Software Team – Page 7 – Management Events

July 9, 2020

Enterprise Architecture, The Agile Way!

Agile Architecture; what is it and why is it the new way to help your business grow?

In the early 1990s, people felt the need to break with the traditional “waterfall method”. They began a search for more practice-oriented ways to deliver software, which over the years led to Agile development.

Agile spread around the world and has had a huge impact on how organizations are structured and how they transform towards the future. The big challenge now is to stay in control over your organization’s transformation in this rapidly changing and flexible environment.

EA Goes Agile

The mapping out of the entire organization and recording, maintaining, using and improving information to support transformation usually takes a long time. But organizations need to be able to change faster and in shorter cycles in order to keep up with the speed of innovation nowadays.

So how can we keep Enterprise Architecture (EA) relevant and valuable in this fast changing world?

By combining Agile and Architecture.

This allows you to change in a more structured and secured way. It reduces risk, as well as increases the business impact you make by better aligning the projects with strategy. You work towards a centralized repository in which the current situation has been completely worked out. From there, you can start working in a structured way on the future desired state, which is based on decentralized investment, and not yet fully determined, so it can change along the way.

The future state is separated into fragmented bits, created throughout the organization, and is orchestrated by the architect into a whole in the central Enterprise Architecture Management Repository.

This means that the stakeholders can directly contribute to the current state architecture. It also means the architecture has to be fully integrated with Project (Portfolio) Management, Change Management, and with Business Process Management, Application (Portfolio) Management and Data Management, resulting in operational stakeholders taking responsibility for their changes. It is important that this can be done easily and quickly in everybody’s own language.

The Architect Becomes A Director

The Enterprise Architect now orchestrates teams of specialists responsible for the operation and monitors if projects meet the requirements from the set frameworks of conditions, principles and guidelines that fit the organization. He/she orchestrates the progress of projects in multiple phases or sprints.

The Enterprise Architect is now responsible for making sure all projects deliver products that contribute to the organization’s objectives while being in harmony with each other (aligned operation & strategy). Projects are delivered in the short term, while always keeping the long-term objective in mind.

And this requires close collaboration with the executive teams of the organization: In what direction is our organization heading? How do the changes in both our internal and external environment influence our strategy? How can we constantly adapt to these changes?

In an Agile Architecture driven organization, the architect presents decision-ready scenarios to the executive board, so that strategy can be adapted not on a yearly basis, but on a weekly or monthly basis, while heading towards the projected goals for that year.

With Agile Architecture, the focus is much more on a strategic level; managing the details is distributed to the people familiar with and responsible for those details; mostly in the operation. The architect is more a director and is closer to the teams that implement the projects.

The architect will work together more with these teams in order to keep track of the situation and the transformation and to make sure that nobody deviates too far from the set principles and guidelines, while constantly being open to improvements and adaptations.

In order to be able to integrate all those project architectures with your Enterprise Architecture, you need the right tooling.

BlueDolphin is a collaboration platform in which the various stakeholders can easily work on different projects, all in their own way and in their own language, while constantly contributing to the central repository.

BlueDolphin helps map out the current situation and displays the road to the future by providing an understanding of the current situation.

The power of BlueDolphin is that you can facilitate all those different roles on the same knowledge platform. The information is aligned within one central repository, and can be dynamically visualized in such a way that it’s understood by every stakeholder in the organization, allowing everyone to work from one and the same up-to-date ‘reality’. This saves a great deal of time and reduces the need for endless communication.

This way, you can use Agile Architecture to make your organization much more flexible and resilient at the same time.

July 1, 2020

Dr Gero Decker: The Path To Customer Experience Excellence

With today’s increased focus on customer experience (CX), it’s hard to believe that customers were once seen as an afterthought to products.

But business process management (BPM) software vendor, Signavio, has long understood the importance of client satisfaction, building services around their ‘passion’ statement: Create products that people love to use.

Deep diving into the customer-centricity of Signavio, Co-Founder and CEO Dr Gero Decker shares with Management Events on the characteristics of a client-oriented organization and the aspects of customer experience excellence.

A SNIPPET OF SIGNAVIO

Offering solutions such as BPM tech, RPA and ERP since 2009, Signavio has been constantly recognized for their exceptional services.

Some notable awards and rankings include 2018 Inc. 5000 Europe, Deloitte Technology Fast 50 for 3 years, 2015 EY Founders Ranking, and the BPM2ThePeople Award for their BPM project with the daycare centre, Kita Am See Großbettlingen.

DEFINING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

“Concentrate on the areas that can have the greatest effect
on customer experience.”

There are many factors that contribute to customer satisfaction, from the company’s culture and staff capabilities to the processes and systems of the organization. For Signavio, what defines customer experience?

“All of these factors play a role in customer experience,” Dr Decker (picture left) relates. “Of course, some things are beyond the control of individual employees or companies. Just look at the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“That’s why it’s essential to concentrate on areas that can have the greatest effect on customer experience, often for a relatively low effort,” he discloses.

“Focus on your customer journey, including all the interactions, moments of truth and emotions. Then, concentrate on your processes that deliver against that journey.”

“Your capabilities and systems flow from this strong foundation, which then work together to reinforce a customer-centric approach, and help your company culture move from customer service to customer excellence.”

ESSENTIAL CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CHARACTERISTICS

“Build lasting relationships that are more than mere interactions.”

