Six Ways to Woo SMB Executives

Dell’s DWEN Event Does it Right

If your company is wondering how to effectively sell to the massive SMB (small and medium-sized business) market, you are not alone.  Many businesses are realizing that they have to shift their sales models to profitably offer lower-priced or subscription-based products and services to volumes of smaller businesses.  Dell, an early leader in understanding how to sell to SMB, adopted inside sales and other Sales 2.0 practices at a time when selling computers direct – online and by phone – was not the norm.  My recent experience speaking at the DWEN (Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network) event in Rio de Janeiro underscored what I already knew about their leadership and understanding of the large and growing SMB opportunity.  Here are six things that Dell does right with the DWEN event – practices you may want to emulate in wooing SMB execs.

1. Host a top-draw event at an exotic destination with huge market potential.

Dell’s decision to hold DWEN, an invitation-only event, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, demonstrated their understanding of the country’s skyrocketing revenue potential, especially in the women-led SMB market.  It’s a pretty great draw as conference destinations go, too. Last year, DWEN was held in Shanghai; next year (decided by online vote during this year’s event), DWEN goes to India.  See a trend?

2. Send your highest-level execs and make them accessible.

Nothing says, “we care about you and your business” like showing executive support for your customers.  Steve Felice, the highest-ranking SMB executive (who reports directly to Michael Dell), not only kicked off both days of the event but also made himself available by taking part in all the social events.  I was able not only to introduce myself, but to discuss a strategic, soon-to-be-announced project with him that Phone Works, my company, is doing for his division – a project that highlights their company’s support of cloud computing and Sales 2.0.  Other Dell heavy hitters, including Erik Dithmer, VP and General Manager of SMB Americas and Consumer Latin America, Kim Hibler, VP U.S. SMB Sales, and other senior executives were not only in the audience, but led panels and discussions.

3. Showcase your attendees – invite many to be speakers.

DWEN featured some well-known personalities. Moira Forbes, publisher of ForbesWoman, was invited to moderate and interview Arianna Huffington, who appeared via video conference…talk about Interview 2.0!  All other speakers were attendees like me: founders, CEOs, authors, investors, press and analysts from around the world.  I met women from Canada, Brazil, Australia, India, Japan and China, in addition to other Americans.  Of about 125 people, more than 25% of the attendees spoke on panels or were recruited to lead informal breakout and pool-side sessions held throughout the two days.  Dell recognized that we all have something valuable to share and, by participating, we were all engaged.

4. Deliver pertinent, actionable content.

In the panel on which I spoke, “Ahead of the Curve: How the Right Technology Strategy Can Promote Real Growth,” led by Kim Hibler, I emphasized that today’s customers demand relevant messages and content that can help them in their business. Lattice Engines, one of the conference sponsors, delivers this in spades.  Their sales intelligence software, salesPRISM, used by Dell’s sales team, helps reps identify the right Dell solution for each customer’s unique needs by providing dynamically updated, data-driven talking points that the salespeople can use to engage in relevant, timely discussions with their prospects and customers. salesPRISM has helped Dell increase sales productivity and drive higher sales growth.  You can read more about Dell SMB’s success with Lattice Engines here.

Other panels discussed funding options, using social media in business, and marketing to youth (“How Gen Y will rock your world: Seize upon their love of technology and their resistance to marketing.”)  Perhaps the best-received session, “Pitch Confidence,” was affectionately labeled the “Dolphin Tank.”  Entrepreneurs were invited to deliver a two-minute “sales pitch,” after which they received critiques from both investment experts and the audience.  Unlike the typical “shark tank” that many CEOs experience when presenting to VCs and other investors, a fundamental rule of this session was that feedback be presented in a constructive and supportive fashion.

5. Know your audience (without being sexist.)

DWEN is a conference for women and Dell embraces that.  And I’m not just talking about what goes into the goodie bag.  Dell set the tone for an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, discussion and participation that showed their understanding of women (and men who get Sales 2.0.)  They packed the program with the right topics, encouraged Q&A and interaction throughout the event by placing microphones at the audience tables.  (Ever met a woman who doesn’t like to talk?)  There were also nice touches that women appreciate: morning yoga on the beach, chocolate at the breaks (thanks to sponsor sweetriot – chocolate with a social conscience!)

