Nearly One in Two Sales Professionals Cite Lack of Mobile Access as Barrier to Selling, According to MicroStrategy Online Survey

TYSONS CORNER, Va., Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MicroStrategy^® Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR), a leading worldwide provider of enterprise software, today announced the results of a recent survey of over 500 U.S. organizations* on the use of tablet computers to support sales activities across many industries.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121220/NE32662-INFO )

Results of the survey reveal that:

• Nearly one in two salespeople cite limited mobile access to key sales systems— i.e. Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content Management, Order Management—as a challenge.
• C-level executives point to their respective salesforces' lack of understanding of customer needs as a major barrier to selling (75%), along with failure to keep product knowledge current (50%).
• The top five desired activities to perform on a mobile device include: create or update opportunities, view sales collateral, view CRM records, view sales analytics, and collaborate and share ideas with other sales team members.
• Most sales organizations (72%) grade themselves at a B-level or below on sales meeting quality. To see additional survey result detail, visit: http://www.microstrategy.com/download/files/mobile/MSESurveyResults.pdf.

MicroStrategy's Mobile Platform meets the needs identified by this survey and drives sales effectiveness.

"Mobile apps, built on MicroStrategy, put comprehensive, dynamic product information on tablets and into the hands of salespeople at the point of interaction with customers--improving the quality and effectiveness of the meeting," said Dan Kerzner, Senior Vice President, Mobile, MicroStrategy Incorporated. "Organizations can positively impact sales productivity by deploying apps on mobile devices that integrate key sales systems, allowing salespeople to perform selling tasks while out working in the field. Our recent survey points to the pressing need for mobile, especially tablet-based solutions for corporate sales forces worldwide."

The MicroStrategy Mobile App Platform In Use Around the World

• CEVA Sante Animale: Global veterinary pharmaceutical company CEVA Sante Animale built a sales enablement app that aggregates CRM, ERP and sales data, and makes that information available to one hundred sales reps both online and offline. According to Francois Tricot, CEVA Chief Information Officer, "The MicroStrategy sales app is very easy to use and provides our sales reps with immediate access to all the data they need to customize a conversation with a client -- even if they don't have network connectivity -- optimize their time, and make the sale. Sales reps don't like having to go back at the end of the day and update the CRM tool; they want a tool that helps them get their jobs done in real-time."
• MicroStrategy: MicroStrategy utilizes its Mobile App Platform to support its own field sales team as well as partner organizations around the world. According to Jack Madigan, MicroStrategy Vice President of Worldwide Sales Programs, "MicroStrategy has blurred the line between all the back-end systems that sales reps would typically have to access on a siloed basis. Instead, MicroStrategy presents the back-end information to them seamlessly, in one app on a mobile device. Mobile app adoption across our global salesforce has been phenomenal."
• Additional customers using the MicroStrategy Mobile Sales Effectiveness Apps to support their field sales teams, enhance customer engagement, and increase sales effectiveness include AutoTrader.com, Banco Espirito Santo, Lowe's Companies, MetLife, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. These companies have chosen the MicroStrategy Mobile App platform because it is simple to use, intuitive, and requires little to no training.

On-Demand Webcast on Mobile Sales Effectiveness

In a recent webcast, MicroStrategy discussed detailed survey results as well as the types of MicroStrategy Mobile-built apps that customers across a variety of industries have deployed to support their field sales teams, enhance customer engagement, and increase sales effectiveness. The on-demand webcast and additional details on MicroStrategy Mobile Sales Effectiveness Apps are available at: www.microstrategy.com/mobile/sales-apps.

MicroStrategy App in iTunes App Store

To download the MicroStrategy Mobile iPad App, visit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microstrategy-mobile-for-ipad/id382821025?mt=8. To download the MicroStrategy Mobile iPhone App, visit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microstrategy-mobile-for-iphone/id376256699?mt=8. View "Apps for Sales" section to view demos and other related resources.

*This online survey is based on the responses of 500 U.S. organizations, predominately in sales (83%). Nearly 40 percent indicated their organization employed more than 25,000 people. The survey respondents represented a diverse group of industries, including pharmaceutical, healthcare, travel, manufacturing, technology, telecommunications, energy and utilities, consumer packaged goods, financial services, retail, and more.

About MicroStrategy Incorporated

Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy is a leading provider of enterprise software platforms for business intelligence (BI), mobile intelligence, and social intelligence applications. MicroStrategy's BI platform enables leading organizations worldwide to analyze the vast amounts of data stored across their enterprises to make better business decisions.  Companies choose MicroStrategy BI for its ease-of-use, sophisticated analytics, and superior data and user scalability.  MicroStrategy's mobile intelligence platform helps companies and organizations build, deploy, and maintain mobile apps across a range of solutions by embedding intelligence, transactions, and multimedia into apps.  MicroStrategy's social intelligence platform includes a number of applications that help enterprises harness the power of social networks for marketing and e-commerce, as well as a suite of free consumer friendly apps that use MicroStrategy's enterprise technologies.  The MicroStrategy Cloud offering combines MicroStrategy and third-party software, hardware, and services to enable rapid, cost-effective development of hosted BI, mobile, and social applications.  To learn more about MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), visit www.microstrategy.com and follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/microstrategy) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/microstrategy).

MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform, MicroStrategy Cloud, and MicroStrategy Mobile are either trademarks or registered trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated in the United States and certain other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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Contact:
Warren Getler
MicroStrategy Incorporated
703-744-6258
[email protected]

SOURCE MicroStrategy Incorporated