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Dear friends and colleagues, Like most of you, we're focusing pretty heavily on sales issues these days, and this month's E-ZINE has a variety of articles on sales effectiveness. Read on for new data on field marketing and sales automation, Dell's training program for services sales, ITSMA's upcoming Services Sales Forum in San Francisco, and a guide to leveraging the sales channel. As always, let us know what your priorities are these days, and how we can help. And to all our U.S. readers, Happy Independence Day!
[TOP OF PAGE] What's Hot: Field Marketing Heats Up: What Role for Field PR? Last year, ITSMA reported that high performance services marketers invest more heavily in field marketing than average performers. What a difference a year makes! More and more ITSMA member firms are now dedicating additional resources to the field in hopes of getting closer to customers and driving sales more quickly. Some of this activity is clearly just a sign of the times. When markets tighten, longer-term projects are pushed back and anything that can generate immediate revenue takes center stage. But a more significant trend is also at work. ITSMA's annual benchmarking research has documented an ongoing shift in budget priorities over the last five years, such that field marketing now comprises one-third to one-half of average services marketing budgets. Typical services marketing budgets in the mid-1990s included less than 20% for formal field activities. The rise of field marketing reflects a new phase in the evolution of services marketing. The story of services marketing growth over the last decade mostly has been a story of centralization. As services marketers gained resources and influence, they focused on activities such as developing more comprehensive services portfolios, building brand recognition and consistency, and designing more sophisticated channel programs. The more recent expansion of field marketing represents a more mature balancing of roles and missions for services marketing. A recent ITSMA member survey, however, raised an interesting question about how best to organize field marketing. Spending data show that services-only firms (e.g., professional services firms) dedicate a much larger share of their field spending to marketing communications than do mixed product and services firms. Within those marketing communications budgets, the services-only firms then spend a much higher percentage on public and media relations than do the product firms. The divergent spending priorities appear to reflect an entirely different approach to field marketing. Essentially, the services-only firms are investing heavily in local and regional efforts to promote brand awareness, connect with local media, and reach out to local communities. The theory is that field-level PR contributes not only to general awareness, but directly to demand generation and sales support. The product firms, in contrast, focus their field resources much more on direct outreach to clients and prospects and rely on corporate-level PR to carry the weight of brand development and communications. What do you think, readers? Are the services-only firms on to something important? Is field-level PR the way to go? What do you think matters most in the field? –Rob Leavitt ITSMA's recent presentation on field marketing, Getting Close to the Customer: Adventures in Field Marketing, is available for download to ITSMA members with online access to ITSMA's Member Research Library: http://www.itsma.com/events/online_briefings/olb_061901.pdf. [TOP OF PAGE] Research Desk: Sales Automation Tools Remain a Work in Progress (Research Excerpt) The following is adapted from ITSMA's Sales Practices and Metrics Study, an extensive review of sales coverage models, channel partner practices, performance metrics, sales costs, compensation and incentives, and general sales practices. The study includes data from more than 35 companies in computer systems, software, networking, and professional services, including Agilent, BMC, Cisco, Compaq, Ericsson, IBM, Novell, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Sun Microsystems, among others. Most IT services organizations have provided their sales forces with sales automation tools over the past few years. But are those tools doing the job? Recent ITSMA research raises as many questions as it answers on this critical sales effectiveness topic. For example, almost three-quarters of firms participating in ITSMA's Sales Practices and Metrics Study have sales automation systems, and most of the rest plan to implement systems within the next year. But three-quarters of the systems currently in place are stand-alone systems. They are not integrated with a larger customer relationship management (CRM) system, thus furthering the problem of creating different databases and islands of information within firms. The most common features in sales automation systems today, according to study participants, include opportunity management/lead tracking and pipeline management/forecast tracking; both are included in two-thirds of the systems. About half of the firms include such features as training tips, print-on-demand sales materials, competitive intelligence, contact/order management, and proposal generators. Fewer systems include knowledge management tools, compensation tracking, or campaign management. Most firms reported that they were still in an early stage of implementation of their sales automation systems. Perhaps as a result, participants questioned the degree to which their own sales forces were complying with the systems. Using a 5-point scale, where 1 = not at all compliant and 5 = fully compliant, participants rated their own sales forces at an average of only 2.7. Only one-third of study participants with sales automation systems measure sales force satisfaction with their systems. Of those, a meager 20% reported that their sales representatives were satisfied with the systems they have. The rest reported either neutral feelings or dissatisfaction. Clearly the integration of sales automation tools remains a work in progress, with perhaps more work completed than progress! Two policies appear to have contributed to the success of those companies that have gained the most benefit:
For more information on ITSMA's Sales Practices and Metrics Study, or to purchase a copy, visit http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/s002.htm. ITSMA's Annual Services Sales Forum, Achieving Breakthrough Sales Growth in Today's Economy, will highlight a series of presentations and discussions on high performance sales automation systems and related online sales tools. For more information, visit http://www.itsma.com/events/event_desc/e08220101.htm
[TOP OF PAGE] Professional Development Dell Expands Online Testing and Training for Services Sales Like many other product-centric firms, Dell Computer Corporation has dedicated a great deal of energy in recent years to building up its services business. The enterprise market is a critical target for Dell in this regard; the PC giant has a major initiative to become the premier provider of products, services, and integrated solutions in the enterprise space. To ensure success, Dell's "enterprise credibility campaign" highlights an ambitious online testing and training program for the sales force, including a major emphasis on services. As Jim Vance, training consultant for Dell's enterprise marketing team, notes, "In the computer manufacturing business, it's usually easier for the sales force to establish hardware credibility with customers. When it comes to services, it's more of a challenge." The new training program is under development now, with a launch planned for Fall 2001. ITSMA Training Partner, Babson College,
Ranked 12th Globally in Executive Education Babson College, ITSMA's academic partner, recently gained additional recognition of its status as a premier provider of executive education. In its Executive Education 2001 rankings, the Financial Times ranked Babson the 12th best overall provider worldwide and the 8th best executive education provider in the United States. Babson faculty recently presented at ITSMA's CMO conference in April and will join ITSMA's vice president of learning and performance excellence, Steve Hurley, to discuss the topic of e-branding at the Frontiers in Services conference in October. Babson will host and co-teach ITSMA's next Client-Centric Marketing course on 4-7 December 2001. Course participants are eligible for MBA credit.
