Semantic Viewpoint: A Discourse on Innovation Technologies

Sales Productivity and the Semantic Web

By Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®

The May issue of the Semantic Viewpoint is devoted to the number one theme of the semantic web. The theme is that “all the easy problems have been solved.” Executives are advised to hold proposals for semantic web projects to a higher standard than previous generations of computer technology. The article says that semantic web applications must solve problems in areas that technology based solutions have never attempted. Semantic web projects should be asked to solve the really tough problems that executives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are being asked to solve everyday.

Since that article was written, many executives from SMEs are asking their technical staffs if semantic web technology can be used to boost sales productivity. These sales executives are concerned that the semantic web proposals that they are receiving don’t take into account the very special needs of the sales staff. They want to make sure that the semantic web sales application proposals show where “the internet sand traps” are located. An internet sand trap is a feature or a function that can be added to new internet technology acquisition, which turns a well-behaved project into a money-pit that consumes all available resources. Here are three questions that executives can ask their technical staffs to avoid being caught in an internet sand trap:

Does the semantic web proposal provide insight into the problem solving mechanisms that will be used? The true power of the semantic web is its ability to aid in the problem solving process. There are many strategies for increasing sales productivity. However, executives from SMEs are often presented with sales productivity proposals that amount to little more than databases and/or ontologies. An ontology is a list of business concepts and the relationships those concepts have with each other. Poorly-designed semantic web proposals will go to great lengths to define how the database and/or ontology will be developed. They will define in great detail how the project team will select subject matter experts to provide the concepts. There will be very little effort devoted to defining how the concepts in the ontology will used to help solve sales problems.

Does the semantic web proposal support the company’s corporate values? Executives would be well advised take into account where the semantic web proposal says the value will be created. If the new project amounts to little more than a “ticket tracking system” that simply measures the number of sales calls that each salesperson attempts, then there is a real problem with the proposal. The new semantic web sales application will be seen as a sign that management does not trust the sales staff. This may be in conflict with the values that the corporation is trying to create with the organization. If this is the case, the best salespeople will be disillusioned and may start leaving. The need for oversight and governance has to be weighed against the need for trust.

Does the semantic web proposal provide a training platform? Before the semantic web sales application is rolled-out, executives need to be sure that the salespeople have a consistent level of training. They need a way of providing sales training reinforcement. Once the project has been completed, executives need a reliable way to distribute lessons learned. A training platform will allow them to transmit course corrections and concept reinforcing training materials to their sales staffs. Semantic web sales applications are uniquely positioned to satisfy these needs because of their ability to deal with sales concepts. Sales people should be able to interact with semantic web sales applications in a more domain-specific manner than they can with non-semantic web applications. Semantic web sales applications should require fewer and less intensive human-to-machine concept translations.