Matt on Marketing

Six best practices for your first week on the job

2011-09-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

Whether it's the first week at a new job or a new consulting gig, there are several simple things you can do that will not only make a great early impression, but accelerate your path towards productivity and success.

Here are six:

1. Ask lots of questions
Know who you'll be meeting with, and think about questions you have in advance. Use this time to ensure you understand their expectations of your role, their own priorities and challenges, and how you can help each other succeed.

2. Take lots of notes
Don't do it in a notebook. Take notes on pieces of copy paper that are easier to sort, scan and refer back to later. These notes taken in your first week will include some of your most important discovery, records of your team's priorities, background on existing projects, etc. The more and better notes you take, the more likely you can answer your own questions as you use that input to accelerate your own work production (and integration with the team) moving forward.

3. Follow up with people afterward, and thank them for their time
Email is probably the best forum for this (hand-written thank you notes might be a bit much). Follow up not only with a thank you, but with links or attachments representing content you may have discussed or promised, work related or otherwise. Use this follow-up to ask additional questions or to get clarification as well.

4. Ask to speak with customers
You'll hear lots of opinions as you get to know the company and market, but the most important opinions will come from your new customers. If you can't get direct access, at least ask for primary research that may have been recently collected - interview transcripts, focus group summaries, etc.

5. Ask for competitive information
It's not enough to know who your competitors are, and how your sales team reacts to questions about them. Somewhere in your organization, hopefully, there's a product manager or planner who has deeper intelligence about what your customers have done, what they've built, and what they're up to next.

6. Write down all of your ideas, but don't share them all (yet)
It's likely that existing employees could get defensive if you start enthusiastically sharing every idea you have right away. Don't be the new guy with all the answers, which implicitly may assume the existing organization and team hasn't thought about it, tried it, etc. Instead, keep a running list of ideas. Organize them by function or channel or audience. When the time is right (and you better understand both existing players as well as what's been done), start bringing those ideas to the forefront. Focus on those that represent quick home runs for the organization and yourself, with direct impact on primary objectives.

How to build a social sales engagement platform (for free)

2011-09-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

No matter your market, you have customers and prospects using social media. What if you could find and engage them, far earlier in the buying process, in just a few minutes a day?

What if you launched a custom social sales listening and engagement platform for every sales rep in your organization, helping the accelerate relationships and meet/engage with more of the right prospects more often?

Getting started is surprisingly simple. I recommend getting started with two simple steps - one proactive, and one reactive.

Proactive (target lists in HootSuite)
If you know exactly who you're trying to sell to (companies and/or individuals), find their Twitter handles and start following them via your own Twitter account. Then sort them into lists (you can make these lists private in Twitter) and load those lists into separate columns in HootSuite.

By doing this, you will have (all in one screen) access to all Twitter updates from your target prospects. Especially if you're working in a defined territory with a finite number of prospects, this is a great way to be the proverbial "fly on the wall."

Much of the conversation you observe won't have anything to do with what you're trying to sell, but that's good too. You'll learn what else makes them tick, what they're thinking about and worrying about. You'll also observe the early buying signals (needs, pain, desired outcomes) that will help you engage in a more consultative way.

Reactive (TwitHawk)
Let's say you can't keep up with the more than 200 billion tweets generated each day. Let's say you really only care about when people tweet about a specific topic, or use a specific phrase in their tweets.

TwitHawk is perfect for capturing that for you. Think of TwitHawk as Google Alerts for Twitter. You set up as many searches as you want, filtering based on keyword(s) and geography, if desired. Then TwitHawk finds search results for you daily, plus allows you to semi-automate and throttle out responses to get and keep you engaged with prospects you may not have known about before.

If you have a geographic territory and want a daily feed of new prospects expressing interest and/or need, TwitHawk should quickly become part of your daily routine.

Of course, there are fantastic tools out there that go deeper and cost a lot more. But you can get the above two steps set up in about 20 minutes, and they work.

The two things missing from most sales training programs

2011-09-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Most sales training programs - whether for new or existing reps - focus on sales skills, improving adherence to an existing sales process, or some other largely internally-focused elements. This is important, and many companies do a more than fine job preparing their sales reps to hit the ground running, successfully build their pipelines, and delight their customers and prospects.

But there are two focus areas I find missing in too many sales training programs. If they're missing from yours, you're missing a big opportunities to make your reps smarter and more successful.

Voice of the Customer
Who are they? What do they care about? What keeps them up at night? What's it like to walk a mile (or live through a day) in their shoes?

It's one thing to have a couple slides outlining your customer targets. It's quite another thing to help your reps immerse themselves in what your prospects face day to day. To effectively sell a solution, you have to first understand the prospect's needs and pain, as well as their intended objectives and outcomes.

Some of the best ways I've seen this executed in sales training is to have a live customer (either live or via video) share direct insights on their priorities and challenges, or to have an in-house employee who used to work as a prospect share the same thing live.

Competitive Intelligence
You're not selling alone, or in a vacuum. Your prospects are hearing from your competitors too, and/or have their own assumptions about how you stand up to them. Too often, competitive training for sales reps is an afterthought. Or, if it is proactively addressed in new rep sales training, it's not updated nearly often enough.

New competitors join the fray. Existing competitors update their products. Whenever that happens, the people on the front lines for your company need to know first. They're going to start fielding questions about those competitive changes in near real-time. How should they react? How does your product stand up? Why are you still confident your product or service will deliver better results for the prospect?

Too often as well, competitive intelligence training is defensive or arrogant. Your product or service may be great, but your competitors aren't idiots. They've built products that earn and keep customers. Treat them with respect, ensure your reps treat them with respect as well, but know exactly how to sell against them.

Bad recipes, great drip marketing (a case study in irrelevance)

2011-09-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Sally Gregg is a great Realtor. She sold us our first home ten years ago this December, and I still think about her every month.

She helps me do that, of course, with monthly recipe postcards like the example shown here (an actual postcard from last month).

She's used the same recipe postcard service this entire time. Several years ago, my wife and I tried a couple of the recipes. Awful, really bad stuff.

But you know what? I'm not going to hire Sally to cook for me, nor am I going to buy her cookbook. She was a damn good Realtor. Took my wife and I on as clients when we were buying a home far cheaper than she's used to selling. And despite that, she treated us as if we were her most important clients. Several years later, when we were considering a remodel, she came and spent a couple hours with us evaluating the pros and cons, knowing full well we likely weren't going to sell soon.

I've sent a lot of prospective customers Sally's way. I've even failed to give her names to people I know would be pain-in-the-butt clients.

I'm doing this not because of her recipes. But her postcards are monthly reminders of how good a Realtor she was.

Sometimes your drip content doesn't have to be relevant, or contextual, or directly related to what you do or enable. That's all good too, but sometimes it simply needs to be a reminder of who you are, what you do, and the value you once provided (and can provide again).

Three quick examples that prove nurture marketing works

2011-09-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

The idea that most of your prospects aren't ready to buy, and that you can increase your sales conversion yield with that list by staying in touch with value over time, sounds good. But unless you've seen or experienced the effect of that theory, it's often too easy to just push to close as many prospects, right now, as possible.

But if you can effectively separate out the qualified and ready-to-buy prospects to close now, while simultaneously building value and preference with the much-larger list of everyone else, you'll close considerable business over time with minimal incremental work.

Here are three very quick anecdotes that prove it works.

1. "These leads are dead" becomes a 2X sales result six months later
We started working with a company a few years ago, and to start they handed us a database of 60,000 leads "of dubious origin" (their words). The sales team hated this list, was tired of calling it, and said these leads were either unqualified or just pain dead.

Without a lot of fanfare or marketing automation tools, we started creating and delivering value-added content to this list - newsletters, webinars, white paper offers, lots of content that focused on addressing and answering questions the audience had, well beyond what we were selling.

Long story short, six months later, 45 percent of the company's sales had come from that "dead" list. The list continued to deliver sales in subsequent months as well.

2. Right time, right place becomes biggest deal of the year
That same program and list generated the largest single deal of the year for the company. A prospect on the 60,000 "dead" lead list received an invitation to an upcoming webinar. He didn't attend the webinar, nor did he register. He simply replied to the email invitation, telling the sales rep that he just got out of a meeting and "finally" got the green light to move forward with the project he'd been pitching for more than a year.

The prospect was qualified, educated and wasn't shopping around. That deal, the biggest of the year for the sales organization, closed in less than half the typical sales cycle length.

3. Easiest deal I've ever closed took more than two years of hard work
Less than two weeks ago, I got a call from the CEO of a fast-growing technology company on the East Coast. We had met at a conference two years ago. At the time, I did what I usually do with people I meet at events - followed up immediately after, invited her to join my newsletter list, put her into my nurture marketing systems, and pretty much moved on.

Ten days ago, she called. Her business is exploding, and she wanted help organizing and accelerating her marketing efforts. Less than a week later, she was a recurring-revenue client for our business.

On one hand, that's one of the fastest deals we've closed and the least amount of work I've put into a pitch. On the other hand, I worked that deal hard for two years. The CEO had been reading my newsletter, following my blog, and knew I could help her with exactly what she needed done.

Three stories aren't definitive. But I could go on. Would love to hear more, similar stories from your experiences in the comments below.

Eight (other) ways your prospects are judging you

2011-09-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

It would be great if prospects evaluated your proposal purely on its merits - what it is, what it does, what it could enable or unlock or solve for their business. But none of us work and make decisions that narrowly. We want to have confidence in the business we're buying from, as well as feel good about the individual we're directly working with.

Your prospects are judging you, just as much if not more than they're judging what you're selling. How you come across to them, passively and via online channels that take mere seconds to uncover, is incredibly important. And it's more than just the first Google search.

If you're lucky, prospects find and judge these channels after they're already engaged with you, so you at least have the opportunity to combat or debunk something they didn't like. Unfortunately, you're likely losing a lot more business from prospects who see a warning sign and never call you in the first place.

The following list is far from exhaustive, but is a good place to start in identifying potential weak points in your current public face. Some of these may seem intuitive, but I wouldn't raise them if they weren't still such a big problem for businesses and individual sellers.

Google: What do they find with a simple search? Success stories? Customer complaints? Your amazing content both on your site and published throughout the Web? This is the external evaluation tool most companies think about. The following, however, are at least equally important.
Your home page: Anything up there that dates you? Demonstrates you haven't been keeping the content fresh? If the headline on your Web site sidebar announces a partnership signed in 2009, well, what have you been doing since then?
Company social networks: When's the last time you updated or engaged? If it's been dormant for awhile, it may imply (rightly or wrongly) that you're not doing business anymore. There are a variety of tools you can use to at least automate the curation of new content into these networks, with minimal time and effort, to keep them fresh.
Company blog: Even if you keep it active, is it mostly posts and news about your company? Prospects today expect blogs to deliver value independent of what you're selling. The occasional announcement is fine, but as a rule, expect 90 percent of your blog content to be about the customer and their problems, not yours.
Personal social networks: The prospect may be evaluating your business, but they're checking you out (personally) as well. Anything on your Facebook page that might be a bit embarrassing? Any personal tweets that may not put you in the best light?
LinkedIn: Is your LinkedIn history up to date? Does the profile for your current role not only "sell" you as a professional, but also how your business can help its customers?
Press release archive: Maybe you're not very active in PR. That may be fine. But if your last press release listed is from three years ago? Not good.
Upcoming event listings: Many company Web sites list upcoming events - trade shows, webinars, customer events, etc. Unfortunately, many companies fail to keep these actively up to date. Even a recently-completed webinar that still appears on your site as if it occurs in the future can make you look dull. Easiest way to solve for this is to make recordings of past events available on-demand. These still count as events, but make you look good without worrying about a "live" date listed in the past.
Misspellings and grammar mistakes: The little things matter. Misspelled words, clear punctuation mistakes, and similar problems can be perceived as the tip of the iceberg for how your company does business, pays attention to detail, and generally operates in a professional manner.

What's missing from this list? What warning signs do you often find (online or offline) that turn you away from prospective vendors or partners?

How to identify and create more dynamic content

2011-09-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Great content is built with three things in mind - what they want you to know, what they want you to think, and what they want you to do.

Dynamic content does all three of these things, with a focus on the third component - driving action.

Dynamic content should stir your emotions, and make you want to do something. This isn't just direct-response we're talking about. Dynamic content can make you forward an article to 10 friends, change the way you think and/or act, and impact long-term behavior - both yours and those around you.

Dynamic content, in short, makes you want to do something about it.

Look through the content you've created recently, and the content on your plate in the near future. What is its purpose? What do you want from the audience? How can you adjust the topic, the tone, the approach or the message so your readers do more than just read and think.

Get them to act.

The five things you should do every day

2011-09-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

It's incredibly easy to get sucked into the day, every day. You can get lost in email, lost in meetings, lost in your RSS feed or social networks. You can feel busy, pulled in a thousand directions, and yet not make forward progress for yourself, your team or your business.

The trick, of course, is to go into the day with a plan, with priorities, and stay focused on what's most important. You have to be both focused and disciplined to get the most important work done and ignore distractions (both external and internal) that will derail you.

As part of your daily routine, I recommend ensuring the following five things become core to how you build value, deliver external results, and improve yourself for future success.

Learn
Devote time to learning from others - live, online, in books and magazines, via podcasts and Webinars. Scan the email newsletters you receive (and have them auto-filtered into a special folder as to not distract from core work in your primary inbox). However you do it, devote time each day to making yourself better and smarter.

Build
In other words, create something. Make something new that will attract more people to you, and help you make more money. This isn't just for software developers and manufacturers. This is for those who write white papers, design email templates, build new landing pages, and test new sales scripts. No matter your role, the more you build, the more likely you'll have something that furthers your objectives and sales targets.

Network
It would be easy to combine this with the "Learn" objective above, because a huge part of meeting new people and staying in touch is what you learn from them, in a variety of ways and contexts. Network in a way that helps you meet new people every day - online and offline - and provide immediate value back to them in the process.

Sell
Your product, your services, your abilities, your ideas. Selling doesn't always require the exchange of money. Have a great new idea but need your manager's approval to move forward? Sell it. Need an extra round of funding for your start-up to finish that new product? Sell it. Need to drive higher response for your next lead generation Webinar? Sell.

Do
This is the catch-all, and it's easy to think of almost anything as "doing". But checking your email doesn't count. Setting up another meeting doesn't count either. Define your "doing" based on external impact. What are you doing that has real, directional impact on your business, your customers, your own personal and professional aspirations? Define that narrowly, specifically, and start doing.

How to get your sales reps to ask better questions

2011-09-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

Most B2B sales organizations have migrated to some form of consultative or SPIN selling these days. But even though your sales reps may be asking more questions, what separates good from great sales teams is often the ability to ask the right questions, better questions that more quickly and effectively drive interest, urgency and mobility towards a mutually-successful outcome.

There are many ways to get your reps asking better questions. Here are four:

1. Script needs & pain by role and/or target
Too often in sales we customize our questions based on our product, or their industry. And sometimes, you've done enough homework to know what the company itself is going through too. But the more you understand each individual player in the transaction - their role, their needs, their pain - the better you'll be able to customize your questions specifically to them. Here's a template to get you started.

2. Train consultative & diagnostic skills
Lots of sales organizations talk about consultative selling, but few take the time to not only teach their reps what that means but further translate that theory into specific, practical questions and tools for your specific sale. It's relatively easy to take a particular consultative approach (take SPIN, for example) and quickly outline examples of how to put that in action. Here's a specific example using SPIN, which quickly outlines each of the four stages followed by sample questions for a particular service sale.

3. Practice
Get in the habit of role playing regularly - between manager and rep, peer to peer, and in front of team meetings on occasion as well. If you make these events constructive, reward those who work hard and do well, and share best practices across the team, you'll reinforce the right behavior plus leverage those sessions to identify and spread even better ideas and questions that reps and managers continually come up with on their own.

4. Listen first, and listen more often
Finally, when you do get back in front of your prospect, focus less on asking questions and more on listening. The more your prospect talks, the more you'll learn and the better you'll be able to sell. Don't fall into the trap of asking a first, great question, getting a good answer, then launching into your pitch. You're likely not done with that first question. Ask more questions, better questions, pointed and directional questions, so that the prospect (with their answers) explains back to you what they need, why they need it, and how you might solve or achieve that for them.

