Selling Power and every other sales rag has been running articles and web videos about the impact of Web 2.0 and Sales for the past few months. Most of the discussion centers around innovation in business applications, like salesforce automation (Force.com), info mash-ups (InsideView), closed loop Marketing (Eloqua), compensation management (Xactly) and social/business networking (LinkedIn).
No doubt that these business applications are a critical part of our success, but I'd like to focus in another aspect of how the world of Sales has been forever changed by Web 2.0.
Today, a company without a blog site is well behind the curve. If you're not on Spoke or LinkedIn or Facebook you're a nobody. People don't like to do business with nobodies! If your client Google's your name (John Doe Company Name), what will they get? Hopefully, they'll at least get your listing on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Me? I've got an Olympic wrestler and an auto parts depot to contend with! But if you search on 'Dennis Hall Pervasive', I'm in the top six results. Here's a podcast on CRM - a session that went well beyond my favorite Shakespeare quote, "Brevity is the sole of wit."! A senior sales guy I work with, Fernando Labastida, laid the foundation at our company. His blog on data integration generates 2-3 sales leads a month for him. What happens when you walk in with that kind of credibility? Wow!
You might be thinking, "BFD, Grok dude. I'm kicking ass and taking names!" or "My clients don't use that internet thing.' Hey, good for you and that's great stuff...for now.
As markets continue to consolidate (Who will Larry buy next?) and saturate (Lose to Open Source yet?) and as the next generation fills the leadership positions of the Boomers, being visible on the web will not only provide you with a distinct competitive advantage, it could be the difference between winning and losing.
I came face to face with Web 2.0 last week when a couple of our business partners from Inovis showed up. We had invited Jon Gatrell and Doug Kern in to our offices. So Jon troops in and says, "We've got two things. First is to make sure we're making progress and second is to get you guys on a podcast to talk about the relationship.' After I crapped myself and stalled as much as possible, Doug pulls out the video camera and proceeds to ask me and my Senior Director to share our thoughts....you can see the results by clicking Web 2.0 Partner on the Links tab.
"Take Away"s: Always be prepared for the unexpected (duh!) and don't wait for Web 3.0 to get in the game!!
Do you Grok it?
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