ATD Blog

What is the Definition of Sales 2.0

Tue Jul 28 2009

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Have you heard of Web 2.0? What about "Sales 2.0"?

Have you heard of Web 2.0? What about "Sales 2.0"?

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There is new sales 2.0 conference that is owned by Selling Power Magazine -- it remains to be seen what specific direction they will take it.

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Is Web 2.0 the same thing as sales 2.0? What is the current buzz surrounding sales 2.0.?

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There are two camps currently:

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Camp 1: Sales 2.0 is the use of web 2.0 technologies (and technology only) for sales or sales-related purposes.

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Camp 2: Sales 2.0 is the "Next Evolution" of Selling -- where Selling is taken to the next level

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What do you think? Add Your comments?

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Recently, I asked the question to my LinkedIn Network... here is what some people said:

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View these answers on LinkedIn too

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Aaron of Office Tools, LLC

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Says:

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Sounds to me like you have answered your own question, but it's more than just using technology and resources like web portals and Blackberries. It's also combining these technologies into your relationship with the prospect in a manner that is attuned to their comfort level as well, i.e. don't make your customer a technology guinea pig every time a new tool is introduced.

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Martin B

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Success Coach, speaker, trainer and author. Known for his focused, rapid-results coaching.

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Says:

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Again to me it is about integrity, ethics and how they work with the customer for all the technology in the world can not replace that. I think sales 2.0 will include the sales person building an on-line quality reputation that will go with them over time. Of course I think being a CRSP ( Certified and Registered Sales Professional ) is very important as well. Quality relationships take time and SHOULD take time, technology can help but it still demands the basics.

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http://inquireonline.info/sales/sales-as-a-profession

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Nathan, a Director of Client Services

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Says:

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Interesting question and I hope this helps. I had been meeting with clients about a potential proposal for two months and doing a lot of work with them in between. They put on events as a part of their business model so I showed up to a happy hour one night to network and build rapport. They called the next day and wanted a proposal immediately. It was for a pretty big project so I got to work immediately. I sent the proposal to the principal and his VP of Advertising (two person show). I got the email from her (VP) Monday morning saying they were going with a different company. I did the customary follow up with an email asking why and didn't hear back for several days.

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The VP of Ads is pretty into her myspace account and added me as a friend four days later (we got along well socially). I ended up following up with her on myspace, found out that it was a price point and we are currently renegotiating the terms of the proposal.

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Brian a Life Sciences Training, Marketing and Branding specialist

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Says:

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Great question and one in which I view there being multiple answers to. These answers could be based on existing sales methodologies along with the technology stack, both current and planned, that will used within the sales organization.

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Sales 2.0 for us is evolving. Sure, we use standard SD processes and have a great CRM in place. Beyond this, what is sales 2.0?

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- Web advertising

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- Web networking

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- Blogs

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- White papers

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- SME webinars

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- Referral marketing

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- Tying it all together

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- Any so many others

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If I were to define sales 2.0 for the industry, I would state the following today.

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--- Sales 2.0 is the sales approach where proven development methodologies are combined and blended with new communication & collection mediums where the client is empowered through the use of information to make well informed decisions ---

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Yes, I said empowering the customer. As the web is now a central point in all communications, providing the information that your client's seek is paramount to being viewed as a strong player in the service or product field that you serve while this also will help them in making better decisions. When structured property, Sales 2.0 approaches should increase contact to conversion ratios without all the (hub-bub) normally associated with sales development.

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I view a perfect sales world to be the day that a blinking super ball with your logo on it IS NOT required to impress a potential client, but a well formed and intuitive intake process does so without all the old school glitz.

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Flyn P, The Inside Sales Guru

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Says:

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Sales 2.0 is the integration of all sales best practices as Web2.0 tools are now integrated for websites.

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I find many people stuck on one sales method over another when all of the methodologies have best practices that are probably applicable to most selling environments.

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The other half of this solution is that sellers have to learn to embed and incorporate best practices into their sales processes instead of placing the sales process on top of what they are doing.