Different buyers, different needs, different stories

2011-09-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

If you're selling into an organization with multiple decision-makers and/or influencers, you'll need to customize the story you're telling for each recipient.

What you're selling stays the same, what it does stays the same as well. But each individual involved in the buying process likely cares about slightly different things. The CFO, for example, is going to bring a different world view to the relationship than the CIO, or CMO, or VP of Sales.

To sell effectively in this increasingly-complex environment, you need to customize your story not just for the organization and it's vertical industry, but for each individual as well.

Do this once (either for your product overall or by unique vertical into which your selling) and the messaging will likely work again and again, especially if you operationalize it into sales scripts, marketing content, etc.

Embedded below is a template to get you started. You'll see that it starts with prospective customers in a given vertical (or any grouping that makes sense for you), then gets down to individual roles in the organization.

First you map out what they care about - their priorities, needs, and pain independent of your sale. You can then convert that fundamental, individual understanding into messages that more directly and successfully combine their needs with your potential.

Give it a shot (if you know your customer, I bet it's faster to complete than you think) and let me know what you think.

Audience needs to messaging matrix sample

View more presentations from Heinz Marketing Inc

Are B2B and B2C really that different?

2011-09-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

I often wonder if we'd be more successful at B2B marketing if we thought of it more like B2C. In the end, we're selling to people, not businesses. People make the decisions, based on a mix of personal interests, professional aspirations, politics, etc.

Yes, there's value for the business and the end-customers in a B2B decision. But that's still driven by personalities, individual needs, human translations of a business concept or potential outcome.

And it goes both ways. Nobody likes to get an email from a company. We'd prefer to get an email from a person AT that company. Open rates in emails between the two instances prove this again and again. But in so many cases, we still pretend that a building is selling something to another building. Doesn't always work too well that way.

The business pays the bill, but it's people who buy.

Why do B2B marketers ignore your birthday?

2011-09-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Birthdays have been marketing opportunities for a very long time. I remember getting an annual coupon for a free ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins on my birthday, and I looked forward to that almost as much as my mom’s birthday cake (which she made with mayonnaise, which is a whole other story).

Every year on my birthday, I geek out a bit by paying attention to who either noticed or remembered, and is using the date to give me something (in exchange for buying something, of course). I’ve lost track of how many businesses know my birthday via some kind of registration form. And if you follow me on Facebook, it’s right there on my profile page as well. So birthdays today aren’t really a secret.

What’s surprising to me, however, is how few B2B companies leverage birthdays to market and sell. Yes, it’s easier and perhaps more obvious to give birthday celebrants a free ice cream cone or appetizer or latte. I’ll probably bring my family, buy more stuff, etc.

But if you’re courting my B2B business, wouldn’t it be cool if you just remembered? For those engaged in B2B social media programs, where your brand has however many followers on Facebook, wouldn’t it be cool to send individual followers a simple “we remember, and celebrate with you” message?

It’s not going to close a deal on that day. It’s not really related to what they’re buying, either. But it’s part of the relationship-building process. It shows you care. And it comes from a company I want to do business with, a company that remembers and prioritizes the little things to delight their customers.

Life is short, work with people you enjoy

2011-09-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman at Google and a pioneer in the cloud computing world, talked for an hour last week at Dreamforce. He covered a lot of topics - from technology to politics to job growth - but the one piece of advice that stuck with me the most was when he talked about why he chose to go to work at Google.

Schmidt said when he took the job he knew very little about Google, but was highly impressed with the people. And that's what he cared about and wanted the most. He then said (roughly quoting), "I'm old enough now that I think I can say this: Life is short, work with people you enjoy."

Not everyone in the world has this choice. Too many in the US right now would be happy just to have a job, let alone be picky about who they work with and for. But if you're lucky enough to have that choice, choosing based on people and cultural fit is about as important as it gets.

Who are the people you want to go to war with? Who are the people who share your values and priorities, who you know will think and make decisions based on principles that you share and value as well? Who are the people you trust when things get complicated, stressful and difficult?

This goes for your team, boss, partners, investors and customers too.

How to start and win arguments online

2011-09-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

What if you see something online and disagree? What if you need to defend your position - personally or professionally - when others think differently, no matter the forum?

To successfully manage your brand & reputation online, plus drive new qualified awareness and interest, you're going to have to argue. But if you do it respectfully, you'll look good, successfully get your point across, and win more followers in the process. Here are some tips.

Do your homework
You need to not only understand the issue well, but also (and possibly more importantly) understand where the other side is coming from. What's motivating their position? What are the underlying priorities and objectives that either got them there or has them stuck there? What are the strengths & weaknesses of their argument? Having at least a high-level understanding of these dynamics will help you craft your own answer, and quite possibly address (and resolve) their issues or conflicts at the same time.

Bring data
Nobody's going to look good in a he-said-she-said, my-opinion-vs-yours argument. Someone's got to prove they're right, and it might as well be you. If you want to take a strong, public position, bring proof. Bring data, examples, anything that shows you know your stuff and have validation behind you.

Sit on your answer overnight (and/or have someone else read it)
Knee-jerk responses have a tendency to embed a little too much passion, too much conjecture, and too many holes for the other side to exploit. When possible, take your time to craft a solid response, sit on it overnight to make sure you feel the same way in the morning, and find a trusted partner or colleague who knows and/or shares your opinion to review your message with a critical eye.

Keep it professional
Take the high road, even (or especially) when the other side goes on the personal attack. When you respond in kind, the argument not only has little chance of getting back on track, but you'll both lose credibility with other readers or participants.

What's the ROI of your mother?

2011-09-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

You can't measure everything. You just can't.

I'm a numbers guy. I like ROI, I like cause and effect, I like demonstrating results and weening out the weak or failed initiatives. But not everything is cut and dry like that.

Gary Vaynerchuk gets asked to quantify the value of social media all the time. A few months ago, after one too many questions about the "ROI of social media", he responded with, "OK, then what's the ROI of your mother?"

She raised you right, fed you, gave you life lessons and values. How do you quantify that?

How do you justify the company holiday party? A customer holiday party? Spending a little extra to hire a magician to walk around and entertain your guests?

Not everything is going to be black and white, or as measurable as we want. Sometimes it's just right. The numbers guy in me hates that ambiguity, but that's just the way it is.

How to revive dormant newsletter subscribers

2011-09-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

With any email, newsletter or nurture campaign, there's going to be a sizeable portion of your list that just doesn't respond. They don't click, they rarely if ever open. So how do you get them to become more active again? The answer is more complicated than just a set of reactivation tactics.

First off, make sure they're dormant and not dead. And make sure you regularly clear out the dead.

Very few newsletter or nurture marketing managers actively clean their databases of regular hard-bounce addresses. If an email hasn't been delivered to a particular address for several sends in a row (meaning you get a hard-bounce back from the recipient's server), it's best to take that email out of future sends. Too many hard bounces will tell Internet service providers that you're a possible spammer, and can get the rest of your emails blocked.

Also, don't assume that dormant means no value is being delivered. Just because I didn't click doesn't mean I don't want the next issue. Just because I didn't engage this time doesn't mean I didn't appreciate a heads-up on whatever the content was. What if I was just too busy today? What if I really want that sweater but don't have any money until next payday?

Depending on the nature and objective of your email campaign, the quantity and quality of impressions you generate by putting another permission-based email in someone's inbox may be enough. At least for now. I assume that you, too, get plenty of email newsletters and don't read them all. Don't click on them all. Probably don't even open them all. But you definitely want to keep getting them, and there's a branded, contiguous relationship that still exists there. A healthy portion of your "dormant" subscribers are getting the same value from you today.

Of course, for those recipients who truly aren't paying as much attention, there are a few tactical things you can try as well.

First, consider changing the domain, IP address or even email service provider from which you're sending. These changes can make the email appear different to the hosting server, and can either help with deliverability or get that email out of the spam filter where it's been languishing for several issues now.

Also play with how the email appears to the recipient when first received in their inbox. Is the "from" name and address inviting? Are you using the same subject line over and over vs. highlighting some content that drives more opens?

Consider these and other more active/aggressive tactics to a segment of your list that you think might be dormant. If active subscribers already have you on their safe sender list, there's no reason to switch up the domain or IP address on them. But by testing these and other tactics on a subgroup of potentially dormant subscribers, you may find a mix of strategies and tactics that increase engagement and performance of the entire list in short order.

How to (finally) measure ROI from social media

2011-09-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Social media is not a direct-response channel. I think we can all agree on that. But it absolutely is part of the sales funnel for your business. It's where you can build and foster relationships with unlimited prospects, partners and influencers at very little cost, adding value on a daily basis until a percentage of those individuals and organizations are ready to move forward - either into a conversation or an active buying cycle.

Establishing a quantitative value for social media as a component of the sales funnel has been difficult, largely because we rely on disparate systems to establish causality. That may be changing with updated features in Salesforce.com launching in October 2011. For the first time, you'll be able to see integrated social media accounts and interaction activity right in your core sales management platform.

Here's why that's so important.

Let's say you have 80,000 leads in Salesforce.com. You know 40,000 of them have Twitter accounts. Of those, you also know that 6,000 are following your Twitter account, and you know exactly which of those 6,000 have responded or interacted with you in that channel.

When that lead makes it way through the funnel - to an open opportunity and eventually a closed deal - you can now establish the source of origination and primary causality of pipeline movement back to the social media activity.

Social media may not be a direct-response lead channel, but with this level of integration you can evaluate it's effectiveness and ROI as an eventual sales producer in an apples-to-apples format with email, direct mail, events, etc. And if prospects have been impacted by multiple campaigns and channels (and most likely have), you can still measure and weight the primary causality factors all in a single platform.

That's powerful stuff, and will help many organizations finally bridge the gap between their focus on leads & sales, and the importance of investing in long-term social and content-based relationships well before customers are ready to buy.

Will a pending price increase drive urgency to buy?

2011-09-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, for some, but it's a double-edged sword.

You can use pending price increases as a carrot. If you have prospects on the fence, locking in a lower price could get them over the hump. But if they were on the fence to begin with, they probably had already made up their mind to buy.

Price increases, of course, are very different from price discounts. Too many companies put their products and services "on sale" far too often, hoping it will generate more sales. But if your prospects get used to your frequent sales intended to drive urgency and activity, they'll end up having the exact opposite effect.

Offering a lower price will not inherently change the prospect's need for what you're selling. It won't change how they've prioritized the solution or its outcome in their organization. Get some buyers to commit who may or may not actually need or want your service, and you're setting yourself up for more expensive customer relationships, difficult deployments, higher churn, etc.

The best way to leverage pending price increases is with late-stage opportunities. Isolate the prospects who already have a need, already have urgency based on the inherent value and expected outcome of what you can provide, and get them to commit more quickly before the price goes up.

How to more accurately measure trade show ROI

2011-09-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'm a broken record about defining what success looks like up-front for any sales or marketing effort, and trade shows are no different. But trade shows, especially for B2B sellers, are more complicated because very little happens (or at least is monetized) right away.

To more completely and accurately measure the business value and sales impact of your next trade show, define and measure success at three critical post-event milestones.

1. Immediately after the show
When you walk back into the office, what can you measure? How will you immediately know if the show was a success? Your likely measures for this include leads (or names) captured, meetings held, briefings or demos completed, etc. Define these measures up front and drive your strategy and execution accordingly.

2. 30 days after the show
A month after the event, you should have at minimum qualified all of the leads you captured and placed them in the appropriate stage in your pipeline. Many of the leads may go right into a nurture track. Some will require further qualification, and others may be actively engaged on a short path to purchase. But ideally, after a few weeks of working the immediate product of the event, you have a sense for what pipeline expectations should be in the next few months.

3. Six months after the show
Depending on your average sales cycle length, this is the milestone at which you should start to expect closed business, booked sales and revenue recognition directly from the event. There will still be leads you're nurturing, but six months should be enough time to see closed business and a solid pipeline of expected new sales in the subsequent six-month period.

Ideally, you establish goals for these three milestones not only before the event, but before you commit the resources in the first place. Because if the goals don't add up to enough business to justify the event, save your time and money for something else.

Are you inspired by people like you, or people better than you?

2011-09-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

We all look to others for inspiration. For ideas to emulate. To improve our personal and professional performance. But we go about that differently.

Some of us look to those who are already well ahead of us. We look up, so to speak, at their performance and level of success and try to figure out what made that happen, and how we could walk in a similar oath.

Others look for people more like them. Similar people, perhaps more believable people. In this case, there's a sense that achieving what they've achieved is more realistic, more attainable.

If you're a small business, do you look to enterprise organizations for best practices? Are you inspired by what they've achieved? Or do you easily get intimidated and discouraged by the gap between you, and the likely resources required (and available) on their part to execute?

Or, as a small business, do you look to other organizations about your size. Run by people you can relate to. Doing little things, smarter things, better things that feel more attainable and achievable.

There's probably not a right answer to this, nor do you have to choose. But inspiration without action and follow-up isn't going to get you anywhere.

Things to do (and not do) with your next trade show booth

2011-09-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

At least year's Dreamforce, I picked up a number of best and worst practices from participating exhibitors (summarized here). This year's event is even bigger, with more vendors doing smart and dumb things (intentionally and otherwise). Here are some of the things I've picked up in the past couple days.

Good Ideas

Qualify booth visitors up front. I was impressed with a few vendors who pleasantly introduced themselves, and asked me to quickly do the same. This helped them know who I was, what I did, and understand how to then approach how they'd describe what they do. The conversation would go differently if I was a prospective enterprise customer vs. a potential partner vs. an industry analyst or reporter. Kudos to those who qualified up front.
Unique outfits break the ice. Lots of booths have themes, but smart vendors customize booth staff attire (without going overboard) to align with theme but also quickly break the ice with those walking by. Great way to get prospects to quickly engage, make fun of yourself for a couple seconds, then earn the opportunity to qualify and discuss what you actually do.
Send the industry veteran roaming the halls. Most shows prohibit vendors from shilling beyond their booth space (this includes handing out collateral or giveaways, etc.). But smart vendors actually sent their most well-networked employees through the halls to meet people they knew, catch up, and send more traffic back to the booth. Great way to spread your brand and presence beyond the walls of your booth without violating show rules.
Ditch the swag and give away a souvenir. I don't need another pen, or mouse pad, or water bottle. But the autographed guitar from Metallica? That was sweet. Not everyone is going to take it home, but I do have a picture (see above). Nice move, InsideView.
Use Foursquare. Kudos to Optify for "claiming" Dreamforce as a venue early enough to feature their booth and a rotating selection of "come visit us" promotions. Literally, every time someone checks in to Dreamforce via Foursquare (and thousands are doing so every day), Optify's promotion pops up. Great, guerilla tactic that can work at almost any event or venue.

Bad Ideas

Embarassing outfits. There's a line between professional, noteworthy and ridiculous. Following the theme of your booth is fine, but if people snicker when they walk by, that's not good. If your booth staff visibly looks uncomfortable and uses an apology for their appearance as their ice-breaker, that's not good either. One booth at Dreamforce this week has a Harry Potter theme, complete with staffers wearing full wizard robes and hats. Hmm.
Talking amongst yourselves. Incredible to me that people still do this, especially when spending tens of thousands (if not six figures) to be there. A couple booths were literally impossible to visit and engage with because of the wall of employees talking to each other. If that "wall" had literally turned around (in this one case), they could have instantly had 5-6 prospect conversations from people who just passed them by.
Failing to share pricing. Didn't a question about price used to be a buying signal? Why do I have to ask four times to get an answer? If you're too expensive, you have a bigger problem than figuring out how to talk about price when someone asks. But if you're worth it, share the price when someone asks the first time and be ready to justify the price with a quick ROI story or two from current customers.
If I ask a question, you should scan my badge. I don't want to be on everyone's follow up list, and if your very first question to me as I walk by your booth is if you can "scan me", I'm likely to say no. But if I engage, if I ask good questions, you shouldn't let me walk away without asking who I am and to either get a business card or scan my badge for follow-up. At least six booths this week should have read the interest signs from me, but have no idea who I am.
Dress pants with white tennis shoes. You'd think this would be a given, but it's not. Don't do this. It kind of makes you look like a doofus.

