Deck 6: Leveraging Information Technologies

Question 1

One of the huge benefits of contact management software from the company's perspective is that all the records on a customer are in a central database.This makes it possible to:

A)share these records with competitors
B)continue to serve the customer well even when the salesperson who serviced the customer leaves the company
C)contact the customer more frequently than salespeople did before computer software existed
D)ask customers for information about their families and hobbies
E)manage a salesperson's time more efficiently by scheduling appointments more closely together

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Technology such as cell phones,laptop computers,and PDAs make it easier for salespeople to do their jobs.Why are these technologies also beneficial to the companies the salespeople work for?

A)Proper policies and procedures are easier to follow when everything is automated by communicative technology.
B)Sales managers can more easily monitor the exact whereabouts of their salespeople to ensure that they are not falsifying sales call records.
C)Technology brings the average cost per sales call down for the company while increasing revenue per sale.
D)Salespeople are less likely to quit when they are not required to keep records by hand.
E)Companies do not have to pay for these technologies,as many salespeople already have laptop computers and cell phones of their own.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Salespeople use email on the job for all of the following purposes EXCEPT:

A)to communicate with current customers
B)to communicate with coworkers
C)to send credit card payments for products
D)to find and qualify new customers
E)to check on products in stock

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Different industries have developed their own industry-specific software because:

A)it is difficult for salespeople in one industry to transfer to another industry
B)the specialized nature of the products means that sales is a radically different process from one industry to another
C)there is no software product for salespeople that works across industries
D)different industries have different repeated actions as part of their sales processes
E)similar industries have similar needs,but salespeople want proprietary software

Question 5

What is the difference between a hosted software system and purchased software?

A)A hosted system generally has greater capacity than purchased software,and it is priced accordingly.
B)A hosted system sits on the system's servers so customers can access it from anywhere with internet access and updates are instantly available.
C)A hosted system allows sales managers to check on sales representatives' levels of activity.
D)A hosted system is not robust enough to manage multiple channels.
E)A hosted system requires a username and password to access.

Question 6

Which of the following is one of the main challenges of using sales force automation software?

A)making the initial capital investment in the software system
B)getting the salespeople to use the software,and use it effectively
C)writing a sales script to put into the software
D)keeping customer contact information updated
E)keeping unauthorized employees from accessing sensitive customer data

Question 7

CRM software differs from SFA software in that CRM software:

A)is hosted on the company's servers so it can only be accessed from on-site
B)has room for more customer contact records
C)contains contact records as well as product specifications
D)connects to multiple systems so everything is integrated across all sales channels
E)is only used by management,not salespeople

Question 8

Sales force automation (SFA)systems make life easier for salespeople by:

A)eliminating the need for them to record the details of the sales calls they make
B)storing all the information about products and services so they can show this information to customers
C)qualifying leads so salespeople don't have to do all the research themselves
D)reducing the number of sales calls they must go on each day to meet their quotas
E)automating most of their daily tasks,including scheduling sales calls

Question 9

All of the following can be recorded in contact management software EXCEPT:

A)emails and telephone numbers for key contacts in accounts
B)notes from sales calls
C)hierarchies of key people at customer accounts
D)production information from inside the manufacturer's system
E)sales made by competitors to customer accounts

Question 10

Knowledge base information makes sales easier if:

A)it is available to salespeople only
B)it is available to salespeople and other employees,but not customers
C)it is available to salespeople,other employees,and customers equally
D)it is available to salespeople,select other employees,and customers at different levels of access
E)it is available to sales management only

Question 11

How does using contact management software make managing salespeople easier for sales managers?

A)Sales managers can see exactly where salespeople are because of the tracking features of the software.
B)Sales managers can reassign key accounts to better salespeople without having to discuss it with the salespeople who are losing those accounts.
C)Sales managers can access the call notes from their salespeople easily as soon as the notes are recorded.
D)Sales managers can adjust product pricing and have those figures appear to salespeople instantaneously.
E)Sales managers can change account contact information without informing the salesperson who owns that account.

