Let’s face it. Many sales teams today are mobile. Gone are the days when everyone sits in the same room five days a week. Sales professionals require instant access to information from wherever they are and from whatever device they choose. With half of your sales force on Android, and the other on iOS, one-size fits all solutions are long gone. This work from anywhere, device ambiguous world can be distracting, but it doesn’t have to be.

Let’s take a look at some tips that will help you and your mobile sales team work in a more efficient manner to close more deals – no matter where you are or what device you’re working on.

Ditch internal email (as much as possible)

It goes without saying that when working on a team, communication is key. Being able to quickly and effectively share information, notes and tips can make or break a sale.

Email is a tried and true communication method, but it’s one that can often lead to an overwhelming feeling when you have an inbox that’s overflowing with random message you’re cc’d on. Beyond the frustration of too much e-mail to catch up on, it’s easy to miss the most important e-mails from clients and potential customers.

Instead of relying on e-mail to communicate within your team, use group-messaging services.

Services such as Yammer allow for a chat room-style communication between team members. With mobile apps available for both Android and iOS users, your team will be able to pop in and out of topic-based chat rooms to ask or answer questions.

The overall design of Facebook, with status updates and replies being tied together in threads, is a very successful platform. With that in mind, it only makes sense for sales team communication to take a similar approach. Like Yammer, Convo offers a Facebook-esque layout and style to communicating with fellow team members. Both services offer free and paid plans, depending on the number of users. Mobile apps are available for either service.

After transitioning to a new team communication platform you’ll find the level of engagement goes up between members. Instead of worrying about replying to an email and cluttering up another’s Inbox, replying to a thread in a chat service will feel like a natural communication platform – just like social media. Save email for client communication and you’ll be more efficient.

Establish client relationships sooner rather than later

Researching what you’re selling is important, but arguably more important is who you are selling to. As you are well aware, specific clients have specific requirements, which can’t always be foreseen.

Luckily, technology makes it easy to research both current and prospective clients in order to keep tabs on what those special needs may be.

Start with the most obvious thing, the company website, and move from there to Twitter, Google +, and LinkedIn.

Sure, Google+ and Twitter can be more personal networks than LinkedIn or a website, but creating a relationship with clients, and building a rapport early on as someone who truly cares requires a personal touch. Learning tidbits about the person’s life that you won’t be able to gather from a phone or face-to-face conversation can solidify your relationship, and in the end a deal. Establishing a rapport earlier will make closing the deal faster because a relationship is already established.

Collaborate no matter where you are

Collaboration isn’t just for when everyone is gathered around a white board anymore. A service such as Google Docs makes it easy for team members to share and edit documents with one another.

Specifically, Google Docs makes it extremely easy to have multiple people viewing a document, such as a product sales sheet, and make edits or suggestions in real time. Once an edit or suggestion is added, it’s immediately shown to other document viewers where they can then add to the changes, or adjust the document as needed.

In addition to a product sales sheet, you can also create and share slideshow presentations, spreadsheets and forms. Best of all, Google Docs can be accessed on Android or iOS devices by using the Google Drive app.

If you’re not familiar, another option besides Google Docs is Base Documents. Documents makes it easy to store, track and share all of your templates, quotes, invoices, contracts, marketing materials, etc. You can securely store and collaborate on documents you need for specific Deals right in your CRM.

Ditching email as a team communication tool will greatly impact your sales team in a positive way. The pressure of constantly checking email and weeding out the noise will disappear, making communication interactive, engaging and fun again.

Add to that early social research of clients along with collaborating on a sales pitch or presentation, and you’re sure to set your sales team up with the productivity tools they need for success.

How does your sales team stay productive? Please share in the comments section below.