From: "New Rep Firms Finding a Niche"

In case you missed David Gordon and Allen Ray's blog Electrical Trends, "New Rep Firms Finding a Niche", I am re-posting here. Is this economy good for the representative model? I think it is for the firms preparing for the future. The "variable cost structure" is strong motivation for manufactures to evaluate (or re-evaluate) their sales channel. http://electricaltrends.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-rep-firms-finding-niche.html Thursday, August 13, 2009 New Rep Firms Finding a Niche Recently we've been contacted by a handful of individuals, whom we've known or who have been referred to us, who have decided to start rep firms. Each of the individuals were either in sales / marketing management for manufacturers or distributors. And they've received commitments from major lines. The manufacturers are seeking individuals who are focused on: * Building the manufacturer's brands through specification work * Individuals who understand how to market to different audiences * Organizations that are focused on energy efficiency * Companies that are willing to focus on selected, complementary lines. In a few cases, the manufacturers are also seeking to change their sales organization (or at least some elements of it) to a variable cost structure. An element that is interesting is that these manufacturers are not talking to "established" reps. They are seeking "new blood" and perhaps a different thought process. The ex-manufacturer personnel understand what manufacturers are looking for in a rep and feel that they have a sense of distributors' needs. And with a plethora of small companies seeking representation, there are also plenty of lines available (albeit not all rep firms are easily found unless they belong to NEMRA) Looking ahead, what will the rep of tomorrow need to be successful? Why do you think manufacturers are willing to back start-ups / 1 man bands vs. established agencies? Are you hearing of others who are starting rep firms? Distributors, would you support a new rep firm or will you follow your manufacturers' lines? Manufacturers, why offer your line to a start-up? Posted by David Gordon & Allen Ray at 9:54 PM

Why CRM Fails

What is CRM? Why does it fail? How can you overcome the reasons CRM fails? Three main components to CRM; technology, people and process. http://www.ismsystems.com/lp/whycrmfails.php CRM is "Using technology to make it easy for people to execute the right process" - ISM Systems. This is a good video, they should charge for this stuff. Oh, wait, they do... At least that's the last 25% of the video. The whole thing is good, but I encourage anyone thinking about CRM to listen to the first 75% at least.

What is PRM.... today?

I was very interested to learn the page for Partner Relationship Management on Wikipedia has been deleted. PRM is a widely understood concept and certainly there should be consensus on a definition... shouldn't there be? It appears from the page deletion notes, there is not. In this case there is not enough referable information, general ambiguity or plain old shameless promotion by a company or product... (I wish I thought of that). The reality is there is no singular definition for the concept of PRM. It really comes down to the processes a company would like to streamline or automated with its channel to develop a culture of Partner Relationship Management. If your channel(s) consist agents, distributors, VAR's / resellers and you would like to automate leads, registrations, quotes, orders, order status and field service up and down, this 'definition' of PRM will cost a lot, both in dollars and time. If on the other hand, you would like to start tomorrow with better customer information, field intelligence, opportunity tracking and collaboration with agents (your front line sales force) starting off with a hosted, next generation platform like RepConcert is an extremely cost effective way to start developing and streamlining your sales processes. (shameless promotion by a company or product) Your company's culture and processes will not change over night, don't spend a million bucks and hope it will. Work on your processes, with your players to develop the culture of Partner Relationship Management.

More CRM videos on youtube... This is much funnier than the Microsoft video but a lot "edgier", I'd say PG-13.

Of all things... CMR videos on youtube. Actually this is clever and cute (even though its about a Microsoft product). It conveys the most basic CRM message; check it out.

