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Signs Your Sales Pipeline Might be Based on Fiction or Fantasy

March 14, 2008

Is your sales pipeline based on fact, fiction or fantasy? According to recent research from IDC, sales productivity is now the #1 priority of CEOs, but many organizations are still focused on activity management instead of tracking the right performance metrics that will drive bottom-line results. Here are 5 signs that your sales pipeline might be based on fiction or even fantasy:

  1. You expect deals to close without knowing that they’re actually stuck in your pipeline.
  2. You’re looking at the overall pipeline totals, without looking at what’s moved
    into the pipeline and what’s moved out.
  3. You’re counting on specific deals to close, without looking at the performance of the reps responsible for closing those deals quarter over quarter or year over year.
  4. You don’t have a clear understanding of the trends in your conversion rates.
  5. You don’t know how long it takes for your sales reps to ramp up and instead rely upon antiquated industry rules of thumb.

It’s been said that sales is both art and science, but when your pipeline is truly fact-based you’ll have confidence in your forecast and be able to avoid nasty end-of-quarter surprises. And believe it or not, according to this CSO Insights whitepaper, you’ll also have better retention as your sales reps will have a clear understanding of how they’re being measured and your objectives will be aligned.

We recently did a webinar with Selling Power that focused on some of the best-practice analytics you need to deliver a fact-based pipeline. More on this topic next week. If you have other suggestions for posts on the topic of analytics best practices, feel free to email me or share your feedback in the comments below.

Written by dcunningham · Filed Under Features 

Sales Operations Forum

March 12, 2008

If you’re in Sales Operations in the San Francisco Bay Area, be sure to sign up for the Sales Ops Forum. It’s a great way to network with your peers and learn best practices in this increasingly important area of the business. The last session I attended was focused on the importance of analytics to CRM success. Alison and Price do a great job of organizing the group and most of the attendees rely upon salesforce.com as their CRM system of record.

Written by dcunningham · Filed Under Features 

Keeping Up with Salesforce Analytics

March 7, 2008

Salesforce.com Product Manager Tom Tobin continues to do a great job on his Successforce reporting and dashboards blog. This week he posted the Top 10 Idea Posts for Analytics, Reporting and Dashboards. The article highlights some of the new features that have been delivered over the last couple of releases with some candid comments about where they are with the top customer feature requests. When was the last time you saw this level of transparency from a software… er, No Software vendor? Tom does a great job sharing tips and tips and best practices around salesforce.com reporting and dashboards and, like all Salesforce product managers, he monitors the IdeaExchange and regularly joins the discussions.

Here’s a list of what I think are Tom’s most useful posts so far this year:

Keep up the great work Tom! And thanks for also highlighting in many of your posts how Salesforce customers can complement and extend the native transactional reporting capabilities and get more from their CRM investment with AppExchange partners.

Written by dcunningham · Filed Under Features 

Don’t Wait for Sales Analytics

March 4, 2008

“In God we trust…all others bring data.” Edwards Demming

It’s been said that putting off sales analytics is like putting off winning. But for many organizations, getting started with a comprehensive approach to managing with metrics instead of hunches has been like visiting the dentist or getting fit and joining a gym. You know you need to do it, but there always seems to be a good excuse not to. Well the good news is that the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model is disrupting traditional approaches to business analytics and making getting started easier than it’s ever been. The long deployment cycles, high costs, complicated upgrade processes and IT infrastructure required of traditional on-premise business intelligence solutions are no longer acceptable in the era of on demand. Here are a few suggestions to help you get started with sales analytics:

1) Get Executive Sponsorship. To make sales analytics a top business initiative, you first must determine the metrics that matter and build a plan. Executive sponsorship is critical to analytics success. Find out:

  • What information do sales managers, finance, and the CEO need today to be successful? (Having a clear understanding of their objectives and success metrics is critical. How many of these questions can you answer today?)
  • What business questions are the most difficult to answer today? Who is asking these questions? When and why?
  • Would people prefer to answer their own business questions or are they content relying upon the sales operations, business analysts, and/or IT function for information?
  • How do managers prefer to access and analyze business information – dynamic dashboards, spreadsheets, pdf, PowerPoint, email, mobile device, etc.?
  • What other sources of information do people need to access and analyze in order to achieve sales success? (Note that critical sales data is often locked in financial systems – orders, bookings, billing information; or lives outside of the CRM system in spreadsheets – commissions, quotas, forecasts .)

