SalesHQ

I was VP of sales for a 800 member sales force and we were engaged with some major issues with the FDA. It was causing a great difficulity with our customers and our sales team needed a method for communication.

We did many things, conference calls, team meetings, web cast, new letters, etc. We had a blog called straight up, where we would give the straight up on what was happening.

This was in the early days of blogs and scocial networking , and when you combine that with politics and fear of big brother, no pun intended, wew did not have a lot of traffic.

On this site , I have noticed a sense of community and have witnessed some coaching and encouragement. This site shows how people with similar interest can come together. Does your company use a blog or social network for internal use? Should they? Could, Should this concept be used to build community with customers.

In closing, great sales people, what are your methods to stay close with your customers, prospects and is it importsnt to build a sense of community?

rich34232 says ...

  Great questions Jim. I think the answer lies within the staff that is employed. Being real the majority of people working are lazy. Work is done and poof they are done. They bring nothing more than mind and body during the hours that are required.The reason this works herethere is  a mulititude of professionals that want to become better with what they are presently facing.There are some searching for jobs and know to catch the job of dreams they must be well prepared and what better place to gather this information that can add to anyones process.

 Earlier in this sites infant stages the answers were vague and aimed at do this with little instruction or reason to try this or that. The site has grown from that stage to a wonderful source of information,support and common ground to build lasting relationships.

  Could a site like this work for companies. YES. Will the company's be willing to give this a try as it would be a lot of hard work. NO

Rich, you hit some great points, your dialog reminds me of a issue I have with CRM software, garbage in garbage out, if the work is not put in in the begining, or the team sees no value they will get no value. Just thunk how great a team could become if they learned how to make a site like this excell for themselves

rich34232 says ...

 Jim it is called motivation. What is anyone willing to do in order to become the best that they can be. No potential ,no try  who wants to become the best at  what they do.Now what will they be willing to give up to become that.

Rich, you are taking my talk, I love it

Hi Jim. If I understand Rich's comment correctly, I certainly would agree that some  large companies, especially public companies, or comanies regulated by the SEC, may get too bogged down with compliance policy, rules and manuals to realize the potential value of this emerging type of communication tool. It sounds like you work /workrd for a large company given the size of your salesforce. Is that correct? Are you still with them or on your own now?

I really believe smaller companies that are willing to innovate, and manage risk using a "reasonable person" philosophy rather than having to run every decision through corporate lawyers, can find a lot of opportunities created by Large company "Corporate inertia". I am a small business owner, and I have had very good results using online networking. It is important that we use it as an suplimental tool, rather than a replacement for more traditional contact methods. I have seen many people fall into the trap of using online networking in place of  critical interpersonal communication methods such as face-to-face, telephone, and other necessary methods. I use it to add to my other contact methods where appropriate. Just as we learned early in our sales careers to evaluate a customer's communication style preference (Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic), is just as important to notice the E-comfort level of our customers before assuming, for instance, that an email answer to their voicemail question fully addresses their request.

As for your question about how I stay close to my customers, the more different ways, the better. Personally, as much as I love the instantaneous nature of E-munication, I find that an unexpected, handwritten note is a mush more powerful, and under-used tool. I keep a supply stamps and 4-5 different types of generic note cards, thank-you cards, etc, on the shelf above my desk. 

I can think of several major decision makers with whom I now have a "preferred" relationship that I can attribute to the little extra effort of writing a quick note. More than one person told me they began writing hand written notes as a result of my note to them.  Give it a try!

Hope this helps

D

dave169 says ...

Hi Jim. If I understand Rich's comment correctly, I certainly would agree that some  large companies, especially public companies, or comanies regulated by the SEC, may get too bogged down with compliance policy, rules and manuals to realize the potential value of this emerging type of communication tool. It sounds like you work /workrd for a large company given the size of your salesforce. Is that correct? Are you still with them or on your own now?

I really believe smaller companies that are willing to innovate, and manage risk using a "reasonable person" philosophy rather than having to run every decision through corporate lawyers, can find a lot of opportunities created by Large company "Corporate inertia". I am a small business owner, and I have had very good results using online networking. It is important that we use it as an suplimental tool, rather than a replacement for more traditional contact methods. I have seen many people fall into the trap of using online networking in place of  critical interpersonal communication methods such as face-to-face, telephone, and other necessary methods. I use it to add to my other contact methods where appropriate. Just as we learned early in our sales careers to evaluate a customer's communication style preference (Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic), is just as important to notice the E-comfort level of our customers before assuming, for instance, that an email answer to their voicemail question fully addresses their request.

As for your question about how I stay close to my customers, the more different ways, the better. Personally, as much as I love the instantaneous nature of E-munication, I find that an unexpected, handwritten note is a mush more powerful, and under-used tool. I keep a supply stamps and 4-5 different types of generic note cards, thank-you cards, etc, on the shelf above my desk. 

I can think of several major decision makers with whom I now have a "preferred" relationship that I can attribute to the little extra effort of writing a quick note. More than one person told me they began writing hand written notes as a result of my note to them.  Give it a try!

Hope this helps

D

Dave, thank you for the compelling dialog, I agree with it all, there are examples of large companies that were draged into blogging and I think as younger business people come into play they will demand to communication tools that they were raised on. I am old school and perfer to visit face to face. I retired from a very large company 6 years ago, and now work by myself as a headhunter. your comments about corporate red tape and meetings are not something I miss.