Why should I care about CI? I’m in Sales!

Calls, pipelines, meetings, and more calls. This is what sales people do: make calls, make contacts, and build relationships. It seems simple, doesn’t it? So, when a marketing person comes in with charts and diagnostics, what happens? The eyes roll, the hands go back behind the head, and you can almost hear the brain turning off.

Why do you think salespeople don’t care about CI? What have you done to show them of their benefit? Salespeople work primarily in the business of relationships, and on the surface it doesn’t seem as if Competitive Intelligence matters. Therefore, they believe that what they need is to get themselves in front of the right people, and their sales abilities will finish the deal.

Therefore, when someone outside of sales approaches them with statistics and magic quadrants, they don’t see the correlation to their efforts at creating and maintaining their relationships with prospects.

Maybe a different tactic is needed. Maybe it’s time for the market research person to use a little salesmanship to promote CI to those who can use it most. Consider these questions before approaching the sales team:

1. What information can I share that matters in a sales scenario?
2. What can it tell them that impacts their ability to win more opportunities?
3. What can I leave out that isn’t critical to their specific needs?
4. How can I present this information in a way that gets their attention?

Whether we realize it or not, we are all salespeople. We need to position our product in a way that attracts the attention of those we wish to influence. Remember that when you try to sell to the biggest skeptic: your own sales force.

Slight Changes

Hello, everyone. This is Mark Larson at Primary Intelligence wishing all of you a happy and productive day. I just wanted to update you on some changes that will be happening with the blog.

Chris Dalley has taken a new position here within our company and has passed the opportunity of managing this blog onto me. Chris is a more prolific writer than I, so I will be enlisting the help of my PI colleagues to continuously bring new and interesting content to these pages.

We hope to give you tidbits on the Competitive Intelligence community in general as well as exciting new developments we uncover while doing our own research.

A lot has changed in the intelligence and market research fields over the past 10 years in which we've been in business. Technology is playing a bigger role as companies want easier access to data as well as better targeted findings.

We hope to keep the information rolling that helps you in your understanding of what is available and what is on the horizon in regards to CI.

We also would love your comments as well. If you have an interesting viewpoint on a topic, or information that would be enlightening, send it to me and we'll look at posting it.

Contact me at mlarson@primary-intel.com or by phone at 801-838-9600 x5046.

Obstacles to an Effective Win Loss Program

Win Loss research is a very strong part of a complete voice of the customer system. Not only does it provide a first view into the hoops that prospects go through to do business with you, it also uncovers many hidden issues such as:

Competitive intelligence on positioning in the marketplace
Initial perceptions of your company’s ability to meet the market’s needs
Why companies do business with you in the first place
Processes that need to be modified to make it easier for companies to do business with you.

However, Win Loss is not a simple research project to start; at least not compared with other research projects such as client satisfaction, market needs and the like. There are some obstacles that are unique to Win Loss that have to be addressed if this research tool is to provide you with all of its potential value:

• Sample issues
• Pushback from sales
• Confidentiality concerns
• Unrealistic expectations
• Poor communication

By far, the biggest problem is sample (In other words, finding the opportunities to study so that you can call and interview). Without these opportunities, it is impossible to reach out to your recent sales engagements and gather the necessary information.

Why are these so difficult to gather? Two reasons: 1) Sales won’t give them up and 2) Sales is too disorganized to give them up.

Either way, the problem can only be solved if sales is involved and acting as a wiling participant.

You’ll note that the second obstacle is also based on sales. If sales thinks that Win Loss is a witch hunt, or even suspects that they will be evaluated based on the information in the Win Loss program, the sales reps will make it very difficult for you to get their sales history information?

“How can this be?” you ask. “We use an enterprise-wide CRM/SFA tool. The information is in there and we should be able to pull it anytime.”

This would be a logical thing to say. But, it doesn’t hold true. An SFA system only holds what the sales reps put in there and if they don’t mark their opportunities as losses, you won’t have anything to research. You’d be surprised at how long a sales rep can work on a sales opportunity before reporting it as a loss if they think that such an action would be detrimental.

