Archive for December, 2013
A Sales Checklist for Improved Outcomes
Posted by Rick Pranitis in SALES BEST PRACTICES on December 23, 2013
Need proof of the value of a checklist? In a study funded by the World Health Organization, eight hospitals deployed a simple 19-point checklist to help doctors and nurses avoid errors. The list focused on basic safety measures, such as requiring that all members of the surgical team introduce themselves, counting instruments and sponges used during surgery to verify that none were left inside a patient, and ensuring that patients receive antibiotics to prevent infection.
The checklist was credited with a forty percent reduction in deaths and serious complications from surgery, and the study authors concluded that if all hospitals used the checklist, they could save tens of thousands of lives and $20 billion in medical costs each year.
Many studies have been performed and much has been written at length about the value of aligning the sales process with the customer buying process. A typical sales process includes a series of stages through which B2B buyers pass before making a complex purchase and correlates to the actions a seller takes (e.g. analyze needs, qualify, identify solution, propose solution) to manage opportunities through the pipeline.
But that’s not nearly enough. A best practice sales process goes beyond the high-level stages and includes knowledge inflection points and observable outcomes associated with each stage. An observable outcome, similar to a checklist item, is a measurable, verifiable and specific response from – or an action taken by – the buyer. Here are a few examples:
- Did the buyer verify that there is budget available?
- Has the buyer provided access to all decision makers?
- Has the buyer provided decision criteria?
- Did the buyer schedule a follow up meeting for a demonstration?
- Has the buyer provided resources to assist with a detailed design?
You might think that following a sales process, complete with observable outcomes, would be an ingrained habit by now, especially for senior-level sales reps. But with complex selling situations and the pressure on reps to demonstrate results, it’s all too easy to skip critical steps. Sales operations should evaluate sales process stages and observable outcomes every six to 12 months, and then consult with sales leaders to build or update these outcomes as sales process stage progression criteria within the sales automation tool. The need for precision, consistency and repeatability isn’t limited to doctors and surgeons. Best-in-class sales organizations apply discipline and rigor to each sales stage, carefully crafting observable outcomes to avoid critical errors, wasted time and misdirected company resources.
We’re on the cusp of a new year. Now is a perfect time for evaluation of your sales process and implementation of the steps necessary to assure continued improvement and success in our business.
Social Media: Creating an Early Warning System
Posted by Rick Pranitis in MARKETING on December 12, 2013
Social media can work like an early warning system to alert an organization to an emerging problem; it can also recycle old news and spread misinformation and rumors. In either case, it is important to be prepared with a plan to address negative themes that are being amplified in social media, which can attract broader media coverage, as well as potential damage to the company and brand.
Smart companies prepare crisis response protocols as part of their social media strategy or as part of an overall corporate crisis communications plan. A typical crisis plan covers areas such as:
Definition of roles and responsibilities: Who is responsible for monitoring social media accounts? Is there an expectation that this will be done 24×7? What channels will be monitored? When negative comments appear, what will happen?
Process and workflow: The person who monitors social media should have a process prepared in advance for responding to various types of attacks. In some cases, this individual may take the lead in providing a quick response, but often another department must get involved. The social monitoring team must maintain an up-to-date list of contacts that can be reached in the event of a problem. Typically, the most important departments are customer service, legal and communications.
Agree on the timeframe for response: In social media, it’s usually best to respond in as short a period of time as possible, especially on channels such as Twitter where a snowball effect can happen very quickly. For blogs and other forms of social media where posting is less frequent, a well-reasoned response may take longer to prepare, but it is important to respond with some urgency. In the case of an influential blogger, there may be a quick response in the form of a comment, followed by outreach from the communications team to provide information.
Training and practice: As virtually any employee may uncover a social media attack, all employees must be trained what to do. Best-in-class organizations practice crisis response in a variety of scenarios. This helps to uncover gaps in response plans, so problems can be handled more quickly when they occur.
Consider a number of factors when deciding how to respond, including the person/entity posting the comment, the topic, and how it relates to the company and your ability to effect change. While all situations are different, all responses should be respectful and sincere. Avoid any displays of emotion that can themselves become the subject of social media chatter. A prompt but measured response shows that the company is listening and cares what people think, but does not suggest a panicky over-reaction. Handled correctly, a social media response can become a moment of truth that turns a vocal detractor into an advocate!
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This article was originally posted to the SIriusDecisions Blog by Julie Ogilvie on December 2, 2013.
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Five Ways B2B Companies Can Generate Leads on Twitter
Posted by Rick Pranitis in SALES BEST PRACTICES on December 9, 2013
Many B2B businesses have a Twitter account these days, but simply being on Twitter is not enough. If you or your employees are going to spend time using social media networks, there have to be objectives and it has to work for your business.
It’s fine if you want to use Twitter as a news publication feed – but there’s so much more you can do with it as a B2B communication tool. Why not use Twitter as part of your new business strategy? If it’s not going to help your business grow and develop, then you’re really wasting time. Get your new business development team involved with planning your Twitter profile. You can also find out their tactics and make sure social media is integrated and woven in to really work together.
Twitter works best when there’s some level of personalization and chat. As well as a news feed, Twitter acts as an introduction service essentially, as it is so easy to connect with people. There’s an old adage that says products don’t sell, people sell. So use Twitter for the communication tool that it is.
Here’s five tips on how to be more effective on Twitter and in turn increase the number (and temperature) of leads.
1. Give your organization a face: Let people know who they’re talking to instead of a faceless organization. Having a corporate account is important, but it’s very hard to hold a conversation with someone if you don’t know who you’re talking to. Add the personal Twitter handles of those who are talking into your bio, so people know who you are, and can also follow your personal accounts.
2. Share content to drive people to your website: A varied content schedule should incorporate a mix of updates, interesting articles as well as company news. However, make sure you create and post content which gives people the opportunity to visit your website or specific landing pages.
This can be via blog and news posts, new sections or products which have launched or anything else of interest to your customers.
3. Mention people you have met: People like being mentioned on Twitter – it starts conversations and you get to know people and they get to know you. If you’ve been to a networking event, conference or meeting, give the event and anyone you’ve met a shout out and cement the contacts you’ve made.
This reminds people who you are, gives them your contact details and can often lead to further communication and a meeting.
4. Use Twitter to create warm leads: Your new business development manager could sit down and plow through a lot of cold calls with relevant businesses but this is really a shot in the dark. However, if you start connecting with other businesses and other business people through Twitter, this is a friendly way to introduce your company and start to form a relationship.
Start to follow any people or businesses you think have new business potential. You could mention a blog post they’ve written or comment on some of their business news – anything that opens a conversation. They key is to start that conversation, not start a sale.
5. Assess your progress regularly: It sounds simple, but this is something many companies forget to do. You need to decide on some objectives and metrics to measure these objectives. These might be to increase relevant followers by so many every quarter, to set up a certain number of business meetings and achieve a certain number of click-through hits to your website.
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.This article was originally posted to the Social Media B2B Blog by Carolyn Huges on September 23, 2013.
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