Congratulations, Your B2B Business Has a New Brand! Now What? Some businesses are fortunate enough to thrive under a single name from the day they first launch through many years of growth and evolution. Others find it necessary to rebrand for a number of reasons, from mergers and acquisitions to new ownership, legal issues or … Continue Reading

10 Steps to Rebrand Your Business with Social Media by Joellyn Sargent - Maximize Social Business - Maximize Social Business - Your Social Media for Business Resource . This copyrighted content was originally published on Maximize Social Business and may not be republished on any other website or in any other format without explicit permission from the publisher.

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As we all work hard towards a strong 2013 close, most heads of sales and sales enablement are also setting their sights on 2014.  As you get ready to put the finishing touches on your 2014 strategies, let’s not forget to ask one important question – what does the sales force think?

There are a lot of things we could do to improve our business, and everyone has their opinion of what the strategy should involve.  Unfortunately, that makes it harder for everyone to fully buy into yours.

So what does everyone really think your priorities should be?  Do all levels in the organization (from reps up through executives) agree?  Where do they disagree?  What about different regions?  Business units?  If not, where is the disconnect?  And how do you get everyone on the same page?

Understanding how different audiences view priorities and understanding where disagreement lies is a critical way to help you build a better strategy and ensure the buy-in necessary to execute.

One tool that many heads of sales, sales ops, and sales L&D leverage for this is CEB’s Anatomy of a World Class Sales Organization.  The Anatomy breaks Sales down into the 24 critical attributes or capabilities of world class sales organizations, and allows you to capture feedback on how employees view current performance against a research-based definition of world class.

You’ll also be able to view where agreement or disagreement lies around priorities.  This will help you decide which strategies will be accepted with open arms and which strategies might require more of a communication plan to ensure everyone understands why these initiatives are so critical.

Whether the gap is a perception gap (the sales force doesn’t understand the critical importance of one of your strategies) or a performance gap (everyone agrees, we just have to figure out how to get better), it’s essential to know this information in order to effectively execute on your 2014 plans.

CEB Sales Members, learn more about the Anatomy of a World Class Sales Organization or listen to a webinar replay to understand more about the Anatomy tool. Be sure to also check out our other Diagnostics and Benchmarks that can help you plan for 2014.

As newspapers struggle with dwindling advertising revenue, those journalists who’ve been lucky enough to retain their jobs must try harder to be relevant. They might pick up a new skill—like video-editing—to show they’re evolving along with modern media. And as they always have, journalists are thinking about what people want to read, and which story will get them a page-one byline.

In the business of content marketing, it’s easy to get so wrapped up on producing pretty, client-pleasing content that you forget about your audience. Who’s going to read this thing? And who’s going to read it and love it? A journalist can help you answer those questions.

Here are three ways you can benefit from having a journalist on your content marketing team.

1. Journalists focus on the “why”

People call newsrooms all day, every day, to pitch their story ideas. Most of the time, those pitches are politely rejected because they weren’t relevant for a larger audience. When I worked for Associated Press, one woman called three times in one day to complain about her irritating neighbor with the sloppy front yard and noisy kids. That story could’ve been the page-one centerpiece in the neighborhood newsletter, but it wouldn’t appeal to people in another city or state. The journalist on your content marketing team will always be thinking about how to make ideas relevant for readers beyond your immediate audience.

2. Journalists are skeptical

Journalists are taught to question everything, and with good reason. There’s no shortage of people who fabricate stories—remember Manti Te’o and his imaginary girlfriend? If you’ve created a fabulous piece of content for a loyal client and convinced a high-profile blog to publish the piece, the last thing you want to see in the comments section is someone pointing out a factual mistake, or that your data doesn’t make sense, or that you’ve misidentified a photo. Journalists will do everything in their power to find those tiny inaccuracies before that content goes live. They may drive you crazy in the process, but at least you’ll be confident the finished product is error-free.

3. Journalists speak a common language

Send an email with this subject line to a busy news editor: “Read our thought leadership piece on maximizing your reader engagement!” and see what happens. Probably nothing. That’s because busy editors have no time to decode marketing language. We think about our audience when we’re creating content, but we often forget that our pitches need to be crafted to appeal to a specific audience, too.

Journalists speak to each other in plain English, and they’re more receptive to pitches that adopt a similar style. It’s OK to use marketing buzzwords around the office, or in your whitepapers, but leave that language out of your formal interactions with the media.

Journalists aren’t better at marketing than any other member of your team. They just offer a different perspective that can help your content get in front of the right readers. When choosing hires for your content marketing team, consider how a journalist can bring a new perspective to your brand.

I think so.  

No business is perfect and we all make mistakes.

However, silly mistakes can weaken relationships and affect your sales.

In this case the mistakes were about lack of empathy and trust for the customers’ situation.

Empathy and trust are essential for healthy customer relationships. And they are integral to using simplicity to retain your customers.

A few weeks ago,  I received an invitation by email to an event. It was a laid back well written email.

The business is respected in their market and their advice is followed by many and their products appear popular.

Here is an example where silly mistakes were made and simplicity tips how to avoid them.

1. EXAGGERATION

I and many others, who bought a product years ago were informed, not invited (although you can opt out) that we were now members of the membership site.

By automatically having us as members, it allowed them to say in the email how many thousands of members they have. And how few seats were available.

This is obviously an exaggeration, but it will probably sell a few more tickets.

Simplicity tip: Don’t exaggerate as people can see through it. It complicates the relationship and decreases trust. Ironically, trust will no doubt feature strongly at the event.

2. LACK OF SEGMENTATION

As the event is in another country, I would not be attending. The costs would not be an effective use of my budget as it with airfare, ticket costs, and accommodation run into the thousands of dollars.

It was obvious that the event would mostly appeal to those that live in the country.

So blasting out the email was a waste of time and money.

There was no segmentation. The email software they use could easily have separated out people from other countries.

