third party sales teams. New internal and external skills will be necessary to properly plan and execute mobility initiatives. It s one thing to establish success metrics, it s another to ensure that metrics are being reported on in a consistent, meaningful way. Your sales/service teams will require ongoing support or they may abandon your initiative. You must plan to maintain your system s currency and keep pace with new mobile devices, systems, and services. The one truth of mobile is that things change. 5
3Make sure you have ongoing access to the latest mobile technologies. This is a gotcha that many overlook According to Accenture, almost 70% of companies pursuing a mobile strategy fail to keep pace with new mobile devices, systems, and services, and lack the internal and external skills necessary to plan and execute their mobility initiatives. The result can be an undersupported mobility strategy that faces significant risk of not meeting objectives and failing in the market over time. You need to work with the best mobile talent you can find. Here are 5 questions to help you make an internal capabilities assessment: Internal Capabilities Assessment 1. What are your core business requirements? Be clear on what you need your mobility strategy to achieve at a enterprise-wide level. 2. What are your architectural requirements? Assess the technologies required to meet your objectives. Do you have the internal skills to make this assessment? 3. Are there any packaged solutions available that can address your needs? Packaged mobility solutions do exist that may work for you. For example, there are several customizable, mobile sales enablement tools that could be used to empower your channel. imason offers such a solution. 4. Do you have in-house skills to support a custom solution? Because mobile technologies can be complex especially the matter of security an honest assessment is critical. 5. Are your in-house skills focused on the future of mobile technology? Because mobile technologies are changing so quickly, a full-time focus is critical to success. 6
4Have a distribution and adoption plan. Lack of a launch plan is one of the biggest reasons for underachieving mobile initiatives It s all about distribution. If you ve developed the best mobile app in the world and your users can t access it, or worse, don t know about it, you ll be setting out on your mobile journey with one arm tied behind your back. Accenture says over 65% of companies struggle with distribution Mobile Launch Considerations INSIGHT 1. Target market profile Whose life are you making easier by introducing this app? 2. App value proposition Why should sales/service teams care about your app? 3. Program branding/messaging Treat your mobile launch like a product. Your app/program should be branded and then consistently communicated across all marketing channels. 4. Breakthrough strategy How will you earn your sales/service teams consideration? Will you use more than one marketing channel (e.g. email and social media)? 5. Trial incentive Do you need to give your users an additional inducement to try your app? 6. Availability How will users access the app? You may need to include an enterprise app store or catalogue in your plans. 7. Collateral material Do you require any supporting documents or material to support your launch? 8. Launch event Will you formally launch your mobile strategy to your channel? 9. Training Will your sales/service teams need training? How will you provide it? 10. Support How will you support the initial and then ongoing usage of your app? You may want to consider a pilot project with friendly team members and later, a feedback/assessment survey for all users. A continuity program (e.g. a loyalty program based on usage) might also be a good idea to keep the attention and engagement of your target market over time. 7
5Allow for secure access to enterprise data from the field. This one is critical, especially when you involve third party agents The goal of any enterprise mobile application is to put information that can be hard to reach into the right person s hands, right when they need it. In the case of sales/service teams, their mobile effectiveness may depend on real-time access to information about customer accounts, order status, or case status. The challenge is allowing secure access to this sensitive information by individuals outside the firewall and who, in some situations, may not be employees of your firm. Mobility solutions must address the following concerns in order to be a viable option for the organization: Unsafe user workarounds. Users can be pretty resourceful when they want to accomplish something you may not want them to. Emailing files, screen captures, or using consumer-grade file sharing programs can poke a big hole in your security set-up. As can compromised mobile devices (e.g. jail-broken ). The answer is enterprise-level security design Enterprise-level security of mobile apps allow users to interact with existing enterprise tools and data without compromising security. These apps have layers of data protection and enterprise-level security features that aren t common in consumer-facing mobile applications. Access for non-employees is typically achieved in one of three ways: 1. Identify non-employees using whatever existing corporate solution is currently place. 2. Optionally allow those users to leverage public credentials (like Google or LinkedIn) to make it easy to remember usernames and password. 3. Use enterprise API management software to securely publish mobile endpoints for these users. Government regulatory requirements and compliance standards. When not managed securely, industry compliance standards are put at risk with the introduction of mobile devices accessing corporate information. Finding the right balance between mobile work and enterprise security is the key priority. It s crucial to not let mobile compromise your organization s security but, at the same time, it s equally important not to let security concerns unnecessarily impede your organization s mobile strategy. 8
