When an employee asks this question, having a company policy in place can make answering it much easier.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

In part 5 of a series about leadership lessons learned in the tropics, Patty Vogan compares scuba diving and running a business.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

Here are the five red flags of a CRM system that’s more bother than it’s worth:

RED FLAG #1: Management must force people to use it. If management is putting pressure on reps–like threatening to withhold commissions–if they don’t use the system, then the system isn’t useful. Sales reps ALWAYS embrace technology that helps them sell (e.g. cell phones, email, IM, web conferencing) and always resist technology that wastes their time. If the reps don’t immediately love the system, that system is crap. Period.

RED FLAG #2: It enforces a process that works somewhere else. Most CRM systems come with out-of-the-box functionality based on the “best practices” of other companies. Unfortunately, what’s “best practice” in one company can be “worst practice” in another. Your company is unique, so you need a CRM system that models what works for your company, not your competitors. For example, any company that’s smaller than IBM, yet tries to sell exactly like IBM, is going to fail. Period.

RED FLAG #3: The CRM data is frequently in error. All too often the data that’s in the CRM system came from old databases or was entered by folk who weren’t concerned with accuracy. Once reps figure out that the CRM system can’t provide reliable information, they’re not going to trust anything inside it. CRM must be developed with some form of data cleaning and data verification, otherwise you’ll eventually end up with a system that nobody can, or will use. Period.

RED FLAG #4: There’s a “real way” that things get done. I’ve seen cases where reps are 100% percent complaint with a CRM system–in the sense that they enter all the data that management is requesting–but have a completely different system for actually getting things done. (Usually, the sales manager’s spreadsheet is the “real” CRM system.) If this is the case, the “official” CRM system is simply draining productivity. Period.

RED FLAG #5: The system isn’t available all the time. Nothing is more demoralizing than a system that’s up and down all the time. If a CRM system isn’t stable enough to be available 24/7, or can’t be accessed when they’re on the road, then the reps (who are nothing if not practical) will constant looking for (and inevitably find) other ways to get the job done and find out what they need to know.

Any of these sound familiar to you?

Original post by Geoffrey James

A while back, SellingPower magazine was doing cover stories about celebrities who are good at sales. The most memorable were probably Arnold Schwartznegger and Jay Leno, but it occurred to me that selecting celebrities (actors, politician, debutantes, etc.) for sales jobs is a game that everyone can play. Let’s give it a try.

Imagine you’re a manager who needs to staff a sales team, and (for some reason) your firm only hires celebrities (living and dead), all of whom want desperately to work for you.  Here’s the two questions I’d like you to answer:

Which celebrities would you hire?

And which celebrities would you fire?

For example, my hire list includes:

• Tom Hanks, because his friendly persona would make relationship building easy.
• Orson Wells, because he has the kind of gravitas that lends itself well to B2B sales.
• Jack Nicholson, because he’d make buying from your firm seem slightly naughty.

And my fire list includes:

• Pauly Shore, because even when sober he looks stoned.
• Harry Reid, because he’s got all the charisma of a stewed tomato.
• Barbara Walters, because frankly she just kinda scares me.

Anyway, you get the idea.   Who’s on your lists?

Original post by Geoffrey James

When you have a fair amount of time, kick back and read the final report of the 2007 Web Analytics Shootout. It is an exhaustive report based on tests that compared 7 different analytics packages across 4 different sites. The performance, accuracy, and capabilities were each tested, but in my opinion, the accuracy data is what stands out the most.

If you are thinking about choosing an analytics package, don’t make a move until you read this report. It will be an eye-opener.

Original post by DazzlinDonna

When is a directory not a directory? When that directory is a “vertical niche destination whose aim is to connect buyers and sellers, and who not only lists sellers, but provides metrics and content solutions to those listed”. What the heck am I talking about? I’m talking about providing value. I’m talking about going beyond what most SEOs see as a “directory” and providing real value both to users and to those listed. I’m talking about how what I once called “a crusty, old directory” turned itself into one of the highest-value sites on the Internet, by providing more than just listings.

Want an example? Thomasnet.com. Go ahead…look at the screenshot below. Looks like your average directory, doesn’t it? Ok, maybe not average, but still…just a directory, right? Wrong.

