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Selling to the Crowd 2009

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Paul Greenberg
Paul Greenberg

The document discusses how customer expectations have changed and are no longer just looking for products but complete experiences. It also discusses how consumer thinking now penetrates business-to-business relationships. The state of mind of customers is out of a company's control so knowledge about decision makers and influencers is important. During recessions, each dollar spent needs to be optimized. The document recommends using social media like blogs, podcasts, and communities to generate leads and improve sales through better customer insights and collaboration tools.

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Paul Greenberg Author: CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition Executive Vice President CRM Association
Customer expectations have changed Customers are no longer expecting to be sold to They are expecting to be partnered with They are not expecting just a product They are expecting products, tools, services, experiences They are not just looking for utility They are looking for style & a bond with the company, not just the salesperson
Consumer thinking penetrates the company – including B2B New Blackberries, iPhone as enterprise device Interest in experience as much as utility CRM strategies move from management to engagement Permeates sales strategies – customers want to be involved in the process not just sold to No to “objects of a sale” Yes to “subjects of an experience”
The state of mind of the customer/prospect not under your control Your knowledge of the targeted organization is often not complete enough – who are the decision makers, who the influencers? Costs need to be controlled more in a recession so chances of success need to be carefully optimized – because each $$ spent counts – against you
Competition is no longer limited to companies of like size – smaller companies can compete Web information can level the competitive intelligence playing field Caveat: Web information is unstructured The thinking of salespeople has to change “Lone wolf” no longer works as well
Recession caveats Recession means that price becomes more important than it was prior – though always important Customer’s inclination to buy is reduced But so is their inclination to bolt Inertia, wait and see rules the day But nerves are still on edge & engaged personalized relationships win the day
New approaches to lead generation Better handling of opportunity Need for competitive differentiation of a new kind but through organizational knowledge & sales intelligence Reputation, influence, persuasion Based on customer insight
Lead generation Use of social media to generate leads “non- traditionally” – rich source Community discussions Threaded discussions in forums – show expertise Caveat: If you look too “salesy” you are going to be flamed. Transparency & subtlety get you a long way Blogs/Podcasts to drive comments leading to leads Tools for scoping unstructured data across the web
Opportunity management/deal closure Capture customer attention Engage other employees – sales, marketing, etc. to support the effort through community knowledge – and opinions (rating, comments) Forecast accuracy should provide some predictability & direction
Organizational knowledge/sales intelligence Improvement of communication among sales (& other) staff Using collaboration tools & UGC, can make more accurate assessments of appropriate presentations & documents for success in deals Rich information beyond standard fare
Sales intelligence for customer insight Capturing unstructured data from web in real time Incorporating it with internal CRM data to get rich customer profiles – e.g. individuals or accounts Can expand influence on clients – the more you know… Aberdeen study on Sales Intelligence (2009) found that the best-in-class companies had clearly defined and well informed customer insights Understand prospect’s business challenges (79%)(+13%) Understood how to map offerings to those business challenges (73%)(+14%) Intelligent knowledge of competitive differences (73%)(+18%)
Social CRM sales tools A.k.a Enterprise 2.0 sales tools Social media Integration between social media & CRM apps become mission-critical to contemporary sales process Communities Traditional sales tools – these are still part of the package
Social CRM sales tools Collaboration tools/services Mobile applications Direct engagement of customer Predictability Forecasting accuracy Use UGC & external sources for sales intelligence to improve chances of closing
Social CRM sales tools Features, functions, characteristics Sales collaboration, access “The information sales people really need is often not accessible” – Jim Dickie, CSO Insights Tools like wikis, webinars, WebEx-like sites Outcome based collaboration Customer analytics/community interactions Shared content Knowledgebase/libraries User generated content (comments, rankings)
Social Media Blogs Sale people write blogs “of interest”, not sales pitch Subscribers can “sell themselves” Prospecting Prospects can write guest posts Link to prospect blogs Get prospects to participate in discussion Managing the accounts Substitute “contacts” for “prospects” here
Social Media Podcasts Informative, fun, humanizing Twitter Never underestimate the value of 140 characters Other user generated content YouTube videos
Integrated CRM & social tools Accessing resources across the web & tying it to internally acquired customer data External data Blogs Traditional sources (Hoovers, Reuters, D&B) Social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Zoominfo) Open Data Initiative (Jigsaw) Business news Internal data Account info Contact info
Social Networks/Communities Create support within prospect companies & accounts A community comes pre-sold Threadless, Karmaloop Create a “personal sales support team” via advocates from a community Lead generation based on conversations going on Caveat: must be careful due to possibly trust & reputation issues
Social CRM sales Increase potential for success Increased customer insight Mitigate risk Provide collaborative environment Improve engagement with customers Portability increased Ease of use increased Competitive differentiation
Paul Greenberg Author: CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition President, The 56 Group, LLC EVP, CRM Association Co-Chair, Rutgers CRM Research Center Pgreenblog: http://the56group.typepad.com ZDNET CRM 2.0 Blog: http://blogs.zdnet.com/crm Named “Most Influential CRM 2008” by InsideCRM & CRM Magazine Email: paul-greenberg3@comcast.net Phone: 703-551-2337