6. Avoid the temptation to make the conference one giant commercial.

One of the most difficult principles in Sales 2.0 – and one I struggle with myself – is how to let your audience know what you have to offer, without turning them off by what may be perceived as a sales pitch.  Dell handled this beautifully at DWEN.  While Steve Felice mentioned Dell’s cloud computing initiatives and recent acquisitions (Boomi, which integrates applications, and SecureWorks for information security and threat protection), Dell’s offerings were not on the main stage. They had one small exhibit at one of the breaks, and put into practice one of Sales 2.0’s most compelling approaches of putting your product into your prospect’s hands to let them sell themselves. Dell gave away a Vostro laptop to every attendee, custom-skinned with a photo of Rio’s famed Carnival.

What has your business found to be successful in selling to the SMB market? How would you like to improve?

Tags: boomi, Dell, Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, DWEN, Lattice Engines, Phone Works, Sales 2.0, sales intelligence, sales intelligence software, salesPRISM, SecureWorks, small and medium-sized business, SMB, SMB Executives, sweetriot, Vostro

Analysts & Management Consultants Weigh in on Phone/Web Selling

Having been an inside sales manager in a professional era when inside sales was typically thought of as the redheaded stepchild of the sales organization, it’s nice to know that top management consulting and industry analyst firms are recognizing the strategic nature of this oft-misunderstood revenue-producing group. In their article  “Cutting Sales Costs not Revenues,” Anupam Agarwal, Eric Harmon, and Michael Viertler of McKinsey describe how one Business-to-Business (B2B) wholesale company reduced its sales cost by more than 50% and increased the number of profitable customers twofold to 90% by moving prospecting and account management functions to a phone and Web-based sales organization. The company also implemented a dedicated telesales team to provide a better, more consistent level of service to purchasing departments than a traditional traveling field sales organization. Shifting from face-to-face to inside sales can actually increase satisfaction and renewal rates, according to the authors.

Lee Levitt, who heads the sales advisory practice at IDC, recently wrote, “the best sales executives today are reassessing the role of inside sales in their overall mix of sales resources.” Those executives who think of inside sales as “pounding the phone” and “dialing for dollars” are woefully out of touch with today’s highly trained and educated, customer advocating, and professional telesales organizations. Levitt, who claims, “IDC expects the use of inside sales to grow as sales organizations find increasing productivity and efficiency via inside sales,” is one of the most forward-thinking proponents of strategic phone and Web selling in the analyst world. Earlier this year, he released IDC’s 2009 Sales Barometer and Top 10 Predictions, a report that highlighted the importance of inside sales, both telesales and sales development (lead generation).

Levitt’s most recent research report focuses on the mid-market (small to medium-sized businesses, defined as 100-999 employees). He writes that the keys to cracking the mid-market are:

1. to implement inside sales, and
2. to employ remote selling strategies and tools

Mid-market companies are geographically dispersed and deal sizes are smaller, but they are an important segment because the number of prospects and opportunities is huge and growing, which can fuel market share growth.

Levitt’s sales executive brief, based on this research, Winning the Midmarket: Cost-Effective Strategies to Improve Sales Performance, is available for  download from Citrix Online. Here are some of Levitt’s key points:

• Too many companies employ the same approach to midmarket customers as they would with larger companies with bigger orders.
• According to IDC research, midsize company buyers want “relevant, accurate information delivered at the right time – more than they want face-to-face meetings.”
• These buyers are willing to give up personal meetings in favor of access to information and expertise.
• A single visit is all it takes for many customers to feel comfortable making a purchase decision, even one over $1M.
• After the initial purchase, midmarket customers often have the confidence to buy additional products by phone and Web.
• Many buyers are willing to communicate remotely to speed the sales cycle.
• From a customer interaction standpoint, inside sales reps are at least four times more productive than field sales reps; in some companies, inside sales reaches six to eight times more customers.

Are you questioning the value and acceptance of inside sales in your organization and customer base? What are your concerns?

Tags: IDC, inside sales, Lee Levitt, McKinsey, midmarket, SMB