Smart Sales: Here Comes Sales 2.0
February 25, 2008
Ready or not, next-generation suite emphasizes content and collaboration
By Dave Stein
To put it simply, Sales 2.0 is the next generation of sales enablement, support and performance technology, with special focus on intra- and inter-company collaboration. Vendors are rushing to develop components, publish white papers and host conferences as you read these words. Granted, Sales 2.0 isn't ready for prime time just yet … but it will be soon.
By the end of 2009, the most effective sales organizations will employ some form of a Sales 2.0 tool suite. Rather than traditional software providers, sales training vendors will lead the way in its development. In fact, two leading firms—Sales Performance International and The TAS Group—have already taken big steps forward in that regard.
Caution is advised. Sales organizations face two risks with Sales 2.0. First, if they don't avail themselves of the substantial benefits, they will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Laggards will lose. Additionally, as hype continues to build around Sales 2.0—just as it did for CRM—it will be increasingly difficult for sales leaders to decipher what is real from what isn't. Money will be spent and mistakes will be made.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Sales 2.0's critical components.
First, there is a role-based authentication and member management mechanism. This will specify the roles and privileges of each user and groups of users—for example, sales reps from a region, sales managers or certain customers.
Another component is a data warehouse of content, often referred to as a Content Management System (CMS). This contains learning objects, sales aides, best practices, sales metrics, benchmarking data, information about and strategies against competitors, internal glossaries, and information about the company's target market and customers (among many other things). Much of that exists today within corporations and in the minds of internal experts but it isn't accessible to sales reps in a practical way.
The ability for other systems such as CRM and LMS (Learning Management System) to reside within the Sales 2.0 framework, providing seamless access by users, is critical to its adoption.
Since collaboration is a primary objective of Sales 2.0, wiki-like capabilities supporting comments by authorized users will help to grow knowledge bases. In fact, discussion forums, communities, bulletin boards, FAQs and other media—contributed to and commented upon by internal experts and other users—will serve to draw salespeople in, since they perceive this as a tool to help them win.
Envision a steroid-enhanced, sales-oriented, private MySpace. Digital descriptions of the skill sets of various sales, support, product personnel and other experts will make it easy for a sales rep to find the right person when needed.
Each company's Sales 2.0 implementation will be configurable to allow access from laptops, desktops, PDAs and cell phones. The TAS Group is now providing their content on iPods in easily digested segments.
Sales 2.0 will be deployed at two levels. At the public level, certain information will be shared among professionals and managers across multiple companies—an online professional association or user group, if you will. At the private level, the Sales 2.0 framework and tools will reside behind the firewall of a company, allowing limited access by third parties (such as key customers or clients) who are admitted by invitation only.
CRM didn't deliver on its promise as sales-enabling technology, but with Sales 2.0, we all have another chance to get it right.
Dave Stein is the author of How Winners Sell and the CEO and founder of ES Research Group in West Tisbury, Mass. (www.esresearchgroup.com). He can be contacted via e-mail at edit@salesandmarketing.com.
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
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