Jill Konrath - Selling to Big Companies

How can you accelerate sales in a 2.0 world?

That's the lead-off topic this morning at the Sales 2.0 conference in San Francisco

Insights from Brett Queener, SVP, Applications at salesforce.com

• Cloud computing: It's on application that everyone shares online, but each company/individual can customize. Monthly fees, not high IT costs.
  
  The result? It costs less, is more secure & reliable and has automatic update. Lots of vendors here with cloud applications such as: ZoomInfo, Jigsaw, Genius, InsideView.

• Customers have lots of input into what to develop. That's a total reversal of traditional product development. Gerhard from Selling Power highlighted that trend yesterday.

• How can the cloud help the seller be more effective? That's the key question to ask.

• Sales 2.0 is using the cloud to increase sales.

Breakout session on Sales Management 2.0

• Jeanne Glass, from Fair Isaac talking about how Miller Heiman strategy/platform making a huge difference in their sales organization
  
  Deal scoring = great tool to discover what they might be missing & what needs to be done next. Have tied sales funnel to their scorecard. Results? Increased close rates & metric-based decision making.

• Thomas Barrieau, Program Manager of IDC Sales Advisory Practice talking about five factors impacting sales productivity: metrics/reporting + talent management+ sales management + sales methodology + sales enablement.
  
  Sales enablement (my favorite area): the delivery of the right (RELEVANT) information to the right sales professional at the right time (TIME OF SALES CYCLE) in the right place to move a specific opportunity forward.
  
  Big opportunity in sales/marketing alignment. Currently it's getting worse. Having shared metrics is key to ensuring they're aligned.
  
  Key statistic: 57% reps showing up unprepared or somewhat prepared! UNBELIEVABLE in today's business environment when it takes so much work to get a meeting.

Spent time this morning talking to Matt Brezina, Founder of Xobni. If you're using Outlook right now, check them out. Xobni hooks you up to a person's LinkedIn account, Facebook account and more.

Plus, it keeps track of all your conversations with people - and enables you to get information & make connections with anyone who has ever been cc-ed on your emails. Please note: xobni is inbox backwards.

Hope you enjoyed the updates! It's almost over.

What should you be measuring? Insights from Sales 2.0 Conference

Pelin Wood Thorogood of Aegean Group spoke about how Marketing can significantly increase the number of qualified leads with the same marketing budget.

Critical to success is implementing a culture of measurement. She recommends tracking the following statistics be analyzed in the Marketing Dashboard are how campaigns were performing, cost per impression, cost per click, cost per conversion and lead scoring.

Sales also is a lead generator. Statistics to measure include these:

• Pipeline velocity (size & shape)
• Stealth pipeline
• Days to win vs. days to use
• Pipeline at risk
• Future pipeline
• Pipeline bloat
• ... and more!

Smart, savvy companies are adopting a culture of measurement. The biggest challenge is related to accountability. People are afraid; want to hide what they're doing. But it brings great value because it adds visibility & predictability.

Alex Scalisi, Director of Business Development at Vertical Response gave a compelling presentation on how his company was using LucidEra's to identify risks and opportunities in their pipeline.

Barry Trailer from CSO Insights pointed out that a recession drives the need for the analytics.  And, to emphasize the point, Gerhard Gschwantner from Selling Power quoted Warren Buffet, "When the tide goes out, you can see who has been swimming naked!"

David Holmes, VP of Sales Ops from Informatica, has implemented a compensation management system. Results achieved include:

• Radical reduction in reconciliation drama
• Less stress at end of quarter
• Greater trust
• Increased management productivity

Additionally it allowed them to expand the sales force by 25%, with a 50% reduction in admin support.

Barry Trailer sees that the real value of the Sales 2.0 analytics is that it enables Sales Management 2.0 coaching - focused on the real issues, making a real difference.

What am I learning at the Sales 2.0 Conference?

Definition of Sales 2.0, as per David Thompson, CEO of Genius: Sales 2.0 combines customer-focused processes with Web 2.0 productivity technologies to enhance the art and science of selling while creating customer value.

It's all about driving more revenue, more quickly, through the pipeline.

According to Thompson, it's all about Marketing & Sales:

• Being in alignment with the customer throughout the buying and lead life cycle.
• Working collaboratively to approach buyers when they're ready, extracting timely and relevant insights and sharing customer intelligence.
• Accelerating and optimizing every phase of the sales funnel by connecting with the right prospects at the right time.
• Measuring and improving the lead-to-opportunity conversion equation and sales performance.

