Hypersociality is a term I read about in a Network World article by Mark Gibbs, and it’s one that immediately reminded me of the impact technology is having on our daily personal and business interactions. Gibbs’ article does a good job exploring how mobile technologies designed to facilitate communications are transforming how we socialize and even creating some antisocial behavior. Along the same lines, but from a business perspective, I feel it’s critical that businesses consider how compulsive and unrestrained use of mobile technologies could damage their sales and business networks.

For example, I have recently had several clients relate stories of how key business contacts were lost and/or untraceable because the business development professional was using text messaging to communicate with a prospect. Because retrieving content from cell phones is a limited function, key interactions and records easily vanish when texting is the communications mode of choice. While not necessarily the norm today, this method of client interaction does seem to be increasing.

And while I can personally testify to the value of BlackBerry and PDA tools that allow for greater accessibility and mobility, I can also testify to the inefficiency they can bring to business communications. Professionals writing in transit or between meetings often reply so fast and with such little thought to wording that their messages are indecipherable and often come across as being curt. Some people go as far as putting disclaimers in their BlackBerry signature lines alerting recipients that the message was sent from a BlackBerry, as if it’s an excuse for typos and misunderstood messages. I once received the following reply to an e-mail request for a meeting:

“Good be can’t for noon. See then 5. Be great.”

As much as I love a good riddle, this is ridiculous. Communications that devolve to this level for the sake of efficiency are only breeding inefficiency. I had to e-mail again twice to get a coherent response, which meant three times the work necessary for both of us. And don’t get me wrong. As a business owner, I don’t leave home without my BlackBerry. I am often abusing BlackBerry etiquette in public places (restaurants, movie theatres, etc.) for the sake of communicating with a client. But, over time, I too have learned when to put the BlackBerry down and wait for my laptop back at the office.

In the article mentioned above, Gibbs argues that too much technology-enabled communication enables antisocial interactions. I see evidence of this in business communications every day. In attempts to work faster and more flexibly, we are losing our ability to communicate efficiently and with admirable professionalism.

For maintaining strong sales channel communications, we at ClearEdge always recommend regular documentation of client and prospect interactions (or what we in marketing call “touches”). Thanks to technology, outstanding and cost-effective tools for managing sales communications and progress are available. If a client or prospect is sent a text message invitation, meeting request or piece of information, that interaction needs to be centrally documented so that other team members can trace the communication path. That way if a sales person leaves or must take a leave of absence, other staff members can step in and pick up the process. The critical process is ensuring that prospect contacts and lead generation activities are being recorded centrally (where the business can access them) and regularly.

When it comes to making sure written communications (whether in phone calls, letters, e-mails or texts) uphold professional standards, businesses need to focus on training and mentoring. Too many businesses look at the younger generations of workers and say, “It’s just the way they’ve learned to use technology. They are redefining workplace communications.”

My response? Only if you let them. Workers of all ages are open to learning and skills enhancement, but when it comes to high-tech tools, many people tend to default to the younger generation as knowing the best way to use gadgets today. In terms of speed, maybe. In terms of using PDAs and mobile phones with professional grace, we can all use some help in refining our skills. In the coming months, writers and the communications specialist from our ClearEdge team will share their insights on how to combat falling standards of professionalism while in a gadget-happy, speed-addicted, extraordinarily mobile work world. We look forward to reading and hearing your thoughts on the subject.

Leslie Vickrey
President & Founder
ClearEdge Marketing

In my last post, I discussed how blogging, when done right, can be a valuable means for businesses to communicate with key audiences (customers, prospects, partners, analysts).  However, the nature of blogging itself is risky; it gives one individual a powerful platform for communicating to the masses. Businesses need to be very careful in minimizing blogging risks by vetting and approving company blog content.“WAIT,” the purist might say. “A blog is one person’s journal, a unique perspective on the world. It’s not authentic if it’s shaped around business priorities and messaging standards.” That’s true only if that individual is representing merely himself/herself to the world. If the blog, however, is on a company site, discussing company issues, that blog is a business ambassador and must behave as such.

Consider this blogging blunder by a Microsoft employee, a story that was detailed in Al Sacco’s blog on CIO.com. It’s an interesting case because the blogger was writing on his own personal blog page, but he divulged proprietary company information and a Web link to internal company resources that he learned of while at his job at Microsoft. In this case, the employee was at fault, fault, fault and should have known by confidential agreements and common sense that such information can’t be made public unless the company has made it public.