15 Tips to Voicemail Survival for the Sales Professional

From Mark Hunter

1. If your goal is to get the phone call returned, don’t leave information that would allow the person to make up their mind. Add a call-to-action to your message by providing a key date or something of interest that will encourage the person to return the call. You have to create a reason for them to call you back.
2. Repeat your phone number twice. If the person can’t quickly write your number down, you’ve given them a perfect reason to not call back.
3. Avoid asking ask the person to call you back at a certain time. This provides them with an excuse not to call you.
4. Never state in the message that you will plan to call them back. Again, this only gives the person an excuse to ignore your message.
5. Messages left on a Friday afternoon are the least likely to be returned. For most people, Monday mornings are very busy and, as a result, only high–priority activities will get their immediate attention.
6. Do not leave voicemail messages at odd hours of the night. Most voicemail systems offer a time stamp and the person hearing the message will immediately suspect you really did not want to talk to them.
7. The best hours to leave voicemail messages are from 6:45 AM to 8:00 AM and from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Aggressive people are usually working during these time periods, and the person receiving your message could potentially view you as one.
8. Wisely use time zone changes to make as many calls as possible during the optimal voicemail periods listed in the previous tip.
9. Voicemail messages are an excellent way to introduce yourself to a person. Be personable, yet professional, and link your message to something of interest to the person you are calling (such as another person or event). The recipient may view your message as a waste of time if you have no purpose other than getting your name in front of them.
10. When leaving a message with multiple points, be sure to immediately disclose how many you will be making. This will prevent the recipient from accidentally fast-forwarding or deleting it before it is completely heard.
11. If you can’t say it briefly, don’t say it at all. Voicemail is not “story time”. Leaving a long message is an invitation to have the entire message skipped. The optimal voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds.
12. When leaving your phone number, do not leave your website address as well. This will give the person an opportunity to make a decision about you without calling you back.
13. Leave a “PS” at the end of your message. A “PS” is a very quick, additional piece of information that will connect with the person.
14. Mention the person’s first name at least twice in the message, but don’t use their last name. Doing so comes across as very impersonal.
15. Refer to a mutual acquaintance in your message as a way of connecting with the recipient. (Caution: Make sure they think positively of that person!).

Anyone considering CRM or those looking to re-energize their CRM processes would be well served to read Gartners Research Note G00149424 by Ed Thompson, 20 June 2007. Available at: http://www.customerthink.com/files2/Gartner-CRM-Handbook. Of course I am most interested in how these 8 building blocks can be applied to processes in the outsourced sales representative model, but they should each be considered from an internal organizational perspective as well. In my opinion its never too early or too late to revisit the Vision and Strategy blocks. CRM in general should be a fluid and evolving process, driven by fluid and evolving strategies. Even if your CRM efforts are limited to basic Contact management, new strategies on how to collect and use this information, supported by the other 7 blocks, will serve you, your customers and your organization well.

7 Reasons Why Salespeople Fail

1. Not prospecting enough.

2. Not following up enough.

3. Not probing enough.

4. Not planning and preparing.

5. Not presenting what the customer wants.

6. Not closing often enough.

7. Not handling objections well.

Kerby Johnson, Marketer and Speaker

Ways to Eliminate Waste

One of the things I am looking forward to the most from the 38th annual NEMRA conference in February is to see what reps take away from the NEMRA Manufacturing Group’s (NMG) “Eliminating Wasteful Activities in the Representative and Manufacturer Sales and Marketing Cannel” study. There are a lot of good ideas and suggestions that have come out of extensive interviews and research and I suspect phase 3 (this year’s edition) will highlight the areas with the potential for the greatest impact.

Perhaps the January edition of Electrical Wholesaling provides a sneak peak on page 37 (available soon online “Ways to Eliminate Waste”). I couldn’t agree more that “CRM Programs” (among five others) is highlighted as a best practice where manufacturers and representatives have used the study to operate more efficiently. The only commentary I would add is that companies should not expect that deploying CRM will automatically make them more efficient. In fact it is this misunderstanding of CRM which could lead to its failure.

Companies should really develop goals towards greater efficiency (refer to the rest of the study here for ideas) and deploy CRM as a technology to enable strategies to achieve them. The study recommends actions like document imaging and storage, central databases for contacts and quotes, PDA’s for outside sales, communication and measurement of manufacturers goals with the sales staff and eliminating “one report at a time” monthly activity reporting. All of these goals would benefit and see a higher likelihood of success if facilitated by a good CRM application.

So go to the conference with an open mind and listen to the ideas being discussed. Many will be things you can do tomorrow to make your firm more efficient but implement them strategically for the best chances of success.