Thoughts from Scott Santucci, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.
Santucci covered the entire lead generation & sales process - what's broken & what needs to be done. Key points include:

• The salesperson IS your company to prospective customers. Most companies are asking their sellers to learn so much! What's broken right now is the conversation between the buyer and seller.

• Both buyers and sellers are suffering from complexity problem. Customers are suffering from too much info, vendor fatigue, more stakeholders involved & longer decisions. Sellers also have complex portfolios, random acts of enablement and changes in their company.

• Need to flip the focus of Marketing/Sales: Model it around customer problems/decision process; Map it around the problem portfolio. Then, Match sales tools to this process to support customer conversations.

Key take-aways from Jim Dickie, CSO Insights:

• Lead generation #1 sales effectiveness initiative this year. Recent study: qualified leads that turn into discussion now at 39%; down from 55% .

• Need to recognize Buying 2.0 too! Customer now get all sorts of information about your products, services, capabilities - way before they talk to a seller.

• Recommended customer engagement objectives for 2009: 1) Optimize prospect intelligence; 2) Develop enhanced messaging; 3) Create enhanced sales/prospect engagement tools; 4) Nurture sales leads and 5) Integrate lead management/CR analytics.

• Companies must make existing lead follow-up more effective. They don't have big enough marketing budgets to keep generating more leads.

I'll be back this afternoon with more insights!

Why you should misspell your last name on LinkedIn - and other important LinkedIn strategies you may be overlooking

Are you still trying to figure on how to get LinkedIn to work for you?

If so, then you need to meet Patrick O'Malley. He's a true LinkedIn Wizard who has helped me take my profile to the next level. Check out this video.

Click here to learn more about Patrick O'Malley, his LinkedIn expertise, coaching & training programs. He has more great articles, videos and tips on his website.

Also, if we're not connected on LinkedIn yet, send me an invite and mention this blog post. I'll accept your invitation in a nanosecond.

Here's my LinkedIn profile: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/sellingtobigcompanies

The Sales 2.0 Movement: Do You Know What it Is?

If you haven't been paying attention to all the dialogue on Sales 2.0, I'd like to direct you to this excellent article on SalesTeamTools.com. At the end of the article you'll find a ton of great resources can fundamentally change how you sell today.

The Wrong Definition of Sales 2.0
By Brandon Hull

There’s been a new term making the rounds the last couple years: “Sales 2.0.” But as with anything “2.0,” a few are leading the charge to innovate, while others are jumping on the bandwagon simply to use the term.

The sad thing is, while some of the latter group carry solid sales training credentials, they would have you believe that teaching 2.0 means regurgitating the same advice given over the last 45 years.

Here’s a call out to sales authors to use Sales 2.0 and mean it. If 2.0 refers to the “new version” or “next generation” or “next evolution” or “new approach” for doing something, then it can never be about reissuing a message that’s been taught for years.

Sales 2.0 is not “ask more questions.”
Sales 2.0 is not “sell yourself.”
Sales 2.0 is not “sell benefits, not features.”
Sales 2.0 is not “be unique.”
Sales 2.0 is not “don’t sell on price.”
Sales 2.0 is not “be sharp on the phone.”

Sales has always been about those things. The fact that it’s more important today than 5, 10, or 20 years ago, doesn’t suddenly make it innovative or insightful advice. Those are sales principles, they’re certainly not innovative techniques or approaches.

Continue reading to learn more.

Marketing Moguls

Marketo, a lead management software company that bridges the gap between sales & marketing, just named me as one of its Marketing Moguls.

I'm proud to be in this prestige group of strategic advisors that includes Ardath Albee, Brian Carroll, Mac McIintosh, and Laura Patterson.

If you have time, join Marketo's Revenue Revolution Manifesto.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

• That marketing and sales are equally important Contributors to Revenue and have certain rights and responsibilities;
• That among these are Cooperation, Communication and Collaboration in the pursuit of Revenue; and
• That marketing and sales Coordinated in action can create easier and better quality sales cycles that foster explosive revenue growth.

In order to form a more functional Revenue organization, we hereby declare and decree that marketing and sales will unite to: (click to finish reading)

Using Technology to Increase Sales Productivity

I've never much liked most sales-related technology. For the most part, it's implemented for the good of the corporation, not the individual who's making the calls.

