Tutorial: How to Use ActOn Software with PowerDialer for Salesforce

1. Install ActOn’s Salesforce.com app by visiting the AppExchange. 

2. After installing the app, set up automated information pushes between Salesforce and Acton. The frequency of the pushes should depend on your current campaigns running, as well as, how many API calls you have available in Salesforce (API restrictions in Salesforce).

3. Install InsideSales.com PowerDialer from the AppExchange. After installation, create a new dialing list by going to the InsideSales.com tab, and the selecting create new seek list. 

Note: Seek lists are only available in Enterprise edition of Salesforce. Professional Edition will still work with domino lists.

4. Filter what lead score you want your sales people to be calling on by setting up the appropriate filter in the filter fields (see below screen shot). These can be changed at anytime. In addition, in the bottom specified sort choose ‘Act-On Behavior Score’ descending to ensure your sales people are calling the hottest leads first.

5. Save the initiative, and you’re finished! Have your sales people launch the PowerDialer list, and let them dial away!

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Salesforce.com Apex Data Loader Basics

The Apex Data loader is designed for managing, updating, and deleting large amounts of data (greater than 50,000 object records), with support for files up to 5 million records. It can be used to schedule regular nightly imports or exports for backup purposes. Exporting data through the loader is only supported in Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions of Salesforce.

Mass updating is as easy as exporting the data you wish to update, and choosing which fields you want to include. A general best practice is to always include the unique system identifier. It is safer to include only the fields that you need to update. At the very least, if you pull more fields than you are updating delete them when you upload the updates. That way you don’t overwrite any changes that could have taken place in the meantime.

The middle step is to write a query specifying what data you want to pull using SOQL, the Salesforce object query language (see http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/soql_sosl/index.htm for help). The user interface is fairly intuitive and helps you make your query.

Finally, open your exported file in Excel. If you are updating a field based on values in another field you’ll have to write a formula. For example, if I have 10 different lead sources – 5 from different tradeshows and 5 are from webinars you can write a formula that reads the lead source, and displays whether the lead source was from a tradeshow or webinar.

Upload your data back into Salesforce using the Data Loader. Click Insert if you are adding new records (note: create permissions required) or update if you are adding or updating fields on existing records. If you are doing both select “Upsert.”

Stay tuned for my Salesforce tips and tricks, and post your questions below!

Other data loaders: Force.com Excel Connector, Data Loader for Mac OSX, GitHub Loader, Import Wizard in Salesforce (<50K records)

I bet Your ‘Predictive Dialer’ Didn’t Predict I’m Hanging up on You!

You’ve gotten that call–the one where you answer the phone to five seconds of dead air with the telemarketer saying, “Hello, hello?”  If you are a patient person you might then hear them saying something like, “May I speak to the head of house hold or person that makes the decision regarding your Quest phone bill?” Click.

That is the old world of sales and it is dead. The new world of sales exists in a world of mass customization, immediacy,and hedonism. It emphasizes experiences, engages the senses, and neglects personal relationships (to a point). Business deals are now closed over the phone, not on the golf course. You might want to sell your private lifetime country club membership while you can.

Sales is social, but only social in the sense that there is a common business purpose or value proposition. Don’t ask me about my family, the weather or an replaceable noun that you don’t really care about anyway.

So why do sales people still sell with outdated strategies and technologies? They either don’t know better, know but don’t want to change, or are lazy (which is really a symptom of item 2).

On the flip side companies that adapt fast to the changing landscape of sales outperform their competition. They are able to successfully increase and solidifying market share. For example, insurance provider Aetna doesn’t uses outdated predictive dialers like their competitors. They utilize a PowerDialer that has zero lag, and optimizes contact rate by displaying local area codes to their prospects. Aetna provides an experience consistent with what modern consumers demand: customization, immediacy, and a pleasurable experience. Now that is sales 2.0 in action!

7 Twitter Tips – How To Use Twitter Best Practices for B2B Prospecting

Twitter is the second most popular social networking website. With over 250 million unique visitors every month chances are your prospects are on Twitter. Twitter provides a unique way to connect with prospects. It is a more passive way to prospect than sending messages on Linkedin, and provides unique information you might not find from sales databases like ZoomInfo or Data.com.

1. Complete Your Profile – This should be a given. Grab your twitter name, upload a picture of yourself, and write a brief summary specific to your industry. You might mention a hobby in your summary as well.

Including company website, full name, and location is essential to completing your profile.

Keep your Twitter account politically neutral (or if you don’t I recommend noting in your summary your opinions are not that of your company). You can link to your company or any other twitter account in your summary by typing @ “account.”

2. Correctly Utilize Hashtags – Hashtags are one of the most misunderstood and underutilized features on Twitter. They index your posts and make them easily searchable to a Twitter user searching for a specific topic. Simply type in #topic. There is a bit of a science when choosing what your topic will be. I recommend using Google’s keyword tool to see the what word people are searching for a on Google. If they are searching for it on Google they will be searching for it on Twitter too.

3. Follow & Retweet Interesting Posts by Prospects and Customers – Following your prospects and customers is much more valuable than simply receiving updates from them. When you follow prospects Twitter sends them an email notifying them that you are following them. This can result in them viewing your Twitter profile. By strategically deciding what and when you post along with when and who you follow it is easy to craft a targeted post to your prospect.

