30 Jun |
Customer Referrals Act as CRM Catalysts across Social Media |
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Nurture existing customers in CRM with social media to get repeat and referral business One happy customer is worth a hundred (or more) in your CRM system. Sounds like a cliché? Well, maybe; but it’s one of those eternal truths which, if you believe in and remember, will take you a long way down the road of successful customer relationship management. It’s easy to pour enthusiasm, effort, ideas (and money!) into B2B lead generation because there is that gleaming pot of gold to aim for – revenue and profits. But the repeat and referral business you can get from existing customers is
Read more...28 Jun |
Social Media Fuels the B2B Lead Lifecycle – CRM Update is Critical! |
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Social media plays an important role in the sales cycle, but keeping your CRM database is key No matter how many budget cuts your organization introduces to cope with challenging times, you somehow make room for B2B lead generation expenses. It is after all, the lifeline of your sales performance, right? The only change to this ongoing situation is the dire need to measure and quantify results, so not a penny goes to waste. The results of B2B lead generation are best measured by the end goal, i.e. a customer conversion. For a B2B interaction to progress from seed to lead to sale, it must
Read more...24 Jun |
How Social Media Can Augment Your CRM Effectiveness |
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In my last post I introduced the subject about social media and CRM working together for B2B lead generation. Continuing in this series, here is today’s tip on how social media can be leveraged to augment your CRM effectiveness: Practice active listening with your social media conversations. Quite simply, lead nurturing is the process of informing, educating and encouraging potential customers about your product or service through healthy and positive relationship building. The keyword here is “relationship” – and just like any relationship, B2B relationships are also built and
Read more...21 Jun |
Social Media and CRM working together for better lead generation |
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At the recently concluded Internet Week in New York, the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) hosted a panel discussion on social media and its impact on CRM. The resounding message from the expert panellists, all big names in the advertising and marketing industry, was that sales and online conversations (a.k.a. social media) are now inseparable and must go hand in hand. The essence of B2B lead generation has always been to help a brand find entry into the minds of customers. Planned or unplanned, orchestrated or inadvertently, brands are entering the customer mindset via social media
Read more...08 Jun |
Make Sales Leads a Privilege, Not a Right |
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Want to significantly increase your B2B lead conversion rates and get your salespeople to provide near 100 percent feedback on lead status? Then stop sending them sales leads— seriously! Instead, set up an online lead distribution system that requires them to request each and every lead. This simple change can have a profound effect on your conversion rates. Why? It starts with human nature: all of us value something more if we have to pay for it or request it. When something is given to us for free or without consideration, we tend to value it less. Similarly, sales leads that are
Read more...02 Jun |
Overcoming Lengthening B2B Sales Cycles |
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Recent research from a number of sources confirms what all of us in demand generation have suspected for some time now: (1) In spite of the proliferation of new marketing communications tools like social media, companies report that generating qualified sales leads continues to be their biggest challenge and (2) The sales cycle, especially for technology marketers, is getting longer. What significance do these findings have for B2B marketers? Companies (and especially their field sales forces, dealers, and resellers) have always wanted more qualified leads, not more leads, so this isn’t
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