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It can be a pain in the rump trying to find a couple of blog posts worth spending your morning reading and jump-starting the week. Literally hundreds and thousands of sales blogs with self-proclaimed “best sales solutions” trying to cram their way into your Twitter feed, Google search results and your existence. Fret no more as I have done the searching for you and found what I deem some great sales blog posts. Take a look and have a phenomenal week.
- The Secret Lesson Hiding in Nucleus Research’s ROI Study – CRM Outsiders
- 5 Steps to Create a Killer Google+ Business Page – BrainSell Blog
- Are You Lost In a B2B Sales Lead Paradox? – Marketo Blog
- New Study Says Customers Think Companies Don’t Give a Damn ABout Their Time…Just Their Money – Brent’s Social CRM Blog
- Customer Relationship Innovation for the Emergent Social Business - Brian Vellmure’s CRM Strategies Blog
- Eight Business Apps That Will Change the Way You Work - Emergence Capital Partners
- How Much Will You Sell in 2012 With Social Media? - Selling Power
- Video: The Biggest Mistakes Sellers Make – Selling to Big Companies
- Data Myth #4: Integration Ensures Cleaner CRM Data – DataMyth
- Three Steps to Develop Yourself – S. Anthony Iannarino; the Sales Blog
Many of you joined Hoovers with a mission to change the world, and you did just that in the late 90’s. However, in recent years your parent company has not fostered that original spirit. Consequently, innovation and market leadership have been replaced by layoffs and business stagnation.
Meanwhile, at InsideView we have continued to invest in our products and our people, growing our business at over 100% year-over-year. To keep up with our rapid growth, we need to find the most passionate, competent and innovative employees. I believe that many of you fit that bill, and I’m writing this open letter to invite you to join InsideView. You will find a fun, vibrant environment with very bright people, and an open culture that fosters collaboration and innovation.
We are passionate about our products and our customers. Last month’s data.com announcement made it clear to me that D&B has given up on Hoover’s in the critically important sales & marketing ecosystem, and that customers will need to look elsewhere to find sophisticated sales intelligence. I believe most of them will decide that InsideView is their best path to productivity, joining scores of Hoover’s customers that have already chosen to switch to InsideView.
We are looking for talent in every part of our business and in several locations. The positions include Sales, Customer Success, Marketing, and Content. Locations are in the field, at our San Francisco headquarters, and for our soon-to-be-opened Austin office (I love Austin’s entrepreneurial culture, and I see the opportunity for Austin to become a main hub for InsideView).
If you have a passion for innovation, customer success and are looking for a vibrant work environment, please email us at beyondhoovers@insideview.com for a confidential conversation. We’d also be glad to have you talk to any of the ex-Hoover’s employees who now work at InsideView, where they have found new opportunities to grow and delight customers.
We have just begun in delivering our vision, one where customer intelligence makes all customer-facing employees dramatically more productive. If you share my passion, we’d love to talk to you.
Umberto Milletti @umbertom
CEO & Founder, InsideView
You go to college, get accepted into a MBA program and take all the core courses designed to introduce you to the various areas of business such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, operations management, etc. But where does social media fit into this? That was a question on the minds of a large group of professors that attended the recent Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference 2011 hosted by the American Marketing Association.
Social Marketing Meets Sales: The Role of Social Media in Professional Selling
That was the title of the session being run by Robert Peterson Ph.D, Professor in the College of Business at Northern Illinois University and Michael Mallin Ph.D. Professor of Marketing and Sales at the University of Toledo. The epic resumes of these two people is just too much to list. They have both been involved in shaping business minds for a long time and have contributed research that has made an impact on not just the universities they work for but the students that have passed through their classes.
Social media trends and how social plays a part in the sales process was a special request by the organization that these two took on to put together. They were referred to me by the sales methodology company Miller Heiman (thanks!) as the expert in social selling and it only took me two emails to fill a panel of 4 other experts in the field. Anneke Seley, Craig Rosenberg, Maria Pergolino and Adam Metz were great enough to take time on a Sunday afternoon to discuss and answer questions from people with degrees that were almost intimidating. (for me anyway)
Social Media in the Classroom
Teaching social media does not come easily to academics, especially when it comes to specifically teaching social media for sales. The attending professors heard the panel discuss why social selling is important, what’s been working, and how to either develop courses around the subject matter of leveraging social media for sales or incorporate social media into the courses they are already teaching.