Simplicity tip: Take the time to segment your customers as it shows you care about them and the emails are relevant to them.

3. ONE OFFER ONLY

It is usual practice these days once tickets have been sold to offer at a reduced price videos etc of an event. It makes more money for the business and caters for those who can’t attend.

If they had segmented the list and empathised with those from other countries, they could have sent an email regarding the video alternative together with a special price.

Understanding and empathy were missing and unfortunately an opportunity to make more sales.

Simplicity tip: Think through what you are offering and see what alternative offers you can provide based on understanding your customers’ situations.

It is easy to lose credibility these days and complicate customer relationships.

If you have empathy for the customer and understanding at the centre of some of your decisions can help retain customers and grow your business.

Over to you: What other simplicity tips would you add to avoid these silly mistakes?

This article originally appeared on M4B Marketing. It is republished with permission.

photo credit: For Inspiration Only via photopin cc

Sales organizations are always looking for ways to grow their top and bottom line.  They install the latest and greatest CRM tool, dollars are invested in customer surveys and their marketing department is tweeting, hooting and blogging. With this proactive approach towards growth, what is the reason many sales organizations still struggle to achieve quota?    

Maybe the problem isn’t in technology or marketing. Perhaps the problem is your sales culture. Webster’s Dictionary defines culture as a set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices.  A culture determines how you treat your employees, your customers and how you contribute to the community at large.   

Sales cultures scoring low in emotional intelligence are filled with old sales dogs that refuse to learn new tricks. They sit on the porch of denial, refusing to adapt new approaches to selling.  Many have sales lone rangers that care only about their quota and their commission check. They are not real interested in how their specific actions or inactions affect the company. Lone rangers seldom contribute at a sales meeting because helping others isn’t in their DNA.     

Just the opposite, emotionally intelligent sales cultures share three common traits.  They are learning organizations, collaborative and generous.  Let’s examine each area as it relates to sales success.  

#1:  Leaders are learners.  Good salespeople consider themselves part of the leadership team at their organizations; even if there is no “C” in their title. These salespeople are on a constant journey of personal and professional improvement. In the emotional intelligence world, this is referred to as self-actualization.   

These salespeople are focused on improvement. They become subject matter experts in order to better serve their clients.  They are the walking and talking sponges.  They read, listen to audios, and seek out mentors. As a result, they bring more value to each sales meeting because they are not stagnant in their approach or knowledge of business.  

The emphasis on learning generally starts at the top. At a recent sales training kick-off, my client, a very successful CEO, said it best.  “You know, our customers need a lot of help.  And I realized that in order for you to better serve your customers, I needed to invest in sales training.  In the end we will all win.  We have happy clients, happy salespeople and….a happy CEO.”  

Think about your business.  Is it the same as it was two years ago?  Is it going to be the same one year from now?  If you don’t have a culture that embraces learning, your best chance for success is that hoping your competitor has a stagnant approach to learning.  

Alvin Toffler, an American author, sums up learning with a great quote. “The illiterate of the future are not those who cannot read or write. It is those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”  

#2:  Emotionally intelligent sales cultures value collaboration and teamwork.  These organizations realize that it takes a “sales village” to compete in a global environment.  Yes, a salesperson closes the business, but it takes a team to insure the company keeps the business.  

There are technicians that install the product, the accounting department issues accurate invoices and customer service provides excellent service after the sale.  Everyone works together to create a great client experience.  

In my younger years in sales, I had the good fortune of working people that valued teamwork. The veterans took time out of their busy schedules to answer questions (dumb questions), and share best practices of selling  and servicing customers. Much of this was done without recognition or reward. It was good people helping other people succeed. And we did. This company is now the largest in the world in their industry. As legendary NBA star Michael Jordon said, “There is no “I” in team. There is in win.”  

#3.  Emotionally intelligent cultures are generous.  They recognize that to whom much is given, much is expected. I live in Denver Colorado and each year there is a contest for best places to work. It’s fun to read the reviews about the winners and the many things they do to make their work environment enjoyable. Some provide a weekly free lunch, while others wrap up the week with beer Friday.  

While there are many different ideas for creating a good work environment, there is common theme found in the majority of these organizations.  They are generous and give time and money to philanthropic causes.  

Research shows that when people give back to others, it increases an individual’s happiness.  Common sense tells you that prospects and customers prefer a happy salesperson over a scrooge salesperson. Emotionally intelligent cultures promote purpose and profits.  

Improve your top and bottom line by making your sales culture more emotionally intelligent.  Promote learning, collaboration and generosity.   

Sales Training Article: How to Survive the Late Release of Your New Quota

By Dan Perry, Sales Benchmark Index (SBI)

Last year you got your 2013 quota in mid-February. This caused mass confusion, frustration and demotivation on your sales team. It was much higher than you planned. It resulted in a poor start in the first quarter. And you are still feeling this pain deep in the fourth quarter. Everyone wants to know the quota from corporate before Day 1 of the Year. Sales leaders want to start strong in the first quarter. Yet most companies actually 'issue' their sales quota sometime in the first quarter. It happened last year. Most likely it will happen again this year.

Turn to the Fill the Gap Quota Guide to be prepared. Get it here along with over 90+ tools by registering for our research tour. This guide will help you:

• Understand what it takes to make up the gap
• 5 Non-negotiable actions needed to get a quick start in the first quarter
• Execution best practices so you actually achieve your plan

Register for a sales training workshop to get a jump start on making your new number in the new year.

There are five non-negotiable actions to take when you receive the delayed number. These steps will help you fill any gap not planned. Flexibility is the key to making the number:

1. Don't Panic

The number is always higher than you thought it would be. Make sure you understand how it will affect your team's managers and sales reps. For example, you are still recovering from the slow first quarter start this year. Getting your New Year quota higher and later then you expected screwed you up. This year think about how you can assign the extra quota. Answer these questions:

• Do you need Herculean efforts to achieve it?
• Do you have at least 3x quota in the pipeline?
• Do you have to increase your demand generation efforts to get new leads?
• Do you have enough sales people to cover the new quota?

