Still recovering from the Broadway block party last Thursday at the SiriusDecisions Summit? Us too. The final day of the Summit was chock-full of valuable sessions, and we don’t want you to feel like you missed a beat. Instead of recapping each session we’ve taken some of the most memorable quotes from the week and compiled them below.
“Most sales organizations aren’t even aware of the hidden costs of lost productivity and the competitive disadvantages this creates.” Jim Ninivaggi had a great session on Thursday about activity-based enablement. Activity-based enablement involves reducing the amount of administrative and “non-selling” tasks that sales reps are responsible for, and increase the amount of time spent selling. It not only affects productivity, but revenue.
“Companies must do a better job of understanding their customers and their needs, especially in the post-sale phase.” Matt Senatore talked about how customers are still important after the sale; if they are happy they will become advocates, and advocates bring in new customers. There is arguably nothing more important than caring for your current customer base.
“CIOs and CFOs often tell us, ‘We don’t care about the time reps spend on administrative issues. That’s music to competitors’ ears. Every hour a reps spends on unproductive, low-value activities, they lose to their competition.” Steve Silver alluded to the similar issue that Jim Ninivaggi covered in his session on activity-based enablement: lack of sales productivity is killing sales success. The best way companies can address this is by focusing on external-facing, direct sales activities.
“Technology powers everything in marketing, sales and product, from lead nurturing and prioritization to managing contacts and pipeline, and that’s not going away. In fact, technology is only going to become more critical in the years to come.” While it is customary to hear about technology at a B2B sales and marketing event, Jay Famico shared just how imperative it is for companies to be nimble and proactive when considering new technologies. Technology is evolving so quickly that it can be overwhelming to keep up; it’s important to evaluate technologies on how they will grow and evolve with your company.
“I bring passion and fire, every single day. Even if I’m successful, I’m not satisfied.” Celebrity keynote speaker Magic Johnson had a lot to say about making good decisions in a timely manner, and how important a healthy rivalry is in order to make you better. But Magic stressed that he wouldn’t be where he is today without undying motivation and drive to always be better. He talked about bringing the same passion and excitement to your job every day that you had when you first started out.
While these are just a few of the most memorable quotes we found at the SiriusDecisions Summit, we were very impressed with how many valuable sessions and speakers were present. Let us know what your favorite session or quote was in the comments below!
