How to Manage Sales Reputations

When working for IBM, a long time IBMer served as my unofficial mentor. I could count on the person for sound advice and remember an important message heard many times: “Manage your reputation.” This is sound advice for sales management and sales people. Read more about “managing your sales reputation.” >>

How to Improve Retail Sales

In a recent analyst insight published on SupplyChainBrain.com, “there are three important areas in which retailers can improve their supply chains and reach future success as consumer confidence returns”: reducing costs, reducing inventories, and reviewing and realigning logistics networks.  A master data management platform can help achieve all three of these goals:

For more Retailer MDM information >>

Fixing Problems w/ Supplier Data

I assume you’re growing frustrated with the cost and hassles of getting and managing product data from your suppliers.  And I’m sure you aren’t happy about missing out on sales and marketing opportunities as a result.

Product information management or PIM is designed to fix those problems and more. Specifically designed for the complex product data requirements of distributors, a Supplier Portal can save you time and money in dealing with your vendors’ data and can help you get your products to market faster, publish your catalogs more efficiently and with fewer errors, and keep your e-commerce Web sites dynamically up to date.

A fine  Supplier Portal is a secure Web-based application that lets your vendors easily post their product content for your use in sales and marketing channels.  Here’s how it works:

  • Your suppliers upload their data using a variety of convenient methods
  • Business rules and workflow ensure the data conforms to your requirements
  • The data is housed and managed in a central repository that all authorized users can access
  • You enrich the basic product data with detailed, search-friendly marketing content and attributes
  • And, you dynamically connect the data to your catalog software, Web content management system, and other channels for product content

Think how much faster you could roll out new products, publish catalogs, update your Web site, and jump on new business opportunities with this secure, browser-based system.  Even better, the Enable Supplier Portal gives you a channel to collaborate and communicate with your suppliers, too.  It’s like a social network for your supply chain.

Now compare that with what you have to go through now to get product data from your suppliers.  Chances are you have to scrape content from PDFs and spreadsheets and carefully post it into your internal systems.  Then you have to comb through every bit and byte to make sure it conforms to your naming conventions and other parameters.   And, there’s a good chance a lot of it will be out of date by the time it’s published to your catalogs and Web pages.

If that sounds all too familiar, then it’s no surprise to you that companies spend an average of 25 minutes per item per year manually fixing and cleansing out-of-sync product information – that’s more than $3 million in annualized operational costs for a company with 250,000 items.

On the other hand, getting a better handle on your suppliers’ data means…

…thousands of hours saved in data entry and merchandising time

…a two-week average reduction in speed to market for new items

…a 3 to 5 percent reduction in stock-outs

…and many other benefits, too.

Our company, PIM-data.com has written a report on how to set up a Supplier portal. Please send a request to info@pim-data.com and your copy will be sent to you.

Thank you, Peter Fuller, http://www.pim-data.com

Sales Leads: Route to right sales guy faster to win more.

I just won a 300k deal last week. I was last in and killed off the competitors. I did this cause I must win, and because I knew the low life competitors well. Last to the table may get scraps, this time around I cleaned up and had desert. First in is best, sometimes. Speed in selling wins. If I can engage resources faster, get to root issues faster, I am closer to to the win. Speed in getting leads contacted is the first step. Do you still email and call in leads? Think about this. If you attend trade shows for lead generation, how do you get leads to salesguys? Do your route fast? Or go back to office, recover from too much show and then remember to get the leads sorted out? If the latter, there goes your cash. Spent all kinds of money on the show and leads are wasted. Why is this. Chances are, sounds like the start of a song, your competitors are in the door faster. Setting the table, creating road blocks to entry for your company. Route sales leads to right saleperson, NOW >>>

Act Software for Sales Management?

ACT software is a big seller. Users range from rep firms to individual sales guys and even to some larger companies. However, using ACT today, is like you trying to tackle an NFL running back or trying to cover Lebron James. Out of your league, mate, and lots of pain. ACT is for two sales guys in closet. why is this. Cause the salestool is an electronic rolodex, a contact management software. Cheap you may say and I say really? What is lost in translation is this; what is cheap about losing deals and losing communication with sales teams. What is the cost of not getting data to and from sales partners? And with ACT, unless carrier pigeons are on the payroll, communication ain’t happening. ACT users work in a closet. And sales guys, not sales pros, like this invisibility in lack of accountability. ACT users, eating rats in this dog eat dog selling world, paddle hard against the current, sweat rolls down brows. Feel the spray in your face, that is the competition speeding by, rocking your boat. The competition, using online sales software, is on top of the sales game, tracking leads and closing deals. Best practices sales collaboration using online sales software >>>

Sales Pros do not lie, Prospects Do

Buyers are Liars Years ago, while playing professional football, I sold swimming pools in the offseason. I worked for Seahawk Pools, owned by a super guy, Bob Winnie. I learned the sales facts of life from Bob and the first lesson: Buyers are Liars I listened hard to Bob and this lesson registered. I went on to sell for Bob for many off seasons and I loved the job. I always salted all the prospects told me, knowing, buyers are liars. And why is this? Read more about sales liars >>

Diagnose Prospect Sales Resistance

Why Prospects Push Back

My technology sales career kicked off at IBM. Prior to IBM, I cut my teeth as a stock broker, gaining heavy duty sales habits, still valuable today. IBM thrilled me. All these wonderful solutions were available to struggling companies and to companies seeking to stay on top of their technology and the market. Yet, as I moved from prospect to prospect, and uncovered needs, sales resistance surprised me. Read more on overcoming Sales Resistance >>

Sales Management is Hard

Online Sales Software has been helping sale teams for since 1994 and I see a trend to multi channel sales. A company, a provider of products and services sells direct with inside and outside sales employees and may use partners like manufacturer’s representatives, dealers and distributors. Another growing channel for manufacturers and other businesses is the internet or ecommerce. Sales management tools, to be accurate and timely, must aggregate data from all modes. Forecasts are incomplete if only reflecting direct sales. The sales pipeline is inaccurate if partner opportunities are not registered. Read more about sales management >>

Question for Sales Managers

Sales teams come in all sizes; from a 5 person rep firm to an enterprise team surpassing 100s of sales people. Ok for sales managers with over 10 sales guys, how do you do it? Do you use sales management tools? Is excel the tool? Do you have ability to roll up your sales pipeline, your forecast? How accurate is your sales data?

Please add your comments.

Sales Lead Prospecting Never Ends

I sell for a living. My first sales job paid commission only. Pay checks, if one earned one, came once per month. I ran scared each day banging the phones, prospecting my butt off. The daily goal 10 leads. 10 leads per day harvested from 300 plus calls per day. 50 leads per week put money in the bank. Casual Sales guys in the office, confident of sure success, dialled less, if at all. These stalwarts counted cash dripping in from current clients, or counted on a deck of leads, index cards back then, positioned next to the phone. Read more >>