e-mail
RSS FeedSales 2.0
Video and Playbooks for Sales Enablement
I’m publishing a series of Q&A excerpts from my interviews with Sales 2.0 leaders. This is the second of three excerpts from my interview with Sharon Little, former director of field marketing communications for VMware.
Anneke: Everyone I talk to is excited about the potential of video content. How are you incorporating video into your portal?
Sharon: We’ve noticed video has really taken off in the past year. Within VM Vault, we’ve created VM Video Vault, which is based on technology from Altus. All content is searchable by spoken word and can be downloaded to a phone or other mobile device. This creates a great training tool. It’s very beneficial when learning a pitch to see someone else give the presentation. Our non-English-speaking reps appreciate the ability to read the words and view materials at the same time.
One of our sales VPs for a newly acquired technology recently recorded a video that was viewed by 750 people. This was a very effective way to transfer her knowledge to them and build traction with the new technology.
Anneke: Any words of advice for implementing video programs — or challenges you’ve encountered?
Sharon: Historically, one of the challenges with video is bringing in a $10,000 video crew every time you want to shoot something. That’s not scalable, even for a company with a generous budget. We learned that reps are OK with a lower-quality video for training purposes. We have experimented with low-cost Flip cameras and portable tripods. These videos can be turned around in a couple of days without having to call in the professionals … and the price is right.
Anneke: Let’s talk about something else that has a lot of buzz: plays and playbooks. You recently asked us, at Phone Works, to create these for your inside sales organization. What are they all about?
Sharon: Playbooks provide content customized to specific buying scenarios or campaigns. They are particularly useful when you want the sales force to customize to the buyer, the product, the stage of the sales cycle. They guide reps step-by-step through their daily workflow: from pre-call research, to call/online strategy and objectives, to systems use, to competitive selling (which we call “Fight Plans”). Playbooks provide actionable, consumable information and make the sales process consistent, measurable and scalable. And they are integrated with salesforce.com, our CRM system, so a rep can access them directly from a lead or opportunity.
Anneke: Any adoption issues with playbooks?
Sharon: We validate new playbooks with selected field and inside reps, before we roll them out, to make sure they include what Sales needs to close a sale for a particular product or solution. Adoption is streamlined, because field needs are already incorporated into the deliverable. Plus everyone who provided input also acts as a sponsor when a new playbook is rolled out.
Anneke: Do you have any metrics showing that playbooks — or other enablement-content programs — increase sales?
Sharon: It’s very difficult to tie bookings to a single tool or training effort, and it can be a trap to attempt to show ROI on every enablement deliverable. At the same time, success metrics — both objective and subjective — should be created for all enablement efforts, with the understanding that it is not always possible to show a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
What about your organization? What new opportunities and challenges have you experienced using video? Have you been able to measure the effectiveness of your sales playbooks?
Read the full interview with Sharon Little in the Resources section of this website.
In a Mature World…
Top 3 Reasons Why Sales Development Still Reports to Sales
Guest Blog by Sally Duby, Phone Works GM
Sally, a veteran of technology inside sales, is a leader in Sales 2.0. Before joining Phone Works, she produced millions in new revenue and dramatically increased the quantity and quality of leads at software giant, Oracle Corporation, going on to replicate those kinds of results for other employers. Today, Sally focuses on helping companies, from venture-funded start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, create top-performing, cost-effective lead generation and inside sales teams. She has led Phone Works projects for more than 350 client companies.
I recently got my hands on a copy of Marketo’s new e-book (also posted here as a blog) “The Definitive Guide to Sales Lead Qualification and Sales Development.”If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you do, and not just because they quote from our most recent Inside Sales Compensation Study. Marketo knows their subject and they practice what they preach.
In the section about “How to Design and Build a High Performance Sales Development Function,” Jon Miller, Marketo Co-Founder & Chief Strategist, asks the question, “Should Sales Development Report to Marketing or Sales?” He quotes our report, saying, “According to Phone Works, Sales Development teams report to Sales about twice as often as to Marketing.” But he counters with, “I think that reporting to marketing is a best practice.” I’d like to jump in and talk about why Sales Development still reports more commonly to Sales.
The Top 3 Reasons Why Sales Development Still Reports to Sales
Reason #1: You have to manage what you’re accountable for
In almost all the 350+ companies we’ve worked with, Sales is still responsible for the pipeline. Why? Because they’re accountable for revenue. As long as their feet – and their feet only – are held to the fire over revenue quotas, they need control over the pipeline and the pipeline is built by Sales Development.
Reason #2: MQL? SQL? Will the real lead please stand up?
We’ve all heard the whining, “It’s not our fault we didn’t make quota, Marketing didn’t give us enough qualified leads.” Maybe the issue is not with the number of qualified leads, but in how each department defines “qualified.” For most of our clients, a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a lead that needs to be further qualified by Sales Development, while a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is ready to become an opportunity. Perhaps if Marketing was responsible for turning over SQLs rather than MQLs, Marketo’s model would make sense for more companies. I might add that very few Marketing departments today have adequate demand-generation budgets to develop and nurture the quantity and quality of leads Sales needs for a robust pipeline. Which leads us to reason #3.
