Technologies to Jump Start Your Sales Organization
April 25, 2008
By David Thompson
In today's Web 2.0 world, your customer often knows almost as much about your company's products as your Sales reps do. With instant access to corporate Web sites, search and social networks, your customers have company and product information at their finger tips. Not only that but this all-access information pass gives them much more control over the sales process than they had in the days when brochures and pricing were available only from a sales rep. In fact, many prospective customers postpone talking with a sales rep as long as possible, believing that they'll get a better deal by acquiring as much "ammunition" as possible.
To keep pace, organizations are looking to level the playing field and bring Sales back into the equation. They are turning to a new set of methodologies and technologies, called Sales 2.0, which take advantage of the Internet to understand and connect with prospects to offer superior service. Translation? Companies will sell more.
In the Sales 2.0 Know
As defined in Sales 2.0 For Dummies, Sales 2.0 is:
… using new technologies and techniques that let Sales harness the power of the Internet to attract, cultivate, and close more customers more quickly … Sales 2.0 removes the overhead and inefficiencies that previously kept you from finding the right person to exchange information with.
Sales 2.0 technologies are not new. They began with the advent of web conferencing and on-demand CRM in the late 1990’s, but have come into their own with the emergence of broadband, software-as-a-service, and a range of tools for user-generated content and interaction that have enabled sales organizations to leverage corporate Web sites and the Internet to shorten sales cycles and increase selling velocity. Sales 2.0 technologies enable sales professionals to better attract, interact, track and manage their customers and prospects.
As a first step, sales professionals can now use online database and networking tools to attract customers to their Web sites. Companies like Jigsaw, SaleSpider, Hoovers and Spoke provide developed lists of prospective customers, based on a variety of target criteria--such as company size, type, location and so on. And targeting services exist as well—such as Genius.com's SalesGenius—to help Sales identify those prospects who are most interested in what you're selling and interact with them immediately.
Instant Communication
With products from Genius, IM, LivePerson and others you can serve your most important customers in seconds, while they are on the Web site. They get their questions answered and the rep moves the buying process forward. Being able to interact with a prospect in a moment when they are actively browsing is key. It’s what Geoffrey Moore, strategy consultant and best-selling author of "Crossing the Chasm" calls the "Light Touch, Right Touch" method of Sales 2.0 selling. You can target the right people with the right touch instead of spending endless amounts of time cold-calling the wrong people.
Armed with instant insight about which prospects are most interested, sales reps can then use other Sales 2.0 solutions to speed up the sales cycle. Web conferencing solutions like WebEx Sales Center or rich media presentations from Brainshark, enable them to quickly reach out to the most interested prospects with tailored and powerful communications.
Once the contact has been made, all this information can be retained in a CRM system so the rep can track his or her pipeline activity, its recent developments, history and actions.
Close a Deal, Open a Relationship
Technologies are also in place to help reps close the sale and then encourage customer loyalty leading to future purchases. Sales can use products like Nsite and EchoSign to provide online contract and approval management.
After the sale, online communities, powered by companies such as Lithium and LucidEra, are taking the best of social networking and making it available for enterprises. Companies can attain product feedback, generate grass roots ideas and foster collaboration to close the loop with their customers once the purchase has been made. And because the Web enables metrics, you can measure it all to gauge your success from initial the click through the pipeline stage to conversion and close.
Successful Adaptation
Sales 2.0 technologies are delivering instant information that build relationships and enable sales to be more efficient, more cost-effective, and more productive than the old Willie-Lohman-style of selling. Just as the Internet allowed buyers to literally let their fingers do the walking, these new Sales 2.0 technologies are allowing the customer's online behavior to dictate the communication—before Sales does the talking. And it's a change that is paying off for both parties. Reps are learning about—and instantly adapting to—customer's buying behaviors to help customers buy the right products to meet their needs.
David Thompson is CEO of Genius.com
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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