I have over 20 years experience in larger businesses, as a sales and operations executive. I have started more than a couple of businesses and several divisions within large companies. After retiring in my late 40s (I fished, goofed off, traveled for 5 years) I bought a franchised staffing office a few years ago. It was a lot of work to get used to micro business again (6 team members), but kinda fun. I hadn't realized how far the web was entrenched in the sales process until this business. I learned lots at our franchisors school, but even more about recruiting, staffing, and human resources from websites, blogs, and the RSS feeds I subscribed to. In late 2006 I came to the conclusion that the web, if properly utilized was both a sales and service tool for our business. At that time I began a continuuing journey to both strategically and tactically impact my business using "guerilla sales tactics" by tracking and trying to find my posts and how they could be searched (Posts include both information about our office / services / brand and of course getting jobseekers to apply to our jobs. The bottomline is I reverse engineered how my ads would pop up and the key words / ad words necessary to get the response I was looking for. To net it out, I increased visibility and incoming calls to our company (a real task in this business) from business prospects by 250% and increased response by over 350% from jobseekers. Since I had a small budget for this sort of thing I had to do "hundreds" of posts on all sorts of "free sites" to figure out how to get on the first page of a Google or Yahoo search. 
 
Subsequently I learned that I could have ramped up faster by reading a few of the outstanding blogs (paid and free) that populate the internet, but nothing like learning the grunt work of how search works by doing. Anyway I have my own blog underway and am considering a website (not related specifically to my business) and will never, ever invest in, work in, or be involved in a business again that does not seriously explain to me their web sales process (awareness, brand, direct response, connection to the rest of their sales process; call center, text message center, email, etc. and of course to anything field related and their partners, and all the rest).

Wish I could attend. This is great. I have a 341 meeting on a bankruptcy case I obtained via my web site. My site is doing great thanks to your help & Hubspot. I want to learn more.

I owned a retail store in the days before the web and now I cannot imagine running ANY business without incorporating the benefits of web technology.  
 
 
 
Having and running a business has always been about people interacting to solve each others problems while generating a profit. The web didn't change that, it just keeps making it possible to do it better, more efficiently and impact more people. 
 
 
 
Web technology allows my business to run like a well-oiled machine and gives my company the look and feel of a big operation when, in fact, it's just little old me behind the curtain. 
 
 
 
My business is B2B and I love the flexibility of being able to integrate my shopping cart with auto responders to provide my clients with a top notch experience of customer service.  
 
 
 
This automation frees me up to focus on inventing new ways to bring what I know and do well to others. The more I am able to do that, the more gratifying and purposeful my life feels.  
 
 
 
Not to mention the bonus of being able to make money in my jammies, or while I'm at the beach, or playing in my garden as well as having the freedom to address family needs or emergencies knowing that my customers needs will not suffer. 
 
 
 
Making a profit and living your passion are accessible to more people than ever before because of web tech.  
 
 
 
Three cheers for geek-dome!

Wow! Where should I start? The web has completely changed our sales process for the better! I work for an investment management firm in Utah. In the past our business grew by referrals. It was a very SLOW process.  
 
 
 
Potential clients found out about us and then waited several months or even a year before they made an action. It took time to gradually build relationships with them and help them understand what we do and how it could benefit them. 
 
 
 
We put up a website about three years ago, and that has completely changed our sales process. Now if a person visits our website, most of their questions are answered and they are ready to open an account after one meeting! 
 
 
 
Along with that, online press releases, social media, blogs and everything Hubspot has taught us has made our sales process even faster and better.  
 
 
 
For example, last December I sent a press release out and a local newspaper wrote a big story about us. They posted it on their site and linked it to our site. We had calls right away. We couldn't keep up with the people who wanted to open accounts because we weren't used to getting that many! We gained about 15 new clients who had a combined total of 6 million dollars to invest! We were excited. It didn't cost us anything to write the press release, except my time.  
 
 
 
So the moral of my story is that the web definitely helps our sales process and our business is growing much faster than it ever could have the "old fashion way" we were doing it before! 
 
 
 
I'd love to attend the conference to learn more about how the web can help us!

I have had many years in corporate lead generation/marketing operations positions. I always felt, however, that I wanted to do more...to make a difference (to more than just a bottom-line).  
 
 
 
About 2 years ago, I decided to make a complete career change and left corporate America to train and start my own business in the helping profession. I now help children and adults with dyslexia overcome their learning challenges/differences. 
 
 
 
As a sole-proprietor, it didn't take long for me to realize that a business is a business, regardless of what the service is. So, I put into play all of my knowledge in marketing and lead generation - in order to get the word out about the program I offer - and began to study the areas where I was lacking.  
 
 
 
Hubspot has been an invaluable tool for me - I have attended several very helpful webinars, have gained tremendous insight for my web standings using the website grader (actually went from Page 13 on Google to PAGE 1 thanks to implementing the advice given), and have incorporated forms on my website to obtain more information from my visitors - to learn about what people are looking for and what I should be focusing on. 
 
 
 
I now hold all job descriptions that there are in a company...from CEO to web designer to mail clerk. I have learned a ton, but I still think the area where I struggle most is in the sales piece. 
 
 
 
My past job experience made me a pro at obtaining inquiries and leads, but I would then pass those leads on to sales - and, although I can understand a sales funnel and the metrics that go into it all, I know that understanding the HOWs and getting some advice from professionals would really help me grow my business and enable me to help more people.  
 
 
 
I have reviewed the agenda and would love to go! 
 
 
 
Thank you for offering this to your readers!

Pete, re: how has the internet changed your sales process?  
 
 
 
The internet has not only changed our sales process, but has completely revolutionized its flow. At the inception of my company, Vision Advertising, I relied heavily on networking to build relationships and cold calling to build interest and leads for the business. While those techniques are still the foundation of a good sales plan (IMHO), the advent of the internet era, blogging, social media, and greater online opportunities in general have allowed for a more continual stream of qualified leads and interested parties, through inbound marketing.  
 
 
 
Not having several thousand dollars to invest into advertising and other more grandiose, but effective methods, my efforts previously were reliant upon outbound activities almost exclusively. Currently, I have a healthy mix of inbound and outbound marketing activities that directly impact the sales process by not only making it easier and more time-effective, but making my conversion studies much easier and more telling of what our next steps should be.  
 
 
 
I originally posted this on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 12:14 PM on the link you originally provided.