So, to solve the first two points above (sample issues and getting sales on board), you have to design your Win Loss program from the ground up as providing value to the sales reps without being a form of discovery or punishment.

If sales is on board, Win Loss runs 100% more effectively. If sales doesn’t know about the program, you will only have moderate success. If sales is against the program, you won’t get anything done at all.

And that would be a shame, considering the immense amount of sales and competitive intelligence that an effective Win Loss program can produce.

If you have any thoughts, questions or comments, let me know (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

Competitive Intelligence Webinar – Key to Setting Up a Win Loss Program

Yesterday, Ralph Nielsen (Director of Research Operations) and I co-presented a webinar on how to set up a Win Loss program that works. We took the opportunity to talk about best practices, obstacles, unexpected value. If you are thinking about setting up an in-house effort or you work with a 3rd-party vendor for your Win Loss, we gave you a ton to consider.

Also, I have recently spent some time with our great clients talking about how they use Win Loss, to whom they distribute it and where it makes a difference in their companies. I turned the results of this work into a section in the webinar that I refer to as Seven Secrets of Making Your Win Loss Program More Effective. That’s kind of a long title, but it leaves little room for confusion.

If you would like to download the slides alone, you can find them HERE.

If you want to watch the entire webinar with audio and video, you can download that file right HERE.



Over the next few days, I’ll spend some time sharing the ideas from the webinar in the blog.

Also, we appreciate the many people that gave their time and attended. If you watch the presentation and have any questions or comment, let me know. Leave a comment on this blog, email me (cdalley@primary-intel.com) or give me a call (801.838.9600 x5050)

Competitive Intelligence Newsletter – Feedback Helps You Win Business

In this issue, we explore how listening (both to the client’s needs and feedback on your sales performance) increases your sales success. And, if you listen closely enough, you might even find out what the competition is doing. That kind of bonus can get you some great recognition.

Subscribe today to our industry-leading newsletter by sending a request to info@primaryintelligence.com

Cover Story
Stop Talking! – How Listening Sells More
By Scott Bishop, Primary Intelligence
An account manager approaches you with a request from a current client. It seems the client has big plans for expansion, but they need a new system to help them accomplish their plans and, as their current vendor, they want your company to propose something to meet their needs. You immediately jump into preparing a proposal... (For more, click here)

BlogCentral
Where are the Innovators in Competitive Intelligence?
I sure do wish that the innovators in Competitive Intelligence were publishing more thoughts and creating more dialogue in the blog community. Of course, SCIP does their part to produce articles and thought leadership, but too few practitioners are participating in the blog world... (For more, click here)

The A-List Archive
Xcel Beats Larger Competitors for Metrofuser’s Business
Originally Published in April 2005.
Metrofuser wanted to replace its business operations software with a system that would be easier to adjust and customize to meet its specific needs and evaluated solutions from Best Software, Xcel Software, and Microsoft Business Solutions. Metrofuser was leaning toward buying the Microsoft Great Plains solution until Xcel stepped in... (For more, click here)

Podcast: Competitive Intelligence + Sales Team = Big Success

Recently, Dave Stein (CEO of ES Research Group) interviewed our CEO, Ken Allred on the affects of sales intelligence: competitive intelligence that can be brought to bear on all aspects of the sales process. His goal was to understand how Primary Intelligence uses intelligence to increase sales close rates.

As Mr. Stein’s company focuses on the evaluation of sales training and enhancement companies. His reports detail the performance of key players like Miller Heiman, The Complex Sale, The TAS Group and dozens of others. His goal is to help companies that want to sell more find the right resources to meet their needs.

To this end, Mr. Stein took time to understand how the right kinds of intelligence can be leveraged to provide:

Competitive advantages

Increased visibility into your company’s performance

Identification of your competitors’ movements

The audio program is 25 minutes long and can be downloaded here.