With customer satisfaction becoming an increasing differentiator among businesses, organizations are focusing on effective CX strategies to gain competitive advantage.

In fact, according to Gartner, two thirds of surveyed marketing leaders state that they are “currently competing partly or mainly on the basis of customer experience.” But what makes an organization truly customer-centric?

“It’s all about building lasting relationships, which are more than mere interactions: it’s about trust,” Dr Decker emphasizes. “The only way to ensure success is to reorient everything your business does around the customer.”

He further stresses how employees are an integral part of executing a successful customer journey and helping to improve customer experience.

“Does everyone in your organization know
what the company’s customer-oriented goals and objectives are?”

“Do they understand what they do and how they do it impacts the customer? Do they have access to all the information they need to serve the customer immediately?”

“And, crucially,” Dr Decker questions, “do they have the authority and ability to solve problems as they arise, without constant checks for permission?”

“If your answer to all these is ‘yes’, then you’re probably well on the way to becoming a customer-centric organization. If your answer is ‘no’, your customer experience efforts are likely too disconnected from your operational excellence efforts to be genuinely effective.”

CREATING A SEAMLESS CUSTOMER JOURNEY

“You need a ‘single source of truth’.”

Today, businesses are using multiple platforms to communicate and market to their target audience. But if the company doesn’t have a proper customer journey map in place, the omnichannel experience can be inconsistent and unsatisfactory.

Based on industry research, over 70% of customers see experience as a key part of their purchasing decision, but many of them state that companies deliver only an ‘ok’ experience.

Other research found that a high majority of customers expect consistent interactions across channels. So how can organizations provide a steady and seamless customer experience?

“Beyond the potent combination of process mining with CJM technology,” Dr Decker shares, “the most important capability to deliver a seamless customer experience is clear communication across your business.”

“This is not only with the customers themselves, but internally.”

“You need a ‘single source of truth’, a standard that is understood by all staff, and delivered consistently no matter where and how customers interact with your business.”

“At the same time,” he informs, “a common understanding of “how we do things” will allow for clearer communication within your business, and give customer-focused staff and projects a solid foundation.”

“Enabling widespread communication means leaders can pull insights from across their organizations, and make more informed decisions that will ultimately benefit the customers.”

CONNECTING CUSTOMER FOCUS & OPERATIONS

“Companies need to bring together the Customer Experience practice
with their Operational Excellence efforts.”

The interaction between people and businesses has roots all the way to the pre-industrial revolution, when relationship-building was simple and a loyal customer base was typical of every business.

While CX has a much broader meaning today, what is truly new about building client relations and customer experience excellence?

“Indeed, customer experience is not a new topic,” Dr Decker agrees, “But what is different now is that companies realize that they need to bring together the Customer Experience practice with their Operational Excellence efforts.”

“As Kasper Rorstedt, the CEO of adidas, said:
Customer Experience is not just about a sexy front-end
but equally as much about great processes.”

“By viewing customer-centric imperatives through the lens of operational excellence, the connection between customers, their touchpoints, and your underlying business processes is always visible and traceable.”

“In other words,” he explains, “to succeed in becoming truly customer-centric, we must connect our business processes directly to the drive to delight customers.”

“This means refreshing our way of thinking about interactions, and focusing on deep changes down to the process level.”

“Being able to manage and fill process gaps across an entire company lays the groundwork for leadership to clearly understand the necessary changes for improved customer relationships.”

TOWARDS INTELLIGENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

“Digital plays a critical role in retrieving customer data.”

Since the explosion of big data and digital technologies, industries from retail to healthcare have been utilizing analytics and adopting intelligent innovations to improve their customer experience.

As Dr Decker proclaims, “We have much more data available to understand our customers. On a daily basis, we can see customer behavior changing, sentiments going up or down, and the effects of changes that we implement in our processes.”

But how does digital capabilities and smart technologies help in delivering great customer experience?

“Digital plays a critical role in retrieving relevant data,” Dr Decker elaborates.

“On top of that, intelligent technology allows us to implement more customer touchpoints than ever.”

“Twenty years ago, the webshop was a big novelty, allowing customers to get informed and place orders 24/7. Now, almost all touchpoints can be automated, for instance through apps, in-product messaging and conversational interfaces.”

“The big realization these days, however, is that technology not only provides for a great user interface to the customer but that it is at least as critical for providing smooth and fast operations in the background.”

The findings from an IDC research further confirms Dr Decker’s point, which found that a majority of CEOs are shifting their focus to more modern and digital strategies to deliver better experiences to their customers.

SIGNAVIO’S CX APPROACH

“Customer experience is not simply a project; it’s the way we do business.”

Every company has their own unique CX strategy, and the recent coronavirus outbreak has brought significant changes in customer behaviour, pushing businesses to re-emphasize their customer relations.

But for Signavio, customer experience has always been a top priority.

“We pride ourselves on offering a customer experience second to none, and high levels of satisfaction to our own customers,” Dr Decker expresses. “For us—as it should be for all organizations—customer experience is not simply a project; it is the way we do business.”

“We closely track customer engagement, success and relationship health so that we can proactively influence the relationships we have with our customers, and rally everyone on the team behind the important moments of truth for our customers.”

“For us, now more than ever is the time to maintain customer trust, and work to add customer value while communicating with empathy.”

To support businesses during these trying times, Signavio is offering a free 30-day trial of their all-in-one Business Transformation Suite that helps optimize business processes and drive intelligent transformation.