The three social networks your company needs to build

2011-08-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

The channels may be the same, but there are three distinct audiences and contexts you should separate and consider with a unique strategy to engage, influence and mobilize.

Employee network
How is your company leveraging social networks, channels and tools to more effectively communicate with employees? How are you using these tools to improve communications and connectivity with remote offices and teams that need to work more closely together? How are you regularly gathering and using internal feedback without disrupting workflow and productivity?

Customer network
I include prospects in this as well. This is the network where most companies devote their time currently. Avoid the impulse to move prospects too quickly through the funnel, or field aggressive offers that don't respect the audience or channel's unique expectation about content, tone and delivery.

Product network
Some of your products may need a social network of their own. Allow fans and detractors alike to share feedback openly, with you and each other. Learn from them and innovate on a daily basis. This is a missing piece of the social strategy for most companies, but done right it's a great way to get focused insights and two-way communication with customers about specific products and services you offer.

I have more to think about and share on this. If you already have a distinct strategy for these three, I'd love to hear from you (as well as the back-story of how you got it started and how you're driving & measuring success).

The four "other" things you can learn at your next conference

2011-08-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

You're there to close some business, meet partners, hear speakers and network with fellow attendees. But if you look between the lines, and pay closer attention to what's going on around you, you can also absorb a ton of best (and worst) practices about running or participating in a successful conference.

For example:

Booth practices & tactics (the good, bad and ugly)
Which booths drew your attention and why? Which were you embarrassed for? Break down the booth appearance, attractiveness, giveaways, staff performance and etiquette. What ideas could you take away for your next event, and what tactics and/or behavior will you remind your team to never do again? Take notes and take pictures to remind yourself of what you've seen and want to emulate (or not) next time.

Guerilla tactics
At the Dreamforce conference this week, rival online CRM systems are here too. They're just hanging out on the sidewalks, placing ads on taxi cabs and doing other creative things to get attendee attention on the fringes of the official event. There's a fine line, of course, between being creative and getting attention, and crossing the line and being obnoxious at someone else's conference. This applies as well to those who execute guerilla tactics at their booths, in the aisles, at the conference hotels, and so on.

Panel & presentation best practices
Who gave the best presentations and why? Was it because of their content, their performance on stage, their visuals, their examples? Similarly, who was awful and why? Almost any event you attend will feature both ends of this spectrum. Follow an event's Twitter hashtag and you'll get a real-time sense for what other people think as well (and why).

Event management best practices
The details behind executing a successful event are endless. But the best conference experiences pay attention to the little things. Signs telling you where to go, people in colorful t-shirts to answer your questions, constantly refilled water dispensers at the end of trade show aisles, etc. What are the little things you noticed at your last show? What little things generated buzz from attendees (either live or via the chat boards or Twitter)?

How to make the most of conference parties and networking events

2011-08-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Most conference agendas include one or more parties - usually sponsored by the conference host or their sponsors and exhibiting vendors. These events are a great opportunity to relax and enjoy the company of fellow attendees, but they're also an important opportunity to meet new people, add to your network, and create new business opportunities.

Here are six tips for better engaging and leveraging these parties in your favor (while at the same time enjoying yourself and having fun!).

1. Take plenty of business cards (but don't lead with them)
After-hours parties and networking events aren't meant to be all business, but you also don't want to be caught without the means of sharing your basic contact information with someone you meet. Don't lead with your card, unless the event is explicitly a card-exchange or business networking event. But after sharing conversation, if you're interested in following up afterward, make it easy for the other party to do so.

2. Dress down (a little) but remain professional
If the networking event is right after the formal meeting and in the same location, you can assume the same business or business casual attire is fine. But if the party is at a separate time or location, feel free to dress down a bit. If you were wearing slacks with jacket or suit, for example, jeans are probably OK. But don't go crazy. Jeans with your shirt and jacket (no tie), for example, says dressed-down but still professional. And you can always lose the jacket if you need to look even more casual, depending on the event and surroundings.

3. Be polite but proactive
As you work the room, make eye contact and say hello to those you pass. Introduce yourself proactively and offer a handshake. If you approach a circle of folks already engaged in conversation, wait until a lull in the conversation or until you've been invited to introduce yourself. Respect the room and existing relationships and conversations, but be proactive about getting in there and meeting new people. That's why you're there!

4. Remember and write down names, contexts and deliverables
Over the course of the night, you'll likely meet a lot of interesting people. But it's important to remember who they are, where they're from, and any context about the conversation (or things you offered to share with or send them later) for your follow-up. If you get a business card, write the context or deliverable on the back. As a back-up, carry a piece of paper or notebook to write down their name, email and what you promised to send their way later (offering to send something also gives you the "cover" necessary to write this down without looking too geeky).

5. Focus on them, and ask good questions
The easiest way to get people talking is to ask questions. What they do, why they're at the conference, what have they learned so far, etc. Have a few standard, starter questions ready and keep watch, in their answers, for things they're particularly passionate about. The more they talk about themselves, the more memorable you will be for asking (and the most likely you'll find something based on those interests you can follow up with afterward).

6. Don't overdo it
Nobody makes a good impression at parties by getting drunk. It's difficult to impossible to execute the above opportunities when you can't think or speak straight. Have a drink. Or two. Enjoy yourself. Just know your limits, and don't let yourself get in a position you might be regret the next day.

Why attending events in person is still so important

2011-08-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'll spend the majority of this week away from the office, attending the annual Dreamforce conference. There are many reasons why this trip is a good use of my time, but in general I'm a big fan of regularly finding events that get me out of my office, away from my usual environment, and somewhere I can accelerate my business, my own learning, and my value to our clients all at the same time.

I love the growing trend of online-only conferences, as well as the ever-present availability of Webinars to help me learn. But nothing will replace the value of being there live. Five reasons for this.

Get that "out of office" perspective
Away from the regular tugs at your time, the same four walls you stare at, you can have a different perspective. You'll naturally think about things differently. You'll have an entirely new set of stimuli (visual, auditory, written) to spark creativity and innovation. You can get this even by attending an event in your home town. No matter how you do it, getting outside of your regular environment is worth it more often. Why do you think teams go "offsite" for executive meetings and brainstorms? Same reason.

Focus on new opportunities (with your complete attention)
If you're going to an event or conference in person, do yourself a favor and give it your full attention. Don't travel across the country only to stay in your hotel room and on "regularly scheduled" conference calls you could have just done from your office. A couple of these are fine, but otherwise let yourself be immersed in the event itself with your full attention. This can mean sitting through keynotes and panels, focusing time on the trade show floor, scheduling blocks of time with important partners or customers or new faces, etc. You won't have these opportunities anywhere or anytime else. Take advantage of them now.

Meet new people & deepen existing relationships
I love my social networks, my LinkedIn and my entire online system for meeting new people and maintaining relationships. But nothing can replace doing it with a handshake, a smile, and seeing the whites of their eyes. Whether you do it in the lobby of the conference hotel, on the trade show floor, at the evening parties or even while playing golf, these are the relationships that go deeper, that develop long-term preference and business value for you over time. It's differentiating, in your favor, in a way that online networking can never be.

Talk to the vendors
Yes, they want to sell you something. And some will either be too aggressive or ignore you. But every vendor on the show floor knows something that you don't. It's your job to learn from them. Ask them questions about their slice of the industry, what they're seeing from their customers, what they see moving forward. Try to find the product managers in the booth who spend most of their time listening to customers and translating those needs into new product features. They'll often have the best insights into what's now and what's next.

Use the casual moments to your advantage
Set up quick coffee meetings with people you've just met, or haven't seen in awhile. If you need to catch up on email, do so in the hotel lobby or in an otherwise public place so you're move likely to run into something you want to talk to. Invite new people to lunch or dinner or drinks to get to know them better, and learn from them. If you do eat alone, do so at a location close to the conference and eat at the bar. You'll likely be sitting next to someone else from the conference you can talk to and learn from. Take a long, early-morning walk and take a notepad or digital recorder to record new ideas, priorities for the day, etc. There are countless ways to squeeze more value out of the more casual moments when you travel.

What about you? If you still attend events live, why do you do it? What value do you get, and what else do you prioritize on those trips to increase value for yourself and your business?

How to turn your user conference into a must-attend industry event

2011-08-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

This week, tens of thousands of B2B sales & marketing people will descend upon Moscone Center for Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference. What began in 2003 as a small user conference in a nearby hotel this year will likely exceed 25,000 attendees and almost 300 exhibitors.

Dreamforce has become a case study in transforming a customer-only conference into a must-attend industry event. How did they do it? And how could you do it for your customer events as well? Here are a few ingredients to Salesforce.com's success.

Content
Although much of the content and many of the breakout sessions focus on features and functionality, there's plenty of content that's also focused on helping B2B sales & marketing professionals better at their jobs overall. This year's Dreamforce features a host of sessions on sales strategy, word of mouth tactics, search marketing innovations and more. If you're not a Salesforce.com developer or administrator, there's still a ton of things to learn.

Speakers
From the keynote speakers to the panelists, it's clear that Dreamforce puts effort into ensuring attendees walk away with high-quality information from the field's most innovative and successful thinkers and doers. Recent keynotes have featured General Colin Powell, President Bill Clinton and this year Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Networking
You can tell when a conference has crossed the chasm from user conference to must-attend event when many people go just for the networking. I'd be willing to bet that Salesforce.com's own attendee figures are low, as there will be plenty who fly into town simply to meet and do business with those who are also there. This includes the plethora of parties hosted each night by several vendors and sponsors.

Location
Salesforce.com is based in San Francisco, so Moscone Center is almost a given. But many companies prefer to host user conferences in their home town. If it's hard to get to, expensive to get to, or generally out of the way, your attendance will suffer. At minimum, get a great price on a hotel conference center in Vegas to give attendees an extra reason (or three) to come down.

Attention to Detail
It's very clear that Dreamforce is meticulously planned, down to the small details. Despite the huge and growing crowds each year, it continues to get easier to find where you're going, ask someone for directions, plan your entire visit weeks in advance via online scheduling and calendar tools, etc.

If you're attending Dreamforce this week, I'd love to hear why you think it's a must-attend event as well.

Anatomy of a better pre-event email

2011-08-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

I'm attending Dreamforce this coming week, and apparently a whole lot of companies know that.

Over the past two weeks, I've received literally dozens of emails from companies targeting Dreamforce attendees. It's been an interesting study in different strategies, objectives and perspectives in engaging an audience before you (potentially) see them live at an event.

It's also helped me hone some specific best practices that could help each of these companies (and yours as well) drive greater response and performance from pre-event emails. Done right, these emails can increase success at the event as well as drive additional revenue opportunities before, during and after.

Here are four things I've specifically noticed and/or would recommend to drive greater performance.

Send email from a person, not a company
I'm much more likely to open an email from a person (whose name is in the "from" line, whose email address shows up there, and who signed the email too) than an email from a company with an "info@" email address. I'm also much more likely to respond directly to an email from a person vs. a company (and would expect a reply from that person too, which hasn't happened consistently either).

Put some news in the subject line
I know you want me to meet with you. But that in the subject line isn't going to get me to engage. I've even seen subject lines in the past week that literally give the dates and location of the event. How is that driving open rates? Instead, use something to entice me. Tease a giveaway, give me a benefit worth stopping by to learn more about. You can't make a subject line communicate everything, and it's main goal is to get the email opened, but start with something that gets my attention and piques my interest.

Get me to pre-register for something
I really like the pre-event emails that allow me to self-select greater interest. They either invite me to a private briefing or to schedule when I'll stop by the booth. The majority of email recipients won't respond to this, but that's not the point. If you can get a handful of attendees committed to stopping by, your booth performance immediately is better than just hoping passers-by are the people you want to meet, and who want to meet you too.

But don't force me to commit
As much as I prefer the pre-registration option above, I also don't want to commit. I have enough meetings planned for this week already, I don't necessarily want or need to schedule something when I can stop by anytime during open show floor hours. I may not want to commit, but that doesn't mean I'm less interested or less qualified.

A different tactic to engage prospects like this could be to simply have them pre-register for a visit without a specific time. Tell prospects you'll have a special gift reserved for them when they come, whenever that is. Then, have that list at the booth so you can fulfill that offer. This tactic gives you a registered list of more interested prospects, gives me (the attendee) more flexibility, but puts you at the top of my "need to visit" priority list for the show floor.

Are you sure you want my business?

2011-08-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

I get that the economy isn't great. Demand for products & services in many markets is low. But I'm convinced there's still plenty of business out there for most of us. Unfortunately, even when it's right in front of you, we don't always execute well.

Just in the past two months, I've explicitly expressed interest (buying interest, short-term pipeline closeable business interest) in the following things:

A small home improvement project that I'd prefer to have a contractor handle
An estimate and quote for a company holiday party (at a venue we used last year, no less)
Listings and comps for potential investment properties
Copywriters for a specific, unique client project

In the case of the home improvement project, we were promised a proposal and estimate and haven't heard anything back. This from a contractor who has done business with us before (and done outstanding work) and who I know isn't happy with his bottom line this year.

For the holiday party, similar situation. Great event last year, it was their business to lose this year. Had a promise of details and an estimate, but no follow up.

I did get a couple copywriters replying to the job post, but replies three weeks after the posting was way too late.

There's business out there. Money is ready to change hands. But you have to want it, be hungry for it, and do the little things to manage and be proactive with your pipeline to close more business.

Are you prepared for the holiday rush (or slowdown)?

2011-08-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

I know, it's still warm out. And the kids are just getting back to school. But as soon as we're done with Labor Day, you know the holiday sales are going to start creeping into our lives - in the mail, online, at the mall, etc.

For your business, the holidays probably means one of two things - you're getting ready for the holiday rush, or you're getting ready for the holiday slowdown.

Both of these are opportunities to capture attention and interest from your customers (and prospects) and drive higher sales. But to do that effectively, you have to start early. That doesn't mean start your holiday sales next week, but have a plan in place that works over the next few weeks and months to exceed your goals come December 31st.

To help, we're hosting two Webinars next month featuring best practices and specific recommendations for both groups:

Sales & Marketing Strategies for the Holiday Rush
Wednesday, Sept 7, 9:00 a.m. Pacific
Register Here

Sales & Marketing Strategies for the Holiday Slowdown
Thursday, Sept 15, 9:00 a.m. Pacific
Register Here

Both will be recorded, but I hope you can make one or both of these to help your business prepare for the holiday opportunity.

How to manage your sales pipeline in 15 minutes a day

2011-08-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, it’s possible to have a healthy and active sales pipeline and still spend very little time managing it. Whether you’re running a business or managing a monthly sales quota, the last thing you want to do is spend hours a day managing your processes and forecasts. Your time is best spent with clients and prospects, in front of them, not in front of your spreadsheets or CRM software.

Fortunately, with the right preparation and systems, you can successfully manage your sales pipeline in 15 minutes a day or less. Here are six steps we encourage our clients to follow, and that I follow myself for our sales pipeline as well.

1. Start with clear definitions & next steps by stage
You absolutely must create and document clear, consistent definitions for each stage of the buying process for your customers. Ideally, you should identify and enumerate specific qualified lead stages, then a separate set of stages that reflect the process of buying once a prospect is qualified and in the near-term market to buy.

If you’re the only person selling for the organization, these definitions will still save you time by not having to think about how to categorize new prospects, or figure out next steps to move them forward. If you’re working in a larger organization where multiple individuals touch the sales process, these definitions will save you significant time and money (not to mention increase your ability to close) by ensuring consistency across the organization.

Click here for a sample template of lead and sales opportunity definitions you can customize and use for your business.

2. Use a consistent CRM tool (even if it’s Excel)
You can’t successfully and efficiently manage your sales pipeline in email or on Post-It notes. Your defined sales stages, and the prospects within them, need to be encapsulated in a clean customer relationship management (CRM) system.

Some businesses look to cloud-based tools such as Salesforce.com for this. If you want an online system but aren’t ready for Salesforce, you can try simpler and less expensive (but still good) systems such as PipelineDeals.com. Or, set up an Excel spreadsheet with enough fields to detail information about the company, engaged individuals, their stage in the sales process and specific next steps.

