With online sales intelligence becoming more and more sought after, I thought I'd compile a list of regular beliefs, oppositions and questions and reveal the truth, much like one of those rogue magicians who covers their face and shows the audience where the rabbits are really hiding in the hat. Here is online sales intelligence - The truth:
"What can I really gain from monitoring my customer or prospect online?"
A) The real question is what can you gain from not? With more information being shared online every day the web gives you a chance to see what your customer is up to, and what they're interested in without even leaving the office. Identifying key triggers or reasons to get in touch at just the right time is so valuable. Look at it this way. Give somebody a tissue in the street randomly and they'll probably stare at you rather oddly. Give them a tissue after they sneeze and they'll probably accept the gesture with gratitude.
"I can do all my research with search engines"
A) Search engines are not designed for a B2B environment. Yes, you can certainly search for things using Google and the like but how do you search for a portfolio of 50 customers and a range of business events like expansion every single day? If you can, congratulations, but you probably don't have too much time to do much else - including sleep! Sales intelligence gives you the time to sell, and informs you about relevant news at just the right time. 1million plus automated searches a day is a bit more powerful than just typing in a company name and seeing what you get.
"Does this mean I'll see all the internal shenanigans and juicy gossip?"
A) One thing online sales intelligence is not is a candid camera plugged into the head office mainframe. Although social sites can be extremely revealing, and offer an alternative stance on the news, it is not a silver bullet. You might, just occasionally get a disgruntled employee leak something they shouldn't. But online sales intelligence is not about the juicy gossip really. It's about appreciating the right time to make a phone call, and establishing how likely a potential customer is to buy off you at any given time. Getting caught up in internal shenanigans, although seemingly appealing, doesn't really help anybody.
"I don't really get social media"
A) It really doesn't matter. Sales intelligence is not about the platforms, or the technical advantage; it's about the content. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you find out about a customer office move, or a potential merger. Providing you know that's the important thing. So if an email is alerting you every morning with the detail; be it from Twitter, the Telegraph or Cucumber Weekly, it doesn't matter where it came from. What matters is that you're aware of it.
PART 2 NEXT WEEK
1 comments:
Great first part. There are far too many detractors of social CRM but it's plain to see that it's their loss at the end of the day. After all, anything they're not using, their competitors more than likely are, and they'll lose out in the end.
The search engine point; infuriating, but I've seen it.
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