From the category archives:

Sales 2.0

Interview with Rajat Paharia: Creating loyalty using Big Data and Gamification

by Lilia Shirman on June 13, 2013

in Customer relationships,Entrepreneurship,Marketing,People and Leadership,Sales 2.0,Strategy and Planning

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Rajat Paharia, founder and chief product officer at Bunchball, about his new book, Loyalty 3.0, pivoting startups, and the differences between the business of games and the gamification of business.

Lilia: You were one of the first to see the potential for gaming methodology in marketing. What sparked this idea?

Rajat: The company I founded in 2005 was the right idea, but it was 2 to 3 years early to market. It was a social gaming platform, and in the process of building it, we examined what made gaming sticky. Pogo was one of the best, most used sites at the time, and they had all these statistics that they were able to stitch together into a really engaging experience. So we started building that idea into our gaming platform – for game results, but also to get people to do other things, like invite friends. We saw that it worked for motivating more than just behavior within the game itself – and that was the spark.

We realized that combining data with “gaming” concepts can be used in other interactions. We were still a small company, so we had to make a very tough decision – continue in the social gaming market, or shift to gamification for businesses. We chose the latter, but we were early to market – again. Ultimately, though, that turned out to be a good thing – because we had time to develop a strong skill set and effective motivation techniques.

***

Lilia: Bunchball has helped well over 300 companies, including dozens of global brands, leverage big data to drive gaming-inspired loyalty programs. What surprised you most about how those companies have put this technology to use?

Rajat: We started with B2C applications of gamification, but the surprise has been how rapidly the business has transitioned to B2B uses. Companies are using (our solution) to motivate and train employees in sales and service, and to influence partners. B2B has taken off and is growing incredibly fast. That’s something we didn’t foresee.

It makes sense, of course. Consider that Facebook, Amazon, etc. know more about your employees than you do. Yet companies ignore tons of data about employees who spend 8 to 10 hours a day working for them and delivering enormous value. That data lives in Salesforce, Jive, Cornerstone, Successfactors and all manner of enterprise apps and systems.

***

Lilia: Loyalty 3.0 requires Big Data. Does that mean only big companies can really use it for employee and partner loyalty?

Rajat: Our customers range from small companies, as small as 10 to 100 people, to the bigger ones.

What you need is to understand customers’ or employees’ motivation. Then you need data. And today we are walking data generators – constantly throwing off information that can be used to create loyalty 3.0 programs. Now, when I say Big Data, I’m referring to the large volume of data being generated by each of us as individuals – a lot of it unstructured. Those individual data streams are available to any business, not just large ones. Finally, you need Gamification – that is, you need to create data-driven motivational techniques.

***

Lilia: In your book you discuss the entry of Gen Y into the worksforce. Is it that younger generation that’s really the audience for gamification?

Rajat: No. It’s based on fundamental human motivators, so it works for anyone. The demographic of our customers’ customers and employees is across the board. The thing about Gen Y is that this is the air they breathe. So to motivate them, these methods are indispensable. Gamification works for everyone, but it’s absolutely critical for the Gen Y.

***

Lilia: What do you find is the most common misconception people have about gamification?

Rajat: The word is a double-edged sword. People think it’s games and entertainment. And they don’t want their employees playing games. They want them working. The reason these techniques came out of the gaming industry is because game designers have been living in data-rich environments for the last 40 years, and have had a chance to learn and develop all these techniques for motivating and driving behavior. Now the rest of the world has caught up. So gamification is really not about games at all. It’s about business results.

***

Lilia: Certainly wearable computing will create a huge opportunity for gamification through increasing the volume of data even more and through the “everywhere with me” aspect of those devices. What are some other emerging trends that you see either enabling or driving the demand for gamification?

Rajat: The notion of sensors everywhere. There’s a company across the street from ours that’s making ingestable sensors, powered by stomach acids. So you can tell exactly when the medicine was taken, and how the body responds. That means we can use gamification to motivate healthy behavior like taking your medication on time. More broadly, technology is mediating a lot of what we do – and all those systems are throwing off data that can be used to motivate behavior and inspire loyalty.

***

Lilia: Where should a company start when considering gamification?

