Extractable, modifiable, clean, accurate, comprehensive: in an age of customization and automated analysis in mass quantities, these are qualities that we demand of the data we input so that the output is reliable and useful. Whether you’re running through lists of corporate contacts to add to a database for marketing programs or using metrics on consumer buying data to analyze buying trends to optimize your supply chain, we depend on data for so many different aspects of business.

As technology becomes more sophisticated, businesspeople are demanding speed and ease in their data gathering endeavors in order to save as much (precious) time as possible. In marketing and sales especially, there is strength in numbers; blasting a campaign to 80,000 contacts that may not be good prospects is faster and cheaper than handpicking singular people to spend your precious time calling to pitch your product. Dun & Bradstreet understands it’s customers’ need for fast and accurate data; they know that if they can’t provide a platform that is easy to use in order to extract their “commercial data,” which also needs to be kept clean and updated, they will lose market share.

The company expects to spend approximately $110 million to $130 million over the next two years to strengthen its leading position in commercial data and to improve its current technology platform. According to D&B president and CEO, Sara Mathew, “We will create a new data supply chain leveraging outside vendors who have state of the art technology.” The company has migrated its data management responsibilities to Acxiom, who will provide data center operations, technology help desk, and network management functions, which were formerly managed by CSC.

Acxiom was chosen to focus on increasing speed, data processing capacity and matching capabilities. D&B is investing huge amounts of money to provide customers with a seamless integration of higher quality, real time data through a range of “new age” work flows including mobile solutions, social networks, and text alerts. According to CEO Sara Mathew, “Our current infrastructure can be improved. It has impeded our ability to meet emerging customer needs at a time when customers are demanding an increased space of innovation to cope with the softer economy.”

Dun & Bradstreet is clearly tuned into the most recent changes in marketing and technology, and more importantly, how these things affect their customers’ business endeavors. They realize that they must invest in their platform, or their accurate and comprehensive data will be rendered useless. In this economy, people are choosing the easiest and quickest solutions in order to save money, and D&B knows that spending a little extra to optimize their user interface will more than make up for itself with customer renewals and new business.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

With tech spending finally on the rise again, business needs that may have been pushed aside due to cost cutting initiatives are finally starting to be addressed again. This, of course, means that companies, especially large enterprises and the Fortune 1000, will be investing in solutions that may not be crucial for the day-to-day functioning of the business, but that may increase profitability or ease a (less crucial) business pain.

Wholesale retailer BJ’s has formulated an entire technology revamp project that they call IT Roadmap, which is expected to cost them $20-30 million per year until 2013. The project is meant to pull the company out of the economic depression by capitalizing on opportunities for improvement and updates in their systems and processes, especially ones that may have fallen by the wayside over the last few years. These improvements include their sales reporting, financial and membership systems.

As the economy stabilizes, the BJ’s knows it needs to capitalize on their customers’ imminent increase in spending by catering to them in the most efficient way possible. BJ’s plans to complete their HR system upgrade, pilot new store registers and launch a new e-commerce website in 2010. BJ’s expects these investments will cost approximately $68 million.

As part of the their focus on customer data, BJ’s is taking a close look at product and data management and will also be pursuing a master data management (MDM) initiative. They are looking to link customer “membership” data to their product data so that any patterns or inconsistencies can be analyzed (through an ERP system) and then use this information to optimize their supply chain, product offerings, and e-commerce/point-of-sale systems according to what their customers’ behaviors are.

There are two separate components to the initiative, according former CIO John Polizzi: a business and a tactical project. “We chose the membership and product data management system as the first two areas where we are going to look to externalize our master data from any application. Then, as we choose an ERP system, that will be the data source that feeds the ERP data.” BJ’s is currently in the process of selecting an ERP system, which is to be planned for implementation by 2012.

Clearly, BJ’s and other retailers are finally ready to spend again. They realize that in order to stay competitive, they must spend now. If your organization is already established in the retail vertical, now is the time to refocus your efforts on finding the business needs within these accounts and then aligning you product to become the solution. If you are looking to expand your target industries, retail is a ripe opportunity as consumers are beginning to spend again and retailers, more than ever, need to cater to their customers’ needs.

For more current technology initiatives and free technology sales leads in the Fortune 1000 and Global 500, check out our Technology Business Drivers document.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Aberdeen’s PACE model defines the “A” term, “action,” as “to improve the quality of leads in the sales pipeline.” An attempt to achieve a goal is the definition of “action,” and improving the quality of your leads is surely worth taking action to achieve. Marketers need to take strategic steps that are going to have a positive impact for a sales team. The first thing they need to do is to take pressures off of the team by providing them with sales intelligence resources.

