• Interact – The salesperson acts to maximize the number of critical encounters with buyers in order to encourage effective dialogue and involvement between the salesperson and buyers.
• Connect – The salesperson maintains contact with the multiple individuals in the buying organization influencing purchase decisions and manages the various touch points the customer has in the selling organization to assure consistency in communication.
• Know – The salesperson coordinates and interprets the information gathered through buyer-seller contact and collaboration to develop insight regarding the buyer’s changing situation, needs, and expectations.
• Relate – The salesperson applies relevant understanding and insight to create value-added interactions and generate relationships between the salesperson and buyer.
Salesperson have employed a variety of technology-based salesforce automation tools in order to better track the increasingly complex combination of buyer-seller interactions and to manage the exchange, interpretation, and storage of diverse types of information. Among the more popular salesforce automation tools are the many competing versions of PC-based software applications designed to record and manage customer contact information. Applications such as ACT!, Maximizer, and Goldmine enable salespeople to collect, file, and access comprehensive databases detailing information about individual buyers and buying organizations.