More continues to be written about the shift to Sales 2.0 in
this difficult economic climate. With the Sales 2.0 Conference
coming up in San Francisco on March 4th, I thought I’d share
this great article I received today from Anneke Seley, coauthor
of the new book: Sales 2.0: Improve Business Results using
Innovative Sales Practices and Technology. I’ve published it
here:
Sales 2.0: Why the Recession is Making it Imperative To Change
the Way We Sell
Though the slow economy is having a negative impact on sales in
many companies, an improved approach to sales called “Sales 2.0”
can help companies avoid disastrous business results in the
coming quarters. Sales 2.0, defined as “the use of innovative
sales practices, focused on creating value for both buyer and
seller, and enabled by Web 2.0 and next-generation technology”
reduces cost, increases productivity and improves sales
effectiveness.
Sales 2.0 produces measurable business results. One software
division that is part of a $1 billion company increased its
sales 12% while decreasing headcount 17% and increasing its
sales team’s productivity 15% after reinventing its sales
organization using Sales 2.0 practices. After embracing a Sales
2.0 philosophy, a medical device company increased its qualified
lead volume by 20% and generated over $7million in incremental
revenue, while increasing its average sales price by 25%.
Sales 2.0 requires a change in mindset and then a rethinking of
strategy, an assessment of sales people’s skills and the
implementation of a measurable sales process, enabled by
technology. A Sales 2.0 mindset includes recognizing that sales
is not just an art – it can be a measurable, predictable
“scientific” business function when the right processes are
implemented that focus on what our customers need to achieve by
buying our products.
Data from CSO Insights’ Sales Performance Optimization Report
(source: csoinsights.com) show that surveyed Chief Sales
Officers in companies that practice Sales 2.0 are the
best-performing companies in terms of percentage of company
revenue achieved, percentage of reps making their sales quotas,
and percentage of deals won. Sales 2.0 practices include
implementing consistent, dynamic sales processes, establishing
long-term, trusted relationships with customers, and using the
Internet in the sales process. Venture-backed companies with
Sales 2.0 business plans are also having an easier time securing
investments from venture capitalists. Gordon Ritter, founder and
general partner at Emergence Capital, says, “Those companies
employing Sales 2.0 practices give me the confidence I need to
provide initial funding as well as continued investment.”
Furthermore, in many business-to-business companies, the cost of
selling traditionally, using expensive field sales forces that
travel, is no longer justified when many customers prefer to
research and even buy products using the Web and phone. One
highly-effective Sales 2.0 strategy is partnering face-to-face
salespeople with inside sales professionals that serve customers
in the early parts of a sales cycle and build a pipeline of
qualified leads. This frees up the field sales professionals to
work with only the largest, most profitable customers that are
most likely to buy. In this way, Sales 2.0 decreases costs and
accelerates sales cycles, which improves revenue and profit.
IDC’s 2009 Sales Barometer and Top 10 Predictions report
(source: idc.com) highlights the need for organizations to adopt
Sales 2.0 best practices quickly. It states, “savvy
organizations will use the economic downturn as justification to
replace direct sales “laggards” with well enabled inside sales.
Customer (and employee) satisfaction and sales productivity will
rise accordingly.”
Sales 2.0 – a rethinking of sales strategy, people and process,
and enabled by technology - is a proven approach to improving
business results especially in slow economic times.
Anneke Seley is the CEO and founder of Phone Works, a
consultancy that helps large and small businesses build and
restructure sales teams to achieve predictable, measurable, and
sustainable sales growth. As the 12th employee at Oracle, she
designed the company’s revolutionary inside sales operation. Her
book, Sales 2.0: Improve Business Results Using Innovative Sales
Practices and Technology, is available at online retailers
including amazon.com, bn.com, booksamillion.com, and borders.com.
For more information, visit
www.sales20book.com.
If you’re interested in the Sales 2.0 topic, you may want to
join one (or all) of these LinkedIn
Source: SalesForce Times
link
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