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Norbert Laengrich

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CEO, Embedded Galaxy

40 points

May 13, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 4 other people answered this question

Is it essential for a company's survival that its employees think and act strategically?

Employees and management at every level should be encouraged to think both strategically and tactically how to improve the company's performance from their level of expertise. As examples, sales personnel could lead the strategic planning to move the companies products into a new customer base, ... more

Human Resources

April 18, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 6 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Sales Influencers: Part Two [4/12 @ 1 pm]

Does using the term "Sales Influencer" indicate something negative - that you are working to influence in order to obtain sales?

Lori, here is another angle to you question. Traditionally B2B sales personnel have been taught to identify all individuals within the customer's organization that may affect the buying decision. To be successful in B2B sales, you need to identify not only the final decision maker ... more

Thought Leadership

April 15, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 17 other people answered this question

Why are businesses afraid of young technology?

Afraid to listen to young people -- or afraid to use technology? In the technology field, most business managers will wait until the bugs are out of new technology before investing in or adopting it. Thus explaining why many organizations are still using Window XP. ... more

Information Technology

April 15, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 17 other people answered this question

What do you think the next big trend will be after cloud computing?

Probably not the question to ask, since those who think they know what the "next big thing" is are likely to be starting companies to capture the market before it becomes the big thing. more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

April 12, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 10 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Navigating the Torturous Tension Between IT and the Business When Moving to the Cloud [4/30 @ 1 pm]

Who drives the move to the cloud? Business or IT?

First one must define what it means to "move to the Cloud". Does the company want to make its services and products available in the Cloud or is the company looking to take advantage of services available in the cloud. In the first case, moving ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

March 11, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 26 other people answered this question

Browser debate: What browser do you use and why?

I continue to use Firefox because of several years experience, but I agree with Brad that it is becoming bloated and slower. I have Firefox, Chrome, and IE on my desktop and occasionally use each of them, but Firefox is still my default browser. I ... more

Information Technology

Feb. 26, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 6 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Defining Cloud Computing [2/23 @ 11 am]

Is cloud computing a technology or an IT service or both?

Simply put, in technical circles the term "Cloud" initially referred to anything beyond the desktop/notebook/tablet/smartphone. Today it is used as a reference to the Internet/World Wide Web.
More recently, the Cloud Computing has emerged as a reference for using hardware and software delivered via the ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Enterprise Computing

Feb. 26, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 10 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Defining Cloud Computing [2/23 @ 11 am]

What is the difference between Cloud and SaaS?

John, it may help to understand to origin of the term "cloud". Early papers describing networking and the Internet initially used the term as a broad reference to everything beyond the desktop/notebook PC . More recently it has been combined in the expression "Cloud Computing" ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Enterprise Computing

Feb. 6, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 7 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Social Etiquette: Everything I Need to Know About Social Media I Learned in Kindergarten [1/9 @ 11 am]

What are some in-person rules of etiquette that carry over to social networks?

Thanks Steven and Andrew for your comments. I agree that there are clear differences between social networks and broadcast or print media. As Andrews points out there are also many similarities also. The public and persistent nature being a major one. However when considering etiquette, ... more

Jan. 22, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 17 other people answered this question

Should salespeople drive marketing, or should marketing drive sales? Who should be at the wheel?

Perhaps the word "drive." should be changed to "support." In that context it is a mutual exchange. Marketing supports sales and sales supports marketing.
Perhaps the question is who should drive new product development. In a fast paced market, allowing sales to drive new product ... more

Jan. 15, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 27 other people answered this question

Death by PowerPoint! How do we tell someone that quantity of complex slides does not equal quality?

My experience is that the biggest PPT sin is not too many slides, but too much information on each slide. I cringe each time I hear a presenter pull out a laser pointer and say, "you many not be able to see this, but". Instead ... more

Human Resources

Information Technology

Jan. 8, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 21 other people answered this question

Will inside sales continue to replace field sales?

Many fine comments already, especially those focusing on the economic issues.
I assume you are referring to B2B sales. As you know, there are many sales channels that use what could be called inside sales for example, clothing stores, auto dealerships, phone company stores, computer/electronic ... more

Inside Sales Tactics

Jan. 1, 2012

Norbert Laengrich and 4 other people answered this question

What's the strangest job interview question that you've ever received?

Actually Laura, in today's world any employer that doesn't "Google" perspective employees would not be doing a good job of vetting the candidate. So I would expect this to be a common question.. more

Human Resources

Career Development

Dec. 30, 2011

Norbert Laengrich and 17 other people answered this question

Are surveys and polls still a valuable tool for learning from customers?

The answer to this question may very much depend on the profile of your company and customers. For example, compare a Brand Manager for 3M's Tape Products versus the head of marketing at a small start-up company selling to airplane manufacturers. While surveys and polls ... more

Customer Service

Customer Conversations

Customer Experience

Nov. 6, 2011

Norbert Laengrich and 46 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Customer 2.0 Is Mad as Hell [11/3 @ 11 am]

Are face-to-face conversations still the most powerful way to connect with a prospect?

I have always advocated face-to-face meetings as the most effective sales method. However, in today's virtual world many purchasing decisions are made without F2F contact. Look at the success of Amazon, iTunes store, and Netflix, for example.
B2B meetings are being conducted as on-line meetings ... more

Nov. 6, 2011

Norbert Laengrich and 22 other people answered this question

At what point will you consider your smartphone to be your primary computing device?

I think it depends on who you are asking this question. For personal use of checking email, accessing social networks, posting on YouTube or Twitter, and text messaging, the cell phone has for all practical purposes already become the replacement.
I see the smart phone, ... more

Contact Management

General Business

Nov. 6, 2011

Norbert Laengrich and 17 other people answered this question

How do I compete with businesses that can offer similar products/services at a lower cost?

Tom Egelhoff's illustration of the pen is right on target.
Some years back, I became sales manager at an instrumentation company. The company had a very strong competitor who had just introduced an new product that competed with a product at the company I joined ... more

May 18, 2011

Norbert Laengrich and 6 other people commented on this post

Why sales should stop "checking in" and five tips to avoid it

Larry, "checking in" is what a teenager does when he is going be be late getting home. As someone already mentioned, it is what you do when wanting to board a plane, and it is what you do when arriving at a seminar or conference ... more

Sales Intelligence

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