17 Aug |
Broad based demand vs. tiering: which to choose? |
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Revenue and sales volume should determine your marketing strategy Should your business target broad based demand or focus on a tiered marketing structure? In other words, should you put all your eggs in one basket or have a finger in every pie! The answer requires a careful analysis of the demand for your product/service and the role each market segment plays in your revenue. As a service provider, for example, where does a larger share of your revenue come from – the general public (the broadest category), enterprise (the next largest) or strategic accounts (the smallest group)? It is true that unless yours is a very niche market, you can’t ignore any group. This means that your sales and marketing efforts should be tier-based. Simply put… time, effort and resources are allocated based on revenue share and sales volume. Remember, the bigger the base, the larger the number of resources required, higher the competition, more fickle the customer (because of the choices available), and a smaller market share. The smallest group on the other hand may yield a large percentage of your revenue as well as offset the cost of your modest broad-based efforts. Your marketing
Read more...03 Aug |
Connecting the dots between lead generation, sales and CRM |
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Integrate lead generation, sales and CRM to gain higher returns For certain, I’m not a crystal gazer; but looking into the past? Sure, I’ve done that. Don’t we all from time to time? Actually, in business, everyone stands to gain from a periodic retrospective – review, analyze and soldier on! From a collective business world standpoint, a review of B2B sales and marketing in the past decade reveals a shift in business strategy. An interesting observation is the conscious effort to align sales and marketing objectives and functions for better results. Even if you have a Strategic Marketing Services company that’s taking care of B2B lead generation and management, your sales team should work closely with them in lead follow-up, functional visibility and performance analysis. Business effectiveness and success depends on open communication and collective efforts towards common goals. If organizations are committed to increasing momentum they must be willing to restructure and reorganize. Lead generation, sales and CRM can no longer work in isolation. It would be like having your fingers trying to accomplish tasks individually. So how do lead generation, sales and CRM all
Read more...27 Jul |
Inside Sales Versus Outside Lead Qualification in B2B Marketing: A Needless Conflict |
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In a world where technology has made it possible to transact business remotely, many companies have found that a well managed inside tele-sales operation can boost profits by increasing coverage, serving customers faster, and selling low-margin products that outside sales people don’t want to bother with. However, many businesses, having made this investment, believe that inside sales teams can also be used to qualify and nurture sales leads. After all, telemarketing is telemarketing, right? Why pay money to an outside firm when it can be done in-house at no extra cost? However, trying to marry inside sales with lead qualification under the same department is a huge mistake. Two very different disciplines In order to generate maximum profit and customer satisfaction, inside sales departments must conduct business as efficiently as possible. Asking them to also qualify prospects and nurture them into sales leads means less time serving established customers and ringing up orders. Inside sales and lead qualification, although both are typically conducted via telephone contact, are also two very different animals. Lead qualifiers are trained to question, probe, identify critical
Read more...19 Jul |
The Best Mailing List for B2B Lead Generation |
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When it comes to success in B2B lead generation, everybody knows that the mailing list is the most important ingredient in any campaign. A poor list will always produce dismal results, no matter how brilliant the offer and creative. Conversely, good lists often produce acceptable results even with mediocre execution. Consequently, companies are always looking for the “silver bullet” of mailing lists for their next B2B lead generation campaign— that perfect source of fresh, highly targeted, super-hot prospects just waiting to be contacted. Sadly, this is an exercise in futility and frustration and often a colossal waste of money. You already own the best list What’s the best list you can get for B2B lead generation? It’s the one you already (should) have. There is simply no substitute for a homegrown, customized list of prospects – often referred to by direct marketing professionals as the “house” list – which a company acquires over time through different tactics. When such a list is properly maintained and updated, it is a veritable gold mine and will always outperform any list you can acquire. Unfortunately, companies continue to overlook, under use, or,
Read more...19 Jul |
Connecting the Dots Between Lead Generation, Sales and CRM |
