Why I love Teambox

Just a quick not to anyone still reading this blog. I am in love with Teambox. It is the best software for online collaboration ever. Why?

1. The activity stream makes is super easy to stay on top of teams and projects.

2. The task management is easier than anything I have ever used.

3. @Notifications make it fast and easy to include people in conversations.

4. CONVERT TO TASK! I can take any conversation and make it actionable.

5. Pages are the easiest way to share content EVER!

6. Google docs integration.

The list keeps going, but hey you get the picture. If not here is a cool one:

And this is me telling Scoble about it!

Pipeline Management Series: “Diving is Not Your Roll, But You Have to Hold the Line.”

After the last post some of you may be irritated with my assumptions that you can defer questions at presentation time. You think, “But I work with technical people, I have to show them the details.” or maybe it’s, “If I do not handle everything in the first presentation, I may not get another chance.”

Well guess what aspiring Sales Evangelist; if these are your concerns, you have missed the point of this entire series. Pipeline Management is about addressing the buyer’s needs. The problem is they do not always have a clear vision of what they need to see. If they did, well they would not need a sales person, just techies and product managers. You are there to clarify the message and coordinate the interactions of those who should engage. Those who should engage are the like minded people in each company. (more…)

Pipeline Management Series: Time to Show Them Something

Well, you are exhausted. That is to say that questioning has taken you as far as you need to go. You know who is involved, what they want, what they don’t want, and most of all what will get them running right onto the client list of one of your competitors. It is time to start putting together a presentation and showing your soon to be client what you can do for them. Unfortunately, the moment anyone in Sales Training says it’s time to present, sales people are all too ready to go in and give it their all.

(more…)

Pipeline management – The discovery phase

We have already covered the basic tenets of what it takes to decide a prospect is worthy of entering our trusted pipeline.
For review:

1. Get buy in from whoever you are talking to that you can communicate with anyone involved in the buying process
2. Get confirmation that there is budget
3. Uncover all of the problems, desires, wishes, needs, and other tidbits that will be part of making a decision. Get this from everyone involved.
4. Confirm that if you manage to answer to everything in #3, you will get a sale.
5. Build a timeline and get confirmation that this timeline is logical.

(more…)

Pipeline management 2 – The lure of sales technology

This is a rant for the Sales Managers out there. OK, it is for the Directors, the VP’s, the CEO’s, and yeah you the sales rep too. So often we miss the point sales technology and the empowerment it provides. Sure sales tools help us manage our selling activities, but sales technology, even the latest sales 2.0 systems hardly help us manage the most important part of our pipeline.

Right now, the avid readers out there are wondering if this is the same blog they normally read. No, I have not allowed a ghost writer to take over, and this is not demonic possession. As much as I love sales 2.0 tools, using sales technology to become more effective, and embedding all of it in your sales process, I still refuse to believe that the B2B sales process is something you can completely automate. So calm yourselves and let me continue. (more…)