categories
HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
Cracking the Very Small Business Market: PayCycle CEO Jim Heeger (Part 1)
For years, I have looked at the small business market as an opportunity that technology vendors need to attack. For years, however, the common wisdom in the venture circles have been that it is much too difficult to sell to small businesses. With the advent and popularity of Software-As-A-Service (SaaS), this sentiment has started changing.
TeleWebSales: A Methodology Discussion with Anneke Seley (Part 12)
SM: Webex is a very special case. They enabled a lot of the telephone selling by making it possible to demonstrate products over the web. AS: Exactly. Not only do they provide the technology, but they are a showcase for using the technology they provide. It is an incredible machine in terms of process. They
TeleWebSales: A Methodology Discussion with Anneke Seley (Part 11)
SM: I think what I have seen is that India is incredibly process oriented. The big outsourcers who are doing call center type processes in India are on the ball in terms of process. However, it has mostly been in a customer support role and a technical support role; it is all inbound. The extra
TeleWebSales: A Methodology Discussion with Anneke Seley (Part 10)
SM: When I have established new processes, I have had to test market segments using those processes. That is one issue that comes up a lot – which segment is ready to buy, which one can be an early adopter? AS: And you might have the wrong profile of the person to sell into that
TeleWebSales: A Methodology Discussion with Anneke Seley (Part 9)
SM: Closing deals on the phone … there are people who don’t know anything about selling by phone, and would probably tell you that you cannot close deals on the phone. That isn’t true. But there is probably a threshold of how big of a deal can be closed on the phone. AS: I’m loath
Venky Harinarayan on Kosmix and Vertical Search (Part 4, final)
SM: How did you finance the different phases of the company? VH: Our company is funded by VCs, Accel and Lightspeed, and private individuals such as Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com and Bill Miller of Legg Mason. SM: What financing stage are you at right now? VH: We feel like we are fully funded, so we
TeleWebSales: A Methodology Discussion with Anneke Seley (Part 8)
SM: Can you talk about suspect to prospect qualification? I know you are a world expert on this! AS: Somebody who is a suspect, and you do not know whether they are qualified, you don’t know what questions to ask. In other words, don’t spend a lot of time asking a lot of questions that
TeleWebSales: A Methodology Discussion with Anneke Seley (Part 7)
SM: When you are touching the customer for the first time, how do you know what is the decision making process inside the account? AS: By asking a question about their buying process. What is it going to take to try something new, or to adopt new technology? SM: Of whom do you ask that