2) Think Big, Start Small. Starting in one department or even one region will allow you to get some quick wins and you’ll be amazed at how fast word of your success travels. Have a vision to go beyond one area of the business, but don’t let a broader analytics vision slow you down. The most important thing is to get started. If you’re a salesforce.com administrator, hopefully you already know how important it is to become proficient with the built-in reporting and dashboard capabilities. If you’re not already up to speed, be sure to sign up for a training course, watch a Dreamforce presentation on the success.salesforce.com community website, and try downloading a few of the free dashboard applications on the AppExchange. But this is only the beginning. The right analytic application will not only help you get more value from your CRM investment, it will allow you to monitor and track historical trends and get answers to ad hoc questions, regardless of where and how the transactional data is stored.

3) Focus on Process Improvements. For sales managers and sales operations, optimizing and improving the lead-to-cash cycle is a great place to start.

  • How well is your sales team is doing – quotas, revenues, discounts, etc.?
  • How fast are opportunities moving through the pipeline?
  • How are competitors and partners affecting your results and what are the trends?

An analytic application designed from the ground up to deliver ad hoc answers to business questions will allow you to focus on specific process improvements. You’ll see where you’re doing well, where you should focus your attention, what’s selling, who’s buying, and how things are changing over time. Just be sure to set clear goals and measure your success at every step of the way.

In this competitive market, more and more companies are looking to sales analytics to give them the competitive edge and win. Make sure you’re one of them. As we like to say at LucidEra: No more excuses. No more guesses. No more surprises. Good luck!

Written by dcunningham · Filed Under Features 

Salesforce Ideas: Eureka!

February 25, 2008

Spring ‘08 release has had a week to sink in now and we’re beginning to see some chatter about Salesforce Ideas on the web.

This week I will be speaking at the Vancouver User Group meeting on how to get the most from Salesforce Ideas and have decided to post the thoughts making up my talk on the web.

Stay tuned for more posts on Ideas later this week. To kick things off, get your feet wet with this tutorial on Salesforce Ideas from Successforce.

Written by Adam Killam · Filed Under Features 

Why do CRM Implementations Fail?

February 20, 2008

Why do CRMs Fail?

There are many reasons why a CRM project may be considered as a failure.  These reasons differ from each person involved in the project: from the key stakeholders to the end user - each person has a very different perception of what a CRM system is, what it is there for and what the end result should be.

An end user in a sales team who is trying to make his/her sales quota is not likely going to automatically understand the complex relationship between all of the elements of the CRM or the underlying business reasons for implementing the system in the first place.  Indeed, there may even be resistance from end users who even see a CRM as a kind of CCTV camera, allowing managers to see what they get up to during the day!  In truth, there are numerous reasons why CRMs fail but these can be mitigated with a certain amount of understanding of these reasons combined with a little sensible forward planning.

Problems can start right at the very beginning perhaps by senior management who want to implement a CRM but who do not fully understand what a CRM application can/cannot do or how much work is involved in implementing a CRM in for example a large organisation, which has its own business units, business managers, each with their own opinions, biases and sets of priorities.

Poor understanding and even mistrust of Software as a Service (SaaS) CRMs can lead to unnecessary implementations of on-site CRMs which can often be fraught with unseen technical challenges and costs.

When a CRM loses momentum, also expect to observe loss of user enthusiasm and buy in.  For example, if the sales force is not completely sold on the how the CRM system will benefit them, they will be reluctant to spend time using it.

