Enterprise Software Executive

E.T. Phone Home....Or At Least Call The Client Back

We all are experienced and professional enough to follow-up on our leads and client requests.  However, with everyday travel, it is sometimes easier said than done.  Although the Blackberry and Treo line of PDA's have greatly increased the sales executive's ability to access email and calendars on the move, they have done very little to assist with lead management and management management.  Sure, some organizations have proactive inside sales reps who will take the time to cut/paste details of high quality leads into an email and shoot it to you, but without quick access to your CRM solution, you are somewhat limited in your ability to do anything more than place a quick call without a full background of info.  More importantly, sales managers often get excuses from field reps who claim that they couldn't get their pipeline submissions emailed because they were "traveling". 

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of viewing a demo of iEnterprises Mobile Edge for Blackberry product.  This post isn't about pushing some software for a partner, my goal is to relay my experience with this revolutionary product that I confidently feel will increase the sales of any sales person in enterprise software.  Unlike other mobile solutions that have mini browsers, this solution includes a small database of records based on the assigned user field.  The solution can be easily extended to include new modules such as contracts or cases, so you can quickly reference a clients SLA agreement, support level, or open cases during the actual sales call. 

I think that every sales executive remembers the first time they received a question in the middle of sales call that they couldn't answer on the spot.  At some point in time all executives learn that they can't possibly know every answer, and they learn the skill of action item follow-up.  Then, there was the first time you used your Blackberry during a meeting or during a break to ask an engineer a question and get a return answer while still at the meeting.  At that point, you realized that wireless technology can reduce sales cycles. 

In a similar way, Blackberry wireless apps like iEnterprises Mobile Edge can revolutionize your access to lead, opportunity, and support data.  You will be better prepared before, during, and after sales meetings.  More importantly, your team will begin to use your CRM solution during the sales process rather than using it as an afterthought on Friday afternoon updates.   

Sales & Marketing Executives Leveraging Buzz Marketing in their Region?

Tonight, I attended a great Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs Meetup event which had an interesting panel of speakers focusing on different ways to promote web businesses.  I attend the group because a lot of the 70+ attendees are future users of SugarCRM(software I sell), so it is a great way to increase awareness in the local market.  However, tonight's discussion around buzz and marketing got me thinking about different ways that the Enterprise Software Executive can increase leads and demand generation with Buzz.  As a software executive, you really need to analyze your target region to determine the primary industries, target accounts, and target prospects.  Once you determine your target industry, companies, and prospects (i.e. individuals within your target companies, you are ready to start the buzz.  The key to buzz marketing at the national or regional level for a software company is to create a pull within your target market.  If you sell HR software to the VP of Human Resources, then you need to create a buzz within the local or regional HR community.  It is important to focus on the VP of Human Resources, but creating an outstanding buzz within HR alone will deliver huge dividends.  Great, how do we do that?  In software, there are so many different approaches that the sky is the limit.  If we take the HR example to the next level, I would suggest that an HR software company should think about using new media + old media to create the buzz.  For example, the old media tactics would include traditional activities that align well with HR/people events --> Run/Cycling/Triathlon Race Sponsorship, newsletters with health/lifestyle info, HR organization sponsorship, etc...the list goes on and on, and we have seen them all.  On the new media side, there are the typical websites, blogs, etc...but when was the last time you saw a youtube presentation online that really cuts through the typical marketing talk and gets straight to the point.  I would suggest creating some podcasts with your local clients interviewed, video's with your clients talking about their benefits, clients guest blogging on your corporate blog, etc....  However, buzz marketing is so much more than traditional marketing events or generic websites and blogs.  True buzz marketing for the software sales and marketing executive involves anything and EVERYTHING.....that is the key, keep working, keep adding, keep building, keep buzzing.

Sales Training - Not Just Dinners and Drinks Anymore

Sales training has been one of the most dreaded annual events for every software sales and marketing exec for the past thirty years.  However, sales training can be productive if approached from the right perspective.  There is not denying that some companies are pulling revenue producing people from the field to do what sometimes amounts to nothing more than a large pub crawl.  Last week, I participated in a sales training that actually included sales info and sales training.  It is a novel idea that most companies fail to understand.  The event was a two day sales training that required all sales and marketing employees to come prepared to learn.  The training was a success mainly due to the expectation setting that occurred the prior week when the agenda was sent out with a prerequisite test.  By requiring everyone to study and test, it got us into the right frame of mind for the training.  For the first time, I arrived at a sales training with my head in learning mode instead of selling mode.  Did some prospecting suffer during the day leading to the event, yes, but I would suggest that the training was effective as a result of the prerequisite activities.  So, lesson learned, make sure that you assign some type of prerequisite learning with a test prior to your next sales training to get everyone's head in the game for the upcoming event.