ACT! and the Web - Social Contact Management: Part 2 of 3

ACT! and the Web - Social Contact Management: Part 2 of 3 http://community.act.com/t5/Larry-Ritter-s-Development-Blog/ACT-and-the-Web-Social-Contact-Management-Part-2-of-3/ba-p/42029 ACT! and the Web - Social Contact Management: Part 2 of 3 In this Part 2, we’ll look at the changing nature of the way our customers/prospects acquire information about our products, service and company. Things have really changed in the vendor/prospect information exchange corridor. Just a few years ago we would uncover a prospect, investigate their needs and qualify them. Next we would present information about our product and company. We’d engage a variety of sales progression activities like providing collateral, demonstrations, samples and answer their questions. By doing our homework up front and managing the sales process we could get a good sense of the timing and likelihood of the purchase. We would check in frequently to answer any new questions and supply additional information or references to keep things moving. We still do these things but the internet is driving a big change. After our first contact, we feel we have supplied the appropriate and necessary information about our product/service. However, the savvy prospect will likely go to the internet and conduct a search on our product, company and industry. In a matter of minutes, our prospect will find numerous avenues to learn what opinion leaders and customers have to say. Various forums and communities (much like this ACT! Community) can be discovered and investigated. Within a very short period of time the prospect knows a lot more than we may have shared. Let’s hope what they find is positive! The point here is the internet is changing the balance of where prospects/customers get information. Personal experience, references and referrals will always be critical - the amount of influence is relatively constant over time. However, the amount of information the prospect has that businesses manage/influence is declining. Meanwhile, the amount of information the prospect receives by others is increasing. In Part 3, we’ll explore how ACT! can help you in this new world. <div class="message-edit-history">Message Edited by tmergel on 06-01-2009 09:34 PM</div> Tue, 12 May 2009 11:55:20 GMT larryr 2009-05-12T11:55:20Z ACT! and the Web - Social Contact Management: Part 2 of 3 http://community.act.com/t5/Larry-Ritter-s-Development-Blog/ACT-and-the-Web-Social-Contact-Management-Part-2-of-3/ba-p/42029 In this Part 2, we’ll look at the changing nature of the way our customers/prospects acquire information about our products, service and company. Tue, 12 May 2009 11:55:20 GMT http://community.act.com/t5/Larry-Ritter-s-Development-Blog/ACT-and-the-Web-Social-Contact-Management-Part-2-of-3/ba-p/42029 larryr 2009-05-12T11:55:20Z