Now, more than ever, marketers need to take the necessary actions to improve their leads using sales intelligence to identify prospects, target accounts, and reduce their research time. Aberdeen’s survey stated 74% want to improve the quality of their leads. You need sales intelligence resources that take pressure off of your sales team, but also to enable sales reps to be more productive and formulate better sales strategies. For example, a sales intelligence tool might decrease the time reps spend researching prospects, but if the data is inaccurate and not up-to-date, the investment in the tool is money down the toilet. Not every sales intelligence tool is created equally, and without quality data, lead quality will not improve.

Of the best-in-class companies surveyed, 71% stated that giving existing leads more color is a very critical part of their sales intelligence strategy. Obtaining deeper knowledge of what is happening at a company is the best resource you can have when trying to target accounts or develop a lead pipeline for your sales team. Understanding more about a prospects business initiatives and internal struggles is also essential to the process of qualifying leads; and as David Wallace explains in his post, it is essential in keeping your company productive as well as in decreasing time in the sales cycle.

According to the survey, 51% of respondents said they would like to identify high-value prospects. Every company, no matter the size, has problems that must be solved, opportunities to capitalize on and initiatives they would like to launch. Using sales intelligence tools that provide information related to these “business drivers” are much better than just giving you a name and a phone number. You need that of course, but you also need the depth and understanding of what is currently happening at a company and potential future actions. It will help you to qualify leads more effectively and jump-start your conversations by knowing what the buyer needs right now. With proper sales intelligence, you can avoid wasting time trying to sell your product to a company without a budget, or one that has no need for your services.

- Mark Kilens
mkilens @ salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 118

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Aberdeen Group suggests the PACE (Pressures, Actions, Capabilities, Enablers) model help companies define what actions need to be taken to achieve their greatest level success. The PACE Framework is a combination of “strategic actions, organizational capabilities and enabling technologies” that will ultimately lead to improved quality of the leads in the sales pipeline and reduce the amount of research time for sales reps. This, in turn, will help the company to become “Best-in-Class” by helping to identify where and what kinds of sales intelligence tools need to be implemented.

The first part of the PACE Framework is “Pressures.” This is the first step in identifying the need for sales intelligence within a sales team: What is preventing you from hitting your numbers? Aberdeen suggests the “challenging economic climate” and “knowledge of the competitive landscape,” like competitors’ products and their customers. While the downturn in the economy has certainly hurt sales in every market and company, that can’t be changed to give a competitive advantage.

What you CAN do is take action (the second step in the PACE model) to improve is deploy sales intelligence to your sales force to gain a competitive advantage. In this economy, you can’t afford not to utilize these tools. Aberdeen concluded in the 2009 survey that 76% of respondents currently utilize some form of sales intelligence. Not all of those respondents qualify as Best-in-Class, but with the overwhelming majority already on board and the economic disadvantages holding you back, there’s no competition if you don’t at least jump on the train.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Being prepared for a sales opportunity is a critical component of being a successful sales rep. Now, more than ever, being educated on your target account in preparation for an important meeting, presentation or call can be the deciding factor in whether or not the sale moves forward and the prospect becomes a customer. Account planning helps you to effectively prepare and stay focused on the prospect’s business objectives and goals to ensure that you achieve your planned results, create a consistent experience for the prospect, and ultimately identify how your product or service can make a positive impact on their business.

Strategic Account Planning

This need for preparation and planning is especially important when selling enterprise technology solutions. You need to know the account inside and out, what technology is currently installed, if your competitors in the account, who the decision makers and influencers are, what their business drivers are, and what their budget is. All of these components can be determined through the research required to create a strategic account plan that will guide you through the sales process.

An account plan should be your blueprint to guide you through the account. It should answer the 5 W’s: who, what, where, when and why, and it should assist you throughout the course of the sales cycle. The account plan should be continuously updated with information you uncover throughout the sales cycle and help you connect the dots to win the sale.

Account planning takes a lot of time and research. The first thing you need is a well-designed account plan template, as the template is your roadmap for the sale. Once you have a template, you then need to fill in your roadmap with different routes and eventually connect the routes to your final destination: closing the sale.

The most difficult part of account planning is performing the research to start mapping your route. Sales intelligence tools can help you answer the 5 W’s and create a logical roadmap for your sales process. As discussed previously in this blog, sales intelligence is critical to achieving best-in-class sales results. Companies using sales intelligence have shorter sales cycles and have more sales reps hitting their quota. Using sales intelligence research in conjunction with account planning gives you the map and the routes for the sale. After that, it is up to you to execute the plan and follow you guide.

Unfortunately, like using a GPS to find your way, in selling there is no one telling you where to turn or when you have reached your destination. But, there are great sales intelligence resources out there for you to take advantage of, and coupled with account planning, you can outrun your competitors.

-Mark Kilens
mkilens @ salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 118

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.