Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow: "Inside sales"—remote and virtual selling where sales professionals use digital information and communication technologies and social selling platforms (e.g., LinkedIn) to connect with, and engage, customers—is the fastest-growing title in the sales industry. It expands at a much higher rate than outside sales, and is regarded as the future of sales. Contrary to outside sales that are performed face-to-face in the field, inside sales also reflects modern buyers' expectations in their will to use the Internet and social media platforms rather than salespeople as effective sources of information and communication. COVID-19 made organizations who did not have an inside sales force go to inside sales overnight. The pandemic thus accelerated the digital transformation of sales organizations, and such transformation will remain, because inside sales is an effective go-to-market and go-to-customers strategy. There are four main reasons for this, namely: cost, productivity, training, and motivation. From a cost standpoint, an inside salesperson costs one-third the cost of an outside salesperson. From a productivity standpoint, 30 inside salespeople are likely to sell more than 10 outside salespeople, at the same cost to the company. From a training standpoint, inside sales structures are centralized, which allows inside salespeople to be trained easily and quickly on new product announcements, acquisitions, or internal documents such as compensation plans. And from a motivation standpoint, since inside sales structures leverage powerful sales technologies for interpersonal and customer engagement, communication, and the managing and sustaining of individuals' and teams' productivity, this facilitates the leading of inside sales organizations. Sales is a struggle for everyone, but it is less so for those who understand it, and know how to leverage digital sales capabilities. In fact, digital sales transformation is about making technology focus on the process, so you can focus on the customer. 1. Discuss the business benefits of IT/IS alignment with examples from the case study. 2. Explain how technology-enabled collaboration can be used in global information management, with reference to the case study. 3. Analyse the use of social technologies as a disruptive technology, with application to the case study.
Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow:
"Inside sales"—remote and virtual selling where sales professionals use digital information and
communication technologies and social selling platforms (e.g., LinkedIn) to connect with, and
engage, customers—is the fastest-growing title in the sales industry. It expands at a much higher
rate than outside sales, and is regarded as the future of sales. Contrary to outside sales that are
performed face-to-face in the field, inside sales also reflects modern buyers' expectations in their
will to use the Internet and social media platforms rather than salespeople as effective sources of
information and communication.
COVID-19 made organizations who did not have an inside sales force go to inside sales overnight.
The pandemic thus accelerated the digital transformation of sales organizations, and such
transformation will remain, because inside sales is an effective go-to-market and go-to-customers
strategy. There are four main reasons for this, namely: cost, productivity, training, and motivation.
From a cost standpoint, an inside salesperson costs one-third the cost of an outside salesperson.
From a productivity standpoint, 30 inside salespeople are likely to sell more than 10 outside
salespeople, at the same cost to the company. From a training standpoint, inside sales structures
are centralized, which allows inside salespeople to be trained easily and quickly on new product
announcements, acquisitions, or internal documents such as compensation plans. And from a
motivation standpoint, since inside sales structures leverage powerful sales technologies for
interpersonal and customer engagement, communication, and the managing and sustaining of
individuals' and teams' productivity, this facilitates the leading of inside sales organizations.
Sales is a struggle for everyone, but it is less so for those who understand it, and know how to
leverage digital sales capabilities. In fact, digital sales transformation is about making technology
focus on the process, so you can focus on the customer.
1. Discuss the business benefits of IT/IS alignment with examples from the case
study.
2. Explain how technology-enabled collaboration can be used in global information
management, with reference to the case study.
3. Analyse the use of social technologies as a disruptive technology, with
application to the case study.
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