When you go to a company's website you often see the 'suped-up' marketing language to describe the product or service. We wanted to share our value at Salespod in plain old English, because at the end of the day, information is more important than fancy verbiage.

At Salespod, we believe that the swiss army knife is a great analogy for our tools, as we want to provide a software that allows you to 'pull it out of your pocket' and use the tool you need at that given moment; and we want to give you that ability every day from anywhere. That is why we built our sales force technology for real-time use in the field in the cloud.

We want you to equip your team like ninjas, quick, on the move, and uninterrupted. So if you use Salespod, you could say you are equipping your ninjas with swiss army knives, and this is how we let you do that:

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Salespod is proven to save Sales Representatives up to 120 minutes per day.

• Instead of setting up a laptop and connecting to the internet (3-5 minutes) multiple times per day, you just fire up your iPhone or Android.
• Instead of keeping detailed mileage logs (or fudging them) (5-10 minutes per day), use your cell phone to record the data.
• Instead of lugging around bulky product catalogs (5-7 minutes), use the color screen of your tablet to show your product line.
• Instead of calling the office after every appointment (5-7 minutes), check your bulletin board to see what appointment your back office has you scheduled for next. Salespod reduces phone calls by 90%!
• Instead of filling out sales forms in triplicate (15 minutes), fill them out on your tablet and send them to your back office, saving you p...Read more
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"Foursquare has 2 billion check-ins and 20 million users" reads CNET's headline this week on the social location-based technology. With just a singular use case we are seeing an outstanding footprint in usage. Although, frivolous (or laborious) to some, it is clear co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai have stumbled upon something here; and it is only just the tip of the iceberg.

As far as location-based services, check-in services for the consumer mark a small use case. Take the enterprise, an entire location tool opening for the tools that Foursquare is built off of. Tracking, communication, sharing, regional expertise; these are all aspects of Foursquare that apply directly to enterprise efficiency.

We have previously at Salespod discussed the us...Read more

Jason Nazar (CEO) and the team at LA based, DocStoc are an amazing small business tool. Known for their work in documents, the team has branched their media tools out by developing Iphone/Ipad apps with techniques for small business owners. With the release of 20 new apps there is something for every business need.

For us at Salespod, it is all about 'Sales Tips' We took it upon ourselves (to watch all the videos) to pass on some great information from within the app that could be of use in any company.

5 Step Sales Process

These are tips from Jason Nazar, CEO of DocStoc, himself.

• Gain interest. According to Jason, "the favorite subject of everyone is themselves." Who doesn't love to talk about themselves, after all, it is what we know best. Jason recommends to start of a sales discussion about them.
• Establish need. "What are they looking for?" Make sure you clarify th...Read more
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Every employee, executive and CEO is a consumer. Therefore, it is no surprise that consumer facing technologies are creeping their way into enterprise use. Once, daily products (such as Foursquare, Linkedin, Facebook, and Pinterest, to name a few) for the delight of the consumer are becoming fast tools to the delight of the enterprise.

Take my close friend Dan Larsen as case in point. He is a senior IT architect as Qualcomm. A large part of his role is finding technology and tools that make Qualcomm's inner enterprise structure more efficient. Once a developer, Larsen is the biggest tech geek (and proud early adopter) I know. His Iphone has about 7 screens holding over 100 differing apps. He was a major part of the team that brought Yammer in for internal communications in 2009. Today, Qualcomm has switched technologies, but Larsen's insights on microblogging remain. If products wor...Read more

Which platforms are best for you and the simple answer to using them. Mastering social media for lead generation is just a matter of time my friends.

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, About.me, the emerging Google +, and the 'so hot right now' Pinterest; with so many free and simple tools it seems silly not to consider social media for digital sales techniques. I know, social media is usually considered the domain of the marketing crew, but it can be a really powerful platform for lead generation and follow-up information. It also gives the sales crew 'touch of a button' network expansions and the ability to interact with current customers for feedback, as well as potential customers and leads. I think it would be safe to say: get social!

Let's start with the main platforms and work our way outwards from there. With 850 million users, Facebook is...Read more

How did we get here? The infographic below gives you some insight into how we see the world of professional selling today and helps you rethink your role as a salesperson.

To learn more about the History of American Sales Culture, read Alen Majer's post about it.

 This guest-post is by Alen Majer of http://www.alenmajer.com

Frequently, there are two main pitfalls that even experienced salespeople can fall into in terms of activities. First, they simply aren't doing enough. What's enough? Enough telephone calls to make appointments, enough face-to-face calls, enough calls that involve or influence the decision-makers. In general, the more focused sales activity salespeople generate, the greater the number of sales opportunities they can create.

Poor Quality Activity
Second, but equally important, salespeople often aren't clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to priorities which prospects to contact first and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them, salespeople are doomed to waste a large percentage of their time.

Another huge dilemma for many salespeople is how to divide their time between servicing existing clients and generating new business fr...Read more

Have you ever noticed that the inside of your car can appear perfectly clean and then, if the sun hits the dashboard just right, all of the glass and plastic windows, radio, navigation, dials and displays are filthy dirty with dust? Have you ever noticed the same thing in your home, apartment or office? The air looks clear, but when the sun comes beaming through, it suddenly illuminates billions of tiny dust particles that you didn't know existed.

