Anneke Seley on Sales 2.0 (Part 4)

From chapter 4 of Sales 2.0: Improve Business Results Using Innovative Sales Practices and Technology by guest authors Anneke Seley and Brent Holloway.

SALES 2.0 RESULTS AND REWARDS 

SALES 2.0 COMPANIES SEE BETTER RESULTS
There is a compelling reason to plan a transformation from Sales 1.0 to Sales 2.0 now: Sales 2.0 companies produce superior business results. The CSO Insights sales performance optimization report includes a Sales Relationship/Process (SRP) MatrixTM, which shows that the best performing sales organizations—as measured by key metrics such as the percentage of reps making quota, the percentage of overall company plan achieved, and the percentage of forecast deals won—are those with the best customer and prospect relationships and the most advanced use of consistent, yet flexible sales processes to maintain these trusted relationships. In Sales 2.0 terms, the best performers define and follow Sales 2.0 practices. 
Another indicator of a company’s better-than-average sales performance is its use of the Internet to engage with customers—also a common Sales 2.0 practice. CSO Insights’ data show that all surveyed companies’ usage of the Internet in the sales function has increased substantially in recent years, and the top-performing 10 percent of their survey population had the very highest Internet-usage rates to support sales. Additionally, sales leaders who use Sales 2.0 process and metrics to manage their sales teams have better performance results than those who do not. Customers are clearly responding positively to companies with a Sales 2.0 approach. These companies are making it easier for their clients to do business with them by recognizing customer preferences and priorities. Those businesses that score at the highest levels of customer engagement and continuously improve their processes are being rewarded with more revenue. 

INVESTORS REWARD SALES 2.0 COMPANIES
In the start-up world of Silicon Valley, new companies with Sales 2.0 business plans are winning, too. Investment professionals are realizing that companies dedicated to Sales 2.0 practices have a better chance of succeeding than those that aren’t. Ray Lane is Managing Partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, & Byers (KPCB), one of the best known and well-respected venture capital firms in the world. KPCB’s web site describes the company as “passionately committed to helping their portfolio companies succeed.” Ray has a history of building outstanding companies. Before joining KPCB, he served as president and chief operating officer of Oracle Corporation. During his eight-year tenure, Oracle’s revenues grew from $1 billion to over $10 billion. Before that, he was senior partner with Booz-Allen & Hamilton where he pioneered and led a worldwide consulting practice targeted at helping senior management achieve better results from information technology.

Ray brings his extensive knowledge of sales strategy and technology enabled selling to his role as a venture capitalist, providing funding and expertise to new startups. One of the companies formerly in his portfolio, Visible Path, helps businesses and application providers integrate social networking into the tools people use at work. Ray says, “We quickly identified that Visible Path needed to change its traditional enterprise selling model and redeploy its salesforce, using Sales 2.0 practices. The company added lower-cost Inside Sales resources, streamlined its sales cycle, closed more deals, and became more profitable.” As a result, Visible Path had a successful exit; the company was acquired by Hoover’s, Inc., a Dun & Bradstreet Company, in January 2008. 

There is clear evidence showing that companies employing Sales 2.0 practices are seeing better business results than companies still stuck in the Sales 1.0 world. Sales 2.0 companies outperform Sales 1.0 companies in terms of company revenue goals achieved, percentage of sales reps making quota, and forecasted deals closed. They also reap the ultimate benefit of stockholder and investor confidence.

This segment is part 4 in the series : Anneke Seley on Sales 2.0
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