Comments for Acquiring Minds http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog A B2B Lead Generation Blog Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:08:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on Selling to the Digital B2B Buyer by Stuart Armstrong http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/22/selling-to-the-digital-b2b-buyer/comment-page-1/#comment-1143 Stuart Armstrong Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:08:22 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=684#comment-1143 Great posts.. Agreed. Its really going to the inside sales 360 CRM view model. (I tell my IT Field sales buddies this all the time) Buyers at all levels are time pressed and getting comfortable with digital, virtual relationships. However, selling to C levels. Do it F2F..thats what they prefer. http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Business_Meetings_FaceToFace.pdf regards, Stuart Great posts..

Agreed. Its really going to the inside sales 360 CRM view model.
(I tell my IT Field sales buddies this all the time)

Buyers at all levels are time pressed and getting comfortable with digital, virtual relationships.
However, selling to C levels.
Do it F2F..thats what they prefer.

http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Business_Meetings_FaceToFace.pdf

regards,
Stuart

]]> Comment on Selling to the Digital B2B Buyer by Robert Lesser http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/22/selling-to-the-digital-b2b-buyer/comment-page-1/#comment-1059 Robert Lesser Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:02:56 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=684#comment-1059 @Trish / Anneke - Thanks for confirming the trends with inside sales that you see taking shape @ Akin - What a great example of how web analytics can heighten sales intelligence. @ Steve - I agree that the 'discovery call' is that moment of truth for the B2B buyer. Will the call be value-add and consultative or not? @Trish / Anneke – Thanks for confirming the trends with inside sales that you see taking shape

@ Akin – What a great example of how web analytics can heighten sales intelligence.

@ Steve – I agree that the ‘discovery call’ is that moment of truth for the B2B buyer. Will the call be value-add and consultative or not?

]]> Comment on Selling to the Digital B2B Buyer by Steven Woods http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/22/selling-to-the-digital-b2b-buyer/comment-page-1/#comment-1058 Steven Woods Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:24:04 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=684#comment-1058 Robert, well put, and well communicated. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the concept of the "discovery call" as this trend towards buyer control continues and accelerates. As buyers gain more control over what information they need and what interactions they don't need, the "discovery call" will be forced to evolve to include on the the bits that the buyer truly things are adding value to them, and not the bits that we as selling organizations believe are. Akin, that's a great example to use - in fact whether or not the solution is done automatically or manually, vendor organizations need to evolve to a role of "information concierge" rather than just pushing out communications. Best, Steve Robert,
well put, and well communicated. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the concept of the “discovery call” as this trend towards buyer control continues and accelerates. As buyers gain more control over what information they need and what interactions they don’t need, the “discovery call” will be forced to evolve to include on the the bits that the buyer truly things are adding value to them, and not the bits that we as selling organizations believe are.

Akin,
that’s a great example to use – in fact whether or not the solution is done automatically or manually, vendor organizations need to evolve to a role of “information concierge” rather than just pushing out communications.

Best,
Steve

]]> Comment on Selling to the Digital B2B Buyer by Akin Arikan http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/22/selling-to-the-digital-b2b-buyer/comment-page-1/#comment-1048 Akin Arikan Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:13:06 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=684#comment-1048 What a great "trialog" of blog posts between Robert, Steve, and the other sources. It reminded me of one B2B company that Steve's and my company both have as a joint client. This high-tech B2B has 6000 SKUs and even their sales team has a hard time figuring out when to offer which SKU to which client. They business is about repeat sales, you see. Taking your recommendations and translating them into a technical solution, they are mining web analytics data for their B2B registered website vistors. They profile and score how deeply each prospect/client seems interest in which product areas. That information is fed into CRM and SFA. Sales + Marketing outreach are tor prioritized and personalized accordingly. The client was sharing response rates that are way above average for this approach and have expanded the program after initially testing. These techniques have originated in the B2C world first, actually. Namely in considered purchases such as for automobiles and real estate. The other comments show that there is much more than just a technology answer to Robert and Steve's recommendations. I just wanted to contribute here what the techy / web analytics person can add to the discussion. Let me also forward to Jep to add his 2c from a lead nurturing perspective. Akin Unica What a great “trialog” of blog posts between Robert, Steve, and the other sources.

It reminded me of one B2B company that Steve’s and my company both have as a joint client. This high-tech B2B has 6000 SKUs and even their sales team has a hard time figuring out when to offer which SKU to which client. They business is about repeat sales, you see.

Taking your recommendations and translating them into a technical solution, they are mining web analytics data for their B2B registered website vistors. They profile and score how deeply each prospect/client seems interest in which product areas. That information is fed into CRM and SFA. Sales + Marketing outreach are tor prioritized and personalized accordingly.

The client was sharing response rates that are way above average for this approach and have expanded the program after initially testing.

These techniques have originated in the B2C world first, actually. Namely in considered purchases such as for automobiles and real estate.

The other comments show that there is much more than just a technology answer to Robert and Steve’s recommendations. I just wanted to contribute here what the techy / web analytics person can add to the discussion.

Let me also forward to Jep to add his 2c from a lead nurturing perspective.

Akin
Unica

]]> Comment on Selling to the Digital B2B Buyer by trish bertuzzi http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/22/selling-to-the-digital-b2b-buyer/comment-page-1/#comment-1041 trish bertuzzi Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:52:04 +0000 http://www.directimpactnow.com/blog/?p=684#comment-1041 Robert, completely agree. In a recent blog post we also quoted Steve .. "the efficiencies of the inside sales model give it a significant advantage in smaller transactions. This efficiency win, combined with the new ability to build trust through means other than eye contact, are moving inside sales in many organizations from small transactions to much larger transactions. This trend is likely to continue as the communication tools and trust-building approaches continue to tip the balance in favour of the inside sales model." To back up this assumption, our 2010 Inside Sales Metrics & Compensation study found that since 2007, the average order size for inside sales has increased nearly 240%. Yikes! Let me bore you with one more piece of data from the report. Since 2007, the average size of Inside Sales groups has almost tripled. Research by SKKU and MIT shows growth of 800,000 jobs (from 2009 to 2012) in Inside Sales while growth in traditional, fieldbased, sales positions stagnates. The data confirms the position that buyers are busy and less face time is now the norm. Having the strategy in place supported by the right people, process and technology will be the keys to growth and sustainability moving forward. Robert, completely agree. In a recent blog post we also quoted Steve .. “the efficiencies of the inside sales model give it a significant advantage in smaller transactions. This efficiency win, combined with the new ability to build trust through means other than eye contact, are moving inside sales in many organizations from small transactions to much larger transactions. This trend is likely to continue as the communication tools and trust-building approaches continue to tip the balance in favour of the inside sales model.”

To back up this assumption, our 2010 Inside Sales Metrics & Compensation study found that since 2007, the average order size for inside sales has increased nearly 240%. Yikes!

Let me bore you with one more piece of data from the report. Since 2007, the average size of Inside Sales groups has almost tripled. Research by SKKU and MIT shows growth of 800,000 jobs (from 2009 to 2012) in Inside Sales while growth in traditional, fieldbased, sales positions stagnates.

The data confirms the position that buyers are busy and less face time is now the norm. Having the strategy in place supported by the right people, process and technology will be the keys to growth and sustainability moving forward.

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