Rajat: Always start by determining what you are trying to accomplish. What’s your goal? For example, “We want our channel partner sales team to contribute 10% more to the pipeline.” Gamification starts with a business mission statement. Then you decide how you will measure that. Then, understand what are the behaviors that I need to affect. Next look at users and understand what motivates them.

***

Lilia: That sounds straightforward, but how would a company actually know what motivates customers or employees?

Rajat: The best way to do that is by talking to a few of them. Ask them lots of open-ended questions. You only need to talk to a few to get really smart. We break it down in the book – how to craft an experience that fits, and create automated, scalable, repeatable motivation and intervention that you can use to motivate employees or kids.

***

Rajat’s book, Loyalty 3.0, launches June 18^ththrough all the usual channels. In the meantime, you can pre-order at http://loyalty30.com/ and get extra gifts with your pre-order.

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At your next Sales Meeting, create listeners and story tellers

by Lilia Shirman on December 28, 2012

in Customer relationships,Marketing,Messaging,Sales 2.0,Sales enablement,Sales Tips,Solutions

I bet you already have a long list of launch announcements and product training sessions for your sales kickoff. That’s important information, but it’s not enough.

If your sales people are still having difficulty engaging executive and business audiences, even after that expensive solution selling training you invested in so recently, it’s because they lack a good alternative to the product-centric pitch.

Executive audiences – whether IT or Business – don’t need your sales people to recite widely-known industry trends as an intro to the product pitch. They don’t want to waste a meeting hearing information they could just as easily find on your website.

They DO want

To see that you understand their business, in-depth
To hear new insights about how to apply technology to grow their business
To experience what it’s like to collaborate with your company
To be able to justify their decision to work with you

That means your sales people need a new arsenal. Here are some changes you can make in time for Sales Kickoff:

Throw away the PowerPoint. Replace presentation slides about industry trends with interactive discussion guides about customers’ objectives.
Ask Insightful Questions. Your sales training and tools should provide lots of open-ended questions that intrigue customers, demonstrate sales reps’ expertise, and help discover what’s really of value to buyers.
State a point of view. Give Sales something unique to say that customers haven’t heard from everyone else: Make some bold statements, show a distinct approach, or share a new perspective. Challenge common knowledge or the status quo.
Tell Stories. Replace recitations of product benefits with use case-driven value stories. Provide sales people with stories that illustrate how you have helped similar companies (and will help them) create tangible business results within specific use cases by leveraging your unique capabilities.
Brainstorm. Turn sales meetings into collaborative brainstorming sessions by enabling sales people to discuss many options and approaches, point out the pros and cons of each, and explain how they fit with other products the customer is likely to need.

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3 Keys to Success at 1st Sales Meetings

by Lilia Shirman on December 6, 2012

in Customer relationships,Marketing,Messaging,People and Leadership,Sales 2.0,Sales enablement,Sales Tips,Solutions,Value propositions

I sell to some really big companies. One rule I established when I founded my business is that sales is about listening and collaborating, not presenting. The reason was that I had watched cost of sales at many companies skyrocket due to huge investments preparing elaborate sales presentations that often fell flat and pursuing deals that should have been disqualified or re-framed early on.

Even with the best qualification questions and inside sales efforts, a sales rep walking into an initial customer meeting is going to have, at best, a superficial understanding of the customers’ need. If they start by bulldozing through pre-prepared slides, they are likely to a) waste time on topics irrelevant to the customer b) miss the opportunity to gain a better understanding and c) fail to establish a collaborative relationship with the customer.

If you’re a marketer creating content and tools for a direct sales force, ask yourself if the information and asset you’re giving them help sales people to:

Ask questions that both demonstrate their expertise and help them gain greater insight into customer needs
Facilitate in-depth discussions that are positive and valuable experiences for customers
Articulate how what they’re selling is directly relevant specific customer situations they discover during the meeting

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Avoiding the Buzzword Bingo Trap

by Charles Born on October 23, 2012

in Marketing,Marketing 2.0,Sales 2.0,Sales Tips,Solutions,Uncategorized,Writing

This article is by Guest Blogger Charlie Born, on of The Shirman Group’s extended network of business experts.

