A post worth checking out on Andy Sernovitz’s Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! blog. The blog in general is worthwhile, but this post is relevant to the social CRM space.

Damn, I Wish I Thought of That!: How to use fan feedback to improve customer service and build trust

Nice article on Gist and the impact of Office 2010. If you have not tried Gist, check it out.

WSJ: Updating Office on the Cheap

For more of my thoughts on Gist, check my earlier posts. 12Sided on Gist

Entertaining read by Guy Nadivi in Forbes. I would add to his empirical evidence with similar experiences lately. I have been hearing others talk about this same thing happening to them. Has it happened to you?

Forbes: Why You Shouldn’t Hire A Perfect Job Candidate

I have been on a networking role lately. Found this today in the WSJ which sums up what I have been learning and re-learning.

WSJ: How to Network – Live & In Person

Happy Monday

Solid read on the state of the cloud @ Fortune Brainstorm Tech: A kinder, gentler cloud.

Check it out.

Nice read on disruptive businesses by John Sviokla at Harvard Business Blog.

Check HBB: Getting Started with Disruptive Business Design

It made me think about the future of CRM. Salesforce.com over turned the market leaders and is now the market leader. What will disrupt Salesforce? Is it new technologies that rely less on the core product or those that extended it, such as sales enablement systems. One thing is certain, whoever does disrupt Salesforce will not intend to do so at first.

Sales Enablement offers some unique advantages to drive Sales user adoption. The ability to create new and custom collateral and to effectively collaborate on accounts address big pain points for sales. The CRM world has not implemented these technologies on an industry scale.

Sales Enablement also addresses today’s market realities. Customers and prospects today take more time to educate and filter themselves from the pipeline. Due to this change, Marketing now owns the early phases of the sales cycle. This is positive. Sales can now spend time adding value to the sale rather than educating a prospect about the company and product. Solutions to real business problems has been and will remain at the heart of the complex sale. Sales today needs the skills to focus on the complex sale.

I have enjoyed reading Steve W. Martin’s Heavy Hitter Selling. Having implemented CRM and carried the bag for many years, his message is right on. Sales Enablement will succeed or fail as a methodology based on user adoption. Marketing and Sales need to find ways to work together to make it work. As the article below describes, this is easier said than done.

Heavy Hitter Selling: Why Sales and Marketing Are Always at Odds

Happy Monday.

I did miss the meeting, but not the slides. Worthwhile slides, video and post by Bryan Starbuck: Phone Sales Strategies for new Startups

Been very busy and unable to blog as much as normal.

Solid read today worth checking out by Jessica Vascellaro in the WSJ Why Email No Longer Rules…

…are your customers. They have credibility that your sales team will never have — and amazingly they pay you.

Nice read on this topic at Marketing Donut: Turn your customers into your best sales people.