If your responsibilities include sales management, sales training, competitive intelligence or marketing, this podcast is well worth your time.

And, if you feel like you’re not sure where you stand in relation to the competition, you’ll find usable insights and take-aways you can use today.

Upcoming Webinar: Keys to a Win Loss Program that Works

Your company knows that it needs feedback from the market to perform and a Win Loss program makes a lot of sense. Marketing can make adjustments. Sales can target their training. Product Development can build it closer to what the clients expect. Just one question:

What is the most effective way to run a Win Loss campaign to develop all of this information?

The opportunity to increase your sales and marketing success sits right at your doorstep. But, do you have everything you need to achieve the greatest potential? Can you make simple changes that will result in huge increases?

Primary Intelligence invites you to a presentation that will show:

How sales and marketing can work together to build a world-class program

Common obstacles that derail Win Loss initiatives in the early phases

Tactics that increase interview response rates

Real-world stories from successful Win Loss practitioners showing their innovative uses of results

Register Here

Keys to a Win Loss Program that WorksDate: Thursday, January 24, 2008
Time:
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT
1:00 PM – 2:00 CDT
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM MDT
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT
Duration: 1 Hour
System Requirements:PC-based attendees: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, VistaMacintosh®-based requirements: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer


Those that will benefit include:

Marketing leaders

Market research managers

Market and Industry analysts

Product development managers

Sales leaders

Corporate leadership positions (CEO, CMO, CSO)

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now

New Primary Intelligence Corporate Website

This week, I have to give big kudos to our design department, and especially to Mark Larson who had a vision for our company website and usability. While our previous site was very usable and conveyed our value well, it was very product oriented. Sometimes, visitors had to work too hard to figure out how we fit into their world.

Now, the website has been broken down into three major categories:

1. Who we help
2. What we offer
3. Who we are

Under each of these, visitors will find a great deal of information that is focused right on their needs.

1 – Who we help – Here, you will find information for C-Level Executives, Sales Managers, Marketing, Sales Professionals and Market Research professionals.

2 – What we offer – Our intelligence services are easy to access and understand. Here, visitors will find information on our competitive intelligence and sales intelligence services such as Win Loss, Sales Confidence Index, Target Prospecting, Competitive Analysis and Client Retention

3 – Who we are – Provides information about our company and thought leadership. Here, visitors can see our newsletters, blogs, articles, webinars and information about our company.

The whole redesign was accomplished with the goal of helping business professionals find solutions more quickly. We hope you’ll give us a visit and let us know what you think. (http://www.primary-intel.com/)

You can leave a comment to this blog entry or send me an email with your thoughts. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

Competitive Intelligence Newsletter – Can Sales People Sell through Change?

This week, we examine the world of sales and the importance of monitoring their performance in the sea of change we call “their world.” Science has shown that many people (sales reps included) have difficulties accepting changes and variation that are common in business life. Primary Intelligence shows a way to head of problems before attitudinal issues hurt the pipeline.

As always, if you would like to a no-cost semi-weekly subscription to the Primary Intelligence Competitive Intelligence Newsletter, send an email to info@primaryintelligence.com with your name and email address. You will receive the next issue.

Cover Story
You Moved My Cheese! How Can I Sell?
By RoxAnne Loosle, Primary Intelligence
A company's desire to reduce sales force turnover and to develop a confident sales force make tracking a company's sales force's attitudes very important. The vocal minority aren't always the best source on which to base sales initiatives or policies...(For more, click here)

BlogCentral
Competitive Intelligence Tip #1 for 2008 - Make Your CI Produce Revenue
Information costs money? Intelligence makes money!” Essentially, any competitive information that a business manager acts on becomes intelligence...(For more, click here)

The A-List Archive
Bloomington Hospital & Healthcare Selects McKesson for Its Information Needs
Originally Published in March 2005.
Bloomington Hospital & Healthcare System's contracts for its health information systems were coming up for renewal, so the organization decided to reevaluate its options. It looked for a solution that could be integrated throughout the entire enterprise...(For more, click here)

A Secret to Competitive Intelligence Success

I suppose that the crux of the title of this post really comes down to how one defines success in their competitive intelligence efforts. Personally, I think CI has to be more than a library of information. You have to know to improve market share, beat the competition (both in the marketplace and in individual engagements) and discover new markets that are ripe for the picking.

