Social Media in 2009 and Beyond

People we speak with in sales and marketing are largely still trying to figure out how to harness the social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the like.

SiriusDecisions writes "While the hard dollar investment is lower to add social media to the marketing mix, companies should not underestimate the time and people resources that are required. Unlike other marketing tactics, social media requires an ongoing commitment and new skill set. SiriusDecisions believes that communities – the fastest-growing social media segment within b-to-b organizations – will eventually be largely managed by product marketing to create the most relevant content and dialogue with customers and prospects."

Whew! Thank goodness that Product Marketing is taking the lead in managing this conduit. Now sales people can back to work. Traditional sales approaches like personalized hand-written letters should not be abandoned. They still work! they show you care and prospects and customers want to know that you are not a drive-by opportunistic vendor!

Happy Selling and Marketing!

Marketing and Sales Coming Together

Most of the executives I speak with are unhappy with their efforts to get marketing and sales on the same page. Intuitively, they know how important it is. Heretofore it is difficult to measure the real "costs" of not closing the GAP.

New SiriusDecisions research indicates that companies that are able to report closed-loop metrics on their sales and marketing integration efforts have demonstrated more than 20 percent higher revenue and profit growth over a three-year period vs. those companies that cannot.

Now that is what I call closing the GAP!

So, take the words of William Penn to heart when he said "Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire." Put thy differences aside and build a bridge between marketing and sales and soon your customers will follow.

Did you prepare well prior to your Cold Call?

Too many times I witness senior sales executives tenaciously and vigorously cold calling to a categories of executives without first properly doing the necessary homework to increase their odds of success. Maybe they are lazy. Maybe they are stuck in the 80's way of selling.

From IT and HR to Operations to Mahogany Row; all these people you are trying to reach are busy. Very busy. So when they are interrupted (or their administrative staff is interrupted), what will you do differently to create a razor's edge difference in the buyers' eyes?

Buyers routinely tell us that they want callers to know about THEIR BUSINESS PRIORITIES. Let's face it, if it is not a priority for the buyer, they won't take much time to engage you in meantingful conversation.

How do you find out their priorities? This is not so easy but your efforts will bear fruit! Let's map it out for you in easy bite-size chunks:

1) READ- scour the web for INDUSTRY dynamics, GOVERNMENT pressures, ECONOMIC impact on your buyer and FINANCIALS relative to others.
2) STUDY- based on the research, learn what the indicaters would most likely cause your target firm to focus on; revenue and profit, Customer Service, Cost Containment, etc.
3) WRITE- next draw a map of cause and affect; how one data point feeds another in order to show YOUR UNDERSTANDING of what you THINK the buyers' priorities are.
4) PRESENT- ... your findings. You may be surprised at how few sales people will WRITE what they think they know. Most will speak "... I did my homework prior to calling you and ....." but few will write it down. Why is writing important? When was the last time you asked someone to correct/review your resume or an email and they didn't have at least one suggestion for change? (That's what I thought!)
5) ASK FOR FEEDBACK- simple but so powerful. Ask your buyer if your ASSUMPTIONS are on-track or off-track BEFORE asking for an appointment. Buyers find this refreshing and thoughtful.

Remember- do your homework, write it down, show it to your buyers and see your results improve! Its the Knowledge-Advantage way!

Does this still work in 2009?

Recently I read a post about how to "sell to the C-level". Here it is with some words changed to protect the author's identity.

"Hello Ed, this is XXXXXXXX with YYYYYY. Ed, I just saw a news article come across the wire that mentioned your new product release of the XYMHY banana security software. On May 24th we're holding an online Banana Summit which is a day of back to back webcasts from thought leaders and niche solution providers from around the country. I was calling to see if you'd be interested in showcasing this product at that event. **Now the customer engages and begins to ask questions ******
The cost is $7500 for a sponsorship spot."

Does this still resonate with buyers?

Sales Tactics- BEWARE

I read many articles and books and bloggs about sales. Most espouse "tactics" to handle certain situations. (What do you do if the client says "Just give me a quote?"). Some/most approaches are manipulative. Most think that the buyer does not "see YOU coming". Of course, they do. So beware of what you read and question its validty for YOU. Ask, "Would I like it if I were being sold to this way?"

I saw a great commercial on TV yesterday watching The Players golf telecast. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (in a commercial) began "The lessons of life become lessons for business." Isn't that what it is all about? I'll paraphrase some of what I remember...

1) Take a personal interest in the buyer and s/he will openly share their thoughts/challenges; they will tell you the answers to the 18 questions you would have never thought to ask. (We call this GIVE TO GET)

2) Some say that adversity builds character; I think it reveals whether a person has it.

3) How we conduct ourselves day-to-day is a roadmap of how we will conduct ourselves in crisis (can you say "end of the month/quarter"?).

4) The only way to build sustainable relationships is to let people see your vulnerabilities.

5) Going with the pack is easy but much more difficut to be forward-thinking and go around the corner to see the treasure of an idea.

6) Clients do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Increased Activity is not always the answer

Increasing the velocity and volume of any bad process is known to be detrimental to progress. But, some feel that by doing so, a sales rep may get lucky and find a smart and "ready/qualified" buyer.

Our customers tell us that monitoring sales activity is not always the smart way. For example, take into consideration your average "cost per call" to make a face-to-face visit. Time, money, transportation, lodging, meals, tolls, tips.... these all add up. So making more of these calls to find a buyer is costly and unnecessary.

Finding the correct metrics to monitor and measure is key. Without a system that supports full transparency and traceability of sales rep/team behaviors forces sales managers to look at what they do have available such as call and expense reports. Bottom line... examine your current CRM or systems of record (often a speadsheet on someone's personal laptop) and if you can not recreate a sequence of events for a great sales campaign so that others may benefit from "the best", you could be focusing on the wrong things, wasting money and losing opportunities.

Stop Selling and Start Engaging

Curious if anyone has used a simple "scripted" outline for making an introductory call on a "C-level" executive where you are reasonably sure there is an opportunity to help solve a business problem worth solving. (I consider the outline to minimally include: 1) Pre call preparation, 2) Making the introductory appointment, 3) Framing what you do/say in front of the client to OPEN the conversation to show value and 4) Closing for the next action.)

The goals are: 1) qualify 2) build value in "me" and my company enough to be asked back for a second meeting if qualified. Sales Leaders tell me that when they are brought in on calls with their reps, they use this to immediately engage with the client and refrain from "selling" their solution up front.

Buyer and Seller BEWARE!

All too often I hear from sales people that the buyer (under a tremendous amount of time pressure) forces the seller to "show me your solution".

We in sales are partly to blame. With all the "SOLUTION and CONSULTATIVE selling training, we are taught to sell "everything in the warehouse because that proves we "have the total package".

Especially in a highly commoditized market space like computers, networks, storage, security, etc., sellers must be prepared to ask the buyer to "slow down". Of course, you ask, "How?".

I do not make a practice of this, but I will give you the answer here:
http://www.knowledge-advantage.com/podcast/napkin/

ENJOY!