B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #17 - A Few Selling DOs and DON’Ts
Friday, September 7th, 2007Submitted by Ron S. La Vine
President of Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.
DO match and mirror the speed, tone and volume of the other person’s voice.
DON’T speak in a monotone.
DO call for a specific reason such as to provide some information of value.
DON’T call just to check in.
DO go the prospect’s web site first to see if they fit your ideal prospect profile.
DON’T randomly send out expensive (your time, material costs and postage) literature.
DO tell the truth even if you do not have the answer to a question at that moment.
DON’T try to fake like you know the answer to a question you don’t.
DO ask for the business.
DON’T assume you have it until the paperwork is signed.
DO use good manners.
DON’T assume an air of familiarity.
DO speak clearly and slowly when leaving a message.
DON’T mumble your message.
DO leave your name, company name, area code and phone number twice in a row.
DON’T leave your name and phone number only once.
DO get the person’s name right before speaking with them or leaving a voice mail.
DON’T mispronounce their name.
DO use direct questions or statements such as “Maybe you can help me.”
DON’T use wishy-washy phrases such as “Might you possibly please tell me some information?”
DO write down an assistant’s name if they provide it to you.
DON’T ask for their name and put them on the defensive since they might think you are going to get them in trouble.
DO develop different forms of marketing materials such as a one page Key Benefits fax cover sheet.
DON’T rely solely upon printed literature.
DO leave a voice mail for of “What’s In It for Them” compelling benefits.
DON’T leave a voice mail to see “if they might be interested in what you have.”
DO listen to and concentrate on what’s being said.
DON’T let your mind wander.
DO identify all the buyers and influencers.
DON’T rely solely upon one person who may leave for another job.
DO be polite yet respectfully persistent.
DON’T give up after one or two calls.
B2B Sales and Marketing Tip #16 – B2B Marketing Campaign Watch – Lessons Learned in B2B Viral Marketing
Thursday, September 6th, 2007B2B Marketing Campaign Watch – ReachForce Customer Shares Lessons Learned in B2B Viral Marketing
ReachForce customer, NetQoS, was recently honored by Marketing Sherpa for an innovative B2B Viral Marketing program that continues to generate a steady stream of B2B leads for the company. Read about it in the Marketing Sherpa Hall of Fame. The campaign involved a blend of new media, traditional public relations, blogger relations, demand generation, and an elaborate seeding campaign. NetQoS placed the video on YouTube and Google Video, as well as on more targeted sites such as Digg, Techmeme, Brightcove, Grouper, Motionbox, DailyMotion, GoFish and Veoh. At that point, the viral effect took over netting 66,000+ views on YouTube, numerous press mentions, pickup by the popular TechCrunch tech blog, and more than 1,800 downloads, some of which have already turned into sales meetings. O’Neal will speak about how the leads from the Viral campaign compared to traditional Marketing Campaign leads and how she is leveraging Deliberate Marketing techniques to increase the value of those leads at the upcoming Marketing Sherpa B-to-B Demand Generation Summit this fall. More details coming soon on The B2B Lead blog.
B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #15 - Everything I Know About B2B Blogging I Learned from Perez
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
Love him or hate him, but Perez Hilton knows blogging. He’s parlayed his celebrity juice blog into one of the most highly visited blogs on the Internet and transformed himself into a minor celebrity. I confess I too follow his blog to read his snarky updates on people whose lives seem infinitely more interesting than my own. And, I’ve picked up a number of techniques along the way that I use in my role as a B2B Marketer. Here are a few highlights:
Let me info-tain you. Today’s audiences want a hefty dose of entertainment with their information. Let’s face it, with all of the noise on the Internet and the myriad of sources spewing content our way; it’s difficult to capture attention without being outrageous, humorous, or at least somewhat entertaining. It’s more challenging to pull this off in the business world. Can you imagine pulling some of the stunts Perez is known for? Still, it pays to have some fun with your blog and take a few risks.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you are going to “make some noise” and get visibility in the blogosphere, you better expect to attract criticism and jokes at your expense. So, it’s important that you don’t take yourself too seriously, have some fun, roll with the punches…. If you do it right, you might even get Farked! Trust me, this isn’t a bad thing. Check out some of the comments made in response to my latest viral marketing campaign - http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=2729832.
Push some buttons. Notice how Perez engages his readers by reaching out to them to comment on his images or stories or pushing their buttons? Even better – he actually asks them to contribute to his content by coming up with celebrity Uni-Names—a personal favorite. And, let’s face it, he’s the master of stirring up a flurry of controversy which can be the tipping point for instant blog visibility. In the blogosphere, being opinionated pays big! So, if one of your posts sets off a firestorm of flames, don’t get mad, get famous.
Got any favorite Perez moments to share? Maybe a B2B Uni-Name you’ve coined like Funnelnomics? Send ‘em our way!
B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #14 – Dust Off Your Algebra Texts
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007MarketingExperiments.com (MEC) has the equation for boosting your email and landing page conversion rates. They call it the MEC conversion index:
C = 4M + 3V + 2(I-F) – 2A
“The probability of conversion (C) is a function of the buyer’s motivation (M), how strong our value proposition (V) is, and the combination of friction (F) and incentive (I) elements that make up our registration process, further mitigated by any anxiety (A) experienced by the customer during the process.”
I attended a really intriguing MarketingExperiments.com webinar last week called “Landing Page Optimization: How Businesses Achieve Breakthrough Conversion by Synchronizing Value Proposition and Page Design” where they discussed this formula and critiqued a number of landing pages to illustrate their points.
Big Takeaways: You can boost your landing page conversion rates substantially by highlighting a concise value proposition that clearly communicates why your ideal prospect should buy from you versus your competition. And, include a very compelling call to action that is consistent with that value proposition. What’s more, you can reduce friction or anxiety—a leading cause of site flow disruption—by ensuring every aspect of your landing page makes sense and supports your value proposition. That means your graphics, photographs, copy, flow, and anything else on the page should all work together to inspire the confidence of your visitor and not disrupt him/her by triggering anxiety. For example, if you are promoting a free trial of a security product, make sure your landing page is designed to communicate that your company is a secure, stable, trustworthy organization and don’t highlight graphics of payment methods which is incongruous with the “free trial” offer.
