The Sales Insider

When Ann Holland from MarketingSherpa asked Dave Elkington and I to present InsideSales.com’s research findings with MIT and Kellogg back in 2007, I’ll admit we were excited for a chance to “show off” a little bit what we thought was some “pretty cool little research” on lead management and lead response.

To say that the response since then has exceeded our expectations would be a major understatement. That same research has practically spawned the the entire lead response management industry, and I’ve seen at least ten follow-up studies from other sources since.

So when Ann contacted me to let me know she was moving on from MarketingSherpa, I was both surprised and intrigued to see where she was going.

Ann’s had an ear to the ground, and her finger on the pulse of sales and marketing, especially in B2B, for a long time now. She’s an industry insider in the best sense of the word, and the work she did at MarketingSherpa helped make it one of the most respected thought leaders in professional sales.

One of her two new ventures, Which Test Won? is a fascinating take on split variant marketing testing. Using actual samples of marketing content, she has users predict which content actually performed better in use–and then show the actual answer. It’s still ramping up, but this is the type of real, actionable data that we marketers can use in our everyday work with a vengeance.

Check out the Web site here.

Her other site, Subscription Site Insider, gives users a well-informed view of how to better manage their subscription Web services, with great content on managing legal issues, renewals, content, and more.

Check it out here.

Today I just wanted to take the time to inform readers about a non-profit organization that we recently started working with because they deserve some very positive publicity.

The Center for Women and Children in Crisis administers facilities and programs in three locations in Utah for women and families suffering from the effects of abuse, violence, and sexual assault.

I don’t want to promote our involvement with them other than to say that we’re incredibly pleased to be able to help the CWCIC in an upcoming project, and to make other local and national citizens aware of the work they do, and of the many volunteer opportunities they provide.

You can reach the CWCIC at:

http://www.cwcic.org/

http://www.facebook.com/cwcic

http://www.twitter.com/CWCIC

-Ken

Every once in a while, it’s nice to see that the spirit of ingenuity, vision, and invention hasn’t completely died in America. Internationally, we’re commonly seen as part buffoon, part overbearing “uncle,” part drain on society. And when you live in a country that produces 400,000 new lawyers annually, it’s sometimes hard to argue with the sentiment.

But then you see an idea like this, and you just have to stand back, appreciate it—and then share it.

Ingenuity and effort still make for great inventions, great people, and great companies.

You have to wonder what possessed a guy to invent a table saw that would stop running when it detected a human appendage near the blade.

And you also have to wonder why someone didn’t invent it sooner.