Sales Intelligence Update - Why did CH2M Hill Select Sage Software?

We at Primary Intelligence found news from Sage Software about one of their recent product wins.

As curious as we are, we decided to find out why CH2M Hill chose Sage Software’s Timberline product over offerings from MC Squared, WinEstimator and U.S. Cost (Success).

In this opportunity, Sage Software replaced Microsoft Excel to create a company-wide solution. One of the primary decision-making factors in the outcome of this opportunity was the look and feel of the Timberline product, in addition to the proximity of the vendor:

Primary Intelligence: “What made you decide to go with Sage?”

CH2M Hill: “[The number one reason was] reliability… Its ease of use, number two. Its familiarity in look and feel, meaning you operate on a spreadsheet similar to Excel, and so it's kind of comfortable there. Also the fact that the dealership was local. The office that purchased the software was in Portland, and the dealership was also in Portland, as was the manufacturer. They're actually in Beaverton. Which…is about ten miles west of Portland. So there was close proximity to the manufacturer which helps in terms of support and just being close by was an advantage. MC Squared is out of Memphis, so there's obviously a time difference. They didn't have a local dealer present. So needing someone to come by on a moment’s notice and fix things was kind of out of the question.”

The other vendors have their work cut out when competing with Sage Software.

Do you want to find out why you win and lose and how your value proposition stacks up? Contact me personally and let’s see if our services at Primary Intelligence are a match. We might even give you a no-cost sample of our abilities based on your recent sales results. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

SAS Creates Repeat Sales Business with Tri-State

We at Primary Intelligence found news from SAS about one of their recent product wins.

As curious as we are, we decided to find out why Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association added to their SAS system rather than look at other vendors. Of course, SAS has done a great job of keeping their client happy over time and this satisfaction led to this sale:

"The reason why we went with BI is we have been using SAS for various types of reporting for pretty much thirty years. So we use it for a lot of ad hoc reporting, I use it to create finance reports for the power plants that we run. You know, invoicing for the participant owners of the power plant. Internal entries into the general ledger, so forth, so on like that. And so the reason why we wanted to go with the BI environment is we wanted to automate some of our reporting processes. Right now, it's very manual. People have to call me up and ask me for a report. We don't have any type of an online reporting system yet, so that's why we're hoping to use the BI environment for that."

Couple a client with specific needs with your solution and coat with a 25+ year history and you’re bound to be successful over the long run.

Do you want to find out why you win and lose and how your value proposition stacks up? Contact me personally and let’s see if our services at Primary Intelligence are a match. We might even give you a no-cost sample of our abilities based on your recent sales results. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

Competitive Intelligence Newsletter - When in Doubt, Use the Personal Touch

Please enjoy this week's edition of the newsletter. We are very happy to bring these thoughts on Sales and Competitive Intelligence to our readers. If you would like to subscribe, simply send me an email (newsletter@primaryintelligence.com) and we'll add you. You will receive a copy of the next edition.

Webinar Technical Difficulties
Yesterday, we attempted to host a webinar about making business change with intelligence. However, our conference call provider experienced a phone outage in the area code we were using for the organizer line. For those that were effected, please accept our apologies. We'll reschedule the webinar soon and send invitations to those that were interested. If any that read this blog are interested in the topic, email me and I'll add you to the list of invitees (cdalley@primary-intel.com)

Cover Story
When In Doubt, Choose the Personal Touch for Intelligence
By Lan Bui, Primary Intelligence
If you want to make sure that your intelligence is effective (in other words, that it provides the power to increase market share or create new market opportunities), you need to make the right decision... (For more, click here)

BlogCentral
Competitive Intelligence, Right Under Your Nose
The fact of the matter is that your customers know nearly as much about the competition as they do about you. They evaluated the competition before selecting you as their vendor. They are regularly courted by the competition and many of your best clients also have purchased from your competitors, either in the past or currently... (For more, click here)

The A-List Archive
How Salesforce.com Won a 1,500-Seat CRM Contract with Staples
Originally Published in Feb. 2005.
Based on concerns voiced by sales representatives, executives at Staples decided to reassess the Company's CRM solution and look at possible alternative solutions. Staples began by creating a short list of competitors that included Salesforce.com and Siebel Systems... (For more, click here)

Should You Always be Closing?

In a recent interview conducted with a current customer of our client, we found the following feedback about the ongoing relationship with the sales team:

“Each time they talk with a different person in my company, it always seems like they are trying to sell something else. You always get that sales aspect even though we've already passed that point. I would like them to be more personable and conversational, and deal with the reason we called the meeting. Let’s talk more about what we are trying to do as a company. If I don’t have any needs right now, don’t push me. When I do have a need, you’ll be the first one I call.”