Alternatively, enthusiasm may dwindle at the top levels if Business and IT Managers have a very traditional view of the CRM project, ie. it has a start and an end date and once it is finished it is over - in fact a CRM project never really ends, it evolves as your business evolves.  Continual improvement is the key to a successful CRM project and this should be communicated from the start to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Other critical factor for user buy in is a quick time to value.  This is where SaaS, also known as on demand CRMs really come into their own - you can, with a little no how or minor level of consultancy, set up a CRM for an SMB in a matter of days.

Other common reasons might be:

  • Key sponsors are not involved in the project
  • Unclear CRM requirements and priorities
  • Lack of focus - no CRM Roadmap
  • Metrics for success were not defined before or after the project
  • Unclear strategy to integrate with existing systems
  • IT control the CRM project

“Was that last bullet point a typo?” I hear you ask.  No.  Many organisational leaders assume CRM implementation is all about IT and complex technical challenges and are eager to pass a CRM implementation project to the company IT team or worse, the sole IT person within the company.  They then charge them with the daunting task of implementing a CRM system which will likely involve numerous people across Sales, Marketing and Customer Support teams, all of different backgrounds and with different interests and immediate needs.

In fact, CRM implementation is more about people and processes, analysing and improving business rules, user psychology and even analyzing and improving social interaction; that is, interactions between internal teams and perhaps most importantly between internal teams and their customers.

Of course, a CRM project may well present considerable technical challenges, especially if being done on a large scale in a company or organisation which is well established and which has numerous existing systems which need to be integrated (such as ERP systems, Accounting Packages etc.).

However, with a sensible and well thought out rollout plan, these high risk/difficult areas can be kept to minimum and/or phased in later once you have the key, low risk elements of the CRM in place for the people who most need them first:

  • Sales
  • Marketing
  • Support

Who should own a CRM project, if not IT?

There is a strong argument from numerous CRM implementers that the end users of a CRM should own the project.  Why?  Because a CRM is a user based application and deals with improving the way end users understand and interact with their customers.  They really understand the key problems with the current methods/business process as they are the ones who perform the roles/processes, day in day out.  IT, do not.

The best CRM implementations I have done have been when the users are firmly buckled in the driving seat, with IT present in a support capacity.

Should I use a CRM consultant?

Many companies implement a CRM entirely by themselves or allocate someone within the company to take on the role.  One thing is sure though, a CRM Consultant can help you speed up your implementation and avoid common pit falls.  A few qualities should be considered as desirable though, if not required, in whoever you choose to implement your CRM:

Your CRM implementer needs to be a good communicator and be good with people, able to listen and record user needs, pain points and areas for improvement.  With this in mind, experience with structured requirements gathering techniques and Process/Systems Analysis and Design would also be beneficial.

A CRM Implementation Project should be managed like any other project. The key person in charge should be able to demonstrate basic Project Management skills such as creating project plans and status reports, risk management and change control in order to structure the project effectively and keep it on track.

Obviously training is a key part of a CRM implementation project so your CRM Consultant or CRM implementer should be charismatic and able to conduct training sessions as well as prepare training materials as/if needed.  Remember, it may be possible that some of your end users are not even that confident with computers, so they need to be educated in this area as well as CRM concepts and usage.

There will always be a period of resistance or drops in enthusiasm, which is when its up to the CRM implementer and, importantly, team managers (who need to lead by example) to encourage practice and participation by team members.

What about barriers in a cross cultural / multi language environment?

Most of us work in a multi cultural environment.  Some of us even work in a multi language working environment overseas, as expatriate employees or foreign business owners.  The chances are high that you have customers who are from multiple different countries.   With this in mind, sensitivity to this fact and forethought and planning on how best to implement a CRM, to people who may not even be native speakers of your language, is especially important.

