I’m optimistic. I’m beginning to think that second-nature use of collaborative technologies by non-technologists, both for social engagement as well as for work, could reach a tipping point much sooner than I had thought. It’s not going to be completely smooth sailing, though.
All in Sales Management
McKinney Interviews Cochran about First HP Pocket Scientific Calculator
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the podcast of Phil McKinney’s interview with David Cochran about Cochran’s involvement on the team at Hewlett-Packard (HP) that designed the first pocket scientific calculator. The situation was interesting from the standpoint of innovation management and luck.
More Thoughts About "Web 2.0 and Sales Process Management"
My survey-based report Web 2.0 and Sales Process Management is now available in its published form via The Customer Collective and Social Media Today.
Every sales person I know wants better leads. Because of this the benefits of applying Web 2.0 techniques to prospecting and qualifying would seem to be a no-brainer. But what about using Web 2.0 techniques to support other sales processes?
With sponsorship from Social Media Today LLC and Oracle Corporation, I’ve developed a brief online survey for sales managers who have responsibility for a team of sales people.
This brief online survey, sponsored by Social Media Today LLC (SMT), is designed to help discover where modern “web 2.0” tools will have the most impact on the sales process. It is intended to be answered by sales managers who have responsibility for a team of sales people.
What department should manage a corporate “social networking” program for generating business leads?
I thought about this while responding to the question posed on Linkedin Answers by Dave Biskner, How would you implement a staff-wide networking program?
I haven’t really decided how “revolutionary” web 2.0 applications are. One school of thought is that web 2.0 applications like blogs, podcasts, and wikis are “just another set of channels” to be considered in the overall mix of ways to manage communications with one’s target markets and customers. There’s another school of thought, though, that suggests that the interactivity and social networking aspects of Web 2.0 are finamentally changing the balance of power and influence in the marketplace in a profound way. I come down somewhere in the middle.
I’ve used Salesmetric (www.salesmetric.com), a hosted, web based sales lead tracking system, for a couple of years. (The provider calls it a “sales force automation” tool.) In this report I describe my experiences using it and some of the things that I have learned.
Overall I’m very pleased with the system. I have learned a lot about this type of tool and what that might say about using other hosted, web based tools with groups of users spread around the country.