In the discussions the professors all agreed that Social Selling in the Enterprise was a key topic being raised by their students. Understanding what social networks, sales 2.0 tools were available and more importantly how to use them was a focus for the coming school year. I believe everyone on the panel delivered. It was exciting to see professors taking notes and raising their hands to get more education on this growing field of study so they could pass it along to their students.
Social Selling 101
Getting to talk with educators about Social Selling University, explain why it was created, the success it has already had and the plans for the future was great. All of the attendees validated the path we are on and wanted to talk about things they could use in their courses. I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing Social Selling courses being offered from some of the MBA programs in the near future.
In addition to the panel and the discussions we had during the session, InsideView offered any of the professors and their MBA students licenses of our application so they could use sales intelligence in their studies and projects they are working on during the year. If you are a college professor or an MBA student, contact us and lets talk about getting you a license too.
It was a busy month and I’m catching up on some announcements. After the announcement of our prize at Dreamforce, a major announcement with our partner SugarCRM, a new product release with some amazing enhancements, I had some other social projects to work on. One of those projects was a redesign of Social Selling University. SSU was created early this year with a focus in social selling for the enterprise. After a great series of webinars and speaking events, it was clear to everyone that Social Selling University was something we needed to invest more resources into. That started with a better looking website.
New Social Selling University Website
Social Selling by definition is the use of sales 2.0 tools to identify and engage prospects to create new opportunities and drive revenue. The biggest obstacles I encounter when talking to sales teams is that even though they are familiar with social media on a personal level, they don’t know where to start when it comes to applying these tools to their professional life.
Social Selling University is broken into 4 main parts that are designed to offer education and resources to sales people that want to know more about leveraging social media for sales.
The amount of content is growing and we are just about to roll out our next series of webinars featuring sales experts and training on ways to make the most out of Twitter, LinkedIn and other social tools that can get you more connected with your prospects.
SugarCon ’11, SugarCRM’s fifth annual user & customer conference, brings together SugarCRM users, developers, partners and experts from around the world. Packed with two days of business, technical and product presentations, SugarCon provides practical knowledge that you can apply to improve your company’s performance.
InsideView has the good fortune to have multiple sessions at SugarCon 2011 where we will have the opportunity to cover a great deal of content. Starting off with a Keynote address from Umberto Milletti and then two separate breakout sessions with Inbound Marketing Manager and Social Selling Director Koka Sexton along with the VP of Marketing Ralf VonSosen.
Big Data and the Emergence of Social Selling with Umberto Milletti, Founder and CEO, InsideView
Ballroom
Keynotes | Tuesday, April 5, 2011 | 1:15 – 2:00
As more businesses transact online and millions of users including executives and consumers use social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs, there’s an overwhelming amount of data, also known as “Big Data”, on companies and contacts online.
This data deluge presents new challenges as well as big opportunities, especially for sales organizations, to distill actionable insights about prospects and transform selling from an art to science. Harnessing business and social intelligence about prospects will no longer be optional, but essential for increasing sales productivity and win rates.
Learn about why Big Data matters and how it can help you change the game of selling.
Session #1
Getting a Competitive Advantage through Social Selling with Ralf VonSosen and Koka Sexton
Track 4: The Sugar Exchange | Tuesday, April 5, 2011 | 2:00 – 2:40
Today’s customers are not very responsive to traditional sales and marketing tactics such as email blasts, cold-calls, and canned pitches. Using social media, customers are researching products and solutions, and talking to their peers for recommendations instead of listening to vendor pitches. Over 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before it gets to sales.
Most sales reps and sales organizations are overwhelmed by too much data and frustrated by the loss of productivity as they seek actionable sales intelligence about their prospects! Harnessing business and social insights about prospects from online data can be a game-changer and a productivity booster for sales teams.
Come to this session to learn about how you make your selling more of a competitive advantage, what you need to have in place, and how you can get started.
Session #2
5 Must-Haves For Boosting Sales With Social Media with Ralf VonSosen and Koka Sexton
Track 6: Social Business | Wednesday, April 6th | 11:30am – 12:10pm
Your customers have changed. How you find them and engage with them has changed too. It’s more important than ever for sales organizations to recognize this opportunity to build relationships and generate new leads using social media. The problem is what tools to use, metrics to track and how to train them.