These are all questions you must answer quickly to make the number. Set up a planning session with your sales managers immediately. Brainstorm on how you are going to make this new number. Or plan how you are going to hit the increase from the original number. Complete the questions and then turn to Step 2.

2. Reduce to the Ridiculous

Break the number down with the answers to Step 1's questions. You need to now answer a different set of questions:

• How many big deals must you sell by quarter end?
• How will you stimulate demand?
• How can you build up to 3x quota in your pipeline?
• How many actual opportunities by sales person is that?
• What/How do I train my sales people to generate more demand?
• How many appointments does each sales rep need to generate?
• What do my Sales Managers need to do to make sure this happen?

Answers to these and other questions get into the tactics of the strategy developed. Tactics make the strategy come to life. Operationalize these actions by now completing Step 3.

3. Create and Execute to a Daily and Weekly Plan

This is the most important step. It requires documenting the daily and weekly actions of everyone. Sales Managers and Reps need to have the first 30-60 days focused on actions. Actions that generate revenue. Make sure their schedules include:

• Daily demand generation activities. It applies to new logos and cross-sell/up-sell to existing customers. Everyone must work on generating lead daily.
• Weekly deal strategy reviews. These are accomplished either through one on ones or in strategy sessions. They examine the opportunity through the customer's buying process lens. They are critical to advancing sales.
• Weekly training sessions. Typically these are done in the sales meetings. Staying current with the buyer is critical. Diving specific on the how the customer is buying will drive quicker/larger sales.
• Embrace more effective methods. New ways to accomplish the tactical plan actions is critical for immediate success. For example:
  
• Social prospecting increases the percentage of decision maker's appt. by 3.6x.
• Sales processes that are mapped to a buying process shorten the sales cycle by 20%.
• Improving on new 'A' player competencies help shorten ramp to productivity over 30%. Critical if you need to hire new sales people to hit quota.

Get prepared now to receive the New Year number mid first quarter. Plan now to implement the 5 non-negotiable actions in sequence. Get the complete guide to do this after signing up here. The success of you hitting this new late-received quota number depends on execution. After 30 days iterate the plan as you build momentum. Get everyone laser focused on one thing: Actions that drive revenue. If you don't, chances are you will miss your quota for next year. Please leave a comment from those who have already received their fiscal year number. Was it late? What did you do to fill that gap?

Need some help with your sales performance? Take a look at the sales training workshops available to you and improve sales performance.

Read more sales training articles from CustomerCentric Selling® - The Sales Training Company.

In talking with a wide number of sales pros in the last week it hit me that our profession keeps us somewhat isolated. It is the nature of the career in many cases – you have a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. You don’t move around much – once you find the spot at your company where you can get work done, you are there all day, five days a week.

So you tend to do the same thing over and over – I mean, when can you really spend time determining if there is something better to say or better to do? How else would you follow-up other than the way you do now (or don’t)?

You need an opinion outside of your realm. Just beyond your circle of peers there is someone – many someones – who has a single idea that could shift your week and get you extra conversations with potential buyers.

One single idea helped Victor – he always said the same old pitch, the same messaging – to prospects but stopped long enough so that we could look at and hear what it is that he’s saying day in and day out.

He was leading conversations talking about his company rather than a focus on the buyer and their company.

His message sounded stale – it needed some refreshing (as did he).

He sounded like a robot when he talked.

His email messages were too long and not customer focused.

The funny thing about Victor is that he is a fairly successful seller and was open to new ideas. The idea of a “refresh” for his communication – what he was saying and how he was saying it – got him 3 new meetings the day he started with his refreshed messaging.

It is not hard to do – you just have to get outside of yourself, and work with someone you trust. This is what we professional sales coaches do, however, you should be able to find a business professional who you can bounce what you say every day off of just to get THEIR idea. Here are the key points:

Find someone whose opinion you trust – not just a “yes man” or “yes woman”. You need constructive suggestions.

Call them or email them as if they are a potential buyer of your services.

Ask them if the message you sent compelled them in any way – did it pique your curiosity?

Ask them how you sound – mechanical or human?

Get their best advice.

Then try someone else whose opinion you trust.

See if someone in business – whose opinion you trust – will do this 3 weeks in a row with you. By this time you should get their honest opinion of what it is that you are saying. If someone outside of your industry can understand whatever it is you say to move toward a decision maker, it’s fairly safe to assume that non-decision makers in your prospect company will also.

Get outside of your own head, and get outside of the guys or gals you sit next to for new opinions and ideas. It’s like asking for a second opinion from a doctor – most people don’t hesitate to do that.

If you do, you may find that like Victor, one tweak here and another there – adding power words and removing fluff  with a big focus on your buyer can make all the difference in getting closer to valuable conversations with your future buyers.

Lori Richardson is recognized as one of the “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2013″ and one of “20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management for 2013″. Lori speaks, writes, trains, and consults with inside and outbound sellers in technology and services companies. Subscribe to the award-winning blog and the “Sales Ideas In A Minute” newsletter for sales strategies, tactics, and tips in selling. Increase Opportunities. Expand Your Pipeline. Close More Deals.

email  lori@scoremoresales.com | View  My LinkedIn Profile

The post Inside Sales Power Tip 141 – Get a Second Opinion appeared first on Score More Sales.

Many sales leaders believe that having a sales process is important – as evidenced by the over 300 million references on Google to the term. But in most complex sales environments, having an over-prescriptive sales process can actually damage your chances of winning.

I’ve seen too many situations where a sales person is so keen to move to the next stage of the defined sales process that they fail to ask the questions or, (even worse) actually listen to the answers they have already been given that could give them clues about where the buyer was and what it would take to move things forward.

Just to be clear: in simple, low-value, single-call transactional sales environments where you can’t afford to employ smart sales people, having a straightforward and well defined sales process can help you make the most of the skills you employ in your organisation.

