I would describe Steve Clark as demanding, daring, challenging of old ways of thinking, and constantly looking for ways to innovate and improve. In other words, Steve is a Sales 2.0 kind of guy. He and I worked together at Oracle when he was the first managing director for Oracle Australia and then VP of the Asia/Pacific Region. At that time, I was managing a team that introduced innovative sales initiatives, such as inside sales, that we had proved successful in the United States to other countries. While other international executives were reluctant to try inside sales, claiming their customers would never buy without a face-to-face meeting, Steve embraced the idea immediately. The Oracle Australia inside sales group was a great success in its first year. It was one of the first four pilots we ran to show that Oracle customers outside the United States would accept a phone/Web selling approach. OracleDirect is still going strong internationally today; it is currently a multi-billion-dollar global sales organization.
Steve Clark is challenging the status quo again. He is now CEO of Adept Business Systems, a business application software company that sells to the commercial real estate industry. Steve recently connected with me on LinkedIn and shared a paper he wrote on Sales 2.0 for his industry. Some of Steve’s key points include:
- The true potential of Sales 2.0 is outside the technology industry.
- Real estate prospects are typically bombarded with listing sheets for properties inappropriate to their needs.
- Traditional sales and leasing processes rely way too much on manual intervention and human memory.
- Internet-based mapping tools such as Google’s Street View or Bing’s Streetside shift power from seller to buyer.
- Real estate customers are increasingly leaning toward engagement in cyberspace rather than face-to-face.
- Being one step ahead of the competition is critical to success, especially in tough markets such as real estate.
- Sales 2.0 can level the playing field when competing against those with larger sales forces and marketing budgets.
You can read his full paper, “Sales 2.0 and Commercial Real Estate,” in our Resources section.
How would you apply Sales 2.0 in selling, leasing or buying real estate? Share your experiences!
