Yesterday was the latest Sales 2.0 event held in Boston. Over 300 attended, which represents a sizeable increase over last year’s attendance. The idea behind the Sales 2.0 movement seems to be gaining momentum, especially as companies come out of the recessionary funk of last year. Businesses are looking to have increased growth and optimal sales strategies.
The conference hosted several sales executives who explained how Sales 2.0 tools have aided their business. One highlight for you Salesforce Chatterites was Polly Sumner, president and chief adoption officer at Salesforce.com, who demonstrated how she uses Salesforce Chatter to keep her professional and personal life balance in check (personal hobbies include farming, gardening, and raising a herd of 90 cattle).
The general tone of the conference was more optimistic than in recent months. Companies were looking to gain profits on more efficient sales practices, as opposed to avoiding the recessionary wood chipper of last year.
The central idea is that the traditional way of thinking about the sales process is obsolete. The customer is in charge of the buying process, so sales must parallel the customer. Sales and marketing have to be brought in close contact. All lead statistics and information has to be monitored down to the minute. There is a large field of sales data out there to mine, and companies that don’t have the resources to manage it are antiquated. There is no reason for sales teams to be ignorant of any customer information anymore.
Business technology experience varied, from Dave Fitzgerald, who uses 12 Sales 2.0 applications in his company’s sales department, to small companies who still resort to cold calls. All seemed interested in what appears to be the future of sales. This may be a fleeting window of opportunity for companies to invest in Sales 2.0 before becoming truly outdated.
Videos of this event are posted at www.dreamsimplicity.com. The next Sales 2.0 conference will be hosted in San Francisco on November 8th-9th, 2010.
[Photo courtesy of tripadvisor.]