From real-time insights to quick operational change, the Business Transformation Suite offers customers continuous improvements and efficiency to their daily business tasks.

June 30, 2020

Post-COVID-19 Survey H2: The New Normal

COVID-19 has led to unprecedented changes in socio-economic conditions globally. Organizational priorities have reformed across the board, with key objectives and focus areas being re-strategized for the post-COVID-19 environment.

Management Events sought how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the European business community and what restrictions have been implemented for the second half of the year to ensure business continuity. These surveys reflect the views of almost a thousand EU delegates and solution providers that joined us in transitioning from physical to virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the responses.

The results show that at least 70% of the respondents will not be attending any external or physical events, despite companies not setting a clear policy.

As the health crisis continues, studies predict an increased demand for virtual event platforms. At Management Events, we strive to broaden your network by connecting your business to 20,000 top decision-makers and 2,500 solution providers. Join us at our upcoming virtual events.

Blanket bans among the EU Member States against international traveling have been in effect since the first half of the year 2020. The survey results show that over 80% indicated their organization placed restrictions against international business traveling. Consequently, ICAO estimates a record-breaking -62% decline in world passenger traffic.

Interests in international traveling increased as the situation seemed to improve in September. However, the infection rates rose again, resulting in a dip that is consistent with the resurgence of cases. Employees are encouraged to work from home as much as possible and only meet physically or work from the office on crucial matters.

June 22, 2020

Business Continuity: How Industries Are Adapting To A Post-COVID-19 World

As countries ease restrictions and lockdowns, organizations are taking strategic steps to recover their business and revenue streams.

From the high adoption of virtual reality by the property industry to the increase of AR in retail, companies are accelerating change in many aspects of their business as part of their business continuity plan.

But first, what is a business continuity plan?

The Basics of Business Continuity

Every organization has a framework called business continuity management, or BCM, which identifies potential external and internal threats that can threaten the company.

Consisting of disaster recovery, crisis management, contingency planning and business continuity planning, BCM enables the company to effectively respond to an event and ensure the operation of critical business functions.

Business continuity planning (BCP) outlines protocols and procedures that ensure the continued functionality of the business during and after a crisis.

BCP often gets mixed up with disaster recovery, but the two are quite different. Disaster recovery involves the “recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure, systems and applications” while BCP covers all aspects of the business, including human resources, infrastructure, technology, contracts, and communication.

Designing a business continuity plan requires extensive steps, from business impact analysis and recovery strategies to plan development and testing. For examples of building a BCP, view this template by Sitel or Lumiform’s business continuity plan template for IT.

Recovery Steps After The Outbreak

Many businesses are still reeling from the effects of the lockdowns. But most are tackling the challenges by implementing innovative changes, which may become permanent fixtures of their processes.

Digital Transformation In The Property Industry

The real estate and property industry faced a big blow due to the coronavirus. Not only were there bans on open houses and limited viewings, there were also less people buying properties due to the economic situation.

“Market activity will be lower in the next couple of months. I won’t be surprised if sales activity could be down 30% or even 40% in the next few months.”

– Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors (NARS)

in Yahoo Money

Still, the sector is taking things in stride, shifting to online real estate transactions and digital closings.

For instance, New York real estate companies set up remote closing processes, including electronic notarization, e-signing, live video conferences, and money transfers for their transactions.

In Hong Kong and Singapore, virtual tours and viewings have become “a megatrend” that is accepted among buyers and agents alike. In fact, Hong Kong’s largest property agency, Centaline Property Agency, stated that virtual reality property videos helped to generate HK$100 million in April.

Additionally, online marketing is seeing more emphasis in the industry with the rising utilization of digital marketing automation, chatbots social media, and email marketing.

The New Manufacturing Normal

According to Statista, manufacturing shares the spot for the topmost coronavirus-impacted sector with the travel industry, seeing a severe impact on personnel, operations, supply chain and revenue.

On the upside, COVID-19 is the impetus that’s pushing traditional manufacturing ecosystems to be more agile, flexible and digitally enabled. As mentioned in a Forbes article, the sector is expected to experience five years of innovation in the next 18 months with high adoption of technologies.

Automation is set to be a top technology investment as manufacturers look to move their productions on-shore or near-shore. While off-shoring provides low labor and productivity costs, IndustryWeek believes that the advancement of robotics and automation “have drastically increased productivity across a number of manufacturing processes [which] can be easily reshored and deployed domestically].”

Aside from manufacturing processes, automation is also being utilized for task and order processing. For instance, IBM used an automated order management system to help a global manufacturer of contact lenses to maintain its supply chain continuity during the outbreak.

Internet of Things (IoT) is another manufacturing technology that is predicted to gain traction with a projected growth of up to USD 136.83 billion by 2026. The rise in IoT will in turn bring higher demand for a faster, more stable network, such as Vodafone’s Mobile Private Network (MPN) solution.

Digitized Retail Sector

The retail landscape, on the other hand, saw a boost in e-commerce and digital marketing as movement restrictions drove more retailers online.

Retail giant, Majid Al Futtaim, accelerated their online strategy by launching the e-commerce channel, carrefouruae.com. With more than 250,000 products, the online marketplace saw a ten-times increase in sales over a period of 10 weeks with average daily orders of 1,300.

China alone recorded online retail sales of $360 billion in the first four months of 2020, an 8.6% increase compared to the same period in the previous year. It’s evident that the upsurge of sales is not just limited to online grocery sellers, but expands to non-food e-tailers too.

