When it comes to technology, Progressive Insurance certainly lives up to its name.  As the first insurer to have a website, it is no surprise that Progressive is now paving the way for social media in an otherwise conservative industry.  Insurance companies have been hesitant to adopt social media in the past for a number of reasons including fear of defamation, security breaches, and misleading advertising.  Yet, it is becoming increasingly clear that the benefits of implementing social media in the insurance industry are outweighing the risks– and Progressive is a perfect example.

Matthew Lehman, Mobile Business Leader at Progressive, has helped the company become a pioneer in the use of social networking sites in recent years.  In a December 2009 presentation, he explains how the insurer began using Twitter as a means of communicating with customers regarding catastrophic events in their areas.  However, it quickly evolved into a customer service platform. “With Twitter, we have clearly seen that it’s a very powerful real-time communications mechanism for reaching out to customers, listening to them and understanding what they’re saying about Progressive and what issues they’re having with our products and services, and also what they’re thinking about the industry in general as well as competitors,” Lehman notes.

Social Media at Progressive, by Matthew Lehman; presented by GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council from GasPedal on Vimeo.

According to Lehman, social media sites are now used by Progressive mainly for “measurement,” or customer analytics, which can in turn be used to improve business processes and product offerings.  In addition to these functions, social networking sites are great ways for companies to advertise for free and to promote their brand through referrals.

While Progressive is a leader in the use of social networking platforms, it is not the only insurance company that has taken full advantage of what social media has to offer.  Companies such as Allstate, State Farm and GEICO are also heavily relying on these platforms to address customer needs, perform analytics, and promote their brands.  Meanwhile, the industry’s more traditional insurers are being forced to accept that, as reported by Deloitte, “consumers are increasingly viewing and assessing the company brand on their own through social networking tools.”

So what does all this mean for the salesperson?  The insurance industry is turning more and more to social media solutions, which opens a number of doors for sales opportunities in the fields of Web Content Management, Customer Analytics, Social Media Branding and more.  To learn more about CRUSH Reports, potential sales opportunities and which companies are investing in social media platforms, visit us at www.salesquest.com.

Francesca Polvere
SalesQuest
Francesca.Polvere @ SalesQuest dot com

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Cloud computing is not just a buzzword but is changing the IT service model for many companies. It is freeing up the needs of the IT department managing the in-house data access and storage requirements.

There are a lot of estimates out there about the growth of cloud computing. IDC estimates growing to $56 billion by 2014 while Gartner estimates $150B by 2013. Although the numbers are quite different, the message is the same, cloud computing will be continuing to grow exponentially.

Kraft Foods, for example, is looking to move their company to cloud computing. “Cloud services is another way to expand what your company does, who you collaborate with, and stop limiting your company with physical and technical boundaries.” Mark Dajani, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Kraft Foods stated.

As IT departments continue to move their data management to the cloud, now is the time to be targeting companies providing them with your cloud computing solutions. There are additional opportunities for companies selling into IT. With cloud computing, businesses get their software and data delivered to them over the Internet. It’s saving on hardware and labor costs not having to maintain their own servers. This allows IT departments to focus not only their time, but their budgets on other functionalities. Over the next few years, I see the opportunities to sell into IT on the rise.

Our Technology Business Drivers document contains industry sales intelligence and technology sales leads in the Fortune 1000 and Global 500. For more information about CRUSH Reports and how you can gain access to Technology Business Drivers, visit www.SalesQuest.com/services.

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

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

It is vital for sales and marketing reps to quickly and efficiently connect with their top prospects and beat their competition to the sales opportunities. Building org charts can be very time consuming, especially for the Fortune 1000 companies due to their size. But once it’s completed, it’s truly worth it to understand the organizational structure of your prospective company. The ability to navigate the chain of command and understand who are the influencers, champions, and true decision makers is critical to an efficient sales process.

Org charts are great sales tools to help stay organized. Some of the benefits include:

• Finding decision makers faster
• Understanding your target prospect’s management structure
• Knowing your gate keepers, influencers and champions

Buying access to Fortune 1000 org charts will cut months out of your sales process and can possibly make or break your sales career. We publish CRUSH Reports that contain multiple org charts for each and every company. There are at least two org charts in every CRUSH Report to help fully understand the alignment of both the CEO’s organizational diagram and also the CIO’s organizational mapping. For the larger Fortune 1000 companies we also provide org charts on a division and subsidiary level.

Gain trusted advisor status by accessing CRUSH Report org charts and navigate the decision chain like an insider. Demonstrate to your prospect that you’ve done your homework, you’re organized and motivated.

Benefits from buying Fortune 1000 org charts for sales and marketing reps include:

1) Eliminate costly research time

2) Discover sales opportunities before your competition

For a sample org chart go to: http://www.salesquest.com/org-charts/. If you would like to see an entire CRUSH Report including the org chart, please go to: 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.

When it comes to a sales strategy, it’s important to know your competition, but it is even more important to know your potential client. Now more than ever, in this competitive market, you need to stand out amongst the crowd. What are you providing that others on the market are not? And even more important, what has happened, is happening or will be happening with your target account?

Sales tools are a great way to obtain detailed strategic intelligence on your lead. Having this knowledge can give you more confidence to target their specific requirements. A superior plan of action can make the difference between closing the deal or losing it.

We have developed a Strategic Account Plan Template exclusively for high tech sales reps selling into Fortune 1000 and Global 500 accounts. It is designed to support the account management team to effectively prepare and stay focused on the customer’s business objectives and goals. This ensures they achieve the planned results, create a consistent experience for the customer, and ultimately identify how they can make a positive impact on the customer’s business.

This Strategic Account Plan Template will help you to take a deep-dive look into the account and analyze their industry, key contacts, trends, current economic conditions, financials, their competitors, technology, goals, objectives and more. Having all this information in one reference spot that you can bring with you to sales meetings will keep you organized, on top of your game and ahead of the competition.

Use our Strategic Account Plan Template for strategic account planning and organize your comprehensive and in-depth research so that you’re always prepared. Don’t let disorganization and lack of good account intelligence contribute to a lost sales opportunity.

For additional resources, please visit our website: http://www.salesquest.com/resources.

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

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.