I am extremely excited about how the new plan is coming about and wanted to share a couple of items with you today.

1. You can pre-register for the e-book at http://actionsbi.com.  Bookmark the site after signing up. It will become a blog and a whitepaper repository in all things related to Social Sales and actionSBI.

2. Here is the presentation from our talk at Dreamforce 2011.  http://www.slideshare.net/Salesforce/the-social-sales-revolution If you want to learn more about what we presented, feel free to contact me.

A little teaser; here is an excerpt from the eBook:

Social Business Intelligence (SBI) is the organization of data collected from social networks and web 2.0 utlities. It involves pulling status updates, reviews, tweets, QnA and blog posts/comments that relate to a certain subject or product.

The challenge is not in collecting the data as most networks or their 3^rd party application partners will let you collect what you want and store it in a database or data file. The challenges are first knowing what to download, teaching your sales team to properly manage this data and using it to increase sales.

The shift sales people need to make with SBI is that they do not have time to wait for the number crunchers to analyze and make suggestions. SBI happens in real time and if acted upon can mean immediate sales spikes. SBI works from triggers where people or groups of people have started  discussing a problem that an offering solves. It is in the now. It allows sales people to interact both at the right time and the right way.Sales people are not used to managing business intelligence. This is usually the chore of an analyst or administrator who then shares their lessons with managers and executives. This is because most business intelligence is derived from internal barometers that allow us to learn where they find sales success and what methods have worked. It commonly studies wins and losses along with other indicators based on experiences and historical data.

So what is actionable SBI?

It is the alert that you need to get into the social networking mix and the information you need to be relevant to the conversation.

Happy 2012 everyone and get ready to hear from me bunches.

KG

This is my favorite story of the day, so I felt compelled to share it here and post a link to the Dreamforce App.

The title of this little post:

“How I got my job at Teambox”

It starts with a random search of a social network called You Noodle

You Noodle was supposed to be a social networking site for startups and people that worked with startups. They never built any real features into the system so instead it really morphed into a billboard for startups; and a great way for someone like me to check out new companies.

I was using their version of stumble when I cam across Teambox. This refreshing social way of managing projects and communication excited me. I signed up for a free account and instantly fell in love. I went back to the site and found the founder, Pablo Villalba.

Next step? I found him on Twitter and read his feed. It opened the door to his thoughts on Basecamp. We share a displeasure for their bad UI. Then I read some of his blog posts and learned about his involvement on Github for open source utilities. All of these things resonated with my personal tastes and I realized that there may be a fit. So, I added him on LinkedIn and sent him a note that I wanted to connect.

He connected with me on Skype. We started to chat. I was at this point prepared.

What I knew before ever talking to him.

1.  He did not like Basecamp.

2. He is into open source projects.

3. He is young and energetic.

4. He is an aerospace engineer.

5. He loved the startup world.

6. They just went live with their paid offering the month prior.

7. They did not have a sales team.

All of this allowed me to manage our conversation by highlighting relevant information and my own expertise. I knew what he needed even more that he did. He needed me.

A week after our first conversation I started working with Teambox and 16 months later, I have no regrets. It was the right move at the right time for all of us. Without some Social Business Intelligence, I may have never figured any of this out or presented it to Pablo in a way that compelled him to bring me on. It was what I knew that sealed the deal. What I knew was readily available online. I just had to know where to look. Pablo showed me without ever knowing.

They are betting big with Chatter and the Black Eyed Peas to the purchase of Radian6 (that is one amazing tool) and now the unveiling of what they plan for what today we call Manymoon. (Trust me, Mark is not keeping that name)

But, as the presentations about online collaboration and using social  tools for sales and marketing start to stack up as breakout sessions throughout the Moscone madness, it is obvious that it is not just about what is to come, but what we already have and can do.

Just take a look at the eBook Salesforce published this week on the Social  Sales Revolution. Yes, clicking on any part will take you to it and yes that is it embedded below. And yes, I am in it. At long last Salesforce and I are speaking the same song at the same time. Why at long last? Well, I was promoting using the social networks to build your brand, pipeline and revenues for almost a decade now (well 8 years, but close enough).

My part in this awesome videebook is about using LinkedIn to educate yourself on your prospects. This Social Business Intelligence thing is the next step in making it easier for people to get exactly what they want and sales people to be there to help them. Be there to help them. Be there to help them.

That is the key. We are becoming the guides that the great educators like Parinello and Konrath said would improve the image of the sales person. We are becoming researchers and engaging later in the decision making process. We are accepting loss as part of growth and moving on faster to the opportunities that bear fruit.

For those of you going to Dreamforce, please join me as I talk about it more in Moscone West, room 2024 on Wed Aug 31st at 2pm.

‘Social Sales Revolution – 7 Steps To Get Ahead’

I am honored to be on such an amazing panel:

• Lee Odden of TopRank blog, an online marketing must read for all.
• Scott Holden Sr. Director Product Marketing, Salesforce.com Sales Cloud.
• Nathan Freitas Community Manager at Salesforce.com and point man for daily engagement execution.
• Benjamin Pruden, Product Marketing Sales Cloud.

Well, it was only a matter of time before the world of online collaboration landed me right back in the seat of evangelizing to the sales community. At the end of the month I will be presenting at Dreamforce. The topic? The social sales revolution. Sound familiar?

We will be broaching into practices that will immediately improve the pipelines of the sales people that employ them. Most of what I intend to discuss is S.B.I., social business intelligence. I want to spend some time over the next few weeks sharing here about one of those subjects.

Social Listening

My signal on the blog these days is probably pretty weak, so instead of opening the discussion by asking my audience (hello, hello, hello…) to tell me what they think Social Listening is, I will start off the party by telling you what I think it means to listen to the social networks fury.

