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	InfoMentis Delivers Opportunity Management Through e-Learning ALPHARETTA—December 1, 2006— Today, InfoMentis announced the launch of MentisWare, Sales Edition, an e-Learning based product suite focused on helping organizations provide their sales professionals with core best practices necessary for winning sales opportunities. "Since its inception 10 years ago, InfoMentis has been a thought leader in its approach for addressing client needs relating to performance improvement and strategy consulting," said Carol Ann Weiss, Executive Vice President of Marketing for InfoMentis. The introduction of MentisWare, Sales Edition, was designed with three key purposes: 1) to enhance and extend the existing tools and services offered to the sales organizations within our client base, 2) to provide exposure to sales best practices for professionals who interact with clients, such as marketing and professional services, and 3) to provide an offering that fits the business needs of small and medium-sized organizations. The MentisWare, Sales Edition product suite is comprised of five core modules: Gaining Business Insight Understanding Your Sales Opportunity Competing Conducting Discovery Linking to Solutions Through these modules, participants will be able to gain insight and instruction on how to create more collaborative relationships with their prospects and customers. The product suite covers topics such as Understanding Your Client's Organization, Uncovering Key Business Requirements and Pains, Communicating Value, Developing Discovery and Influence Maps, Selecting Competitive Strategies, Delivering Competitive Traps and Messages, Developing and Using High Yield Questions, Creating and Using Call Plans, Positioning Your Solution, Mapping Needs to Solutions and Delivering Compelling Messages. MentisWare, Sales Edition offers businesses a solution that combines e-Learning, automated toolsets and "in-person" facilitation and consulting services. It allows learners to learn how to create a collaborative environment, better understand their prospects and customers business objectives, make more informed decision and communicate more effectively in sales situations. "We are committed the continued development and innovation of our offerings through technology," said Weiss. "MentisWare, Sales Edition enables learners to fully harness their customer-facing potential while providing a blended learning experience geared for success." InfoMentis is a global consulting and performance improvement company providing configurable programs that help our clients enable cultural change. We teach our clients how to more effectively get, keep and leverage their customers and help them achieve bottom-line results. Our configurable courseware, e-Learning modules, consulting services and collaborative productivity tools are designed to be adapted for role-based behavioral change for those in marketing, sales, services, support and management around the entire customer lifecycle. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, InfoMentis has helped industry leaders around the world understand and embrace the value of determining predictable revenue streams. Through our unique offerings, they are able to recognize that an opportunity for growth is significant among organizations eager to differentiate. Founded in 1996, InfoMentis has provided performance improvement strategy, consulting and coaching to over 30,000 professionals in 46 countries and six continents . For more information about MentisWare, Sales Edition , please contact Suzanne Rabauer @ srabauer@infomentis.com. For more information about InfoMentis, please visit www.infomentis.com. Download the Article Download Entire Newsletter InfoMentis Delivers Ongoing Value with e-Learning Reinforcement "Inforce™" allows InfoMentis clients to refresh, continue and extend their skills development ALPHARETTA—September 20, 2006— Today InfoMentis announced the launch of its newest product offering, Inforce, an e-Learning based product suite focused on helping professionals from client organizations extend their knowledge and techniques related to tools and concepts presented in InfoMentis instructor-led workshops. "Instructor-led training is a key starting point to achieving and supporting performance improvement," said Steve Maul, Chief Learning and Strategy Officer for InfoMentis. "However, an organization's commitment to ongoing reinforcement and coaching is critical, whether it comes from an individual's manager, teammate and/or a refresher course in the form of an e-Learning tool such as Inforce." The Inforce product suite comprises four core modules: Mapping Influence, Discovering Value, Competing Powerfully, and Presenting Value. Inforce modules will serve as InfoMentis "content refreshers" for tools and techniques such as Objection Handling, Competitive Strategies, Call Planning and High Yield Questions, while at the same time enabling learners to take the role of an internal coach rather than just a participant role. Inforce offers multiple benefits without the common e-Learning barriers. It allows the learner to take on the role of an internal coach and give advice based on his/her own experience and also allows new topics to be introduced, thus extending the workshop content and allowing the learner to apply the techniques with a greater advantage. Additionally, it instills the self- and team-coaching mentality amongst the learners, providing for a more successful and well-equipped team readily willing and able to coach one another rather than solely relying on a team lead or manager for this critical function. “InfoMentis understands the significance our clients place on receiving ongoing return on their initial training investment," said Maul. "Hence, our continued focus on delivering new and innovative methods to our clients, which will reinforce the skills that deliver results in revenue growth and predictability." InfoMentis is a global consulting and performance improvement company providing configurable programs that help our clients enable cultural change. We teach our clients how to more effectively get, keep and leverage their customers and help them achieve bottom-line results. Our configurable courseware, e-Learning modules, consulting services, and collaborative productivity tools are designed to be adapted for role-based behavioral change for those in marketing, sales, services, support and management around the entire customer lifecycle. