03 Feb |
To Spike, or Not to Spike: that is the question |
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I’m feeling inspired by Shakespeare here but unlike Hamlet, it’s not a question I would ponder. Rather, it is a rhetorical question and my answer would always be “don’t spike”. I agree; a challenging economy and value-conscious customers are making it increasingly difficult for organizations to stay afloat, let alone meet sales targets. Added to that is the pressure of getting to customers before your competitors do. A “quick fix” might seem like the ideal solution. Enter a spike marketer who may be able to deliver the quick boost you’re looking for to improve your sales.
Read more...27 Jan |
The Ideal Demand Generation Personality Profile |
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The Ideal Demand Generation Personality Profile and How to Cultivate Having witnessed organizations burn up thousands upon thousands of precious dollars, I can’t help but analyze a lead generation failure when I see it. While the specifics vary in every case, there are certain common traits of a demand generation personality profile that create negative results. I talked about some of these in my last post on the types of demand generation personalities. Let’s look at some traits that you can consider imbibing to don the ideal demand generation personality profile…please feel free to
Read more...25 Jan |
What is Your Demand Generation Personality Type? |
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As a demand generation advisor and lead generation consultant, there are often times when I wish that I could change my customers’ marketing personalities. When that happens, I find myself digging deeper and analyzing what type of demand generation personality that organization has. I remind myself of the practical advice from Ted Roosevelt, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” It makes it easier for me to help a client’s organization minimize the weaknesses and maximize the strengths of their demand generation personality. Have you thought about what is your demand
Read more...18 Jan |
My 2011 Lead Generation Wish List |
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I was asked recently by a media person to comment on the top lead generation trends in 2011. When I inquired what in her mind were these “top trends”, I didn’t hear anything new. I agree that in 2010, organizations were still struggling to recover from the recession and many companies did not fully explore lead generation. Many were challenged with customer retention and had no resources or time to focus on lead generation. So while some may argue that a fusion of inbound and outbound marketing, multi-touch lead generation, adopting new technologies for marketing and sales automation,
Read more...06 Jan |
New Year’s Resolutions for 2011 |
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Happy New Year to all of you! Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday season. It’s always hard coming back after the short but action-packed few days of festivity and joyous celebration. Maybe that’s the reason why many of us try to find our focus by making New Year resolutions. Of course, we know that these are the most commonly broken set of promises we make to ourselves! I was reading a comic strip in a local newspaper recently where a teenager asks his Dad if he had made a list of New Year’s resolutions for 2011. The man replies “Yes” and points to a dusty diary. The son
Read more...22 Dec |
Recipes from the World’s Best Chef – My Christmas Gift to You! |
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In case you’re wondering about the title of this blog post, let me tell you at the outset that I am neither a chef, nor am I the world’s best. BUT, I am very excited that my niece, Stacey Lee Chan is indeed the world’s best chef! Stacey won the gold at the prestigious “Chaines des Rotisseurs Jeunes Chef Rotisseurs” 2010 world final in Helsinki, an annual highly regarded competition in the culinary world. Go Stacey! Stuck for holiday meal ideas? Now you know about the world’s best chef — this is my special Christmas gift to you! Check out Stacey’s Blog for her favourite
Read more...23 Nov |
How to Avoid Becoming the Next Demand Generation Horror Show Star! |
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Having been in this industry for close to 2 decades, I have seen some real horror stories. Companies spending obscene amounts of money on lead generation — from inbound and outbound marketing to sales automation, leads database management, telemarketing, advertising, PR, direct marketing, and so on. Budgets blown away mindlessly and bank-breaking campaigns bringing little or no ROI. Sales reps suffering nervous breakdowns and senior executives coming under the axe for not meeting targets. Scary. If all of these are not horror stories, then I don’t know what else to call them. How
Read more...09 Nov |
Is There More to Social Media than Meets the Eye? |
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Social Media and B2B Lead Generation In the spring this year, I wrote in one of my blog posts, that “social media is new and evolving”. That was in late April 2010. Today, in the fall of the same year, I have to say that social media has indeed evolved with great speed! This actually makes me want to caution marketers that social media isn’t like magic beans that will sprout into a lead generation beanstalk overnight. You still need a very strong foundation on which to build your demand generation efforts. Incorporating social tools and technologies into tried and tested target
Read more...05 Oct |
An Accelerated Leads Pipeline: Ask Not Just “How Much”, But “How” |
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Have you ever looked at lead management and pipeline acceleration as CRM? Marketing statistics point out that 60% of leads have to be nurtured. This further reinforces what I’ve stated before that successful demand generation involves: Patiently pursuing a relationship with your prospects Developing their confidence in you Rolling out a smart and effective marketing plan to turn them into customers In this struggling economy many businesses have learned the true meaning and value of pipeline acceleration the hard way. You can’t send your reps out into the ocean if they don’t know
Read more...21 Sep |
Demand generation — when pull not push seals the deal! |
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A case study on how the “Pull” strategy drives 98% lead acceptance from a sales team In my previous blog I commented on how demand generation goes beyond a leads database; that it involves nurturing true, qualified leads. I raised an important question about marketing strategy — Do you tend to push leads out to your sales reps? Or do you use a pull strategy where they can be productive and clinch the deal with home-grown prospects? I could go on about how the ‘pull strategy’ initiates lead acceptance, capitalizes on hot prospects and drives quicker results, but since we’re
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