Author, Speaker and Strategist Jill Konrath recently did a series of articles whereby she compared sales stories to safari animals.

As she rotated through the giraffes and rhinos, I was personally waiting to hear from the King of Beasts, which of course, finally appeared right on queue:

King of Beasts

And my hunch was right; it was all about being prepared to sell.

About the same time this article came out, Mike Damphousse of Green Leads called asking me how he could use CRUSH data to get a focused list of contacts for his client.  It made me think information gathering is a lot like hunting.

He was about to do some very specific campaigns, drive new leads, deliver juicy appointments and he needed some sales intelligence to get the job done.  First, he needed a list of the top companies who had recently implemented specific SAP modules within specific verticals.  While most companies dwell on the experience of their callers or the level of sales intelligence they gather, Mike was focused on saving time and heading into a fertile hunting ground.  Why not hunt where the most prey are gathered in the first place?

That was just the beginning of the sales creativity.  The next campaign was taking the challenge up a notch.  Rather than focus on technology, he wanted to know how he could get a list of the top Fortune 1000 ranked companies with current and specific initiatives around “Disaster Recovery” and “Business Continuity”.  And while you’re at it, get me only contacts which are VP and Director Level titles in the network and security technology areas.  Wow, now you are talking focus.

Green Leads is clearly a leader in creative campaigns to help their customers find the best, hottest and ready-to-strike leads and sets their clients’ reps in for the killing.

When I asked Mike what differentiates Green Leads from the pack, I was not surprised to hear his response.

• Start with the hottest and best targets
• Go in with a customized approach to each prospect/target
• Qualify and shoot to close

Sounds to me like the right company to engage if you have some sales hunting to do this quarter!

If you want to know more about the CRUSH Data and sales intelligence used in these searches, contact us at www.salesquest.com.

Mimi Evans
SalesQuest
mevans @ Salesquest dot com

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The grocery industry is experiencing a greater level of competition with retail giants, like Walmart, entering the food business and the emergence of wholesale clubs like BJs, Costco and Sam’s Club. To stay ahead of the game, grocers all over the world are focusing more on customer service and the technology that keeps their customers coming back.

Last month, Winn-Dixie chose IBM’s point-of-sale and self-checkout technology to help transform customer service, speed innovation and increase the operational efficiency of 484 Winn-Dixie store locations across the Southeastern U.S. “This initiative will allow us to introduce services quickly and seamlessly to improve our guests’ shopping experience and will help to support our overall strategy,” said Maura Hart, Winn-Dixie group VP and CIO.

Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati, Ohio operates under several banners and is highly focused on customer service. In August, the company chose Oracle’s Agile Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for Process to further improve customer experience.

Payton Pruett, Vice President of corporate food technology for Kroger stated, “At Kroger we are continuously searching for ways to better serve our customers and believe that Oracle’s PLM for Process will enable our organization to deliver even more on our Customer 1st mission.”

Also in August, UK-based Tesco signed an eight-year software licensing and services agreement with Microsoft to support Tesco’s head offices, stores, distribution and data centers. Tesco plans to create a new global collaboration platform by deploying SharePoint, Exchange and Lync as part of its strategy to grow internationally, expanding its retail services, including banking, online and mobile.

The company also entered into a $45 million deal with CA Technologies in August. Tesco will use the CA Service Operations Insight tool to manage and monitor its global IT infrastructure, and deploy CA Sysview Performance Management and CA Process Automation to manage IT across Tesco including Tesco Bank, Tesco.com and Tesco Mobile.

Mike McNamara, CIO at Tesco, said, “Our systems infrastructure needs to work for our IT team in order to do their job for our customers, our colleagues and our suppliers.

Grocers such as Winn-Dixie, Tesco and Kroger have also aggressively remodeled stores to create a more pleasant shopping experience, and introduced loyalty programs and customer smart-phone applications that deliver promotions to guests while they shop.

For the details of these deals and other sales trigger events, including specific products and technologies, check out our CRUSH Alert subscription. For more detailed information including org charts, IT landscapes and contacts, visit our eStore to obtain CRUSH Reports on Winn-Dixie, Kroger and Tesco.

Evy De Vellis
SalesQuest
edevellis @ salesquest dot com

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

In 2011, Disney’s relentless focus will be on three core strategic priorities; creating great entertainment, using new technology to enhance the quality and reach of that entertainment, and growing their businesses and promising international markets.