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, InfoMentis has helped industry leaders around the world understand and embrace the value of determining predictable revenue streams. Through our unique offerings, they are able to recognize that an opportunity for growth is significant among organizations eager to differentiate. Founded in 1996, InfoMentis has provided performance improvement strategy, consulting and coaching to over 30,000 professionals, in 46 countries and six continents. For more information about Inforce, please contact Suzanne Rabauer @ srabauer@infomentis.com. For more information about InfoMentis, please visit www.infomentis.com. Download the Article Download Entire Newsletter InfoMentis Hires Mark Hutts in Pricipal Role ALPHARETTA—December 1, 2006— InfoMentis, Inc. announced today that Mark Hutts has joined InfoMentis in a Principal role. "Mark is an excellent addition to our team," said Julie Rhodes, Director of Delivery Services. "Mark's experience and accomplishments as a sales professional will directly support and benefit our clients." Mark Hutts , an accomplished professional in executive level sales, brings with him 26 years of sales and sales management experience in the technology industry. Most recently, he was responsible for directing sales for Infor's (formally Geac) Eastern Region, exceeding both revenue and customer retention goals during his tenure. Prior to Infor, Mr. Hutts was responsible for managing Nextance's sales team in the Eastern region where he oversaw target account identification, pipeline building, account reviews and forecasting and led a team credited with closing business with industry-known accounts such as IBM, PriceWaterhouse, Masterfoods and Eastern Chemical among others. Additionally, he was Informatica's Southeast Applications Sales Manager, where he directed sales efforts for a new analytic application product line. Prior to Informatica, Mr. Hutts founded and successfully ran an independent recruiting firm specializing in permanent and contract placement of IT personal for organizations such as SAP, Siebel, The Weather Channel, Platinum Technologies, JD Edwards and Dun & Bradstreet. Throughout his career, he has consistently achieved and exceeded sales goals while building and managing sales forces for companies such as Gupta Corporation and Kaseworks. Starting his career as a sales consultant with Management Sciences America, Mr. Hutts went on to work for Metaphor, KnowledgeWare, McCormack & Dodge and Comshare. While in positions ranging from Sales Consultant to Senior Account Executive, he achieved and most often exceeded his sales goals, gaining him ongoing recognition as a consistent top performer. Mr. Hutts earned a bachelor's degree in real estate from the University of Georgia in 1975 and a master's degree in decision science with a minor in accounting from Georgia State University in 1980. InfoMentis is a global consulting and performance improvement company providing configurable programs that help our clients enable cultural change. We teach our clients how to more effectively get, keep and leverage their customers and help them achieve bottom-line results. Our configurable courseware, e-Learning modules, consulting services, and collaborative productivity tools are designed to be adapted for role-based behavioral change for those in marketing, sales, services, support and management around the entire customer lifecycle. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, InfoMentis has helped industry leaders around the world understand and embrace the value of determining predictable revenue streams. Through our unique offerings, they are able to recognize that an opportunity for growth is significant among organizations eager to differentiate. Founded in 1996, InfoMentis has provided performance improvement strategy, consulting and coaching to over 30,000 professionals, in 46 countries and six continents . For more information on InfoMentis, please visit www.infomentis.com. Download the Article Download Entire Newsletter Tips for Demonstrating Value in 2007 At least once in our life each of us has had the unfortunate experience of being part of a presentation or demonstration that headed South with little hope for return. Here are some tips to ensure your next prospect or customer meeting clearly reveals the value of your solution and preparation behind your commitment. I believe Bobby Knight said it best— "Most people have the will to win; few have the will to prepare to win." Practice "in-role." Don't say "here's what I will say" – words matter. Inconsistencies in your story erode your credibility. People pick up on them. So make sure you don't contradict the other members of your team. Even small inconsistencies can destroy credibility. Create value. Value is in the mind of your prospect or customer. If you don't know what they consider valuable, you aren't adequately prepared. Be prepared to offer proof. Proof comes in many forms such as an article, analyst's report, customer reference, documentation, project plan, etc. Successful competitors change their tactics often. It makes them unpredictable and harder to combat. Change your tactics frequently. It will build your competitive power. You can't know everything about your competition, so use discretion and avoid absolutes. Many solutions look alike, so be specific about your advantages and their value to each prospect and/or customer's specific needs. Many demonstrations are boring especially if they all look the same. Fun ones are more memorable. So make yours meaningful and memorable to your prospects and customers. You should always have a close to the meeting, not a signature on the contract, but a close to the previously agreed on next step in the process. Weak words, like "we'll try..." "I