The Sales Data Hub

Underlying trends

The trends that have had an effect on the way we deploy and use IT can be grouped into three subsets.

1.     Business Trends

Businesses and their structures have become more and more complex, in terms of both hierarchical organization and in terms of infrastructure.  There are more and more different systems that need to be taken into account.

2.     People Trends

Two trends to note here.  Firstly there has been an explosion in the use of social networking sites and their corresponding notifications, comments, discussions, posts, updates, etc.  Secondly, the emergence of the BYOD (bring your own device) trend, has resulted in a displacement of access points away from the computer to the mobile screen (tablets, phones).

3.     Offer / Solution Trends

Over the last two years APIs have become more generalized and there has also been a move towards homogenizing authentification modules.  At the same time, social networking has moved from the personal sphere, into the business sphere.  And, the standard functions of social business software are now usually free to use.

Experiences and conclusions: “solution” is a problematic word

During our work with our clients we have often noted the same comments coming from them, the users.  The single CRM solution is often inadequate.

·         CRMs are usually not sufficiently able to deal with the relationship aspects of complex sales.

·         The single solution is unrealistic, often combining complicated to use add-ons or bespoke developments.

·         An unbalanced situation between the needs of the company to have a database of sales relevant information and the users’ needs to have information that sheds light on their daily business.

·         The single database is a myth.  Individual users usually supplement the company database with excel charts, outlook contact lists, iPhone entries, etc.

Enter the Sales Data Hub

The Sales Data Hub refers to the real-life and workable solutions that many companies are choosing to deploy.  

It has 6 fundamental characteristics.

1.     It works using pivots and facets.

2.     It is multi-polar.

3.     Information is accessed where it was first input, in its native system.

4.     It links semantic value and added value.

5.     Relationship management is possible.

6.     It is dynamic.

The Sales Data Hub is a virtual unified system that brings together several interoperable systems.  Each of the participative systems maintains its functionalities and relevance and continues to be used each time it makes sense to do so.  It is accessible with today’s technologies.  It will enable companies to move to the next stage of commercial efficiency, by equipping their sales force with the tools they really need to do their jobs well.

Antoine de Septenville.

Don’t shoot the messenger! Or how to become a trusted advisor

The message and the messenger

People make decisions all the time: purchasing choices, reorganization decisions, recruitment, etc.  A large part of the choice is based on information received and / or understood.  And although relationships play a key role in influencing the decision makers, facts, figures, and statistics (lies, damned lies and statistics to quote probably Disraeli) are also crucial.  What is the connection between the information carried and the messenger?

Informed decisions

Obviously information is shared and discussed during a complex decision making process.  Sales teams prepare sales messages, kits, demonstrations, etc.  The potential client holds internal meetings, they look at the literature and compare solutions, they meet the sales force.  There may be a pilot study, the results of which are shared and analyzed.  There are probably some more internal meetings, during which the outcome of the pilot study is discussed: ROI, adoption rate, customer satisfaction, etc.

And yet, sometimes someone out of the blue stops the whole process and the whole thing is dropped.  This someone may or may not have had access to the information during the evaluation period.

Money makes the world go round

Holding the purse strings gives you the power to act, decide, veto, choose, etc.  You can step in at the last minute and decide to call the whole thing off.  But why would you call something off?  Your team has been shifting through and sorting information, facts, statistics, and comparisons. 

But oftentimes, decisions are cancelled or ignored not because of the quality of the information itself, but because there is a lack of faith in either the information or in the decision makers themselves.

Information and person: the powerful combination

Undeniable facts and trustworthy people are a powerful combination.  Putting the two together creates a very strong source of influence, one that will be very difficult to ignore.

The trustworthy people in my network are those that I have trusted in the past and who have come up with the goods.  I may not notice all the people who work well and achieve good results, but I will notice the unexpected.  For example

·         I am impressed and I remember when good results come from someone I hadn’t trusted.

·         I suddenly take note of a person who has been in my entourage and consistent for a long time.

I also remember the unexpectedly disappointing.

·         I notice if I trust someone who then goes on to fail to deliver or to make good on promises.

Trusting relationships, business, professional and personal alike, are built up over the years and stand the test of time.  We have built up a working history together.  A crucial factor for a trusting relationship is the belief in the absence of vested interests.

An envelope is as important as a letter

The information at the centre of the decision making process will be brought to me by people with whom I have varying levels of trust.  In addition, the way the arguments and logic are framed will make a difference.  I am more likely to understand (and as a result trust) a person who matches my way of thinking and uses the same level of technical language or jargon as me.

The road to becoming a trusted advisor

You may not hold the pen that signs all the forms, but there are ways you can build up your reputation as a trusted advisor in order to gain influence.

1.       Match your communication style to your listener and his / her level of knowledge

2.       Do what you say you’ll do.  Demonstrate again and again that you can be trusted.

3.       Be open about your relationships with others and any conflicts of interest.  Knowing in advance is far better than finding out by accident later.

4.       Communicate about the reliability of your information.  Tell people if you think this is a trusted document or if you think that the information is biased.  Be prepared to say why.  You’ll gain the reputation of being able to analyze information before you present it.

