Connecting your sales force Part I Web 2.0 tools that bring the team together

A connected and collaborative sales force is a smarter, more effective sales force.

By Editor on Oct 16, 2007

A connected and collaborative sales force is a smarter, more effective sales force. With that in mind, eyeforpharma recently hosted a webinar (Sales Force Effectiveness: Collective Intelligence) on ways to keep sales reps together despite geographical distance. Joe Miles, sales force effectiveness project director of eyeforpharma; Paul Moravec, sales effectiveness manager at Quest Diagnostics; Binyah Kesselly, director of enterprise improvement and process excellence at Johnson & Johnson; and Carol Gebert, account manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific Laboratory Automation and Cellular Imaging, all took on the subject of the collective wisdom of front-line sales forces and how that wisdom can be tapped to improve the effectiveness of the team as a whole.

So, how do you tap the individual knowledge of sales force members who often work in isolation, separate from the rest of the team? In this first part of a three-part article, Joe Miles examines the Web 2.0 tools that address this question. In part two, Paul Moravec looks specifically at online message boards. In part three, Binyah Kesselly discusses prediction markets and how they can bring sales and marketing teams together, while Carol Gebert addresses collaborative sales tools and the motivational components that must be built in to them.

To read Part II, Message boards, the new water cooler? click here . To read Part III, Prediction markets, cooperation and competition, click here .

Part 1 Web 2.0 tools that bring the team together>/b>

Joe Miles defines Web 2.0 as the new, interactive web that provides an online site where a team can collectively contribute and collaborate on content, exchange ideas and inspire one another. Web 1.0 is typified by Amazon.com, where buyers can access catalogs and purchase products. Web 2.0 is more like eBay, where participants act as both buyers and sellers, collaborating in the online marketplace.

Asks Miles, why introduce this new technology now? And why in sales? Well, recent technology advances allow for greater mobility and flexibility with internet access. Salespeople can have the same access to information wherever they are: in the field, in a doctor's office, even at home. As sales teams increasingly adopt mobile internet technology, says Miles, it's important to act now to maximize the benefits.

What are the Web 2.0 tools?

Miles puts these tools into three categories:

Tools for information organization and communication

Tools to create competitive communities

Tools for sales-force decision making.

Organization and communication

According to Miles, the problem is that current information systems function only one-way pushing information out. CRM systems have limited capacity for feedback; email is overused and overloaded with spam; and shared best-practices files and information are often inaccessible or not particularly useful.

Web 2.0 solutions like wikis, collective blogs, polls and RSS feeds are some ways that companies are increasing multi-directional flows of information. With these interactive tools, sales reps can provide feedback that is visible to all. Information is open to comment and correction, and a great deal of information is accessible in just a few clicks.

These tools allow for a concentration of collected wisdom, and they have the added benefit of providing peer-to-peer social-interaction for often-isolated sales reps.

There are, of course, challenges inherent in an open-source system. Compliance and regulatory issues must be considered, even in a free-flow forum like a wiki or a collective blog. Miles suggests that social-network sites be moderated, at least in the beginning, that a code of conduct be developed by legal teams, and that safer users be encouraged and riskier ones discouraged.

Another challenge, says Miles, is in creating a system that gets used. Too much technology is underutilized because of its complexity or because its advantages are not lauded loudly enough.

In order to create a system that users will actually participate in, says Miles, it must have total, visible management support. Reps need to know that their managers are watching. Ease of use (one-click access to blogs and feeds) and incentives for use (community points) will also help ensure greater participation.

Creating competitive communities

Sales forces need communication and competition in order to be healthy. Reps often work away from the team, in isolation, so communication should include a social element.

Web 2.0 solves this problem by allowing communication to occur in an interactive, social-networking context, says Miles. Personal profiles, for example, add a social dimension to collaborative networks. As for competition, online leaderboards proclaiming leaders in sales and in community participation, plus point incentives, can get competitive juices flowing.

Making decisions to improve SFE
As Miles says, collaborative systems tap into the collective wisdom of entire teams, allowing everyone to take part in decision making. Not only does this necessarily provide more informed decisions, it adds the very crucial element of voice. Those reps who believe they have an avenue to make themselves heard are far more likely to buy in to the decisions of the team. Web 2.0 provides tools such as prediction markets, polls, voting and open feedback forums.

By opening a space for collaborative decision-making, companies end up with a process that is transparent. Reps feel they can influence decisions and present innovations, and this increases team loyalty. And, says Miles, collaboration draws in members, allowing the best and brightest to be identified by their peers.

There is lingering resistance to the new technologies. After all, detractors remind us, email was once the new, vibrant idea which has since turned into a time-sucking, often-valueless chore of weeding through messages. As Miles reminds us, barriers to Web 2.0 are 90% human and 10% technological. But with management support, collaborative, interactive, social network tools can radically increase sales force satisfaction and effectiveness. Collective intelligence is a powerful tool, says Miles, and Web 2.0 is uniquely positioned to capture and capitalize on the wisdom of the team.

To read Part II, Message boards, the new water cooler? click here . To read Part III, Prediction markets, cooperation and competition, click here .