“[T]here will be a further acceleration in the digital transformation of the retail sector, with the pandemic encouraging more people [to] experience online shopping.”

– Hou Yi, Freshippo CEO & Alibaba Group Vice President,

in FoodNavigator-Asia

Another expected post-COVID-19 retail trend is the use of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), with the latter predicted to record $8 billion investment within the retail sector by 2024.

Shopify is a prime example of successful AR implementation, which saw a 250% increase in conversion rates after allowing its sellers to add 3D models. As for AI, My Beauty Matches uses algorithms to simplify consumers’ shopping experience by suggesting items from 400,000 products based on their past searches and purchases.

Other retailers, including ASOS, are also maximizing the benefits of these two technologies to thrive in the post-coronavirus world.

Online Security Concerns

As companies extend remote working to ensure business continuity, security risks have shifted from the fortified corporate landscape to the more vulnerable off-site areas. And cybercriminals are using that to their advantage.

According to a survey by Barracuda and Censuswide, among global businesses that are working remotely:

46% have encountered at least one cyber security scare
51% witnessed a rise in email phishing attacks
49% expect a data breach or other threats in the coming month

However, contrary to expectations, cyber security spending is forecast to drop for the rest of 2020. Gartner, which predicted an 8.7% growth in cyber security for 2020, revised the value down to 2.4% while Barracuda revealed that 40% of surveyed businesses have cut their cyber security budgets to save costs.

Chief Technology Officer of Barracuda, Fleming Shi, calls the cost-cutting measure a bad move, seeing as more than half of the workforce is not properly trained to handle cyber attacks.

On another note, Gartner foresees an increase in cloud security, which is in agreement with Barracuda’s finding that 53% of businesses are moving their data to cloud-based models. Unfortunately, almost 85% of IT professionals expressed concerns about the vulnerabilities of remote cloud environments.

In an interview with Digital Journal, Chris DeRamus, the Vice President of Technology, Cloud Security Practice at DivvyCloud by Rapid7, mentioned that “Nearly 50 percent of developers and engineers bypass cloud security and compliance policies,” citing Zoom’s bypassing of common security features as an example.

To strengthen cloud security, he believes that engineers should “tackle cloud security flaws earlier in the build pipeline”, and further states that cloud identity and access management (IAM) will see a greater emphasis in the near future.

The above are just a few examples that show the beginnings of major shifts in various industries as organizations strive to recover from the outbreak effects and ensure business continuity.

As the year moves into the second half, there will undoubtedly be more innovation investments ahead, and more companies will be looking for better and more sustainable solutions.

June 2, 2020

Creating Lasting Impressions with CxOs: Closing Sales in the Digital Space

As digital transformation is solidified, business leaders and salespeople are making the best of both virtual and physical spaces for their professional dealings. In fact, HubSpot found that 63% of sales leaders believe that virtual sales meetings are just as or more effective than face-to-face meetings. On the customer side, 75% of B2B customers prefer remote sales interactions over face-to-face, according to McKinsey.

So, while the age-old skill of reading body language to gauge interest levels and finishing a meeting with a firm handshake can still play a part in your in-person sales meetings, the virtual space holds just as much promise.

McKinsey predicts that hybrid sales strategies will dominate by 2024, meaning that salespeople need to continue honing their in-person skills while building up further virtual communication capabilities to ensure success.

As a salesperson, how can you leverage the best of both worlds to make a lasting impression with CxOs and successfully close deals in a digital space?

1. Network

The fundamental tool of any salesperson, networking has evolved in recent years to encompass both physical and virtual events. The refinement of virtual networking has rapidly solved the issue of distance for many professionals, enabling the creation of vibrant digital communities where people can make connections, work together, and share knowledge regardless of location.

Getting involved in different LinkedIn groups, for example, can be beneficial when trying to establish a network of people in specific industries or shared interests. They’re already in the same space, ready to connect with you. This greatly increases the quality of contacts you can make and allows the easier establishment of relationships.

Virtually networking also presents a larger opportunity to network with executives who are farther away – allowing you to break into newer markets – and communicate on the go. The digital space gives salespeople the opportunity for a more targeted approach to networking.

Having said that, it’s important nowadays for salespeople to learn how to bring digital connections into the real world. For example, you could attend in-person networking events and connect with prospects that you’ve already linked with online. Meeting face-to-face after establishing a virtual connection is a great way to strengthen that professional relationship. The same can be done and vice versa – where you meet a prospect in-person and continue to strengthen that relationship in the digital space via LinkedIn or follow-up emails.

Adopt a multichannel approach to networking.

2. Be Active in Insights Sessions

More and more businesses are offering online events now that allow participants from across the globe or a specific target region to come together in a virtual space. From panels to forums, trend discussions, and knowledge sharing by experts – these are all excellent spaces for salespeople to not only keep up with the latest trends in their market but also to meet prospects.

Of course, there’s no point in attending these virtual events if you’re not going to participate and be heard. As a salesperson, you need to make an impression. When you’re in a virtual space where you are either a tiny little box on someone’s screen or not even visible in the session, the only way to stand out is to speak up. Ask questions, offer insights, and talk about your own experiences where relevant.

Being engaged in insights sessions with prospects is a surefire way to get yourself noticed. This will translate to prospects remembering you and therefore being more open to talking to you. That’s a foot in the door. From there, you’re free to work your sales charm and get a meeting!