Reason #3: We’re not all as mature as Marketo
Seriously! Maybe in the next two to four years, as the Sales 2.0 world matures, we will see more Sales Development teams reporting to Marketing, as Marketo describes.
In a mature Sales 2.0 world, Sales and Marketing will share responsibility for revenue and, therefore, the pipeline. In that world, Sales Development can report to either team equally well. Sales will communicate openly and strategize with their trusted Marketing partner about the type of leads needed and how best to reach them. That’s Sales and Marketing alignment, something Phone Works helps clients work towards. But it’s not today’s world for most companies…yet. It is what Marketo is describing, and where they live today. My hat is off to you. Thank you for the opportunity to generate some discussion about the state of Sales and Marketing alignment today.
Let’s get some dialogue going. Where does Sales Development report in your company? Who is responsible for the pipeline? Is Sales and Marketing alignment a pipe dream or reality for your organization?
Defining Sales Enablement
I’m publishing a series of Q&A excerpts from my interviews with Sales 2.0 leaders. This is the first of three excerpts from my interview with Sharon Little, director of field marketing communications for VMware.
Anneke: You have a mission statement for your sales enablement group. What is it?
Sharon: To deliver high-value consumable information that builds competency, drives culture and enables performance for the field.
Anneke: Isn’t that Marketing’s job? What’s the difference between what your group does and what Marketing does?
Sharon: We do the translation and packaging of information created by Marketing and other sources. Our job is to make that content prettier and more actionable for the sales team. For any content, we can determine what’s missing and fill in the pieces to make information worthy of the sales person’s time.
Anneke: What’s the difference between Sales Enablement and Sales Operations?
Sharon: In my view, Sales Operations sits between Finance and Sales, while Sales Enablement is the liaison between Marketing and Sales. Sales Operations works on behalf of Finance on things such as budgets, compensation plans, metrics and technology to make sales people more productive. I believe that, over time, Sales Enablement will provide the same service for Marketing.
Anneke: What are the most important words of advice you’d give sales executives looking to implement a sales enablement program?
Sharon: I would start by asking them to open up their perspective on how they view sales enablement. This is about transformation — not just training, communications and kickoff. Every sales leader must be thinking about how to prepare their teams for the next hurdle — a well-articulated sales enablement operation is strategic on many levels. At a minimum, sales leaders must insist that programs and tools be consumable, actionable and easily absorbed by the sales team, and in a format that can be put to use with a customer immediately, without hours of modification. Equally important, they should be integrated and aligned with the rest of the tools the sales organization uses on a regular basis. They should tie together, support each other and just make sense. I call this, “The golden thread of sales enablement.”
I truly believe that, five years from now, every sales executive will insist on having an experienced sales enablement team at his or her disposal. Sales enablement is the key to solving sales and marketing alignment issues, and it is the lever sales leaders need to drive performance. Sales operations measures what you are doing and predicts future performance. Sales enablement makes it actionable.
Read the full interview with Sharon Little in the Resources section of this website.
Current Customers – the Key to New Customers.
Guest Blog by Cindy Fahrner, Phone Works Engagement Manager
Cindy was a quota-busting sales professional in her own right before joining Phone Works, where she has helped numerous companies pilot, implement and accelerate inside sales teams, achieving such success that many have been subsequently acquired because of their technology and sales performance – companies including Global Sight, Caw Networks and ClosedLoop. On behalf of Phone Works, Cindy is currently working with The Grossman Group on an inside sales calling pilot. She recently took a short break from her typically jam-packed schedule to attend the Sales 2.0 conference in San Francisco and came away “refreshed, rejuvenated and full of innovative ideas to share.” We asked her to reflect on some of what she learned.
Wow! Where to start? I took away a lot of information about new and exciting tools that will ratchet up today’s Sales 2.0 processes. I loved the session by Executive VP Dave Fitzgerald, of Brainshark, challenging us to ask, “Is Your Sales 2.0 Platform Mobile-Ready?” But I think I’ll focus this post on a recurring theme from the conference that led to a very practical takeaway we can all implement today.
The recurring theme? Buyers are more educated than ever. OK, this is not news…the Internet has been around for years now and access to information is nothing new. But, what has intensified is the use of Twitter and Facebook to obtain colleague/counterpart recommendations. Buyers are turning to these resources to get quick recommendations for their buying decisions from people they know and trust.
Playing off that trend was this intriguing idea from the Peer-Powered Sales & Marketing session, moderated by Focus Expert Network (Moderator: Craig Rosenberg, Leader, Focus Expert Network, Focus.com. Panelists: Carlos Hidalgo, CEO, The Annuitas Group; Steve Gershik, CEO, 28Marketing; and Adam B. Needles, VP Demand Generation Strategy, Left Brain Marketing). The suggestion was this – to bring existing customers’ successes, ideas and learnings into your sales process to serve as voices of experience for your product – not just at the end of the sales cycle, as we commonly do, but early on to fill this “recommender” role.