In this session, you will learn about the 5 easy steps you should take, that will empower a sales team to engage with customers in social networks. You will also learn what tools work best and how to measure the results.
With a successful launch and great response to the Social Selling University, we are hosting a Social Selling Workshop to help educate and enable sales professionals to the impact that can be made by incorporating the use of social media to the sales process.
InsideView is a sponsor of the Sales 2.0 Conference and it makes sense that we bring our expertise of social media for sales teams to this audience. The Social Selling Workshop with be a combination of speakers talking about social media in B2B sales environments and a panel of experts that will discuss social media strategies and trends being found in companies adopting social selling techniques.
Workshop Agenda
4:00pm – 4:30pm: Welcome and Intro
Gerhard Gschwandtner, Selling Power
4:30pm – 5:00pm: Social Selling Primer
Koka Sexton, InsideView
5:00pm – 5:30pm: Social Media in B2B Sales
Jacob Morgan, Chess Media Group
5:30pm – 5:45pm: Break
5:45pm – 6:15pm: Panel Discussion
Moderator: Gerhard Gschwandtner, Selling Power
Anneke Seley, Phone Works
Pelin Wood Thorogood, Schulman + Thorogood Group
6:15pm – 7:00pm: Cocktails and Raffle
The Social Selling Workshop is not limited to attendees of the Sales 2.0 conference. Anyone in the area that is interested in learning more about social media for sales can attend.
InsideView Launches Social Selling University to Provide Comprehensive Education for Sales Professionals, Driving Sales Productivity Through Social MediaWorld’s Top Sales Experts, Social Media Pundits Unite for Launch of First-of-Its-Kind Education Initiative
Today Social Selling University officially launches as the first program to educate sales professionals on how to leverage social media technologies and methodologies to increase sales productivity and drive revenue throughout the entire sales cycle. The first-of-its-kind program instructs sales organizations, consultants and in-house teams about selling to the modern and socially-connected customer — Customer 2.0 — and offers both an on-demand curriculum and live workshops. The program is open to all sales professionals starting today.
Social Selling University’s (SSU) actionable content and interactive learning modules have been developed by expert instructors, including experienced thought leaders, authors and analysts. Classes are designed for all levels of sales professionals, covering a broad range of topics including entry-level social media instruction on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, best practices for managing personal online brands and how to accelerate the sales cycle by leveraging recent business events, social conversations and social relationships (aka “social intelligence”). The program’s instructors will provide expert advice to sales management on how to best incorporate social selling into their organizations, and educate sales professionals on how to utilize social media platforms to drive greater sales productivity.
“Social media is fundamentally changing the way sales professionals navigate the sales cycle — what worked two years ago, doesn’t work anymore because socially savvy buyers know far more about products and companies than ever before,” said Barbara Giamanco, Talent Builders CEO. “Fortunately, SSU levels the playing field by teaching sales executives, managers and reps how to interact with and sell to the modern consumer. These social sales practices breed relationships and eliminate the need for cold calling.”
Who should attend SSU?
Any sales professional — from account rep to sales team leader, director or executive — who CANNOT answer the question: “What is social selling and why does it matter to my sales organization?”
Isn’t social media for marketers? Why does social media matter to sales people?
- Social media marketing grew 50% in 2010 to $1.2 billion, and analysts predict that 2011 is the “year of social integration” for businesses. Social CRM has crested as the new and understood platform for sales and customer service.
“Salespeople who fail to leverage social media do so at their own peril. The problem is, many don’t know how,” said Jill Konrath, best-selling author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies. “Thankfully, technologies exist to allow any sales professional to gather and share relevant buyer information and achieve greater sales success. Social Selling University is a great place to start and continue learning what’s possible in the new world of social selling.”
As part of the initiative, SSU will host a Webinar series, featuring a panel of industry thought leaders to answer questions about how to use social media for sales, including:
March 3: Barbara Giamanco, founder and CEO of Talent Builders, Inc
March 8: Koka Sexton, director of Social Selling University
March 10: Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies
March 15: Patrick O’Malley, social media trainer and consultant
March 17: Nigel Edelshain, CEO of Sales 2.0
March 22: Pelin Thorogood, principal, Schulman + Thorogood Group.
