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With healthcare reforms under way in the US, saying that the healthcare industry is undergoing a sea of change is an understatement! Bottom line – many companies across the healthcare value chain are impacted – be it insurers, technology providers, or benefits firms. For healthcare providers, like others, focusing on finding new growth opportunities and improving profitability through higher productivity are both critical.
Recently, we’ve been seeing tremendous interest in InsideView from companies across the healthcare sector, as they look to boost sales productivity and pursue new market opportunities created by healthcare reform – these include firms in the Fortune 100 as well as emerging technology leaders.
We’d like to thank these healthcare firms for choosing InsideView, and are excited about doing our part for the healthcare industry.
BroadVision, a pioneer and innovator in eCommerce solutions has selected SalesView, to ramp up their sales productivity. We’d like to thank BroadVision and extend a warm welcome.
Of course, you need to be an employee so that you get a paycheck to be a consumer 
But the point we’re making is that within today’s enterprises, employee behavior is mimicking Consumer 2.0 – especially when employees learn about and choose solutions for their enterprise. In other words, Consumer 2.0 has led to Employee 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0.
What does this mean to sales and marketing organizations? To sell effectively to enterprises today, you need to understand Consumer 2.0 (aka Customer 2.0) and Employee 2.0 and their buying behavior.
Well, that’s exactly what WageWorks is doing, and winning. WageWorks is a fast-growing market-leader that provides consumer-directed spending solutions to 40% of the Fortune 100. Think Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Savings Accounts (HSA), Commuter benefits etc.
And WageWorks has been a customer of InsideView, as part of their Sales 2.0 strategy. Thank you WageWorks!
Guest post by Josiane Feigon – author, blogger, entrepreneur, and founder of TeleSmart Communications.
I was shopping for a new road bike last week and trying to figure out the difference between the steel, aluminum, and carbon frames. In explaining the differences, the guy said, “This heavier bike is like the 1.0 version and this newer, lighter one is like the 2.0 version.” Bingo — sold! These days everything that carries a 2.0 stamp promises a glimpse of what the future holds.
The Sales 2.0 Conference East takes place in Boston today. Sales leaders have gathered once again to learn about the latest tools, processes, and best-practices that will increase sales productivity and ultimately drive revenue. As I ponder the evolution of Sales 2.0, I think back to a question posed by an audience member at the 2nd Sales 2.0 Conference in March 2009 that gave everyone pause – Should we first focus on defining “Customer 2.0” and their buying process before moving on to “Sales 2.0”? A year later, the answer is a definitive yes.
In the last five years Web 2.0 and social media have fundamentally changed customer behavior and their buying process. Those changes have put the customer in the driver’s seat and in control of the conversation, which in turn demands that B2B sales professionals adopt different tools, tactics, and processes for listening, connecting, and engaging with their social customers. This explains the growing interest in Sales 2.0 and Social Selling.
Customer 2.0 has arrived and they’re moving fast. These techno-savvy, socially engaged buyers don’t want to be sold to. They have survived one of the toughest economic landscapes in history, and they’re traveling light — smart enough to know what they DON’T want:
- They’ve been lied to, betrayed, and held in sales headlocks listening to empty product pitches. They don’t want to be pushed, pitched, or prodded any more.
- They don’t want to be sold to, read email clichés like “premiere solutions provider” or “next-generation,” or sit through “death by PowerPoint” demos or presentations.
- They don’t want to stand in long-lines. They much prefer going through the quick self-service queue.
- And they don’t want to be spoon-fed a big dinner that ends up making them sick. They want to eat bite-sized pieces, full of flavor, that they can pick up with their own hands and easily digest.
And they’re smart enough to know what they DO want:
- They want you to really listen to their needs, to tell them why their business is unique and makes a difference.
- They want to shop through their own channels, and they are really good at it. They scope the market on their own and are resourceful and smart when it comes to making choices — they may actually know more about your product than you do.
- They are very social and easily influenced. When making a decision, they are much more likely to listen to friends and colleagues before they listen to your sales team.