Flexible frameworks vs. rigid processes

But in lengthy, high-value complex sales environments with multiple stakeholders, your sales “process” should be a flexible framework that incorporates the latest best practices but also allows an intelligent sales person to go off-piste from time to time as long as they have the ultimate destination in mind.

You might think of traditional, highly-defined sales processes as a journey between two places using well-defined and clearly-signposted highways. If the route you’ve chosen is blocked, there may not be many alternatives.

But you are better thinking of complex sales as either a cross-country journey in an all-terrain vehicle, or a cross-town taxi journey with many alternative side streets to dive down if the traffic ahead comes to a stop.

In both of the latter two cases, you still have a destination in mind – but you’re constantly reacting and adapting to the local terrain. You might even, from time to time, choose to retrace your steps in order to adopt a better route.

No “one best way”

There is no “one best way” – and that’s surely true of most complex buying environments. You have a destination, but you’re constantly evaluating your progress, and reviewing whether you need to adjust your strategy in order to make better progress.

What you need is a framework, a sense of direction and a compass. You need to have some smart questions up your sleeve, but even more importantly you need to listen, adapt and respond to what you learn from the prospect. You need a set of tools that you can call upon to dig yourself out of a hole or bridge a previously impenetrable obstacle.

You need to continually review your progress, and evaluate the options open to you. Faced with such complex terrain, having a plan certainly helps, but having the emotional intelligence to recognise where you are right now and adjust or adapt that plan is essential.

Aids to navigation

A rigid, sales-stage defined process won’t help. But neither will anarchy. And that’s where a well-defined framework with alternative options to navigate around obstacles and move things forward is so helpful.

The framework must be based not on a notional sales process but on facilitating the prospect’s buying decision process. Progress must be measured in the prospect’s terms (where are they in their journey?) and not on yours, and it’s vital that you can recognise the key milestones in their process.

The changing role of sales and marketing

Thinking in these terms causes you to recognise what you really need from your sales people and from your marketing department. Your sales people must be smart, creative, adaptable, good listeners and with high levels of emotional intelligence. They need to contribute to the collective learning that supports the framework.

You may think that this is a tough ask, but I’ve never heard an effective argument to the contrary – that you’d be better off hiring sales people to do a complex job when the individual clearly depends on following a pre-defined routine.

Marketing’s role changes, as well: their responsibilities need to embrace the creation of tools that help the sales person to diagnose where the prospect is in their decision making process, and programmes that help to eliminate or bypass the most common obstacles that could prevent progress.

Clear, simple and wrong

H.L. Mencken observed that “for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” Thanking that a rigid, prescriptive sales process will improve performance in a complex sales environment appears simple and clear, but it is unquestionably wrong.

It’s not just your sales people and your marketers that need to get smart…

When it comes to marketing communication and sales enablement in the B2B market, there are a few (somewhat discouraging) numbers you should be aware of:

• Searching for content.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) reports that 56% of the buying process is spent searching for educational content.

• Coming up empty handed.

According to IDG Connect, 86% of B2B buyers say that marketing content is not useful, relevant or aligned with the needs of decision makers at their companies.

• Searching for value.

Studies from Forrester show that 76% of buyers choose a vendor that delivers effective value messages: Why buy? Why buy now? Why buy from us?

• Coming up empty handed.

Sirius Decisions tells us that the #1 inhibitor to sales enablement is the inability to communicate a value message.

You want shorter sales cycles, and your buyers want shorter buying cycles. You’re both essentially on the same page here, so what’s the problem? What’s the disconnect?

The disconnect stems from sub-par marketing communications.

Without that relevant, valuable information they’re (fruitlessly) searching for, your buyers are unable to make those informed, efficient decisions that help them move seamlessly along the decision-making process.

Only with consistent and cogent content marketing campaigns are you able to effectively guide leads along your pipeline and achieve effective sales enablement.

1.    Provide content throughout the entire buying cycle.

Content marketing produces the qualified leads. Your sales team needs to continue leveraging this content (the content that caught their attention in the first place) with a dedicated content sales strategy. Because they’re closer to your leads than the marketing department, your reps are able to deliver content at a more personalized, targeted and segmented level. Tailor content for each buyer.

2.   Tailor content to create consensus.

Effective marketing content is tailored to go beyond the “champion” (i.e., your sales rep’s direct points of contact). Hyper-personalized content marketing solutions enable your sales team to present your company to the rest of the organization. It gets your company’s message to all the decision makers, helping to build consensus.

3.   Communicate with marketing to access the right resources.

Make sure that your sales and marketing efforts are aligned so that your reps always have the most appropriate marketing content to nurture each lead, depending on his stage in the buying cycle.

4.   Implement automated, yet customized lead nurturing campaigns.

This is a program that sends out a strategized, logical sequence of deliverables, matching up types of content to the buyer’s needs and where he is in the decision-making process. For example, if the buyer looked at one of your whitepapers with more general messaging strategy, the next step is to send a more in-depth, more targeted case study.

With integration marketing tools like sales portals and deal rooms, you get insight into the buyer’s actions and acceptance of the material you shared with them: Did they open it? Did they download it? Did they share it with someone? This allows your reps to make more informed decision as to what type of deliverable to send next.

5.   Use multiple messaging tactics.

From product brochures and whitepapers to ROI calculators and case studies, multiple marketing communication tactics amplifies the value you provide for your buyers. This not only highlights your company’s authentic thought leadership, but it also improves the probability that your messaging is understood and accepted for effective consensus building.

Give your buyers what they want: that relevant, valuable content that helps them make their own buying decisions and gain confidence in your company’s insights and offerings.

Start winning over the information-obsessed B2B buyer with powerful marketing communications that promote consensus and sales enablement. Click the button below to jumpstart your content marketing program with Accent Technologies.