6Make sure your solution solves a pain for your sales/service team. Treat your solution like a product. What pain are you solving for the sales/service team? What happens if no one uses your app? When developing your mobile strategy, and specifically if you re developing a mobile app, you need to start the process by understanding what problem you re solving for the user in this case, quite possibly the sales/service team. Developing your value proposition. Your mobile solution needs a value proposition that is laser-focussed on the intended user. That value proposition will inform the app s development and, later, its communication to your user base. Typical elements of a value proposition include: A common mistake is to try and solve your problem, and expect your users to help you with that. Early Sales Force Automation apps stumbled badly because they created benefit for the enterprise, but very little benefit for their sales rep users. So reps didn t use the app and the enterprise benefit netted out at zero. PAIN: What business problem does your sales/service team have that they personally might even be willing to spend money to have resolved? You might want to talk to your sales/service teams. PROMISE: How does your mobile solution uniquely address this problem in a way that is demonstrably superior to alternative approaches? PROOF: What features of your solution prove that you can deliver on your promise? 9
7Establish and track measures of success. The single, biggest missed success strategy You know what they say, if you can t measure it, you can t manage it. It s somewhat surprising that 85% of the companies in a recent Accenture study of 1,475 companies indicated that they had never established metrics to measure the effectiveness of their mobile initiatives 2. If there is no benchmark for success, it s nearly impossible to execute a focussed strategy ( where are we headed? ), and very hard to convince anyone that you are getting there. Below are some measures of success you might consider developing ahead of committing to your mobile strategy: Not doing so is the biggest reason for poor mobile initiative outcomes according to Accenture Key Measures Sample Value Sample Metrics Acquisition Engagement Measures user adoption how well did your value proposition resonate with your users? Measures stickiness how useful do your users think your app really is? Total downloads Number of app users Active user rate (users/downloads) Retention rate User actions Outcome Value will be specific to your business goals. Specific cost savings Incremental revenue goals Increased channel satisfaction Increased customer satisfaction Increased lead flow Be sure your that all stakeholders agree upfront to your final set of metrics and that your budget includes the means to measure and report on them. 10
SUMMARY 7 Mobile Success Strategies 1 2 Have an enterprise-wide strategic plan. If you don t know where you re going, you may not get there. Almost 60% of companies in a recent Accenture study said they are struggling to meet their mobile objectives. You need to focus your resources across your entire organization to succeed. Mobile is hard. Make sure you have sufficient budget. A critical part of strategic planning is budgeting. Project funding must allow for development, testing, deployment, launch, incentives, measurement, support, and updates. 3 4 Make sure you have ongoing access to the latest technologies. According to Accenture, 70% of companies pursuing a mobile strategy fail to keep pace with new mobile devices, systems, and services, adversely affecting the outcome of their programs. Be sure you work with the best mobile talent you can find. Have a distribution and adoption plan. Key points of mobile program failure include: systems and infrastructures that can t accommodate mobile technologies; no launch or adoption plan for sales/ service teams; and insufficient, ongoing user technical support. 5 6 7 Include secure access to enterprise data in your plans. Sales/service teams are more effective when they can access real-time customer information. Applications must have layers of data protection and enterpriselevel security features that aren t common in consumer-facing mobile applications especially with third party agents. Make sure your solution solves a pain for your sales/service teams. You have to treat your mobile solution like a product. Who is your target market? What problem are you solving? What is your value proposition? Otherwise, adoption will suffer. Establish measures of success. 85% of companies in the Accenture study failed to set success metrics. You need to establish and then measure what defines your success. 11
about imason inc. imason is a leading authority on enterprise mobile solutions. Our experience designing and deploying applications that users love can guide your enterprise mobile initiatives and make them thrive. To find out more about how imason can help your enterprise mobile efforts, contact us today. 312 Adelaide Street West Suite 801 Toronto, Ontario M5V 1R2 info@imason.com www.imason.com phone: 416.597.3256 12
Document Notes 1 Why Enterprise Mobile Applications Are The Future of Knowledge Management, imason/idc, 2013 2 Mobility: Fueling the Digital Surge, Accenture Mobility, Insights Report 2014 3 Mobility Index Report, Good Technology TM, Q2/Q3 2013 4 Forrester Research, 2013 13