Guide to Mobility

MOBILITY, LIFE AND WORK RECREATED

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C H A P T E R O N E :

B Y D A V E B R O C K

I’m looking at my calendar for the past few weeks.

Over 24K air miles across 2 continents, over 25

segments, 14 hotels, and countless conference rooms.

Meetings in Minneapolis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver,

New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, London,

Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Philadelphia, Palo Alto,

San Francisco, Phoenix, Tucson—I think I forgot a few

cities and just lose count.

Mobility, Life andWork Recreated

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Embed dozens of meetings, 4 keynote presentations,

3 workshops, dozens of phone calls, hundreds/thousands

of emails, hundreds of text messages, and half a dozen web

conferences. Overlay this with telephone calls all over

North America, Europe, Asia, India, and a few to Mexico,

Brazil and South Africa.

All in a “month’s work.”

Ask any business executive or professional to look at

their schedules for the past month, many of their stories

will be similar to mine. But even if it isn’t, let’s look at how

work has changed. It used to be work was done in our

“offices.” In many cases our offices no longer physically

exist—many sales people “carry” their offices with them.

From room to room, in their car, from customer to customer.

They work from various locations and at home. Having information,

data, tools, and support, wherever the person is, becomes

critical to their performance.

Let’s look further. In writing this article, I collaborated with

people in Singapore, Basel, Seattle, London, Denver, Boise,

and Mountain View. Within minutes to hours, I got responses

from people in those locations, all with insight that helped me

in writing this article.

Think about other changes each of us has encountered.

Concepts like the “virtual office,” “hotelling,” all seem very old.

Talk to executives in the telephone operating companies, the

number of mobile numbers being issued is outstripping landlines.

The concept of the “office phone number” has disappeared.

In virtually every country in the world, the primary form of telephonic contact is to the person’s mobile—wherever that person might be. With some, texting has overtaken telephonic communications.

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Words like, texting, tweeting, conferencing, telepresence,

time shifting, globalization, time compression, networking,

social selling, collaboration, Skyping, voice messaging, video

messaging, Facetime, YouTube, mobility, and others pepper

our conversations—almost unconsciously.

Our work and our personal lives have changed.

The boundaries between work and office no longer exist—

physically or in time. Everything has co-mingled and

become inseparable, 7x24.

Technology has changed our lives and the way we work

and will continue to do so. Mobility is no longer really about

technology—but it’s about how we work or should be

working. As sales people and business professionals our

work has changed dramatically and what we need to

maximize our productivity and impact has changed forever.

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Knowledge and insight has become king— it’s become the di!erentiator for sales people.

Our products and services become table stakes, but the

greatest differentiator in sales success becomes the way we

engage our customers in their buying process. Bringing our

customers fresh insights, ideas, and identifying opportunities

for them to improve their businesses and operations become

keys to differentiation and success.

If knowledge and insight are king, then time and

responsiveness are the queen. Customers are looking for

answers—and they want them yesterday. Answering customer

questions, being able to provide data, and accurate responses

quickly are critical in delivering the right impact—both because

of the pace of business, but also because our customers,

like us, are being pulled many directions. Sales people want

to capture the moment, responding and moving forward as

quickly as possible.

The new world of work puts new demands on the sales person

and new demands on organisations in helping sales people

improve their effectiveness and their ability to engage

customers. Key issues include collaboration—being able to

access expert resources, wherever they are at whatever time.

These experts may be in our companies, our partners, or in our

communities. They may be across the globe. Accessing this

expertise, leveraging their collective knowledge and experience

becomes critical in responding to our customers.

Knowledge and insight also require data and analytics—

going further, being able to identify opportunities and respond

in real time, leveraging the power of big data—about the

customer and about their customers

enables us to engage our customers

with facts about their operations,

about their performance and about

that of their customers and competitors.

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We and our customers live in a world of “now.” Gone

are the days of “Let me research this and get back to you.”

Providing information and insight in real time is critical. Being

in a customer meeting, being able to reach out—through your

tablet, phone, computer or whatever device, getting answers

could be the difference between winning and losing.

As sales professionals we don’t know where we will be or

how we will engage our customers. But we need to engage

them wherever they or we are, whenever they want. This means

access is critical. Providing the information sales people need,

when they need it, where they need it, in the format they

need it, on the device they happen to be using is critical to

sales performance and enhancing the customer experience.

But this extends beyond sales, directly into the customer.

Imagine extending this knowledge and these insights directly

into their meetings and operations. Imagine them being able

to get knowledge, data, insight, and answers—when they

need it, where they need it, in the format they want,

on whatever device they happen to be using.

