On my last trip to Ireland I met Connor Murphy, CEO of Datahug, and his co-founder, Ray Smith.
These are two very smart and enterprising guys. Once I understood what their product could do, and its applications to selling and sales management, I knew I had to share it with you.
Dave Stein: Connor, can you very briefly explain what Datahug is and how Datahug can help B2B sales organizations win new business?
Connor Murphy: Datahug’s core mission is to help clients win business and sell more. We do this by enabling sales people to automatically pinpoint “who knows who” and “how well they know them” across their company’s entire network of connections. In essence this means that at the click of button a sales person can instantaneously see who in their company can give them a warm introduction into an account they are targeting. As all sales people know getting a warm referral makes the sales process quicker, easier and more effective.
DS: How do you do this?
CM: The Datahug product works by automatically scanning contact information contained in email headers (such as to, from, cc and bcc) and calendar data coming in and out of the company. The analytics engine monitors this to build up a dynamic database and applies a powerful relationship algorithm to make the connections and undercover who knows who and how well they know them right across the company’s entire network of connections. What’s important to know that the Datahug product never touches content – it only needs contact information to do its job – and there is no data entry required, it works with the information already there.
Within a matter of seconds Datahug can pinpoint, for sales people, who they need with speak with to get the warmest referral into a company they are targeting. (See screenshot. Click for full-size view.)
It’s simple, and effective—but game changing.
DS: I agree. I was very impressed by how easy Datahug was to use when you have me a demo last week. Can you give my audience some example use cases where a busy sales professional or VP of Sales would use Datahug to win new business?
CM: Sure. Let me address two areas. First, prospecting:
Datahug takes the pain and effort out of sales prospecting. For sales people, it automatically highlights who in their company’s network can give them an effective warm introduction into any account they are targeting. Statistics show that Datahug results in up to nine times more warm introductions for sales people and this helps our clients to win bigger deals faster.
The product is straightforward and easy to use. A sales person enters a search for the company they are targeting and the Datahug solution presents them back with all the connections that exist between the two companies. It highlights the details of who in your company knows someone in the account you are targeting, how well they know them and how recently they have been in contact
For example, imagine you were looking to target Acme.com, you would simply search your company’s private Datahug network to see how you were connected. In this example you might find that your company collectively knows 25 people at ACME via 7 of your colleagues. Each contact is ordered by our powerful relationship algorithm which uses over 25 factors to determine the strength of the relationship insight. Within a matter of seconds Datahug can help you identify the warmest potential introduction to your target account.
Datahug is also very effective in helping sales people keep on top of account relationships. They can see a consolidated timeline of interactions between their company and an existing account or targeted prospect. They can see the frequency and number of interactions taking place and can be automatically alerted if connect levels with target accounts start to slip. This helps them keep accounts warm and alive which increases the likelihood of sales.
DS: Many of my readers will already have a CRM and existing processes in place. How does Datahug fit with my existing tools and workflows?
CM: Datahug compliments an organization’s existing CRM system by bringing a deeper level of insight to what’s already there by uncovering the connections that exist between the raw contacts in a CRM system and the people in your company. Datahug has been designed to stand alone as a product or sit on top of an existing CRM solution. The product already integrates with several leading CRM systems and every day tools via our growing list of plugins and our API.
In addition the product works by “hugging your existing workflow” and moves across the communications channels that people use on a day-to-day basis. Its works on your smartphone and within your Outlook client and our browser extensions deliver insight as you research target company websites and even when you are reviewing profiles on LinkedIn.
DS: There are other applications of Datahug that assist sales management. Please briefly explain.
CM: One example is how Datahug will help you understand the actual effort invested in your clients. You can easily see who among your sales team spends their time engaging your clients, the actual time and effort spent on each account, and you can compare what you invested against your bottom line. In addition, you can see whether you client activity levels are sufficient (is there enough communication going on with the right people?), and who re you falling out of touch with.
DS: Again, the demo blew me away. Great job. You mentioned a free trial.
CM: Thanks. To find out more and access our free trial visit www.datahug.com or simply call us directly on 1-855-DATAHUG. Datahug is a cloud-based subscription service that operates very similarly to Salesforce.com. We offer a variety of professional and enterprise packages to meet the requirements of our customers and our clients range from Big 4 global accounting firms, to Fortune 1000 sales organizations, to smaller 50-person companies and divisions.
Connor is the CEO of Datahug Inc. Datahug is a leading provider of automated sales intelligence solutions, delivering increased revenues and shorter sales cycles to B2B sales organizations. The software-as-a-service solution enables sales professionals to leverage existing connections for warm introductions to leads and partners. Datahug is headquartered in Dublin, with offices in London, and their clients include 3 of the big 6 global consulting firms.
Prior to Datahug, Connor worked as a Management Consultant with PA Consulting Group in New York, Washington DC and London. He specialized in social strategy and knowledgement management solutions and his clients included Fortune 500 firms, government organizations and venture-backed companies. He is originally from Ireland and has a first class honors degree in Computer Science from University College Cork.