If your company or product is early in the market, customer input is even more vital to help mitigate prospective buyers’ understandable wariness. It’s the ‘safety in numbers’ thing. Having colleagues make the same buying decision reduces the risk of perception that they may have made a risky decision.
How to turn customers into recommenders
There was some discussion about how to involve customers effectively. Here are some of the ideas that were batted around:
- Integrate client input in content, such as webinars and videos
- Ask clients to join discussion panels
- Invite them to post on your blog
- Encourage clients to join your fan page, and post links on their Facebook pages
- Incorporate clients in your sales training, so your reps can hear how your product or service alleviated their pain
A bit more challenging was the concept of inviting customers to join sales calls. I’m not sold on the reality of this one, yet. Most of our customers are pretty busy at their core jobs.
Still, when you think about it, people like to showcase their success. Why not take advantage of this? Inviting your customers to talk to your prospects gives them a platform to present to their peers how they were able to identify and resolve a problem. At the same time, they get to exchange ideas with their counterparts.
Bottom line, it’s time to start thinking about how current customers can become a part of the sales process – from the early stages on. We know our prospects are out there doing their research before we get to them. Let’s increase the likelihood of being included in a product or service selection by having our successful customers talk about us.
I’d like to hear from you. How are you integrating current customers into your sales process?
Sales Innovation in a Traditional Industry
This is the second excerpt from my interview with Ned Trainor, president and co-founder of BuildSite, an online product database used by the construction industry. It is part of the Sales 2.0 Leaders Interview series.
Ned launched sales in a traditional way in an attempt to meet with the manufacturers who would be his advertising customers. When results didn’t meet expectations, he began working with my company, Phone Works, to design a new way for BuildSite to engage customers by phone and online, track every prospect contact and close sales without leaving the office.
Anneke: Tell us about your customers: Would you describe them as Sales 2.0 innovator types?
Ned: There are a few, but these are fairly traditional industrial companies. Some are divisions of Fortune 500 companies, and they’re big; they do $500 million in sales or more. Others are little chemical companies that have 20 employees. They have tended to be sort of shoe-leather sales people, and they mostly use their own reps or manufacturer reps. It’s a very traditional, automobile-intensive, personal-meetings type of selling.
Anneke: Why innovate in such a traditional space? What’s the benefit to you?
Ned: We had to be innovative — the old way wasn’t working. Our outside reps couldn’t get the appointments with the right people at the right time. A lot of these companies have downsized. No one has any time to do anything.
One of our taglines is, “Look it up on BuildSite … and get it done.” We’re trying to appeal to our users’ desire to just cross one thing off their to-do list. We have to do the same for our advertisers. We have to show up when they want to see us, not when we happen to be in town.
Anneke: What measurable results can you point to from transforming your sales model?
Ned: Revenue is really what we’re looking at. Q1 was our best quarter we’ve ever had, and Q2 is going to be as good as Q1. And that’s because of the new sales model. In terms of qualified leads, we’re not in the Hail Mary mode a month from the end of the quarter, going, “God, I hope this guy closes, or else we are really in trouble.”
It’s, “OK, I’ve got this guy with this probability, this guy with that one.” I’ve got a half a dozen or more that could close within the next couple of weeks, and if half of them do, we’ll have a record quarter. I can see it, I can feel it. It’s OK, and if they don’t do it now, then we’ll get them in July. They’re not going away.
Anneke: If you were talking to another executive about the journey to Sales 2.0, the challenges and the rewards, what advice would you give them?
Ned: I’m lucky. I have an organization of 10 people, so there are no behaviors to change. We knew we had to do something. We didn’t have the resources to try this for six months, and if it didn’t work we’d try something else. But this was the right thing to do, and I had a few people telling me not to do it. I did it anyway.
I would say to anybody that it’s worth taking the risk here. I don’t see any downside. Try it out. You don’t have to change the whole organization, just do it in a corner of it, and see what happens.
Read the full interview with Ned Trainor in the Resources section of this website.
Order the Sales 2.0 Book Now!
Get Free Updates
Visit Phone Works
Phone Works is the leading strategy and implementation consultancy that helps companies test and implement Sales 2.0 practices.
Recent Blog Posts
Search
Blogroll
- Acquiring Minds: A B2B Lead Generation Blog
- Breakthrough, Inc.
- Customer Management IQ
- demandblog
- Disruptive Marketing Blog
- Email Marketing Strategy
- Garth’s World
- Inside Sales – Telesales Tips
- MarketingGenius
- Modern B2B Marketing
- plan2win: Strategic Territory & Account Planning
- sales20.org
- Smart Selling from the Inside Out
- Smashmouth Marketing
- The Customer Collective
- The Inside View
- The Point
- The Sales Performance Suite