Press release: Company in the world’s most intelligent region has solution for safeguarding knowledge
18.07.11
Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 18 July 2011 – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has named the Eindhoven Region as the world’s most intelligent community for the year 2011. The ICF praised the Eindhoven Region for its innovation and economic and social appeal for knowledge workers from all over the world. It is no coincidence that one of the world’s most intelligent software companies specifically chose Eindhoven as its home base. Software builder Sofon takes advantage of the strong knowledge infrastructure and the well-educated personnel that the Eindhoven Region offers to build software that makes companies smarter.
A great deal of high-quality expertise is required to sell customer-specific products and services. Usually, only the most experienced employees possess this expertise. If this knowledge is made accessible to all sales personnel, this will have a positive effect on the company’s operational management. As Otto van der Tang, Managing Director Sofon, explains, “By offering companies a sales-support system, in which knowledge from the entire company can be stored, that knowledge no longer leaves the organization the moment that experienced employees leave the company. Knowledge is also very easily transferable. New sales personnel are guided through the sales process, in a manner of speaking – which is also why we use the term Guided Selling Software – and can soon make an error-free quotation without the need to have thorough knowledge.”
Safeguarding knowledge, therefore, is crucial to the continuity of a company. As Van der Tang says, “Sales personnel can use the stored knowledge of colleagues and generate quotations using a question-and-answer method. Companies make accurate quotations many times faster with Guided Selling than with their old working methods. In this way, companies gain an advantage over their competition. A quicker quotation cycle time often translates into higher scoring probabilities.”
But what makes Sofon the world’s most intelligent software? “Unlike many of our (custom) competitors, Sofon delivers standard software”, says Van der Tang. “Standard, here, means: suitable to any company, without the need for time-consuming, costly and inflexible customizations. Sofon, therefore, can also be quickly implemented and maintained by the sales personnel themselves, without the time-consuming and costly help of IT or external consultants.”