Wikipedia--Dogfooding can
be a way for a company to demonstrate confidence in its own products. The idea
is that if the company expects customers to buy its products, it should also be
willing to use those products. Hence dogfooding can act as a kind of
testimonial advertising.[2][3][dead link]
I recently had
the opportunity to present my product to the VP of Sales Support at a major
insurance company. They had a legacy CRM
system that had been deemed ineffective mostly because of sales agent
compliance and were looking for something new. The VP had done his research:
internally to the key stake holders, the sales agents, managers, IT department,
marketing and HR; and externally to the insurance industry and even outside his
industry.
His
challenges were significant. The sales force in consideration was one that
considered themselves to be independent contractors and treated sales reporting
as a necessary evil at best and a waste of time at worst. The management team
had lost contact with their customers, products and direction.
Based on his
research, the VP came up with 4 key features that he believed were critical for
the successful implementation of a new CRM system:
1. Primarily mobile based
and preferably a 100% mobile platform.
2. Fast and easy for the
sales agents to learn and use.
3. Helps the sales agents
make more money.
4. Gives impactful and
insightful information about the customers and the sales agents.
With these
features in hand he did his research and short listed 7 companies who were then
asked to present their products. They were the usual companies that we all know
about.
At the end
of my presentation he asked me two very interesting questions and the reason
for this blog. His first was “Ok, so you just had a sales meeting with me. I
want to watch you submit your sales report from your mobile device into your CRM
system.” The second was, “I have had 4 interactions with you up until now and I
would like to see the records of those sales reports in your CRM data system.”
The VP
confided in me that 5 of the 7 companies could do neither of his requests; one
could not submit his report but did have a record in his data base of the
previous contacts. He eliminated those 5 companies immediately. His reasoning
was that he could not purchase a product as critical as this without the
company being able to demonstrate their own commitment and belief in it.
Weeks later
I had the opportunity to attend a Sales Productivity conference and product
exhibit hall. I visited 9 different CRM
companies exhibiting their products all extolling the virtues of their
software. I went to all 9 companies handed them my business card and asked if I
could watch them create me as a prospect and submit a sales report against my
contact. Not one could do it using their mobile device and several kept pulling
me to their computers or asked me to come back later and meet with their
product manager or IT specialist. As a side note not one of these companies
contacted me later to follow up.
