Let's take the example of a sales force working
at a Fortune 100 company. This sales force works
on long-cycle consultative sales that generally
take 60-90 days to complete.
* Traditional Blogging:
o Members of the sales force make blog
entries each time they talk to or visit a
potential client. This practice is valuable
because it creates a repository of sales tactics
and results.
* dataBlogging:
o Just like in traditional blogging,
members of the sales force make entries each time
they visit a potential client. However, and this
is the key, because their blog entries have
additional data fields on them they track
quantifiable information like Chance of Close,
Effectiveness of Pitch, Hours Invested, etc.
o Graphs are generated from the
extended data attached to each blog. For example,
an Effectiveness of Pitch vs. Hours Invested
graph will determine whether spending more time
selling is worthwhile.
o The Advanced Data Search feature is
used to find entries based on quantifiable data
searches... in much the same way that somebody
might query a database. However, it is done
simply through a web interface by anybody.
o The extended data for each sales call
is published in RSS feeds, meaning that other
enterprise systems can consume it... a simple
integration between the dataBlogging system and
more complex and possibly more difficult-to-use
legacy systems.