Mobility is about the new world of work. Yes, technology

enables us to continually redefine work. We cannot begin

to guess what new devices we will be using in 5-10 years,

but we know the way we work will be different.

We have to provide access differently—any time, anywhere,

any format, on any device. We have to provide insight, support,

knowledge and data to support our people and our customers,

wherever they are, whatever they are doing. Mobility is not

about a device, it’s about how we live our lives and conduct

our business.

Are you prepared to support your people and your customers where they work and live?

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P R O C E E D T O :

How Agile Oranisationsare Improving

the Sales Experience

C H A P T E R T W O

HOW AGILE ORGANIZATIONS ARE IMPROVING THE SALES EXPERIENCE

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C H A P T E R T W O :

How Agile Organisations areImproving the Sales Experience

B Y B O B A P O L L O

Why do companies buy from your organisation? Is it because of the power of your brand, or the features

and capabilities of your products, or your unbeatable

value for money? According to the latest end-user

research by the Sales Executive Council, and despite

what some traditional marketers might think, none of

these factors are anything like as important as the

quality of the sales experience. It’s not what you sell,

but how you sell that counts.

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B2B sales cycles often seem to involve an ever-increasing

number of stakeholders with different issues, concerns and

motivations. A single standard corporate sales pitch isn’t

going to help you persuade each of them “why change?”,

“why now?” and “why us?”. And if you fail to adapt to their

individual priorities, whilst at the same time building

organisation-wide consensus around these key questions,

the most likely outcome is that your prospect will simply

decide to do nothing.

It’s no wonder that many sales organisations are

reporting lengthening sales cycles, wild fluctuations in

sales forecast accuracy and a growing number of apparently

well-qualified sales opportunities fading away into a decision

to simply stick with the status quo. But there is a growing

number of agile sales organisations that have been able to

deliver a consistently outstanding sales experience.

What can we learn from them?

Agile sales organisations tend to be much smarter about

which opportunities they choose to pursue. When they

think about their ideal customers, they go far beyond basic

demographics to understand the structural, behavioural,

environmental and situational factors that so often influence

their chances of success. They do their research before the

first sales call is ever made, and they deliberately structure the

initial sales conversation so that they uncover these key factors.

Their conversations with prospects follow are carefully crafted

sequence, starting by sharing insights that are intended to

bring a fresh perspective and cause the prospect to think

differently. Then they introduce issues that are likely to be

important to the prospect and help them explore the impact

on the prospect’s organisation—and then carefully differentiate

their approach from the other options available to the prospect.

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Have you noticed something?

They avoid pitching their solution until they have satisfied

themselves that the prospect sees a real need to change—

and focus on why they are different before they present

their capabilities and prove how they help customers achieve

superior results. Every sales tool, every piece of marketing

collateral, has a carefully designed role to play in supporting

the prospect’s buying decision process.

Most important of all, they equip their sales people to make

smart decisions about what to say and how to say it most

effectively when they are in conversation with the prospect

—and that’s why taking an intelligent approach to mobilising

their sales force can prove so effective. Let’s be clear:

throwing technology at the problem and simply issuing all

your sales people with iPads is likely to achieve next to

nothing. But if—like this growing number of truly agile sales

organisations—you actually equip your sales people to be

more effective by providing them the information they need

to optimise every sales experience, then the intelligent use

of technology can propel them to a whole new level.

In an agile world, sales people can tap into social media to conduct last-minute research into the latest issues a!ecting their prospect.

They can prepare for the discussion by reviewing structured

conversation planners. They can call up sales-stage and

situation-specific sales tools on the spot to help facilitate the

conversation. And in any “dead time” before the next call,

they can catch up with any administration—including updating

their CRM in close-to-real time.

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But it’s not just about making sales people more

productive. These initiatives are dramatically improving

the customer sales experience. Instead of having to sit

through a canned, one-size-fits-all corporate presentation,

the sales conversation can adapt and respond during the

course of the meeting to the prospect’s specific interests.

The sales person can call up a wealth of relevant information,

and assemble a set of messages that resonate with what

they have learned is most important to the prospect.

I’ve been involved in mobilising workforces for the past 15

years. I’ve never seen greater progress than today in the

potential for the intelligent application of technology to

enhance the sales process—and the buying experience.

Your competitors may have cottoned on already. If your

organisation hasn’t, will you be tempted to blame your

next sales loss on marketing failures, product or price?

