In a recent LinkedIn survey, 85% of surveyed companies raised their sales rep revenue targets for 2010. These higher quotas will need to be accompanied by increased investments in sales; particularly in sales programs that foster a “customer-oriented architecture”. This calls for the need to re-evaluate current sales processes, tools and investments and make a move towards Sales 2.0!!
According to research from KickStart Alliance, “Consumer and B2B buying is changing. With the wealth of instant information available on the Internet, buyers are well informed of products and services before engaging with a sales rep. When they do engage, it’s when they are ready and on their terms.” So how can Sales 2.0 play a role? Well it’s important to note that Sales 2.0 is about more than just technology. It’s about using direct, meaningful and interactive Web 2.0 tools to sell more effectively!! Sales 2.0 focuses on aligning steps in the sales cycle with those in the buying cycle by leveraging technology, process improvement, and sales knowledge to effectively collaborate with the most appropriate individuals (internally and externally) to create sales success.
For years, Stratascope has been helping customers improve the sales process by understanding the buyer’s point of view. See how here:
Binita Patel, Director of Marketing @ Stratascope
(binita_patel@stratascope.com)
(binita_patel@stratascope.com)
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We could even go so far as to say that in the sales management process, an opportunity is given a higher probability % of closing if tools like Stratascope were used to develop the prospect’s value pitch (which as been my experience in the past)
Imagine if sales managers could ‘what-if’ their weekly forecast and take all the opportunities where sales enablement tools were used and bring the close date forward a week or two, reduce the expected discounting, or increase the sales stage. Here’s a plug for a new Sales 2.0 system that does just that: http://anaplan.com/