Despite the fact that its niche is decidedly un-sexy (industrial manufacturing - gears and the like), this site is truly a vertical destination. It is a place that people who are in need of these items choose to go. Users will find what they need here when they won’t find it at Google. Need to see an actual CAD drawing of a gear? Ok, Thomasnet can show that to you. There is a wealth of information in this directory, much of which I admit I don’t understand. But I don’t have to. Engineers looking for one of these gizmos do understand all of the information provided, and that’s what matters.

I had a nice long conversation last week with Brendan O’Connell, the Technology Director of Web Initiatives for ThomasNet and Linda Rigano, the Director of Strategic Alliances. Brendan manages both an internal and external team of developers for the website along with Thomas’ search engine optimization and marketing strategies and partnerships, and has been involved in SEO initiatives for ThomasNet since its conception.

I wanted to know why ThomasNet was so popular and what made it different. It quickly became apparent that the relationship between the folks at ThomasNet and the users made all the difference. ThomasNet works with the companies that are listed so that they can connect with the buyers who are looking for those companies. Not only are the listings optimized so that they provide the ultimate value to the end user (the buyers), but ThomasNet even helps businesses provide more value on their own sites. By providing metrics and content solutions to the companies listed in ThomasNet, and providing detailed data about the companies to the buyers, the entire web of needs are met.

I then told Brendan that I thought it would be interesting if we could find a way to share our experiences. He, as a search optimization leader for a large company, likely has a different set of skills and experiences than I have. And while the day to day details probably differ quite a lot, in the end, there doesn’t seem to be that large a gap between what we do. Here are some tips, straight from Brendan.

Ranking is really a small part of the process. Regardless of how you play the SEO game, in the end, it’s all about your content and how you make it easier for buyers to do business with you.

So, based on this premise, I give you my “rules for small business.” I hope you like them!

Brendan’s Rules For Small Businesses:

Worry less about SEO and more about quality traffic.
Once you get that quality traffic…
Worry about how you are going to convert those visitors into customers.
Here’s an easy way to do it with ThomasNet’s VSET Concept:

VSET is a concept ThomasNet developed based on thousands of interviews with buyers and engineers. It helps businesses understand how buyers navigate through their websites, regardless of the type of business. It’s all about evaluating your websites from Your buyer’s perspective.

1. VERIFY:
Can buyers instantly Verify that they are on a site that has the information they want?

2. SEARCH:
Can buyers quickly Search for the exact products, services and specifications they need?

3. EVALUATE:
Can buyers easily Evaluate the information presented so they can make a decision?

4. TAKE ACTION:
Can buyers Take action at every step of the way – i.e. call, e-mail, send an RFQ or order?

We encourage every business to go through this process with an objective third party and discover the essential changes they can make to their website. Any changes made will always come back to the content and the actual delivery and use of that content.

It was a fascinating conversation and I plan to keep in touch with Brendan and Linda because there are so many things that can be shared and discussed. Of course, I’ll share the best of the best of those conversations with you as they happen.

Original post by DazzlinDonna

Make your voice one of your best assets.

Original post by Malcolm Fleschner

Mastering the art of managing customer complaints can seem like a thankless job, but keep in mind that for every customer that shares their worries, concerns or complaints, there are likely more that did not express their dissatisfaction, and instead simply moved on to a competitor. Customer complaints can, and should be treated as opportunities.

Listen to Your Customers

Original post by deucetwo

Yesterday, the world buzzed about Google finally releasing a feature to all Adsense publishers that allows them to give Google a list of “allowed sites”. This is a list of all sites that the publisher confirms is allowed to show their ads. Any site not on the list, is not approved by the publisher, and will not be counted. This would prevent scraper sites or anyone else from showing a publisher’s Adsense ads and subsequently getting the publisher banned through no fault of their own. This allowed sites feature had been in the testing phase for a while, but was finally rolled out to all publishers yesterday.

Or was it? I put in my list of URLs early yesterday morning before I went on my big Mall trip. By the time I returned home late yesterday afternoon, the feature had disappeared. This removal was also noted at the WMW forums.

• Did Google accidentally release the feature to all publishers, and then remove it when they realized their mistake?
• Did Google intentionally release the feature, and then change their minds?
• Is Google just completely inept, despite have a gargantuan amount of money and brain power behind it?
• Why does the world continue to ignore the missteps that Google makes?

Technorati Tags: Google, Adsense, allowed sites feature