While selling skills are always important, this example tells me that one must take care to be a trusted resource first, sales rep second.
Just a little lesson learned from feedback gathered

Industry-leading Companies Use Analytics to Beat the Competition

From a study/paper/book by Thomas H. Davenport called “Competing on Analytics”, an excerpt of the subject matter provides an idea of the ways that analytics and intelligence are being used in business processes, including the sales process:

“Companies questing for killer apps generally focus all their firepower on the one area that promises to create the greatest competitive advantage. But a new breed of organization has upped the stakes: Amazon, Harrah's, Capital One, and the Boston Red Sox have all dominated their fields by deploying industrial-strength analytics across a wide variety of activities. At a time when firms in many industries offer similar products and use comparable technologies, business processes are among the few remaining points of differentiation--and analytics competitors wring every last drop of value from those processes. Employees hired for their expertise with numbers or trained to recognize their importance are armed with the best evidence and the best quantitative tools. As a result, they make the best decisions.” (Buy the report here)

In sales, these analytics can start with reports and dashboards in the SFA, but these simply scratch the surface. Much like the New England Patriots use world-class analytics to predict the behavior of the competition in thousands of scenarios, sales management can increase their chances of being effective by studying dozens of variables that lead to success.

These variables range from optimal employee personality, competitor value propositions, client needs over time and current level of sales skills. And, of course, there are so many variables in-between.

What kind of power would you have at your disposal if you could say, “In light of the fact that our prospect is evaluating us against competitor x, we need to say these things, structure the deal like this and enlist the help of these three sales professionals to close this deal. If we do these things, we’ll increase our odds by 47%”?

It is possible to do this, but this level of analytics does not usually seem of interest to most people in the sales management role. While there is an element of mystics art to successful selling, selling is a process and a process can be optimized. And since sales lives in a continually changing world, that optimization has to be conducted continually.

Does Salesforce Provide Useful Sales Intelligence?

The question is interesting to consider. Does Salesforce provide useful sales intelligence? Does salesforce provide useful competitive intelligence? What can a sales professional learn from their interaction with Salesforce.com that will help him sell more effectively today and tomorrow?

As a Salesforce client, each member of our sales department is in and out of SF.com constantly. As a small company, we have had very good success at maintaining high levels of cooperation and our SF.com database is full of data.

Just like anyone else, we can slice, dice, segment, sub-segment, identify, plan, track and forecast. And, we have looked in the AppExchange for solutions to make our usage more effective.

But, I don't feel like our SFA makes us more effective in our selling. I mean, SF.com is a tool that tracks a lot of stuff, but doesn't improve our selling efforts, discover new markets or understand the competitive landscape much better.

And, I'm not really that disappointed about the whole situation, since SF.com is meant to be a powerful organizer of data, but not much else.

I want a solution that tells me how I can win a higher percentage of the upcoming deals in my pipeline. I want to be able to see when competitors are picking up speed and when we are increasing our competitive strength. I want a system that tells me where groups of sales reps might benefit from specific training.

I want intelligence that can be used to increase the overall effectiveness of my company's sales effort. And I don't see that in SF.com.

Now, if you know us (Primary Intelligence), you probably can figure out how I solve my problems. However, I would appreciate any suggestions or ideas from you on how you answer these questions.

Let me know. Post a reply or contact me at 801-838-9600 x5050, cdalley@primary-intel.com. I would like to know what you think.

Upcoming Webinar - The Sad Story of Intelligence that Never Made a Difference

Just wanted to let you know that I will co-host a webinar next week with one of my associates, Mike Brose. A summary of the webinar them follows:

While information provides the fuel for strategic direction, how often does yesterday's "can't miss" competitive intelligence initiative get lost in the shuffle of today's realities?

Overall, too many sales, competitive, and market intelligence initiatives are judged ineffective due to the fact that the intelligence is never used to increase sales, gain a competitive advantage, or capitalize on a new market opportunity.


Primary Intelligence would like to invite you to a presentation that will show:

Why competitive intelligence is often under-utilized

How to generate findings that actually makes a difference

How to start with the end in mind

Different methods to ensure that the intelligence will provide a guiding beacon.

Those that will benefit include:

Marketing leaders

Market research managers

Market and Industry analysts

Sales leaders

Corporate leadership positions (CEO, CMO, CSO)

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/162321711

If you have any questions, let me know (cdalley@primary-intel.com)

Competitive Intelligence Newsletter

In this issue, we attempt to cross the chasm between Sales and Marketing, make Competitive Intelligence part of your current VOC programs and show how a major technology deal was won.

