Selling Geek: Tech Reviews for Sales Pros

BlackBerry Storm arrives! Is it the ultimate mobile communications and computing device for sales professionals?

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:20:09 +0000

In 2007, Apple gave us the iPhone, and salespeople saw that it was good. Hailed by Time magazine as the “Invention of the Year”, the iPhone provided a leap forward in mobile communications and computing, with an extraordinarily intuitive interface, integrated multi-media support, and add-on applications. However, as a mobile phone for salespeople, the iPhone [...]

Selling Geek podcast #14 - Dell Inspiron Mini 9

Timothy Sullivan — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:13:07 +0000

The tech blog Engadget recently pronounced: “The age of the netbook has indeed, arrived.” According to an Amazon.com list of the best-selling computers, nine of the top ten systems sold in September 2008 were ultra-portable devices. Popular netbooks like the ASUS EeePC 900, HP 2133 Mini-Note PC, Acer Aspire One, MSI Wind and Lenovo IdeaPad [...]

Google’s Android mobile operating system arrives; how does this affect sales professionals and why should they care?

Timothy Sullivan — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:20:11 +0000

T-Mobile announced their plans to market the first smartphone based on Google’s open source mobile operating system, Android. The new phone, built by HTC and called the G1, will be generally available by October 22nd in the US (and in the U.K. in November, and the rest of Europe in early 2009), and will cost [...]

Selling Geek podcast #13 - Best web browsers for sales pros

Timothy Sullivan — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:10:52 +0000

In this episode of the Selling Geek podcast, we review the top five most popular web browsers, and evaluate them in terms of their utility to sales professionals. We also provide specific web browser recommendations to salespeople using Macs, Linux-based systems, or Windows-based computers. Links to resources mentioned in this show: List of available web browser applications Flock SeaMonkey Microsoft [...]

What will salespeople use for their next computer operating system? Part 6: conclusions and recommendations

Timothy Sullivan — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:59:58 +0000

Last in a six-part series In Part One of this series, we defined what an operating system (OS) is, and speculated that changes in the most significant OS platforms could affect the way that salespeople do their jobs over the next few years. In this part, we summarize our findings and provide sales professionals with some [...]

What will salespeople use for their next computer operating system? Part 5: “The Cloud”

Timothy Sullivan — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:37:57 +0000

Fifth in a six-part series In Part One of this series, we defined what an operating system (OS) is, and speculated that changes in the most significant OS platforms could affect the way that salespeople do their jobs over the next few years. In this part, we speculate about what could be emerging as a new [...]

Selling Geek podcast #12 - GPS for sales pros

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:48:30 +0000

In this episode of the Selling Geek podcast, we interview Tim Flight, the moderator of the popular website for information about GPS devices: GPS Review. Click here for a complete transcription of this interview. What is GPS? How does it work? What GPS systems have the best maps? How does GPS benefit sales professionals? Advantages and disadvantages of portable, in-dash [...]

What will salespeople use for their next computer operating system? Part 4: Linux

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:22:06 +0000

Fourth in a six-part series In Part One of this series, we defined what an operating system (OS) is, and speculated that changes in the most significant OS platforms could affect the way that salespeople do their jobs over the next few years. In this part, we focus on the most commonly-used open source alternative OS. Linux Originally [...]

What will salespeople use for their next computer operating system? Part 3: Mac OS X

Timothy Sullivan — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:09:37 +0000

Third in a six-part series In Part One of this series, we defined what an operating system (OS) is, and speculated that changes in the most significant OS platforms could affect the way that salespeople do their jobs over the next few years. In this part, we focus on perhaps the most visible alternative to Microsoft [...]

What will salespeople use for their next computer operating system? Part 2: Windows

Timothy Sullivan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:53:51 +0000

Second in a six-part series In part one of this series, we defined what an operating system (OS) is, and speculated that changes in the most significant OS platforms could affect the way that salespeople do their jobs over the next few years. In this part, we focus on the most dominant OS in use worldwide [...]

What will salespeople use for their next computer operating system? (And why the heck should they care?)

Timothy Sullivan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:02:41 +0000

First of a six-part series In order to be competitive today, virtually all sales professionals must use computers. They need rapid access to information about their industry, customers, prospects, competitors, and their own organizations’ products and services, and the computer is the ideal device for finding, storing and retrieving this information. Most people think of computers in [...]

Selling Geek podcast #11 - The Death of Voicemail

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:57:02 +0000

In this special extended edition of the Selling Geek podcast, we comment on recent technology news of interest to sales professionals, and we speculate about the possible future end of the scourge of salespeople everywhere: voice mail. Please give us your comments and feedback on our U.S. toll-free message line: 877-345-7763, or from anywhere in the [...]

Jott “out of beta” (code for “we’re charging real money now”); salespeople grumble, but open their wallets anyway

Timothy Sullivan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:41:33 +0000

The popular voice-to-text service, Jott, which heretofore was completely free, announced that they are now “out of beta”, and they have introduced a tiered services pricing plan. In other words, most users will now have to pay monthly fees to get Jott’s most desirable features. (See our earlier review of Jott, posted here, for a [...]