This can look like connecting with other attendees on LinkedIn who were vocal during the session by commenting on their questions or insights. Share your thoughts on what they said and start building a relationship with potential new prospects.

3. Be An Excellent Listener

Once you’ve connected with a prospect and secured a meeting, you must continue bringing your A-game. As a seasoned salesperson, you understand the value of listening during a sales call. Online, you won’t have the ability to properly read body language. This leaves you with the alternative of clear and precise communication which can only be achieved with active listening. When you listen to your prospect with empathy, you will be able to ask the right open-ended questions to generate better discussions in your sales meetings.

At the end of the day, people want to buy from those they trust and who they feel care about their well-being, understand their pain points, and actively seek to alleviate their concerns. This is the same both offline and online. Work at creating a lasting and memorable impression of yourself as a valuable business asset to your clients, not as a salesperson.

Once you learn to effectively build trust by asking the right questions and matching their answers to your solutions, you’ll find that deals will flow like wildfire even during trying times.

Check out our 5 Virtual Sales Meetings Tips to help you impress CxOs at your next meeting.

4. Maintain Confidence

Confidence in sales, whether face-to-face or online, will always stand to have the most chance of securing a deal. As businesses start to emerge on the other side of a pandemic – and are navigating an accelerated digital transformation wave – it is natural to uncertain in unchartered waters. CxOs may be more cautious with their investments and business strategy. As a salesperson, your job is to try and cut through that hesitance.

An effective way to maintain your confidence is to plan out your meeting agendas and have a strong closing prepared when networking or during sales meetings. A well-thought-out closing strategy will help greatly in calming your nerves and being prepared for both expected and sudden client situations.

As per The Ultimate Guide To Closing The Sale by Resourceful Selling, be a top seller by “remaining upbeat, even when dealing with pessimistic prospects.”

“[Top sellers] don’t feel bad for themselves, even when a sale fails to close. They maintain enthusiasm by repeating positive affirmations to themselves, such as, ‘I will close the sale because I have the best product.’”

For a further boost on how to ensure a successful virtual meeting with a senior prospect, check out our article on 7 Tips To Rock Your Virtual 1-to-1 CXO Meetings.

5. Be Prepared to Handle Objections

You are probably familiar with objections. Facing these online can seem daunting, given the lack of body language cues and the ability to turn on your sales charm for prospects. However, learning to handle sales objections online can save you a lot of grief and time.

A key factor in successfully turning around objections is to be prepared for them, especially since virtual meetings with prospects tend to be short. However, the added benefit of virtual spaces is that you can instantly pull up relevant information, stats, or case studies to address unexpected objections. Did your prospect ask a question you weren’t expecting? No problem. You can immediately look up the right information during the call to address their objection and turn it around.

Embrace sales objections as part of the process and take it as a chance to nudge your prospects along their journey. Be on their radar to ensure visibility and make sure to follow up – with an email, perhaps with an in-person meeting to demonstrate your solutions in more detail.

Read our article on How to Handle & Turn Around Sales Objections for more insights and tips.

“It’s not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.” – Patricia Fripp, executive speech coach and sales presentation skills trainer.

In Conclusion

We are firmly in the new normal and online meetings have become permanent fixtures in most organizations. Mastering the hybrid sales strategy means finding ways to leverage both in-person and virtual spaces to your advantage. Focus just as much on perfecting your skills in virtual meetings as converting your digital connections into the real world. Effective and efficient communication, especially, is a key differentiator that can significantly separate you from your competitors in creating a lasting impression among CxOs, closing sales, and enhancing your brand in the digital space.

May 14, 2020

4 Actionable Steps After An Online Meeting

After a successful online meeting with a C-suite, it is time to keep on working towards your business development goals. If you think that once the meeting has taken place then there is nothing left to do, think again! Pair your prospects with proper follow-up(s) and you’ll increase your chances of success.

A well-planned follow up not only complements your initial success from the meeting but also paves the way for subsequent actions. Check these 4 actionable steps that you can take to successfully follow-up with a prospect after a meeting at an online space.

1. Meet with your team

Within the next 24 hours after a successful online meeting has occurred, you need to discuss with your team. Take time to review everyone’s notes and group them into themes. The main strategy of B2B sales is prioritizing each theme and analyzing how they connect with the C-suite’s objectives.

Together, you should create a list of the themes you created. Organize them according to the C-suite’s priorities or timeline-based. Determine who will be responsible for what within your organization and when it can be delivered.

This online meeting will also allow you and your team to exchange feedback for future internal sales meetings. There is always room for improvement and learning.

2. Send a note or email to the C-suite you networked with

“CEOs are human beings, and therefore are, in a way, just like you — they’ve just had a different set of experiences in their careers”, Polly Sumner, Chief Adoption Officer, Salesforce.

Immediately after discussing with your team, it is vital to contact the C-suite you networked with. Particularly in B2B sales, this is something that should also take place within the next 24 hours after your online meeting with the prospect and it can be something as simple as a note or an email.

Start this communication by reminding them who you are and what you have talked about briefly. Then, thank them for their time, support, and/or participation. Continue with the list of themes that you developed and organized with your team. Include also who will be responsible for each of the tasks and follow-ups on your side and ask who will respond from their team, if you do not know already.

You can close the email or note with a commitment to deliver the status of each theme, as you previously discussed privately with your team. Thank the C-suite again and send it.

