My way of Cold-reach-outs

This post is in continuation my previous post here.

 

1.       Identify the company: Figure out the vertical/domain/technology. Based on this shortlist I use the database to get the names of company

2.       Identify the person: I use Linked-in premium to figure out the persons who meet my criteria for reach out.

3.       Identify the contact ID: Here is where Steps 3 & 4  of previous post come handy. And as mentioned earlier these days I prefer step 5 (refer previous post) which gives results in a jiffy

4.       Reach out on Mail: Use the email campaign execution tool to write to them

5.       Follow-ups: Follow-ups are necessary and not an options. The mode of follow-up depends on the industry/target audience. Sometimes it is emails and in other cases it is telephonic. Here’s where Skype credits come handy.

6.       Schedule a Intro call: Ask for a mutually convenient date/time for an intro call and schedule a conference event using Goto Meeting

7.       Maintain History: From my experience I realized sales happen to you over a period of time. You might forget the prospects but they remember you and reach out. At that time, past recorded history from CRM tools come handy.

Happy Selling!!

My list of Digital Tools for Selling

As every other list, each individual has his own preferences. This is my list of tools which help in aiding sales.

1.       Database: List of companies which use the technology or which are in domain you are targeting. I hate databases like Hoover’s, D&B, Zoom Info, which charge a bomb but still vague. For me Builtwith is the best. True, it just gives the name of the company and not the person details. But the later is for the other tools to figure out. Sometimes specific domain data lists like IRCE for ecommerce, tech crunch for funded start-ups are better.

2.     Linked-in Premium: Yes the free will take you somewhere. But with time breathing on your neck and a big target, you know you need to chase decisively and big. So cannot manage with limited search options, limited in-mails and limited transparency into network

3.     Email Permutator: This is a freely available email permutation provider. You can download one here.

4.      Rapportive: Firstly this helps me understand the person: where is he from, his time zone, what’s his education background, what his work profile. Second I also use this to check which randomly generated email id is the right email ID. (More in point 4)

5.       Salesloft: This is the newest addition to my list. This can combine and execute the job of 3 & 4 and give results in a jiffy.

6.      Email Campaign execution tools: A lot of tools are available, but I prefer lead squared. Lead squared gives a beautiful way of checking the prospect effectiveness by way of a weighted score.

7.       Track Clicks: I have been using lead-squared to track the click rates. Again these clicks are tracked and added to score of prospect effectiveness.

8.       CRM: At small numbers, leads can be managed on excel. But this will become cumbersome within a week. I like using Zoho CRM.

9.       Skype Credits: If I am calling outside my geography, calling sometimes might be expensive. Here Skype credits come handy

10.   Conference Bridge: I am comfortable using Go ToMeeting. But I believe webex or any other conference event organizer is fine. If I am on budget I use a combo of Skype and Join.me

Happy Selling!!

What happens when you read a lot of history books?

I have completed "Gray Mountain" by John Grisham. Though I have been an ardent fan of John Grisham and his legal background novels, its been more than three years since I read his books. In fact its just not John Grisham, but for last six years my interest fiction has declined. I am not sure if this changing preference is because of the way the book is written or I am seriously bored of fiction. That's the debate for now.

So when I started on this novel after long, my expectation on the book were very high. I wanted a joy ride of emotions: suspense, happiness, tragedy, heart wrenching drama, some heroism and a happy ending. But the book let me down. The plot seems to hold me at the seat edge occasionally but then it left the grip too early before I can soak in the suspense. Similarly some drama and some tragedy were involved but it did not match my expectations. All this means only one of the following three:
1. The plot is not great
2. The story was not told properly
3. My expectations were high.

Given the reviews and the plot seems to be pretty good. The story telling style for a veteran like John Grisham must be a seasoned one. So my belief is that my expectations from this was high. And pondering on the reasons of such high expectations, I sense that my previous few books based on political and natural history, had set the bar high. The journey through centuries on how things unfold (even though you know the end-result) has probably made my cravings for drama, suspense high. So my opinion for now is that, if one is involved in history, he can never go back to fiction with same interest. And did you say you did not like history at school because it was a drag and dull?

Book Link: http://www.amazon.in/Gray-Mountain-John-Grisham-ebook/dp/B00LM9S7H6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

What to plan as interiors in Living Room?

