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Information Technology &Telecom Sales
= Social Business Sales
Adapting to today’s buyer driven sales
environment
Al Brodie
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You know what’s on your customer’s mind?
Develop Stronger Customer
Relationships
Make sense of Data
New Competitors
Anticipate Market Shifts
Increase Revenue
Increase Business Agility & Speed
Reduce Capital & Operating Expense
Increase Sales
Increase Brand Recognition
Regulatory Compliance
Reduce Time-to-Market
Engage Customers in New Ways
Increase Collaboration
with customers
and partners
Increase Security
Innovation for Growth
Increase Customer
Satisfaction
Traditional Competitors
Increase Market Share
Improve Speed of Decision Making
Employee Productivity
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And, you have the solutions to solve their problems
Sales Force Automation
Security
Data Center Networking
CRM
Big Data
Cloud Computing
Content Management
Business Analytics
Wireless Networking
Social Relationship Management
VoIP
Marketing Automation
ERP
Virtualization
SOA
Collaboration Software
Contact Center Management
MobileMobile Apps
Infrastructure Management
Financial Management
Data Services
Voice Services
Gigabit Ethernet
Hosted Services
IaaS
SaaS
PaaS
Mobility
Routers & Switches
Unified Communication
Web Conferencing Video
Conferencing
Storage
SAN
NAS
IP / MPLS
Next Generation Networks
e-Commerce
But, if you’re not engaging customers using social business practices……..
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…you might encounter barriers to entry
Social Tools People & Networks Processes Information & Assets Internal & Externally
Focused Activities
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So, what is a social business?
“…… activities that use social media, social software and technology-based social networks to enable connectionsbetween people, information and assets.These activities could be internally focused within the enterprise or externally focused toward customers, suppliers and partners.”
MIT Sloan Research Report: Moving Beyond Marketing
“80% respondents in IT, Technology and Telecomm companies stated social business was important to their business.”
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And, why should you care?
“…at least 60% of respondents in most industries agree that social business is important or somewhat important today (four or five on a five-point scale).”
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Recent studies show a clear connection between social business and top marketing priorities and sales projects
Lead generation & conversion
Increase audience reach
Increase customer loyalty & revenue
Reduce costs for lead generation
HubSpotState of Marketing 2014 Report
Lower Sales
Productivity
Ineffective Lead
Generation
Poor Pipeline Quality
Reduced Forecast Accuracy
Longer Sales Cycles
Higher Discounting
Lower Close Ratio
Reduced Sales &
Profitability
Higher Turnover
Rising Cost of Sales
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However, many sales organizations continue to use outdated sales methods that yield lackluster results
A Vicious Cycle
Time Consuming Research
Cold Calling
Rising Cost of Sales
Seller & Buyer Frustration
Expensive Leads
Declining Sales
Marketing & Sales Dysfunction
Outbound Sales Is “Interrupt” Driven Cold Calls Voice mail Unsolicited e-mail; SPAM Letters Doesn’t align with customer
buying process
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Research tells us that traditional outbound sales strategies are ineffective and mostly a waste of time and money
Because what was once the sales process has become the buying process requiring sellers to either “Adapt or Die”
Online Research Education Community Discussions Content Consumption Ratings
“…..distribute content that enables them to build up credibility and eventually develop a trusted reputation based on their expertise.”
“….making sales is now about delivering content at the precise moment each buyer needs it.”
The Buyer JourneyFeaturing
Recommendations Vendor Engagement Supplier Selection Review & Endorsement
THE NEW RULES OF SALES AND SERVICE David Meerman Scott
MIT Sloan Research Report: Social Business: Shifting Out of First Gear
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And, to engage today’s information savvy buyers requires an entirely different sales methodology
“….customers now handle an estimated 53% of the traditional sales process via online research and self-service.” Defining the 21st
Century Salesperson: Forrester Research
Today’s selling environment requires salespeople to have “a deep understanding of potential clients and can reach out to decision makers and influencers through introductions and build credibility with meaningful content.”