Leverage Info on Twitter to Increase Contact Rates

4. Gather Unique Sales Intelligence Prospects post information on Twitter that they do not post on Linkedin. If you’ve been calling a prospect for a while with little success consider leveraging this information to earn their interest and make an introduction. I had been calling a high level executive over 5 times with no response. I found on his Twitter summary that he was a Reebok Classics enthusiast. I left him a voice mail asking him for advice on Reeboks. He called me back and helped me pick out some new shoes and I helped him out with his sales department. 30 days later I had a new pair of shoes and he was making more sales with the PowerDialer.

5. Post links and Articles of Value Specific to Your Niche  – Post links and information that prospects would find interesting (press releases, blog posts, research etc). Utilize a link shortener such as bitly so that you can comment the post and track the number of clicks.

6. Space out the Timing of Your Posts – Don’t make many posts in a short time frame. Spread out your posts by hours or days. Some Twitter users I know recycle content if they have nothing new to post. This is a grey area, but if this is something you decided to do consider changing up the comment or hashtag for broader exposure.

7. Thank People When They Retweet or Mention You – Thanking someone that retweets or mentions you on Twitter is proper etiquette. It shows the person that you are flattered that they liked your post enough for them to share it with their network.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @PaulFischerSaaS for more tips!

Why (Even) Hubspot Makes Outbound Prospecting Calls

A lot has been written about inbound marketing this year. Hubspot defined the space as earning the attention of prospects, making yourself easy to be found and drawing customers to your website. Google put an exclamation point on “inbound” with the release of Penguin algorithm that prioritizes search ranking based on social media such as Google+. This paradigm shift away from outbound marketing (cold calling, direct mail, tv advertisements) and toward inbound have left marketers and sales people left asking “Is there still a place for sales calls?”

A quick visit to Hubspot’s website reveals the answer to this question to be an unequivocal yes. Just look at the position they are hiring for:

You’ll notice Hubspot describes that their business development reps will make between 60 to 80 outbound calls per day. There still is a place for making sales phone calls in business. However, the terms in which these calls are conducted have changed.

Here’s how:

People know what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. The advent of the Internet has enabled buyers to do much more research before they ever talk to a salesperson. This is where the importance of inbound marketing comes in. Your business needs to be searchable and earn the attention of prospects. The Hubspot software suite is one of the best on the market to accomplish this goal with numerous lead scoring and content management features.

When your prospect finally makes their decision to learn more about a service you it is crucial to have a salesperson available. At this point the prospect has opted into the sales process (either by filling out a webform on a website or requesting additional information in some way). After they opt into the sales process it is appropriate to have a sales person call them.  InsideSales.com has one of the market leading sales communication software that allows sales people to call leads within seconds of a webform being filled out or when a lead reaches a certain score.

In closing inbound marketing and outbound calling are not diametrically opposed models, but instead two different models that can compliment each other when executed correctly.

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From Junk Lead to Major Account: A Lesson for Inbound Sales Consultants

In my previous position at InsideSales.com one of my primary responsibilities was to respond to marketing generated leads. These came in the form of interested parties filling out web forms to access white papers, downloading a trial of our award winning PowerDialer for Salesforce, and viewing our inside sales research. Often times people would fill out junk information into the web form to avoid our team from contacting them. I remember one lead in particular that falsified a name, phone number, and company information, but the email address was correct. From the email address I was able to track down the company website, and from there I was able to track down the phone number. After a brief conversation with the receptionist he pointed me in the right direction and I was able to get in touch with the original person that filled out the web form (and was able to do so while they were still on our website). Two months later they were one of our biggest accounts at InsideSales.com

The moral of the story is to treat every inbound lead like gold. Look for clues when the information is not correct. Get to the lead fast and be persistent. Do not accept what you are given, but nurture a lead with the vision as to what it could become. If you do, you might just land your biggest account!

Inside Sales Managers: Don’t Waste Your Time Cutting the Pie (Make it Bigger)

In a previous blog post Jonathan Miller, Sales Manager at InsideSales.com, described the impossible sales trinity: equal distribution, defined parameters, and lead priority. In this post he stated that it is impossible for sales teams to attain all three criteria without sacrificing sales productivity. I couldn’t agree with him more.

Sadly most sales manager spend far too many resources figuring out how to divide the “pie.” Typically, they try to settle situations in which one sales rep encroaches on the other’s territory after it was divided or two business development associates unknowingly call the same company. Instead managers should be focusing their efforts on value added activities for their sales teams, that is: How can I make the pie bigger? Here are a few ideas:

• Track Key Metrics such as lead source and close rates. Track major metrics that influence buying. These may include local, size of company and lead source. Compile lots of data. More is better to start.

• Begin to mine this data. Run probabilities such as: Given the company is a Boston based real estate company and has 20 brokers, what is the probability that Erik will close this deal versus John? If Erik’s close rate is only 5% and John’s is 10% for this lead profile the lead will be routed to John. In actuality the algorithm used at InsideSales.com is much more complex.

This is what I mean when I say it is the obligation of sales managers to make the pie bigger. It is their jobs to not merely “deal the deck of cards” but to “stack it the deck” for their sales reps.