hope..." or "it might...," undermine your credibility. Use strong word like "we will..." or "you can..." when you are preparing your presentation or demonstration. It will remind you to say them when you get up to give your presentation or demonstration. Repeat Step 1. Remember, you usually can't win a deal in one presentation or demonstration, but you can certainly lose it. Download these Tips Download Entire Newsletter Differentiating for Competitive Advantage by Suzanne Rabauer If someone were to ask you: "What differentiates your company from its top competitor?" What would you say? What would a colleague say? Most importantly, what would your customers say? True competitive advantage must come from within a company as a whole and be validated by those customers and prospects who can corroborate what they see as unique about your offering. Regardless of your industry, today's global marketplace is flooded with competitors vying for the same business opportunities you are—hence, the emphasis and importance placed on your company's ability to effectively differentiate themselves from their competitors. On the surface, many organizations appear to offer similar solutions and certainly a quick look at most websites would suggest the same. This becomes even more interesting as, like your organization, your competitors are continually enhancing and expanding their offerings. Ultimately, knowing what your customers perceive as your differentiators versus the alternatives can be the difference between doing extremely well or just surviving the competitive storm. In order to rise above the flood waters, you must first ensure that your team is well equipped with the information necessary to establish and maintain competitive advantage in competitive situations. In many cases, this can come from the marketing department; however, it is also critical that you get feedback from customers and more so those prospects who recently selected you versus the alternatives. In doing so, you need to clearly understand the perception and impact that the individuals at your customer organizations perceive as the competitive advantages your company brings to the market. Additionally, as you are working with prospective new customers, keep in mind the following: Where your opportunities for competitive advantage exist. Objectively assess your competitive position from the "eye of the buyer" and consider this as you prepare to set competitive traps and/or handle potential objections. Reduce risk by creating a competitive plan to include your competitive strategy and the specific actions that support the strategy. Carefully develop and professionally deliver competitive messages keeping in mind your "safety net". Know which existing customers will serve as references to provide value statements to support your competitive positioning. Remember, companies don't make decisions, people do! Gaining mindshare and achieving meaningful differentiation with prospects and customers requires value in the form of a solution. A solution which will address and resolve an existing challenge that impacts attainment of your prospects and customers organizational goals. I believe the former CEO of General Electric said it best - "An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage." Download the Article Download Entire Newsletter Running Through the Tape by Brent Prosser Runners are taught to "run through the tape" when running in a race. In other words, don't quit at the tape that is stretched across the finish line. Instead, keep running through the tape to ensure the best possible time. That lesson also applies to how we should deal with our customers. The morning before Thanksgiving several years ago, my family and I were preparing to head out of town when I noticed that my three-month-old car was leaking oil. The dealership's service department didn't have the required part in stock to fix the problem so they took a part off of a new car on the showroom floor so that they could repair my car and I could be safely on my way. That's a textbook example of how a high level of customer service shows value beyond the initial sale. Not only did the dealership hook me as a customer, but I've told that story to friends countless times. How often do salespeople think of the finish line as the signature on the contract or statement of work or getting the P.O.? It's natural, right? We're paid to generate revenue, and working on that next deal has to be the priority. But it's also important to remember that it's usually easier and less time-consuming to get additional business from current customers than it is to find net-new customers. A key to that, to be sure, is ensuring that your customers are not just satisfied with your company's product or service, but also with the way that they are treated by every representative of your company. Some thoughts to keep in mind as you shape your strategy for ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction are: Don't make the mistake of presuming that the intrinsic quality of your product or service will take care of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Just as closely as you manage the sales cycle, take an active role in the customer relationship after the contract is signed and demonstrate a genuine interest in their success. Be proactive. Don't just show up when you have something else to sell them. Have quarterly or annual vision and strategy sessions with your customer's decision makers where the focus is on THEM and not YOU. You'll take the relationship between you and the customer to a higher, more strategic level and you'll get an earlier understanding of future revenue opportunities. Think about how you like to be treated by people or companies from whom you buy. What makes you a loyal customer? Treat your customers the same way. Focus on running through the tape. Focus on all of the value-add activities that your team can do after the contract is signed to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction and to make the customer want to continue to do business with you in the future. Best of luck for a prosperous and enjoyable 2007! Download the Article