- They have their own rhythm. They’ve learned how to wait for desperate discounting at the end of the month — that’s where the deals are. But surprisingly, they aren’t looking for deals, they aren’t looking to be the next hero, they just want to know their investment is solid because they don’t want to check it/rebalance it/refresh it over time.
Customer 2.0 travels light and moves fast! Is your sales team equipped to keep up?
About Josiane Feigon
Josiane Feigon is author of the book, Smart Selling on the Phone and Online- the sourcebook for inside sales. Her Cubicle Chronicles blog is voted among the top 25 sales blogs. She is founder and CEO of TeleSmart Communications, a 20-year veteran and thought leader of the industry, Josiane is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on inside sales team and manager talent, providing consulting, coaching, and training solutions for hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies. Visit Josiane’s website: www.tele-smart.com, and read her blog, purchase her book and download her latest ebook and white papers.
A 20-year industry veteran, Josiane is the founder of TeleSmart Communications. Since 1994, this San Francisco-based solutions provider has been a leader in developing global Inside Sales teams and managers.
How many Google searches do you perform each day as part of your lead generation and qualification process? And how often do you have to change your search to find what you were really looking for? For those sales people who don’t have access to an enterprise sales intelligence application and rely on free resources like Google, there are a lot of inefficient searches performed every day. What many people may not know is that Google actually has advanced search capabilities that act as shortcuts to find the right information you need. The list below is not comprehensive, but I’ll guarantee they’ll change the way you listen, connect and engage with Customer 2.0.
Here they are, your Top 5 Advanced Search Tips for Better Prospecting:
#1 Exact Match Searches
A normal search in Google returns the most relevant results to your search term. But let’s say you are looking for something that exactly matches a specific keyword or phrase. Enclose your search phrase in double quotations and you’ll get just that – only exact match results.
Example: Symantec “CMO”
This search would return results related to the company Symantec but have the word “CMO” on the page. A good way to do reputation management for your product or service or find recent news regarding a specific topic.
#2 Keyword Exclusions (Negative Keywords)
Say you want to do a search for a keyword or phrase but the results include lots of unrelated results. All you have to do is include a few negative keywords to exclude those results from showing up by using the minus sign (-) followed by your keyword with no space in between.
Example: Walmart Competitors -Target
This search will display all results related to the company Walmart, except for any result related to the company Target.
#3 Site Specific Searches
Looking for a page on a site but can’t seem to find it? Look no further than the site search command (site:example.com) and search only the input site. Take it a step further and include a keyword of your topic with the site search and narrow your results.
Example: site:www.insideview.com Executive Team
This search will display all results on www.insideview.com related to our Executive Team.
#4 Synonyms and Modifiers
Say you want to do a search for a product that goes by a few names including synonyms, similar words, etc. Instead of searching multiple times, use the synonym (~) or dynamic modifier (*) to combine results.
Examples:
Synonym Search: New ~executive at SolarWinds
This search will find results related to the new hire at SolarWinds and all synonyms and similar words related to executive including CEO, CMO, exec, etc.
Dynamic Modifier Search: IBM hires new *
This search will display results related to the newest IBM employee in the news. The asterisk represents any potential word. In this case it could be VP sales, CMO, Director, etc.
#5 Similar Sites
Want to find similar or related sites to a prospect, competitor or partner? Use the “related:” search command to do just that.
Example: related:finance.yahoo.com
This search will display the most similar sites (according to Google) related to finance.yahoo.com. Results include Nasdaq, MarketWatch and Bloomberg.
#5.5 The Combo
I know the title says top 5, but I threw this one in here for fun. The combo is typically only used by advanced web users and SEO experts, but it’s extremely valuable once you get the hang of it. The combo uses any and all of the above advanced queries into one monster search to find anything you want.
Example: “Google” ~executive -www.google.com salary
This search will display results about the salary of Google’s executive team (including synonyms such as CEO, Chief, execs, etc) on all sites other than Google.com.
The new Customer 2.0 is savvy and social, utilizing a myriad of networks and channels to voice their opinion and recommend the products they love (and condemn those they dislike). But there’s also a select group of sales pros who have taken this social bull by the horns, providing insight to their peers about getting on the same level as the customer via sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and their own blogs.
