Web 2.0 -What does it mean to Sale's People?
Through the month of June Techslog will be diving into how the web and technology in general can help aid Sales Reps in being more productive and helping them to increase their sales. Check back often!
June 12, 2007
February 02, 2007
Take a Deep Breath and Increase Sales?
Using the Power of the Breath to focus yourself prior to a sales call, can be beneficial.
November 02, 2006
Study: IT job cuts up sharply in Q3
Just three months after U.S. IT job cuts reached their lowest levels since 2000, a new study has found that planned workforce cuts are again heading upward as recent corporate restructuring, mergers and other events are reducing the number of available jobs.
September 25, 2006
Why do SalesPeople Leave?
As always, salespeople remain fickle about the companies they work for, but the reasons why they leave have changed. According to Compensation Resources, Inc. (CRI), a compensation and human resource consulting firm, the average voluntary turnover rate in sales is 15.9 percent, higher than the 14.3 average turnover rate for all jobs in 12 industries surveyed. CRI obtained turnover statistics and trends from a broad range of industries and company sizes. The results indicate that both voluntary turnover and overall turnover have slightly increased in 2006 over 2004 when the last data were collected.
The Hay Group, a Philadelphia-based management consulting company, had similar findings. After surveying about one million employees at 330 companies in 50 countries, they found that the employees "least committed to a company are its salespeople, 38 percent of whom planned to leave within two years.”
September 21, 2006
Oracle and SAP talk Smack
Tom Taulli submits: The ego of Oracle’s (Nasdaq: ORCL) Larry Ellison is never in doubt. However, in light of this week’s announcement of the company’s blow-out quarter, he certainly had every right to brag. Let’s face it, when the stock price of a company the size of Oracle surges 11%, it is no fluke.
Given that Ellison is a devotee of the ancient warrior-author Sun Tzu, it is no surprise he took shots at his mortal enemy, SAP (NYSE: SAP). In fact, it was a particularly cutting remark; that is, Ellison said his company is taking away market share from SAP’s application business.
Why is this happening? Simply put, Oracle thinks SAP’s software is crusty. And, the next version is not expected to hit the market until 2010. Actually, Ellison thinks that SAP will have no choice but to pursue an aggressive acquisition strategy (which is something Oracle has been doing for the past two years – spending almost $20 billion on deals).
Well, SAP likes a good fight as well and yes, it has responded to Ellison’s claims. Interestingly enough, SAP's rebuke sounds like the beginning of a lawsuit: "Larry Ellison's statements in today's Oracle earnings press release about SAP's product and acquisition strategy are a complete misrepresentation."
Yes, somehow Ellison is a bit more masterful in verbal warfare. But, more importantly, it looks like his software business is backing-up what he is saying.
Will SAP sue over Ellison's taunts?
An old school playground smackdown has broken out between Oracle and SAP. Fueled by strong quarterly earnings, a reinvigorated Larry Ellison indulged in a fierce bit of SAP-bashing in a call with analysts and investors: "I cannot imagine them holding on to their existing strategy in the face of market share losses and what is turning out to be rather slow organic growth for them," he said, among other mean things. A little while later the home page of Oracle was - and still is - emblazoned with the headline "Oracle grows 10x faster than SAP!" Ouch!
The rhetorical broadside quickly fetched what Webpronews.com delightfully describes as an "I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I" response: "Larry Ellison's statements in today's Oracle earnings press release about SAP's product and acquisition strategy are a complete misrepresentation," retorted SAP's Bill Wohl. And he didn't stop there: "Oracle's statements about SAP and their own Fusion progress continue to be inconsistent and misleading... Oracle needs to adopt one version of the truth, and be honest with the market on its actual progress." Booya!
Nothing like a little blood in the water to draw the biggest sharks of all - the lawyers. SeekingAlpha is already predicting litigation: "SAP's rebuke sounds like the beginning of a lawsuit," the blog writes. Cool.
And where's the truth? The Browser notes Mr. Ellison has long been a master of propaganda, and that everyone knows the best defense is a good offense. Certainly, Oracle's recent results are welcome news after a prolonged period in which the company struggled mightily to absorb a series of major acquisitions including Peoplesoft and Siebel, and its stock languished. Software is a fickle business, of course, and both companies must maintain a near constant state of aggression. But SAP investors worried by Ellison's taunts may be reassured by this glowing report by Ismael Ghalimi, who is blogging live from the company's TechEd conference.
-Oliver Ryan
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