Sometimes, you get an even rarer peak into that confused state when you are between awake and asleep. You know you just caught a glimpse of a conversation that even seconds later you can't recall. But it was there.

It's the illumination factor that I want to talk about.

Every six months or so, I write an article that speaks to why companies evaluate their sales forces and solicit assistance from Objective Management Group (...Read more

Guest post by Kyle Porter, CEO, of SalesLoft, an innovative Sales Intelligence Software company.

Almost every industry has been disrupted as the internet has connected us all over the last twenty years. Telecommunications, energy, entertainment, finance, whatever the industry, the internet has likely improved it. The way we stay in touch with our friends and family has even changed. Instead of a phone call or letter, we'll send a text or tweet. Every industry is going through a transformation and B2B Sales is seeing it's most significant disruption begin right now.

Compared to other industries such as music or publishing, the sales industry is a late-comer to innovation: technology just can't replace building authentic relationships or understanding a customer's need. Sales intelligence will never substitute what makes a sales rep great, however, sales intelligence will make a sales rep greater.

Cou...Read more

The rate of adoption of sales force automation (SFA) software by sales professionals has been traditionally low.  Many reps viewed it as a way for management to play "Big Brother" and keep a close eye on the team's activities.  Additionally, the original SFA systems were burdensome, with poor user interfaces and data entry processes.

However, much of that has changed in the past 15-20 years.  Many of today's SFA solutions have a much sleeker look, can be deployed over the cloud and are flexible enough to match the individual's needs instead of the other way around.  Now, instead of being a kludgy pain in the sales person's neck, SFA has become one of their most powerful tools.  Lauren Carlson, a writer for the Software Advice website recently wrote an article about this.  Below are the four high-level trends she says have driven acceptance and adoption ...Read more

I was working with a client's sales team yesterday and one salesperson shared that he had given up his "hopium" addiction. Hopium?

It's a new term - I couldn't find any documented use of the word prior to 2008 and most references are from the past couple of months. It's in the urban dictionary but not the traditional dictionary. Hopium is defined as a combination of Hope and Optimism. Okay, that makes sense.

But the salesperson who used it didn't mean he had given up his addiction to hope and optimism. He meant to say that he had given up his addiction to Happy Ears.

I've written four prior articles about Happy Ears.

Happy Ears - 2nd of the 10 Competencie&n...Read more

I've always viewed myself as mildly addicted to football.

My wife would say I'm obsessed with football, but we won't touch that.

This year I finally took my addiction to a new level by joining a fantasy football league.  I felt with my knowledge of the game, I would do quite well.  Now with the season nearing the end, let me share with you what I've learned and, more importantly, how it applies to sales.

First off, I felt because I thought I was smart, I would do quite well and wouldn't have to spend much time on it.  Big mistake! After 3 weeks, I had notched zero wins and 3 losses.

I started thinking how that is just like it is in sales.  Anyone who has been in sales for a long time feels they know everything and, therefore, don't need to take time to prepare for a call. Just like in fantasy football, not preparing in sales is a big mistake.
...Read more

Is your sales team under pressure to put up greater numbers selling to prospects who have downsized, cut spending or, in some cases, are going out of business? Are your salespeople using the same techniques for the last 30 years expecting a different result?  Isn't that the definition of insanity? Perhaps these techniques used to work in the past, but they don't anymore. Or maybe the idea that if you make enough cold calls, sooner or later a small percentage will result in meetings, and an even smaller percentage of those will end up as clients. Are your sales people fed up with old-school, time-consuming, costly and wasteful cold calling that kills their morale?

Who can blame salespeople when they do not want to prospect?  Who really wants to hear sixty or more "no", indecisive voicemails, "not now", or every other excuse in the book, for every one yes who agrees to chat.  And then it only gets worse: for some, it can take 2-3 months of w...Read more

There comes a point at which the challenges of life just become overwhelming.

The stress of relentless problem-solving and financial instability create a plight that just seems unfair.

After all, you are the one with the vision and the guts to try something new.

You're the one who is taking on the odds in pursuit of something new.

It's you who should be respected and rewarded.  Not butchered, maligned, and abused.

And there's nothing wrong with getting angry about it.

In fact, you getting angry enough might be the secret to you being successful after all.

You getting angry enough to go to battle another day.

It's what fuels you.

There is something mystically empowering about a  wrathful zealotry for achievement - the righteous indignation of social unexpectancy.

How dare you be questioned.  How dare your vision f...Read more

Why do some people achieve so much more than others? Why do some people seem to have all of the time in the world to get things done whilst others constantly seem to be frazzled? How can some people win new clients every month, service existing clients amazingly, manage sales teams, become industry go-to resources, deliver awesome lectures, write books, climb mountains, run marathons, have fabulous social activities? And live the life of their dreams as well?

And yet others struggle to remove themselves from firefighting, admin and dealing with challenges and spend their mornings, noons and evenings glued to their email?

It's an important question. It might be one of the most important. Ultimately, you will be defined by what you do and by what you achieve not by how busy you are!

Being busy is not the same as being successful. Working hard is not the same as working smart. Putting the hours in is pointless if you're working on...Read more