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P R O C E E D T O :

Nine Shortcuts to More E!ective Sales and

Marketing Collaboration

C H A P T E R T H R E E

NINE SHORTCUTS TO MORE EFFECTIVE SALES & MARKETING COLLABORATION


C H A P T E R T H R E E :

B Y M A T T H E I N Z

Nine Shortcuts to More E!ective Sales and Marketing Collaboration

The concept of getting sales and marketing to work more closely together isn’t new.

It’s been an issue, if not a focus area, for as long

as sales and marketing teams have been working

together (at least in theory) to drive predictable,

sustainable growth for their business.



Discussions around how to make sales and marketing

collaboration work have been intensifying of late, which

is a good thing. And the fact that we keep talking about it—

at conferences, on discussion boards, and blog posts like

this—is an indication that we’re far from solving the problem

(or should we say, taking advantage of the opportunity).

The fact is, there’s no secret to making the two teams

work as one. And the answer is not just more meetings.

Below are nine specific shortcuts to help your organisation

(or your clients) accelerate their path towards sales and

marketing collaboration nirvana.

1. Common ObjectivesIt starts with what you’re working towards. Traditionally, sales is responsible for sales and marketing is responsible for leads. That may still be operationally true, but marketing needs to be comfortable with sales and revenue as the lagging indicators of their success.

Yes, the sales team is required to achieve those goals. And the leading indicators of success, the short-term deliverables, will be leads and case studies and microsites and the like. But sales and marketing must first agree on a common set of well-defined outcomes. This is the grounding that becomes the basis for all other work, discussions, triage and execution.

2. Common DefinitionsWith sales as the output, it’s important for sales and marketing

to agree on definitions and standards for the critical steps and

deliverables that lead to sales. For example, what qualifies as

a lead? What qualifies as a short-term sales opportunity?

Your common definitions will manifest themselves in a single

dashboard to measure, review and improve results. It starts

with a model that predicts the sales or revenue result.

How many opportunities are required to get a sale? How many

leads to get an opportunity? By combining this model with

common definitions of each deliverable and stage, both sales



For example, let’s say you expect to generate 3,000 leads per

month with a $30,000/month budget. What if the marketing

team can generate the same leads for less? Would you give

them a percentage of the budget difference as a bonus?

What about if they generated more leads for the same

budget? Would you give them a percentage of resulting

sales commissions as a bonus? Worth thinking about.

4. Executive sponsorshipIf your C-suite doesn’t believe in sales and marketing

working together, it will never be a priority at the functional level.

If your CEO and CFO mandate certain levels of performance

and outcomes based on joint goals and market approaches,

you’re far more likely to get everyone in each organisation

to fall in line and at least figure out how to operationalise

the right priorities and tactics.

and marketing have a crystal-clear understanding of what’s

required to achieve success. All other inputs, opportunities

and distractions are triaged based on those goals, metrics

and definitions.

3. Common compensation/objectivesThis one is controversial, but is a natural next step if both

sales and marketing have common objectives and definitions

of success. Sales is most likely measured largely on their

success in driving new business. Why shouldn’t marketing

be similarly compensated?

If you’re nervous about taking this step,

start small. Give marketing a goal in

line with your objectives and definitions,

then give them a percentage of the

“lift” achieved above and beyond that.



5. Up-front planningWhat if you treated the marketing planning process

as if it were a proposal to a customer?

Marketing doesn’t work for sales, but in many companies

the primary “customer” for marketing is in fact the sales

organisation. So if that’s the case, it seems appropriate

that the marketing plan each year should at minimum be

reviewed and “accepted” by sales leadership as sufficient

to help them achieve their own 2012 growth objectives.

This doesn’t mean that sales has complete veto power over

strategies and tactics. The “means” by which marketing

achieves collective goals agreed to by sales and marketing

together should continue to be, ultimately, up to the

marketing team. But before the marketing plan is finalised,

it stands to reason that it should be presented to the sales

team for review and comment.

For example, does the marketing plan enable the sales team

to access sales materials and new leads on the go? Can the

sales team send the latest versions of content to their

prospects from the road? These may be tactical considerations,

but are critical to enabling the sales team to operate at their

best wherever they are.

6. Lead distribution and management processWhere will your sales team get most of their leads?

If they’re constantly on the road, for example, it’ll be critical

that you have a strategy for reps to receive, accept and follow-up

with leads directly via their mobile devices. Similarly, are you

working together to enable quick updates on leads and

opportunities from the field? If your reps can update lead

records in 60 seconds or less, you’re doing something right.



7. Daily/weekly triageEven with the best-laid plans, things will go wrong.

Problems will pop up. Tests will fail, campaigns will fall flat.

Assumptions will be made, loyalties questioned. And new

opportunities will be identified or discovered.

