Sales 2.0 Conference: All About Measurement

I've been wandering around the Sales 2.0 conference in Boston today. (Unfortunately, I haven't been able to live blog it, due to an inability to be two places at once.) What I have done, however, is troll through the vendor booths and talk about what they're doing in the area of sales technology.

The first thing that strikes me is the emphasis on measurement of both sales and marketing. Gone are the days where all that's known is whether the individual or team meets quota. Companies are now measuring everything from the time that a lead enters the system to the final revenue generated from an account over years. And companies are adjusting their strategies to adapt to what they learn.

The second thing that strikes me is the wealth of data that you can now get about companies, individuals and industries... in a couple of seconds. There's now no reason for any sales rep to "cold call" at a company where it's not reasonably clear that there's a need for the product and that the person being called is the right person to contact.

The conference, as usual, is featuring real life sales executives explaining how they used technology to keep sales up and growing, even during the recession. I'm amazed that every sales manager in the country isn't clamoring to attend this conference. It's growing year to year, but it's still the most valuable resource out there for anybody committed to increasing sales productivity.

The next Sales 2.0 Conference is in San Francisco. I can't recommend it highly enough.