Be careful not to make the email or note too casual and with a lack of focus. Consider the client’s needs and be as concise as possible.

3. Be prepared to meet again soon

Even if you’re a novice at B2B sales meetings, it’s always better to be prepared. Whether it is for following up on the project or discussing new ideas, conditions, or details, a new meeting could likely happen at any time.

Therefore, it is important to make sure that you know all of the intricate details of the project you are discussing, its status, and any other information that can be useful. Having all of the data will make you look very professional and it will also show respect for the C-suite’s time.

4. Connect on LinkedIn

After you send the follow-up email, do connect with the client on LinkedIn (if you haven’t already). This will allow you to further strengthen your professional relationship.

Contacting and meeting constantly with C-suite executives may seem intimidating at first, but it is something that requires practice. If you prepare well and do a proper and professional follow-up after an online meeting, the chances for success increase. Take every opportunity as a lesson for both your personal and professional journey and always do your best.

“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end”– Abraham Lincoln.

May 13, 2020

How To Find C-Suite Prospects Online

Sales and marketing professionals often deal with clients and their representatives who, more often than not, have little decision power. And after all the negotiations and verbal agreements, you hear them say that they’ll need some time to present the deal to their supervisors.

And then there are moments when you lose the contact and end up having to start from scratch, which can be extremely frustrating. Going through the motions of finding that contact again can cost you precious time that could have been better spent on getting another client.

This is why it’s important to be able to quickly identify and prospect the right C-suite executive, thus improving your chances of sealing the deal.

Prospecting Top-Level Clients For B2B Sales

Usually, for B2B sales, C-suite executives have the final decision power as they are the ones who’ll be cutting the paycheck. However, thinking that a C-suite will always agree for a meeting with you is impractical. You have to smartly identify high-level clients in the deal and work to get them included in the negotiation process. In this article, we’ll look at some of the ways you can identify and connect with key clients online.

1. Be prepared and know what you’re offering

The first step you should take in online prospecting is to be well-versed in your product. Knowing your solution in minute detail will not only prepare you for all lines of product questions, but it will also help you to identify the right top executive for your particular product.

This is especially true for products that are made solely for a single department or function, where you need to identify the correct client for the product or you’ll end up wasting your efforts.

As C-suites are a busy group, it’s hard to get them to agree for a short online meeting. So when you do get the chance to connect with them, you need to utilize it to the fullest and be quick on your feet. Thus, having complete knowledge of the product is necessary for effectively capturing your prospect’s attention and making a lasting impression.

2. Identify decision makers by their common qualities

As you become more experienced in the sales environment, you’ll learn to identify decision makers by some of their common qualities. Certain aspects, such as their title or tenure, can give you a clearer picture of their decision-making power. And with more and more business leaders having online profiles on professional networking platforms, finding the right prospect for your solution is easier than before.

A surefire way of identifying decision makers is through LinkedIn. Using the site’s proprietary search filters and common connection feature, you can search for anyone in an organization and access their information like their titles and role in a company.

To further narrow your prospecting search, you can also view the business networking groups or online discussion boards that your target clients are participating in. These can provide valuable insights in their business needs and objectives that may be related to your product or the pain points that your solution can solve.

3. Know everything about the company

Identifying your prospects is not the end of your prospecting. Once you have confirmed your target client, you need to learn as much as possible about their company. From the organizational chart to the firm’s mission and industry trends, the more research you perform on the company, the more targeted and in-depth your sales pitch will be.

Especially in B2B sales, knowing the industrial needs and challenges your prospect faces can guide you in generating a personalized sales pitch that better fits your targeted prospect’s objectives. With ample online news portals and market research platforms available, be sure to read up on the latest news and trends of your prospect’s organization and industry.

Understanding the organizational structure will also help you to pinpoint other decision makers that might be involved in a sales purchase. Certain major business decisions may involve multiple stakeholders so be sure to include this possibility in your prospecting strategy to prevent any surprises or hiccups in your sales process.

4. Don’t be afraid to use your connections

In a B2B environment, the biggest resource for increasing prospects is the existing customer pool, which lets you identify and meet C-suite executives more effectively. Data indicates that having a referral can significantly increase your chances of getting a meeting with a B2B prospect by 50%. With a strong referral, you’ll know exactly who the actual decision makers are and can approach them with complete confidence.

Professional referrals are not the only way to approach a potential C-suite client. Dorie Clark, the author of ‘Reinventing You’ believes that finding a common friend can significantly increase your credibility. “When a friend makes the introduction, the person you want to meet will view you as a colleague, someone like them, rather than a stranger impinging on their time,” says Clark.

In LinkedIn, for instance, you can easily see if you are connected to your prospect through a 1st-degree contact. Whether your connection is a mutual friend or a business associate of your target client, that extended connection can be utilized as a starting point to building relations.

5. Work your way up

More often than not, the people that will help you identify your prospect are the gatekeepers and assistants. In addition to being the trusted resource of a C-suite, these gatekeepers and personal assistants can be a great source of information for you. This is another way how the organizational chart and profiles of company employees can prove useful in your prospecting.

For example, when viewing the LinkedIn profile of your prospects, take note of other company staff that they are connected to and keep an eye on their job title. Employees with titles such as Executive Assistant or Secretary usually work closely with the C-suites, and can aid in connecting you with your prospect.

By building a rapport with them, you’ll be able to find out more about the responsibilities and the strategies of the decision makers. You’ll also be able to use that information to identify the correct decision makers and take pointers on how to keep the C-suite engaged during a meeting.

