Now, sales analytics on the iPad for field-sales data consumption

Developed in HTML5, the preferred language for iPad apps and other mobile-computing devices, AgileM is said to provide a level of sales analytics traditionally limited to home office, desk-bound computers to reps in the field wielding their popular iPads and similar mobile devices. Although the Waltham, MA-based company claims AgileM to be the first mobile analytics solution, that’s a matter of degree, not kind; other sales force automation tools provide analytics functions, but in less well-coordinated, multiple data views that can be difficult to comprehend. AgileM presents a dashboard with key performance information, based on scrip data, inventory reports, client history and other analytics functions in an easy-to-read “intuitive and guided analytic experience,” says Zackary King, Trinity co-founder.

One of the technical limitations of interactive tablets is the lesser amount of onboard computing power; to get around this successfully, says King, analytics functions need to be written as iPad apps. Behind the app stands Trinity’s cloud-based analytics and data-visualization technologies. The end result is to put sophisticated analytics in the hands of field salespeople, where they can do the most good in managing daily sales tasks. Trinity says that it works with most widely available CRM systems.

Industry sources say that the next wave of advances in sales force automation is these types of analytics. Various surveys show that rep use of the features of CRM systems is rarely as complete as the software packages reps have been handed.