GE Capital The evolution of sales: Social. Mobile. Open. Better.

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1 The evolution of sales: Social. Mobile. Open. Better. viewpoint

2 The evolution of sales: Social. Mobile. Open. Better. Three years ago we went through a complete transformation in the way we approached sales. At GE, we did two things at the same time we upped the bar on what we demanded of our sales team in terms of experience and specialization, and we significantly invested in and advanced the capabilities of our CRM system. These two separate movements came together to create what we now term Sales 3.0. First of all, we decided that we had to offer our clients credible opinions on their business, particularly because so many were being hit by the recession. We simply had to bring them valuable solutions or we weren t helping them. As a result, we knew our sales force needed to become far more specialized this was no longer a relationship business built around playing golf. This shift required incredible change management. It meant that we either trained our existing sales force or hired a different type of salesperson both of which we ended up doing. At the same time that we were shaping this change in our people, a separate movement in the firm had been working for seven years to gather the data and modeling capabilities to make the technology arm of the sales process far more robust. During this process we implemented a very advanced CRM system, knowing our salespeople needed to be constantly armed with analytical data and useful information to build relationships. We converged the two movements. The new tools created a new openness: an ability for our team members to interact, make decisions and share in a way they never had before. Instead of an individual effort, sales became very tied together very much a group effort and customer relationships flourished. New technology and more specialized salespeople significantly up the quality of deals. The evolution of sales: Social. Mobile. Open. Better. viewpoint 2

3 SALES 1.0 SALES 2.0 SALES 3.0 Single View of One Client Account Prioritization Pipeline Reports Marketing ROI Content Management Segmentation & Coverage Potentialization, Budgeting & Analytics Cross-Sell Mobile Enterprise Client Community Tools Social Networks Frontier Curve Enterprise Deal Selling Sales as a social enterprise To take sales to this level requires a tremendous amount of transparency and account sharing, both of which are new to the more traditional sales organization that operates in silos and keeps information close to the vest. Sales 3.0 also means that everything happens in real time: insights, debate, decisions, and strategic direction changes. As a result, the speed of the movement of information and the flow of ideas create an ever-increasing ability to act more quickly. The tools that are needed to do the job well An effective CRM system is at the heart of this nextgeneration sales organization. It is all about getting information from rich sources of data, and using this information to inform the sales process. GE s CRM system is predicated on advanced analytics: We have models that create peripheral vision and models that create scenario planning. We have real-time monitoring of our sales force s prospecting activities, and learning models with simulations for our teams to remain current. For instance, we can immediately tell which clients are conducting capital investments in the form of buying versus those that are leasing. With scenario planning, a CRM system can tell a salesperson what circumstances will create a particular financing opportunity in a certain time frame. Sales 3.0 naturally creates a flattening of the sales organization, whereby information on clients, on the markets, on potential targets and on deals is available to everyone. Our sales representatives need to have an affinity for technology, a willingness to be open and collaborative in their approach to sales, and an ability to use the intelligence that technology offers them to create compelling ideas and solutions that will provide value for their clients. They also need to be specialists who can offer unique solutions. Because of our advanced CRM systems, our sales teams and business management have 360-degree visibility into accounts and the market, a full understanding of clients issues, up-to-the-minute information on events that may affect clients, transparency about deals being made, and the ability to go to market as one entity, where the right hand is working precisely in tandem with the left hand so that the client always has clarity. The technology, as well as the more specialized and sophisticated salespeople we have hired and trained, has significantly upped the quality of the deals. No longer are we focused on the numbers; instead, we are walking side-by-side with our customers, listening to them and presenting constructive thinking about how they can become more profitable. The actual selling process takes longer, but is infinitely more productive for our clients and for GE. Capabilities SALES 1.0 One View of the Client Account Prioritization Accurate Pipeline Accurate Account Assignments Useful Operational Reporting The CRM system also creates many new touchpoints. One of the most basic is a connection through the system. For example, if we create an SALES 2.0 Marketing Workflow: Request, Track, Volume Marketing ROI: Attach, Win/Loss, Trend Content Management: Publish, Track, Version, Rate Market Coverage: Meetings, Contacts Market Segmentation Potentialization & Budgeting Cross-Divisional Sales Automated SIC Analytical Tools (SAS) SALES 3.0 Mobile Enterprise Internal Social Network External Social Graph: Company SG, Penetration External Client Communities Frontier Curves & AE Productivity Interface to Inventory Systems Enterprise Selling Same Meeting Deal Closure Exhibit 1. Sales 3.0 is characterized by the rapid mobile and social access to customer information (Source: GE) The evolution of sales: Social. Mobile. Open. Better. viewpoint 3

