31 Define References and Competitors

This chapter contains the following:

Define References and Competitors

FAQs for Define References and Competitors

Define References and Competitors

Reference Customers: Explained

Reference customers are a valuable asset to any organization. Often, a review process is involved in enrolling satisfied customers into a reference program.

Reference Profile

An administrator can create and update a reference profile and store the following details:

Supported Activity Types
The reference customer profile includes a listing of various reference activity types that the customer will engage in. These activities include prospective customer visits to their site, phone calls, conference participation or subject of a case study. An activity has a threshold number such as a maximum of two site visits during a certain threshold period such as a quarter or year.
Products
You can select from a list of products purchased by the reference customer or you can search and add products and product groups. These are products that the customer has purchased and has agreed to endorse as part of the reference program.
Opportunities
Past and present opportunities where this reference is involved are displayed here. You can view details of each opportunity.
Attachments
You can store case studies and data sheets about this reference and retrieve them easily. Use the content in them while working on a deal.
Activities
Activities include appointments and tasks involving this reference customer. Appointments and tasks from related opportunities also appear here. You can create new appointments or tasks as well.
Industries
Displays the industries that the reference customer has a business in.
Discussions and Wiki Pages
Participate in discussion forums and view wiki pages for a reference customer. These avenues help you understand the customer and equip you with all the knowledge required to win a sales deal.

Creating Competitor Profiles: Explained

You can store various details regarding the competitors in your sales domain. As a salesperson, you can use these details when you want specific information regarding a competitor during a sales bid.

Some of the details that you can record for a competitor include:

Stock symbol
Company URL
Industry
Geography
Threat level

The application records the following details automatically based on your sales:

Your company's win rate against a competitor
Revenue that your company has lost to date while competing against a competitor

Competitor Profile

Apart from the above basic details, the following make up a competitor's profile.

SWOT Analysis
A method for examining the strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) value for a competitor. This enables you to understand, plan, and craft an effective competitive strategy when facing a competitive threat on a deal.
Internal Experts
Resources within your organization who hold expertise on the associated competitor. Experts may also be further categorized within their competitor association definition by associating them with specific product groups. You can leverage the knowledge of the internal experts while working on a deal.
Product Groups
A listing of all products or product groups the competitor is associated with. In addition, you can also see the customers who are buying the associated products from the competitor.
Opportunities
A consolidated view of past and current opportunities where the competitor was present. It gives you useful insight to plan the appropriate sales strategies.
Industries
A listing of all industries where the competitor competes with the deploying organization.
Geographies
A listing of all geographies where the competitor is at play.
Attachments
View relevant documents for a competitor. You need access to a variety of competitive collateral providing information on how to position products or solutions against specific competitors. This might include industry and analyst reports about competitors as well as strategy documents for a specific industry that can benefit you in a selling situation.
Discussions and Wiki
You can also participate in discussion forums and view wiki pages for a competitor. These avenues help you understand the competitor well and equip you with all the knowledge required to win a sales deal.

FAQs for Define References and Competitors

What's a reference rank?

Use ranks to classify your reference customers. Ranks 1 to 5 are seeded in the application with Rank 1 being the highest. Search results are sorted in the ascending order of reference ranks. Following is a brief description of what the supplied ranks mean. You can configure them based on your requirements.

Rank 1
Top-tier corporate reference
Rank 2
Very strong reference with multiple products and contracts
Rank 3
Strong regional reference for multiple products
Rank 4
Limited-use reference based on one product or one person
Rank 5
Likely to be referenceable upon resolution of customer issues