Cover Story
The Bridge Between Sales and Marketing - Sales Intelligence
By Mike Brose, Primary Intelligence Inc.The conflict between sales and marketing is an age-old story that will probably never end. The misunderstanding between the two departments is often based on pride rather than collaboration and results. At its core, Marketing is more effective when its efforts bring qualified prospects to the sales organization. Sales wants nothing more than to close business... (For more, click here)

BlogCentral
Competitive Intelligence from Clients - What Should I Ask?
If you want to win more business, you have to take it from the competition. I know that's obvious, but generating competitive intelligence that actually helps you compete more effectively is a surprising low priority of too many companies (For more, click here)

The A-List Archive
How HP Canada Won a $10 Million Contract with Carleton University
Originally Published in June 2005.
To ensure that it could meet the needs of its students and research programs, Carleton University decided to upgrade its network infrastructure. From a list of 10 initial responses, the short list was narrowed to HP Canada and... (For more, click here)

If You Were Dating Your Prospect, Would You Make it to First Base?

As a practitioner of sales intelligence consulting, we at Primary Intelligence have the opportunity to observe the mentality (individual and collective) of the sales professionals that work for our clients.

In our experience, much time is spent trying to understand the company’s product, value proposition, sales strategy and competitive forces. And, this use of time is beneficial and productive.

However, knowing the prospects (individually and collectively) has proven to be the most important success indicator in successful selling of business solutions. You have to build a relationship, starting at acquaintances, moving through trusted friends and into a marriage of client/vendor.

How do relationships blossom? Think about how you have worked this question in your life. When you met a person with whom you wanted to become more intimately acquainted, did you spend time studying their house, friends, other available men/women in the area? Perhaps.

But, you probably spent more time listening to that person, understanding what is important to them, figuring out their point of view and matching those ideas with yours. And, the attention you paid to that person was probably rewarded with some form of reciprocation.

If you want prospects to let you into their world and take you seriously, CSO Insights offers a list of 10 questions that a prospect is asking of a vendor:

1. Do you know me?
2. Do we have a past?
3. Do you know my internal ecosystem?
4. Do you know my company?
5. Do you know my marketplace?
6. Do you know my competitors?
7. Do you have any special value-add?
8. Do you know why you are the best choice?
9. Do you know how I can justify the purchase?
10. Do you know what is changing as we work together?

I’ll guarantee you that the answers to these questions are much more meaningful than knowing who YOUR competitors are and tactics to sell against them.

Relationships really tend to take off when you start paying attention to the one in whom you are interested more than any external factor. It works in personal relationships. It works in business relationships. And, if you are planning a marriage of your company to theirs, you probably should spend the time and effort on the right things. External factors play a role, but you have to put the right amount of priority on everything.

Spend some time evaluating your ability to answer these questions about your key prospects. Think about how these answers might have changed over time for your key accounts. Are you more or less able to answer these questions now than you were 6 months ago?

And, if you have thoughts about these points, let me know. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

Do You Ask Your Sales Reps Why They Lose? Why?

A typical practice in sales organization is the post-sale debrief or "post mortem." This may occur in many different ways, ranging from a small questionnaire that is administered through the SFA when an opportunity is marked as a win or loss. Or, it may occur in person, between sales rep and manager.

But, why are you asking the sales rep why the client decided for or against the proposed solution? The sales rep wasn’t a decision-maker; only a facilitator. The decision-maker is sitting in the prospect’s office, with a head filled with the details that created a favorable/negative outcome based on your sales efforts.

In my experience, the only real opinion that matters is the one from the person that signed the check.

I’m not saying that sales reps don’t know anything. On the contrary, they know what they did and how they perceived the reaction to their presentations, responsiveness, relationship building, etc… But, that’s not enough for a department to make the most effective, consistent improvements.

If you are serious about improving your company’s sales performance, reach out and consistently talk to the prospects, post-decision.

I have heard of some companies that interview both the prospect and sales rep. What do they find out? Mostly, that their sales reps don’t see the situation in the same way as the prospects. At worst, it’s a case of “He said, she said,” which doesn’t really solve much either.

Talk to your prospects and clients. They will be the most effective voice for helping you sell the deals in the pipeline. If you don’t have time, hire Primary Intelligence. This is what we do. You won’t find any other company that has conducted more post-sales interviews. We interpret data and create improvement programs. (Shameless plug, but that’s life)

I have some ideas about the types of performance-enhancing questions to ask. Also, I can help you see how to gather competitive intelligence at the same time. Let me know how I can help. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

Competitive Intelligence - A Quantitative Evaluation of Your Sales Team's Performance

Every sales manager uses a grading system of some type for individual sales reps and the collective sales team. One of the most interesting measurements we have found is based on feedback from outside the organization. At Primary Intelligence, we let the prospects tell you how you are doing as a company. If the measurements are gathered consistently from enough sales opportunities, we have the ability to show you the strengths and weaknesses of your sales team in up to 30 different performance areas.

