Apple’s introduction yesterday of the Ping social networking site for music has been widely proclaimed as a harbinger to the death of MySpace.
A number of articles have already speculated that the once-upon-a-time-most-popular social networking site is on its death bed, but the case study of MySpace’s ultimate failure provides some real food for thought.
MySpace is a classic example of misaligned strategy directly leading to improper execution. There’s no reason MySpace couldn’t have, shouldn’t have been the preeminent social networking Web app—they were first to market, had a sizable user base (estimates range from anywhere from 100-160 million total accounts), a premium advertising deal with Google (reported at $900 million over 3 years) . . . . yet less than five years from its peak in 2006, the company is on its way to irrelevance . . . .
“If all a sales person can do is talk about the product, then for sure their job is at risk to technology . . . . The role of sales is going to have to evolve to [provide] a value-add, or otherwise they may well not be needed in the process.”
—Jim Dickie, CSO Insights.
A fascinating article by Selling Power’s Gerhard Gschwandtner recently explored the growing tension between technology and sales performance.
“We have entered the ‘displacement economy,’” he states, “where new technology drives out the old ways of doing business . . . The reality is that some companies are already leveraging technology, not to save time, but to save the high expense of keeping salespeople on the payroll.”
In other words, “Old guard” sales has a problem on its hands . . . .
What’s the story—the real story—of your business?
I’ll tell you what it’s not:
It’s not the one on your “About Us” page on your company Web site. Not the generic, voiceless, lifeless biographies of your CEO/CIO/CTO/CFO/CMO.
It’s not the marketing blurbs and buzzwords your sales people use every single day.
It’s not the operations metrics, the TPS reports or financial statements . . . .
Take a look around your office. No seriously, take a look around your office right now.
Go ahead. Stand up, walk around if you need to, then come back.
You’re still sitting here. Go look around your office.
So, what did you discover during your sojourn around the room/cubicle/hallway?
(If you work from home/telecommute, it probably told you that wearing your pajamas to work is the coolest thing ever, but I digress.)
What’s the DNA of your sales team, corporate or carnival?
As the BrandBuilder stated recently,
“Be true to your own nature. There’s no point in faking it. A golden retriever isn’t a chihuahua or a pug or a greyhound, and for good reason. Being comfortable in your own skin is 90% of the trick to rocking out your life . . . Find yourself and embrace your nature. That’s always a great place to start.”
In other words, your sales team is the sum of your organization’s DNA.
And if your sales DNA isn’t based on mutual respect, what is it based on?
One of the biggest challenges about being part of an inside sales organization, or any sales organization for that matter, is the ongoing public perception of the sales community at large.
To the general public, sales feels like a “dirty word.” It’s connotatively negative, drawing up images of used car lots, unkempt slobs . . . .
Warning: Your Employees’ Technology Skills (or Lack Thereof) Are Costing You Money
8 June 2010 — Steve Watts
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How much do your employees really know about technology?
Do you even ask the question?
Do you think it has any bearing on how functional, efficient, and well-managed your company is?
One of the startling things I discovered as a university instructor was that even the most recent generation of supposedly “tech savvy” college students were, in fact, technologically illiterate in a number of important ways.
Oh sure, they could text message with the best of them. And Web surfing and Facebook? Got that covered. Navigating a map in World of Warcraft and Call of Duty? Not a problem. Twittering your MySpace while Tweeting your iPhone? Check, check, check, and check.
But when it came to more important ideas—ideas that would apply daily to a modern business’s technology needs—they were remarkably clueless. Ideas like, “What’s the best way to categorically organize my digital files for easy retrieval across a company network?” were utterly foreign to them. “How do I ensure maximum compatibility of documents across computing platforms and programs?” “What are some simple ways I can write text content that is relevant for cataloging, storage, and retrieval for an SQL query?” Unless the student happened to be a computer science or IS major, they had […]
5 Ways to Rethink Your Marketing Niche – What Is Your (and Your Company’s) Real Expertise?
4 June 2010 — Steve Watts
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In our never-ending search for the “perfect marketing campaign,” we as marketers can occasionally get trapped into thinking that “outside the box” is better.
Sometimes, it’s simply better to focus on our core competencies. When push comes to shove, we as people, and as organizations as a whole, naturally gravitate to who we are and what we know best. We do this because it’s where our expertise lies.
Embracing the old cliché, “You are what you are,” isn’t always a bad thing in marketing—if who and what you are comes from a position of trust, integrity, innovation, and forward-thinking.
In business terms, “You are what you are” simply translates to, “Core competency.” We all have them, and they’re largely responsible for what make us the most money.
When we sell within our core competencies, we have the most success, and the least amount of resistance. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t step outside our core competencies, or that growth in other markets or verticals isn’t possible. But in the Digital Age of the “Long Tail,” growth into adjoining markets doesn’t happen if our own core competencies aren’t covered.
How do we monitor our success at our core competencies? The answers are basic, but bear reviewing:
Be […]
I’m probably a bit young to be borrowing phrases from Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey; I’m only thirty-four years old, and most of The Who’s popular songs were recorded years before I was born. Yet the above lyrics from “Won’t Get Fooled Again” seemed particularly appropriate today, as I returned to work for InsideSales.com, Inc.
InsideSales.com was my employer prior to beginning my Master’s degree studies at Utah State University in August 2008, and once the bulk of my degree was completed earlier this year, I stopped by InsideSales.com’s offices in Provo to see if they had a need for some technical writing services. After interviewing for a number of positions with other companies, I ultimately decided to come back to work here, assisting the marketing and support departments by creating compelling written content and document designs for Web and print.
I have to admit, returning to a company where you have previously worked is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, there’s a comfort level with management and company culture that other new employees don’t have. You understand the product and company goals, you’re familiar with common company tropes and attitudes, and have a fairly clear picture of […]
I first heard of ‘Web 2.0’ from Chris Knudsen and Dave Beisinger, at a vidcast company called 10SpeedMedia. They were helping us make micromercials to test web video as a new lead generation media. They told me enough to get me very interested.
As my research about Web 2.0 began on Google in the summer of 2006, I started with Tim O’Reilly’s landmark article ‘What Is Web 2.0’ and expanded from there. I read Paul Graham and Andrew Keen and dozens of others and was enthralled and amazed at the point and counterpoints surrounding the Web 2.0 buzz.
I wanted to see how all of this related to sales. I immediately wondered what ‘Sales 2.0’ would look like. I knew someone espousing Sales 2.0 would be close behind.
Sure enough. I soon found that everybody out there had come up with their version of ‘Something 2.0’: Call Center 2.0, Business 2.0, Marketing 2.0 and Small Business 2.0 to name a few. The common thread was that they all linked back to the disruptive change brought about by the Internet.
It was August of 2006, I couldn’t find a thing on the web about Sales 2.0. I bought the domain Sales2-0.com to have a way to communicate our thoughts.
I didn’t […]