They’ve already broke ground (literally) on their promise to international markets. On April 8^th, 2011 Walt Disney obtained approval to build the Shanghai Disney Resort from the Chinese central government in Beijing. Construction has already started on this  large theme park which is said will have two themed hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue as well as recreational facilities, a lake and plenty of parking. Shanghai Disney Resort is expected to open in five years and will expand over 963 acres of land.

“Our Shanghai resort will be a world-class family vacation destination that combines classic Disney characters and storytelling with the uniqueness and beauty of China. Working with our Chinese partners, the Shanghai Disney Resort will be both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese,” said Robert A. Iger, President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company.

The cost of this project? Over 4 billion dollars which will be split between Walt Disney Company and China. With the construction well underway, innovative technology will be continuing in the Shanghai Resort in typical Disney fashion. They plan on taking advantage of the advances in virtual technology along with new high tech games and rides that will entice guests to stay and play.

For more initiatives, technology business drivers, org charts and IT landscapes, visit our eStore to download a free copy of the Disney CRUSH Report.

Trish Ellis
Marketing Manager
SalesQuest
Trisha.ellis @ salesquest dot com

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Nike just opened a new logistics center in Taicang China in February of 2011. The initiatives that Nike took in this facility are keeping it green, automated, efficient and innovative.

This facility is 200,000 square feet and is on target to be the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System). Using new and innovative technology, they will be reducing distribution time and optimizing the overall logistics process. Their internally developed Warehouse Management System includes voice activation so operators can talk directly to the system. And above all, they forecast this new facility will be creating 1500 permanent jobs by 2015.

“The Nike China Logistics Center has brought a series of firsts to the industry in China and is helping to re-define how large-scale facilities can operate more sustainably. From the beginning of the project, the design intent was to create a logistics center that married a high performing and efficient facility with Nike’s Global commitment to sustainability and the environment,” said Hans van Alebeek, Vice President of Global Operations and Technology for Nike, Inc.

Nike is changing the way that China views “being green” in the industry environment. Their new facility which is aimed to reduce energy consumption has a solar heating system, lighting controls and other energy saving features that should help Nike to reduce 4,200 tons of CO2 emissions annually and save 4,400,000 Kilowatts of power. They have also installed a vacuum sewage system and rainwater collection that is expected to reduce water usage by 80 percent annually.

As manufacturing facilities continue to expand into international markets, the new green technology is not only bringing innovation but it’s saving money. With Nike’s new facility in China, they feel they’re reaching out to their second largest single market and offering them products quickly and efficiently while also creating jobs in China.

For more sales strategies for Nike, check out the sample Nike CRUSH Report. Our CRUSH reports contain deep-dive sales intelligence to help sales and marketing reps in selling to their target accounts and create technology sales leads in the Fortune 1000 and Global 500. For additional sample CRUSH Reports on UPS, Procter & Gamble, MetLife, and Starbucks, please visit: http://www.salesquest.com/demo/

Trisha Ellis
SalesQuest
Email: trisha.ellis @ SalesQuest dot com
978.749.9999 ext. 105

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The new CRUSH Pro Platform was officially launched on February 1^st, 2011. The new platform gives users access to the sales intelligence needed to create quality sales leads in an easy point-and click-interface.

The new interface now enables subscribing upgraded customers to search the content of their deep dive Fortune 1000 and Global 500 CRUSH Report data in a web portal interface. The hyper-targeted advanced search is enabled to help inside sales & field marketing reps pinpoint specific mentions of competitors, partners, or embedded technologies. In addition, the Crush Pro Platform has a new Contacts Manager, allowing users to build Fortune 1000 contact lists based on companies, title functions, lines of business, industries and/or geographies.

Our searchable CRUSH Pro Platform continues the rapid expansion and development of the company’s portfolio of the most accurate, complete and up-to-date enterprise account intelligence solutions available in the marketplace today. The platform is giving them the competitive edge to give customers the sales tools needed to find vital information quickly and efficiently.

We are very excited about the release of the new CRUSH Pro Platform. There has been lots of anticipation about being able to offer the additional functionality of the CRUSH Pro Platform that will enhance the user experience by enabling them to view the Fortune 1000 CRUSH Report sales intelligence in a web portal interface.

We will be transferring customers to the new CRUSH Pro Platform throughout the month of February. This release has been highly anticipated and is expected to drastically increase our presence in the sales intelligence world.

For further information on Crush Reports, Crush Alerts and CRUSH Pro Platform, please visit: http://www.salesquest.com

Ryan Murray
SalesQuest
Email: Ryan @ SalesQuest dot com
978.749.9999 ext. 102

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.