I have just been through a bout of planning interiors for my new home. So here I put my wisdom about things to go in living areas. Its more like a checklist of things to consider. Here we go:

1. Book Shelf (a very big one if you are a voracious reader like me)
2. Place to dump our sacks as soon as we come back from office
3. Display shelf for mementos and show pieces
4. Drawer to keep bills, petty documents and other knick-knacks
5. Drawer to keep some domestic hardware including hammer, pliers, screw drivers, insulation tapes and all
6. Shelves to stack up used newspaper. Plan atleast for two months stack, lest you end up running to Radhi-wala every month
7. Shoe stand, drawers for shoe polish, brush and other accessories.
8. Wifi Modem point
9. TV Unit with provisions for Set-top box, DVD players, Music systems, DVD storage
10. Wall to hang-up family photos, religious depictions and art work
11. Easy access place for note books, diaries, pens, markers, calendars
12. Place to hang keys

Please add for anything got missed

Review of Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond

When I first heard the title of the book, for me it is a very unlikely name for a history book. At end of the read, I am now fully convinced about the importance of these to civilization's natural history. This is one of the best books on natural history. Most history books are on political history and some ( like the Empires of Indus) touch natural history tangently while speaking about political history. The amount of research the author did is quite evident from the book. But it's just not research, giving a scientific approach in reducing conclusions from the facts is what makes the author differ from other. The presentation style is also pretty interesting. In most history books,  there are two parameters to be discussed: Timeline and place (and sometime different personalities). I have read books which go back and forth to cover both timeline activities and place activities. Else they will not be able to give a complete picture. However Jared has taken a unique way of circumventing this problem. (and prob that made the read more interesting!!). First he dwells upon the timeline activities. He speaks about people's early movements, evolution of farming, evolution of germs, evolution of technology and so on. Once he has traversed the timeline path (comparing different regions), he then dwelt upon the region-specific activities. The last few chapters cover the summary of different regions. This is the best solution for the conundrum of writing easier history books. 

Here is the summary of the book giving a quick insight (without being a spoil sport). The book highlights on the early movements of man-kind. The humans after evolving in Africa has spread across the land-masses of the globe by 40,000 BC. After the Ice-Age, the different continents evolved different eco-systems which acted as a catalyst for evolution of different cultures/habits/perspectives/technology. Food production almost evolved across different continents independently (except Australia) by choosing and cultivating plants from wild forests. This has slowly started inculcating farming as a practice. For making farming easy, they need more muscle power. Also once farming was established, societies got settled. This also called for alternate food source as they no longer were nomadic hunters and warriors. This led to domestication of wild animals for farming and for alternate food source. (except for dog which was domesticated way back in stone age all other domestic animals like cow, goat, hen, pig were domesticated in this age). Both these were the root cause of all our illnesses (literally). They brought in germs. Over centuries, some groups started developing immunity over these germs. As farming progressed and domestication improved, people had spare food and spare time (they were no longer roaming). So other inventions like tools, technology, arts came into existence. This include farming tools and techniques, musical instruments, writing, using copper, bronze and iron. Iron/steel led to creation of better armory. Then as people started living in groups and growing, they formed bigger societies. Some societies which started as bands moved to tribes which meta-morphed to chieftain and then to states at different points of time. The farming, technology and germs moved easily across Eurasia because of longer spread and almost similar climate. The societies which were isolated to these developments include Americas, Africa and Australia. Though some of the societies have independently developed a few of these , they did not mature as it did in Eurasia because of the lack of conducive factors. (like North to South climatic differences, or geographical restrictions including deserts, mountains, islands). All these factors gave an edge for the Eurasian societies to have an upper hand over other societies. And they have ended up occupying most parts of the world.

Book Link: http://www.amazon.in/Guns-Germs-And-Steel-Everbody-ebook/dp/B00DQ8GDV8/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

Negotiation or Bad Qualification?

 Most people claim a sale as badly qualified, but works behind the scenes is something entirely different. From what I have seen, in retrospection it is easy to say the failure is because of improper qualification/quantification. Except for few out-liers, most people will never disclose the budget and so the sales person has to go with guesstimates or gut-feel numbers. There is no way to get a number to qualify/quantify. This makes it look improper qualification in hindsight where-as it will not appear so in day-to-day scenarios. With no knowledge on numbers and mounted with pressure to close the deal, the only window left is to show the money-advantage to customer. I would believe that if a sales person is negotiating then it shows the product is not highly rated by the customer and alternatives are available for customer. If the product is the best, any sales person would stick to his stance on price and would not start negotiation.

Difference between Marketing and Sales

Time and again, I get this questions. So thought will create a blog post around it.

Marketing is a “Pull”. It helps in reaching out to prospects, showcasing the product/service, capturing his attention and bringing him to an Interaction Point (Outlet, Incoming Inquiry platform including website, call center, email). Some alternate goals of marketing include brand awareness, increasing brand/product recognition, educating the customer of the new product/service. 

Sales is a “Push”. The Sales function starts when the prospect comes to an interaction point. The prospect can come either from Marketing or by a Sales person digging out a hidden prospect (through networking, references, cold-calling). Sales functions include: understanding the customer needs, mapping the product/service features to his needs, agree on format of delivery, timeline and price, close deal by signing agreement or getting Work Order. Sometimes additional functions might include: keeping customer in good humor post sale (for references/positive feedback), seeking references/feedback, ensuring delivery of goods/services in agreed terms, payment collections.