Does Salesforce Provide Useful Sales Intelligence?

The question is interesting to consider. Does Salesforce provide useful sales intelligence? Does salesforce provide useful competitive intelligence? What can a sales professional learn from their interaction with Salesforce.com that will help him sell more effectively today and tomorrow?

As a Salesforce client, each member of our sales department is in and out of SF.com constantly. As a small company, we have had very good success at maintaining high levels of cooperation and our SF.com database is full of data.

Just like anyone else, we can slice, dice, segment, sub-segment, identify, plan, track and forecast. And, we have looked in the AppExchange for solutions to make our usage more effective.

But, I don't feel like our SFA makes us more effective in our selling. I mean, SF.com is a tool that tracks a lot of stuff, but doesn't improve our selling efforts, discover new markets or understand the competitive landscape much better.

And, I'm not really that disappointed about the whole situation, since SF.com is meant to be a powerful organizer of data, but not much else.

I want a solution that tells me how I can win a higher percentage of the upcoming deals in my pipeline. I want to be able to see when competitors are picking up speed and when we are increasing our competitive strength. I want a system that tells me where groups of sales reps might benefit from specific training.

I want intelligence that can be used to increase the overall effectiveness of my company's sales effort. And I don't see that in SF.com.

Now, if you know us (Primary Intelligence), you probably can figure out how I solve my problems. However, I would appreciate any suggestions or ideas from you on how you answer these questions.

Let me know. Post a reply or contact me at 801-838-9600 x5050, cdalley@primary-intel.com. I would like to know what you think.