The 21st Century Buyers
• Are better informed
• Expect greater knowledge and sophistication from salespeople
• Insist on more than basic product information
• Require collaborative partnerships
• Demand solutions and capabilities that deliver quantifiable, measurable, business results
• Are slashing procurement process costs
• Eliminate vendors that don’t add value
What’s needed is a new approach
10 Things Social Selling Does: Delivers customer focused content Educates and informs Generates awareness & interest Solves customer problems Demonstrates expertise & leadership Provides insight through storytelling Supplies information when and where
needed Facilitates conversations and connections Aligns with the customer buying process Employs data to gain deeper customer
understanding and anticipate needs
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One based on building relationships and providing buyers with information they need to make purchase decisions
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That uses storytelling to articulate why your company is uniquely positioned to solve a buyers problemsEffective Storytelling Discusses customer problems and concerns Acknowledges industry trends and directions Aligns solution messages and value propositions
with customer needs and emerging trends Uses customer examples, references and case
studies to describe how you solve buyer problems Employs a single unified message across the
organization from Marketing, Sales and Customer Service
Uses simple language not technical jargon & Gobbledygook
Told in a compelling manner using a unique tone Based on data and analytics gathered through
research and social listening tools Appropriate level of content for where the buyer is
in their journey
65% of industry leading companies use social media to understand market shifts vs. 14% for less socially mature companies
MIT Sloan Research Report: Social Business: Shifting Out of First Gear
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And provides clear and differentiated messages through customer focused contentCustomer Focused Messaging Solution oriented not product focused Describes value not features Describes “How and Why” not “What” Provides vision and a bridge from customer’s
current state to desired state Based on fact versus fiction Specific to individual buyer profiles: “Buyer of
One” Is differentiated and unique Timely and uses news stories and current
events to draw attention and raise visibility Distributed through multiple social media
venues Interesting and engaging
“Vendors need to base their message on their high-level value propositions….the wrong value proposition dooms a product or a whole company.”
Forrester ResearchDefining the 21st Century Salesperson
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An approach that parallels and intersects with a customers buying processEngage With The Buyer Process Uses buyer profiles that aligns your
offerings with a buyers problems, needs and concerns
Increases buyer awareness with customer centric information optimized for buyer searches; available across multiple channels
Provides appropriate level of content or resources at each stage of the buying cycle
Encourages collaboration and discussions among buyers, sharing similar problems, and your sales staff
Provides flexibility for buyers to connect with your salespeople in multiple ways
Facilitates speed and responsiveness to customer buying signals
Give them what they need at each stage Discovery: Basic information that educates Evaluation: Greater detail for comparison Validation: Proof points, value propositions
and references Purchase: Real-time connection with sales
and technical resources
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That aligns Marketing and Sales to provide a single voice in all communicationsAligning Marketing & Sales One message articulated across the
organization Educates and informs audience Focused on individual buyer persona
needs, concerns and interests Addresses buyer perceptions for doing
business with you or your competitors Takes into account competitive strategies,
messages and solutions Based on insight about how, when and why
buyers make purchase decisions Gives salespeople contextual content to
share with buyers at just the right moment Structured to lead buyers to eventually
connect with your experts & salespeople
“Marketing generates attention of the many people who make up a buyer persona, whereas sales communicates with one potential customer at a time, putting the buying process into context.”
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While using rich data and analytics to learn more about customer needs and preferences through their interactionsRich Data Provides Insight To: Quickly identify and respond to customer
buying signals and trigger events Anticipate buyer needs Improve lead qualification, pipeline and
forecast quality Facilitate real-time customer connections
with your salespeople to accelerate and shorten buying cycles
Align with the buyer journey by understanding how, when and why they make purchase decisions
Gauge effectiveness of strategy, messaging and tactics
Rapidly recognize and capitalize on new market opportunities
Improve responsiveness to market shifts and competitive threats
With the underlying objective that enables buyers to purchase from YOU
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Social Selling delivers tangible business results for
Technology & Telecommunications sales
organizations
More sales leads Increased sales
pipeline quality Increased sales staff
productivity Increased forecast
accuracy Improved efficiency of
sales resources
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Social Selling delivers tangible business results for
Technology & Telecommunications sales
organizations Shorter sales cycles; faster time-to-revenue
Reduced discounting; increased profitability per transaction
Increased sales & revenue
Smoother implementations & cutovers
Greater customer satisfaction & loyalty
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