In January, we recognized the savviest sales industry professionals using the social Web, and continued the list because we were equally impressed by yet another pack of social media leaders.
Today, we extend the InsideView 50 to another select group of sales executives, writers, trainers, analysts and more – all of whom focus on leading the new wave of selling, or what we like to call, Sales 2.0. Like InsideView, these individuals are ushering in a new era of sales, and we’re happy to recognize them for doing so.
And without further ado:
Paul Castain, VP of sales development for Consolidated Graphics (CGX)
Company Website: http://www.cgx.com/Public/index.asp
Paul is the VP of sales development for CGX by day and a Sales Jedi by night (and day.) He shares his more than 25 years of sales experience on his blog, The Sales Playbook. He also shares tips & tricks, resources, industry news and other great stuff with over 12,000 sales professionals that belong to his Sales Playbook group on LinkedIn.. He has trained more than 3,000 sales professionals, has authored numerous articles and manuals and is currently in the process of releasing his first book.
Doyle Slayton, founder of SalesBlogcast.com
Company website: http://salesblogcast.com/
Doyle is the founder of SalesBlogcast, a sales and leadership blog that provides industry insight, resources and information. As the founder of the blog, Doyle has become an internationally recognized sales strategist, speaker and blogger, and his LinkedIn group has developed a huge following with regular contributions from sales professionals around the world.
Thomas Reidy, author of The Sales Whisperer for Entrepreneurs
Company website: http://www.thomasreidy.com/
Thomas is an accomplished author and provides resources and advice from more than 30 years of experience in sales and business development. He is also the only expert of his type to appear 12consecutive times in Who’s Who in America, and specializes in coaching “Old School vs. New School” business development skills.
Brian Carroll, CEO of InTouch
Company website: http://www.startwithalead.com/
Brian is the CEO of InTouch and creator of the B2B Lead Generation blog. He authored Lead Generation for the Complex Sale (McGraw-Hill) and has shared his expertise in publications including BtoB Magazine, Selling Power, Sales and Marketing Management, The Wall Street Journal and CMO Magazine.
Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group
Company website: http://www.acumenmgmt.com
Ken is the president of Acumen Management group. He brings a wealth of “old school” expertise to our list of savvy sales professionals, sharing his expertise on Twitter and in a variety of publications. Ken writes the Your Sales Management Guru blog and contributes regularly on LinkedIn.
Eric Blumthal, CEO of Count5 and creator of (social network for salespeople)
Company website: http://www.count5.com/
Eric is the CEO of Count5 and the creator of Funny Sales Cartoons, a social network for salespeople. His Twitter bio says enough: “I tweet about sales effectiveness★★#B2Bsales thought tweader / software CEO that doesn’t take himself 2 seriously. I help Sales VP’s w/execution.”
S. Anthony Iannarino, president and chief sales officer of SOLUTIONS Staffing
Company website: http://thesalesblog.com/
S. Anthony is the president and CSO of SOLUTIONS Staffing, and runs The Sales Blog. He also owns B2B Sales Coach and actively tweets with tips and resources to help educate and inform fellow sales professionals.
Skip Anderson, founder and president of Selling to Consumers
Company website: http://blog.sellingtoconsumers.com/
Skip is the founder and president of Selling to Consumers, a sales training and consulting company. Similar to his peers on our list, his Twitter bio speaks for itself: “Authority on B2C selling, writer, retail sales training, speaker, blogger, geek (not in the tech sense, but in the geeky sense).”
Peter Ostrow, sales effectiveness research director at the Aberdeen Group
Company website: http://www.aberdeen.com/
Peter is the sales effectiveness research director at the Aberdeen Group, and is a highly recognized analyst covering the technology, service and consulting enablers that enterprise sales forces deploy to become Best-in-Class organizations. His research is widely publicized and covers topics such as sales training and sales intelligence.
Dave Stein, founder, chairman and CEO of ES Research Group
Company website: http://www.esresearch.com/
Dave is the founder, chairman and CEO of ES Research Group, and is a highly recognizedcontributor to leading business magazines and websites. The sales expert began his career as a professional trumpeter, but has since worked up a great reputation for his professional contributions (some of which can be seen in his blog).
