Posted by Tom Rothrock on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 @ 03:53 PM
It seems that every day in the Sales 2.0 universe brings new applications directly intended for sales professionals. They promote sales efficiency and effectiveness by offering personal productivity improvements and expanded data retrieval capabilities.
In many respects, it is an embarrassment of riches - solutions with powerful features, speed and functionalities that promise a jolt to your sales rep's performance better than a can of Red Bull.
However appealing all of those applications are there is a danger lurking: will your reps use them to their intended level of effectiveness or will they be a distraction from their sales productivity?
Within sales organizations of all sizes, there are internal struggles going on between IT departments, sales management and senior management about which applications have priority and which do not.
Often, those discussions take place at the upper reaches of the organizational chart without the input of the sales team - in whose hands the success or failure of the application ultimately rests.
One sales organization's recent experience bears this out when senior management mandated the use of a very clunky in-house CRM. The software was dated, requiring reps to repeatedly enter duplicate data and was little more than a post-activity record keeping tool which served management's ends but was of little benefit to the sales team.
Unfortunately the mandate went over the protests of the sales manager, who had successfully engaged the reps in using a SaaS tool which improved call effectiveness and performance. The sales manager had argued for the replacement of the in-house CRM with a more up-to-date and user-friendly tool but was overruled.
The outcome was predictable: the reps spent more time on the CRM - because they "had" to - and less on the SaaS tool. As a result, they became documenters of after-the-fact "accident reports" instead taking the steps to lead their sales cycle. Morale and performance declined, eventually leading to the departure of the sales manager as well as the top performers of the sales team.
What can you do to prevent this from happening and avoid being a casualty in "The Battle of the Apps?"
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When in the field with your sales team, pay close attention to the applications they're using and the ones they're not. With that input, you'll know which are candidates for replacement or upgrade.
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Before proceeding with any new application, have your top performers' field test and evaluate it. Select those on your team who will give you an honest appraisal of the application's strengths and weaknesses. Later on, this will aid "buy-in" from your reps if you decide to implement the application.
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Early on, apprise your senior management of the direction you're going and keep them in the loop. It's important for them to understand what you're seeking to accomplish. Always express your outcomes in terms of expected R.O.I. benefits, increased sales or cost/time savings.
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When enterprise wide applications are being considered, be sure you're positioned to give a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" from the sales perspective. If you don't, your team could get stuck with a "clunker" that's suited for procurement and not sales.
You don't want to be stuck with a ‘clunker' application that doesn't meet your sales team's needs. Your careful attention to those needs will assure your reps end up winning the battle!
Photo Credit: Craig Hatfield
Posted by Jim Kasper on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 @ 10:26 AM
Your Most Potent Sales Tool
When you normally enumerate your company's sales tools, you include: CRM, sales methodology, pre-call planning tool, sales team, website, marketing literature, product/engineer specialists, key account planning formats, and training. How many of you include one of your most potent weapons, your CEO?
At this very moment, you may be thinking, "Our CEO? Our CEO has a technical background. Our CEO has never been on a sales call...ever. Our CEO deals with highly strategic issues such as finance and legal, not sales issues. Honestly, our CEO is great person, but I don't want our CEO on a sales call with me.
TOP to TOP Social Network Selling
It's okay to feel that way, but we're not suggesting your CEO leave behind strategic duties to make sales calls. We're recommending that you leverage your CEO's position to build a special bond with TOP of your current customers and targeted prospects.
It's called "TOP" (The Opportunity Producer) to TOP social networking selling and it works. We call it TOP, not CEO because the high level person within your customer, who can influence the decision, may be a Vice President, Director, or Manager.
The concept: Your CEO, upon prompting, socially networks via email, article forwards, phone, or other means with TOPs of your customer base and targeted prospects.
Is Your CEO Social Network Savvy?
Very few CEOs are "social network savvy." Ask yourself these questions about your CEO:
- Does your CEO understand social networking (and for that matter, Sales 2.0)?
- When is the last time your CEO communicated by email with one of your "priority" prospect's CEOs or TOPs?
- On a scale of 1 - 5 (1 meaning not willing at all and 5 meaning already very active social networker), where would your CEO rank if asked to send out a prescripted email to the CEO or TOP of a large prospect?
- Does your CEO view new business as a strategic issue?
Why Does TOP to TOP Social Networking Work?
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Your customers'/prospects' TOPs possess much of the information you want and need to close opportunities.
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Candidly, your customer's CEO/TOP is indeed the person who can "produce the opportunity" for you.
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Quite honestly, your CEO carries "influence" that you may not.
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Your CEO's emails and phone calls will draw the attention that yours will not.
5 Steps: Use Sales 2.0 to Make Your CEO A Potent Social Networking Tool
1. Clearly define your current "A" accounts and identify the prospects that you wish to target for new business opportunities.
2. Using Sales 2.0 technologies like Jigsaw, Linkedin, InsideView, Google, Hoovers, or Dow Jones Factiva identify The Opportunity Producer at each current "A" account and prospective "A" account.
3. Enter the company name and TOP targets into Google Alerts, Hoovers, and Dow Jones Factiva as trigger events, a Sales 2.0 process.
4. Build a social networking strategy for your CEO. Put together standard emails for your CEO based upon trigger event searches. To assure success and CEO comfort, build pre-call plans for your CEO before each call to TOP.
5. Sell the CEO on the advantages.
For a no obligation demonstration of how to script your CEO's calls, click here.
Photo Credit: Mike G. Foster School of Business