In this post I interview Nigel Edelshain the CEO of Sales 2.0 LLCHe shares his thoughts on Sales 2.0, Social Media and how he uses them in his business with great success.
1.) There is a lot of buzz around Sales 2.0. What does Sales 2.0 mean to you?
Sales 2.0 means a new way of selling and the Internet is the catalyst for why Sales 2.0 is happening. In Sales 2.0 any business can be broken down into people, process and tools. Given that it's natural that tools (based on the Internet primarily) are driving this movement, we need to make sure that Sales 2.0 sticks by driving real ROI and to remember that people are the key to making a business tick.
2.) How is Sales 2.0 technology helping you connect with more customers, create awareness and drive revenue for your consulting services?
We are learning better ways every day as new technologies come out. A big success for us has been taking the position of subject matter expert and publishing articles on our website instead of makingour website a static brochure.
Sales2.com evolved from my personal blog to a website that hosts the blog posts of many experts. In 2009, we will be expanding this approach by providing more content in different forms and getting the word out about this content through Sales 2.0 and Social Media platforms.
3.) How does your Sales 2.0 blog help you market your consulting services, increase your sales and decrease your sales cycle?
My blog and our website has helped us meet new prospects and also helped shorten our sales cycle. People who have seen our site are impressed by the valuable content we offer versus the typical website that is just a static brochure. They come into the conversation with the understanding that they are talking to subject matter experts and this helps drive sales.
4.) What are your thoughts on social media and the impact its going to have on the sales industry
It's a fact that sales people are finding it extremely hard to get through to buyers. Buyers are bombarded by information and trying to achieve extremely challenging goals with minimal time or resources of any other kind. Buyers are stretched thin almost universally. Sales reps need new tools to get buyers to speak to them or sales people will not get in the door.
Social media gives sales reps the chance to level the playing field with buyers. Social media allows sales reps to research their buyer and get referrals to their buyer. Bottom line, I think available social media tools and some not-yet-released will be big for sales reps.
5.) What are some things sales reps and business owners can be doing to benefit from Sales 2.0 to increase their business?
Sales reps and business owners should realize sales and marketing need to work together for them to succeed in 2009 and beyond. Sales reps need to get in the door to sell and companies need to develop reasons to start conversations with buyers.
Sales reps and business owners who don't get up to speed on Sales 2.0, by which I mean all internet marketing and social media tools and how to apply them won't have much chance to survive.
It's time for sales people and business owners to figure out how to use e-marketing tools like email, e-newsletters, websites, blogging, social networks and combine these into their sales process. They best look at LinkedIn, TypePad, Wordpress and Twitter fast.
6.) What is your favorite social media platform and how does it help you connect with your network?
Overall, I'd say LinkedIn. That would be the social platform I would give up last. We are able to perform a lot of research on people through LinkedIn by reading their profiles and make connections that can help us get into accounts.
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Nigel Edelshain is CEO of Sales 2.0 LLC. The company is a company dedicated to taking the sales profession to another level. Sales 2.0 provides companies with a range of services and products to enable them to make their sales forces wildly more effective.
Nigel has sold millions of dollars of IT solutions to major Fortune 500 firms. He was head of sales for the financial services vertical for Starpoint Solutions (a 600-person system integrator). While at Starpoint, he sold e-business projects to senior business and technology executives. Prior to Starpoint Nigel worked for Platinum Technology (now CA) selling IT professional services.
Nigel is the Chairman of the Wharton Business School Club of New York - the School's largest alumni association. Nigel graduated from Wharton's MBA program in 1993 and has an undergraduate degree in Microelectronics from Edinburgh University.
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