SAP Sales Cloud V2
Efficient use of the new SAP Sales Cloud V2: A guide for sales representatives in the consumer goods industry
The consumer goods industry is a dynamic environment in which the sales force plays a key role. Daily tasks such as planning market visits, processing distribution analyses, viewing current promotions and detailed customer analysis require efficient tools. In order to offer sales representatives effective support in these tasks, SAP has launched the new version of the Sales Cloud: SAP Sales Cloud V2. This builds on the familiar working environment of the first version and enhances it with smart, innovative functionalities.
SAP Sales Cloud V2 has a modern user interface that provides an improved user experience (UX). New features such as the summarized timeline and the integration of KPIs and tiles in the object overview help to make the day-to-day work of the sales force even more efficient. Cross-system processes and automatic notifications and updates help sales staff to stay up to date and complete tasks more quickly. The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the system also helps to further improve business processes. Intelligent customer briefings, generated product recommendations and AI-based customer service are just a few examples of how SAP Sales Cloud V2 supports the sales force.
Predefined, data-driven processes, such as guided selling of opportunities or the management of activities, offer sales representatives targeted assistance in decision-making and also contribute to a more effective way of working.
In the following, we take a detailed look at the new functions of SAP Sales Cloud V2 based on the day-to-day life of a sales representative, with a particular focus on their benefits for the consumer goods industry.
Everyday life of a sales representative
Max Mustermann is a sales representative at Consumer Goods & More GmbH. He starts his day by checking his upcoming activities. Then he prepares for customer visits, carries out the visits and achieves his predefined sales targets before completing the visits.
Each of these activities, from analysis to evaluation, contributes to his sales success.
1. activities check
The start page of SAP Sales Cloud V2 can be personalized according to individual needs and priorities. This allows Max to see everything relevant to him at a glance: Quick access to specific objects, opportunities, quotations, orders or even analyses of key figures.
His upcoming activities are extremely important to him. He can view these either as a daily view or in the form of a calendar. The calendar view is particularly functionally designed. By being able to switch between daily, weekly or monthly views, activities can always be monitored.
Max can also create new visits or appointments directly or jump to them to prepare for his visits. Not only the planned visits can be opened via the calendar. Max can also have a closer look at the associated customer directly.
2. preparing the customer visit
Max can find detailed information on previous customer interactions in the customer file stored in the system. He can view sales data, sales history, contact persons and relationships, as well as an existing customer hierarchy. He also has access to important key figures on open opportunities, offers, active leads, open cases and activities related to the customer. These key performance indicators reflect the success and performance of Consumer Goods & More GmbH in dealing with its customers. This allows the quality and profitability of the customer relationship to be analyzed more precisely.
Quick access to comprehensive customer information enables better preparation, more personalized support and faster clarification of open questions. In addition, the integrated AI supports Max in generating intelligent summaries of the latest events surrounding his customer.
With the integrated route optimization, Max receives support in finding the best routes to his customer visits. The automatic planning allows him to use his time efficiently.
3. carrying out the visit
Max sets specific goals for each visit. These goals can be tasks such as writing an E-Mail, making a short phone call, checking a specific shelf placement or entering a customer order. Conducting surveys is also seen as a goal of a visit. The integration of objectives and customer data supports an effective and targeted customer interaction.
As soon as Max arrives at his customer’s premises, he opens the created visit via the SAP Sales Cloud V2 smart mobile app. He can now „check in“ to the visit to document his arrival time.
They then have the option of adding notes to the visit or updating information in real time. The fast, stable and intuitive user interface of the app helps Max to concentrate fully on the conversation with the customer.
4. achieving sales targets
Max can also run the survey quickly and easily via the app. He uses pre-made questionnaires or adapts questions individually. The collected data is immediately uploaded to the cloud and is accessible to the entire team. These advanced survey options allow for more accurate and flexible data collection.
Max updates the customer data with new information, such as changed contact information or new contact persons. This data is immediately available in the system and visible to all relevant team members. The simple user interface and quick updates make it much easier to maintain customer data.
During the visit, Max carries out an inventory. He can record the stock levels and placements quickly and easily in SAP Sales Cloud V2. If it turns out that some products are out of stock, Max can then initiate an order.
5. completing the visit
After the sales representative Max has successfully completed the visit objectives, he plans further follow-up activities. During the visit, his inventory has shown that some products are out of stock, so Max then wants to create a sales order and carry out pricing in the ERP. He has also collected his customer’s shelf placements over a longer period of time and now wants to analyze whether there is a need for optimization.
The follow-up activities can be created directly in the visit and are therefore linked to this visit and the associated customer. All relevant data such as contact person, customer address and description are taken directly from the linked objects. This saves time.
Before Max makes his way to the next customer on his route, he checks out of the current visit. This means that the entire duration of the visit is documented in the system and can be evaluated at a later date if required.
He selects the desired products, enters the quantities and confirms the order. The system uses the pricing from the ERP. The order is then transmitted to the ERP system and forwarded to the relevant department for further processing. Integrating with the ERP system ensures fast and smooth processing. In addition, all subsequent steps, such as the invoice and delivery, can be made visible to Max in the Sales Cloud.
Max is supported by the advanced task tracking and automation functions to ensure that no important step is forgotten during its completion. In addition, the AI of SAP Sales Cloud V2 generates a summary as soon as a task has been completed so that all relevant information can be seen at a glance.
6. follow-up
The advanced task tracking functions help Max to ensure that he has not forgotten any important steps.
He also has an overview of everything relevant, because the integrated AI of SAP Sales Cloud V2 generates a comprehensive summary once a task has been completed. Max can view this summary afterwards and analyze his findings from the completed visits.
At the end of the day, Max also likes to use the SAP Sales Cloud V2 reporting function to take a closer look at his performance and achieved targets and use them to identify the next steps. He can view reports on his visits, completed tasks and collected surveys. Extended analysis options and better visualization of the data support a well-founded performance evaluation.
The reports help him to continuously improve his strategy and ensure that he achieves his sales targets. He identifies success factors and areas for improvement and adjusts his approach accordingly. The extended customization options and deeper insights into the data promote continuous optimization of the sales strategy.
SAP Analytics Cloud can also be integrated into SAP Sales Cloud V2 as an integrated component. This provides Max and all users with additional reporting functionalities.
In the future, we will dive deeper into the innovative developments of SAP Sales Cloud V2. Stay tuned for our next blog article, which will give you an outlook on the next steps in the evolution of SAP Sales Cloud V2 and show you how these tools can further improve your sales approach!
Would you like to find out more about SAP Sales Cloud V2 or do you have questions about the new functions and possibilities? Please feel free to contact us!