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XO Communications of Herndon, Virginia U.S.A. won the Stevie Award for Sales Lead Management System of the Year in the 2010 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Entries are currently being accepted for the 2011 competition.
 XO Communications, one of the the U.S.A.'s largest communications service providers, is focused on businesses, government, domestic and international telecommunications carriers, cable companies, content providers and mobile wireless companies. XO Communications operates a nationwide multi-terabit network that delivers IP and network solutions at the fastest speeds available today. Its state-of-the-art network uses the most advanced IP and optical technology available, and its network assets include nationwide IP and transport networks, metro networks, broadband wireless access, and connectivity to global service locations for door-to-door delivery of customer traffic nationwide and around the world.
In 2008, XO commenced a transformation to accelerate overall performance. Creating tools to radically improve sales productivity was one of the critical initiatives. To that end, in June 2009 XO launched the Sales Playbook, a dynamic, web-based tool that integrates sales process and methodology, prospective customer data, industry intelligence, marketing messaging, and more.
Building Market Share
The XO Sales Playbook helps XO sales representatives win business and drive revenue growth. It integrates sales process and methodology, prospective customer data, solutions creation tools, account planning, industry intelligence, marketing collateral and messaging, and other sales templates and tools. Used on a daily basis, the XO Sales Playbook enables sales representatives to tackle the market in a thorough and consistent way, to be more productive, and to build market share for XO Communications.
According to Suzanne King, Director of Sales Operations for the Business Services division of XO Communications, “With these resources at their fingertips, our sales teams gain a significant competitive advantage, which supports our strategy to be the leading communications and networking partner for businesses and large enterprises.”
Playbook’s Pieces & Parts
The Sales Playbook is organized into three areas. The first is the Sales
Resource Center, which includes presentations, email, and other templates along
with the Playbook anchor, the XO sales methodology. This methodology incorporates the best thinking of XO sales leaders.
The second section provides in-depth vertical industry information. Through
graphs, charts, and examples, this vertical information provides insight into a
prospect’s business trends, pain points, regulations, and typical network
topologies.
The third section gives the sales professional all the talking points, diagrams, pricing, and collateral needed to sell XO services and solutions. Content includes how each solution works, target markets, along with guidance on positioning value, fielding questions, and handling objections.
Additional Enhancements
Playbook includes a Solution Calculator, which helps the salesperson determine the best XO solution for each prospective customer. It enables the salesperson to price a multi-location solution, present savings to the customer in a graphical format, and produce a service quote.
Further enhancements have been made to the XO Playbook in 2010, including the Presentation Builder, which allows each salesperson to generate customer-ready presentations with just a few keystrokes.
The Stevie Award-winning Sales Playbook continues to evolve and to address the XO sales team’s needs. In 2011, XO Communications plans to introduce a Sales Leadership Center, dedicated to providing leadership and management best practices for XO sales leaders.
About Suzanne King
Suzanne King is the Director of Sales Operations for the Business Services
division of XO Communications. She is responsible for building the sales
productivity of its 500 sales personnel through analysis, training, and tools
that increase the sales force’s capabilities and effectiveness. The
web-based Sales Playbook is one of these tools.
Ms. King has been with XO for seven years and has held various positions
in sales and marketing. Prior to joining XO, she was with Accenture where she specialized in assisting clients in their implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions.
About XO Communications
XO Communications, a subsidiary of XO Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: XOHO), is a leading nationwide provider of advanced broadband communications services and solutions for businesses, enterprises, government, carriers, and service providers. Its customers include more than half of the Fortune 500, in addition to leading cable companies, carriers, content providers, and mobile network operators. Utilizing its unique combination of high-capacity nationwide and metro networks and broadband wireless capabilities, XO offers customers a broad range of managed voice, data, and IP services with proven performance, scalability, and value in more than 75 metropolitan markets across the United States. For more information, visit www.xo.com. |
As I wrote in a recent blog, Forbes seems to have redefined how it sees power, deciding it's less about corporate and political power and more about influencing the world's agenda—hence the appearance of Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. Is power about delivering shareholder value, delivering votes, or having an impact on fashion and pop culture? I think power is all about the numbers—the number of women I write about everyday (5,000 since I started) who are getting great jobs, starting great businesses, running great nonprofits and universities, and achieving great heights in the world of sports. Why limit power to "100"? I think power lies in the masses. The power lies with you. You make the sales, buy the goods, vote for the party. Where would political leaders, companies and the media be without your support? I love how Forbes has taken a new look at power. Next time, the number one spot should be reserved for the women who drive the economy with their hard work, their purchases, and their point of view. They are the most powerful women in the world!
by Robert M Edsel. The book is about the curators and archivists, artists and art historians from 13 nations whose task was to save and preserve what they could of Europe's great art following WWII. I bought the book after seeing a PBS Special on the subject. My attention was caught by the story of a Frenchwoman who could speak German, and while working for the German army memorized what had been said. She kept a secret record of where art was being hidden: a very brave and dangerous thing to do at that time.