Question 12

Customer relationship management (CRM)software has been described as a philosophy because:

A)only certain personalities will be able to use it effectively
B)it allows you to create a deep and lasting relationship with your customers strategically
C)not everyone sees its usefulness
D)those who use it effectively tend to be more comfortable with computers
E)using it usually brings transformation to the morale in a company

Question 13

All of the following are common forms of technology used by salespeople EXCEPT:

A)cell phone
B)PDA
C)GPS
D)laptop
E)EPA

Question 14

In terms of the sales process,"knowledge base" refers to:

A)the computer system that contains information about products and services
B)the information about products and services contained in a computer system
C)the product catalog in hard copy
D)the customer service reps and technical employees who understand the product best
E)the research used to develop new products and improve old ones

Question 15

Knowledge management systems help salespeople by:

A)keeping necessary information in an easily-accessible computerized format
B)providing someone to find the information they need when they need it
C)giving them freedom to promise more things to potential customers,since product information is not written down
D)increasing their commission checks
E)limiting the contact they must have with other employees at their company who may claim ownership of product information

Question 16

Proposal-writing software is an example of a product that:

A)shares practices so salespeople can use tried processes
B)sells customer information to salespeople
C)makes it possible to sell without using salespeople
D)may or may not be ethical
E)automates a process that is unimportant in the sales process

Question 17

A sales manager at McDaniel Corporation uses the company's CRM software to notice that his salespeople have several potential customers that have previously purchased from other divisions of the company.He meets with his salespeople to discuss ways for them to sell additional products to those customers.The manager is engaging in:

A)customer relationships
B)opportunity management
C)relationship management
D)data management
E)guided sales management

Question 18

The main problem with using installed software instead of hosted software for customer relationship management is that:

A)the information entered into the system needs to be synced at regular intervals or it does no good
B)the information entered into the system needs to be done so in a specific manner that requires extensive training
C)the software requires so much memory that many companies cannot accommodate it on their servers
D)the software requires too much maintenance from a licensed technologist
E)the software requires the cooperation of all departments or else it is not as effective as it could be

Question 19

All of the following are things that can be done with CRM software EXCEPT:

A)The salesperson enters data about the customer that a customer service representative accesses later.
B)A technical support person enters information about a problem a customer had and the salesperson sees that the problem was resolved and calls the customer to follow up.
C)A customer logs in to the company's system to check on how much product the customer's competitor has ordered.
D)The marketing department sends out blasts for an email campaign using up-to-date email addresses for the company's customers.
E)Salespeople in the United States and customer service representatives in India share information on customers.

Question 20

Another name for hosted software is:

A)single administrator service software (SaSS)
B)service automated software (SAS)
C)software as a service (SaaS)
D)sales area software (SaS)
E)sales force automation (SFA)

Question 21

If salespeople are not sold on the benefits of using a CRM system,it is most likely to be because:

A)the system has been created to benefit other departments,but not the salespeople
B)the system costs too much for the company to implement
C)the system does not hook up easily with the shipping and billing departments
D)the system collects some types of data that they have not collected in the past
E)the system is not one they have used at previous employers

Question 22

Although it is true that salespeople can become more efficient by using CRM software,which of the following is a management decision that could backfire?

A)giving salespeople access to contact info for customers who have purchased other products previously from the company
B)providing several weeks of training on a new CRM system
C)giving salespeople addition territories as a reward for consistently hitting their goals
D)instituting electronic scheduling to replace paper calendars
E)raising sales quotas when the CRM system is implemented

Question 23

What is the main benefit companies attain by accurately calculating a customer's CLV?

A)The company can build a model of the customer's lifestyle,which allows them to predict how the customer will react to various sales approaches.
B)The company can save time by eliminating customers from their databases that are not expected to make many purchases in the future.
C)The company may realign human capital by sending certain salespeople to service accounts they have not previously met with but that have characteristics that the salesperson has experience with.
D)The company may back out of price wars with other vendors if the customer's CLV does not indicate that they will make enough money from that customer over the long term.
E)The company may sell the customer's demographic information to competitors or to companies in allied industries.