4 Platforms CRM SIC D ata campaign to invite clients to an information-sharing event, the company receives an instantaneous RSVP. The sales team can immediately identify who accepted and who did not. Both create good reasons to speak with clients. A call that says, Great, I saw you accepted and I will see you there, is as effective as a call that says, I saw you can t make it, but I will brief you on what will be offered. Our sales teams can review, on a daily basis, their customers financials, news, and analyst reports, all in one place. They can read daily/weekly feeds on their customers from sources such as Bloomberg, Reuters LPC and OneSource. This allows sales representatives to get to deals sooner by offering their customers an early read on a potential financial opportunity or by flagging upcoming financing events (such as mature debt, recent company acquisitions, etc.). Dedicated platform consistent across region: 1 Operational reporting & One View of the Client: Pipeline, budget, account, record, sales stages 2 Content management: Marketing, attachment to ops, version control, rating, sharing 3 Social: Networks, social graph, contacts Dedicated application or tool: Real-time and transparent reporting Defined plan Plan addresses culture and behavior desired Plan administered by HR on quarterly basis Dedicated CDW built and accounts mapped Hierarchy defined MDM team in place, process designed with workflow control of new account and contact process Data maps and dictionary Exhibit 2. Sales 3.0 is supported by comprehensive customer relationship management, a sales incentive compensation plan, and advanced data analysis (Source: GE) Raising the bar While the CRM system, and the integrity of its data, helps us harness information today in a way that is truly transformative, this transformation also allows for new conversations to happen. It creates insight and dialogue. For instance, managers can see when a deal is lost, and they can ask their team why it happened. They can then aggregate that information and figure out ways to turn it into a win, and spread that information across the sales force. Management can also see where their sales force is hunting and winning a lot. They can take that winning knowledge and spread the best practices throughout the organization, raising the bar and the effectiveness of everyone. Headquarters can also measure attributes of the pipeline: the deals, their size, how much is moving through the stages of sales and at what velocity, pricing and figure elasticity curves, and price volume curves. This information drives a culture of dialogue and a culture of change. The sales force comes in from each and every meeting and records how the meeting went with a particular client. They talk about the personalities they encountered and the challenges as well as the prospects in developing a relationship. They share what they ve learned about a customer s key issues, and they can work together to build solutions. They form groups and offer posts, in many ways like an internal version of Facebook. Often the solutions that are discussed and created extend beyond one client, and have a lasting impact on many clients. The entire sales team is, in this way, involved in developing ongoing and advanced solutions that are likely to drive customer profitability, share of wallet and retention across all the relationships a company builds. And while collaboration is enhanced, the CRM safeguards the institutional memory of the account. The inevitable movement We believe this transformation in sales is inevitable for most organizations. The technology that is available today is so radically different so unbelievably effective that it is creating what one of our team members called bionic salespeople. The information they are given, coupled with the training they receive to understand that information and find ways to meet unmet needs, has created a sales force that is far more effective than they ever were. Our clients are benefiting in ways they never could before, and we are benefiting by offering our clients our insights and our knowledge. Basically, it s a win-win for everyone involved. The evolution of sales: Social. Mobile. Open. Better. viewpoint 4

5 Contributors GE Capital Commercial Excellence Team: Eric Dusch Tim Hyland Christopher Johnson John Sabino GE Capital (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. GE Capital offers businesses and consumers around the globe an array of financial products and services. Providing more than money, GE Capital brings insight, knowledge and expertise to every loan and lease. Not just banking. Building. For more information, visit or follow company news via Twitter Copyright 2012 General Electric Capital Corporation. All rights reserved. This publication provides general information and should not be used or taken as business, financial, tax, accounting, legal or other advice. It has been prepared without regard to the circumstances and objectives of anyone who may review it; therefore, you should not rely on this publication in place of expert advice or the exercise of your independent judgment. The views expressed in this publication reflect those of the authors and contributors and not necessarily the views of General Electric Capital Corporation or any of its affiliates (together, GE ). GE does not guarantee that the information contained in this publication is reliable, accurate, complete or current, and GE assumes no responsibility to update or amend the publication. GE makes no representation or warranties of any kind whatsoever regarding the contents of this publication, and accepts no liability of any kind for any loss or harm arising from the use of the information contained in this publication. GE, General Electric Company, General Electric, General Electric Capital Corporation, the GE Logo, and various other marks and logos used in this publication are registered trademarks, trade names and service marks of General Electric Company. You may not use, reproduce, or redistribute this publication, any part of this publication, or any trademark or trade name without the written permission of GE. The evolution of sales: Social. Mobile. Open. Better. viewpoint 5