Great article from the Sales Team Tools blog that should get some juices flowing.
Excerpt:
Here’s a call out to sales authors to use Sales 2.0 and mean it. If 2.0 refers to the “new version” or “next generation” or “next evolution” or “new approach” for doing something, then it can never be about reissuing a message that’s been taught for years.
Sales 2.0 is not “ask more questions.”
Sales 2.0 is not “sell yourself.”
Sales 2.0 is not “sell benefits, not features.”
Sales 2.0 is not “be unique.”
Sales 2.0 is not “don’t sell on price.”
Sales 2.0 is not “be sharp on the phone.”Sales has always been about those things. The fact that it’s more important today than 5, 10, or 20 years ago, doesn’t suddenly make it innovative or insightful advice. Those are sales principles, they’re certainly not innovative techniques or approaches.
I believe that Sales 2.0 is the addition of new processes and tools layered on top of traditional sales principles that when combined can enable more effective selling. Sales 2.0 is like combining the art and science of sales together for a synergistic effect — one component is not nearly as explosive without the other.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
The challenge here is twofold: keep the “process and tools” overlay from being gratuitious (which, in working with many different companies, is what I see most often) and neutralizing bad past experiences the sales team had with earlier process/tools. The fact stoves replaced open fire didn’t make people better cooks and email didn’t make people better communicators. The effort in sales 2.0 needs to focus on the reality-based integration of new tools, not merely the addition of them.
I always presumed the term sales 2.0 to be a spin-off of web 2.0. However, I see more marketers of contact management systems use the term to refer to their tools. If their tools can help the sales person leverage the web in a way that is more than just delivering the tool in a SaaS model, then I am all for including them in the definition.
To me, sales 2.0 doesn’t reinvent anything. We all know how important networking is to a sales career. It used to be the guy with the biggest Rolodex who seemed to have all the opportunities. Now, with some focused effort, a sales person can develop the same kind of market credibility and connectedness that used to take decades.
Melissa
Melissa, Web 2.0 is merely a description of the post bubble Internet world that has become more social. I don’t think Sales 2.0 is about added process but the combination and evolution of web 2.0 and sales 2.0. Sales 2.0 to me, is about using data to focus energy rather than your gut. It should not be thought of as an added layer of process since you sales information needs entered or written some place.
@Sandy: Sales 2.0 technology and tools should only be rolled out to the salesforce once the organization has defined their sales process. That way the sales rep will have both the process and the tools to help them achieve and exceed quota. When a defined sales process is followed consistently it has been proven in many studies to lead to superior sales performance.
@Melissa: I have to disagree with you here — sales 2.0 reinvents MANY aspects of the sales process. Sales 2.0 can be viewed as a catch all phrase but when drilled down into sales 2.0 principles enable more effective selling at every stage of the sales cycle.
Look at the rise of social selling and prospecting. The prevalence of information available to sales reps about prospects on social networks like Linkedin and Twitter can make getting into accounts easier. This information is even being made more actionable by being served to the rep in their CRM application. No need to surf and scour the web — it is all brought to you through social search.
The list goes on and on how sales 2.0 enables more effective selling.
@Al: Nice point Al — sales 2.0 is not about adding processes for the hell of it. The process is defined through sales benchmarking and metrics — it is dynamic and evolves over time. Most organizations do not even have a defined sales process they follow — this has been proven in many studies to lead to lagging sales results.
There will always be an art to the sale but if you have the art perfected adding in some science will make you even more effective.