The issue we all face as marketers is making a connection between blog visitors and leads. Whether you’re using blog content for market education and evangelism, as an informal distribution channel of company messages, or as a platform to create and maintain a community, ultimately you want it to drive high quality traffic to your corporate content and generate leads.

And with the loads of time and money we pump into creating great content and generating blog traffic, it’s aggravating when the two don’t connect. At the end of the day, we’re being measured on web traffic and leads generated (quantity and quality), so you don’t get a lot of credit for blog traffic on its own. Frustrating!

So, what can you do to get blog visitors to engage with the rest of your content and become leads – making you an un-frustrated happy camper?

Here are some tactics I’ve come across:

Good targeted content

I’ve read a lot of posts on developing quality blogs, and most talk about the content of your blog posts and titles (some good tactics are described at tweakyourbiz or by Marcus Sheridan at CMI). Though I believe that these tactics can help you get better quality traffic, it’s likely not enough to significantly improve leads volume.

Linking and more linking

The top tactic I’ve heard from customers and market experts is to include relevant links within your blog content to your corporate site or content. The blog visitor is already reading my post and has an interest in what I have to offer, so why don’t I offer him/her some additional relevant content hosted on my website? And if it has a registration form, even better, – might get myself a new lead! The downside is time. It’s a manual process you must go through with each and every post, and it requires continual management of old links to ensure everything is working.

If your blog is part of your corporate site (as marketo offer in their B2B blogging Cheat Sheet) you can of course promote special offers or content on the blog’s sidebar. This is a simple solution and always smart, but it doesn’t take full advantage of relevancy to get your reader engaged.

Dynamic content recommendation

At BrightInfo, we propose a third approach: a floating widget that is always there alongside your blog content (even if you scroll down), and promotes relevant content from your corporate site or main content (e.g. white papers, webinars, case studies, and more).

The widget’s recommendation engine dynamically analyzes and matches each blog visitor’s preferences to content on your site, driving high quality traffic to key content marketing assets on your website and generating leads. Because it’s relevant and fully automated, it bridges some of the gaps in the other options above. And, it’s easy to implement. All you need to do is register, insert a JavaScript into your blog template, and you’re ready to go.

read more

In a perfect world your sales and marketing teams work together in harmony. Marketing will consistently find perfect leads and Sales will sell your product to each one of them with a minimum of fuss.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world.

Instead, managing these teams will remind you of squabbling kids. They’ll blame each other for every little problem and issue that occurs. They’ll struggle speak to each other without it collapsing into an argument and blame game, forcing you to be the “parent” in the room.

Managing it all can be exhausting.

If this sounds familiar to you know that you aren’t alone. A study by the Corporate Executive Board discovered that 87% of the terms used by these teams to describe each other are negative.

Getting these teams working well together requires you to create a strategy and structure for them. The first step in creating this B2B marketing strategy is to develop a Sales and Marketing Service Level Agreement.

What is a sales and marketing service level agreement?

At it’s most basic, a sales and marketing service level agreement is a set of guidelines that your teams use to work towards common company goals.

It should outline a process for them to work together more efficiently with clear and measurable goals. Giving both departments a structure to explain how they work and how they can help each other become more efficient.

The contents of the agreement will vary depending on your specific company needs but let’s take a brief look at a few things it should contain.

Creating an agreement that works

Creating an agreement as part of your B2B marketing strategy that is balanced and works for both departments can be a challenge. It requires equal input from both teams on how they actually work as well as how they can improve their collaboration.

Doing this needs an honest appraisal of what each department is doing both correctly and incorrectly.

I’m going to go through a few key aspects each department should think about. For further advice on implementing a sales and marketing agreement you should read this post from Hubspot.

The Marketing department

The primary focus of the marketing team should be to find suitable leads.

We’ll always suggest Inbound Marketing as the best method to go about this. If done correctly it can be an excellent way to bring highly qualified leads to you.

The agreement for the marketing team should include the following items:

• Supply a specific number of relevant leads to the Sales team on a daily/weekly/monthly basis
• Continually develop Inbound Marketing techniques to improve the quality of the leads
• Refine their lead generation practices with feedback from the Sales team on a regular basis

The Sales department

The focus of the Sales team should be to convert those leads they have been given into paying customers.

The agreement for the Sales team should include:

• Approach the leads supplied by Marketing in a timely manner. For example, let’s say leads are received on a weekly basis. Sales should approach each lead supplied in that weekly batch before a new batch of leads are supplied by Marketing.
• Complete their own research on the supplied leads before approaching them to make sure they are approaching the correct decision maker.
• Report and give regular feedback on each lead so that Marketing can improve their lead generation.

Common aspects of the agreement

While there are specific goals for each team, there should also be sections that highlight what both teams should work on together.

This section should include a method for regular reporting and communication between the teams. It should also supply guidelines for collaboration between the teams in an effort to improve the lead nurturing process.

Conclusion

The sales and marketing service level agreement shouldn’t be set in stone. Its real benefit becomes clear as it is refined over time.

As the teams begin to work more closely with shared purpose, your hands on management of them should lessen. This in turn allows you to focus on the larger aspects of your B2B marketing strategy.

Now it’s your turn

Have you already taken control of your sales and marketing departments with a service level agreement?

What did you choose to focus on and what changes did it bring about in your teams? We’d love to hear in the comments below.

Prospecting as a salesperson can be difficult. You feel like you’ve reached the end of your rope and you’ve called everyone and their mother. You have the motivation to pick up the phone and call your next prospect, if only you knew who that was.

Hint: there are always more people to call. These 12 tips should get you started.

1. Earn the Right

Think about people who make up your immediate network (friends, family, co-workers). Now, think about the next concentric circle out from these people. The people in this circle know you, but not as well as those closest to you. Call these people, and ask them what you can do for them. Is there someone in their network who needs the kind of help that you can provide? Is there some information they are trying to understand that you could help them find? Earn the right to sell to these people.

2. “Houston? Are you there, Houston?”