No matter what you use, make sure it’s easy and fast to update and accessible everywhere. That means a cloud-based system that’s available with any Web connection, or an Excel spreadsheet that’s based in the cloud and updatable from anywhere as well (using services such as Dropbox or Box.net).

3. Develop a discipline for adding new prospects daily
The single-most important component of a healthy sales pipeline is engaging and nurturing more prospects at the top of the funnel. The vast majority of these prospects aren’t going to be ready to buy, but it’s important that you find and engage with them early, so they know who you are, know what you do, and keep you top of mind for when they do have a need and want to buy.

Get in the habit of networking and adding daily. Look for new prospects via newspaper articles, press releases, LinkedIn Updates, etc. Have a set of pre-written email introductions and offers (an article you’ve written that could help them, for example), so that reaching out and engaging new prospects is fast and easy.

4. Conduct a weekly pipeline review for next steps
At least once a week, scan through your pipeline and look for prospects who you haven’t talked to lately. The hot prospects will automatically fill your time anyway – they’re engaged, asking questions, in your inbox and on your phone. But the prospects who have slowed down, or disappeared in the past few days or week, might need a follow-up.

As you identify follow up opportunities, you don’t need to do them all right away. Scheduled them out for the remainder of the week so you have a couple to do today, a couple more tomorrow, and so on.

If you need inspiration for ways to re-engage with prospects that have gone “dark”, check out a few recommendations here.

5. Schedule daily follow-up calls to past clients, partners and previously-lost prospects
In a world that’s obsessed with email and texting and Twitter, there’s something special about making a phone call. Taking the time to call a past client or partner, just to check in and see how they’re doing, all of a sudden stands out and is memorable.

Most of the time, you’re just leaving voicemails anyway. But with those 30-45 seconds, you make an impression that’s far more valuable than a quick email or text that’s easy to delete and gets lost with the rest.

6. Use your calendar for follow-up reminders
If a prospect isn’t ready and wants you to check back “next month” or “at the end of the summer”, set yourself a calendar reminder to do so…and forget about them! If they need you in the meantime, they’ll let you know. Otherwise, spend your time following up with other new or existing prospects who want or need your time and attention right now.

Systems for making yourself more efficient come in a variety of formats. Having consistent definitions makes you faster, because you don’t have to think about or recreate standards every time. An easy to use and accessible CRM system makes organization and updates quick. Even something as simple as a trusted calendar lets you set a next step and move on.

We could devote a whole series of blogs to effective sales pipeline management, but as with most things, the basics are what will give you momentum.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

What my kids are teaching me about marketing & leadership

2011-08-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

I have a two-year-old daughter and a five-month-old son. They've changed my life, and if you're a parent too you know what I mean. Every day, they challenge and inspire me. And despite their age and development stage, they're teaching me a lot about myself, my priorities and also how to be a better marketer and leader.

Here are ten things I'm learning from them.

1. Pay attention to what's going on (but give them room)
I don't want to be the kind of parent who's always within five feet of my kids. I want them to be safe, I want them to feel safe, and I don't want them to get into trouble. But I also need to give them room to breath, room to explore, and room to learn lessons (sometimes the hard way) on their own.

Managing a marketing campaign or a team is similar. You know what you want done. You know what you want the result to look like. But you can't micro-manage that too closely. Oftentimes things will play out on their own just fine, in some cases better than you expected or could have anticipated. Paying attention but giving room will also give your team (as well as other elements of your execution) room to innovate, self-correct and improve on their own, so that they're that much smarter and more on target the next time around.

2. Give your full attention when needed
My daughter, more than anything, just wants my full attention. When I come home at night, we play together for 10-15 minutes. Uninterrupted. No email, no phone calls, no TV. Just the two of us doing whatever she wants.

In the grand scheme of things (and my weekday evening), 15 minutes isn't much. But for my daughter it's a very big deal. We all have a lot of priorities tugging at us at all times. It's easy and feels important sometimes to multitask. Just identify those times when focusing in on one thing (or one person) is not only more important but will generate greater results for you long-term.

3. Give choices (but be specific)
Choices are good. Too many choices can be bad. My two-year-old not only sometimes needs choices, but she needs specific choices. If she doesn't want anything, somehow (magically) she'll still choose between two specific options I lay out for her. In her mind, I'm giving her options but also structure. I'm helping to guide her towards a specific path. She wants that structure, but still feels in control by choosing one of two things.

Too often in our marketing, we either don't offer specific options, or offer too many. Your customers and prospects want choices, but they'll tune out if you make them work too hard, and evaluate or think about too many options. Make it easy for them. Give them no more than 2-3 options based on what you know they need. Be specific too, and you'll increase activity and conversion (let alone satisfaction).

4. Be disciplined
My kids are both on schedules. They nap at around the same time every day. They need a lot of sleep, and it's important we give them the time and place for that. Our lives revolve around their schedules, and at this point in their lives that's just fine. There are weekends when their schedules don't map to what we want to do, but that's too bad. Their schedules are more important right now.

It takes discipline to stick to this, but it's the best thing for our kids. We're following a plan that's both premeditated and proven. If you have the same for your marketing strategy, stay disciplined and focused on execution against a particular plan. Of course, sometimes even the best-laid plans change...

5. Plans are made to be broken
My daughter takes a nap around noon. Except when she won't fall asleep until 1:00 p.m. Or except when she wakes up before 5:30 a.m. and gets really tired around 11:15 a.m. again.

Discipline is good, schedules are good, but they're bound to change. Do you have a back-up plan when they do? The best-laid plans (for kids or your marketing) are bound to go awry. There's no such thing as flawless execution. How will you react? Adjustments are necessary, but keep the end-goal in mind at all times to ensure that the results (as best as possible) are still achieved, even if you go to Plan B (or C).

6. Watch for messes
Sometimes things no only go against plan, but they get messy. Blow-outs. Slipped milk. Scraped knees. How you react and respond will be watched closely. Is it their fault that the milk spilled? Is it the baby's fault that the diaper couldn't hold their latest "performance"?

Reaction includes not only cleaning up or fixing the mess, but also the means and attitude by which you react to it. With kids, you're all in it together. With your team, the company overall, and even with your customer or prospect community, the same "in it together" perspective applies. These are defining moments of leadership.

7. Routines & process are a good thing
Once you know something works, do it again and again to achieve similar results. My daughter loves the same bed-time routine every night. Bath time, brush teeth, jammies, books, prayers, bed. She knows the routine, she expects it, and it works to help her wind down and get to sleep.

In our work, routines and process can make life easier. They can generate consistent results. Adjustments may be necessary, eventually, but on a day-to-day basis routines and process save us time, money and headache.

8. Meltdowns are inevitable
Your kids are gonna get upset sometimes. Your customers, same thing. Some of the time, their reaction is going to be (or at least feel) completely irrational. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is shut up and listen, just let them calm down.

Trying to reason with them, at least in the middle of the meltdown, isn't going to help. They don't want more input. They don't want you to try and proven that you're right. They just need to get it out of their system. Once they've calmed down, you can work towards a mutually-beneficial resolution, then have a hug and get some ice cream. The hug and ice cream will work for your kids, too.

9. Its going to be stressful, guaranteed
You are going to lose sleep. Your team (including your spouse and fellow team members) are going to get cranky. Things aren't going to go as planned. Tensions will be high.

Take a deep breath. It's going to be OK. You have a plan, you have the right processes and routines in place, you have contingency plans for when things start to go awry. The stress you feel is inevitable, but it's going to be worse if you're not prepared and don't have a plan for how to deal with it and get through it.

10. Relax & enjoy the ride
Seriously, you wanted this. And even in the most stressful situations, you love it. You love your kids. You're passionate about your work. You know this is a journey towards something amazing, something that will be more than worth it.

When the clouds part for blue skies, when the kids are napping or when you have a few quiet moments with your team, remind yourself how lucky you are, how blessed you are to have those around you and the opportunities to succeed. The next storm is coming, but you're ready. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

Template for defining sales lead and opportunity stages

2011-08-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Before you can manage your sales process, you need to know exactly what that sales process looks like. Ideally, your sales process maps to the way your prospective customers engage and want to buy. But no matter how you get there, mapping out the specific, common steps prospects take on their way towards a relationship with you will not only save you time but increase your ability to manage and close more business.

Most small organizations don't yet have their sales process mapped in this level of detail. But even large organizations often fail to create consistent definitions of the sales process by which the sales and marketing teams can operate.

Without these definitions, every salesperson may have a different idea of what a qualified opportunity looks like. Your pipeline reports can never accurately tell you when business might close. The marketing team delivers inconsistent leads, and is unsure of their role after the lead is created.

Below is a template for enumerating the qualified lead and opportunity stages inherent in your sales process. If you're operating in an existing and/or mature sales organization, this tool may simply be a way to document what you're already doing. But I'd bet there are still inconsistencies in assumptions and definitions across your organization that this tool will help flesh out.

I like this tool not only because it spans both the lead and opportunity stages (thereby reflecting stages in both marketing and sales), but it also makes explicit what the role of sales & marketing is at each stage to help the prospect move forward.

Lead & opportunity stages, definitions & next steps sample

View more documents from Heinz Marketing Inc

9 ways to keep innovation alive in your marketing organization

2011-08-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

When your company has an existing, proven method of conducting business, it can be a struggle to keep innovation alive. But innovation is a key factor in driving both real-time and future success, especially marketing in today's fast-changing and customer-driven world. Here are nine recommendations to motivate innovation throughout your marketing organization.

1. Encourage and reward (or require) teamwork
Creativity and ingenuity are occasionally products of the individual, but adding the ideas and resourcefulness of others or an entire group can accelerate innovation. Brainstorming sessions work to produce this effect, and collaborating on ideas in groups can help bring a project from the beginning stages to completion with the best results and breakthrough new ideas.

2. Prioritize diversity
Your team can bring to the table numerous, advantageous differences in culture, experience, expertise, thinking styles, and perspective. Use these as a catalyst and instigator (in a good way!) to innovation in your marketing strategy.

3. Stay flexible, and look to the future
Keep an eye on real-time marketing trends and be ready to act as soon as they start to change, or before. By forecasting trends, you'll be ready for the next big thing. This helps keep innovation alive in the marketing organization and is a great way to keep the ideas flowing.

4. Create a process for cultivating new ideas and marketing projects
Use this process (whatever works best for you) to build and evaluate new ideas. Just don’t make it too complicated. Innovation doesn't take place on a piece of paper, but it's a good place to start and keep a good inventory for regular triage. By keeping it simple, implementing such a process will be a great way to keep the marketing organization fresh and constantly thinking.

5. Let everyone contribute, even (or especially) employees outside of the marketing department
Other employees may have insight on new, innovative ways to reach your target audience. Too often, their ideas fall on deaf ears if they're voiced at all. Create open opportunities for employees throughout the organization to share their thinking in a safe, unbiased environment.

6. Track progress
Track the progress of everything. From individual performance to entire projects, everything should be treated as an experiment with regular reports and careful evaluations. This way, as soon as performance begins to decline, you'll know right away and will be able to address issues right away.

7. Create an incentive program
Reward employees for their ingenuity, creativity and performance. You can use small incentives, like gift certificates, to reward everything from novel ideas to outstanding performance on a project, and you can use bigger incentives, like an "employee of the month" award or bonuses, to reward your most consistent innovators.

8. Change things up
In a smaller company, cross-train your employees so that everyone understands at least a little about each department in the office. In a larger company with an established marketing department, switch the teams, groups and/or responsibilities up so that the same people aren't always covering the same projects or focus areas.

9. Reinforce what others know by teaching and training
Have your employees train their co-workers on skill sets they have particularly depth in. This will inspire others in the organization to help generate new ideas by using the knowledge your employees already have.

Ten tips for writing a great press release

2011-08-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

As a pseudo-news story, a press release is an important marketing tool for businesses seeking to gain publicity through the media (in addition to driving awareness and traffic from across the Web). Writing a great press release is challenging, but can pay off with both increased media interest and online sharing of the content through social media sites and blogs.

Here are ten tips for writing press releases that grab the attention of journalists and reporters.

1. Develop a Boilerplate
Press releases often contain a brief paragraph that describes your company, known as a boilerplate. This information helps journalists familiarize themselves with your business, and adds to the professional presentation of your media release. Boilerplates are usually placed at the end of the body of the content, before the contact information.

2. Stick to Newsworthy Content
Also known as a media release or news release, make sure that the content in your press release is really newsworthy. You need to convince the reader that your information is news and not marketing copy. Remember that reporters are not interested in promoting your latest product or service, they want content that is news.

3. Answer the Five "W's" & How
Write your press release like a news story. Your headline and first paragraph should include the most important facts and figures, followed by supporting information. Be sure to answer who, what, when, where, and why, as well as how, in your press release. It can be helpful to brainstorm the answers to these questions when developing a rough draft or outline for a media release.

4. Avoid Technical Jargon
Remember that your target audience are journalists, bloggers, and other media members who may not be experienced in your industry. Use plain language when describing technical terms and processes that can be understood by the public, because reporters are unlikely to spend time researching complicated concepts and ideas to interpret the meanings for their readers.

5. Use Quotes From Real People
Newspapers and media outlets love to use quotes, so make sure to use quotations from a spokesperson who is available and willing to conduct follow-up interviews. Never invent a fictitious person to attribute quotes to in a press release.

6. Write 400 Words or Less
The purpose of a press release is to generate interest from the media, and inspire journalists and bloggers to contact your company for more information. Keeping your content short and to the point makes it more likely to be read and shared through blogs and social media. Reporters are busy people, and they do not have the time to read lengthy articles in search of their next story.

7. Use Perfect Spelling and Grammar
Nothing undermines the credibility of a press release quicker than misspelled words, incorrect grammar and just plain poor writing. Use a good word processing program, and have another person proofread your release before publishing.

8. Create a Headline
Once you have completed your press release, create a short and interesting headline that both grabs attention and tells the reader what your press release is about. Writing the headline after the content is complete is a good idea, because writers can develop a headline that fits the story instead of trying to fit the story to a headline.

If possible, keep the headline short enough to be shared on Twitter along with a link to the story. Press release headlines are normally written in full capital letters, rather than simply capitalizing the first letter of each word.

9. End The Article With ###
The end of a press release is usually signified with three hash marks, or number signs, placed below the boilerplate and above the contact information. Using these symbols will increase the professional appearance of your release, making it more likely that professional journalists will find your information creditable. Alternatively, some writers use the symbol "-30-" or "-end-" to tell the reader the release is ended.

10. Include Contact Information
The final bit of information following the "###" symbols should be a one or two-line statement inviting journalists to contact your company for more information. This is the place to include the name, title, phone number, and email address of the media liaison for your business.

Keep an active social media presence in 15 minutes a day

2011-08-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Eight minutes in the morning. Seven minutes in the afternoon. That's all you need.

Yes, you can spend significantly more time in your social channels - chatting with friends, meeting new people, learning new things. But you can also stay active and reap the benefits of online networking and engagement with just 15 minutes a day of your time.

The trick is to use that time more efficiently, and focus your activity in three places: 1) create, 2) curate, and 3) engage.

Create
Add new value to the social Web. This includes posting links to your new blog posts, updates on your product strategy or life, or other recently-discovered or uncovered nuggets of information that your network will find interesting. I recommend setting these up to stagger out or go out automatically. For example, use dlvr.it to automatically syndicate new blog posts from your RSS feed to a designated set of social channels (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, even Foursquare).

Curate
Add links to content you find elsewhere on the Web. Attribute it back to the originator, either via a retweet or by adding "via @theirname" at the end of your short post. If you choose to find and publish multiple such curated articles at once, use a service such as timely.is to automatically publish and throttle this content throughout the day, based on the # of daily posts you specify as well as a determination (by timely's algorithms) of when exactly each day your posts are most likely to get noticed, read, retweeted, discussed, etc.

Engage
Scan through the posts of others in your network, and respond where appropriate. If they write back and you don't get to their comment until the next morning or later that afternoon, it's not a big deal. Better to stay engaged in a few hours than spend chunks of your entire day checking and checking (and not getting real work done).

With practice, I bet you can get this done in 15 minutes a day.