In their quest to solve business problems, buyers are turning to the internet and social media for information. This customer-driven Buyers’ Journey gives marketers a new channel to create valuable information that is discoverable, consumable, shareable and valuable.

Unfortunately, many marketers fall into the trap of creating content flooded with buzzwords, jargon, and marketing pitches. These cause buyer resistance and make you indistinguishable from competitors.

Buyers reward well-researched and believable information packaged into quickly digestible and easy-to-absorb info-graphics, white papers, info-training materials, webinars and blogs. Here are a few pointers for avoiding the buzzword bingo trap when creating your marketing content.

1. Don’t lead with your solution, your product or what you do. Instead start with a narrative about the business problem you are solving. Have a vision. Then lead your reader to your solution. Show how your approach is different before you go on to prove how it is better.

2. To craft the story, listen to your customers. Find out how your customers describe what you do. What words and phrases resonate with them—and which ones do not? See my previous post for how to interview customers about their buyers’ journey to get this information.

3. Listen to how your top sales performers tell your story. This will give you added perspective—particularly from those with strong solution-selling techniques.

4. When you write, ‘speak’ with a natural voice. Use the words you would use if you were speaking to someone you knew. Use short phrases and sentences. Most times, less is more. It just takes extra work to edit things down.

5. Strive to say something relevant, memorable, and different from what your competitors are saying. Just keep it real and not overblown. Be careful not to over-claim. Puffed up claims put most readers off rather than draw them in and can end up being a legal challenge later if problems arise. Make your reader want to learn more – and show them how they can by having additional content for them to pursue elsewhere on your website or blog.

Released last year and written by lexophile Arthur Plotnik, “Better than Great” is a book I have found useful in fixing buzzword bingo. It reads like a funky thesaurus and includes an assortment of over 6000 words and suggestions for describing things—pulling from rare gems, vintage gold, and even phrases influenced by hip hop to present a wide range of fresh superlatives. It is both amusing and vocabulary expanding.

Share with us successful ways on how you are telling your company’s story in a way that genuinely informs buyers, stands out from the crowd and avoids buzzword bingo.

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Social Media for B2B Lead Gen – Yes, It Works

by Lilia Shirman on October 23, 2009

in Lead Generation,Marketing,Marketing 2.0,Sales 2.0,Sales Tips

Great discussion last night at the SVAMA event about how B2B marketers can leverage social media to generate leads. Check out the summary by Kirsty Scott of SD Design.

A few points I thought were esp. interesting, insightful, or controversial.

1. Create LOTS of interesting, relevant content. But how, given limited resources? The panelists suggested:

One person can generate a lot of content and a lot of buzz – it doesn’t take an army
You don’t have to be a professional writer. Just get your ideas across.
Give your community a forum for creating content. WD40 fan club is a great example of community-generated content.

2. “The internet is a great medium for experimentation,” Mike Linton.

Its easy to try out different tactics, different language, and different social media hubs. You quickly can learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t.
Its easy to overcome resistance inside your company by suggesting, “Let’s just run it as a test.”

3. The community is there. Deal with it.

If your company thinks its not “doing social media,” its wrong. Users, customers, and probably employees are talking about you, whether you’re there or not. Best to join the conversation than to be ignorant. (Sounds like parenting advice!)
Communities take on a life of their own. Don’t expect to control or even guide the conversation. Instead find an employee most like your audience and ask them to participate in the dialogue.
Develop a thick skin. Even within communities you create, someone will find something negative to say, and chance are, it will get disseminated. Don’t be taken by surprise, and don’t panic.

4. Lead Gen is a process, not an event.

Include calls to action – SUBTLE ones – in your content.
Give people the opportunity to “self identify” as interested though their actions and responses to many different forms of interactions (Blogs, tweets, webinars, emails, facebook fan clubs, LinkedIn group participation, etc.)
Track participation and score interest level based on those interactions. It takes time and experimentation to find the most promising patterns.

5. Traditional PR is in trouble, and reporting is dead (or at least, in the re-animation ward).

If everyone if writing about the latest events, for free, what’s a reporter left to do?
PR’s traditional emphasis on providing access to reporters and providing reporters with story no longer provides the value it once did.

