iWorld
LinkedIn launches the world’s first deep sales platform
Mumbai: Online professional network LinkedIn has launched what it claims is the world’s first deep sales platform, thereby opening up a new category of B2B sales intelligence technology. The technology solution for businesses learns from data to make predictions and recommendations at a scale that may not be possible for sellers to achieve on their own.
LinkedIn sales solutions is building the deep sales platform, which is the next generation of sales navigator, with the ability to deliver timely and actionable insights for organisations to focus on the highest-probability accounts and approach buyers with ‘welcomed and relevant outreach’ for better business outcomes. The deep sales launch comes after LinkedIn’s recent global research revealed that only 20 per cent of buyers are in-market for services in a given year, which makes understanding buyer intent critical for all sellers.
The LinkedIn State of Sales Asia-Pacific 2022 research reveals that 81 per cent of Indian buyers say that working remotely has made buying easier, while 84 per cent of Indian sellers say they have seen a deal lost or delayed in the past year because of a decision maker changing roles. This corroborates the increasingly important role of sales technology in helping sellers understand buyer sentiment and intent. The deep sales technology by LinkedIn Sales Solutions aims to help sellers build more effective B2B connections by delivering actionable insights and recommendations in three priority areas:
Account insights: Targeting accounts that have the best chance of success.
Relationship intelligence: Identifying decision-makers and finding the best path to reach them.
Buyer intent: Capitalising on the right moments to reach out, based on signals and alerts of key moments such as organisational growth, job changes, and change in strategy.
LinkedIn head of sales solution, India Abhai Singh said, “Over the past two years, a covid-stricken remote reality forced everything to move online, which made selling less personal and buying more complex. This upheaval in the way customers make buying decisions has caused many sellers to ‘shallow sell’—an endless loop of contacting large numbers of potential buyers in ways that no longer work. To break this cycle, sellers need deeper insight into buyer psychology, which our deep sales platform provides. In observance of all the privacy rules that our members expect from us, our platform helps sellers forgo the spray-and-pray approach and access more first-person, reliable data to develop deeper buyer relationships today.”
Some of the next-gen sales navigator’s features, as part of the deep sales launch by LinkedIn Sales Solutions, include:
An Account Dashboard, where sellers can see their list of saved accounts and their level of interest, based on a number of signals. Teams will also be able to monitor interest levels over time so they can determine the best time for outreach and the message that is most likely to resonate.
Alerts about accounts showing intent in the homepage highlights section and a buyer intent filter in search, where sellers will now have buyer intent information as part of their day-to-day sales navigator workflow, making it as easy as possible to prioritise the right accounts at the right time.
iWorld
Netflix has room to raise its Warner Bros bid: Reuters report
WBD sets 20 March vote but gives Paramount brief window for final bid
CALIFORNIA: Netflix has ample firepower to raise its bid for Warner Bros Discovery if rival suitor Paramount Skydance sweetens its offer, setting the stage for a high-stakes auction over one of Hollywood’s richest catalogues, Reuters reported.
The battle has pitted two media heavyweights against each other for control of franchises ranging from Harry Potter and Game of Thrones to DC Comics and Superman. While Warner Bros is pressing ahead with a 20 March shareholder vote on its deal with Netflix, the board has granted Paramount a narrow window to submit what it calls a “best and final” proposal.
Netflix has agreed to pay $27.75 a share, valuing Warner’s studio and streaming operations at about $82.7 billion. Paramount, by contrast, has offered $30 a share, or $108.4 billion, for the entire company, including Discovery Global, home to CNN, HGTV and other legacy television assets.
On Tuesday, Warner Bros rejected Paramount’s latest hostile bid but stopped short of closing the door. The rival studio had informally floated a $31-a-share proposal, prompting the board to re-engage while reaffirming its backing for the Netflix transaction.
“Netflix still looks to be in the driving seat, but that can quickly shift,” said Hargreaves Lansdown senior equity analyst Matt Britzman. “Price will likely be decisive. Funding certainty and regulatory risk matter, but at a high enough number they become secondary.”
He added that the bids are not directly comparable, with Netflix leaving behind the traditional network business: a trade-off the board and shareholders must ultimately price.
Paramount said it would press ahead with its tender offer, oppose what it called an “inferior” Netflix deal and push to nominate directors at Warner’s upcoming annual meeting. Under the merger agreement, Netflix is entitled to match any improved bid.
In a letter to Paramount’s board, Warner Bros chairman Samuel DiPiazza Jr and chief executive David Zaslav said the company remained “fully committed” to the Netflix transaction.
Behind the scenes, board-level concerns have tilted the balance. Eisner Advisory Group partner Paren Knadjian, said questions over financing structure, timing and regulatory approval continued to weigh on Paramount’s proposal, regardless of headline valuation.
Paramount has attempted to bridge the gap by offering Warner shareholders additional cash for every quarter the deal fails to close after this year, and by agreeing to cover the $2.8 billion break fee payable to Netflix if Warner walks away. The board, however, said key issues remain unresolved, including exposure to a potential $1.5 billion junior lien financing fee, execution risk if debt funding collapses, and whether equity backing led by Larry Ellison is fully committed.