Question 24

Campaign management,another function enabled by CRM software,consists of:

A)determining what the process is for hiring,disciplining,and promoting salespeople
B)deciding what the pricing tiers are for different segments of the customer base
C)making determinations about which customers should receive more attention from the company
D)creating rules that guide interactions with customers
E)engaging with repeat customers to determine what caused them to purchase more than once

Question 25

If positive methods of encouraging salespeople to use CRM systems are not effective,some managers have instituted penalties for non-use such as:

A)asking salespeople to submit written statements about why they are not using the software
B)awarding prizes to salespeople who record all their sales calls in the CRM software
C)withholding salaries or suspending benefits
D)providing remedial training courses in computer skills before salespeople can begin training on the CRM system
E)refusing to accept sales records not filed through the CRM system

Question 26

Segmentation,as facilitated by CRM software,consists of:

A)discovering groupings in the company's customer base
B)dividing up the sales process so different employees own different tasks
C)placing each of the company's customers into a group by characteristics
D)giving division heads control over their own divisions so they don't need to align their metrics with other divisions
E)following a rules-based campaign for only certain customers but not others

Question 27

When companies use CRM software to calculate CLV for their customers,to achieve the most accuracy they are likely to:

A)ask salespeople to call each one of their current customers to confirm the main contact info on each account
B)double-check the figures using modeling software they write in-house
C)segment their customers into two or three distinct groups
D)make forecasts based on information from external databases
E)calculate the customers' value only for the next three to five years

Question 28

Why would a company purchase data to add to its CRM system?

A)The company may not have convinced all of its salespeople to switch to CRM systems,so they might need to supplement the hand-written notes those salespeople have.
B)The company can use this purchased data as a basis for writing modeling software for that particular industry.
C)The company could try to align their sales models with the statistics in the purchased database.
D)The company might need demographic or other information to help them predict customer buying statistics.
E)The company will want to edit the purchased data to reflect the company's sales history for the previous four quarters.

Question 29

Research shows that salespeople sell more:

A)the more cold calls they make
B)the more they use a CRM system
C)the more data they input into a contact management system
D)the more they prepare for sales calls
E)the more they remember the personal information of their customers

Question 30

The term "back office systems" refers to:

A)information loaded into the CRM by salespeople,customer service representatives,and tech support staff
B)external databases,such as demographic information databases,that a company purchases
C)automated software systems for activities the customer doesn't see,such as billing and shipping
D)processes that can be repeated that help salespeople move prospects closer to a sale
E)departments that perform activities the customer doesn't see,such as billing and shipping

Question 31

Which of the following in NOT something tracked by CRM software?

A)industry research and development data
B)responses to email campaigns sent by the marketing department
C)information collected on customers at trade shows
D)percentage of sales closed by each salesperson
E)the number of customers segmented by industry

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT an issue sales management needs to consider when implementing a CRM system?

A)training employees to use the system
B)learning to use the system themselves
C)ensuring customer cooperation in providing data for the system
D)making sure there is adequate technical support for employees
E)helping employees understand the benefits of using the system

Question 33

Data mining,as a process,consists primarily of building statistical models to:

A)project sales relative to competitors' sales of a given product
B)project sales of products that have not been developed yet
C)understand the leakage in the system better
D)understand the sales staff's motivations better
E)understand the company's customers better

Question 34

Which action on the part of a company would be a serious breach of ethics?

A)establishing a customer data strategy that allowed multiple departments to have access to customer contact information
B)asking salespeople to hand over their customer files so data input employees can put the data into a CRM system
C)requiring salespeople to input all their sales-related data into a CRM for the purpose of eliminating their jobs in favor of automation
D)paying data entry employees an extra bonus when they codify their process for the purpose of developing an automated system to replace them
E)asking managers to learn how to use the CRM software before they require salespeople to go through training on proper use of the same software

Question 35

All of the following are examples of guided sales tools EXCEPT:

A)using predictive models to find current customers who are most likely to buy other products from the company
B)having salespeople train with technical support people so the salespeople understand as much about the product as the technical staff does
C)giving call center employees sales scripts that they can use on the phone with prospects
D)creating databases of proposals that have been successful and can be reused
E)making computer screens that provide specific approaches to take with each customer on the phone

Question 36

Which of the following is one of the greatest challenges of implementing SFA and CRM systems?