1. Pay attention to people asking about your brand.

2. Pay attention to the people asking about your industry.

3. Pay attention to the people asking about problems your offering solves.

4. Pay attention to the people that talk about your industry.

5. Pay attention to the people that hate your industry.

6. Pay attention to your competition.

7. Pay attention to your customers.

8. Pay attention to your prospects.

9. Pay attention to the offerings you replace.

10. Pay attention to the people you failed.

Recurring theme? (PAY ATTENTION)

This is just a start, but if you are managing to do all this, you will find your habits, pipeline and selling style will all change for the better.

Here is an example of how:

Follow all of your competitors and listen to what they are saying. Watch how others react to what they are saying. If they are hitting on things that resonate, start to think about how you can share similar messages. Look at the people they are resonating with and follow them. Start dialog with the people that react well and perhaps some that react poorly to your competition’s message.

This alone can gain you customers. At Teambox our founder has filters for people asking about any of our competitors. All he does is suggest that they look at our offering. Many of them try our service and when they realize it was our founder that pinged them in the first place, they are in awe.

I will go into more examples and some how to in my next posts.

Teambox is the pioneer and the best online collaboration software. Since joining the team I have seen nothing but brilliance in the code.

Since using the tool I have had nothing but relief from my daily life.

My issue with the Sales 2.0 conversation these days is it is too quickly dragged over to tools. I say dragged because Sales 2.0 is a methodology and a practice first. We should be looking at how we communicate, what we share, and the efforts placed in making the entire sales process perfectly align with a buying process. We should engage in efforts to become buying enablers. We should learn to use systems and practices to better source leads, cultivate leads, develop opportunities, and work with clients.

So before you start thinking that a new lead generation tool is the answer to your problems, figure out what is wrong with the way you are generating leads. Before you invest in the best forecasting tools in the market, make sure your forecasters want to use it. And if you are going to hire someone like me to transform your organization and migrate to the Sales 2.0 universe, make damn sure you know exactly what you are doing today, and even better what is wrong. I mean, I do not mind having to bill you to figure it out for you, but is that really how you want to spend your precious budget?

The need for a Sales 2.0 philosophy is driven by the empowerment of the buyer by the internet. You can research, compare, and buy online; all without ever leaving your cubicle or speaking to another human being. As sales organizations we need solutions as to uncover who is sales ready and educate them to make the best decision. Sure there are tools to assist in these measure, but as you stated start with the business problem first. If you focus there, the rest will come.

Wrong!

It is the time to accept that if you do not find solutions to better connect with your prospects and clients, someone else is. Buyers are using the internet for learning about how to solve their problems. They are receiving emails and offers for education, all in an effort to build rapport. The number of people that walk through the door and sit down to make a sale is declining exponentially every day. You cannot expect to use 20^th century sales practices in the 21^st century.

OK, so I know that this does not help you in the slightest. The need to use modern selling tools does not remove the overwhelming amount of Sales 2.0 offerings out there. To this, I can only make one recommendation.  Make the internet your sandbox. Get out there and connect with people, play around, and have fun. Become part of the conversation and work with others to build upon the opportunities. Test products, try new things, and continue to explore. It may be hard to find the perfect mix, but if you make it fun along the way, you will find that you are now on the other side and in a position to win for a long time.

Also, just like when you are playing in the sandbox, continue to build upon what you have started. Trial new products, test new offerings, and build a stack of social networks that bridge you from your office to your buying base. Never stop digging or piling up sand.

A sales training blog, http://salesblog.karlgoldfield.com, a Sales 2.0 blog, http://salesevangelist.karlgoldfield.com, and a blog focusing on selling at startups http://startups.karlgoldfield.com.

This Sales 2.0 blog with focus on three important topics:

1. Best practices in the Sales 2.0 community
2. New and exciting products and services in the Sales 2.0 arena
3. Sales 2.0 transformations and how to bring your sales teams into the 21^st century.

While there is already some great content here, get ready as the best in the business start to push you to be the best in yours.

So many people focus on the numbers. The quantity of people following you online is nice, but it is not the governing factor to success. Just because you can connect with people and build up your presence does not immediately mean you can translate those connections into revenue. To do that it is imperative to convey a message that adheres to a business need.

There is temptation here and it too is folly. You do not want to talk about the great problem solver within your offering. Ho hum, this gets people to ignore or break connections faster than you can mumble Facebookian or Twitterati. What should you create a discussion around and maintain as a focal point? What should be the centerpiece of your mind boggling online discussion? Simply acknowledging and addressing real world business problems. By defining and accepting these challenges you open up dialog that will naturally direct people your way. By provoking debate and collaborating on solutions people are drawn closer and closer to your message. This is when they want to learn more about you and then what tools you promote.

So yes you are thinking like a Sales 2.0 minded individual when you start building your web presence, but building your house of straw is the same online and off.

So what have I done? Well I am going to split the blog into three. There will now be a startups blog, a sales 2.0 blog, and then this blog will return to its original focus of helping sales people through training. The website is getting revamped to clearly outline all three business lines. We will be unleashing out Sales 2.0 transformation program for everyone from independents to enterprises. We will add more content for startups looking for a sales mentor. And finally we will be highlighting our inside sales team training program for advanced sales technics. All of this will be making its debut in the next 30-60 days so stay tuned.

So why am I sharing this with you? With a new decade before us, it is time for us all to make the transformations necessary changes to continue growing as sales professionals. Also, I am looking for candidates to offer my Sales 2.0 transformation too at NO CHARGE. If you are an Independent agent or an individual at a large company, I will run you through an eight week program and help you modernize your sales practice.

Thank you all and enjoy the rest of 2010, there are only great things ahead of us.