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June 11, 2001 |
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UpShot Improves Sales Forecasting
Tools promise to let users configure metrics to fit their company's business model
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ales-force automation vendor UpShot Corp. next week will enhance its online-hosted applications with analytical tools for improved sales forecasting.
The tools will let users view the history of any customer deal, more easily configure forecasting metrics to fit a company's business model, and adjust forecasts based on changes in the sales cycle.
Plurimus Corp., a business-intelligence vendor in Research Triangle Park, N.C., has been testing the new features. "My frustration with other tools has been that they mimic transactional sales processes on smaller-ticketed items," says Lon Lohmiller, senior VP of sales for Plurimus. The look and feel of applications is different for small-ticket items vs. large-ticket items--which is what Plurimus sells, he says. "The new forecasting features can be configured to have the look and feel of the way we process sales."
Lohmiller evaluated sales-force automation software suites from Salesnet and Salesforce.com before choosing UpShot in February. "We picked them overwhelmingly because of the interface and the ease of use," Lohmiller says.
But some customers may be wary of the Web-hosted software model because many providers are privately held, don't disclose their earnings and customer base, and remain unprofitable in a weakened economy.
Further evidence of trouble lies in the failure of providers such as Red Guerilla and HostLogic, which shut their doors earlier this year, and the decision by Siebel Systems Inc. in April to shutter its online-hosted sales-force automation software offering, Sales.com, because it wasn't profitable, according to the vendor.
There are other drawbacks to the model, Lohmiller says. "Since the software is hosted online, when my salespeople are on the road, they're unable to access portions of the application when they're disconnected from the Internet," Lohmiller says. Plurimus' sales force is able to download customer-contact information to a handheld device or Microsoft Outlook application for use when they're disconnected from the Web.
UpShot charges $55 per user per month for its service. It won't charge existing customers for the new features.
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