This weeks fave five posts are all over the map (hence the cheesy image)! Key areas of interest for me and Mi6 is how people are consuming content and becoming more tech savvy. I’m also interested in how the role of the sales rep is (or isn’t changing) so they can provide value to the buyer. And finally, as we continue to experiment and use social media, I recommend that you take control of your social media presence and engagement.
If you want to chat with me on any of these topics connect with me and I’d be happy to have a conversation with you.
Our Favourite Posts for Week of May 7, 2012
1. The ‘Smartphone Class’: Always On, Always Consuming Content | eMarketer
Consumerization of IT will continue to affect the business adoption of technology such as smartphones, the cloud, social media and tablets. Along side with this trend is how B2B buyers will use these technologies and online “places” to research and educate themselves prior to and during the buying process. Following these trends and figuring out how to use them to productively engage with customers, prospects and other market stakeholders from a B2B perspective is something that fascinates me.
2. Why Do Good Reps Resist Sales Process Improvement? | Salesbenchmarkindex.com
An interesting read by a John Kenney on why sales reps are resistance to change. Is it possible though that there would come a point where sales reps would be asking for change themselves? President Obama became President because he promised “Change”. If a CEO or VP of Sales promised “Change” would the sales organization rally behind her?
3. Brands Focusing Solely On Facebook Are Destined To Lose | Social Media Explorer
I’ve always believed that investing all your money and effort in producing a presence on someone else’s network (Facebook, Linkedin, Tumblr and now Pinterest) is ill advised. These networks are hubs that you can use to find, listen, follow and engage. But B2B companies need to build their own networks/communities, their own digital presence and systems of engagement. You need to create places where you have control not default to the ones where you don’t have control. Use social networks but don’t depend on them entirely.
4. Intelligence Is Overrated: What You Really Need To Succeed | Forbes
Wow, this post is an eye-opener! This is going to be a personal area of study for me and I’d be interested in getting to know others who are studying “human engineering” especially in the areas of emotional and moral quotients.
5. Social Media and Automation: Right or Wrong? Yes. | Social Media Today
This is a post that will help seed the debate about whether you should use automation tools with social media. In my professional opinion any form of automation (without any form of human involvement) will have you on a slippery slope. I use Buffer to semi-automate Twitter posts. I select content and Tweets that I hope are of value to my followers and schedule them via Buffer. I do this because I want to spread out my tweets throughout the day because I don’t want them going out all at the same time. Then, throughout the day when I have time I’ll check my Twitter feeds to interact with people. I won’t use social tools that automate following/unfollowing, push content (without you revising/editing it) or send direct messages.
