pipeliner-crm-01-better-crm
overview Pipeliner

Colleges and universities often come under scrutiny for their preference towards academic knowledge over practical applications, and unfortunately, it’s recent graduates who pay the price. This theoretical overload presents a clear issue; with graduates attempting to enter the workforce, solely based on a four-year investment of time and, not to mention, vast amounts of money, only to be turned away because they lack any practical experience to back up their degree.

This may also be the reason why more than 50 percent of college graduates - regardless of their major - are likely to work in sales at some point post-degree, and it makes sense. Companies have a need for salespeople that can move product and deliver revenue, so sales jobs are plentiful and there is money to be made. What many graduates don’t expect, however, is the demanding nature of the industry - which, with the recent innovations in sales technology demands specialized knowledge. As such, as many as 40 percents of graduates end up failing. So what’s the solution?

It’s relatively simple: universities should teach sales.

Think about it - sales has evolved dramatically over the last thirty years, with scripted cold calls and pounding the pavement to conduct door-to-door sales making way for sophisticated sales software, automated archiving and specialized selling strategies. It makes sense that this new technology and smarter way of conducting sales requires a team of specialized salespeople empowered to combine these new innovations with traditional methods to succeed.

Luckily, the longstanding cultural bias against sales-based roles as easy to find but relatively undesirable jobs coupled with institutional inertia are starting to make way for a new wave of education, with many reputable colleges and universities across the United States partnering with Pipeliner, a customer relationship management (CRM) company to launch the Technology in Sales Higher Education Council.

The council was developed to create tools, guidelines, and identify opportunities to incorporate technology into higher education sales programs. Founding educational institutions included on the council include Bradley University, California State Poly-Technical University Pomona, Indiana University, North Carolina A&T University and more. Some select universities are already offering courses based on the council’s work, with pioneer DePaul University updating their Sales Strategy and Technology Online Course as recently as May 2019.

This course is part of DePaul Universities’ Center for Sales Leadership, which is the largest sales program in the United States. Other educational institutions offering courses created in partnership with Pipelinerinclude: St. Catherine University, Elon University, Kansas State University and the HAN University of Applied Science

The latest version of the Sales Strategy and Technology Online course was developed in partnership between DePaul Universities’ Daniel Strunk, the Managing Director for the Center for Sales Leadership, and Nikolaus Kimla, the CEO at Pipeliner. It aims to prepare the next generation of sales professionals to optimize the use of technology as an overall sales strategy: encompassing sales methodologies, sales management, coaching and other essential skills.

“A key component of the course was to outline how the landscape of sales has changed,” says Kimla, “Sales technology has changed the way sales are conducted dramatically, so we wanted to develop a course that included all aspects of modern sales, from technology and methodologies to coaching and operations. Working with a consummate professional like Daniel Strunk enabled us to deliver a brand new learning experience, one that marries traditional sales knowledge with new technologies, like Pipeliner CRM to gain a real competitive advantage.”

Students will receive first-hand experience with sales technology through the use of Pipeliner CRM as part of a simulation. This experience will ensure students become proficient in incorporating technology to support future professional sales efforts. Kimla believes that this participation will “enable students to enter the workforce with not only sales process skills, but also the CRM skills necessary to become top salespeople in their future endeavors.”

Pipeliner CRM aims to positively influence the mindset of current and future salespeople through their CRM software built on 150 years of sound, proven business principles. The highly effective tool is disrupting the CRM space - one that is traditionally very rigid - through its unique approach to features by leveraging instant, dynamic visualization that drives rapid adoption rates and supreme user experience.

The software features a broad range of components, from account management tools and lead management to email integration and sales insights to offer users a comprehensive customer relationship management experience.

It’s this technology that Kimla believes Pipeliner’s partnership with DePaul University, and the involvement with the Technology in Higher Education Sales Council, will equip the next generation of salespeople with the skills to succeed in the ever-changing sales environment, stating “with the right knowledge base and the right tools, we will enable the salesforce of the future to succeed, while continuing to reinvent CRM and lead the market with our groundbreaking ideas and innovations.”