In this age of online social networking and blogging, it’s important for businesses to remind employees that they cannot share proprietary company information with the public. Few employees are out to be malicious, they just forget or (as we all are guilty of at times) they are just not thinking.

Businesses need to be rigorous in creating and updating confidentiality agreements. We all need to be reminded of what you can and can’t say about business information in public forums. Reading and signing confidentiality agreements is an important way to help employees better manage the information they are given.

As for company blogs and blog entries, businesses need to make sure they are centrally reviewed before they are posted. Whether it’s communication teams or management teams doing the reviews, all entries going on company Web sites should be checked for accuracy, good grammar and to ensure that no proprietary or inappropriate information is being leaked.

Company blogs are a company product and should be in their very best form when they hit the Internet. No business strives to communicate and deliver mediocrity and blog entries should not become the place to start.

Sarah Schunk
Senior Writer
ClearEdge Marketing

Hands down one of the greatest surprises in my work with IT services firms is how often I encounter a company trying to run sales and marketing programs without prospect lists. Having a targeted list of qualified prospects (target account list) is sales and marketing 101, yet so many businesses have forgotten the importance and effectiveness of narrowing their sales scope in order to concentrate on the best opportunities.

Many sales professionals will look at me like I have a second head if I ask, “How big is the current prospect list you are working from? Or, how many times a week are you contacting the individuals on your prospect list?”

In sales and marketing, you have to have a bit of a bounty hunter’s mindset. You must know who your “Most Wanted” targets are and go after them with strategic, creative assertiveness. Without a well-developed prospect list, a significant amount of your sales and marketing efforts go to waste on unqualified or uninterested parties. With a strong prospect list, you are continually sending valuable messages to potential clients that need, use and have the funds for the services your organization provides.

As the final sales quarter of 2007 gets underway for businesses, I want to provide sales professionals with a 10-point reminder of the numerous reasons why it’s so important to work from a qualified prospect list:

Why Prospect Lists Are a MUST

1. Focus. A qualified prospect list allows sales professionals to focus on the best business and revenue opportunities.

2. Time. Sales professionals reduce their workloads significantly by building and working from one list of prospects that is regularly updated rather than sending out new information to a constantly changing group of recipients. They also don’t waste time chasing the wrong prospects.

3. Effectiveness. Working from a list of qualified prospects will always be more effective than striking out on your own with each new sales and marketing program. The prospect lists allows you to concentrate on the best sales opportunities, which increases your likelihood of making sales. 

4. Profiling. Having a target prospect list helps sales and marketing professionals to define and know the profile (size, industry, challenges, etc.) of target companies. It makes the entire marketing and sales organization more focused and effective.

5. Greater Access. With a targeted prospect, sales people have time to better get to know, research and make contact with the company. They are more likely going to have the time and resources to get to reach and know key decision makers, a vital step in the sales process. 

6. Reduced Redundancy. When sales teams do not work from prospect lists, they run the risk of having multiple sales professionals contact the same company. The result is a business looks disorganized to the prospective client. When all sales teams work on qualified sales lists that are centrally vetted for redundancies, these types of awkward sales replications will not occur.

7. Measurement. When a prospect list is used it is much easier for a business to measure the effectiveness of sales and marketing programs. The organization gains important insight into why certain programs piqued the interest of prospects and why others failed to make an impact.

8. Increased Organization. A qualified list is a critical tool in organizing the busy, busy schedule of today’s sales professionals who must make calls, attend events, go to business and sales events, make business pitches and attend meetings. The list is another important tool that allows sales professionals to measure and keep track of their progress in reaching prospects.

9. Image & Brand Building. Focusing marketing and sales messages on key clients in a strategic, focused method is one of the best ways to build a strong, memorable brand with key businesses. The prospect list allows marketing teams and the sales professionals to customize and direct messages to the target, creating stronger, more resonant messages.

10. Timing. The prospect list is also an important tool for helping determine how much time you have invested with a prospect. If prospecting efforts with a qualified lead have gone on for numerous months with zero response, it may be time to move the prospect to a secondary list in order to add new, warmer prospects to the A list.

Stay tuned to the ClearEdge blog for more on how to organize and update prospect lists and how to keep prospect lists growing with proven lead generation techniques.

Leslie Vickrey
President & Founder
ClearEdge Marketing