Five questions you should ask every sales prospect

2011-08-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

The way you ask these questions will change, of course, depending on the context and conversation. But before you can sell, even as you qualify whether the prospect is a near-term sales opportunity, you need answers to the following five questions.

1. What do you need?
How they answer this will tell you a lot about how broadly or narrowly they're approaching the situation or problem.

2. What are your priorities?
Including and beyond the problem or need at hand. Getting a sense for their priorities (directly & individually as well as for their group and organization) will help you understand the relative value and urgency for solving this specific problem.

3. Why is this important?
What made this a priority in the first place? What underlying reasons or objectives does it serve? The answer may be strategic or political or various points in between, but you need to understand the context into which you're selling.

4. What does success look like?
Understand how the prospect defines success. They may not know, or may have calculated or interpreted success wrong. But if you sell them a great product that solves a different problem and/or achieves a different outcome they didn't expect or prioritize, they're still going to blame you.

5. What’s in it for you?
For what other reasons does the prospective buyer want to do this? A raise or promotion? To play a part in an organization-wide initiative? Superficial priorities may be just as important in helping you drive urgency and progress towards getting the deal done.

The single most important tip for greater productivity

2011-08-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Deal with something once. Do it the first time. Get it done and off your plate. And move on.

That's it! Far easier said that done, of course. Let's take a couple examples:

You get an email asking for something. An attachment, but you have to find it. Do it right now! Can it really take more than a couple seconds to get it done and move on? Or will that email sit in your inbox for who knows how long? How many times will you reread that email and not take the couple seconds to execute?

Someone wants to schedule a meeting. Well, you say, let's hook up later to compare calendars. No! Do it right now! Take the 20-30 seconds to look at your calendar right now and pick a day/time. Even if it for some reason doesn't work later, at least you have something to start from. Done!

You keep the front page of the Wall Street Journal with you all day, maybe because you just want to read the entire "What's News" section. This will take you all of one minute (or less), but you don't start (or you start, get a couple lines down, and get distracted). Focus yourself and do it right now! Do it first-thing in the morning. Get it done, decide if you want to read anything else (or not), and move on.

The single-most wasteful thing most of us do (myself still included) is look at something again and again without taking action.

Yes, there are times when you don't have time. There are action items that do require more time and thought. But that's not what kills your time. Reading and thinking about those micro action items again and again and again - add that time up and it's a huge time and productivity killer.

Do it now, deal with it once, and move on with your day.

What are your Labor Day Resolutions?

2011-08-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Most everybody sets some type of New Years Resolutions. Get in shape, get a promotion, achieve some other set of lofty goals. Unfortunately, a couple weeks later when you're already behind, most of us give up - and don't start again until the following January 1st.

So why not start a tradition of Labor Day Resolutions? It's the start of the stretch run for the year. It's right after summer vacations have largely finished. It's a great time to set some new goals for the final four months of the year, finish the year strong, with plenty of momentum into the New Year.

Here are six of my Labor Day Resolutions:

Spend more time on the phone
Instead of replying via email or starting a conversation via email, I'm going to pick up the phone and have that call live more often. I've been doing this a bit more over the past few weeks and it's been awesome. Yes, it takes more time. But the acceleration of resolution, action and relationships is well worth it.

At least one hour of focused reading time per day
By this I mean sitting down and focusing on reading material I care to get through. Reading while working out counts too. I have a growing stack of books, magazines, best practice guides and more to get through. My plan is to do this first-thing in the morning, while working out, and via a reduction of TV time.

At least 30 minutes of networking a day
This includes following up on requests, catching up with lost colleagues of contacts, writing unsolicited LinkedIn testimonials, etc. I'm probably close to this goal already, but I want to double down on my commitment to making this a dedicated daily discipline.

Complete the day’s most important task before checking email in the morning
This will probably be the hardest resolution to keep. I'm used to waking up, making coffee, and catching up quickly on the overnight email. But the night before, I already know what I need to get done the next day. Why not tackle it right away? Great way to get a head start and feel great about the morning ahead.

Read the Wall Street Journal every day
This was a stated goal of mine in the spring, and I've fallen behind. And still, every day I do read the Journal (even for just 10-15 minutes), I get great insights, content to pass to others (which counts as part of my networking goals!), and more.

Take at least 10,000 steps every day
This is pretty easy on weekends, but on a workday when I'm mostly in my office or in meetings, it's easy to get to the end of the day and be at only half of this number. This is a metrics-driven way to help me get more active and in better shape before the holidays.

What could your Labor Day Resolutions be? What would you be excited to achieve by the time Thanksgiving and New Years roll around?

Six ways to make your sales emails more engaging

2011-08-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Thought this was a good question last week on Focus.com. Here are six tips:

1. Define "engaging" (for you and the recipient)
What is a successful outcome of the email? What do you want the prospect to do, and what does the prospect need from you at this moment? Have a specific definition of success or results, even for something this tactical.

2. Focus on the subject line
Subject lines are like envelopes in direct mail. If your prospect doesn't get past the envelope, it doesn't matter what's written or offered inside. Also, the job of the envelope isn't to close the sale. The job of the envelope is to get you to open the envelope. Don't use that as an excuse to overpromise or deceive the recipient, but focus on content and copy that will drive interest and action.

3. Write to them (not for you)
Simple things like not starting sentences like "I" and "we" are important, but in a broader sense your content needs to tie directly to a pain or need the prospect has. If your email is a follow-up to a recent conversation, reflect that up front and reiterate the value delivered or promised in that conversation.

4. Tie it to something THEY did
Sales prospects are far more likely to respond to something they did vs. something you did for them. Their own actions and requests will have far more credibility, especially early in the sales process when you're still creating your own credibility and trust with the prospect. Tying back to something the prospect did or asked for will increase engagement and response rates.

5. Make a request, make it specific and urgent
Don't leave your email open ended. Tell the prospect exactly what you want them to do next if they're interested. Make it something easy, specific and quick to do. Your email is one of many they'll receive today, and will quickly get lost in their inbox. How easy are you making it for them to take action right now?

6. Don't make it look like a marketing email
Beware of overproduced templates. Don't let the design get in the way of the message. Good design increases readability and engagement, but your sales prospect isn't going to respond to great email design. And they might in fact be turned off by something that looks too polished or like a template. Be clear, be clean, and be efficient (with copy as well as design).

At what point do you stop nurturing a lead?

2011-08-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

Short answer: Never.

Long answer: Most nurture programs have a natural end date. Typically, that end date is defined by the end of a string of emails written and deployed in a marketing system (automated or otherwise).

This end date, of course, is usually arbitrary and ridiculous. How do you really know when a prospect is dead and gone forever? How do you know how long they'll actually take to mature into a qualified and ready-to-buy prospect?

Another key to how you answer this question is the quality of the content you're using to nurture. If you're pushing content about yourself - your products, their features, use cases, etc. - the end of a nurture campaign is likely more defined by when the prospect gets sick of your thinly-veiled sales pitches.

However, on the other hand, if your nurture program is about the customer - addressing their needs, educating them on things that help them throughout their business, making them more successful even if they're not handing over money (now or ever) - then the nurture may never end.

You may nurture a prospect for years before they convert. That's a long time, but I assume you still want that business when the prospect is ready to move. You may also nurture a prospect for years who never converts, but who sends you referrals from others they know are closer to needing your solution.

The incremental cost of sending another email is minimal. The incremental cost of one more person reading your content is zero. So why would you intentionally cut off communication with someone who could directly or indirectly help your business, be it tomorrow or five years from now?

How buying signals have changed (and how to find them online)

2011-08-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Sales professionals have talked about buying signals for a long time. And traditionally, those buying signals have focused on immediate, ready-to-buy moments. For example, asking about price, time to installation, etc.

These buying signals still exist, but a whole new set of buying signals exist today that few sales and marketing professionals look for and leverage.

One of the greatest benefits of the social Web, especially to B2B sellers, is how early buyers start signaling a need. They don't ask for price or delivery time. They express a need or a pain. They describe an obstacle to which they haven't yet identified a solution.

Your prospective customers are also complaining about their current vendors. Expressing frustration with an earlier way of doing something (which they're still using). Looking for something that will help with this problem, but which they can't yet explain or articulate.

If you watch and listen, you'll hear prospects ready to switch. Some are still discovering the pain, others are actively seeking solutions.

But these are the buying signals that surround us every day. If you're not listening - if you aren't actively seeking the channels your customers & prospects are using to communicate, and establishing listening platforms to capture what they need - you're missing a huge selling opportunity.

Of course, how you respond to these buying signals is also key. Most of these prospects are very early stage, and will not respond well to a sales offer. They will respond, however, to advice. Help. A link to a best practice article. Someone who helps them discover and self-educate.

The source of that information has a leg-up a sales process that hasn't begun, but where the prospect is already becoming qualified and establishing solution preferences.

Your new customers are looking for you. They just don't know it yet. How will you respond?

Six tips to increase comments on your blog

2011-08-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

Ever feel like you're writing and writing, and nobody's listening?

If you're not getting a lot of comments, it may feel like you're talking to an empty room. But oftentimes, you do have the traffic and readership, but aren't doing a few simple things to encourage faster, easier and more frequent commenting by you readers.

And with more comments, you'll show new readers that there's an active community on your blog, increasing overall traffic, new readers and repeat visits as a result.

Here are a few basic tips to get more of your readers to participate.

1. Allow comments and make them prominent right after the post
I still meet bloggers who don't have comments enabled, or don't realize that their comments are disabled. This is basic, but do me a favor and check.

2. Use a cross-platform service like Disqus
Lowering the barrier to entry is key. Some blogs require login to comment. That's a high bar and will discourage participation. At minimum, let people make comments with a simple name and linking URL. Better yet, let them use a common blog commenting and profiling tool such as Disqus. Thousands of blogs use this service in particular now, and help those commenting to link their thoughts across blogs. Fast, easy, branded. These services will also often alert commenters when someone else has responded, which further encourages them to come back and continue the conversation.

3. Moderate comments (if you must) after the fact
Occasionally you might find commenters go over the line. If they're being libelous or profane, by all means take the comments down and block them. But when blogs require moderation before something is posted, you lose the instant gratification effect of letting the commenter see their words immediately on the page. Many readers will retweet or share your story only after their own name and comments are added (so others see that as well). If you require moderation, you lose a lot of that traffic and pass-along.

4. Ask questions to invite conversations
How often do your blog posts end with a question? How often do you proactively invite opinions or disagreement from your readers? You don't need to do this every time, but asking questions will help convert more lurkers into responders.

5. Send new posts to specific people and ask for their reaction
Oftentimes when I write something new, I'll send a link to the post to people I know specifically will enjoy it and/or have an opinion or rebuttal. Sometimes I'll do this to people I know have a different opinion, and encourage them to share their perspective in the comments. Great way to spark the discussion.

6. Be your most active commenter
You don't need to respond to every post with "I agree" or "thank you", but if someone shares an opinion and you have a response, share it. Let your commenters know you're listening and appreciate their time and perspective.

What other advice or best practices would you share with other bloggers? What's working for you?

Five easy steps to get started with Google Analytics

2011-08-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

It's free, it's easy to set up, and it's (relatively) easy to use without a lot of IT support or technical knowledge. But many companies still don't have a basic Web analytics tool watching what's happening on their site.

They may have traffic volume, but that's not helpful without context. Where's your traffic coming from? What keywords are searchers using to find you? Which pages are most popular? Which are the most slippery, and are driving prospective customers away?

There have been whole books written about how to use Google Analytics, but getting started (and both making sense and taking action on initial data) is very easy. If you're starting from scratch, after you get the code on your site, I'd recommend these five things:

Give it time
I know you're anxious to look at the data, and feel free to peek, but I'd collect at least 20-30 days of data before taking anything too seriously. Over time you will see spikes in behavior, anomalies that never occur again, etc. You don't want to make significant changes based on unusual behavior early on that doesn't reflect the normal rhythm of our traffic and user behavior. So let that new analytics code marinate for a couple weeks.

Look at natural behavior
Watch what's happening with basic data. Look at page views, sources, keywords. Start thinking about which pages get the most views and why. Where does that traffic come from? Somewhere externally or another page on your site? What keywords are people using to find you? Are they using mostly branded keywords (i.e. variations of your company name) or are they finding you via problem/solution/outcome keywords? And where within your site does that search result take them? By looking at natural behavior, you'll quickly identify trends you like and trends you don't like. You'll quickly have a list of things you might want to change, stop doing or start doing to improve the direction and volume of traffic in your favor.

Focus in on anomalies
Look for spikes in traffic. Where did they come from? Did you get mentioned in a blog or article somewhere? If so, can you get it again? Look for blog posts that consistently get more traffic than others. What do those posts have in common? What keywords did you use that appear to be driving behavior? Can you use them again? And what are you doing on these pages (at these moments in time) to drive that traffic to further discovery of your product or service?

Use in-page analytics to gauge clickthrough behavior
Start with your highest-trafficked pages (your home page or blog home page). Use Google's in-page analytics tool to see, via a simple overlay on your site, which links are getting the most traffic. If you compare in-page analytics across pages, you'll likely see a trend for not just the type of content that gets the most clicks, but also the specific page placement that's driving the most activity. Is there something else you'd rather have in that spot that would benefit from increased exposure or clickthroughs?

Start tracking conversion events
Designate certain pages (newsletter sign-ups, downloads, feature videos) as conversion events. Google will give you special code snippets to place on those pages. Now, moving forward, you'll be able to track specifically how many people converted on those pages, and where they came from. As you start driving more traffic to your site, and changing how the site is displayed to optimize discovery and clickthrough, you'll have a better understanding of what's working and what's not.

Six productive things to do during a flight delay

2011-08-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Traveling is an exercise in wasted time. The lines, the security pat-downs, and the inevitable delays. Clearly you want your flight to leave on time, but if you use the time right, a flight delay can be an excellent way to catch up on work you otherwise might not prioritize.

Do it right, and a flight delay can end up saving you time, increasing your efficiency and accelerating your success and results. Really!

Here are six things I try to do during flight delays to achieve those goals.

1. Keep a list of things to brainstorm
There are always things I need to do that require little more than my brain and something to write on. Brainstorm topics can include an upcoming blog post (write the outline!), the key points for a plan you need to develop, new channels you want to test in an upcoming marketing campaign, new offers to throw into an existing channel or sales effort, etc. Oftentimes, the brainstorm is the hard work. Once you have basic ideas down, finishing the work (or plan, or blog post, etc.) is like running downhill.

2. Do a brain dump
There are lots of things in your brain that come and go. And unless you put them into a trusted system, you're bound to never act on those ideas. Some are strategic, some are tactical, but if they're important to you they need to be somewhere you can reflect on and prioritize them (now or later). Take time during a flight delay to let your brain wander and write down whatever comes up. Could be a new product idea, a reminder to buy cat food when you get home, whatever.

3. Inventory your bigger projects
What are the big projects you're focused on right now? Are any of them stuck? Do any of them require a next step from you, or something from another individual or company, to keep on the right track? I recommend having an inventory of your current projects with you on a regular basis (even if it's recorded online somewhere). When you have time (and ideally at least once a week), work through that list and make sure each has a specific next step that someone owns. This is pure GTD.

4. Prep for or recap your recent trip
If you're on your way out of town, make sure you have a comprehensive inventory of your priorities. What would success look like on the trip home? What do you need to accomplish, gather, execute or finalize before you step back on a plane? If you're on your way back home, write up a short recap of your immediate to-do's. When you get home and back in the office, you'll immediately be busy and behind. If you write up your to-do's from the trip now, you're far more likely to get them done (and benefit from the results).

5. Network
Email former colleagues. Call someone you haven't spoken with in a long time. Write a few unsolicited LinkedIn testimonials. Use the downtime to get back in front of people who have helped you in the past, whom you might be able to help today, and who could be a partner in the future.

6. Catch up on email
Yes, spending time in email is OK. But I give you one caveat - do it in offline mode only. Ignore the temptation to import new emails that will only distract you. Instead, get caught up on the backlog (there's good stuff in there!). Focus on putting a few follow-up emails from your recent trip in the Outbox to sync when you're back online. I promise this will get you working through your inbox and priorities faster.

What do you do during a flight delay? How do you use that time?

Is this an effective ad?