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Selling to the Crowd 2009

  • 1. Paul Greenberg Author: CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition Executive Vice President CRM Association
  • 2. Customer expectations have changed Customers are no longer expecting to be sold to They are expecting to be partnered with They are not expecting just a product They are expecting products, tools, services, experiences They are not just looking for utility They are looking for style & a bond with the company, not just the salesperson
  • 3. Consumer thinking penetrates the company – including B2B New Blackberries, iPhone as enterprise device Interest in experience as much as utility CRM strategies move from management to engagement Permeates sales strategies – customers want to be involved in the process not just sold to No to “objects of a sale” Yes to “subjects of an experience”
  • 4. The state of mind of the customer/prospect not under your control Your knowledge of the targeted organization is often not complete enough – who are the decision makers, who the influencers? Costs need to be controlled more in a recession so chances of success need to be carefully optimized – because each $$ spent counts – against you
  • 5. Competition is no longer limited to companies of like size – smaller companies can compete Web information can level the competitive intelligence playing field Caveat: Web information is unstructured The thinking of salespeople has to change “Lone wolf” no longer works as well
  • 6. Recession caveats Recession means that price becomes more important than it was prior – though always important Customer’s inclination to buy is reduced But so is their inclination to bolt Inertia, wait and see rules the day But nerves are still on edge & engaged personalized relationships win the day
  • 7. New approaches to lead generation Better handling of opportunity Need for competitive differentiation of a new kind but through organizational knowledge & sales intelligence Reputation, influence, persuasion Based on customer insight
  • 8. Lead generation Use of social media to generate leads “non- traditionally” – rich source Community discussions Threaded discussions in forums – show expertise Caveat: If you look too “salesy” you are going to be flamed. Transparency & subtlety get you a long way Blogs/Podcasts to drive comments leading to leads Tools for scoping unstructured data across the web
  • 9. Opportunity management/deal closure Capture customer attention Engage other employees – sales, marketing, etc. to support the effort through community knowledge – and opinions (rating, comments) Forecast accuracy should provide some predictability & direction
  • 10. Organizational knowledge/sales intelligence Improvement of communication among sales (& other) staff Using collaboration tools & UGC, can make more accurate assessments of appropriate presentations & documents for success in deals Rich information beyond standard fare
  • 11. Sales intelligence for customer insight Capturing unstructured data from web in real time Incorporating it with internal CRM data to get rich customer profiles – e.g. individuals or accounts Can expand influence on clients – the more you know… Aberdeen study on Sales Intelligence (2009) found that the best-in-class companies had clearly defined and well informed customer insights Understand prospect’s business challenges (79%)(+13%) Understood how to map offerings to those business challenges (73%)(+14%) Intelligent knowledge of competitive differences (73%)(+18%)
  • 12. Social CRM sales tools A.k.a Enterprise 2.0 sales tools Social media Integration between social media & CRM apps become mission-critical to contemporary sales process Communities Traditional sales tools – these are still part of the package
  • 13. Social CRM sales tools Collaboration tools/services Mobile applications Direct engagement of customer Predictability Forecasting accuracy Use UGC & external sources for sales intelligence to improve chances of closing
  • 14. Social CRM sales tools Features, functions, characteristics Sales collaboration, access “The information sales people really need is often not accessible” – Jim Dickie, CSO Insights Tools like wikis, webinars, WebEx-like sites Outcome based collaboration Customer analytics/community interactions Shared content Knowledgebase/libraries User generated content (comments, rankings)
  • 15. Social Media Blogs Sale people write blogs “of interest”, not sales pitch Subscribers can “sell themselves” Prospecting Prospects can write guest posts Link to prospect blogs Get prospects to participate in discussion Managing the accounts Substitute “contacts” for “prospects” here
  • 16. Social Media Podcasts Informative, fun, humanizing Twitter Never underestimate the value of 140 characters Other user generated content YouTube videos
  • 17. Integrated CRM & social tools Accessing resources across the web & tying it to internally acquired customer data External data Blogs Traditional sources (Hoovers, Reuters, D&B) Social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Zoominfo) Open Data Initiative (Jigsaw) Business news Internal data Account info Contact info
  • 18. Social Networks/Communities Create support within prospect companies & accounts A community comes pre-sold Threadless, Karmaloop Create a “personal sales support team” via advocates from a community Lead generation based on conversations going on Caveat: must be careful due to possibly trust & reputation issues
  • 19. Social CRM sales Increase potential for success Increased customer insight Mitigate risk Provide collaborative environment Improve engagement with customers Portability increased Ease of use increased Competitive differentiation
  • 20. Paul Greenberg Author: CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition President, The 56 Group, LLC EVP, CRM Association Co-Chair, Rutgers CRM Research Center Pgreenblog: http://the56group.typepad.com ZDNET CRM 2.0 Blog: http://blogs.zdnet.com/crm Named “Most Influential CRM 2008” by InsideCRM & CRM Magazine Email: paul-greenberg3@comcast.net Phone: 703-551-2337