Occasionally, I come across technology that warms my heart. From the moment I see it, I know that using it will help sellers get more done - easier & faster. That's exactly how I felt when I saw Jigsaw and the iPhone.*

Last year, two technology companies really impressed me:

• InsideView - a business search and intelligence application that can notify salespeople of triggering events in their targeted accounts. As I point out in my book, Selling to Big Companies, this is the best way to shorten your sales cycle. Plus, InsideView can be set up to notify sellers of any changes in an organization - including personnel, company news releases and more.

• Landslide** - an on-beyond CRM tool that was designed for salespeople. It literally has tools built into it that help sellers advance the process, not just track sales meetings. Plus, their most recent release has customizable email prospecting tools and more.

When I heard the announcement today that Landslide was integrating SalesView from InsideView into their system, it seemed like the marriage made in heaven.

Why?  Everything a seller needs is all in one place. There's no need to go searching and scouring the web for updates about the companies you want to get into. Instead, this info is all dropped on your workspace.

All you need to do then is figure out how to integrate this new info into your account entry campaign. That's selling. That's what you're good at. That's the best use of your time - not spending hours poking through google hoping to uncover a savory tidbit of insider information.

To increase your sales productivity, check out all the above resources.

* I got the iPhone as a Christmas present from my really nice husband.!

**In the spirit of full disclosure, I am on the Advisory Board for Landslide. The reason I got involved is because I liked how they built their system from a salesperson's perspective.

LinkedIn & High Growth Entrepreneurs

If you want to do business with rapidly growing small & medium-sized businesses (SMBs), you'll find them on LinkedIn. According to Warrillow & Co., a consultancy that helps big companies reach the SMB market, a whopping 67% of these high-growth firms are more than 4 times as likely to be registered members.

Why would this be important for you? Here's what they say:

Warrillow research shows that SMBs with more than 10% annual growth comprise just 15% of the market, yet account for 60% of spending on a core group of high-value products and services, including business credit cards, lines of credit, hardware, software, telecommunications and office management supplies/services.

Since high-growth small businesses are 4 times as likely to be registered on LinkedIn, enterprises have an unprecedented opportunity to intercept a large segment of small business owners with the propensity to spend more – and more often. What's more, LinkedIn company profiles (numbering more than 100,000 in the small business segment) offer a more in-depth business overview that helps you truly understand the people behind the business: who they are, what drives them and how to reach them.

If you're interested in learning more about selling to the SMB market, Warrillow offers weekly webinars on this topic.

Quick Start LinkedIn Tutorial

Last month I presented a workshop on how to leverage online thought leadership strategies to attract the attention of corporate decision makers. Of course, I talked about the importance of LinkedIn.

Many of the attendees were unsure of its value so I suggested they download my ebook on Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales?

Tech guru Patrick O'Malley was also at the conference, presented an excellent session on on Advertising with Google AdWords on a $50 Budget. He LOVES teaching people how to get the most out of technology.

When I got back to the office, Patrick sent me an email with several suggestions on how to improve my own LinkedIn profile. He said to include:

• Common misspellings of my name & my maiden name, so I immediately added Jill Conrath, Jill Conrad, Jill Konrad & Jill Ulseth to my profile.
• Keywords people might use to find someone like me in the summary area. So wihout wasting a moment, I added a paragraph that included words like "sales training programs, sales seminars & keynote speaker."

For more of his excellent advice, check out his LinkedIn Quick Start Tutorial or his other Time Saving "Pat Tricks."

Get Free Contact Data for 1+ Million Companies

I was in the midst of writing Selling to Big Companies when Jigsaw first contacted me. They'd just launched a sales portal where salespeople could buy or trade business contacts.

Since my book focused on the challenges of cracking into corporate accounts, I was immediately interested in learning more. I liked what I saw - and even recommended Jigsaw in my chapter on how to find decision makers' names.

Now Jigsaw is on the move again. They’ve just launched the Open Data Initiative—a fast & free way to download thousands of company records in just seconds. What does that mean to you?  In short, no more:

• Searching the web for one off company data.
• Renting costly company directory lists.
• Subscribing to expensive data services.

With the Open Data Initiative you can quickly ID companies in your target market and build your list in seconds. Free company data starts on June 4th. Check it out.

Cool Sales Tools You Can Use

NetProspex, a website where sellers can buy/exchange leads, just released the Sales Lead Toolkit with some cool tools you might find helpful:

Company Email Pattern Lookup: Use this tool to select a company and find the email pattern for that organization.

Email Checker: Use this tool to evaluate the validity of an email address without actually sending one to a recipient. It can also be used to verify a group of email addresses.

Leads by URL: This tool helps you quickly find contacts in your target companies just by inputting a target company URL. Use the search feature to select your leads by title, job function or geography.

