How To eSign Presentation for Sales Teams

The logical route for most small businesses that are operating on tight budgets is to start with free SaaS software. There are many out there but you will find that they are limited in features and capabilities. You may want to have a mix of free tools and set aside a reasonable investment for paid solutions since there are lots of affordably priced, SMB-friendly SaaS software offerings in the market. Here’s a great resource on SaaS tools for small business you may want to check out.The following are my suggestions of software categories and the respective products that are most useful in y...

Hi...The Sales Funnel is a customer-focused marketing model which illustrates the theoretical customer journey towards the purchase of a product or service. An example of sales or customer funnelThis staged process is summarized below:Awareness – the customer is aware of the existence of a product or serviceInterest – actively expressing an interest in a product groupDesire – aspiring to a particular brand or productAction – taking the next step towards purchasing the chosen productThe Sales Funnel is also often referred to as the “customer funnel”, “marketing funnel”, “purchase funnel” or ...

There is no single 'best' way to do most things. Let alone something as subjective as hiring.To start with, evaluate some things:a. What am I selling? (Product/Service/Experience)b. What sector am I in?c. What does my customer profile look like?d. What geographies am I aiming for?e. Who are my competitors?Accurate and clearly defined answers to the questions above are the first step. Second would be, on the basis of the above answers, try to develop the profile of your ideal salesperson. Note, I am talking about a Salesperson and not the sales team leader/manager etc. Now, a few ...

Thanks for the A2ALet's look at what's the key ability of the founders of a successful startup before we get to answer this question:Deep understanding of the domain : An understanding which doesn't come from google, which doesn't come from someone else giving you an idea or which doesn't come from " oh...this us Uber of X or X of India". It comes from getting first hand experience of the problem. By talking to various stake holders, as to why the problem is the way it is. Why has no one solved it so far. These experiences and curiosity leads to some insight, which is 'your' insight. This 'insight' is the foundation of your startup.Expertise needed to solve the problem : For example, If the problem requires building a hardware device to solve the problem, you must know how to build it, or you must get a co-founder (not employee) who knows/understands how to build the hardware device. Same applies, to s/w, biotech, medicine or for that matter anything else. Just having an idea, and hiring people to build the solution rarely succeed. Ability to market & sell : Don't mistake of believing that if the product is good it'd sell for it self. NOTHING EVER SELLS FOR ITSELF! Every product needs either marketing, or sales or (most of the time) both. If you don't know how to peddle your product, you have a huge hurdle to cross. Again, hiring is not a solution.There are many more key success criterion for a startup, like market dynamics, team etc, but let's focus on the above with respect to this question. Now, let's answer the original question, is it crucial to work for other startups before starting on your own? Yes & No. If you have what it takes (all of the above) - you are good to go. However, if you are still toying with an idea, then it is best to work for someone else in the meanwhile.Do yourself a favour, do a self assessment and find out if check all the 3 items, then approach an experienced entrepreneur or any other mentor that you trust, let him grill you - you'd know if you are ready to start.All the best

Personally, I'd use web based technologies. Web technologies are universal across Mac, PC, Linux, Cellphones and tablets. Build a website as usual, embed videos, podcasts, slideshows, articles and reference materials as links. Build in print, save and download buttons.The real advantage of this method is that anyone, anywhere in the world can view it.I used to make these for a company and the ceo would fly round the world to deliver the presentation in their boardroom with nothing but a url. Worked everytime, everywhere. Nothing to get lost, repeatable, requires taking nothing to the meeting.If you use any other software, you rely on the audience having the player on their computer (Air, Flash, Latest Mov files (only play with Media Player), Powerpoint etc. - All proprietary).

Team AlignmentYou are facing a team alignment issue. You think urgency is important, they don’t.There are two terms in lean thinking which I believe are quite instructive; seitketsu and shitsuke. Seiketsu roughly translates as “standardize best practices and keep them in order.” Shitsuke roughly translates as “do without being told”. A simple way to understand these is an analogy to teaching your children to brush their teeth. First, you must remind them repeatedly; you are standardizing a practice. You signNow “shitsuke” when you don’t have to remind them any longer.Business Practices You Can AdoptIf you want to have your team aligned with an issue you think is important, here are 10 things you can do to “standardize” urgency.Establish KPI’s. Find a way to measure response times, graph the results, and prominently post them for all in the organization to see. If you are a small team, post it on the wall by your desk. In other words, keep score.Always on the Agenda. Look for every opportunity you can to discuss the issue. Make it a part of every team meeting.Align the Rewards. Be sure your compensation plan has rewards for this metric. If you want X, but pay for Y, people will focus on Y. Follow the money.Recognition. Praise the top performers, publicly.Adjust your selection process. A hiring and selection tool I like is ClearFit. You can test the personality traits of your team. Then take the top performers (those who demonstrate the most urgency), and use those as the benchmark for your next hires. Avoid the profiles which match your non-performers.Build it into appraisals. When you do performance appraisals, give prominent and in-depth feedback on the issue.Empower people. Does your team need permission from someone, anyone to do follow up? Is someone or something a barrier in the process? Is there something in the “follow up” which requires someone else’s approval? Put their “authority” in writing if necessary.Align your CRM. Does the system generate reports about urgency? How long does a lead stay idle before the system triggers an alert to the next level of management?Provide tools. Does your team have everything they need for follow up? Do you have the right collateral materials? Free trials? Promotional tools? Is there something “broken” in your SaaS product which makes them uncomfortable about moving ahead?Budget properly. Do you have the right amount of spend allocated to the issue? Is there a third party, like your controller, who is choking the system by limiting funds?Team alignment can be frustrating. You’ve got the right concept in mind to put up an “alarm clock” but you can extend that to many other aspects of the way you lead. You are “on stage” the minute you encounter your team and they watch everything about the way you act and what you do. Use this power wisely.Bob Kroon is a founding member of the Bay Area Success Group. BASG members are consultants who collaborate to assist small business owners with a wide array of services for strategic opportunities and difficult challenges.With respect to strategic acquisitions, the BASG can particularly assist with acquisition strategy, candidate targeting and contact, financial modeling, diligence, and post-acquisition integration.