March 24: Anneke Seley, CEO and founder of Phone Works and coauthor of Sales 2.0
March 29: Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Millennial Branding, LLC
March 31: Tibor Shanto, principal, Renbor Sales Solutions
On March 8, SSU will host a live, complimentary workshop following the Sales 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, where industry thought leaders will discuss the best practices for leveraging social media to increase sales team performance. Visit SSU’s registration page for more information about the agenda, speakers or sign-up information.
“Social media has completely changed the world of selling, and if you and your organization want to stay relevant, then you need to learn how to use these tools before your competitors,” said Dan Schawbel, the author of the number one international bestselling book, Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future. ”Social Selling University is the first program to teach salespeople how to use Facebook, Twitter and other social tools to generate ready-to-buy leads and build relationships with customers that result in long-term business growth.”
About Social Selling University
Social Selling University is the world’s first initiative dedicated to teaching the sales profession how to put social media to work within their sales processes and organizations for greater productivity and revenue, through online instruction and in-person workshops. SSU staff includes dozens of the leading experts in social media, sales and Social CRM, and provides courses made specifically for executives, managers and representatives. Founded in 2011 by InsideView, SSU is the leading source of education about using the social Web to increase sales productivity through social intelligence. For more information, visit www.socialsellingu.com.
Inside sales and field sales professionals should all have a LinkedIn profile. If not, 10 Reasons why you need a LinkedIn profile should have a effect on you. It’s always nice to meet with a group of people to discuss the use of sales 2.0 tools like LinkedIn and hear their opinions of what works and what to stay away from. One of the more interesting discussions is around who you should make as a connection vs. who you should ignore. After some internal discussion on the subject, I brought the question to a popular LinkedIn group and the contributors of Focus.com.
Adding Anyone and Everyone to LinkedIn
One school of thought is that LinkedIn is a social network that people should be very open with. There are groups of LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networker) that have collected upwards of 30,000 connections on this professional social network. If you get a connection request from someone, blindly add them into the fold and continue doing this and watch you numbers of connections skyrocket. There are actual websites that get you added to lists (for a fee) to increase your LinkedIn connections. An unofficial site known as the TopLinked.com tracks the connection counts of many LIONs.
Outside of an organized group of LinkedIn connection collectors, there is some value in regular people trying to build a large network in LinkedIn. As members we are only able to see certain information on other members based on our level of separation from them. The larger the connections you have, the higher chance you will be more closely associated with other people and see more details in their profile.
When I was starting off in sales, I had the idea that the more connections in LinkedIn I could collect would somehow equal more leads and opportunities. Since then I have learned that this is actually very counter productive. There is no way to manage let alone network with 2000+ people on a realistic level. I had to make the tough decision to ignore many of the requests for connecting that I was getting on a regular basis, mostly from sales trainers and SEO marketers. As many of the comments in the groups suggest, there has to be some sort of perceived value in the connection other than just adding a number.
Paul Castain has a large following especially in his LinkedIn group. He joined the conversation and added this:
I speak to lots of people each week about their social networking efforts and I can tell you that this pretty much never comes up.
What does come up are their perceptions of online idiots, combative people in the groups, people who are takers in their network, people who pop up out of nowhere and want an instant favor and by far the most popular are people who connect and immediate try to sell something.
Only Add People You Know
The flip side of the coin is only adding connections that you actually know. These are people you have done business with or have met or had conversations with in the past. Obviously this is a much smaller group of connections and can only be leveraged in limited ways.
Alan Prefer • …I dont believe that LinkedIn is a place for strangers, I dont have a contact on my list that i dont know…what would be the benefit be?
Limiting the number of connections you have to ONLY people you know seems a little counter productive also. If you already know the person then why would you need to add them to LinkedIn? Alan (comment above) followed up his statement by saying that he uses his connections in a very selective refferal network. In this case I can see why it would make sense to have a very select number of connections but that’s not how I think most people use LinkedIn.
Connecting with the Right People in the Right Way
Since LinkedIn doesn’t have the functionality to “follow” people outside of groups, the only way to keep up to date with some people is through an official connection with them. If there is a contact in LinkedIn that you want to connect with, the best thing to do is send them a request. If you are going to send a request to a stranger on LinkedIn, take the time to add a personal note, and by personal, I do not mean the template provided.
In the end it comes down to you personal preference. Your profile on LinkedIn is yours to control and the size of your network is something you should be aware of.
What are your personal rules for adding connections in LinkedIn? Let’s discuss it below.