The key person in charge of the project should ideally be experienced in this sort of situation and sensitive to cross cultural/cross language communication and cultural differences.  For example, direct/indirect approach, tone, body language, business culture, meetings, negotiations or conflict resolution.

Summary:  Key areas to successful CRM implementation

  • Develop a corporate CRM culture, involve key stakeholders
  • Define your CRM objectives and prioritize CRM requirements
  • Develop a CRM roadmap and break the project into manageable pieces
  • Integrate your current systems
  • Research CRM vendors and focus on your needs
  • Communicate with all people involved
  • Learn, be flexible, use the tool and evolve your business

Good luck!

CRM Asia Solutions

Andrew Wallace

Founder & Managing Director
CRM Asia Solutions
Web and CRM Solutions for SMBs

www.crmasiasolutions.com

Written by Adam Killam · Filed Under Features 

Top 5 Marketing Uses for Salesforce.com

February 20, 2008

Use Salesforce.com to capture leads and generate a tasty ROI on your marketing investment. Here’s how:

  1. Web to lead capture: capture leads from your website via lead capture forms.
  2. Salesforce for Google Adwords integration: track what Pay-per-click campaigns, ad groups and keywords are actually leading to converted leads and ultimately closed deals by your sales team. Gives you a definite ROI on your marketing dollars
  3. Email Marketing: segment your lists and use an email marketing integration such as Vertical Response to drive traffic, leads and sales.
  4. Salesforce.com Campaigns: segment your lists, monitor and maximize marketing channels and determine ROI.
  5. Lead scoring: Lead scoring: setup lead scoring rules in order to pass only the highest quality, ready-to-buy-leads to your sales team and leave leads that need development for nurturing by the marketing department. Pure genius.

Bonus Item:

5.5 Best Practices in Salesforce.com Marketing Series

Bonus Video:Marketing in the Google Era

Written by Adam Killam · Filed Under Features 

First Impressions on “Tour de Force”

January 18, 2008

Salesforce.com today debuted their “Tour de Force” road show, a 20 city tour designed to immerse developers and customers alike into the possibilities of utilizing Force.com for their development needs. I attended the event at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel, but the keynote was streamed live over the web and featured announcements, surprises, guest speakers and a little bit of bragging.

SFDC has a lot to be proud of, so they are right to brag. Three new enterprise customers were announced: Avaya, AIG and Comcast all with at least 1200 subscribers. Apex is now available for free with the Enterprise Edition of Salesforce.com (previously it was only available for free with Unlimited). And, finally, some of their customers and partners are doing some really interesting things with the new Force.com platform.

First up was Richard Hackenbrock from Dolby, sharing his experience with Salesforce.com partner Apprio while building a new application used to help monitor customer service and technical support issues for movie theaters using Dolby hardware. It was nice to see a real world example of how a completely new interface can be created for the Salesforce.com back end, and it certainly looked very slick, featuring embedded movie posters and movie trailers depicting the films being played on the screens they were supporting. A blunt comment on the challenges inherent to working with movie theater staffers brought out a few gasps from the audience, but was not enough to foul the general upbeat mood in the room.

The next presenter was much more interesting to a crowd full of developers, and tied in nicely to some questions that were brought up later in the event. Bob Morrell, CEO and founder of Riskonnect, an enterprise risk management system, launched his product at the event with a live demo for the crowd. An application built on the force.com platform with infrastructure hosted completely by Salesforce.com, but available for sale as a stand-alone product - available even to companies who do not have subscriptions to Salesforce.com.

Pricing was announced for this type of service, and Benioff called it “Cloud Pricing, Development as a Service.” Two tiers are available…$5 per login or $50 per month for unlimited logins. It was unclear exactly what this meant, but questions at the end of the presentation hoped to clarify whether this was in addition to or in replace of a Salesforce.com subscription. Benioff confirmed that it was, indeed, in place of a Salesforce.com subscription. This will enable developers to create stand-alone applications on the Force.com platform (which includes all infrastructure costs) and then sell subscriptions to it for $50 per seat per month, plus whatever they add on for their own application.