Hopefully, they'll help you find the right person to contact in those big companies.

Linked In Resources

Since my recent article series on how sellers can use LinkedIn to increase sales, readers have shared these resources with me:

Jan Visser of SalesTeamTools provides a contrarian perspective on the value of LinkedIn in his article called 3 Reasons LinkedIn Won't Help You Sell.

Rob Kingma of Ernst & Young Revenue Growth Services recommends listening to the Connections podcast, hosted by Stan Relihan. It focuses on using LinkedIn and other networking sites to build business and personal profile.

Brandon Hull of SalesTeamTools suggest checking out 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn on the LinkedIntelligence blog. This article has ideas from tons of different users.

Hope this helps! If you know any more resources to help sellers assess if they should get involved with LinkedIn, please add them in the comments below. Thanks!

Part III: Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales?

What can I do to be more effective? It's a question that's always on my mind. That's why I began this exploration of LinkedIn. I wanted to find out if and how sellers were leveraging this technology to improve their sales results.

In the final article of this 3-part series, you'll discover even more ways you can use this tool to create more opportunities, connect with decision makers and win more business. Again, real sellers and real results.

Strategic Visibility & Connecting
Tim Hayden, President of Game Plan Marketing & Events shares what he's trained his team to do with LinkedIn:

1. Focus on connecting. Anytime you receive a business card from its owner, you then "know" this person. While not everyone is a valuable link, search for that person on LinkedIn right away. Because you have their email, you can send them an invitation to connect.

2. Increase your visibility. Don't simply add people to your network. Ask or answer questions on LinkedIn. Make sure your public profile is complete. But most of all, recommend people in your network and ask them to recommend YOU!

Anytime you do any of the above, LinkedIn posts updates online or in weekly updates to everyone in your network.

3. Make LinkedIn your homepage. Whenever I open my browser, I can immediately review my "LinkedIn Home Page" which shows what others in my network are doing and who they're connecting with. I also check every 2-3 days to see "Who's Viewed My Profile." Just as you can use web statistics to see what companies are looking at your website, you can also see with about 80% accuracy who's been checking out your profile.

In the past two months, I've used these strategies to identify more than 20 new business leads –and converted two to clients!

Part II: Can LinkedIn Increase Sales?

LinkedIn, the online business networking site, connects over 17 million experienced professionals from over 150 countries. Yikes! That's so many that it makes my head spin. I'd love to fantasize that a few of these people would stumble onto my profile, be suitably impressed and initiate contact. But so far, it hasn't turned out that way.

Yet many sellers have learned how to leverage LinkedIn to drive more sales. They're not sitting around waiting for their phone to ring. Instead, they're using it as an additional resource that supports their prospecting efforts.

Here's how your peers are using LinkedIn to grow their business. True stories. Real results.

Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales?

As a self-professed technophobe, using social media such as LinkedIn is not second nature to me. I force myself to experiment with these new mediums knowing that ultimately they'll have an impact on the selling profession - even though I'm still unsure what it might be.

About 2 years ago, I set up my profile on LinkedIn. It was sterile & boring, conveying only enough to enable me to say I had an online presence. Then last year I read entrepreneurial guru Guy Kawasaki's blog article on his LinkedIn Profile Extreme Makeover and felt compelled to redo mine based on what I learned.

Since then, I've accepted numerous invitations to connect, yet fretted if I should since many came from total strangers. I've written a few recommendations and received a few.

Mostly I was a passive observer - waiting for some sales miracles to happen. Of course, they never did and I began to doubt LinkedIn's ability to deliver real tangible results.

Help for Forgetful Sellers

I have too much to do. That's the reality of my world. I suspect you're having the same problem.

When I launched the Sales Shebang this fall, life got even crazier. I had more details to remember than was humanly possible - literally. Post-It notes were layered on top of my computer screen. My To Do lists had babies. I couldn't keep track of everything.

But finally, help has arrived! Last week on the Sales Team Tools blog, I came across an article called, "Why Our New Admin Will Never Get a Raise."

They've been using Sandy, so I decided to give her a try too! I'm liking her!

When I'm busy working at my desk and a random thought comes to me such as: "I need to follow up with the printer on Monday", I quickly jot Sandy a note about it.

Sure enough, bright and early Monday morning, she sends me an email to remind me. She even keeps a list for me of all the To Do's that I've sent to ensure I keep organized.

My next step is to send Sandy a note to make sure I remember my kid's birthdays. They just hate it when I forget!    ;-)