If you sell products or services nationwide, call prospects in your hometown. Right at the beginning of the call, ask them a question about the local scene that only a local would know. This established a common bond right off the bat, and gives you a foundation on which to build.

3. Stay Fresh

Do a pull from your CRM system on 50 people you haven’t reached out to in a while. Set aside two, 30-minute time slots. Schedule one in the morning (7-7:30am) and one in the afternoon (5:30-6pm). Get through as many of the calls as you can and stop at 30 minutes, regardless of how far down the list you’ve gotten. You will use time that is usually wasted and stay top of mind with your customers.

4. Barter Time

Tell one of your colleagues that you will give her several 30-minute prospecting sprints in her territory if she is willing to give you the same in return. If you can get several of your colleagues to give you some of their 30-minute sprint time, make it fun by giving $20 to the person with the best story and $20 to the person who gets the most appointments.

5. The Lean Method of Scripting

Grab a colleague and get in a room with one phone and a whiteboard. Write the first 3 sentences of your prospecting script on the whiteboard. You make the first call using that script. Once the call is over, have your colleague make any changes that should be made to make the script tighter. Your colleague makes the next call, and you rinse and repeat. In one hour’s time, you will have the best, tightest script in the business. (And refresh your email prospecting strategy.)

6. Be Infectious

If you have a good conversation with a prospect, ask them; “This has been really helpful, and I appreciate it. Given what we just discussed, is there anyone you know who would benefit from this?” You’ll be surprised at how many people will pass you along into their network.

7. About Your Lazy Attitude...

When you close a deal, you feel great. What’s the best thing to do right after you win? Beer? Golf? Nap? No. Prospect. The best boss I ever had, Kevin Higgins, taught me this. I closed a $1.4M deal and when I gave him the good news he said; “Congrats. Now go prospect.” WTF? I didn’t want to, but I did. It’s the most productive I’ve ever been. People can feel your success. They can sense that you are on your game. So use that positive energy and go crush it.

8. Simple Simple

Look again at the words you use to introduce yourself and your company. Are there any words that are not plain language? Take them out. We think we look smart, but those big words just turn people off. It’s a conversation, not a Nobel Prize in economics.

9. Ask For Help

Reach out to the great people who have done business with you in the past two years. Say; “I’m getting ready to do some outreach to these types of potential clients. What advice can you give me about reaching these people? Any thoughts?” You will be surprised by how helpful people will be. Too often, we view prospecting as green field spadework. It doesn’t have to be. Ask, and you shall receive.

10. Ask The Next Question

One of my cold-calling mentors, Jim McAvoy, always asks the prospects who agree to a meeting; “Why did you take my call? What about the message resonated with you?” What a fantastic, simple way to find out what landed. Use it. Ask it.

11. Go Narrow

When executing your prospecting sprints, make sure to call people who are within a narrow market. This focus keeps your messaging tight and your examples relevant. Calling too wide dilutes your message and thus your effectiveness.

12. A Proper Thank You Note

When someone spends time with you on a prospecting call, send them a hand-written thank you note. Don’t send an email…that’s more like spam than a “thank you”. They will appreciate it, and they will certainly take your next call.

What is your #1 tip for prospecting? For example, if you were to tell a rookie salesperson just one prospecting strategy that has worked for you, what would it be? Share them in the comments below.

Can a B2B company really generate new business leads through their website? Absolutely! Your website has the potential to generate massive amounts of new business, but you have to unlock that potential. Because your website is always available, it has the potential to be your top sales person.

Let’s look at the top 10 reasons why B2B companies leave money on the table by having websites that don’t generate leads.

1. You haven’t properly defined your target audience.

A website is just like any other form of sales or marketing — you have to know who you’re speaking to in order to craft your message. You don’t just drop tens of thousands of dollars on a trade show without knowledge that your prospect might be there, do you? You likely look for a trade show in a specific industry.

Your website should speak to those in your target market(s), speak their language, and be full of benefits for them.

Defining a target audience is more complex than just naming an industry. We walk clients through detailed customer personas that get at not just industries that your potential customers are in, but also the types of people that you’ll deal with during the business transaction and their main concerns.

2. Your website looks like it was designed in 2008.

We’ve noticed that many B2B companies, especially manufacturers, have let their online presence slip. Many put a website up years ago because their competitor did, then never took the time to update it. Keeping your website fresh and up to date is important for search engine visibility and for lead generation.

It’s never acceptable to have a “cookie cutter” website. If your website is on WordPress, take this one to heart. If you buy a cheap WordPress theme and use that as your website, your website will looks like hundreds of others. It isn’t getting you any business because you haven’t invested the time to make it “yours.”

Times change. Technologies change. There are inherent benefits in overhauling your website every 2-3 years, and updating it much more frequently.

3. There’s no helpful, in-depth information on your website.

In order to establish authority with search engines, your website has to be a resource that people find interesting and helpful. You can make your website a go-to, trusted resource to generate more new business.

A blog is the best way to publish short-form information that your potential customer is looking for. You can also write whitepapers and guides that your prospects can download during their research. Just one whitepaper or guide can net you hundreds of qualified sales leads if promoted properly.

4. You aren’t blogging.

Have you heard that B2B companies don’t need a blog? That’s an outright lie in today’s marketplace. If you want to attract more potential customers to your website, you need a blog. A blog “meets” your customer where they are as they research problems and solutions using search engines.

There are several reasons to start a blog on your B2B company website, but the top among them is getting more prospects to your website where you can show industry depth and thought leadership.

You wouldn’t miss that all-too-important trade show, so don’t miss out on the hundreds or thousands that are searching online for solutions your company could provide.

5. There are no calls to action on your website.

As obvious as this sounds, you need to show people “the next step” and give them a prominent link to it. So why do so many B2B websites lack calls to action?

A call to action is a link or graphic that takes people to more information about a topic, usually through a landing page or conversion page. For an example of a call to action, see the bottom of this blog post, or read about how to create a good call to action.