In theory, the smart move for developers would be to develop an AppExchange version of their applications at a lower price point in addition to the stand-alone version, but it will be interesting to see how the force.com community responds after having time to digest the announcement.

To wrap up the event, platform gurus Steve Fisher and Adam Gross from Salesforce.com demonstrated more functionality within the tools they have created for Force.com developers. And then, to finish off the keynote, two “Masterpiece Theater” style chairs were brought on stage and Marc Benioff engaged in a deep discussion with former Netscape honcho and current Ning co-founder and CTO Mark Andreeson about similarities between development as a service, web 2.0, force.com collaborative developing communities and the consumer-related social networking arena that Ning is playing in.

Check out the Tour de Force website for more details, including upcoming dates and sites for the road show which features immersion labs and instruction designed for both advanced developers as well as IT professionals and Salesforce.com administrators. - JS

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About the Author

Jason Stewart leads demand generation programs for Demandbase and is a recognized thought leader in the B2B lead generation and lead management space. He founded and leads the Salesforce.com user group in Salesforce.com’s headquarters location (San Francisco) and has spent 10+ years in B2B telesales, demand generation, lead management and marketing operations with a variety of businesses including Maxager Technology, MarketLive, and Inference Corporation.

To learn more about Jason or Demandbase, visit Jason’s blog on demand generation.

Written by admin · Filed Under Features 

Spotlight: Salesforce.com’s Robust User Group Community

January 11, 2008

A clear sign of success when evaluating any tech company is the community that springs up around it. In the span of a few short years, Salesforce.com has by and far built one of the most successful user communities I’ve had the good fortune of being involved in.

Salesforce currently has fifty-six user groups spanning four continents and thirteen countries. The groups are comprised of thousands of dedicated customers who meet regularly to learn best practices, network, meet Salesforce partners and invest time with like-minded people.

Since 2006 when I founded the Vancouver Salesforce.com User Group, I’ve watched the user community flourish and grow under the leadership of Salesforce staff such as Erika Kuhl and more recently Jeanine Thorpe. Two years later there’s no sign of things slowing down as our membership continues to grow and new groups continue to sprout up around the world.

From the Successforce User Group Blog:

“The goal of the salesforce.com user groups is to foster a community full of enthusiastic salesforce.com users, developers, partners and employees. This community is united with one common goal: Customer Success. The community meets online on blogs and discussion boards, and meets in real-life at various Club Events, City Tours, User Groups, and Executive Summits. What makes this program unique? It is run autonomously by customers FOR customers.”

If you’re not a part of the group in your area, I highly recommend dropping by the User Group Blog on Successforce.com to find a group near you. If you’re a customer looking to get more out of your Salesforce org, you will learn a ton from other members. If you’re a partner looking to get exposure to potential clients, this is the place for you.

One last tip: join the group and get to know the leader. Ask what you can do for them and find out if there’s anything they need help with. Speakers, sponsors and meeting locations are a few things that are always in demand. Enjoy!

Written by Adam Killam · Filed Under Features 

Security Bulletin : Phishing Enterprise On-Demand Applications

November 30, 2007

Leading identity management company, Sxip releases white paper in response to recent attack on Salesforce.com

The Security Bulletin builds on the basic phishing protection suggestions by Salesforce with additional recommendations for more
security conscious enterprises.

Topics covered include: basic enterprise phishing protection, limitations of basic protection, single sign on protection, and more.

Follow this link to view the full phishing white paper.

From the Sxip site:

“Easily provision and manage user access to Google Apps, Salesforce and other software-as-a-service solutions with Sxip Access’ seamless integration with existing corporate directories, providing secured single sign-on, enterprise grade control and security, and increased productivity.”

To learn more, visit http://www.sxip.com

Written by Adam Killam · Filed Under Features 

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