Were you there? Tell us about other great insights from the evening.

Do you agree or are these suggestions off the mark? Share your B2B Lead Gen experiences via Social Media.

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Social media and B2B lead generation

by Lilia Shirman on October 19, 2009

in Sales 2.0,Sales Tips

Later this week I’ll be moderating Silicon Valley American Marketing Association’s event on Social Media for B2B Lead Generation. The keynote speaker and panel are as well-informed a group on this topic as you’re likely to find: David Meerman Scott, author of New Rules of Marketing and PR, Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot and author of Inbound Marketing, Mike Linton, former CMO at eBay and before that at Best Buy, and Zack Urlocker from MySQL (now Sun Microsystems).

What would you ask this group about using Social Media to drive a sales pipeline? Here are some of the questions I’ll have for them:

How do you move from conversation to lead generation within social networking environments, and without angering the people you’ve engaged?
How does a company select the social media hubs that are most important to their business and their audiences?
What constitutes a “qualified lead” in the social media context?
How do you estimate the resources required to create a presence in social mediums?
What can B2B companies learn from BtoC practices?
What’s your advice for the change agents who are advocating greater investment in social media by their companies?
How should resource-strapped start-ups allocate the time and resources for social media?
What are the top three do’s and dont’s for using social media to feed a sales pipeline?

Your turn! What would you ask? I’ll post some of the answers to your questions here after the event.

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Whiteboard as sales conversation tool

by Lilia Shirman on August 17, 2009

in Sales 2.0,Sales Tips

A great set of tips about on-the-fly sketching from XPlane are directly related to a recent post here about “2.0ing your sales meetings”

Happy to see that collaborative selling approaches are becoming popular, and now insightful companies like XPlane and WhiteBoard Selling are helping sales reps get more interactive and collaborative. That can only translate into greater customer relevance, and more productive and valuable sales meetings.

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2.0ing your sales meetings, minus the technology

by Lilia Shirman on March 6, 2009

in Customer relationships,Sales 2.0

After 2 days at the Sales 2.0 conference, I fear we may be on the same path CRM took in its early days. Though some of the new tools are great, and MUCH easier to adopt, there is too much talk of technology, not enough about behavior and cultural changes. All things 2.0 are really about interaction and collaboration with customers. And that requires a change in mindset.

Basic example of 2.0 principles in action, that actually requires less technology. (A version of this focused on customer references was used very successfully by Beverly Chase and the BEA marketing team)

Instead of arming your reps with the new and improved power point presentation, design a white board talk. Script it with questions and discussion points instead of spiel. The result is a conversation where customers contribute ideas, and the content evolves based on the here-and-now in the room, and not what marketing thought up a month ago back at corporate.

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Sales 2.0 conference – day 1

by Lilia Shirman on March 5, 2009

in Marketing 2.0,Sales 2.0

Spent the day at the Sales 2.0 conference in San Francisco. Lots of insightful speakers including Judy Fick of Unisys, Jeremy Cooper of Salesforce.com, my friend Gail Ennis of Ominture, and David Satterwhite of newScale.

A few noteworthy quotes:

To find the buyer, “find out who will get fired if the problem isn’t solved.”
“If you’re following up on the leads that already have a budget and a time line, you’re too late”
“Never confuse activity with results” – Judy Fick
On the importance of metrics in a recession: “When the tide goes out you know who’s been swimming naked.” – Warren Buffet quoted

The big themes:

Instant information about customer behavior, and instant response
Sales and marketing alignment and collaboration
Value creation as part of the sales and marketing processes (see solutions marketing post that touched on this same topic)
Technology helps create unprecedented visibility and responsiveness – and you need a collection of vendors to cover the entire customer life-cycle. Average # of sales / marketing 2.0 software products shown on presenters’ slides was 8.

A few dozen exhibitors showing all manner of cool software and services for deeper, more detailed, more responsive insight into customers and their behavior. Spoke to some very happy customers of Genius.com, LucidEra, and ConnectAndSell.

More info and some conclusions tomorrow after Day 2.

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