[TOP OF PAGE] EuroNotes: News and Views from ITSMA Europe ITSMA Europe held its inaugural forum, Marketing Technology Services in the New Millennium (20-21 June 2001), in London, with resounding success! The forum brought together senior marketing managers from all walks of life in technology services to establish and discuss the current hot topics and challenges for European services marketers. Two themes ran throughout the forum:
Top marketers from Accenture, IBM Global Services, Hewlett-Packard, Unisys, Ericsson, and Microsoft presented case studies and best practices. The forum also featured a daylong ITSMA workshop on managing and marketing the customer experience. For more information on ITSMA Europe please visit http://www.itsma.com/europe/eu_home.htm or contact Melanie Oakley at [44] [01] 1628 527691 or moakley@itsma.com. [TOP OF PAGE] Upcoming Events: New Date! 14 August 2001, 12:00–1:00 p.m. EDT: Solutions Marketing: Is It Really Different? (Online Briefing, free for ITSMA members) Is solutions simply a useless buzzword, or is marketing solutions really something different, requiring a different approach from marketing products or services? Many ITSMA members are grappling with just this question and experimenting with different ways to market and sell complex packages of products and services that address specific business needs. Among other things, firms are improving capabilities to support cross-selling, team selling, and collaborative marketing and selling with partners. Join Julie Schwartz, ITSMA's vice president of research, and Steve Hurley, ITSMA's vice president of learning and performance excellence, for a discussion of ITSMA's latest research on industry trends, best practices, skills, and behaviors required to succeed in marketing solutions. For more information or to register online, visit http://www.itsma.com/events/event_desc/e07170101.htm 22–23 August 2001: ITSMA's Annual Services Sales Forum: Achieving Breakthrough Sales Growth in Today's Economy (San Francisco) Sales productivity tops the hit parade for most technology and consulting firms these days. With revenue targets under tremendous pressure, all eyes are on the sales force. Sales, marketing, and business development managers can ill afford to ignore any new ideas that might help bolster services sales performance. For the third year in a row, ITSMA will bring together executives and managers responsible for generating and supporting services sales from a wide range of technology and professional services firms. ITSMA's two-day program combines discussions with industry leaders with a special workshop on client-centric selling. Join industry experts from Cisco, IBM Global Services, NCR, BMC Software, and others to discuss such critical concerns as managing and growing large accounts, developing effective interactive sales tools, managing sales automation and CRM systems, and leveraging the Internet to increase sales efficiency. For more information or to register online, visit http://www.itsma.com/events/event_desc/e08220101.htm
Event Sponsorship Opportunities As the premier industry association for IT services marketing, ITSMA
offers companies event sponsorship opportunities throughout the year.
Event sponsors benefit from direct access to services marketing executives
and managers from the world's leading IT services firms as well as the
broader association with ITSMA. Events Calendar for 2001: http://www.itsma.com/aspfiles/Events/calendar.asp [TOP OF PAGE] Toolbox: Leveraging the Sales Channel Each month ITSMA highlights a new idea, application, or other type of tool that services marketers can use immediately to strengthen their programs and organizations. Just as the customer decides which vendor and which offering it will choose, so individual salespeople (internally or at channel partners) decide which products or services to place at the top of their priority lists and which to place on the back burner. For marketers to energize the sales channel about particular offerings, they must understand sales agents’ specific needs, motivations, and behaviors. Surprisingly, many marketers do not. With a better understanding of the daily realities of selling, marketers have a greater chance of helping increase sales effectiveness. Visit Leveraging the Sales Channel for a guide to critical aspects of the sales process. Reproduction or disclosure of this or any other ITSMA document, in whole or in part, to other parties shall be made according to the ITSMA Citation Policy at http://www.itsma.com/press/press_newsfromITSMA.htm#citation Subscription Information Subscriptions are available in text and HTML versions. To SUBSCRIBE or to change your subscription to a text or HTML version of the ITSMA E-ZINE, visit http://www.itsma.com/aspfiles/press/ezine.asp. To UNSUBSCRIBE or suggest other potential subscribers, please e-mail us at siozzo@itsma.com. Back issues of ITSMA E-ZINE are available at http://www.itsma.com/press/press_ezine.htm. |
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