Google Docs and the Lonely Road Warrior

A friend who recently retired as an airline sales rep talked about the challenges of her job. Because she traveled across the Midwest making sales calls, she often felt disconnected from her manager and colleagues. Weekly office meetings were the only opportunity for the sales team to brainstorm, share customer comments, discuss new promotions, and review sales figures.

I told her about Google Docs and asked her to take a quick look at the Google Docs blog. When I asked if this tool's features would have made her life easier and the sales team more productive. I received a resounding, "YES!"

Using Google Docs, the six sales team members who traveled throughout the country could view and edit spreadsheets and crunch numbers together. Airline contracts are frequently affected by market conditions, i.e. oil prices, and her team could discuss adjustments before meeting with their next customer.

Documents could be uploaded, created, revised and polished before a presentation. Edits could be tracked and versions saved to gear marketing tools to specific clients. It was common to want to share customer feedback with team members after a sales visit. She described this feature as an answer to the prayer of lengthy emails with attachments "that I could never open".

She added, too, that today's market is so volatile that collaboration and discussion shouldn't wait, can't wait until all sales people can meet face to face. They need to be proactive in selling and responding to their customers, and having data at their fingertips is key. She sees Google Docs as a way to keep the lonely road warrior apprised and connected.