How Technology Can Improve the Sales Process for African Businesses

In this Article Carl Kapapiro , the Head of Sales and Business Development at Pahappa gives us his take on the Customer Relationship Management System and how this technology is impacting the sales process for African Businesses. ?

What challenges have you faced over the past years as Head of Sales and Business Development???

Over the years, working in Sales with different organisations, I have come to realise that there is no one-size-fits-all in terms of customer relationship management. Different organisations have different ways of managing their customers. However, there are some challenges that I have found to be static among all sales departments: ??

1. Organisations need a?place to store data of their leads and of their clients in an organised way. They want to easily access that data and utilise it in a way that benefits them.

1. Organisations need to be able to deal with client issues through the same data repository. They need to be able to track whether the client, for example, has been having problems since 1991 or if the problem just started recently.??

Most organisations do not invest adequately in the development and utilisation of a Customer Relationship Management system /CRM tool, and this has led to problems. They are not able to track?numbers. And yet they can’t make positive changes within the organisation without tracking the data. ?

So, a CRM is one of the tools where I say, without it, I have faced challenges and with it, I have been at ease. It’s a Godsent tool for people like me.?

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What technology concepts would you like to see develop in the field of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development??

The first thing I would like to see improve would be the integration of a Customer Relationship management system with artificial Intelligence (AI). For example,?

A CRM system, that could track and transcribe a?conversation on a call that I have had with a lead, and once it realises, I have scheduled a meeting in that call, automatically schedules the meeting and sends me reminders of the meeting through all communication and platforms that I have, whether it’s an online app, through SMS, or even email.??

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Another thing that could benefit the different sales reps?is the integration of an auto dialler, through a smartphone, to the CRM system or tool. Something that will automatically call leads that are scheduled for a call. For example, a member of the sales team has a leads list in an Excel file.??

He/ she uploads said leads and schedules them for a specific time like from 8 am to 10 am. The CRM system?automatically spaces the calls for him/ her.?And automatically dials the next number once the previous conversation is finished, all while taking notes and scheduling meetings as agreed in the phone call. This would improve efficiency. It would also mean sales reps are no longer spending time after every call going to Facebook, checking the latest football results, looking at trailers and then trying to make another call after ten minutes.? That too would be a game changer.?

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How can we leverage technology to improve the Sales process for African Businesses??

Our vision at Pahappa is to provide software solutions to solve African business?problems. ?We could talk as much as we want about bringing in technologies such as artificial intelligence. However, we have to face the reality that some of the biggest organisations in Africa don't even have?basic software solutions. Most organisations I've communicated with, and I've been in touch with don't have a CRM System.?

Would it not be prudent for us, therefore, to first solve the problem of giving our people, our businesses, a CRM that can make them compete in the market space? Before we go into adding additional functionalities that they don't understand??

That's what Pahappa Limited is here for. That's why we offer things such as Bulk SMS, and Inventory Management Systems. Furthermore, we have a CRM that is built and designed to solve Africa's sales problem thus enabling businesses to grow and become self-sustainable.?

But how can we make businesses sustainable without data gathered by a CRM System? ?

That is why a very good CRM System that is competitive in the marketplace is a great way to improve the sales process for African businesses.?