UpShot Enhances Online-Hosted Sales Force Automation Apps

Sales force automation vendor UpShot Inc. is enhancing its online-hosted SFA applications with analytical tools for improved sales-forecasting capabilities.

Plurimus Corp., a business intelligence provider in Research Triangle Park, N.C., has been beta testing the new features, which will become generally available next week. "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. "We sell larger ticketed items, and the new forecasting features can be configured to have the look and feel of the way in which we process sales," he says. The forecasting analytical tools let a user 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.

Lohmiller evaluated other 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," says Lohmiller. But some customers may be wary of the online-hosted software model because many of the companies are privately held, don't disclose earnings and customer base, and remain unprofitable in a weakened economy. Some application service providers have shut their doors, including Red Guerilla and HostLogic. Recently, Siebel Systems Inc. shuttered its online-hosted SFA software offering, Sales.com, because it was not profitable. Other online SFA vendors, such as Salesnet, have made offers to migrate Sales.com customers to their service.

There are other drawbacks to the model, says Lohmiller. "Since the software is hosted online, when my salespeople are on the road, they are unable to access portions of the application when they're disconnected from the Internet," says Lohmiller. Plurimus' sales force is able to download customer contact information to a handheld device or Microsoft Outlook application for use when they are disconnected from the Web.

UpShot's service is priced at $55 a month per user. Current customers will not be charged for the new features.