Comments on: Coffee Break: How to prospect through e-mail http://salesblog.karlgoldfield.com/2008/01/coffee-break-how-to-prospect-through-e.html Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:37:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Colin http://salesblog.karlgoldfield.com/2008/01/coffee-break-how-to-prospect-through-e.html/comment-page-1#comment-104 Colin Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:04:00 +0000 http://csctest.karlgoldfield.com/?p=56#comment-104 Karl<br/><br/>I look forward to being invited to the secret society!<br/><br/>You mention the non intrusive approach and the email got you to act… a good sales technique. These guys are also following another good approach and that <br/><br/>is the invite only. Google did this when they launched their email. I recently came across another one…Xobni…. So they are following good practice.<br/><br/>I’ve not had my invite yet so I can’t say what the site is like, but I would not be surprised if part of the site with the words ‘beta’ on it. I’m not <br/><br/>sure who started this, but Skype certainly used these four letters to their advantage. LinkedIn are using them on their new home page and I think I saw <br/><br/>them on Basecamp. One of the main guys who started Skype once explained to me the importance of those letters… you launch your product, make sure ‘beta’ <br/><br/>is prominent and so everyone knows this is pre-launch code… and your users forgive any sins for any problems that arise with the code… because it’s beta <br/><br/>code and not full code!... brilliant… takes the heat off and keeps the users using.<br/><br/>However, back to the AccountMaven concept… it could work. The idea is right but need to know more and would be very interested to see it working. It is <br/><br/>something I already do for my clients… put them in touch with each other to share experience with their common customers… however this is a completely <br/><br/>manual process and very small scale… actually minute scale. The big issue is sharing with competitors and the question for me would be how much effort a <br/><br/>sales guy would be prepared to put in to using the site… will be interesting to see.<br/><br/>I am pleased to see such a site and I really hope it works because it’s going to help prove a theory of mine… the sales systems of the future are user <br/><br/>owned and driven… the user owns the information and will decide when and who to share it with… the current sales systems, such as CRM, are silos of <br/><br/>information within corporate boundaries for the benefit of the guys at the top at the expense of the guys at the bottom… the field sales guys… and so <br/><br/>they don’t work properly. However, when you own the information and that information helps you do your job, then they will work… and being able to share <br/><br/>that information across different boundaries, then things become very interesting… this technique can be summed up in one word… Collaboration… and it’s the future. Karl

I look forward to being invited to the secret society!

You mention the non intrusive approach and the email got you to act… a good sales technique. These guys are also following another good approach and that

is the invite only. Google did this when they launched their email. I recently came across another one…Xobni…. So they are following good practice.

I’ve not had my invite yet so I can’t say what the site is like, but I would not be surprised if part of the site with the words ‘beta’ on it. I’m not

sure who started this, but Skype certainly used these four letters to their advantage. LinkedIn are using them on their new home page and I think I saw

them on Basecamp. One of the main guys who started Skype once explained to me the importance of those letters… you launch your product, make sure ‘beta’

is prominent and so everyone knows this is pre-launch code… and your users forgive any sins for any problems that arise with the code… because it’s beta

code and not full code!… brilliant… takes the heat off and keeps the users using.

However, back to the AccountMaven concept… it could work. The idea is right but need to know more and would be very interested to see it working. It is

something I already do for my clients… put them in touch with each other to share experience with their common customers… however this is a completely

manual process and very small scale… actually minute scale. The big issue is sharing with competitors and the question for me would be how much effort a

sales guy would be prepared to put in to using the site… will be interesting to see.

I am pleased to see such a site and I really hope it works because it’s going to help prove a theory of mine… the sales systems of the future are user

owned and driven… the user owns the information and will decide when and who to share it with… the current sales systems, such as CRM, are silos of

information within corporate boundaries for the benefit of the guys at the top at the expense of the guys at the bottom… the field sales guys… and so

they don’t work properly. However, when you own the information and that information helps you do your job, then they will work… and being able to share

that information across different boundaries, then things become very interesting… this technique can be summed up in one word… Collaboration… and it’s the future.

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