6. Don’t be afraid to ask questions

Finally, remember that it’s alright to ask questions from your point of contact in the organization.

Everyone likes to show outsiders that they are important but it can be insensitive (and more importantly, unprofessional!) to ask someone if they are the decision maker in the company. However, you can be smart about it and extract the information you need through other means.

When prospecting for your client, and once you have established a closer relationship, you can ask questions in your online chats and meetings like ‘What does your supervisor expect from this transaction?’ or ‘How long will the approval process be?’ By asking these questions, you can get a fair idea of how much power your current point of contact has and how much work you’ll have to do to finalize the deal with the company’s C-suite.

Conclusion

B2B sales have evolved greatly from simple cold calling and lead generation, shifting further into digital strategies. In the current times, you need to be even more efficient and vigilant due to the tough competition in the market, and fully utilize the benefits of the online landscape. Maximizing your online prospecting combined with online sales strategies will give you that extra boost in gaining quality leads and increasing your competitive position.

April 21, 2020

Getting Everyone Engaged in An Online Networking

As the nature of business networking is to increase revenue, most entrepreneurs and thought leaders value a strong relationship with other like-minded professionals they meet during a networking event.

With the recent pandemic impacting the world of enterprise, it could be relatively challenging to establish a memorable bond in online networking. That being said, you have to make sure that all participants are engaged to optimize online networking.

This requires a few basic rules and being proactive throughout the session, and this will help in transforming them into a potential business partner. Here’s of how it will work.

Utilize video calls

Most business professionals have little to no difficulty getting results in a networking event. The familiarity with body language and facial expressions is a natural factor to create an instant connection. To obtain a similar experience with face-to-face networking, utilizing video is necessary to feel the presence of every participant in the same room.

The principle to take note is that, making eye contacts create an invitation to the recipients to be engaged in the conversation. There would be a high chance your potential business partners lose interest in the conversation if there are no visual contacts. This disrupts the flow of communication.

Video calls mimic the experience of the in-person connection. It encourages participants to signal facial expressions to convey their responses that summons for a reply leading to an exchange of dialogue.

Create human connections

To build a world-class network that revolves around the digital world, powerful tools and platforms like Linkedin can be a great way to establish human connections. As opposed to face-to-face networking, these platforms can still be beneficial in establishing a human connection from the start.

You can use it to your advantage to identify the participants’ backgrounds through their professional LinkedIn profile and company website, primarily to matchmake their interest with your expertise. To some extent, this is a source to break the ice within the first 5 minutes in the online networking session.

This helps to create a comfortable atmosphere for everyone to be able to open up and actively participate in the conversation.

Exploit interactive approaches

Building a connection with high-profile thought leaders requires considerable different approaches to stay engaged. Alternatively, leveraging on the tools provided at the platform could be useful to encourage ongoing conversation.

One of the best ways to engage the participants is through interactive polls to spark interest and represent their opinions. This encourages them to be more responsive during the conversation.

You can also use screen sharing to project your points precisely to attain effective communication. This is the time where you could be more creative and include gamification or other fun activities to keep everybody engaged and active.

Act as a moderator

Online networking for business growth can be frustrating sometimes. More often than not, some people tend to be more talkative and longwinded throughout the session. Hence you can take a step forward to act as a moderator and control the conversation.

As part of an effective and pleasant networking strategy, utilize your persuasion skill to keep the energy of the conversation flowing by limiting the spotlight of each individual. A 5-minute rule could be practical in this scenario where everyone is allowed to speak within 5-minute periods.

Try inviting conversations to create engagements with participants by regularly asking open-ended questions. This requires individual inputs that encourages everyone to articulate and voice out their perspectives.

Have a roundtable discussions

It takes more than a single communication to leave a memorable encounter while networking. Hence, the common thing to practice is by initiating a roundtable discussion about the keynotes or presentations they have attended. Networking discussions, such as our Campfire sessions, bring peer-to-peer networking to a more exclusive experience.

Plan ahead and utilize these platform to encourage two-way conversations – from takeaways in earlier sessions to the implication on each other’s business operations.

April 17, 2020

Breaking The Ice At Online Conferences

Networking is an important aspect when attending online events as you can use these connections to nurture potential partnerships with clients, suppliers, and solution providers. Many of these contacts can also become powerful collaborators that string together relationships with other businesses.

The hardest part of networking, however, has always been drumming up the courage to talk to strangers (even in pre-arranged face-to-face meetings) and overcoming the awkward 10-second silence after you greet each other.

To help you with overcoming those moments, we’ve compiled several approaches that you can use to break the “online” ice when attending online conferences and optimize your online networking.

Keep up with the latest industry trends in the 90Minutes Insights webinar series. View the full schedule here here.

Prepare your topics and questions in advance

Preparation is the key to success and it’s no different when it comes to meetings with key decision-makers. Having a set of topics or questions at the ready will make it easier for you to lead the conversation and not have any awkward pauses with each other.

Ideally, you would want the topics and questions to be business or event-related, such as “Why did you join this event?”, “What is the focus of your organization?”, or “What do you intend to accomplish in this conference?”.

But, don’t be afraid to ask general questions to keep the conversation going. Ask them how the experience has been for them to attend the event, what they ate for lunch, or even what type of music they listen to.

Having a list of questions or topics at the ready will ensure that you won’t run out of things to say when you’re having a 1-to-1 meeting and avoid pockets of silence.

