ProDirect recently completed the launch of its new program, D-Suite Selling™. "It wasn't so much a launch as it was a much needed adjustment to our C-suite selling approach." says Bill Walton, President of ProDirect. "We were finding that our clients were getting to the C-suite, only to have shallow conversations and no real downward influence in organizations. The best documented successes though were coming from the connections to those we now call "Accountable Executives": those in the "D-suite" (Directors, VPs, Franchise Heads) that possess a combination of title, political clout, and an internal network that allows them to initiate projects, and mitigate the competing uses of funds in their own organization to get the right things done. These individuals are politically connected and have a high achievement motor. To be successful, salespeople must find these individuals by mapping their accounts and aligning to the 5-6 center-of-plate issues these key contacts face. They need show up prepared with ideas on how to move the accountable executive’s business forward. Nothing else will matter.

October 23, 2011 - Each year, ProDirect participates in their own fall classic - the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk in Central New Jersey. "Our company and my own family are behind the JDRF for all that they do" said ProDirect's president Bill Walton. "The JDRF has one of the lowest expense-to applied-research contribution ratios among viable causes and at the end of the day, kids with Type 1 Diabetes will benefit".  Walton sits on the Central Jersey board of the JDRF and is orchestrating the JDRF's messaging among local employers. Founded in 1970, the Mid-Jersey Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is one of the oldest chapters. It serves six New Jersey counties: Middlesex, Mercer, Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris and Hudson.  The chapter provides valuable information about juvenile diabetes to people with diabetes, their families and the general public. The chapter holds numerous successful events that raise much-needed funds for diabetes research. "Thank you to all of our clients, colleagues and friends that supported us in the walk this year. Our families greatly appreciate it" Walton added. 

Each year the chapter conducts their walk at Rutgers' Cook Campus in South Brunswick.To learn more, visit the JDRF's website at http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=111649 .

A company cannot grow consistently unless the sales process is repeatable, non arbitrary, and aligned with how clients buy. That’s why companies investing in a defined sales process experience a minimum of 5-10% revenue growth when a formal process is followed consistently (Sales Leadership in Action, 2010). Organizations without a documented sales process often exhibit several common symptoms, such as a disconnected and manual approach to selling and a lengthy cycle time to find prospects, get quotes out the door, and close orders.

The Solution:

Companies, not just their sales organizations, need to map the critical client interactions that reinforce the value they deliver through their processes, products and services. The goal of a validated sales process is to make routine the manner in which the entire organization engages clients.  It’s a process designed to maximize each and every touchpoint they with a client and to thus drive greater buying commitment and post purchase satisfaction.

The Benefits of Designing and Implementing a Branded Sales Process:

• Greater speed to decision and decreased length of sales cycles

• Greater forecasting accuracy from understanding where each opportunity lies in its evolution

• Greater execution from a what-to-do-and-when roadmap for salespeople, sales managers and other key roles

• Articulates the most valuable touch points your organization has with clients

• A defined set of coachable sales skills and actions (aligned with how clients buy)

• A blueprint for the training you need to win along with defined roles for sales managers

• Key ingredient to creating a sales culture for tenured reps as well as those new to the sales organization

For more information or support for developing your sales process, email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .                

“Use it to engage people. Grow your network. Give generously and people will follow you (hopefully back to your store)”– Howard Howell, SensAble Selling.

Social Media: Social media take on many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking.  Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content."  In other  words, social media are media designed for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialog.

Since most companies will only allow their salespeople to use LinkedIn as a social media tool for business, our attention will be focused on that. Since LinkedIn is a networking and sharing tool, it has to be used as such. The best LinkedIn members exhibit the following behaviors:

• They seek first to connect, rather than be connected
• They’re solid contributors to the groups they belong to
• When asking for connections, they give a valuable reason for doing so
• They publish articles and relevant points of view
• They treat it as a listening platform, NOT a selling platform
• Their profiles are at 100% with professional “pieces of flair”

LinkedIn as a Selling Tool:

LinkedIn helps salespeople establish their professional profile online, stay in touch with colleagues and friends, and find experts, ideas and opportunities. As selling tool, you must use LinkedIn as a venue for trading influence and insight for the products and services you sell, your own personal credibility as a sales professional, and for potential interested parties looking for credible sources of supply. Here are some valuable tips, insights and must do’s when using LinkedIn in a sales context.

Familiarize yourselves with your company’s social media policy. It will be important to understand the boundaries around what you can say about your firm, about yourself, and about topics of interest to which you have and share an opinion.  Your competition is on LinkedIn as well. 

Build your online identity: Your profession is more dependent on your online identity than ever before. Creating a LinkedIn profile is the best place to start. Your prospects are looking at your LinkedIn profile so make sure you update it often and give your prospects an excellent representation of who you are.  To make your LinkedIn profile is “100% complete”, use the Improve Your Profile feature (Yellow Button) to:

• Include all companies, roles, education, certifications, and awards.
• Work with your marketing department to get the best/approved pitch for your firm.
• Share references - the more we know about you the better. (5-10 will do).
• The more robust your profile, the greater the chance for common ground with others.
• Provide information to prospects to make the sales process more efficient.
• Reflect the little things that matter- awards, public service, military, special skills.

More on your LinkedIn Profile: Your LinkedIn profile is discoverable through the millions of searches on search engines and on LinkedIn. You are in complete control over what others see on your profile, so leverage this to showcase your skills and talents so the right people and opportunities find you.

Groups - Get new opportunities:  From the LinkedIn Groups to the Answers page, thousands of people a day are looking for help making decisions. As a sales person you should be in these groups and set up email alerts to scan the groups to see if you can offer help and create a new opportunity.

Start a Group: Be the connector for other interested parties. Pick a theme and go. The quickest way to get and grow your credibility is to become an expert.  Offer your advice, guidance and experience to get millions of LinkedIn users seeing you trying to help others make decisions.

Get some credibility: This goes along with the last tip but in more detail. As you get more experience, you should be helping other professionals by answering questions.  As you help people even if it’s only a couple times a week you will see your profile being looked at by more and more people.

Grow your pipeline: As you build your network, become an expert in your space and build your personal brand, you will find more people coming to you for help related to your product or service.  This will create a snow ball effect and eventually people from all over LinkedIn will be singing your praises and driving more leads to you.

Adapted from Why is a LinkedIn Profile Important? Published by joshua.combs in Blog, Social Media on May 18th, 2011. Thank you to Josh.