Why Companies Need CRM’s

During my tenure as a sales professional I had a very difficult time understanding my lasts companies philosophy on providing a database for account information as well as access to sales information. There was none. I was provided a small 3-ring binder full of, as my wife called them, recipe cards containing account information inputted by hand with a pen or pencil. Here I am in 2006 and there is no account database for a sales company. To make matters worse I was given little sales information about my customers. It was like pulling teeth to get our General Manager to provide the sales team with reports that broke down sales by product, size and price. I am not sure how one can be successful with no client database or sales reports that would have enabled me to be a more efficient, prepared and successful sales professional. Make sure that your sales teams have the tools and information to be effective in the field so they can succeed.

Steel Pricing Update

US prices continue their descent, with sheet products averaging over a 4% week-on-week drop. Plate has dropped by almost 10% month on month, while HRC fell 12.2% to US$387/s.ton. This steep rate of change will moderate as mills’ sales prices approach their variable costs of production.

- N. Europe sees further sharp drops in the price of HRC and plate (-16.6% m-on-m), though HDG and rebar appear to be levelling off.

- S. Europe sees the same dire m-on-m situation for plate, although HDG and rebar now post m-on-m gains, 9.9% in the case of the latter. The w-on-w plate price shows an increase, despite it’s overall monthly drop.

- Stainless CR prices increased in the US & Southern Europe m-on-m. On a w-on-w basis, Northern Europe joins in, moving all weekly regional stainless prices upwards.

Delivery Times

Delivery times in the US moved out, largely as a function of shuttered capacity and buyers taking smaller lots, more frequently. Northern and Southern Europe have both broadly seen delivery times reduce, whilst in the Turkish market there is no change.

Stock Levels / Sentiment

US stock level sentiment data shows stock levels increasing and an expectation of steel demand rising over the next quarter – nevertheless, the pricing sentiment is not expecting upward movement.

European stock levels sentiment is broadly unchanged, whilst there is a marked expected increase for demand over the next quarter, which echoes increased confidence in manufacturing PMI’s. Again however, this is not moving expectations of price increases over the same period.

Asian and Middle Eastern stock sentiment showed levels remaining static. Whilst there is little expected increase in demand over the next quarter, an increasing number of people expect price increases to creep in.

Expanding my professional network!!

As I try my hand at blogging to market my sales and marketing background I look forward to keeping everyone updated on my sales experiences, expert analysis and job hunting challenges.  I am open to networking and have included a link to my profile on LinkedIn.