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It is my belief that the most effective way to teach a sales best practice is from within the sales process for which you intend to use it. This means you must find the appropriate places and applications for the best practice and then customize it to fit your specific selling process.

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It is one thing to lean about "impact" questions it is another thing to apply them to your selling. Thus, you take the impact question and put it in the sales process for ABC Co. and make the question ABC's.

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Impact Question: "What is the impact of the bottleneck in manufacturing on revenues?"

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ABC may not have such an issue in their selling -- the key problem may be productivity of a widget in an adverse environment. The impact question that directly addresses that issue must be developed and made part of the selling process.

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The result is salespeople don't need to figure out how or when to ask the question.

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That combined with the use of all sales methods and best practices would be Sales2.0.

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I hope that helps.

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Clarification added 5 days ago:

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I have noted that other addressed marketing issues and I would agree with these ideas -- I kept my answer strictly to "Selling."

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Christian, an International CRM & e-Marketing Expert - Techno-Marketing Specialist

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Says:

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Dear Brian,

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More than a collection of technologies that help sales professionals personalize information for customers and interact with them rapidly, Sales 2.0 should be considered as the synthesis of new technologies, models, processes and mindsets. It is about leveraging people, process, technology, and knowledge to make significant gains. It means integrating the power of Web 2.0 and on-demand technologies with proven sales techniques to increase sales velocity and volume. It also relates to increased communication and collaboration between sellers and buyers and within the selling team, together with a proactive and visible integration of knowledge and measurement of the buying cycle into the sales cycle.

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It seems that Sales 2.0 truly merges sales and marketing into a seamless effort to target buyers more effectively using innovative and integrated tactics with an objective to bring in a lot more business at a lower cost. It is also about making anything and everything in the sales and marketing lifecycle measurable, so that you can take that information and resulting analysis to further optimise your sales process. More streamlined processes, together with the technologies to carry out smarter approaches, can immediately help organisations that are committed to moving their sales and marketing efforts to the next level of performance and dramatically accelerate their sales cycle.

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For further insight on this and related topics, please see

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http://www.saastream.com/my\\\_weblog/2007/11/sales-20-taking.html#more

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Joe G, a VP and Research Director, Sirius Decisions

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Says:

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Sales 2.0 is being trumpeted in the market place as the next wave of sales automation technology that will improve sales productivity, reduce cost of sales, increase customer loyalty and drive sales performance through the roof. Sound familiar?... think of SFA 1.0 promises.

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Sales 2.0 is - or should be - a focus on adapting customer engagement strategies to the rapidly changing environment that is dominated by the unrelenting evolution of the Internet. While leveraging technology should be a part of any approach, it is just an enabler to a broader sales readiness strategy.

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Obviously there are a variety of perspectives on what Sales 2.0 is, should or could be. I would suggest a visit to the blog at The Sales 2.0 Network website:

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http://sales20network.com/blog/

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Duncan, A Business Development and Salesperson

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Says:

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To me Sales 2.0 is more about leading your customer to the best conclusion rather than 'closing' them through manipulation and hard sales tactics. i.e. you should strive to make sure that the product is a good fit for your customers and that your customers are a good fit for your company. The better the fit, the more repeat sales and referrals you will get.

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posted 5 days ago

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Nigel: CEO, Sales 2.0. Next Generation Sales Information, Telesales & Consulting

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Says:

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Hi Brian,

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Thanks for asking the question. I think it's pretty clear from the answers that there is not yet one clear definition of sales 2.0

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The way I came up with "sales 2.0" two years ago was through my personal frustration with a lot of the ways we have been selling. Added to that my realization that a lot of these techniques date back over 100 years to John Patterson at NCR.

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So I saw "sales 2.0" as a statement that we can "take sales to the NEXT level".

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What happened after that is that some smart folks in Silicon Valley noted that the Internet is already creating change that we sales people can harness NOW to move our selling to the "next level". Hence the emphasis on technology solutions in many current definitions of "sales 2.0"

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So for now we don't have ONE solidified definition but the most popular one short-term is using Internet tools to boost sales performance. Long-term I hope the buzzword can stick around to really mean "taking the whole sales profession to the next level". That's my dream.

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