For these and many reasons, it’s important to have regular,

metrics-based reviews of what’s working and what’s not,

as well as a forum to capture and review new ideas to determine

which of them should be operationalised quickly and which

should stay on the side burner (at least for now). This process

allows for an unlimited set of new ideas to be input and

addressed, with a specific process to, together, determine

where the focus should be moving forward.

8. O"ine relationship-buildingAll work and no play, well, you know how that ended. You

can’t force offline or out-of-office interaction, but you can

encourage and facilitate it. Get the teams together for happy

hour, do a March Madness bracket that mixes the teams

together, or other activities that fit your culture that help sales

and marketing leaders get to know each other outside of their

professional focus areas. When you can connect about sports

or music or family, it’s easier to get through the professional

obstacles and sticking points as well.

9. Measure before and after team satisfactionSalespeople want to make more sales. Marketing, believe

it or not, wants to help salespeople make more sales.

The blame-game that exists in many organization not only

keeps companies from closing more business, but frustrates

members of both teams. Driving effective, successful

collaboration between sales and marketing will drive both

sides to feel better about their contribution, the direct line

it provides to revenue, and greater satisfaction in their

day-to-day execution to achieve those results.



P R O C E E D T O :

Deliver a Great Experience to Prospects, IncludingThose That Don’t Buy

C H A P T E R F O U R

DELIVER A GREAT EXPERIENCE TO ALL PROSPECTS, INCLUDING THOSE THAT DON’T BUY


C H A P T E R F O U R :

Deliver a Great Experience to Prospects, Including Those That Don’t Buy

B Y B O B T H O M P S O N

For sure, increasing sales productivity is a good thing.Marketing organisations are putting in place systems and tools to generate and score leads, so that reps can

focus on more qualified prospects.

However, even in the best case scenario reps will not

close every opportunity. Some cusomers may not have

a need to buy now. Others may have a need, but they

may select another alternative.



A CSO Insights study found average win rates of about

45% in 2011, a five point drop from 2006.

So the key question is: What kind of sales experience are you delivering to all of your prospects – including those that weren’t qualified or didn’t buy?

This is important because, whether a prospect buys or not,

their experience interacting with your company will create a

lasting impression. A good experience means they may return

another day, when they have needs that match your solutions.

Or, they’ll recommend your company to a colleague.

Either way, that helps increase revenue productivity.

For example, last year I was looking for software to support

my online community CustomerThink.com.

Over the course of a couple of weeks, I searched for solutions,

interacted with vendor web sites and engaged with several

sales reps by email and phone. To most of the vendors I was

just another not-very-valuable small business buyer. And I was

treated accordingly, no doubt thanks to some nifty lead scoring

algorithms that have become de rigueur for B2B marketers.

Unfortunately, these vendors probably didn’t factor into their

scoring that my posts on CustomerThink reach an audience

of 80,000 visitors per month. Or, that I have colleagues in the

publishing business that are also potential buyers. And what

do you know, shortly after my buying experiences, an industry

colleague asked me for advice on similar tools, and I was only

too happy to share my recommendations. Privately.

Bottom line: While I may not have been scored or treated as a

valuable prospect, I was valuable in other ways—as an influencer.

And many of your prospects are, too.



The point of lead scoring is to assess the value of the

prospect to you—the seller—so you can make the best

use of your resources. Let’s flip this idea around. What I’m

advocating is that you spend time to really understand how

your prospects—all of them—perceive their experience with

your brand. From the initial web search to interacting with

your web site to engaging with inside or field sales reps,

all of these touchpoints form an impression and influence

their likelihood to buy or recommend.

Start by assessing your current customer and prospect experiences. Look for opportunities to get prospect feedback using web analytics and feedback solutions. You could even hire “mystery prospects” to take on different personas representing buyers, influencers, researchers, etc.



If you do a buyer “journey map” you’ll probably find that

more and more buyers start their journey online and are

rapidly adopting mobile technologies such as smart phones

and tablets. In the US, Nielson reports that in 2012 about half

of all mobile subscribers are using smartphones.

Ultimately, a great prospect experience is about interacting

on their terms—giving them the information they want, in

the form they want, where they want, at the time they want

it, on the device they want. Whether prospects buy

immediately or not, a positive experience will become

the “gift that keeps on giving” in the future.

Realise that as you’re scoring prospects on their value to yours, they are also scoring their experience with your company. Delivering a great prospect experience can help you differentiate and become a B2B brand that

businesspeople talk about like consumers rave about Zappos!

The prospect experience used to be mainly face-to-face

interactions. Then it moved to the phone, and now it’s

going digital in a big way.

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Guide to Mobility

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