Share your music playlist or favorite artists

Speaking of music, one of the best ways to immediately connect with the people you meet for the first time is through music. Sharing music can be a great way to find a common interest, especially if they have the same taste in music, leading to great conversations between a mixed group of people.

Share your music collection or your Spotify playlist, create one on the spot to share, or ask for their favorite types of music or artists that they frequently listen to. If you share the same interests in music, ask if they have watched any of their favorite artist’s online concert. You can even ask for recommendations on any local online concerts live stream that they watched recently.

You’ll be surprised to see how passionate (and talkative!) people can get when discussing their favorite artist or music genre.

Have fun with your camera/avatar

With many people now adjusting to the new normal of online meetings and working from home, it can get a bit boring seeing the same background over and over again when you’re having a video chat/meeting.

Play around with your camera by changing the background via Snapchat filters or use the built-in fun backgrounds as a way to lighten the mood and break the ice with people. If you have a digital avatar, customize it and use it to talk with other people.

All this can be a fun way to create talking points and transition into other lighter topics to keep the conversation going.

Have a (n online) drink together

Nothing breaks the ice faster than sharing a drink with the person you’re meeting with. While the current situation might not allow you to physically toast your drinks together, you can still experience the same relaxed and conversational ambiance by sharing a drink online.

And, the drinks do not have to be alcoholic. Even sharing a cup of coffee (or a fruit juice if you’re feeling healthy) can be enough to kickstart your conversation. Once you’ve bonded and started talking, it’ll be easier to transition to other topics or segway into your sales pitch.

Ask them for advice

Asking them for advice can be an easy way to break the ice. People love it when you ask them for help. It makes them feel like they are important and will be more inclined to talk and share with you.

Ask for recommendations on which keynote or presentation to attend, management advice or organizational pointers that are related to your industry, or even how to maximize the benefits of attending online conferences.

You can even take a lighted-hearted approach and ask for recommendations beyond work such as what movies to watch, or cooking and recipe tips. These questions can be an easy kick-starter to any conversation.

Wrap up

Networking and establishing connections with high-level executives is a chance you can’t afford to miss. And most of the people who attend online conferences are hoping to break the ice but aren’t sure how to do it.

With the ice-breakers that we’ve listed above, you can make it easier for everyone (and yourself!) to make new contacts and make the entire experience memorable.

April 14, 2020

What You Need To Do Before Attending An Online Event

Today, the world is in unprecedented times with the pandemic COVID-19 that leaves individuals to stay safe at home in an effort to flatten the curve. Still, businesses continue to run, and many are being innovative by encouraging remote working and work-from-home initiatives.

Attaining new insights and collaborations activities are still on-going, and many decision-makers are looking at online events as the new normal for establishing business connections during this scenario.

You can maximize the benefits that online conferences offer by having a checklist to make the experience smoother. You may refer below; an essential checklist that could help you to prepare before attending an online event.

Networking with a digital business card

Attending an event online shares a lot of similarities with attending face-to-face networking functions, and making business connections is one of the aspects that should not be missed.

With the recent pandemic outburst, businesses and organizations are quickly transitioning into digital processes.

This includes using digital business cards. And while it has been around for some time, it would be fitting to utilize them during an online event. Leverage on the benefits of attending an online event by creating a business card digitally and incorporate your details to ultimately establish better rapport for networking with potential partners.

There are tons of apps that you can use, such as Haystack or Switchit, that lets you create a professional-looking digital business card in an easy and simple manner.

Ensure a strong internet connection

As most companies embrace online meetings to achieve a common goal, having a strong internet connection is important for effective communication throughout the meeting. Surely, a home Wifi may work flawlessly for daily internet activities like checking emails and web searching, but for heavy usage such as multiple video streaming, it might underperform.

This is why the first thing you need to do before attending an online event is to identify the speed of your Wifi signal.

Ensure your connection have less to zero interruptions especially during peak hours of internet usage. This could be done by testing the internet speed with free tools in which a minimum bandwidth of 3 Megabits (Mbps) is required to stream online events. However, it is advisable to have a bandwidth of 25 Mbps for ultra HD streaming to fully experience what online events have to offer.

Prep up on the agenda beforehand

Productivity at home demands a stricter discipline considering that you are more vulnerable to distractions. Particularly having to juggle between internal meetings, on-desk tasks, and at the same time attending an online event, all of it can be quite challenging.

That being said, with online events, the event agenda offers you the ability to plan your time and achieve maximum efficiency by staying on task throughout your day. In order to remain focused in the face of distractions, analyze the agenda thoroughly prior to the event date to help in scheduling specific times for completing various tasks.

This could also help in prioritizing your preferred topics and speakers, where you are able to have a quick research and prepare a set of questions to get clarifications or discuss with speakers and other attendees.

Read up and understand the FAQs

Research and read the Frequently Ask Questions (FAQs) in advance for a thorough understanding of how the online event would work at every session. Alternatively, it is best to ask the host directly if you have any concerns.

The FAQ holds all the information that you need to know, such as the do’s and don’ts during the session and where the presentation materials would be available. Since it is held online, you also have the advantage to leverage the session by recording it and re-watching it again for future reference and revisions.

In sum, attending an online event can be as powerful as a face-to-face event with the right preparation. Use the points listed above as a road-map for your event strategy to attain the most benefits, opportunities, networks, and potential partners for your business pursuits.