First, let me thank everyone for the great feedback on “5 Action Items for a CEO.” It was fun to write and the great feedback was refreshing.

To quote the experts at CSO Insights:
“What sales is has not changed. How sales are accomplished is changing radically… Sales rep turnover is higher. New rep rampup times are longer and despite the fact that more leads result in initial meetings, a lower percentage of initial meetings result in presentations. And fewer presentations are leading to deals closing. In short, many indicators are heading in the wrong direction.”

I highly recommend every executive read this every entertaining and thought-provoking white paper entitled “Sales 2.0 White Paper: Run Away and Join the NEW Circus.” But in the interest of keeping this blog simple, I will focus on one thing only — making your website your best salesperson.

Why must our website be our best salesperson?

Today, with fast connections, companies looking for a solution rely on seach tools like Google and websites for self-education. So if your website is not your best selling tool, it is your worst.

Here are a few key tips:

• Make sure you have a clear and compelling Value Proposition based on business outcomes. How does your solution help a company to achieve a goal, solve a problem or address a challenge? Get it right.
• Ensure you offer the content they need. White papers. Case Studies. Webinars — recorded. Podcasts.
• Let your customers do the selling. Feature them in videos extolling the virtues of your company. Please see http://www.successfactors.com/ and http://www.greenlightsearch.com/ for a couple of good examples.
• Keep the navigation simple. Let your wife test it or one of your kids.
• Make sure you can track behavior on your website. Actions speak louder than words.
• Keep it fresh. Change your website regularly.
  A superb example is SuccessFactors. One day the top graphic was people — a man at a desk with another was a CEO, two people standing and talking was labeled VP of HR, etc. Click on one of these, such as the CEO, and a web form appears with an email template to your CEO. The next day, I found a series of very well done videos from their CEO and a select group of customers.

I hope you find this helpful. Call or email me if you’d like to ask a question or need help.

Good luck and good selling.