6. Your website doesn’t have any landing pages (or “conversion pages”).

Landing pages, or “conversion pages,” are the bread and butter of a lead-generating website. Landing pages allow people to download whitepapers, guides, product catalogs, etc. from your website by providing some information in a lead form.

Want to learn to create these pages on your website? See some tips to improve landing page performance.

Almost every lead that we see from our website or our clients’ websites come as the result of a landing page. Just putting a “contact us” link or form on your website isn’t enough. A landing page helps explain benefits, gives context and encourages your prospect to take action.

7. Your website is all about you.

Many B2B companies make the mistake of just listing their products or talking about their services. They publish press releases from their company. Me, me, me. To get more leads from your website, you have to understand that your website shouldn’t be about you.

A website without an obvious value proposition is virtually useless. Don’t just list your products or services; tell prospective customers in their words about the benefits they will see when they use your solution. Tell customers how other customers have benefitted from your products or services.

8. Your website doesn’t get enough visitors.

If your website is seen by 10 people per day, you’re probably not going to be getting enough leads from it to keep a sales person busy. If you want more visitors on your website, and if you want your website visits to grow steadily, you have to become a publisher of information that your potential customer can find.

Start with your website. Creating a blog and posting to social media profiles (usually LinkedIn) is a good start. Once you’re doing that, try getting content in front of the people that matter, potentially in a trade publication or at an industry event.

Your prospects are hungry for information. Provide it on your website and you’ll get more visitors.

9. You aren’t on social media.

Even in B2B, you should consider creating social profiles and posting to social media. While social media may not be your top priority, it certainly has its place in the overall marketing mix.

We’ve detailed on this blog in the past how to generate leads with LinkedIn and even some creative ways to use social media and your next trade show.

Start with LinkedIn. Not only is it a great research tool to learn about leads you’re already getting, but it’s a good sales prospecting tool as well.

10. Your website is an afterthought.

You haven’t updated your website in years? Your website is the last thing that gets updated? Don’t have a success plan or strategic plan for your website? Perhaps it’s on the back burner.

As I said earlier, your website is like other forms of advertising and marketing. It takes a plan to succeed in online lead generation, and it takes a time commitment. Are you making it a priority?

Don’t give up on using your website for lead generation. All B2B companies can generate leads from their websites. If you aren’t generating new leads, perhaps it’s time to change your website and try something new.

How can you plan to generate more leads from your website?

The newspaper industry is a good example of just how difficult it can be to thrive when business goes digital, especially if that business is chronically resistant to change. David Carr, at The New York Times, summarized the industry’s precarious position as follows:

“Producing serious news is an expensive enterprise with a beleaguered business model, one that remains tied to the tracks as a locomotive of splintered audiences and declining advertising hurtles toward it.” (The New York Times; October 20, 2013)

Yet, there may well be a light at the end of this tunnel, and it comes in the form of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, who recently purchased The Washington Post, and Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, who shortly after pledged $250 million to create a new general-interest news site. The surprising investments of these giants of the digital age have certainly made disbelievers sit up and take notice. But Bezos was quick to pinpoint the key challenge ahead:

“The Post is famous for its investigative journalism. It pours energy and investment and sweat and dollars into uncovering important stories. And then a bunch of Web sites summarize that [work] in about four minutes and readers can access that news for free. One question is: How do you make a living in that kind of environment?” (The Washington Post; September 3, 2013)

Bezos’ question certainly resonates with us, as it embodies a fundamental problem that many businesses—sellers of newspapers, music, movies, videogames, software, etc.—are struggling to deal with. It is also a question that the two of us have studied closely, independently or together, for some time. Indeed, the shift of content to the digital domain has forced organizations to rethink their attitude to value creation, at times backtracking to the very issue of what “value” actually means. Despite this, the way companies convert digital anything into cash seems to be stuck in time, obeying rules that may have worked in the context of a physical product but make far less sense today. To be sure, some visionaries spotted this inconsistency and posited that “free” (and the hybrid “freemium”) is the clever way forward. Unfortunately, the idea of giving stuff away today in the hope of a hefty payday tomorrow has caused new problems that are not straightforward to solve. Meanwhile, other visionaries preach hard lines of “pay walls” or softer versions with metering. The goal here is to set one or few rigid prices. This tends to be favored approach of traditional content providers. But if you consider the possibility of infinite variety that comes with a digital platform, not to mention the low or non-existent marginal costs, this model is probably leaving good money on the table. How can business make money from digital content, then? We believe that monetizing digital needs a fresh approach. In particular, we propose an architecture for pricing digital goods that is intended to move the exchange between seller and buyer from the transactional to the relational. This architecture reflects three key ingredients of today’s social marketplaces:

1. Empowerment. Companies are embracing the idea of delegating activities to their customers. We see this in marketing with product development and advertising, mostly. But what about monetization? How about letting customers participate—at least to some controlled extent—in price setting to raise their level of engagement?
2. Dialog. Gaining customer feedback is intuitive. But how often does the seller get involved and create a true dialog? And, even if there is discussion, how often is it tied directly to the pricing process? Modern e-commerce systems can enable rich automated value-focused interactions, but this capability is underused.
3. Reputation. Integrate the idea of social capital in the monetization approach. You can do this by creating a reputation score that relates directly to customers’ conscious use of the pricing power granted in point 1 above. Importantly, this score evolves over the course of multiple transactions.

We see these as general, flexible building blocks. One specific configuration is something we call FairPay. Here is how it plays out:

1. Empowerment. We take an extreme view: buyers first experience the product and then have the power to pay whatever they wish, including zero. The timing matters because (a) customers should know the product they are asked to sacrifice money for, and (b) it fosters reciprocity, a strong social norm. Moreover, there is a constraint in place to avoid freeriding: companies retain the right to make future FairPay offers (i.e., they can take away a customer’s price-setting privilege).
2. Dialog. Firms suggest reference prices to anchor a customer’s price offer and can provide reports to remind people of the value received. Customers are asked to justify the prices paid by indicating their reasons. Firms respond with counterarguments. Importantly, this dialog is structured for scalability and personalization through the use of modern choice architectures. The technology is there.
3. Reputation. Customers have a fairness rating. Choice architectures are then applied to segment customers in terms of fairness (and other attributes) and apply “carrots” (relating to product tiers, perks, etc.) to improve profitability or “sticks” (the threat to remove a customer’s price-setting privilege) to at least sustain it.

