Turbo charging the sales team by David Hickman at SVPMA Monthly Event April 2003

1. DAVID HICKMAN
ActivePortal Product Line Manager
Turbo charging the sales team
Best Practices
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

2. Delivering The Power of Now Since 1985
“TIBCO literally wrote the book on real-time
information distribution, business
organization, and business process.”
(Gartner, September 6, 2001)
 17 years of giving businesses The Power of Now
 1,800 customers around the world
 Proven best practices and vertical solutions
 Proven technology and cutting-edge innovation
 Rich ecosystem of solution and
implementation partners
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

3. What do sales people need to succeed?
Expert support in the field
Fast response times from HQ
The right sales tools
Open communication channels with HQ
Partner participation
Proper training
Compelling demos
Recognition & guidance
Happy customers
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

4. Get out in the field
“Walk a mile in their shoes”
Spend quality time out on the road
 Show your commitment to their success
 Get to know them beyond specific work goals
 Put that name to a face
Present to your customers face-to-face
 Get direct feedback from your customers
 Customers will feel valued from the special attention
Participate in quarterly and annual sales conferences
 Global visibility ensures the right contacts
 Sponsor a session
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

5. Form a SWAT Team
“When sales needs your help, they need it now!”
Hand pick your members from various groups
 Product Management + Product Marketing
 Engineering + Support + QA
 Field Ambassadors
Hold weekly conference calls
 Keep everyone informed
 Share new leads, opportunities and outstanding issues
 Keep the momentum going
Create effective communication channels
 Email aliases
 Archived Discussion Groups
Form product Ambassador teams
 Each region gets a centralized “expert”
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

6. Create open communication channels
“Make remote teams feel ‘plugged in’”
Ask for feedback
 Product Enhancement requests
 What can you do to help?
Give prompt feedback
 Why we will or won’t do something
 Don’t be a “black hole”
Set expectations
 Don’t sugar coat it or make commitments you can’t keep
Give credit where credit is due
 Let them know they are making a difference
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

7. Provide the right tools
“Help sales, help themselves”
Corporate portal provides easy access to information
 Document repositories
 Discussion Groups
 Enhancement requests
 Support status
Build internal communities
 Share tips & tricks
 Upload “project ware” for re-use
Demos
Collateral
 Sales Presentations
 Competitive Briefs
 Press and Analyst Reports
Reference customers
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

8. Engage with partners
“Effective partnering strategies execute in the field”
Organize “Meet & Greets”
 Introduce your regional sales forces to regional partner teams
 Focus on opportunity recognition
Create effective compensation plans
 Sales reps are motivated by CASH $$$
 Comp both reps for a win/win situation
 Rules of engagement must be crisp and clear
Joint Webinars
 Great for lead generation
Road shows & other events
 Always insist that local sales teams participate
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

9. Organize boot camps to prepare and train the sales team
“Arm the sales force with the latest sales training”
Regional events ensure the best participation
 Expense to regional sales team
Split your boot camp into sales and technical tracks
 Sales will only be interested in the messaging & competition
 SCs will want to see it all
Provide sales guidance
 Who to target
 What to pitch
 Competitive landmines
“Hands On” labs are most popular by demand
 Avoid PowerPoint overdose and make it interactive
Repeat as necessary
 New product launches
 New employee hires
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

10. Build compelling demos
“A picture is worth a thousand words”
Hosted Demos
 Accessible around the globe
Packaged Demos
 Starter Portal
Recorded Demos
 Recordings of previous demos are reusable
 Flash demos are also effective
Useful in POC scenarios
 Great demos can reduce actual POCs by up to 40%
 Mandatory POCs can build upon a pre-built demo platform
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

11. Showcase a successful sales person
“Leadership by Example”
Create an internal case study
 Show how your champion used effective techniques
 Who did they compete against?
 How did they “seal the deal”?
Sales teams are always looking for success stories
 How did they position?
 How did they deal with competitors?
Recognition goes a long way
 Sales champions become an asset to you
 Others will want to keep you “in the loop” for their shot at fame
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

12. Promote their customers as shining examples
“Happy Customers = Happy Sales Teams”
Showcase their customers in:
 Case Studies
 Press editorials
 Webinars
 Awards Nominations
Sponsor customer user groups
 Customers “in the loop” have better relationships with sales
 User groups allow you to demonstrate upsell potential
Create a Customer steering group
 Limited membership makes customers feel exclusive
 Customers with direct impact always feel more important
 Understanding customer requirements leads to success
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

13. Utilize sales throughout the product lifecycle
“Field experience can help you identify and develop new ideas”
new
ideas concept incubation product maturity
What are the Bounce new Get flagship Ramp up Leverage
gaps in the ideas & early sales. reference
marketplace validate adopters. Get customers.
today and in concepts Provide higher continual Adapt to
18 months? compensation feedback. emerging
trends.
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

14. Questions & Answers
Thank You
 Contact
 David Hickman
 ActivePortal Product Line Manager
 dhickman@tibco.com
 http://www.tibco.com
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary

15. Abstract
The sales team is one of the most critical success factors for a
product. The sales team touches the customer directly, and the
product manager must take responsibility to provide the sales
tools and attitude needed to ensure success. Smart companies
know that the information that comes back from the field is often
just as important as what you send out. Best practices that
encourage active participation between sales and product
management and marketing can give your products the necessary
edge in highly competitive technology markets.
© 2002 TIBCO, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary