Competitive Intelligence

Tactical, Operational & Strategic Analysis of Markets, Competitors & Industries

Sales and Marketing Intelligence

Information

Sales and Marketing Intelligence

Sales and marketing are some of the best sources of CI, and are often overlooked. Let's share stories and best practices.

Members: 119
Latest Activity: Dec 2, 2021

Discussion Forum

Excellent Article: Knowing Why You Lose Won’t Always Help You Win: Sales and Marketing Intelligence

Started by Johannes Deltl. Last reply by Ellen Naylor Aug 4, 2014. 4 Replies

I recently came across an article written by Allen Armstrong, that I want to share with the Sales and Marketing Group. It questions the focus of many Win-Loss Programs (which are in general to much…Continue

Tags: win-loss

CI software that works with Salesforce.com

Started by Ellen Naylor Mar 7, 2014. 0 Replies

Hi,It's been a while since I posted on this forum. I was in school for the last year learning about health and nutrition, and am now a certified health coach. I ramble.I want to share a new software…Continue

Tags: salesforce.com, win loss analysis, sales intelligence, Compelligence, CI software

Getting Action from Win/Loss

Started by Ellen Naylor. Last reply by Marcel Brussee Aug 21, 2012. 1 Reply

This is just a short post, but it is something that frustrates me as a doer of win/loss analysis. I feel like customers and non-customers give us great intelligence and ideas on things we can fix and…Continue

Tags: actionable intelligence, make people accountable, win/loss analysis, win/loss

12 Tippers to Guarantee Your Success in Collecting Intelligence from Sales

Started by Ellen Naylor Feb 28, 2012. 0 Replies

Recently I gave a webinar for SCIP chapters in Mercyhurst and Ohio on how to capture competitive intelligence from Sales by using cooperative intelligence skills. I love serving Sales Reps since I…Continue

Tags: cooperative intelligence, ROI benefit, Mercyhurst, competitive intelligence, SCIP

Comment Wall

Comment

You need to be a member of Sales and Marketing Intelligence to add comments!

Comment by Ari Korpinen on September 25, 2010 at 1:02pm
Thank you, Ellen, for creating this Group and for the invitation to join. Before I write a more comprehensive post on the interface between Sales and Procurement departments in a business intelligence context, I would like to ask you Sales Intelligence professionals the question:

From your experience of Procurement departments in companies in which you have worked in a Sales capacity, what valuable information can the Procurement department give to the Sales department that the Sales department doesn't already get from other sources?

Best regards,
Ari
Comment by Andrew Beurschgens on September 24, 2010 at 1:36am
Sincere thanks again Ellen...take a bow, now on with the fun....great to see some recognised faces from closer to home (UK), friends and new acquaintances to be...thanks very much indeed....
Comment by Music Lover - SM on September 23, 2010 at 9:40am
Hi Ellen and Nimalan

That's the spirit

I've worked on sales also, then Head of Commercial Department, then Marketing Intelligence... now Marketing, Innovation and Information Management Teacher and CTI Researcher.
I felt the same as you... I knew it... they didn't bother... good for me... bad for the company... so bad!
Those stories are important to gain awareness.
Nice article and shared vision Ellen
Txs to both
More stories are most welcome
;O)

Sérgio
Comment by Ellen Naylor on September 23, 2010 at 9:26am
Here are some ideas for this group: we could start discussions around the pain points! The first one I am hearing is around getting sales to cooperate! This is often an issue and we are often impatient to get them to give to us. Like any other relationship, it doesn't happen overnight. It took me about 2 years to really get the process flowing since you have to build trust, and people are so busy that your competition for their time is a big deal too. They have to be convinced that you're worth their time.

I have found that treating Sales like my customer carries the day over time! You really have to give them something which they value before they're going to give to you. Your company's culture really determines what "games" you can play to gain Sales cooperation. In my experience getting them the tools they needed to win more deals, and being responsive like answering phone/emails quickly, won me as much respect as anything. Another thing I did was act as an intermediary from all our marketing staff who had their hands out for things they needed from Sales. Many needed the same stuff, so I would eliminate the number of calls and requests which Sales also appreciated. Here is an old, but timeless article on Capturing CI from Sales. You might seek others from SCIP's CI Mags. I know Steve Schulz wrote another since we used to speak on this at SCIP conferences, and I have a copy on my PC but can't post it since I'm not the author. Feel free to contact me off line if you want a copy.

Feel free to chime in and start other discussions aroud your pain points. Maybe others will have solutions and case studies. Another topic could be around gathering and analyzing CI from trade shows. Am off to art shows over the next 3 weekends, but I'll be in touch sporadically!
Comment by Nimalan on September 22, 2010 at 10:24pm
Nice to have this group. Having been in Sales before I moved into CI - I used to come across so much of competitive information which Marketing / top management never bothered to ask me about.. now working in Marketing (CI for some reason is slotted under marketing where I work) its the case of what Douglas Hartley describes.. pleading with Sales.. some of them are responsive but the vast majority of them are indifferent. If there is anyway to bridge this gap, I'd be more than happy to learn.
Comment by Douglas Hartley on September 22, 2010 at 11:55am
Marketing folks have been pleading with sales managers to collect intelligence from thier field personel for years. I have heard all kinds of excuses ranging from sales people are too busy (or should be) to managers don't have the time to fully evaluate what is going on in thier markets, too busy putting out fires. Should daily or weekly sales meeting have an established agenda item for a voice of the customer, before long much valuable information will be known and available for everyones benefit.
Comment by Music Lover - SM on September 22, 2010 at 10:34am
Hi Ellen and all the other group members
I couldn't agree more with your 'moto'.
When I was Head of commercial department in a Software Company here in Portugal, sometimes I was surprised to see that nobody in the Board seems to listen to what sales people say and write in their reports...
Working in the 'terrain' allows a lot of intelligence that you can't get from articles or books. Simply because it's a very fast change environment that sometimes makes us win business proposals that, otherwise, will go to our competitors.
With some training, salesforce can be a major source of intelligence and sometimes we think of them just as someone to show leaflets and close deals.
Well, at least here works a bit like that, although there are some changes now.
I think that the in-house CI or Marketing Intelligence dept. is a great resource but they must go out with the people that visit and talk to clients to get some insights that allows them to make better decisions related to: new product development, communication to the right publics, innovation in distribution and product benefits, and so on.
MY IDEA IS:
- If someone in the group has some great casestudy of what happened in their company to share, I will be very pleased to work that in my classes with my Marketing students in the University to prepare them to take measures when they go to work 2, 3 years from now. Knowing the best examples is good to change mindsets.
All the best for you and all the people in the group
Sérgio
Comment by Claudia Clayton on September 22, 2010 at 10:11am
Great idea, Ellen! Let me know if there is anything I can do -- best, Claudia
Comment by Miguel Duarte Ferreira on September 22, 2010 at 3:49am
Great idea and initiative! How do you suggest we start sharing our experiences? Thank you.
Comment by Gary Lim on September 22, 2010 at 3:37am
Good on you, Ellen, to start this group. Sales and Marketing are a great source of information as the people are generally gregarious people.
 

Members (119)

 
 
 

Free Intel Collab Webinars

You might be interested in the next few IntelCollab webinars:

RECONVERGE Network Calendar of Events

© 2024   Created by Arik Johnson.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service