This effort has culminated in the release of the new BIA/Kelsey Insight Paper, “Sales Transformation: Building a Sustainable Model.” The report is now available to clients by BIA/Kelsey’s custom advisory services.

During the course of our research, we discovered that a more productive approach was to highlight best practices among a wide range of companies rather than focus on one clear leader. While none of the companies profiled in the report does everything right, each offers a set of successful practices that are instructive to local media companies trying to improve their sales performance.

This Insight paper features profiles of six local media companies – Deseret Digital Media, Dex One, Eniro, Solocal (formerly PagesJaunes), Trader Media Group and Yodle.

Here are some of our broad takeaway from the report:

* Sales transformation and organizational transformation are difficult, if impossible, to separate. Relatively few companies succeed at total transformation.

* Companies that are making progress in selling digital to SMBs tend to share common traits, which include thoughtful segmentation of sales channels, innovation around training, and a focus on driving the business on customer-centric KPIs.

* Execution is the often overlooked component of transformation. It is much easier to transform a sales organization that sells products that deliver a strong ROI, and is supported by efficient fulfillment and a strong customer service team.

And here are a few examples of the best practices highlighted in the report:

* Deseret Digital Media has invested in its core sales channel while simultaneously building a separate “disruptive” digital business.

* Dex One has shaken up the old sales training model, preferring “short burst” efforts that improve knowledge retention.

* The Nordic search and directory company Eniro has developed a disciplined process of frequent coaching and feedback, and precisely measures the differences in outcomes between those who adhere to the process and those who do not.

* The French publisher Solocal initiates content capture on sales of its digital presence products within a few hours of the close of sale.

* The local search pure play Yodle uses call analytics to determine the optimal profile of a successful sales rep.

* The UK’s Trader Media Group has placed the customer at the center if its business, running the business on key performance indicators like customer satisfaction index.

This Insight Paper is the first in a periodic series from BIA/Kelsey examining different aspects of sales transformation. Future papers will look at compensation, recruitment and training, technology, strategy and other subsets of the sales transformation challenge.

The post New from BIA/Kelsey: Sales Transformation appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Marketplaces 2010 takes place just seven weeks from now in San Diego (March 22-24). We are putting the finishing touches on the program, and have added MANY exciting new speakers in just the past few weeks.

The event is totally dedicated to the higher value/conversion/engagement ethos of vertical media. For sure, this isn’t one size fits all of newspapers and Yellow Pages anymore (but then again, these traditional media are rapidly verticalizing too).

Featured sessions include five big keynotes; Mike Boland’s Mobile Vertical SuperForum; and a preconference session on the Tools of Marketplaces, including experts on search, video, enhanced calls, online scheduling, promotion and classifieds.

We also have cutting-edge panels on new directories and city guides; small-business marketplaces; vertical ad networks; vertical search; content aggregators (a great session with Examiner.com CEO Rick Blair); and local retailers and marketplaces. To top it all off, there is a special “making money” session with Classifieds Master Tony Lee, chief alliance officer of Adicio.

Basically, everyone is on board. Our five big keynotes will come from:

• Jon Brod, Executive VP, AOL Ventures
• Jay Herratti, CEO, Citysearch
• Andrew Mason, Founder and CEO, Groupon
• Sam Sebastian, Director, Local & B2B Markets, Google
• Craig Smith, CEO, ServiceMagic

Mike Boland’s Mobile Vertical SuperForum has eight great speakers:

• Sam Altman, Cofounder and CEO, Loopt
• Alec Andronikov, CEO, MoVoxx
• Craig Hagopian, President, V-Enable
• Scott Jampol, Senior Director of Consumer Marketing, OpenTable
• Steve Larsen, CEO, CallSpark
• Alexander Muse, Cofounder, Big in Japan (ShopSavvy)
• Eric Singley, Mobile Product Manager, Yelp
• David Sturtz, Cofounder and CEO, RepairPal

Other featured speakers include:

• Ethan Anderson, Cofounder, Redbeacon
• Jeff Beard, President and GM, Localeze
• Rick Blair, CEO, Examiner.com
• Reed Brown, President and CEO, Matchbin
• Jim Delli Santi, Cofounder and CEO, AlikeList
• Craig Donato, CEO, Oodle
• Todd Dubner, Senior VP, Development, NCI
• Jennifer Dulski, CEO, Center’d
• Sean Fox, COO, Reply.com
• Jordan Glazier, CEO, Eventful
• Krista Glotzbach, VP, Marketing, Vast.com
• Martin Herbst, GM, Kijiji U.S., eBay
• Greg Isaacs, Executive Director and GM, AT&T Interactive
• Jaan Janes, CEO, Pulse 360
• Joelle Kaufman, Senior VP, Marketing, Adify
• Warren Kay, VP, Fox Audience Network
• David Kidder, Cofounder and CEO, Clickable
• Tony Lee, Chief Alliance Officer, Adicio
• Colin Pape, CEO, ShopCity.com
• Ben Saren, Cofounder and CEO, CitySquares
• Julie Smith, Group Product Manager, SuperMedia
• Mat Stover, CEO, Local Matters
• David Vazdauskas, President, Local Thunder

Do you think it will be a great conference? Do you think you can do major business? Please get more info here or sign up to register here. Rates are better in advance than at the door.

The post All-Star Lineup at Marketplaces 2010, March 22-24, San Diego appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.