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The Next New Thing for 2010
A vital part of management is finding the Next New Thing. Most managers don't develop these game-changers themselves. Rather, the objective is to remain vigilant enough to recognize important trends as they emerge and become an early adopter once you're convinced it will provide a competitive edge. Here are some tools, tactics and trends that are worth monitoring as you begin strategizing for 2010. If you're trying desperately to figure out how Web 2.0 and social media can be used to help sell your stuff, join the club, says Todd Youngblood, CEO of YPS Group, a Georgia-based sales consultancy. He initially was skeptical about the usefulness of social media in the business-to-business arena, but has become a big believer in its capability to distribute knowledge, which ultimately precedes a sale in every industry he's worked with. "When you blow all the smoke away, knowledge is the only thing any of us has to sell anymore. Profitably selling even the most commoditized of commodities requires lots and lots of knowledge. It's all about intellectual content," Youngblood says. "It is an incontrovertible fact that giving away some of your intellectual content - aggressively giving it away free - is really good for business." "Look at social media as a place to involve your audience in conversations about the messages you're delivering through other channels," says Alexandra Samuel, CEO of Social Signal, a social media agency. "You can use social media to give them tools to take your brand out to their own networks. Yes, they'll transform it and make it their own, but what you lose in control, you'll gain back in the credibility, authenticity and reach that come from peer communication."
You may think you know how your salespeople are handling presentations, but Keith Rosen doesn't believe it. "Unless managers are in the field observing and listening to what their people are doing, they have no clue," says Rosen, a sales coach and author most recently of Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions (Wiley, 2008). [read the 514-word article]
Even your most highly motivated salespeople need more than desire to produce results. The SalesForceXP eLearning Center offers an assortment of live seminars on topical skill sets from noted sales management experts. It's an exceptionally affordable means for managers to provide sales tactics that produce results... Not surprisingly, employee morale and commitment has worsened during the recession. The 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork found that employee engagement levels for all workers at the surveyed companies dropped 9 percent since last year, but the number was nearly 25 percent for top performers. [read the 1501-word article]
Beware of the Beast - It Could Be You The business world loves taking lessons from the world of sports, so learn from the mistakes made by Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini, whose team is 1-7 and in last place in their division. [read the 313-word article] The B2B world continues to wrestle with how social media fits into a business plan. Its first clear role: recruiting. But while you can find employees through social media, how do you know you're finding the best employees? [read the 425-word article]
Make Your (Power)Point In 20 Seconds Brevity isn't a new concept, but it's one that can't be emphasized enough. A presentation system called pecha-kucha (Japanese for "chatter") isn't new either, but we only recently stumbled across it, and it seems like a great approach to adopt for the New Year for sales meetings and perhaps even your sales presentations. [read the 243-word article] Quick Tips to Help Timid Presenters Author and communications expert Dianna Booher says some leaders are blessed with an "It Factor" that naturally compels people to follow them. All is not lost if you're not one of these, however. [read the 209-word article] Social Networking Options for Sales Management Pros
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