Cate Farrall

Building Bridges: when less is more

Mark Granovetter is famous for his ideas on weak ties within social networks (Granovetter, 1973, American Journal of Sociology).  Although his most famous work is now nearly 40 years old, it’s still relevant and a fresh read.  I’ll start with an outline of his main ideas and if you want more detail here is a link to his original article (http://bit.ly/cj4fhO).

Granovetter starts with the premise that within social networks there are different degrees of relationships.  He suggests that intuitively we recognize our relationships as strong, weak or absent.  Two people who share a strong tie are likely to spend time together and are also similar in various ways.  They are also likely to share friends and relationships.  This leads to the development of close networks of people.

Enter the weak ties

Weak ties link people who know each other less well, perhaps only in passing or as an acquaintance.  These ties, according to Granovetter, can act as bridges from one close network to another.  A bridge is a point in a network that provides the only path from one person to another.  For more on this, have a look at the Social Capital Blob (http://socialcapital.wordpress.com/).  The basic idea from Granovetter is that “no strong tie is a bridge”.  On the other hand, certain weak ties are bridges to other networks, other sources of information and other influencers.

The strength in the weak links

Closed networks have, according to Granovetter, only strong links and few or no links to other people in other networks.  These networks run the risk of suffocating and, under the right circumstances can die out (see Granovetter’s article for more details: http://bit.ly/cj4fhO).

Networks need weak links or bridges to expand and to grow.  New blood, new contacts, new information, new insights, new sources of help are needed.  This will help to spread ideas and messages more efficiently.  Get out of your comfort zone and make the most of any weak links you have.  Or, even more uncomfortable but more interesting, start building links with people you don’t know yet.

Bridges and Sales

So, how does this help those of us who work in sales?

·         No strong relationship is a bridge, so those happy people you’ve known for years might not be able to help you expand your network and make new contacts.

·         You cannot only rely on your strong links, if you want to extend the reach of your messages and ideas.  Get out of comfort zone and meet new people.

·         Some weak relationships will act as bridges, so new professional contacts are potential gateways.  Use your existing weak links to expand and reach new people.  Always ask if they know other people who might be interested in what you do.  If you have made a good impression, they will be happy to recommend you to their professional or personal contacts.

·         Some weak relationships will act as bridges, but how do I know which ones?  For the moment, let’s keep it simple.  Pretend you don’t know and you never will, but ask for recommendations all the same.

Cate Farrall

Why having a list of contacts is not enough

Have a look on LinkedIn or trawl through your company's CRM and you'll see there are a lot of people who feature on your list of contacts.  .  There are rumours of people who have over 30 000 LinkedIn contacts.  135 million users in the world (at least the last time I looked).  Does knowing a lot of people automatically mean you have a large network?  How best then to clarify the soup of contacts and relationships you have, online and offline?

5 signs you have a useful contact

Ask yourself these simple questions to identify your really useful contacts

1.       Do I know my contacts job title and what he/she really does?

This is a minimum.  Being vague at this point is an indication that your contact probably doesn't know what you do either.  Score 2 if you know both job title and responsibilities.  Score 1 for knowing only 1.  Score 0 for being vague.

2.       Does my contact appreciate the work I do or did for her/him.

Be honest.  If you think you did a bad job, this is obviously not the right person to use for networking.  If you are proud of what you did and you think your contact is happy, make a note.  Score 2 for a good job, and minus 2 for a bad job.

3.       As well as a professional contact, is this person a friend?

A friend in high places is a friend indeed.  However, if this friendship is public knowledge you may get stuck with the label of nepotism.  Crossing the professional contact – friendship line has rewards (a new friend) and risks (loss of face when using that contact for professional purposes).  Score 2 for friends and minus 1 for very close friends that might get you labeled as engaging in nepotism.

4.       How many contacts from our own networks do we share?

Sharing contacts is positive, as it means you are more likely to be helped and to help each other because you both belong to a common group.  However, if you share a lot of contacts (more than 50% overlap) then you won't bring extra networking help to each other.  You are more likely to increase the exclusivity of the group you both belong to.  It's a good time to look for fresh air outside the group.  Score 2 for between 20 and 30% network overlap.  Score minus 1 for over 50% overlap and minus 2 for over 80% overlap.

5.       When did I last see my contact?

I have a contact who only ever gets in touch because he needs something doing.  Although I am usually happy and able to help, the relationship is definitely a one-way street.  Bit by bit, I have taken the power to decide what happens next in our relationship.  Skewed or unbalanced relationships are not reliable.  Score 2 for regular meetings and a balanced relationship.  Score 0 for once a year contact and minus 2 for imbalanced relationships.

4 steps to improve my relationships

1.       Total up your points.  High scorers are your really useful contacts.  These people will help you to connect to new people. 

2.       Take a look at the low scoring contacts.  Within this group you'll find the people you could easily work with more efficiently. 

3.       Choose one high scoring contact and pick a date next week to go out for lunch to celebrate.

4.       Choose a low scoring contact, for whom you consider it worthwhile to improve the relationship and pick a date next week to get together and kick-start the relationship.

Cate Farrall