New technologies applicable to the sales process

We are facing a "turning point" in terms of technology applications. Today the revolution comes in the way we communicate and interact in social networks. How does this affect the business world? I want to share with the readers of this blog article I wrote a few days ago for another technology blog which I participate. It is important to understand these concepts, since it is necessary to understand them and keep them in mind. Soon we may be using these technologies in our daily work.

There are two terms in technology that are revolutionizing the business scenario in developed countries. Wiki and Web 2.0

Let us see first what are the most common definitions of these two terms:

Wiki: Something paradoxical. The searching of the definition of Wiki Wikipedia, the free access that uses Wiki technology, but it is so complex that it seemed appropriate to use it for a basic article on the subject like this. I found a more easy to understand definition published by Stephanie Holds that reads: "The term is originally WikiWiki Hawaiian means quick. To abbreviate the word commonly used in technological terms and Wiki is software for creating content collaborative way. It's called Wiki to Web pages with links, images and any type of content that can be accessed and edited by anyone. This becomes a Web tool that allows us to collectively create documents without performing a acceptance of the content before publishing online. A clear example: Wikipedia, a project to develop a free encyclopedia on the Internet ".

How does this technology affect business? Already have highly productive experience using wikis to the work of marketing and sales, for example. Wikis are imposing a new methodology for collaboration between the areas of marketing and corporate sales. Through this technology is empowering organizations to manage information and knowledge content creation that has allowed evidence of improvements in business productivity through team work more efficiently. Several implementations have measured the impact and only to give an example, through the use of Wikis, e-mail traffic has fallen by up to 50% from company officials. Now, not only is being used to collaborate between the areas of marketing and sales company, but has been integrated in the supply chain collaboration with suppliers and customers. There are, for example, technology companies have created software Wikis allow their customers to present all their concerns, recommendations and suggestions on the development of new versions or upgrades of products. Today, there is a very well known software company in the world market that has a specific portfolio of 5,000 valid suggestions to enrich their products, all obtained through the cooperation of customers and users.

There are business applications market Wiki that allow other companies to use this type of technology to improve their teamwork environment both within the organization and with external stakeholders such as customers and suppliers. Examples of these applications are business Wiki: www.socialtext.com, Confluence, and www.mindtouch.com www.brainkeeper.com

Let's talk about What is Web 2.0. As in the definition of Wiki, there are multiple approaches. The most common thing I found in all definitions is that the term Web 2.0 is taken to all applications that generate "Social Networking" and are oriented web applications to end users. The definition found in Wikipedia is: "The term Web 2.0 was coined by Tim O'Reilly in 2004 to refer to a second generation of Web-based user communities and a special range of services such as social networks, blogs, wikis and folksonomies, which promote cooperation and swift exchange of information between users. " Given the connotations of social networks which are implicit in the term Web 2.0, its leading exponents are precisely these kinds of applications that create community. Among the most popular are: Facebook (www.facebook.com), Jigsaw (www.jigsaw.com), LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), Orkut (www.orkut.com), Spoke (www.spoke.com) and Xing (www.xing.com).

What is its usefulness in business? Initially the most potential is identified with marketing activities through the creation of specific segments with a common interest with a high level of cohesion. WEB 2.0 application best results at the enterprise level has generated is LinkedIn, especially because of the ease and naturalness with which to establish new contacts at the firm level for a B2B sales environment. According to experts in the field, "when the sale is transactional or repetitive Web 2.0 social networks may not offer many benefits, but when the sales process is strategic and based on personal relationships, perhaps the benefit of belonging to social networking Web 2.0 is quite high. " This is the opinion of Jeff Weinberger, Marketing Executive of the company Webex, a leader in online meeting system. That's why now there is a new concept called Enterprise 2.0, which is not simply the impact of Web 2.0 to the enterprise level. A picture is worth a thousand words, so Charlie and know how to work on Enterprise 2.0 schema, see the following presentation:

Meet Charlie - what is Enterprise2.0? View more presentations from Gavin Scott.



One of the biggest impacts being generated by the use of Web 2.0 is the proliferation of micromedia, which drastically affects the use of mass media and advertising investment mechanisms. It is necessary to begin evaluating a totally viable as using these micromedia to effectively reach the target segment. Additionally, the big technology companies like IBM, Microsoft, SAP, etc.., Are entering an accelerated manner in the world of WEB 2.0. For further illustration, I invite you to see the video below (is in Spanish) ...



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