Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Why aren’t beverage executives online?
I loved Richard Branson’s recent article, “Why aren’t more business leaders online?” While he is mostly referring to executives aversion to social media (only 16% of executives are using social media), he also indicates the lack of ambition by these executives to utilize technology in general. There is a “surprising lethargy about using the online tools already available”. In his opinion, and mine, this is a big mistake. If your answer to the question “How am I using the latest technology to improve my business?” is, “I check my email on my iPhone”, then you are missing the boat. State of the art cloud computing systems and mobile business applications can make your business much more efficient, collaborative and productive. And, the tools are here NOW. As Branson says, “Anyone who thinks new technology isn’t going to keep changing the world has got their head in the sand”. Don’t be late to the game.
How Your Business Can Become A Social Enterprise
“Social networking-type applications will become as ubiquitous in the workplace as Microsoft Office tools and will likely replace e-mail as the dominant form of corporate communications.” — Bill Gates
Chatter is changing the way employees collaborate with one another. New, young sales reps grew up on the internet. This is how they communicate. This is how the world communicates. Now available for your business. Contact GreatVines to learn how Chatter from Salesforce.com is an integral part of the GreatVines user experience, from real-time team collaboration, to triggered alerts and shared content. Let your data talk to you!
Whether you know it or not (or even like it) websites like Facebook and Twitter are shaping the way we think about data and communication. No longer do you need to search through piles of disparate, disconnected information sources – today the data you need comes to you! We all have strong feelings about how Facebook connects us or who it connects us to, or how Twitter overwhelms us; but you can not dispute the power of information within a business. At one level or another, you are probably on this website because of a need for a CRM solution – relationship management, and relationships are founded on communication.
The great news for all GreatVines customers is that Chatter is embedded fully within our application and available today - and you can now enable Chatter access for all employees in your organization for free, including mobile support! Please check out this powerful video (also displayed below) and contact us to discuss your collaboration needs.
We at GreatVines have been very excited about the rollout and promotion of Chatter on the Force.com platform. If you watched Superbowl XLV and the Halftime show, you saw animated videos featuring will.i.am, the Black Eyed Peas and Chatter.
The time has come to change (no, revolutionize) how we collaborate and communicate within an organization. Beverage companies are no different. We struggle with multiple data points and a lack of clear communication, particularly between various product, sales and marketing teams.
Whether you know it or not (or even like it) websites like Facebook and Twitter are shaping the way we think about data and communication. No longer do you need to search through piles of disparate, disconnected information sources – today the data you need comes to you! We all have strong feelings about how Facebook connects us or who it connects us to, or how Twitter overwhelms us; but you can not dispute the power of information within a business. At one level or another, you are probably on this website because of a need for a CRM solution – relationship management, and relationships are founded on communication.
The great news for all GreatVines customers is that Chatter is embedded fully within our application and available today - and you can now enable Chatter access for all employees in your organization for free, including mobile support! Please check out this powerful video and contact us to discuss your collaboration needs.
Dreamforce 2010 – A Newcomer Perspective
In early December I had the chance to attend Dreamforce 2010. Not having been to salesforce.com’s Dreamforce event before, I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been to plenty of big trade shows in the past, including COMDEX in Las Vegas back in it’s heyday, and Oracle OpenWorld which fills every hotel in San Francisco.
Somehow I was expecting more hubris and fanfare from this event and I wasn’t really disappointed. 30,000ish attendees was a huge uptick from 20,000ish attendees the year prior. That much growth in interest for the platform is staggering. I’m no analyst but I think this year’s record profits will not stay the high water mark for long. Mark Benioff was entertaining and his potshots at Oracle and Microsoft were predictable and pretty funny. He sounded a lot like his former mentor Larry, even when poking at Larry.
The conference is everything Cloud, with some exhibitors having nothing to do with salesforce.com or force.com, simply being cloud was enough. Even the plastic show badges were shaped like clouds. GreatVines had a nice presence for our size, as we were featured at a press event, Jim demo’ed the Craft Brewers Alliance version of HopVines, and Tim was on the closed circuit TV with Scott from CBA.
The big announcements from salesforce.com were interesting and of high potential impact to salesforce.com. They continue to expand on their platform as a service offerings, by bundling development and database tools to allow partners like us to continue expanding our offerings.
One announcement we had hoped for was the hinted at improvements to the bundled analytics platform within force.com, but we will all have to wait a bit longer it seems. Watch this space….
Overall, a great time and a good opportunity for us to bond as an ever growing team, we had 4 of our 6 full time employees present (watch this space also).
Oh, and congratulations to our own Jeff Huth, who passed the onsite Developer Exam and is now certified. There is a rumor that he got the highest score ever taken on the exam, not sure we will ever know.
John Collins, CEO
GreatVines LLC
Do distributors need CRM?
It’s all about market share. Here is how I learned that. I “grew up” in the wine & spirits industry in New York, working for and with some of the biggest and best companies, brands and distributors in the business. I was groomed by some incredible people from the old Charmer Industries in New York. While I spent most of my time in meetings and offices, I learned the most important lessons while on the street working directly with key accounts and with distributor sales reps. There are lots of acronyms used in this business, BDN, IRC, ROI, and of course the infamous RIP, however one acronym that was NEVER used was CRM. I didn’t know what it was until I saw brand managers including CRM programs in their consumer marketing plans. That got me thinking about how we could use CRM to drive sales to the trade. 15 years later, we finally have a platform to deliver a CRM tool that wine & spirits sales reps can leverage to sell more cases. It’s called GreatVines.
The most important thing I learned in my time selling on the streets was that your relationships were the most important factor in how many cases you sold. There was a direct correlation between the strength of your relationship with a buyer and how many cases he would buy from you. What most marketers and executives didn’t realize was that the consumer demand for a particular product was actually not the most important factor in the sale, but the second. Sure a retailer has to carry the category leader, but he doesn’t need to promote it.
Distributors are in front of buyers all day long. How are they using technology to manage their customers, their relationships, their business. Distributors need more than just an order entry app. It’s time for real CRM in beverage alcohol distribution. It’s time for GreatVines. Those distributors that adopt this approach will gain a competitive advantage and increase their market share.
