by Mike Vicchitto | Editor | The Daily Anchor
This week I’m reviewing another tool that aims to help Sales and Marketing professionals get smart about their customers and prospects. By automating micro-level account research, SalesView by InsideView has taken some of the pressure and busywork off of lazy CRM users.
I’ve been using the tool for nearly two years, and have had the opportunity to see it evolve over time. The added modules and functionality are consistently useful and well-thought out, and InsideView has earned solid user adoption throughout our Sales organization.
At its core, InsideView offers access to a companies & contacts database that pulls data from primary sources such as Hoover’s, Jigsaw, Reuters and Dun & Bradstreet. You can search, build and export lists, and mine this raw data. Where SalesView really shines, though, is in CRM integration for targeted account research.
I have been using the Salesforce.com integration, but users of Oracle CRM, Microsoft CRM, Landslide, and SugarCRM can also tie into SalesView. In Salesforce, the SalesView application lives as a mashup on my Account, Lead, and Contact page layouts. It automatically searches for Company or People matches when the record is being viewed, and allows the user to make a selection if multiple matches are returned.
The Account mashup displays, in a tabbed format, a summary of the account with key data points such as its SEC code, annual revenue, # employees, corporate address, etc. This key information can be synced with your CRM with one click, updating your Account record with the freshest, most accurate data available.
The application also offers a tab that displays all available Key Contacts known at the account, in a logical hierarchical format. You can also run quick searches against LinkedIn and Jigsaw to find additional contacts. SalesView grabs data on open jobs at the Company using SimplyHired, making it a great tool for a headhunter on the lookout for new business opportunities.
Another tab lists in chronological order all press releases and news articles that mention the selected account; and alerts can be set up at the user level to notify oneself of events such as leadership changes, product releases, IPO announcements, bankruptcy, etc. This serves to motivate your Sales reps to make well-timed and prepared calls to clients and prospects with something relevant to discuss- hopefully increasing the overall quality of interactions. I’ve personally felt more confident cold calling when I have this kind of information condensed and palatable.
I do have a couple gripes, to be fair. You can import Key Contacts into your existing Account Record – but it is a one-off process that takes 4 or 5 clicks away from the mashup view. A “quick load” button that automatically ported each contact to the existing account would be ideal.
Also, the price point for the SalesView Pro version is considerably high at $99/user/month, but if you use it to your fullest advantage, the value can really be justified. There is a free version, but it is highly restrictive and quickly outgrown by the lazy (though now productive and informed!) Sales rep or Marketing researcher.
Overall, SaleView by InsideView is a dependable tool that lends itself well to every day use, and is another valuable part of my business intelligence arsenal. Check it out at www.insideview.com, or the AppExchange for you Salesforce.com users.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Andrew & Mike, thanks for the in depth review! We greatly appreciate the kudos around CRM integration, productivity, and adoption. We focus on and take pride in each of these.
We also acknowledge your gripes. But as luck (fate) would have it, we’re already working to address both. SalesView FREE will become much less restrictive in our Jan release (this weekend.) And direct contact export from the mash-up will be in our Feb release.
As for pricing, well, we obviously agree that those using SalesView fully see it as a bargain. Most companies are spending 2X to 4X across different traditional data vendors, and even more on ‘free’ social media sources (in the form of wasted sales rep productivity!)
So far we haven’t seen pricing pressure because of, rather than in spite of, the economic climate. That’s because VPs of sales are being asked to to more with less in 2009… and so naturally sales rep productivity is one of the first knobs they turn.
eWeek said it best – “What recession?”
http://tinyurl.com/8mvhbf
Marc, thanks for the feedback! I am psyched to hear that my few gripes are being addressed in upcoming releases – looking forward to it!
I’m sure it has some purpose – but how do you turn it off? Would be nice if Salesforce actually asked their users before imposing a gimmicky “mash-up” on its user base.