You may have heard the increasing buzz from your marketing department about “IMA”, or “inbound marketing automation.” But what exactly does it mean? And why all the hype?

To give you some context, inbound marketing is about optimizing the availability of your content.  Marketing automation refers to the use of technology to automate marketing tasks, such as lead tracking or scoring, and to distribute content to prospects based on their actions. For instance, if a prospect registers on your site and downloads a specific white paper, your marketing team can send related communications the prospect may also be interested in.

Together, you get inbound marketing automation (IMA).

So what are the implications of IMA for you and your sales force?

The goal of IMA is to enable marketing to help provide sales more qualified leads. Marketers can use it to track a customer’s activity, and send more tailored communications based on materials prospects download or access from your site or emails over time. When the potential customer’s actions indicate they have formulated a need and are ready to talk to a rep, marketing can alert sales to reach out to the prospect.  Read More »

The rise of big data has been a double-edged sword for some. While customers have embraced data as it allows for easier price comparisons, their persistent focus on short-term savings has created new challenges for sellers—mainly, by undercutting the power of storytelling.

A member we recently spoke with shared how increasingly data-driven customers in the electronics industry have become so focused on price that they often lose sight of their vision and initial objectives behind a purchase.

“It’s like trying to buy a painting based only on numbers and price comparisons–which is impossible–when in fact it’s the story behind the painting that sells,” he said, describing the whole situation.

His experience refers to a growing phenomenon we are seeing in sales today: customers’ increasing use of data and rational reasoning in the purchasing decision (This, in fact, was one of the trends we believe every Sales Exec must know in 2012).

In today’s tough economy, everyone wants to get the most for their money. It’s natural for customers to try to break down deal components and compare apples to apples. And if customers want to do it that way, isn’t it natural for sales reps to respond using data and numbers too?

But therein lies the problem. The customer’s persistent focus on price and short-term savings distracts them from the real issue at hand—the long-term strategic value of your solution. Read More »

Wonder why you’ve seen increased Inside Sales turnover in your organization recently? Is it because reps are dissatisfied with their compensation package or working environment? Is it their relationships with immediate team members and managers? What about career opportunities?

As our members have recently shared on our Talent Management Discussions Forum, providing clear growth opportunities in the organization is key to keeping your Inside Sales reps satisfied and engaged.

What exactly does “flexible career opportunities” mean though?

Inside Sales is a position that often has undefined next steps for advancement. What about those Inside Sales employees who, over time, may want to work in the field or transition into a management type role? Read More »

As you may be aware, the Council is currently wrapping up work on our 2011 Sales Org Structure Benchmarking Study.

To give you more context around the study, increasingly sophisticated customer buying behavior has forced many sales organizations to reevaluate their current models, and in many cases, restructure in ways that are more conducive to serving customers. There is no clear cut recipe for success though. Sales organizations aren’t naturally swinging towards total centralization or decentralization. Rather, in many cases, sales organizations are looking to reap the best of both worlds.

One Business Services member we spoke with discussed the challenges of having a completely decentralized model. Decentralized structures allow for a variety of benefits, mainly greater business unit autonomy, which leads to greater flexibility in meeting internal and customer needs.

But over time, decentralization can also result in unclear decision-making authority and inconsistent execution standards and expectations across various business units. According to this member, having a completely decentralized structure might cause a case of “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Read More »

Designing effective competency models is a critical part of an organization’s talent management strategy, but it is easier said than done.

Companies often create competency models with vaguely defined behaviors. Or many fall into the trap of telling reps what they shouldn’t be doing, without pinpointing what they should be doing. And in some cases, firms revise competency models on a very infrequent basis and as a result, emphasize selling behaviors that are outdated and fail to account for changes in customer buying behavior.

The first step to avoiding these common challenges is clearly defining what exactly the right selling skills and behaviors are in your sales competency model.

Competency models not only outline what skills and behaviors are important to your business and industry, but also help focus coaching efforts as you develop your sales force.  So getting these models right is essential to your talent management strategy.

The Council recently developed a list of seven distinct competency model design principles. Here are three from the list that I think are of utmost importance:   Read More »

As we have recently discussed, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding tablet technology and its role in the sales world. Given the increasing interest in this topic, the Council decided to further explore sales organizations’ early experiences with these new devices.

We recently launched a survey to members about tablet technology use in the sales force, and it revealed some fascinating things. 35% of survey respondents already use tablet technology at their firms, while 40% of survey respondents plan on rolling out tablets at their organizations within the next 12 months.

So why all the hype? Well, tablet technology can have both internal benefits to the sales organization, such as instant access to information and overall mobility, as well as external benefits in customer interactions.

Read More »