If you have a different definition of success, let me know (cdalley@primary-intel.com)

In order to have a chance of achieving my brand of success, you have to have a company that a) embraces improvement and b) can use intelligence to make decisions.

In other words, measure your real decision and difference makers within the company. Can they use information to make decisions? Are they willing to lean on intelligence or does everything come from experience and “the gut?”

If either answer is “no,” you need not read much further. Go back to what you’re doing and hope that your management environment changes for the better soon.

If you are in a company where difference makers value intelligence, you have the opportunity to drive change through your efforts. But, the secret is making sure that you are looking for the intelligence that has the best chance of showing your company where success is.

This information may reside in your current customer base. It may come from information in the public domain. (If you make your living with information available in the public domain, you had better be very good at interpreting and analyzing. If everyone has access to the information, you are the differentiating factor). It really doesn’t matter to me where your information comes from as long as it help your company achieve success.

But, do make sure you’re in a place where your work can be appreciated in the form of leading to business change.

Free Competitive Intelligence? Try Some Win Loss, On the House

To get your sales intelligence started right in 2008, Primary Intelligence is offering a free review of one of your recent sales opportunities. Whether you want to replicate a recent success or find out how “the big one got away,” Win Loss is the perfect feedback mechanism to discover the truth behind prospects and their decision-making process.

You might also want to know what is keeping your mid-market from expanding or understand recent sales efforts in a new market. There are literally dozens of reasons why Win Loss feedback would make sense for your company.

Let me know if you’re interested. I’ll hook you up with an account representative that will help show you whether our services are right for your company and your sales environment. You can reach me (Chris) at cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

And, you never know. You might find that the competitive intelligence we provide through Win Loss might be a whole lot more actionable than some of the “tried and true” secondary sources most people are used to using.

If you are a current Primary Intelligence client, I’m afraid that this offer likely doesn’t apply. For that, you have my apologies. However, talk to your account representative. They’ll try to find a way to take care of you.

A Fortune 100 Company that Understands Competitive Intelligence

Last October, Mike Brose and I presented a webinar titled “The Sad Story of Competitive Intelligence that Didn’t Make a difference.” In short, we talked about how companies spend money on sales, market or competitive intelligence but fail to leverage that intelligence to make a difference. Then, we showed the recipe to gaining more value. The solution is simple: Involve people that can make a difference and show them how the intelligence drives better decisions. Cross-functional teams of executives and senior managers work best.

(Download the webinar here)
(Related blog postings can be found at: Webinar Wrap-Up: Effective Competitive Intelligence,
How Can You Tell if Competitive Intelligence is Effective?)

Recently, I talked with one of our Fortune 100 clients about their competitive intelligence systems, acceptance and use. Some of the conversation was focused directly on the sales intelligence we provide them. Talking about her organization, my contact stated:

The sales managers that understand how to use intelligence have teams that sell more

The marketing group uses our intelligence to measure their branding efforts and better understand the client.

Those are fairly common bits of feedback.

But, the thing that made me smile was when she said that the legal department uses the intelligence and performance scores to modify T&C and other legal requirements that are in the sales process.

When your legal team wants to know:

A) How they score
B) Where they stand in relation to specific competitors
C) Specific information that they can use to make improvements

… and then monitors their score over time…

You know that you have an intelligence-focused organization.

Just for fun, ask yourself the last time someone outside of marketing asked for intelligence that realistically has the ability to increase sales.

This is just a small bit of the conversation and one example of many of companies using intelligence to beat the competition in the marketplace. If you want to talk about some other ideas, give me a call (Chris, 801-838-9600 x5050, cdalley@primary-intel.com)