A)Executive management may not allot funding for the system because they do not see how much value it will have.
B)Fulfillment and shipping departments may have software that needs to be manually connected to the SFA or CRM system.
C)Customers may not appreciate having so much information about them available to another company.
D)Sales managers may not have the experience working with technology to use the system to its full extent without training.
E)Salespeople may be resistant to go along with a system that allows others to have as much information about their customers as they do.

Question 37

All of the following will help a company make the transition to using a CRM system EXCEPT:

A)providing adequate training for management
B)providing adequate training for salespeople
C)choosing a system that is simple to navigate
D)sending memos from executive management to all employees announcing the new system
E)eliminating ways to work around the system

Question 38

All of the following are examples of information that would be entered into a CRM system to help create a prospecting list EXCEPT:

A)salesperson commission payment records
B)salesperson call history
C)size of customer company
D)customer payment record
E)customer contact info

Question 39

What is the issue at the heart of the decisions a company makes about its customer data strategy?

A)freedom of speech
B)free market forces
C)qualification
D)privacy
E)capital

Question 40

Companies use rules-based campaigns to:

A)create a results-based system of when to communicate in which way with customers
B)create a process that ensures that each sales opportunity results in a sale
C)create a system that can be performed by computers instead of salespeople
D)search their own data for methods of closing difficult sales
E)search competitors' data for information to make their own processes better

Question 41

Give an example of a rules-based campaign.

Question 42

Campaign management allows companies to set up a rules-based campaign based on events such as sending an email blast.

Question 43

Hosted software applications have a number of advantages over installed software,including easy access for salespeople on the road.

Question 44

Discuss the ways in which salespeople use common technologies today,such as cell phones,laptop computers,and PDAs.Who does the use of these technologies benefit?

Question 45

The benefits of using a sales force automation system for a salesperson are well worth the initial investment of time to learn the system.

Question 46

Discuss the differences between sales force automation software and customer relationship management software.

Question 47

In general,it has been more effective for managers to punish employees who do not learn to use automated systems that it has been to reward those who do learn.

Question 48

Explain the benefits of using hosted (SaaS)CRM software system over one installed on the company's machines.

Question 49

How does campaign management create efficiency in the sales process?

Question 50

How does contact management software make salespeople more efficient?

Question 51

Segmentation allows managers to more easily determine a customer's lifetime value based on demographics and purchase history.

Question 52

What are the benefits of having a company's product information and support processes in knowledge management systems? What are some challenges of implementing knowledge management software?

Question 53

Data mining violates privacy policies and is illegal in some areas.

Question 54

The knowledge base in a company's knowledge management system is information that is proprietary to the company and has been accumulated on paper copies before being digitized.

Question 55

Communication technologies such as cell phones and laptops benefit salespeople more than they do sales managers.

Question 56

What are some reasons salespeople might not want to use contact management software? How can they be convinced to use it anyway?

Question 57

Discuss the concept of knowledge bases built around practices.Why are they useful? Give an example.

Question 58

CRM software is so vital for companies because it contains or connects everything to do with the kinds of relationships a company hopes to create with its customers.

Question 59

Companies that operate internationally are likely always to have problems with written and oral communication to customers.

Question 60

Explain the concept of opportunity management.How is this different from contact management?

Question 61

Once a company has calculated customer lifetime value (CLV)for each customer,what can they do with this information?

Question 62

How can using data mining to build a predictive model help salespeople with their current accounts?

Question 63

Discuss the concept of a customer data strategy.Why is it vital for a company to have one?

Question 64

What is the difference between segmentation as applied in marketing,and segmentation using CRM software?

Question 65

How can managers convince salespeople to use CRM software?