Selling Geek podcast #10 - CRM expert Rich Bohn

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:14:16 +0000

In this episode of the Selling Geek podcast, we interview SellMoreNow.com’s expert analyst on customer relationship management (CRM) software, Rich Bohn, about: the state of CRM today what makes CRM succeed - or fail low-cost CRM alternatives the future of CRM Click here for a complete transcription of this interview. Links to resources mentioned in the show: SellMoreNow.com CSO Insights Siebel/Oracle salesforce.com Oprius PipelineDeals Entellium Zoho CRM Infusionsoft SAP CRM Microsoft Dynamics [...]

“Gain Control of Your Day” podcast features Selling Geek

Timothy Sullivan — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:11:43 +0000

From our “Toot Our Own Horn” department: the outstanding podcast on time management and personal productivity improvement, Gain Control of Your Day, featured our review of PhoneTag in a recent episode, and also at their sister blog and podcast, the Struggling Entrepreneur, too! We’re flattered and honored - our thanks to both sites for sharing [...]

Selling Geek podcast #9 - PhoneTag

Timothy Sullivan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:25:26 +0000

I hate voice mail. Oh, I remember back in the early 80’s when the software company I was working for first got an automated voice mail system, and we all thought it was cool. You can forward a phone message to group of people, all with a couple keystrokes? Cool. You can retrieve your phone messages [...]

Selling Geek podcast #8 - Adobe Acrobat 9

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:56:32 +0000

Sales professionals live and die by the quality of their communications with customers and prospects. Misunderstandings lead only to incorrect expectations – for the buyer, the seller, or both – which lead ultimately to bad feelings at best, or bad business at worst. And as a result, the best salespeople take extra care to keep [...]

Selling Geek podcast #7 - Cars for sales pros

Timothy Sullivan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:09:33 +0000

In this episode of the Selling Geek podcast, we interview CNET’s editor at large and Car Tech podcast host, Brian Cooley, about: the best cars for sales professionals five criteria that salespeople should use to evaluate automobiles how autos will adapt to rising fuel prices the coming trends in integrated technology in cars Click here for a complete transcription [...]

Selling Geek podcast #6 - Mobile phones for sales pros

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:10:40 +0000

In this special episode of the Selling Geek podcast, we interview PC Magazine’s mobile phone expert, Sascha Segan, about: the best wireless carriers for sales professionals the lastest trends in handheld phones the future of mobile computing what it all means to salespeople Click here for a complete transcription of this interview. Links to resources mentioned in the show: LinkedIn Dave Stein’s [...]

The coming end of voice mail? Sales pros collectively close their eyes and wish, “Oh, please, please, please, make it so…”

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:34:49 +0000

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch posted an intriguing column called “Think Before You Voicemail“, in which he points out the ever-decreasing value of leaving recorded voice messages in light of more efficient new alternatives. He says: …Now an increasing number of people are just plain avoiding voicemail… It takes much longer to listen to a message than [...]

Selling Geek podcast #5 - LinkedIn: the social network for business

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:16:24 +0000

One of the essential principles of good selling is: people buy from people. No matter how much we might like to live in a world where buyers make purchase decisions without human involvement – or on second thought, perhaps not – the fact of the matter is that person-to-person interaction is a requirement for most [...]

Sprint-bound sales pros: give the Instinct a look-see

Timothy Sullivan — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:23:13 +0000

If you are tied to the Sprint mobile network in the US, either by contract or by some weirdly unexplainable emotional bond, and you have iPhone envy bad, then you owe it to yourself to look at Samsung’s new Instinct, released this week at a bargain price of US$129.99 with a 2-year contract and a [...]

Selling Geek podcast #4 - Twitter, what is it good for?

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:57:04 +0000

Let’s take a critical look at what is arguably becoming the biggest “Web 2.0” fad. Since it’s inception in 2007, Twitter now serves over 1.7 million users, and that number is growing by over 2,000 new users every day, and accelerating. What is Twitter? Why is it generating so much buzz? And most importantly, does it [...]

Selling Geek podcast #3 - Jott voice to text service

Timothy Sullivan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:53:06 +0000

Have you ever been driving to your next sales appointment, when suddenly you hear something on the radio? Realizing that this means a potential sales opportunity, you search frantically for a pen and a scrap of paper. One hand on the wheel, and the other fumbling around in the glove compartment, you take your [...]

Selling Geek podcast #2 - YouSendIt file transfer service

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:00:53 +0000

Last fall, I was working on a sales improvement project for a client in the UK. They asked me to develop several short videos for their team. This was a rush project – with a very short deadline. They couldn’t wait for me to burn the videos to a DVD disk, and ship the disk [...]

What will be the next great phone for salespeople?

Timothy Sullivan — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:30:31 +0000

While salespeople continue to peck away at their trusty Blackberry devices, or just make calls on their conventional mobile phones of various makes and models, three giant forces quietly accelerate towards a cataclysmic confrontation. These titanic forces shall soon collide, and the cacophony and chaos that this clash creates will stun and stupefy sales [...]

Selling Geek podcast #1 - Aliph’s New Jawbone headset

Timothy Sullivan — Sun, 25 May 2008 23:52:39 +0000

I’ve sometimes had to take important calls with customers as I was driving from one sales appointment to another, but I’ve always cringed at the impression I was making – with all the background noise, I’m sure my in-transit calls made less than a completely professional impression. I also remember one teleconference with a hot [...]