Archive for October 7th, 2009

So…you have an exciting strategy; your messages are relevant and consistently integrated throughout your brand and all customer touch points.  Now you need an actionable marketing plan that delivers your message to your customers in ways that will increase the chance that they will pay attention, and ultimately buy whatever it is that you’re selling.

There is a lot of talk about the latest new trend (Twitter, vlogs or who-knows-what’s-next) and the coolest new technology.  However, these things are only useful if they are being used by your target customers.  This point bears repeating…these things are only useful if they are being used by your target customers.  This is the kind of thing that sounds so simple – it is common sense.  Unfortunately, it isn’t commonly practiced.

It is critical to the success of your brand that you identify customer-preferred communication vehicles and prioritize those above things that are “really hot” at the moment.  While they may be the latest fad, they might not generate the results you want.

Different marketing tools are good at doing different things – think screwdrivers and hammers.  This is, again, why it is so important to know what your goals and objectives are so that you can select the right tools for the job.  The right balance between online and offline marketing vehicles ensures that you are reaching your target customers in a variety of ways which will improve your overall results – whether they are to increase awareness or to generate demand.

For example, if you are a start-up just launching your company, you need to generate awareness that you exist. PR is a very cost-effective tool to do this.  You also need a website to explain what the company does.  To get the ball rolling you might launch an email and/or direct mail campaign with an introductory offer so that customers connect their business problem with your company.  If you are a small company trying to generate demand, a combination of webinars and SEO with speaking engagements and telemarketing could prove to be very effective at generating quality leads.  It is important to focus on the quality of the lead rather than the volume generated as the conversion rates tend to be much higher.

It is easy to get excited about the latest technology and cool marketing techniques.  Be careful, and remember that the end result is to achieve the business objectives – which is typically to sell more of your stuff.  This means you don’t need to do everything, but you need to strategically select a few key vehicles and do them exceptionally well.

Online and Offline Tactics for Lead Generation:  Ranked as % Very Effective at generating Quality Leads

Online Tactics for Lead Generation	%	Offline  Tactics for Lead Generation	%
Webinars	45	Speaking engagements at trade events	49
Searh engine optimization	44	Telemarketing for lead qualification	46
Paid search ads	34	In-person seminars/roadshows	44
Solo emails to house list	29	PR	35
White paper syndication service	28	Telemarketing for lead generation (cold       calling)	28
Online ads (industry specific)	20	Winning/publicizing awards	24
Offers in your email newsletter	18	Trade shows booths/marketing	24
Offers in 3rd party newsletters	13	Print newsletters	18
Online Ads (general business sites)	12	Direct (postal) mail	16
Solo emails to 3rd party lists	9	Print ads (industry specific)	11
		TV and/or radio ads	8
		Print ads (general business)	5

Source:  Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2006, MarketingSherpa, 2006

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This article is contributed by Laura Lowell, Author of the Amazon bestseller ’42 Rules of Marketing’ and the upcoming ‘42 Rules to Build Your Brand and Your Business’. You can follow her on twitter at @42_rules.

Tagged as: 42 Rules, active garage, Branding, customers, hype, laura lowell, lead generation, marketing, marketing tools, offline lead generation, online lead generation, quality leads, SEO, Twitter, vlog, webinars

All companies have politics, but how you handle them can make or break your career.  In a sales organization where the atmosphere can be intense and stressful, politics within this segment can make or break a company if not handled properly.

There are the “How To Play Office Politics” rules, such as:

• Surround yourself with other ambitious colleagues in your organization and build a strong network of help.
• Find a good mentor.
• Ask for help and reciprocate.
• Perception is more important than reality.

And the list goes on.  Politics is something we can’t avoid, but in a sales organization, it is important to minimize it and instead work on having your sales professionals foster and build not only their relationships within your organization, but more importantly, their relationships with their customers to help grow the business.  Office politics can distract your sales professionals from focusing on their goals when they should instead be making offers in the marketplace to your customers.  Reducing politics within a sales organization and creating a clear vision for your salespeople can be done by:

-          Setting goals for your sales teams in a timely manner

There is nothing worse for salespeople to sell in to a marketplace without understanding what their goals are.  If you want salespeople to be productive, give them their sales goals sooner than later and have them be realistic.  Include them in this decision making process and get their input as well to help provide a line of sight that they understand and believe in.  If you’re late in providing sales goals to your team, you will quickly de-motivate them and they will lose trust in you as you are unable to keep your commitments to them.

-          Be clear on your compensation plan

Don’t complicate the compensation plan for your salespeople.  Unless you have multiple products and/or services with different margins that require a different payout for each, try to keep your compensation plan as simple as possible.  Salespeople should be focused on selling and not on trying to decipher their compensation plan.  If you have to change your sales goals or your compensation plan, reveal the reasons for the decision.  If you hide the reasons why their compensation plan has changed or you are unable to provide a clear understanding as to why  it changed you will start creating an us versus them environment.  Be open and honest.

-          Measure and publicize performance data

Salespeople tend to respect what is being measured and publicized for their peers to see.  Not only is it important to measure and publicize it, but meet with your salespeople on a regular basis and tell them how they are performing against their goals.  Provide constructive criticism that will help them grow.  Beat them down and disrespect them and they will not respect you or their goals.

-          Eliminate back-office tasks for your salespeople and let them focus more on selling

Sounds  obvious, but a report done by the The Dartnell Group in 1992 showed that salespeople only spent 50% of their time selling with the remainder of their time traveling and/or waiting for and doing paperwork.  In 2007, a survey done by Robert Nadeau of Industrial Performance Group found that this figure had dropped to 38 percent.  Granted some of the other 62 percent is spent on account management and relationship building with their existing customers, but too often it’s dealing with internal processes and procedures (i.e. correcting billing errors, dealing with internal processes/procedures to get pricing or contracts approved).  With companies expecting more from their employees today and demanding they take on more responsibilities, this figure may continue to fall.  Eliminate some of these responsibilities from them by either automating some of the processes or hiring extra help.  Free up their time to meet with their customers and sell.  It will pay off in the long run.

Sales success also depends on intangible factors that are difficult to quantify such as the salespersons ability to build relationships and connect with their customers.  Salespeople are a major factor in determining if an organization will fail or succeed.  Eliminating as many barriers for them and creating an environment where their input is valued will minimize the politics and in turn create a powerful sales organization.

This article was contributed by Robert Driscoll, co-founder of Active Garage. You can follow Robert on Twitter at rsdriscoll.

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, execution, http://activegarage.com, leaders, Leadership, management, Robert Driscoll, sales, Sales and Marketing, Strategy, www.activegarage.com