Earlier this week I spent the afternoon at Altitude 2010, hosted by HP and Box.net, where I had the pleasure to be around Silicon Valley’s best and brightest to discuss the future of Cloud Computing in the Enterprise.
Every speaker had the same belief, that the move to cloud computing is inevitable, because of its superior value, scalability and availability at a reduced cost. There was also broad agreement that we will continue to see a consumerization of enterprise technology, drawing on the best aspects of consumer products (user-friendly, viral, freemium…) to increase the value that corporations get from IT.
While these trends seem unavoidable, the pace of adoption is likely to remain measured. Unlike consumers who quickly flock to new, better things, corporations are deliberate and often slow to adopt.
Putting one and one together, I thought: what an opportunity! An inevitable trend that evolves slowly gives those who are not timid a competitive advantage. In the world of sales, that advantage is the opportunity to be amongst the first to adopt a new trend, and to show our customers and prospects that we are ahead of the curve. Companies want to do business with people and companies who lead, and not with laggards.
Are you spending enough time to understand the trends in your market (in my case they include Sales 2.0, Customer 2.0, Social Media for Sales, Social CRM, Data vs. Intelligence)? Do you have an opinion on how they will impact your market? Do you make your opinions known (via email, blogs, twitter…)? Do you know how to translate those views into a relevant outreach that will get the attention of your prospects and customers?
If you want to be viewed as adding value to your prospects and customers, the answer has to be resounding yes for all of the above.
Inbound Marketing is still a relatively new and quickly trending marketing strategy that was coined a few years ago by HubSpot. While it has fast become a high priority for companies looking to increase their awareness, traffic, and revenues via the Web, Inbound Marketing is often confused with search engine optimization.
What is Inbound Marketing?
Wikipedia defines Inbound Marketing as:
Inbound marketing is a style of marketing that essentially focuses on getting found by customers. Marketers “earn their way in” (via publishing helpful information on a blog etc.) in contrast to outbound marketing where they used to have to “buy, beg, or bug their way in” (via paid advertisements, issuing press releases in the hope they get picked up by the trade press, or paying commissioned sales people, respectively).
In short, Inbound Marketing is a way to ”get found online” by publishing information on the web and customers finding your published content. This allows your company, website and brand to earn credibility as the customer finds your content (provided they also find value in that content), making them more likely to trust your information, buy your products, recommend you to peers, etc. Put another way… Inbound Marketing = Getting Found by Customers
There is a bit of a Field of Dreams “if you build it, they will come” assumption with
inbound marketing. Just because you are publishing articles, white papers and blog posts does not mean customers will ever find your content. Why? Because publishing content, even great content, does not mean that search engines will find you, rank you high enough to drive meaningful traffic or that websites will link to you and promote your content. To do all that, you need search engine optimization (SEO).
What is Search Engine Optimization?
SEOMoz, a hugely popular search engine optimization company and online community, define SEO as the following:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the active practice of optimizing a web site by improving internal and external aspects in order to increase the traffic the site receives from search engines.
In short, SEO is a marketing strategy that is the complex process of creating, publishing, promoting and optimizing your web site to maximize your ability to “get found” by search engines that will potentially drive traffic and customers to your site. Put another way… SEO = Getting Found by Search Engines
Within the internet marketing and SEO communities, Inbound Marketing is simply thought of as accessibility and content creation, along with the hundreds of other factors taken into account by SEO rankings.
SEO + Inbound Marketing = Getting Found (by search engines AND customers)
SEO not only encompasses publishing content to get found by customers, but the underlying process that inbound marketing assumes – making sure that your content can be found by search engines so that it can in turn be found by customers.
As you contemplate your Inbound Marketing strategy, take into account this classic quote: “great content is no substitute for great marketing.” A strong advertising, promotional, social media, inbound selling and/or SEO campaign has the ability to attract far more attention than the content may “deserve”. Seemingly unfair, it’s a principle on which all of capitalism has functioned for the last few hundred years. Spreading the word is often just as important (or more so) than being right, being honest or being valuable – just look at the world of politics.