Download Entire Newsletter Maintenance Benchmarking: Where Are You in the Value Chain? by Gerard Frey One of the best ways to measure the value customers receive from their maintenance agreements is to look at the numbers. The reason is simple: Customers vote with their dollars. Yet, while for most technology companies, maintenance is by far the most profitable of their product lines, many cannot articulate any metric below their top-line retention rate. Here are some more detailed key metrics to help you know where you stand: Maintenance Retention Rate Have you ever been asked, "What is your maintenance retention rate?" Chances are that if you asked five different people in your company, you would get as many answers. And who is correct? Consider this... maintenance retention can be measured in a variety of ways, and particularly by product, by customer, and by overall revenue. On top of that, there's gross retention rate and net retention rate—net retention rate does not include price increases and new customers. All are important for different reasons and explain different things. On a recent sales call, an executive of a large, global software company told us, "We don't have a maintenance retention issue. Our maintenance retention rate is 97%, which is higher than the industry average." After further investigation, we determined that in fact, their net customer retention rate was actually in the mid-high 80s, lower than the industry average. It had been camouflaged by a great sales year combined with an aggressive price increase. They are now implementing an action plan to address their maintenance retention issue. Benchmark Observations: A net maintenance retention rate based on revenue generally ranges between 90-95% for a healthy software company in its growth years with marketed go-forward products being actively sold. Rates will vary by type of product, price point, industry and age of company. Tips Track the different types of retention rates and look at all of them. Make sure that you can explain each variance. Look for trends over time, not just last year's numbers. Make data actionable—what are you going to do about it? There's little point in spotting a trend if you aren't prepared to address it. In our example above, they determined where the leak was and why and created a marketing plan to address it. Defection Analysis It's important to know how many customers are leaving, but also to understand why. It's almost impossible to have a 100% customer retention rate given that you will inevitably lose customers to reasons outside your control, such as mergers and acquisitions or perhaps bankruptcy. It's the ones that you can control that you should focus on. Every time a customer discontinues maintenance, you should track at least the reason and amount. The most important thing to watch for is whether you are losing any of your most valuable or largest customer. Armed with this information, you can start detecting important trends, such as competitive replacement campaigns by your competitors, product weaknesses or vulnerability in your top accounts. Benchmark Observations: It's not uncommon for software companies to lose anywhere from 2-5% of their maintenance revenue to reasons beyond their control. Tips Get the field sales organization involved—often they have valuable insight Look for key trends such as competitive replacements or self-support Conduct periodic win back campaigns. Offer your customers a deal to re-engage with you on maintenance. It can be fairly inexpensive, and the revenue goes directly to the bottom line. Maintenance Negotiations If you don't know how much your company is losing through maintenance negotiations, you're negotiating too much. One of the biggest revenue leaks for many software companies is maintenance negotiations during the initial sales cycle and in the subsequent renewal cycles. And with the trend of customers pushing back harder on maintenance more than ever before, there is no sign that this is going to change. Look at this closely and ask lots of questions like: Why do we have to negotiate? Who gets to negotiate? Who approves? What are our guidelines? And don't just look at maintenance dollars negotiated, but look for other things negotiated as well. For instance, we frequently hear from sales reps that they are not allowed to negotiate maintenance dollars on the initial deal, so they negotiate license dollars, or sometimes they arrange for maintenance to start at a date 30, 60 or even 90 days into the future, which is actually a deal on maintenance dollars, somewhat camouflaged. Benchmark Observations: Negotiation percentages vary based on company policies and vendor specific objective evidence (VSOE) interpretation. While some companies do not allow negotiating during the initial deal, they might on subsequent renewals. Tips Measure negotiation activity with initial deal and renewals. Publish negotiation guidelines and ensure that they are followed. Focus on reducing negotiations through an improved value for maintenance story and better handling of customer objections. Sometimes a customer is not trying to negotiate, they're just venting. Can your reps tell the difference? These are some of the key ways to determine your position on the value chain, and should provide you with a solid foundation from which to measure future performance. Just keep in mind that when you're dealing with your maintenance business, that pesky devil is in the details. Download the Article Download Entire Newsletter A Humorous Story A lady went to the butcher shop to buy a chicken for dinner and asked the butcher to see his selection. He only had one chicken left but did not disclose this to the lady. He reached into a hidden bin under the counter and pulled out his last chicken. When he put it on the scale the lady eyed the weight and asked if he had one a little larger. "Yes," he replied. He lowered the chicken back down to the empty bin, shook it against the side and brought it back out. This time when he placed it on the scale he added some weight with his trained thumb. The lady eyed the weight again and said, "That's fine, I'll take both of them."