2011-08-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is a two-page ad from the front of a conference program guide. The advertiser was the sole, platinum sponsor of the event. (click on the picture to see it more clearly).

I'm a direct marketer at heart, but whether you look at this from a direct or brand perspective, it's confusing. Busy. It makes me tired. The headline and call to action blend into the background.

The messages that stand out, to its credit, are key (desired) brand attributes. And the logo to the left.

But it's still a lot to look at. What do you think? Am I being too harsh?

Eight things dad taught me about marketing (and didn't even know it)

2011-08-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

My dad has a degree in marketing. I make my living as a marketing professional. But we've never really talked much about marketing.

My dad ultimately made a career in sales and sales management, but we didn't talk about that either. Somewhat ironic given what I now spend most of my day doing that we've never compared notes on sales strategy, urgency drivers, copywriting, marketing channels and the like.

But it's clear now that, both growing up and in the years since, my dad has taught me a lot about marketing. He just probably doesn't know it. Dad, here are eight lessons I've taken with me in particular.

1. Get up early
Doesn't matter as much what you do with that time. Just give yourself a head start. Start before everyone else, and be more alert and running at mid-day speed at the start of everyone else's day. It makes a good impression, and improves your productivity significantly.

2. Work hard
There's no real hard and fast definition for this one, but you know it when you see it and do it. It's not even about working smarter as much as showing up, putting in your time, making the extra effort when needed. People who work hard have more chances, bottom line. And since we all fail more than we'd like (especially if we're doing it right), more chances is a good thing.

3. Remember little things about people
The receptionist likes peanut M&M's. I remember my dad telling me that on his way out the door on a sales call one day when I was young. With that one little piece of information, he turned a gatekeeper into an advocate. He wasn't just the sales guy anymore. He was the guy who remembered, the guy who cared. That differentiates you, even if it's trivial or irrelevant.

4. Don’t take yourself too seriously
You can still have fun in a pressure-packed situation. Still enjoy your job at the end of the month. Combine intense negotiations with mutual respect, a smile and handshake. Your product or service may be serious business, but that doesn't mean you can't have a sense of humor.

5. Don’t talk about yourself
Find out what the other person cares about and talk about that. If you care about it too, the conversation should be easy. If you don't know anything about it, ask questions. Be interested. Learn something new, learn something about the other person in the process, and develop a bond and mutual interest level before business even comes up. Breaking the ice can take a lot of formats (in marketing and sales channels). Use it to your advantage.

6. Invest in long-term relationships
Of course you'd like to close the deal right now. Of course you want to pad your numbers this month, this quarter. But some relationships take longer to nurture. Some are worth nurturing for long-term value. Want to close more business tomorrow? Start far more conversations and relationships today.

7. Invest in your team
Invest in their success, their careers, but also take the time to show you care every day, that you notice the things they do. Thank them often for the work they're doing. I remember my dad buying Steelers stuff quite often when he'd see it in a store somewhere, mainly because one of his branch managers was a huge Steelers fan. Low cost, zero time, high value.

8. Get out of your comfort zone
Not everything you need to do to succeed will come naturally. You might not be the best networker, but if you have to, you'll force yourself into the arena and have those small-talk conversations. Continuing to do what you've always done may be comfortable, may feel safe, but also may no longer work (if it ever did). Try something new, be comfortable with failure, and reinvent how you execute to find what works and accelerate success yet again.

How to build your professional network

2011-08-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Some people are better at networking than others. Some work hard at it. Some do it naturally, effortlessly. But for most of us, building a network is important. It gives us new business opportunity, new job prospects, and access to a myriad people who can help you succeed (and visa versa).

One of the most connected people I know in Seattle doesn’t really work at it. He’s a natural connector, a naturally engaging and magnetic person. He constantly thinks about how he can help others.

For most of us, however, we have to work at it. Ten years ago, I had no network. I knew the people I worked with, and had previously worked with, but that was about it. I knew that one day I’d want to start my own business, and that I couldn’t very well open the doors without any clients, any prospects, and few people who knew me or what I could do.

So I started networking. I started paying more attention to the people I met, started putting myself in more situations where I’d meet interesting people. I asked questions, learned about their perspective, and built a follow-up and organizational system to keep track of who I had met.

I launched a monthly email newsletter (the first issue went to all of 60 people). And I kept at it.

Ten years later, I’m still doing it. I do it every day. It’s a muscle I had to build, a habit I had to form, but now it’s a natural part of how I work.

There are no shortcuts. You work hard, meet new people, build value and do it every day, for years on end. That’s how you build a world-class network.

I know many who wish it was easier, but I’m glad it’s not.

How will you use August to get it done?

2011-08-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

You have one month left until the end of summer.

One month left until Labor Day, when vacations are over and the business world gets busy again.

August is a funny month. In some countries, it’s a big holiday. In the States, we still use this month to squeeze in a final quick vacation, a long weekend or two, an early departure from the office on a nice day.

That’s all fine. But that also means you have one more month to get it done.

What is “it”? That project that’s been on your plate. The initiative that could accelerate your success and productivity into the autumn months. The project your intern could double-down and finish with your help.

If you don’t have an “it”, find one fast. Come September, come Labor Day, you won’t have time. Your vacationing colleagues will be back and will demand your attention. Their priorities and fire drills will again be yours.

But right now, you have time. Do it.

How to defend against upstarts in your industry

2011-07-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

At one point, long ago, your business was the newbie. You were fighting for life, fighting for market share. You were likely either going after share from existing industry leaders, or blazing into a new market (and likely taking business away from someone who had done it the old way).

So now you're established, you have momentum, you have a sizable chunk of your market. Bully for you. And now, new upstarts are after your turf.

They're smaller, scrappier, nimbler, faster. They're interesting because they're new, and they're getting more press coverage and buzz because they're new. And now, your customers are asking questions.

You should have seen this coming. But how you react, how you reinforce and expand your customer relationships from this point forward, will define your growth and success for years to come.

Yes, you should obsess about your competitors. You should watch their every move. But that doesn't mean you follow their step, get into a feature war, or start acting defensive.

Turns out, the best way to defend against upstarts in your industry is good strategy from day one. It boils down, in part, to three things:

Know the customer better than they do
Your knowledge of your customer - who they are, what their problems are, what pain they're trying to address, etc. - should be growing daily. You have a huge head start on any new business (and those new businesses will likely make mistakes and missteps due to their lack of customer knowledge).

Every day, you listen to your customers. You see how they're changing, how their problems are changing, how their priorities are changing. Your product strategy, your business strategy, reflects that customer understanding. And your customers will continue to trust the organization that knows them best.

Talk to the customer more than they do
Not to your customer, but with your customer. If you have a call center environment, that's a good start. But ensure those conversations aren't just reactive. Aren't just solving inbound problems. What are you learning? How are you reaching out to learn more? How are you being proactive to solve problems and delight your customers?

What percentage of your organization has direct contact to your customers? How many people in roles that don't require daily interaction with customers still get first-person information, or are able to interact with customers in online forums, social networks, etc.?

Earn, keep and leverage more trust than they do
You're the incumbent, so you should have the benefit of the doubt. This is earned. These are your customers to lose. What trust do you have built up? When something goes wrong, how many customers jump up to defend you?

If your customer relationships are tenuous to start, many of those customers may jump at the chance to try something (or someone) new. But if you've been investing in customer relationships from the start, if you've made it a priority to build trust and respect into your products, services and business, it'll be that much harder for your customers to even consider switching to someone new.

Friendliness is not a buying signal

2011-07-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Responsiveness isn't a buying signal either. Just because the prospect is nice, returns emails quickly, and answers all of your questions enthusiastically doesn't mean they're going to buy.

And yet, we too often take these signals to mean the prospect is interested. That they're qualified. That they're worth keeping in our active pipeline and continuing to spend time and company resources pursuing.

Because we get false buying signals from friendliness and responsiveness, we sometimes fail to ask the harder and real qualifying questions that will tell you if "nice" translates into "interested."

Grumpy prospects might be ready to buy today, if you ask the right questions and correctly assess pain and need.

Why bullet points on Webinar slides are OK

2011-07-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you're presenting live, you want people watching you, not your slides. If you're presenting live, you have a captive audience that's there for you, focused on you. It's important that they hear what you're saying, and any visuals behind you should reinforce those points.

Not verbatim. If your live presentation slides are full of bullet points, your audience will frantically try to read everything. They're no longer listening to you, and it's that much harder to remember what they heard (or read) after you're done.

Webinars, however, are a different story. They can hear you but not see you. It's far more passive, even vs. something live and in-person. And if it's literally just a slide deck they're watching, it's OK to have more words.

Why? Your audience probably isn't listening that closely to you anyway. They're multitasking. Checking email, cleaning up their desk. When they glance up, you want them to be able to quickly catch up.

Bullets or key points on Webinar slides, therefore, are far more helpful. In this context, they'll help your audience learn faster. And if Webinar slide decks are far more likely to get passed around. So if they help tell your story, with or without the soundtrack, that helps you too.

The nine (other) people who can market and sell for you

2011-07-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

So you have a sales & marketing team already. Or maybe you don't. Either way, here are nine (other) groups of people who can help you increase awareness, drive demand and close business.

1. All Employees
Do your employees believe in not just what you're selling, but what that product or service is enabling for your customers? Are they passionate about helping to make customers successful, and does that show in the way they do their job every day?

How are your employees serving as brand ambassadors at customer events, on customer forums, on their own social media channels and more?

2. Your immediate, collective network
Think about your immediate circle of influence. Past colleagues, fellow alumni, association members, etc. Do they know what you do? Do you know what you do for your customers? When's the last time you updated them? Do they have any idea how they might help you? Have you ever asked for an explicit, specific referral or introduction?

Your network won't know how to help you unless 1) they know what you do, 2) they know what you're looking for, and 3) you ask, specifically, from time to time.

3. Current customers
Sure, start with your raving fans. Your ambassadors. Hopefully, you already know who they are and give them plenty of opportunity and incentive to spread the word. But what other, more subtle ways can the majority of your generally satisfied customers drive awareness and discovery among their own peers, their own immediate networks?

Oftentimes they won't do that with a straight introduction, or a "pitch" for what you're selling. But they might pass along a best practices guide. Or a webinar invite. Or something that helps those in their network, and makes them look good in the process.

4. Prospective customers
There are many reasons why prospective customers might not have yet bought. And some of them will still sing your praises, and drive referrals back your direction. So how are you identifying those prospective referral sources? What tools can you give prospective customers to share your story?

Sometimes prospective customers take another job, and have an easier time buying. Sometimes they have an internal decision-maker blocking the purchase, but will still passionately share your story to others in an association, at a show, in an online forum, etc.

5. Your customer’s (or prospect’s) employees or direct reports
The people working for your prospects might be upwardly-mobile. Have aspirations of promotions, raises and new responsibilities. Would they look good if they introduced your product or service to their boss, and got credit for the benefits and outcome it created?

This group includes gatekeepers. Don't treat them as a barrier to decision-makers. Oftentimes, they can be catalysts to the sale, not deterrents.

6. Early adopters
Not just early adopters who are direct prospective customers. Think more broadly in your category about those individuals who always want to be first, not just to try something but to tell others about it.

Your industry, and the concentric circles that surround it, are full of these types of early adopters. Their glory comes in breaking news, having a scoop, creating a trend. Give them early and often access, plus tools and channels to tell others.

7. Partners
If you're using channels to help drive sales, you may assume that your partners are already, naturally incented to drive business your way. But those same partners may be overwhelmed by the variety and/or breadth of other products they're taking to market and sell.

Are you going to be their squeaky wheel? Will you give them tools to help them sell more to their customers - messaging, marketing templates, etc.? Do you know what their objectives are, what relationship they're trying to create with their customers, and what role you can more actively play to enable that for them?

8. Competitors
If you're better than they are, have no fear. Meet them head on. If you're really bold, encourage them to go head-to-head, drive reviews, reference you in their own collateral.

This is a slippery slope, but if a competitor has more resources than you do, and is helping you drive greater awareness and inbound interest, that can be a net-positive game.

9. Press (professional & amateur)
Few companies, especially in B2B, are adequately engaging the long tail of "press" who influence your current and prospective customers. Yes, there are the professional journalists who write for magazines, trade journals and the like. But amateur content producers can have equal if not greater readership and influence. These might be people like you (in some industries, the most influential media channels are produced by sellers themselves).

How to be lazy, productive and successful

2011-07-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Some of the most successful and productive people I know are lazy. They'll tell you so.

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done and the godfather of productivity. Lazy. He will tell you this at the beginning of his seminar.

Seth Godin, who writes daily blog posts and has published four hundred books and continues to launch new businesses. Lazy. He told us so in a talk a couple weeks ago.

There's a theme and a lesson here. You can be highly productive and very successful - but also lazy. The trick, of course, is to make better use of your time. Work smarter, not harder. Here are eight ways to do that.

1. Do the opposite of what the lizard brain tells you to do
Seth's right, we all have a lizard brain telling us what to do. It's what makes us procrastinate, keeps us from shipping, and leads us away from taking risks or having courage to do something new. Seth told a crowd in Seattle a few weeks ago that the secret to his success has been simply to do the opposite of what his lizard brain would prefer that he do. Not bad advice.

2. Delegate & outsource
No matter your role or level or experience, you shouldn't be doing everything that's on your plate. There are things you should delegate to others on your team, or outsource to someone who's better suited to do it. Some activities should be delegated because they'll get done better by someone else. Other tasks can be done faster or cheaper elsewhere. But be crisp about what your time is best spent doing, and what would be easier/faster/better to do elsewhere (for a fraction of your time to instruct and/or manage).

3. Do less (but choose wisely)
Cut at least 33 percent of the work from your current plate. Would you really miss it? Would it really impact your performance, your company's performance, or your customer's overall satisfaction? I'm not talking about short-term conversations or loss. It's critical to triage what you have on your plate against what will have long-term, lasting and scalable impact.

4. Say "no" more often (or, stop volunteering so much)
Type-A people want to lead. They want to own things. They're more likely to say "yes" to a new project, or volunteer for something new. Dial that back a bit. The potentially awkward and uncomfortable moment in which you need to decline a new opportunity will save you hours or days of time down the road.

5. Network
The more people you know, the more likely you'll find people you can turn to when you need help, or for something that can help both of you. It doesn't work if you're merely adding volume to your network and follower lists. But if you genuinely and consistently add new qualified people to your network, the chances that they'll be able to help you sooner or later increases exponentially.

6. Listen, watch or learn more
The next time you're in a meeting, shut up. Spend more time listening to others, asking for their feedback, watching what's going on. In too many meetings, people compete for attention. They talk over each other. They fight to see who can say the smart thing first. It's a losing proposition for everyone. The more you listen, the more likely someone in the meeting will stop the conversation and ask what you think. At that point, all eyes are on you. In less time, and after listening to the preceding debate, your feedback will more likely be thoughtful, better received, and could drive the output of the meeting more frequently.

7. Have other people read for you
I could spend all day reading the various sources of content (print, online, Web, email, blog, video, etc.) that I subscribe to. My favorite sources of content are those where others have already done far more reading, and have filtered the best content up to me. Read less but learn more.

8. Stop working nights & weekends
The amount of work you have will consume the time you give it. And if you cut yourself off at 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and on Friday night, it forces you to be more focused and productive during your active work hours. You know that you're checking ESPN headlines or Facebook or other non-work stuff during the workday. What if you cut some of that out and forced yourself to focus (and focus on the shorter list of work we identified above)? You'll get more done, in less time, and feel better about refreshing nights and weekends.

What else do you do that's both lazy and productive? Where have you cut back to be more productive and successful?

How to survive a complete email meltdown

2011-07-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, our Exchange email server basically exploded. A few hours later we had email send/receive capability again, but it took a couple more days before historical data was back. That basically meant that all of our folders, contacts, calendar, any saved emails - all weren't available for 3-4 days.

This was painful, but with three important best practices, 90 percent of required work could continue while past data was recovered. If you're not doing these three, I highly encourage it. Losing your email isn't a matter of if, but when.

Don't use your inbox as a to-do list
If your past emails went away, would you know what to do? Where to focus? An inbox is a highly inefficient way to organize and triage your work list anyway. After all, email is mostly other people sharing their priorities with you. Sometimes those are joint priorities, but keep your own priority and to-do list separate from email.

