Follow-up
You should never consider a deal complete when you get paid. Customers are valued sources of new business (in themselves) as well as wonderful sources of referrals. Therefore (and for your own peace of mind and self-respect), you want satisfied customers. The follow-up stage is really a life cycle all its own. Follow-up means staying in touch with your customer and continuing the relationship.

Again, Iambic's Sales Warrior could come in handy. You might also want to look at the new version of FrontRange's GoldMine 5.0 designed for the Palm OS. You'll find information on that at http://www.frontrange.com.

Analysis (debriefing)
Whether a deal closed easily, closed with effort, or failed, you need to debrief. Make sure you (and all the other members of your sales team) understand what worked and what didn't. Communicate to other departments any lessons learned from the selling process and any needs you have based on prospect feedback. Learn from the process.

Most companies approach sales like a visit to a casino in Las Vegas; just toss the dice and see what happens. But selling, like every other part of your business, can have a process methodology that makes it effective. Selling is incredibly important to the success of your business. Don't treat it like a carnival sideshow act.

Tools you can use
Elsewhere in this issue of PalmPower Magazine Enterprise Edition, you'll find more detailed descriptions of the products I touched on above. You'll also find many other great applications that can help you integrate your Palm device into your sales force automation strategy.

Steve Niles is Senior Editor for ZATZ Publishing. He is also an independent filmmaker and freelance writer. For more information, visit http://www.sn-films.com.