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Integrate lead generation, sales and CRM to gain higher returns For certain, I’m not a crystal gazer; but looking into the past? Sure, I’ve done that. Don’t we all from time to time? Actually, in business, everyone stands to gain from a periodic retrospective – review, analyze and soldier on! From a collective business world standpoint, a review of B2B sales and marketing in the past decade reveals a shift in business strategy. An interesting observation is the conscious effort to align sales and marketing objectives and functions for better results. Even if you have a Strategic Marketing Services company that’s taking care of B2B lead generation and management, your sales team should work closely with them in lead follow-up, functional visibility and performance analysis. Business effectiveness and success depends on open communication and collective efforts towards common goals. If organizations are committed to increasing momentum they must be willing to restructure and reorganize. Lead generation, sales and CRM can no longer work in isolation. It would be like having your fingers trying to accomplish tasks individually. So how do lead generation, sales and CRM all
Read more...08 Jul |
Strategic Planning for Inbound Marketing |
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Inbound marketing must be integrated into the overall strategic plan In some of my recent blog posts I wrote about how planting a seed, turning it into a lead, nurturing it and helping the lead progress towards purchase are all important steps in the B2B lead generation process. When organizations take on inbound marketing, it requires an integrated marketing approach to ensure that every initiative is part of a strategic plan. In order to deliver the overall marketing and CRM goals, inbound marketing can be broken down into distinct programs, each with a specific objective. Not only does this makes monitoring and measurement easier, it offers clear insights to help change what’s not working and leverage what is bringing results. How can your business develop a strategy for planning and implementation of inbound marketing? Reputation Management: This is the stage where your B2B lead generation efforts are geared towards planting the seed. It’s all about creating awareness, branding and giving a boost to customer loyalty. Social media is very useful at this stage. Demand Generation: Once the grounds are “fertile” you set to work on creating a demand for your goods by
Read more...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 worth much more. Tap into the power of customer referrals via social media and you have an armoury of silver bullets, not snake oil. To nurture your existing customers, consider using social media and online marketing tools like: Customer case studies on a blog Video testimonials Social media recommendations from customers, associates, partners and suppliers An online product demonstration via YouTube – for new and potential customers A Q&A forum where queries are answered by your company and your long standing customers “Listen” to what existing customers are saying about your
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 “pushed” out to the field tend to receive less attention by salespeople. Second, leads that are requested are more likely to be followed up immediately. And, as everybody knows, the faster a lead receives follow-up, the more likely it is to convert. Independent research has shown that, on average, the likelihood of a lead converting to a sale decreases by as much as two percent each day that it languishes. Third, sales people are much more likely to provide feedback on lead quality and status since they requested it in the first place. This will enable you to fine-tune your lead generation
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 a big surprise. However, the lengthening sales cycle is a relatively new trend that is increasingly frustrating salespeople. Organizations need an effective way to deal with this phenomenon. Lead nurturing now as critical as lead qualifying In this environment, more and more prospects will score as “B” level leads— meaning that they may be qualified to buy your product but are not yet ready to make a purchase decision. Turning these prospects into “A” leads requires a systematic lead nurturing system that: Makes regular recontact— to continually reassess prospect status and keep
Read more...25 May |
The Missing Link in Lead Qualification Systems: Sales |
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Demand generation marketers often spend countless hours designing and fine-tuning their lead handling systems. Complicated flow charts are created, lead questionnaire content is debated endlessly, forms are designed, and telemarketing and email scripts are reviewed ad nauseam. Yet, many of these sophisticated marketers overlook the single, most crucial element of a successful lead qualification system. What is it? Field buy-in is crucial For some reason, the sales force is often left “out of the loop” when it comes to lead planning. This only adds to the age-old distrust and outright enmity between marketing and sales organizations in so many companies. No matter how sophisticated your lead handling and qualifications systems are, they won’t achieve optimum results unless your sales force is empowered to take ownership of the process. To make this happen, good demand generation marketers need to follow these simple guidelines: Explain your objective upfront— Make it clear that your lead handling system is being designed to make the sales force’s job easier, not so marketing can “look over their shoulder” or take the credit for their success. Solicit input, accept
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