Product Reviewed by: Miles Austin
We are all looking for a results multiplier for sales.
Let’s not kid ourselves. B2B selling is a very challenging, competitive and sometimes overwhelming occupation. We are expected to understand and please our customers, our prospects, our manager and even our banker. The information available to use has never been more plentiful. Buzzwords like “social selling”, “big data and more adds to the confusion as we try to navigate through the firehose of information and expectations aiming directly at us.
Selecting the right tools, with the right information, at the right time has gotten harder. When I find a tool that can prioritize and distill this massive flow of information and make it available at a time and format that I am comfortable with, I get energized.
I am excited to introduce you to xiQ
The founder of xiQ, Usman Shiekh, created this tool based on his extensive background in B2B sales as a former VP of Sales and Marketing at SAP. He has experienced firsthand the pain that B2B sales reps face every day. The never-ending battle to effectively engage with prospects and customers. The quest to find the decision makers and influencers. The difficulty of identifying the right time to engage. And above all, the need to close the deal faster.
What he saw at SAP was that their state of the art B2B lead generation platform opened the floodgates of qualified leads, but left the sales force struggling to process the leads fast enough. There was simply too much information and too little time.
xiQ is a sales tool that makes it faster and easier than ever before to identify prospects, qualify leads, connect with decision makers, and proactively drive sales cycles, all in one simple-to-navigate mobile app. xiQ gives sales reps the unprecedented advantage of knowledge plus time.
One of the unique features that I discovered immediately is that it also provides an easy way to stay up to date with sales thought leaders in the sales profession. We all recognize the need to stay up to date in our profession but it can be very time consuming until now.
This works on your mobile device and is infinely customizable to fit your industry and your work flow.
A really helpful feature for each of the categories is that when looking at the content you have selected, you have options for both Social info like tweets and posts, but also a Profileoption that provides more in depth data about the executive.
Screen shot from xiQ Executive Feed showing both Social and Profile Views:
I have my categories set up to feed the following categories:
- Top News – so I don’t miss the news of the day. Helpful for conversation.
- Exec Buzz – helps me to be aware of what is happening within the executive ranks and their thinking and actions.
- Sales Gurus – let’s me stay current on the latest tips and thinking from those I respect in my profession. People like Jill Konrath, S. Anthony Iannarino, Paul McCord, Matt Heinz and others.
- Companies – press releases, news stories, earnings announcements and more all fresh and at my fingertips – powerful right before I walk into a call.
- Industries – trends, shifts and analyst reports to help me understand what is happening within my clients and industry
- Partnerships – helpful way to stay up-to-date with those companies that I partner with. Never be out of the info flow again.
- New Products & Services – this one is always fresh with breaking announcements about what is new in my market.
- My Feeds – whatever is important to me outside of the categories above I add in here. Add your favorite sports team feed (go Seahawks) or maybe your alumni feed to stay aware of what is happening.
This should help get a handle on just how powerful and helpful this new tool is and how it can help you grow your sales.
xiQ’s integrated Account-Based Marketing platform provides account teams with a single solution for real-time account intelligence, to hyper-personalize customer engagement and accelerate sales. Check out xiQ.ai