Don't use your email folders as a filing system
I've done this in the past (largely due to laziness) and it's burned me. If a document is attached to an email and I think I'll want it later, it's far better to save it in a more organized system outside of email. Keep it in both places if you want even greater storage redundancy, but don't rely on email uptime to have access to important documents.

Keep a daily, offline snapshot of everything in Outlook
Key to keeping myself more efficient the past few days has been an "offline" record of Outlook from a few hours before our Exchange server went down. This way I still had access to a snapshot of my calendar, emails in my @Action folder awaiting follow-up, etc. The fact that I always keep Outlook in "offline" mode (so I can control the flow of inbound emails/distractions) is key to this.

Don't let your passion be your downfall

2011-07-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Your passion can be an incredible motivator. It can get you through the dip. It can push you out of your comfort zone to do amazing things.

Your passion can also make you blind. It can make you ignore warning signals. It can color your perspective against what the market is really telling you.

Passion is a double-edged sword. Entrepreneurs and business leaders in particular need to proactively watch and manage three specific manifestations of passion:

1. Passion for the idea
The idea can be a starting point, but may have nothing to do with where you end up. TechStars is famous for investing first in people, not ideas. Brilliant people come into the program with a good idea, but TechStar mentors may gently encourage them to go a different direction.

Brilliant people passionate about specific ideas aren't going to abandon them lightly. But ideas run their course. Are you careful enough, insightful enough, to know when your idea is worth fighting for, and when it's time to make a change?

2. Passion for your product plan
You build a plan up front, based on your vision. Customers start using the product, and have feedback. Critiques. They want changes. Additions. Add-ons. Integration.

Their feedback may not fit with your product plan. Who's right? Who will you listen to?

Some people follow their specific plan and succeed, but that's only because their vision happened to be the same vision of a wide set of prospective customers. This mass-market match is the exception vs. the rule for most of us. Plans are great, but you can't let your passion get in the way of reading and reacting to market feedback.

3. Passion for the way you want to do it
I have yet to meet an entrepreneur who didn't have trouble letting go. I'll never forget the first time someone other than myself ran a Heinz Marketing meeting with a client. It was difficult. Since then, there have been countless times in which I've had a different vision for how something could be done - strategic things, tactical things, and all points in between.

But my job - your job - as a leader isn't to direct everything exactly the way you want it. Your job is to impart a vision for the future, for the outcome, and for a way of doing business. Hiring the right people and inspiring them to improve on your vision is how you grow.

It's also how you'll get to see what your passionate about come to life in a way, and at a scale, that you couldn't have previously imagined possible.

Four proven ways to improve marketing performance (without spending a thing)

2011-07-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

When we want better results, we tend to first try and do more. Need more sales leads? Buy more media. Need more awareness? Spend more time on PR. Need higher sales? Hire more reps.

Oftentimes, instead of investing in new channels or added expenses, you can manufacture value out of strategies and channels that cost you little to nothing. Investing in SEO and leveraging partner relationships, for example. But these efforts still have a cost. They still require creating something new.

What about making adjustments to what's already happening (or not happening) to improve performance?

For example:

Use already-written content
Rather than commission a bunch of brand-new content for your drip marketing or social media programs, look inside the organization for what's already been written and approved. Speeches, event presentations, customer service templates, new customer training content. With a little editing, much of this content could be leveraged in new ways quickly.

Focus on better execution
I guarantee there are sales, marketing, customer service initiatives and more happening, right now, in your organization that are sub-optimized. Emails without a call to action. Customer conversations without a next step, or upsell, or feedback captured. A process that could be done in less time, with fewer people involved.

Say no more often, and do less
Stop tackling more than you can adequately handle. A mediocre project isn't going to generate results, likely isn't going to be measured in a way that can help you improve or scale, and isn't going to allow you the necessary time, attention and energy on the projects that really matter. Focusing on less puts more importance and risk on the smaller list of projects, but if you choose right - and execute well - it'll be worth it.

Avoid dead ends
There should be no pages in your product that simply say "thank you" without offering something next. No customer or prospect communications that don't give a recommended next step. Every dead end in your business is an opportunity to engage deeper. So what if most of the audience is done with the primary task. Why not offer more?

How to keep working when your email is down

2011-07-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Our Exchange server was down most of the day yesterday. And I got a ton of work done.

Yes, it really sucked when hours of unread email came flooding in at once. Yes, there were a couple things in there that would have been better and/or easier to address earlier in the day.

But I started the day knowing what I needed to do. And it wasn't in new, incoming email.

Instead, I spent most of yesterday:

More focused on getting actual work done
More attentive and focused in meetings
Working on and solving problems with people offline (faster and easier)
Making more progress on my real to-do list than I have in a long time

The secret to getting work done when your email is down? It's probably the way we should be working every other day too.

What if your customers were in charge?

2011-07-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

What would happen to your business if your customers were in charge? If they could take over and run the business?

What would they change about the product itself? How would they change the sales process? The onboarding process? Billing, support, the entire experience?

Of course, this isn't a theoretical exercise at all. Your customers are in charge. They may not make the decisions internally, but if they don't like what you're doing they'll leave.

If you don't know explicitly what your customers would do, now would be a great time to start asking. And if you do know, and it's different from what you're currently doing, why is that? And what are you going to do about it?

How to keep your sale alive after an org change

2011-07-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

There's nothing worse to a seller than feeling good about a deal's momentum, only to have the prospect's company shuffle the team and change who's in charge. Even if the internal reorganization (or "reorg") doesn't directly affect the team or individual buying from you, the uncertainty about micro and macro priorities moving forward may very well freeze your deal anyway.

Some of this, of course, is well outside of your control. But if you quickly read and assess the new organization, you can still sell. In fact, the reorg may help you sell faster.

Underlying the opportunity to speed up your deal is to help the new organization achieve some quick wins. If the organization has put new people in new seats, those individuals are going to be motivated to quickly prove their value. They're going to want to demonstrate results as quickly as possible.

If you can quickly assess their new objectives and priorities, and position your product or service as fundamental to getting that done, then your sale may go to the top of their list. Especially if assessment work has already been done by the organization, saying "yes" might be faster and easier for the new regime.

Whether a faster sale is possible or not, here are four other best practices to keep deals moving with new people in charge:

1. Define the new ecosystem and players
Just as you did at the start of the sale, assess who's in charge, who's making the final decision, who owns the budget, and who else may need to sign off to make the deal happen. Some of those seats may have stayed the same during the org change, and those players (no matter where they are in the decision tree) may be critical to helping keep your deal on track.

2. Understand any changes in goals or priorities
Has the new leadership provided a new vision or set of goals for the organization moving forward? What outcomes are most important to the organization, teams or individuals you're working with? Make sure you adjust the highlighted benefits and outcomes of the purchase accordingly.

3. Get a warm intro and transition from the previous internal owner
Even if the previous owner is no longer involved, your new buyers will appreciate getting up to speed quickly. Leverage the previous deal owner to not only make a warm introduction and transition to the new buyer, but also provide an endorsement both to the prioritization of the project and to you as the preferred provider.

4. Quantify progress and explicit next steps
Make it easy for the new team to quickly understand what you're doing, progress made and specifically what to do next. Remember, new teams in charge are buried in understanding their new world and where to focus, let alone translating specific tactics that may help them get there. The more of that ground work you can do for them, the better.

Constant feeding (and harvesting) of professional networks

2011-07-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Asking yourself "how do I get more leads from LinkedIn" or "how do I get more business from Twitter" is putting the cart before the horse.

Of course, you want your investment in your network to pay off - new business, new partners, etc. But the key to growing volume, influence and inbound business value from every social network is to give, give, give. You've got to give to get. The harvest happens only after regular hard work to grow your "crops." And it doesn't happen quickly.

Feeding your networks is both a skill and discipline, but mostly it's about giving back. Showing others that you notice and care.

For example, think about the networks in which you're active, and consider the daily and/or weekly activities you could implement to constantly give back:

Retweet interesting content from others (instead of sending it yourself)
Give "+K" credits to others for their expertise via Klout
Write unsolicited testimonials on LinkedIn
Make a point of adding comments to well-written blog posts
"Like" more comments and content on Facebook (it takes just one click and gets noticed)
Positively comment back on someone's Foursquare check-in

How are you giving back to your network? How are you showing those in your community that you're watching, noticing, and getting value from their contributions?

Four keys to building (or improving) your online presence

2011-07-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ask most people how to build out or improve your online presence and they'll immediately get tactical. They'll tell you you absolutely must be on Twitter. Or that you have to build your site a certain way. Or write everything with SEO in mind.

And they might be right. But before you can execute, you have to put your entire online presence and strategy in context. The best online strategies (for enterprise organizations as well as small businesses) focus on the following four key areas:

Customers
Everything you do is for them. You need to know who they are, who you're targeting and prioritizing, where they hang out, who they hang out with, and so on. The more you understand this customer or prospective customer audience, the more their behavior will tell you where to be, how to write and how to interact.

Content
In a variety of formats - written, audio, video, and driven by your customer's preferences - content is the engine that will drive performance, engagement and action with your customers and prospects online. You need to translate your customer's needs and pain points into advice, recommendations, best practices and other content specifically focused on helping your customers succeed.

Community
Marketing will never be a one-way street ever again. To quickly earn trust and credibility, you need to comment, connect, engage and otherwise interact with your customer and prospect community. Even if you're not engaging 24/7, at minimum make it very easy to engage with you, or respond to something you've published. Better yet, find other places online where your customers are participating and join in right with them, not as a seller but as a peer.

Call to Action
Never leave your customers or prospects with a dead end. Put yourself in their shoes - what would they need next? What additional article would be valuable as a follow-up to what they just read? What additional information will they likely want to request after educating themselves? Include and measure calls to action throughout your online presence.

By having a plan that includes each of the above four components, you can get tactical and execute with confidence that you're engaging the right people in the right places with the right content, with an end game in mind.

Three keys to successful sales & marketing alignment

2011-07-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

The very idea of creating alignment between sales & marketing is part of the problem. The organizations that have best solved this challenge aren't tackling a sales & marketing alignment problem, but have instead prioritized a proactive, cross-functional approach to customer acquisition overall.

They have created an organizational philosophy that makes a common approach to the customer acquisition funnel a fundamental part of doing business, not a quarterly initiative.

But most organizations aren't starting from scratch; they're trying to make existing teams and processes more effective. There are some great recommendations on Focus.com addressing the issue of sales & marketing alignment. Below are the three priorities I believe most quickly & successfully lead to a consistent approach and accelerated results.

1. Gain active executive sponsorship
Ensure someone above sales & marketing has prioritized alignment. It can be a CEO, COO or CFO. But this person needs to not just be a passive "copied on email" supporter. Ideally, they are helping to drive the process and ensure participation from all parties.

2. Create common reporting & success metrics
I'm not talking about a document that has half marketing and half sales objectives. What's required for trust alignment is a common set of metrics that both sales and marketing are measured against. Marketing has to take responsibility for closed business, sales must take responsibility for lead quality and conversion, and so on.

3. Operationalize a single, integrated acquisition team
This is more than just weekly meetings. Sales & marketing team members need to tackle customer acquisition challenges together on a daily basis. This means listening to or attending sales calls, having frank and metrics-driven conversations about lead channel quality, etc.

Five common content marketing mistakes (and how to fix them)

2011-07-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Don't overthink your content marketing strategy. It's more important to have a bias for action and get rolling. That said, when getting started with content marketing for your organization or brand, there are a few things to make sure you've thought through up front. Here are five mistakes I see organizations making most often.

1. Not having a plan up front
Before you start any marketing activity (no matter how strategic or tactical), you have to know why you're doing it. What does success look like? How does this activity translate to immediate or eventual sales and revenue?

2. Writing for the company instead of for the customer
Too many content programs focus on new features, chest-beating on company milestones, and otherwise weaving strong product tie-ins into every new piece of content created. That content has its place, but your readers (customers and prospects) will gravitate towards content that independently provides value. What are your customer's issues? What do they need help with, right now? That's the content that will spread like wildfire for you.

3. Not encouraging and participating in two-way communication
Creating content isn't enough. To really accelerate your audience and impact, you must devote time to responding, commenting, engaging questions and so on. If you're just a one-way communication channel, even with good content, your prospects will go elsewhere for the interaction they crave.

4. Not promoting, aggregating and curating great content from others
It's not all about you. And frankly, you can drive significant audience volume (and accelerated awareness and positive brand impressions for your business) by simply aggregating and promoting great content from others. By doing this, you'll create awareness and interest from other content originators as well as demonstrate to your growing audience that you're filtering great content from numerous sources for them.

5. Only producing written content
Written content may be the core of your content strategy, but don't forget video. Or podcasts. Or short, embedded slide presentations. Or whatever other formats your audience naturally gravitates towards.

Organize the tribes of lonely prospects

2011-07-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Your prospects are probably lonely. They have plenty of colleagues in their organization, likely too many people telling them what to do and possibly a team of people to help them do it.

But they're still lonely. Lonely because nobody else in the organization has their job. Lonely because they can't show weakness or indecision to their direct reports, can't talk shop with peers who run other departments, and can't share pockets of inexperience with their boss.

Take the CIO of a Fortune 500 company. Or, better yet, the CIOs of Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies. They face similar and unique challenges. There's no real playbook. They're all blazing trails. And even though they compete with each other, there's still plenty of information they can share, problems via which they can commiserate, best practices to pass along.

These senior leaders, your prospects, are lonely - and they're desperate to connect with each other.

So what happens when your company facilitates that gathering? What benefit would come your way if you organized the tribe?

What could you learn by simply listening to the conversation? Is it possible that they'd start brainstorming new ideas to solve collective problems, and occasionally lean back to ask if you could do that? Build that? Sell that?

These tribes are already forming. Don't wait until someone else organizes your tribes, and both takes and receives the credit (and business) for doing something so simple but so highly effective and valuable.

Business planning is a discipline, not a document

2011-07-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

It's one thing to have a plan. It's another thing to assume you know what you're doing before you do it.

You aren't likely to convince a VC to fork over millions without a written plan. Your investors, your board, your leadership team and your employees need to know where to focus, what markets you're betting on, and what specifically to do next (in a cohesive, coordinated fashion) to grow the business.

But if you've written a business plan, you know it's at best a reflection of a particular moment in time. It's full of untested assumptions and largely precedes the significant execution, learning, adjustments, optimization, failures and new directions every business (new or existing) will go through.

Business planning is extremely important, but it's not a document. It's a process. A discipline. A regular means by which you proactively manage the direction of the business at a strategic and tactical level.

Execution without a plan is just guessing. But spending too much time building a plan and not enough time executing will let competitors and/or the market opportunity pass you by before you even get started.

Marketing is a game of inches

2011-07-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

It's not good enough to say "we'll email our customers in the morning instead of the afternoon" or "Tuesday is the best day to send our newsletter." That's way too general.

What time, precisely, is the best time to send? What specific time Tuesday morning (local time for the recipient, not your time)? When are your customers specifically most receptive to your message?

Quick example:

I had been publishing new blog posts each weekday morning between 8:10 and 8:25 a.m. Pacific time. My assumption had been that I wanted to reach readers early, when they get into the office, and before they're consumed by the morning's priorities and fire drills.

Recently, I tested posting content closer to 8:45 a.m. We're talking about a mere 20-25 minutes later.

This small change lifted my immediate readership (measured by views and clicks within the first 60 minutes) by 65-90 percent (with the range reflecting a multi-day test).

One more quick example:

At a past job, while testing dozens of variables to increase conversion rate on a two-page registration form, the single-largest variable we discovered to lift conversion was changing the background color from white to light blue.

Details matter. What are yours?

How to reach & influence bloggers in your industry

2011-07-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

The purpose of PR has never been about influencing press. It's about reaching your target audience through their published channels. And yes, the traditional media still has significant influence and reach worth pursuing.

But now more than ever, the "blogosphere" offers an even greater opportunity to reach both wide and very narrow audiences. And while some blogs are written and operated by professional journalists and publications, many (if not most) are written by people like you and me - passionate individuals with something to say and share.

