In this post I interview James Kappen CEO of Proposable, a startup based in Bloomington, Indiana that offers a new way of sending sales material to potential customers. Instead of sending file attachments of various formats via email, Proposable has created a SaaS tool that lets users create, deliver and analyze sales material online. In this interview James shares his thoughts on the evolution of sales and his journey as a Sales 2.0 entrepreneur.
Chad: What are some of the biggest trends that you see evolving in the sales industry over the next few years?
James: I see real time and analysis features finding their way into all sales products as things progress. The ability to visualize your pipeline and know precisely which leads have the highest value at any given point in time will be a concept that will continue to grow and evolve.
Chad: What do you make of all the buzz around social media and sales – do you see any real value?
James: For the salesperson, you are in a stronger position as you know more about the person you are selling to. Linkedin, for example, has become a proven sales tool and I use it all the time for getting to know potential customers on a “social” level before approaching them.
Chad: As an entrepreneur growing a SaaS Sales 2.0 business – how are you using social media to create more visibility for Proposable?
James: Twitter has provided the biggest return in terms of spreading the word and raising awareness for Proposable. From launching the site to pushing new features, Twitter continues to be a very effective catalyst for driving fresh interest.
Chad: You’ve developed a pretty cool tool in Proposable – can you explain what it is and how it helps sales reps sell more?
James: Proposable empowers users to create, deliver, and analyze all their sales material through one online application. Proposable helps users break their commonly used sales material into usable “sections” that can quickly be saved and connected together to form custom proposals. Proposals are delivered to recipients in the form of a unique URL that houses the proposal. Users are then updated in real-time via text message and email as the proposal is opened and as recipients view and comment on various sections. With Proposable, sales reps can now connect with a lead at the very moment when they are viewing the proposal and sales reps can now determine which their leads are most interested by looking at their viewing patterns.
Chad: How did you come up with the idea for Proposable? What has the journey been like?
James: I worked in outbound sales, and was constantly frustrated by how many steps it took to customize, save, export, attach, and then finally email that sales piece to a lead. Then, once I sent it, I had no idea if the recipient opened it or spent any time on it. I knew I needed to create a painless online solution.
Chad: As a young entrepreneur, what are you doing to differentiate yourself from the pack and create your personal brand?
James: Proposable will be set apart by being the most convenient sales proposal tool. By most convenient I mean we won’t focus on being the most feature rich, and we will always ask, “does this feature make Proposable a more convenient method for creating, delivering and analyzing sales proposals?” We will also employ some top-secret customer retention techniques that will give us our own unique and un-reproducible personal brand.
Chad: What advice do you have for sales reps and entrepreneurs really looking to create lift in their careers?
James: There is no magic bullet in sales or in your career. Entrepreneuers need to decide whether their product is high convenience or high fidelity. Once they decide, they need to stay the course and not try to win the high convenience and the high fidelity game at the same time. Most dominating companies are either very high convenience or high fidelity. Companies that tried to win at both end up winning at neither.
To learn more about Proposable click here.
Related posts:
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }