However, when the valley comes, companies often plead with their sales teams to "sell more" without providing a strategy for accomplishing that task. The dream of most managers is to find a way to manage that process of closing more deals while using their existing (or even a reduced) staff.

In a world where companies are required to do much more with less, and customers are more demanding than ever before, it is necessary for today's sales force to have not only a well-thought-out marketing and sales strategy, but also the customer relationship management (CRM) tools to turn the strategy into action.

Ah, but which software? It might be surprising to know that it doesn't make much difference.

While each offering has its own particular strength, most companies use less than a third of the available features in any given software. Users typically focus on the Rolodex functions of the CRM package, sometimes taking advantage of the administrative elements or the ability to track a potential client through the sales process, but very rarely integrating their software with other technologies (such as their e-mail or their PDA, Blackberry, mapping software, auto-dialers, etc.).

In fact, software installed on the company computers often goes unused for a myriad of reasons. So what happened? Unfortunately, providing a technology without a defined sales and marketing strategy and corresponding training, is similar to the adage of "Garbage In, Garbage Out."

Whichever marketing software is chosen, it should be implemented in such a way that it supports the company's sales and marketing strategy (the strategy shouldn't have to change to support the technology).

There are many valuable lessons learned from years of implementing various marketing software packages and training people to use these products.

First and foremost, each business needs to understand that implementing products without first defining a sales and marketing strategy is like buying a Ferrari and only driving it in first gear.

Software is not a replacement for a marketing strategy. Regardless of the software selected, marketing goals should be defined first.

There is a major difference in overall impact when the key executives of the company are spearheading the effort to provide a marketing focus for the implementation of a CRM package. By taking almost any software and setting it up so that it supports the marketing vision of upper management, the chances for a successful implementation are overwhelmingly increased.

It is often helpful to work with an outside consultant who has been through the process and can offer advice on the best way to implement the software. It's disappointing to see implementations where the overall design was an obvious effort to appease everyone in the organization, without any thought as to what was efficient for the sales teams.

For example, if the software doesn't make the end-user's job easier in some way, there will be a problem with adoption. If the software doesn't provide the management team with the reports they need to monitor and run the business, then management focus shifts to other ways to get the reports outside of the software, which in turn causes a problem with adoption. Effective end-user adoption is the key to the company's return on investment.

Training should reinforce the strategy, not just focus on the technology. Once the marketing strategy has been set and the CRM has been designed to support those efforts, training must be offered to support that strategy. While the end users certainly need to know how to locate contacts in the database, effective training will focus on how to use the new technology to implement the company's marketing strategy.

It is generally agreed that end-user training plays a direct role in any CRM project's success, but even in training there are some things companies can do to improve its effectiveness.

Most important, the trainers should make true believers out of the people using the software, by not just showing them how a feature works, but why they would want to use it and how it will allow them to accomplish more or free them from repetitive burdens or reporting tasks. The training needs to focus on showing the end-user how using the software will help them exceed their quotas and make more money.

Get end-user buy-in before subjecting them to training. Include the users in some of the initial marketing strategy planning meetings. Then, divide the training by job categories. Support staff will not use the same features that the road warrior will need.

Finally, follow-up mini-training sessions are great for keeping the staff fresh and utilizing as much of the software's functionality as possible.

When learning any new software, there is only so much that can be absorbed at one session. Very few users get the whole picture the first time they learn the product. Follow-up training is a great way to reinforce productivity features and to answer questions that arise after the implementation.

People who understand that the sales function is a process and actively work the system tend to be among the top sales performers.

It could be argued that the top 10 percent of salespeople will remain successful without training, while the bottom 10 percent won't be helped by much of anything. However, that middle range can benefit greatly from a well-implemented CRM software system and focused training.

They are the group that wants to succeed and with the help of today's powerful software offerings, they can be more successful and make more money. When this happens, everything else in the company pretty much takes care of itself.