In every industry, there's an opportunity to find and influence these bloggers to tell your story. And the key to doing this is to (temporarily) forget about your objectives, and focus entirely on helping the blogger.

First, understand their situation. If they don't blog for a living, then what they're doing is likely a labor of love. They also have limited time to do it, and finding good stories to tell is a primary constraint.

Get to know their content, their angle, their interests. Make yourself familiar to them first by commenting on their posts, retweeting their Twitter updates, and generally helping them extend their audience and facilitate online discussions.

When you do finally reach out directly, do so with value independent of a pitch. Be a resource or expert on a particular topic they care about. Point out an external link or resource or potential story source they may not have known about. Offer an introduction to someone in your network who could give them a new perspective.

Generally, make things easier for them without expecting anything in return. Yes, this is an investment and yes, it takes time. But this is how you can create long-term trust, credibility and eventually coverage for your own stories and priorities through their channel.

The fastest, easiest way to learn about Google+

2011-07-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

You can drive yourself nuts and waste loads of time chasing after every new technology, gadget, productivity tool, social network or other flavor of the week.

And if you insist on being the first to try everything and position yourself on the bleeding edge, knock yourself out.

But the good news for the rest of us is that there are plenty of smart folks out there doing the testing, evaluation and practicability analysis on our behalf. For free.

Take Google+, for example. Is it worth the time? Will it help me achieve my goals? Will it be around in a couple months?

Instead of spending hours learning directly, take just 10 minutes to read Chris Brogan's summary of 50 ways Google+ might be valuable. As of this writing, he's already spent several hours digging into the product.

And given his experience and expertise in all things social media, I'm highly confident that his several hours, translated into 10 minutes of reading, is going to save me a ton of time and get me up to speed very, very quickly.

There are plenty of Google+ recommendations out there already, but by finding people I trust and letting them do the pioneering for me, I get the information I need in a fraction of the time (and I'm still pretty close to the bleeding edge if I care to be).

10 B2B sales & marketing metrics worth tracking

2011-07-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

The fine folks at Focus.com let me do a Webinar on this topic several months ago, but I wanted to summarize what I consider to be 10 fundamental B2B sales & marketing metrics here as well.

You can get an on-demand recording of the full Webinar here, but below (with some qualifying thoughts & questions) are the 10 metrics.

Quick Disclaimer: Just because you can track it, doesn't mean you should. Just because you can track it, doesn't mean it's important. Choosing the right metrics that will give you clarity and drive action in your business is most important.

So without further adieu...

1. Marketing Cost per Sale
You absolutely must track leads through to close and beyond. This helps you understand not only spend efficiency but cost per lead source and, eventually, lifetime value of leads you may be generating from higher-priced channels. Even better if you can track those leads through to renewals, referrals and other post-sale activity.

2. Customer Lifetime Value
What are you willing to spend to acquire a new customer? It's more than just the first purchase or first month's revenue. Which customers are most profitable to you? What do they look like, where do they come from, and how can you get more of them? How will this insight drive sales incentives and behavior as well? And is your customer experience team involved in defining target customers and setting expectations before the sale?

3. Nurture Database Performance
First off, how are you defining a lead that's in a "nurture" category - someone who's somehow qualified but not yet ready to buy? What number and percentage of deals come out of your growing nurture database? Do you know what catalyzed their movement out of nurture and into an active buying cycle?

Bonus points if you can use this insight to predict future revenue from your nurture database over time. What's a new "nurturable" lead worth to you based on this model?

4. Sales Cycle Length
How long is each sales stage once a lead is qualified and in the market to buy? What catalyzing events (internally or externally) accelerate deal velocity? Where are your opportunities getting stuck and is there anything you can do to proactively move them through more quickly?

Many lead generation models don't take into account sales cycle length and duration, and therefore overestimate new sales in too short of a period of time. This metric is critical to accurate forecasting.

5. Addressable Market Size
Does your entire organization define your target market the same way? How do your sales goals translate to market penetration expectations? Based on your funnel input and conversion assumptions, are those market penetration expectations realistic?

Depending on the maturity of your market, you may also want to make sure your addressable market is small enough. Are you unique enough for your immediately most addressable customers, or are you reaching too broadly?

6. Lead-to-Opportunity-to-Sale Conversion Rates
You can quickly over-complicate this one, but at minimum make sure you understand two numbers: How many leads does it take to create an opportunity, and how many opportunities end up closing? Bonus points, of course, if you can further break this information down by lead source, vertical industry, sales rep and any other angles that help you optimize for acquisition cost and sales volume.

7. Deal Size
Are some deals not worth pursuing? Do you know where your sweet spot is, and are you proactively targeting it? Are you adjusting your sales & marketing strategies based on revenue, margin and lifetime value yield potential?

8. Qualified Leads
First, ensure that sales & marketing agree on a common definition of a qualified lead. And it's OK to have different stages of qualified leads. But make sure there are explicit next steps for managing these leads moving forward, and explicit roles for both sales & marketing to do that. Now look back at your lead sources, nurture paths and other activities to determine where you're most successfully generating qualified leads from, and double down there.

9. Referrals
Too often companies constrain potential referral volume by making the act of generating a referral too difficult. A cumbersome form or registration process may be easier for you to track, but may lower your capture rate. What programs and incentives do you have in place to drive the right referrals? And are you segmenting referrals from customers vs. prospect, influencers, etc.?

If you're doing it right, the biggest source of referrals for your business may be a group that's never given you money, and never been an active customer. How are you engaging, capturing and measuring referrals with that audience?

10. Customers
Quantify your best customers, and ensure that your sales & marketing efforts are focused on finding and closing more of them. Is your core or most-valuable customer segment growing or shrinking? Can you quantify your share of wallet? What additional opportunities do you have to increase loyalty, lifetime value, referral potential and more?

The difference between publicity and PR

2011-07-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

Seth spoke about this at his event in Seattle last week, and it bears repeating.

Publicity is very different from PR. They’re related, but different in their execution, objectives and value to your brand and organization.

Publicity is about getting coverage for yourself. It’s about pushing your story, your agenda to the masses. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Publicity for a political candidate is critical. For a new movie or TV show, important. But publicity is mostly about me, not you.

Effective PR is about telling stories – unique, compelling stories that attract people to you. PR isn’t about you, it’s about the broader connections, trends, innovation and value being created in the ecosystem in which you work and operate.

Successful PR can be as much if not more about your customers and partners as it is about you. Your role as the implied enabler of success, your role as the originator and owner of the story, gives you the credibility and leadership you need to further your own agenda in a more authentic way.

Again, both are fine and in many cases both can be leveraged in parallel. Just make sure you understand which is which as you plan and execute.

Declaring an end to marketing independence

2011-07-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July holiday weekend is upon us, and with it (in between hot dog-eating contests and firecracker-induced brushfires) we'll celebrate the anniversary of our great country's birth and independence.

The nature of independence, of course, has me thinking about marketing. In most cases and contexts, independence is a very good thing. For your marketing team, it most certainly is not.

If your marketing department is operating independently, it's likely not aligned with the needs of other departments and the business at large. If your marketing department executes completely independently from the sales department, it's unlikely you truly understand what it takes to find, influence and close more business.

And it's less likely that what you're doing, what you're producing, is being used or having a positive, revenue-generating effect.

If you prefer the independence of doing what marketing has always done, or what you believe marketing should do, then you're ignoring and missing the opportunity to create the inter-dependence necessary for marketing to maximize it's value on sales, customer and revenue growth for your organization.

Marketing cannot be independent. It can't set it's own agenda. It can't create collateral or leads or strategies in a vacuum, throw them over the wall to sales or other organizations, and how to be successful.

Independence and isolationism have no place in successful marketing today. Your success is dependent on not only interacting regularly with the groups around you, but driving a truly integrated strategy that blurs the lines between departments, between sales & marketing, towards a more consistent, customer-centric approach.

It doesn't matter that this course of action is harder. What matters is that it's necessary, it works, and it'll make your contributions far more effective and appreciated - by other departments, customers and shareholders alike.

Enjoy the holiday!

Would they miss you if you were gone?

2011-06-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

How would your customers answer this question? What specifically would they miss if you were gone tomorrow?

Perhaps something you offer is unique. If they can’t get that product or service anywhere else, what would your customers really miss? What benefit or outcome are they buying?

But let’s say you’re a commodity. You can create just as much differentiation and loss through superior service, ease of use, less down time and so on.

What your customers miss may not be tangible. It might be a feeling. An emotion. A diversion. Intangible, but definable.

Think hard about how you might answer this question. If you’re feeling bold, ask some customers directly for their feedback. Make sure the answer you get back is consistently highlighted in the way you market and sell.

Eight more ways to get sales reps back above quota

2011-06-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

Based on an earlier post featuring best practices to help sales reps get back above quota, we had a lively discussion on the topic at the American Association for Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP) Seattle chapter meeting earlier this month. Below are eight more best practices that came out of that meeting.

Create a friendly (but spirited) competition between reps
Salespeople are competitive by nature. They want to win. Put them into a friendly competition against each other for daily, weekly or monthly sales activity. One of my favorite times to do this is March, when a March Madness-style tournament can really get the competitive juices flowing.

Make sure your comp plan requires consistent performance
Does your commission plan make it easy for reps to coast after a solid month? How could you restructure the plan to ensure consistent performance is rewarded? For example, can reps sustain some kind of commission multiplier if they stay above quota month after month?

Check for personal issues
Tread lightly here, but oftentimes sales performance has nothing to do with the market, their pipelines, or even their sales skills. Sometimes your rep may be distracted by something well outside of the office. This can be complicated to uncover and even more difficult to address. But simply isolating an outside variable as a cause for poor performance can be a good starting point.

Create a longer-period contest contingent on quota hitting
Most sales contests are contained within a specific selling period (week, month or quarter), but there’s no reason you can’t have a bigger prize contingent on maintaining or exceeding quota for multiple selling periods. Make the prize commensurate with the performance to keep your reps motivated and focused.

Go back to basics (Attitude, Focus, Activity & Skills)
Josh Hartnett from Datasphere talks often about the four basics of sales performance (especially for inside sales): Attitude, Focus, Activity and Skills. When his reps show declining numbers, he focuses on these specific and fundamental skills and often finds at least a couple things that can adjusted to get the rep back on track.

Watch the video tape (be like Pujols)
Earlier this baseball season, baseball’s best player wasn’t hitting very well. He wasn’t sure why. To help get himself back on track, Albert Pujols watched videotape of himself when he was on a hitting streak the previous season. By watching tape of himself during a period of peak performance, he was able to identify a couple technical issues with his current swing. After a couple days, he was back on track. This works for sales professionals too. Create and keep recordings of some of your reps’ best work, and play them again when they’re underperforming to rediscover what works.

Put them on a plan
A performance plan doesn’t mean a rep is about to lose his or her job. It simply means their recent performance is sub-standard, and outlines specific steps the rep is expected to take to get back on track. Use this step wisely with reps who need a little extra motivation, or need to know you’re very serious about getting their numbers back above quota.

Did you add too much process?
If multiple reps across your team record declining performance at the same time, look for systematic reasons. If you implemented a new CRM system, for example, there may be a learning curve that takes away valuable selling time. Look for other process or bureaucratic symptoms that may be taking reps away from critical selling activities.

Five reasons to walk away from a sale

2011-06-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

You've qualified the deal, you've got a decision maker engaged, there's budget to move forward. All signs are positive.

Then something happens. The prospect goes dark. Or you start to get a funny feeling that things aren't right.

No matter how motivated or focused you are on closing business and accelerating revenue, sometimes it's best for you and the business to just walk away. Here are five situations in which walking away will save you time, headache and money.

1. You will lose money
Sometimes a deal with acceptable margins for your business gets negotiated down to a position where you just can't make money. And at the end of the day, you're not in the sales business or the revenue business. Your company is in it to make a profit. Make sure you have a clear sense for the level at which it's better to walk away than take a loss just to get the client.

That goes well beyond the initial sale as well. Do you have a sense for the lifetime cost of servicing that customer? Will the cost of service exceed the revenue you expect to receive? Could a good sale today become an unprofitable and unhappy relationship (on both sides) down the road?

2. Your values do not align
Your customers represent you. They are an extension of your business and your brand. How they use your product or service, and to what effect, will reflect on you too. Sometimes at the beginning of the sales process you know the basics about the prospect - enough to qualify that they're the right kind of company to buy what you're selling.

But sometimes you learn more - about what they do, how they treat their own customers, and how they conduct business. Misalignment now is only going to fester and get worse. and if you're at all nervous about the prospect's own sense of values, there's a higher likelihood that the end of the relationship won't go well either. Seller beware.

3. They are not prepared to execute
This is a hard one to gauge. I'm pretty sure the gym I belong to didn't worry too much about how often I'd actually come in. A car dealer won’t mind if you buy a sports car and leave it in the garage. But in many businesses (especially B2B services and SaaS), active usage is critical to achieving the lifetime value you expect from new customers.

Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses especially will build a revenue model that assumes a certain lifetime of recurring revenue from new customers. Although that same model likely assumes its fair share of churn, a new sale to a customer that clearly isn’t set up to execute and succeed (due to lack of resources, internal alignment or a number of factors) is a near guarantee to churn quickly. What’s worse, they may blame their lack of success on you, even if they never completed implementation.

4. They have a bad history of paying
A quick check of a prospect’s credit score can save you a lot of time, hassle and money. If they appear highly qualified, make a quick decision to buy, but are late or worse on their payments, you could be in a situation that’s not a whole lot better than not having completed the sale in the first place.

Happy customers are one thing. Reference accounts are even better. But if they’re not paying their bills, you won’t be able to take advantage of those testimonials for very long.

5. The deal keeps getting delayed
At a certain point, if your prospect is unable or unwilling to make a decision or commitment, you need to walk away. Oftentimes this is a sign that a deal wasn’t properly qualified to begin with. If there isn’t urgency on the buyer’s end, if there isn’t a compelling event or alignment around solving an immediate problem, then it’s a nice to have. And nice to have objectives don’t get approved and funded in today’s environment.

But no matter the reason, deals that continue to fester are costing you valuable time – time you could be spending pursuing or closing other business. If the prospect has changed his or her mind, if there’s an organizational change that’s slowing things up, put the onus on the prospect’s end to show signs of short-term interest and move on. Give yourself a reminder in a couple months to check in, and/or put the prospect back on a marketing nurture campaign to more actively stay in touch. But don’t be afraid to walk away. Sometimes that’s the fastest path to the sale.

Is your business ready for the holidays?

2011-06-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

I hope you're working on your end-of-year holiday strategy right now.

Because your business likely falls into one of two categories. The holidays represent either a very busy time or a traditionally slow time. And you need to be proactively prepared for both.

If your business is busy during the holidays, you want to be prepared. You want to make sure the same customers come back again this year. You want to plan for, right now, the strategies and tactics you're going to use to win new customers. And, with both groups, earn a larger share of wallet this holiday season.

If your business is traditionally slow during the holidays, this should be the year you buck that trend. How will you prepare? How can you fill your pipeline with prospective customers who can close during the holiday months? How can you take advantage of end-of-year budget surpluses to make it easier for prospects to buy?

It's warm now, but it'll be football season soon. Then fall. Then holidays. Get ready.

The fish aren't going to jump into your boat

2011-06-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

With the amount of time, resources and budget devoted to lead generation at B2B organizations nationwide, combined with the pressure sellers are facing to hit their numbers in a continued challenging market, these survey results are scary.

In a nutshell, InsideSales.com and Omniture submitted themselves as a lead through the Web sites of 700 companies. Here's a sample of what they found:

Only 4.6 percent of the businesses used a strategy involving both phone and email
Less than 5 percent called within 24 hours
19 hours, 31 minutes was the average sales response time by email
36 hours, 57 minutes was the average sales response time by phone
45.2% of companies sales teams never responded at all

These weren't white paper downloads or Webinar registrations. These were requests for information. These, at minimum, should be considered warm leads by most organizations.

And yet, less than five percent heard anything back after 24 hours. And almost half of the leads never received a response at all.

These figures clearly don't take into account pre-planned variances in how companies handle, score and possibly automate lead response. But not even an email response a day later? No response at all for half of those leads?

Please tell me this isn't you.