Fine-Tuning the Channel

Anyone who has responsibility for a representative sales channel should read this article, especially if you’re not an IT person... “Fine-Tuning the Channel - They're not exactly employees, and they're not quite customers, but your channel partners can be equally important -- and you can't just direct them by remote control.” http://www.destinationCRM.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=7469&ml=3 My favorite passage – “In closing, Dickie (Jim Dickie is a partner with research firm CSO Insights) reiterates the importance of having a living, breathing, evolving program as opposed to a static portal where the "partner stuff" goes to die.”Products and partners have ups and downs; you must constantly reevaluate them," Dickie says. "Not just for one channel -- every channel. Not as a one-time event, but continually."”

A new day for PRM

A new day for PRM… CRM – PRM – ABC – XYZ - I know, I know. Partner Relationship Management was really ahead of it’s time though. Actually it may have just been ahead of technology. Traditional PRM solutions were expensive, on premise, separate or add-on to CRM and really focused on lead sharing and deal registration. I understand these are very important features especially for the VAR and reseller channel but really only scratch the surface when it comes to the level of collaboration required between a manufacturer and its independent manufacturers’ representatives. The technology has definitely caught up. PRM is alive and about to be as popular an acronym as CRM, only with a better reputation.

Dell Picks Salesforce.com PRM Platform

DATE: 05-DEC-2007

By Jessica Davis (Channel Insider)

The PC maker will use Salesforce.com's new CRM-meets-Facebook technology, which links separate Salesforce CRM implementations. Dell and its solution provider partners are among the first customers of Salesforce.com's Salesforce to Salesforce technology, which lets different companies share their Salesforce.com information.

Dell first began using Salesforce.com's CRM (customer relationship management) platform a year ago for its direct sales force. Over the last 60 days, the PC maker has taken the relationship a step further, implementing Salesforce Partners, Salesforce.com's PRM (partner relationship management) platform.

"They wanted one solution to collaborate with direct and indirect sales," said Elay Cohen, senior director of products at Salesforce.com. "They have a history of being a direct business, and their No. 1 business problem is they want to mitigate channel conflict. The only way to do that is to have a single platform."

Dell solution providers can leverage the platform even further if they use Salesforce.com in their own operations. For example, rather than use the different deal registration screens at all the different vendors' portals, solution providers can enter the required information on a single familiar interface—the one they use at their own company.

Dell's deal registration through Salesforce.com has about eight required fields and two clicks.

Ultimately, Dell may also look at using the platform for use with some of its bigger strategic partners such as EMC, according to Channel Chief Greg Davis.

Enterprise ($125 user / mo.) and Unlimited ($195 user / mo.) edition users can share data using Salesforce to Salesforce for a fee of US$1,200 per year, per connection.

http://www.channelinsider.com/article/Dell+Picks+Salesforcecom+PRM+Platform/221021_1.aspx

Welcome to RepConcert

Welcome to the RepConcert blog. I hope this site grows into a true resource for current RepConcert users as well as those thinking about implementing RepConcert. As you may know, RepConcert is … OK I’ll say it … CRM. The thing is CRM is really misunderstood. I like to point to Brent Leary’s definition from Web 2.0: Moving CRM in the direction of CMR - DMNews.com, Aug 09, 2007.

“In plain terms, CRM uses technology to implement strategies aimed at helping companies acquire new customers, sell more to current customers, analyze the effectiveness of marketing activities and provide better customer service. All in the name of building stronger, longer lasting business relationships.”

Our approach, like many other vertical niche players out there, is to tailor a technology towards specific markets so that our baked in features align with our customers strategies for accomplishing their goals. This is a difficult model because most vertical markets do not have the numbers of potential users to make it attractive to compete with the more traditional horizontal CRM solutions. As a result, any given vertical market is peppered with solutions from the who’s who in CRM, from tightly integrated ERP/CRM down to inexpensive out of the box software.

Recognizing the system integration issues between partners working within the same vertical markets, we created a platform from which partners in the value chain could collaborate and share specific pieces of information with each other while leveraging the standard (CRM) features of RepConcert within their individual organizations. Being on the same platform is really the only way a manufacturer and its partner representatives will efficiently be able to implement internal and mutual strategies towards achieving goals.

This blog will be a resource for you, I appreciate your checking it out.