The table below shows a sample report from an actual client. The measurements are based on 30 opportunities where our client won and 30 where the prospect chose a competing vendor. (Click on the image below to enlarge)


It is important to note that these measurements are most effective for planning changes to tactics. Strategic insight would be better displayed through Primary Intelligence’s predictive analytics. You can email me about the analytics or read back through some older posts for more info.

Anyway, when reviewing scores like those above, the positives are your current competitive strengths and the negatives represent your overall weaknesses.

As a VP of sales, I would use this competitive/sales intelligence to show that overall, we need to emphasize our industry experience. I would also recommend that the company implement a program that helps sales reps understand the business of their prospects. These are both fairly simple to solve, require very little money, and have nothing to do with price.

Primary Intelligence could also bring some training to the table to develop the improvement plans and increase sales team effectiveness in these two areas of sales performance weakness.

Do you know what your prospects think of your performance? Maybe, it is time to ask. We can help you. We’ll show you how to do it and we’ll provide an end-to-end solution if you need one. I can give you details (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

Sales Intelligence – Elucidation on the Cognitive Aspect

I stumbled across a blog by Dr. Greg Chapman. In one of his entries, he quotes an article by Jim Prigg that contains some ideas on Sales Intelligence that I might not have otherwise considered.

While I usually think about sales intelligence as information that provides a competitive advantage or makes a sales individual more effective, Mr. Prigg talks about Sales Intelligence as a cognitive skill.

I’ll let you decide if this is useful for you. Personally, I enjoyed the different perspective.

What of the binding glue of Sales Intelligence in the world? This is indeed a rare ability to bring buyer and seller, protagonist and antagonist and
negotiator and purchaser together?

This unique skill is most evident in the sale of intangibles (insurance), concepts (wealth creation), ideas (aged care) and ideologiesSo often in our society academics, bureaucrats, legislators and consumerists fail to understand that there is a real demand for Sales Intelligence.

So often people don’t want to face reality and purchase the product that solves their problem. Case in point: Insurance. Yet our capitalist economy depends on it to keep the wheels of industry, commerce and society rolling.

Sales Intelligence is absolutely essential to the success of our corporate, business and personal life. Yet, scant regard is given to this skill by those who wish to frame our consumerist laws and social mores today.

Sales Intelligence draws its strength and resilience from across all the intelligences. Yet people who are illiterate, blindly ignorant, stubborn, deaf and dumb, devoid of analytically skills and numerically challenged can be make tremendous sales people. Perhaps that irks the intellectuals?

So what are some of the components of this Sales Intelligence?

Compassion.........................Solving problems
A competitive spirit...........Enthusiastically wanting to achieve
Empathy..............................Single minded focus to see as others do
Goals definition..................Rewards for effort
Emotional strength...........Record keeping
Self analysis.......................Skills practice
Call persistence.................Profitable productivity
Self belief............................A sense of humour
Resilience...........................Persistence
Diagnostic analysis..........Sharing

One of the remarkable things about Sales Intelligence is that you never stop learning. There are always new challenges and there is always a constant and universal demand for the skill.

Any other thoughts on the topic? If so, please share. (cdalley@primary-intel.com, 801-838-9600 x5050)

Sales / Competitive Intelligence – Know Thy Enemy

Anecdotally, you know who the competitors are around you. You have a pretty good idea of how often you run up against certain vendors. But, unless you actually quantify the landscape, you run the risk of being surprised by up-and-comers.

One of the things that we do at Primary Intelligence is help our clients identify their competition landscape. Over time, we show how the landscape is changing and how competitive situations may evolve into the future.

For example, in the case of a heath insurance provider, we collected data from their recent won and lost sales opportunities. Below, you’ll see a table of data, with all vendors’ names changed to provide confidentiality:


While our client expected to see National Health Coverage most of the time, they were surprised at the prevalence of Squirrels Health Plans. In the previous round of intelligence, we found that Squirrels was encountered in approximately 20% of the sales opportunities. The fact that this percentage had increased to 64% indicated a very big change in the competitive landscape.

Turns out, Squirrels was starting to win a larger percentage of the deals than before, too. The competitive threat level was increasing faster than anecdotal information or analyst recommendations could keep track. Without this type of view into the landscape, our client was destined to miss critical competitive warnings until the situation progressed too far. As it turned out, Primary Intelligence was able to use this intelligence as a jumping-off point and find out:

Why Squirrels was appearing so often

What they were offering to get into the same kind of deals as our client

How to combat their value proposition effectively and maintain existing accounts while selling more productively against them

While I will admit that intuition, experience and gut-feelings are important parts of the sales process, wise companies combined those factors with hard intelligence to apply resources to the most productive markets; no reason to be surprised when reasonable options exist.

If you need an idea of how this would work in your company, leave me a post, call (801-838-9600 x5050) or send an email (cdalley@primary-intel.com).