The concept of Sales 2.0 is the 600 pound gorilla sleeping in the corner of the room. When it awakens and moves around, everything will change.
As we covered in the 2008 ESR Sales Performance Vendor Guide, clearly SPI (SalesWiki) and the TAS Group (TASpedia) are neck-in-neck thought leaders in this arena, with Holden somewhere close behind.
Wiki-Like but Not Wiki
While the Wikipedia inference is good marketing, what we’re talking about here are not strictly wikis, nor are they encyclopedias.
Wikis are really very narrow, but innovative technology solutions that have been around for quite some time. Wikis originated with the open software movement as a way for large groups of collaborators to jointly author, edit and read reference documents online. Wikis are a way to create open content, the way software developers create open source software.
Technically, a wiki is a web site that allows multiple contributors to dynamically add and edit totally searchable content. The primary conjecture behind the wiki is “the wisdom of the crowds,” that is, an open platform for recording information will have a greater breadth of content, and higher accuracy, if it is open to public modification. Wikipedia is a prime example.
Applying the concept of the wiki to sales technology is one aspect of what SPI and the TAS Group have done. It is also another element of what has come to be called (albeit amorphously defined) as Sales 2.0.
The core issue is defining Sales 2.0 and identifying the core elements. We began this process with our ESR/Insight Brief Sales Force Technology Directions (August 2006) which focused primarily on the interface between the sales person and corporate management via the Content Relationship Management (CRM) system. Now, we expand the framework into ESR’s Sales 2.0 Collaboration Model (S2.0), to include intra- and inter-company collaboration, what we believe to be the core essence of Sales 2.0.
ESR’s Sales 2.0 Collaboration Model (S2.0)
An effective, sustainable S2.0 will have:
- ROLE-BASED AUTHENTICATION AND MEMBER MANAGEMENT: This is a mechanism for registering users and identifying the roles and privileges of each user. For example, certain aspects of the S2.0 may be available only to members of regional teams while other aspects are available to the entire sales force. Certain features may be available to key customer or client personnel.
- CONTENT MANAGEMENT: An internal database of content, with multiple content types, including but not limited to:
- Learning objects
- Learning reinforcement tools
- The client’s own sales aids including sample contracts, sales collateral, presentations, selling policies and procedures, etc.
- Compiled, described and annotated best practices
- Clear and concise definitions of all sales related metrics
- A comprehensive internal glossary
- Descriptions of all of the company’s products and services
- Content in any format including text, graphics, large documents, video, audio, etc.
- Events calendars and related tools.
- EXTERNAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT AND INTERFACE: The ability from within the S2.0 to link to content in other systems such as CRM and LMS systems, as well as various internal and external tool suites (e.g., metrics tools, performance evaluation tools, surveys) seamlessly.
- CONTENT COLLABORATION: A facility for any authorized user to comment on any of the information in the database, and/or a true wiki where authorized participants may dynamically update the content in the CMS (content management system).
- TEAM COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION (BUSINESS SOCIAL NETWORKING):
- Discussion Forums: Interactive, organized bulletin boards where members of the sales community can post comments, observations, questions and answers for their peers within sales, or elsewhere within the company.
- Professional Profiles: Digital descriptions of the skills sets of various sales, support and product personnel to make it easy for a sales rep to find the right person when needed. (Envision a steroid-enhanced, sales-oriented, private MySpace.com.)
- Outbound Communication with Dialog: Envision multiple blogs (web logs) or online house-organ newsletters, private to personnel within the company, posted by various product experts, as well as corporate, regional and territory sales management. These online newsletters can be subscribed to by various members of the sales team (or outside sales). Access can be open to all sales personnel or restricted by region, etc. The new concept is the ability for the reader to post comments to the newsletter or blog, essentially generating a 24x7, global, asynchronous dialog among team members and management.
- ADVANCED SEARCH: The ability to search across all content in the CMS, related systems, discussion forums and posts to find the content or the person needed with minimal time and effort expended.
- RSS FEED: The ability for any user of the system to be automatically updated when any content in an area of interest within the S2.0 system is updated.
- EASY UPDATE, EDITING AND NAVIGATION: The system needs to be easy to update, without requiring technical knowledge. It should be fast and easy for the user to navigate.
- MULTI-DEVICE ACCESS: The S2.0 should be configurable to be access from laptops, desktops, PDAs, cell phones, etc. The TAS Group is providing their IP on iPods in easily digested segments.
Most of these attributes are inherent in the SPI and The TAS Group solutions, and, are congruent with most of the features of OutStart’s new SellingEdge platform which we reviewed in June 12, 2007 ESR/Insight Brief.
Two S2.0 Domains
We envision the S2.0 being deployed at two levels. At the public level, certain information can be shared among professionals and managers across multiple companies—an online professional association or user group of sorts.
Next is the private level where the S2.0 is behind the firewall of a particular company, and third parties, such as key customers or clients, are admitted by invitation only.