Our FairPay approach is only one application of the principles outlined above. No doubt different organizations can leverage this framework in different ways, not all of which will go so far as to allow users to pay what they want. Indeed, such experimentation is necessary to overcome the challenges businesses face in monetizing digital content. The key, however, is to move beyond the debate over free vs. fee to focus on empowering and communicating with customers, and finding ways to reward those who opt to pay.

Reserve-and-collect services are becoming ever more important for ecommerce retailers as consumers increasingly expect to be able to pick up their purchases when and where they choose.

In the past few weeks Asda has said it is looking to expand it click-and-collect service by installing collection points in new locations, which may include petrol forecourts, tube stations and university campuses.

Similarly Selfridges has opened a new drive-thru collection point on London’s Oxford Street, while a new service called StreetHub has launched with a view to helping small, independent retailers tap into the click-and-collect trend.

With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to round up some stats which show just why retailers are so keen to provide new delivery services to their customers.

And for more information on this topic, check out our blog posts looking at 10 ways to improve the click and collect customer experience...

79% of consumers have used click-and-collect in the past year

• A survey run by Econsultancy in August found that almost two-thirds of consumers (63%) have bought products online before collecting them in-store at least once in the past 12 months, while 16% use reserve-and-collect at least once a month.
• Just over one-fifth (22%) of respondents said they had never used reserve-and-collect.
• The survey also found that 50% of respondents had abandoned a purchase online due to unsatisfactory delivery options.

Do you reserve products online before collecting them in store? How often?

Halfords scores 86% of sales through click-and-collect

• Halfords introduced click-and-collect three years ago and now 86% of all its sales are for in-store collection.

40% of consumers used click-and-collect before Christmas 2012

• Econsultancy’s Christmas 2012 Online Shopping Survey found that 40% of UK shoppers used click-and-collect over Christmas.
• However in the US the figure was much lower at just 17% of consumers.
• Even so, it’s likely that the number of consumers using a click-and-collect service will have increased slightly this year as the service is slowly becoming more popular among consumers.

Did you reserve any items online for in-store collection this Christmas? (1,000 UK and 1,000 US respondents)

• The survey also highlighted the importance of offering a range of delivery options online, as a quarter of respondents (24%) said they would avoid making a purchase if the delivery options didn’t suit them.

Did you avoid making an online purchase due to a lack of convenient delivery options? (1,000 UK respondents)

The French click-and-collect their groceries

• One-fifth (20%) of French consumers have used a drive-thru collection for groceries ordered online.
• Leclerc, the market leader with 352 ‘Drives’ saw first-half sales in that segment jump 68% to €720m, compared with overall French sales growth of 4.7% to €15.9bn.
• The retailer estimates that its drive-thrus poach a quarter of their sales from its own stores, but the rest comes from its competitor’s stores.

Tesco planning to expand its service

• Ecommerce accounted for around 5% of Tesco’s sales in 2012/13. Of this total, two-thirds of non-food online orders were collected at one of its 1,500 collection points.
• However food items are still mostly delivered to the customer’s home.

Argos achieves 42% of online sales through click-and-collect

• Argos is the UK’s third most successful ecommerce retailer and achieves 42% of total sales online. The retailer’s ‘check and reserve’ service accounted for 31% of total online sales in Q4 2012.

Selfridges has high hopes for click-and-collect

• Selfridges launched a click-and-collect service in May this year and also opened a drive-thru service at its London Oxford Street store this month.
• It expects click-and-collect to account for at least 25% of all online orders.

Every so often a customer or user encounters a process, or experiences an interaction, that makes them feel all 1990s.

It makes them feel like the whole world has moved on, leaving only them, stuck, trying to find a black biro, or trying to communicate with a customer services department.

On the Econsultancy blog, there's been much talk of digital transformation. One of the most startling changes, cross-sector, is the almost complete agreement that web operations must be completely customer focused, as should the rest of business be.

So when, at Econsultancy, we receive the occasional notice of a disputed payment from a Barclaycard or AmEx customer (as do most online businesses), asking me to fax or post back information, I rant and tramp around the office, shouting 'can't we just ****** email it?!'

Why do we have to do this? Is this an indicator of a false dawn; an indicator of how far we have to go until the customer is the number one priority?

Ok, this is going to be a boring article about faxes, but at the heart of it is the 21st Century assertion that 'you must be where your customers are'.

Firstly, I know AmEx's 'customer' in this instance is the user disputing a payment, and AmEx is simply trying to protect their information.

I know there are reasons why fax and post are the two methods of communication that are perceived as the safest.

Admittedly, faxes also send data cheaper than scanning many gigabytes of imagery and emailing the resulting files.

But I think all these points are red herrings.

Red herrings

I have been reading a few opinions on faxes on this Slashdot thread. Yes, that's how I spend my afternoons.

I've quoted some points of view below. You may or may not have the will to read these messages, and if not, skip down to the next section on UX, to see what my actual point is in this brief post.

Against fax

'Most fax machine inboxes nowadays go to email, in my experience.'

'The old fax machine in the corner where everyone's faxes go and anyone can look through them isn't terribly secure either.'

'Quite honestly, the reason the fax refuses to die is because people, once they adopt a method, tend not to change. It's the inertia of least effort, aka laziness, aka efficiency of thought.'

'I recently did some work for an organisation that wouldn't accept the PDF, but would if I printed off a copy and posted it to them. It seems crazy that printing it on my printer makes it legally binding, but printing it on theirs doesn't, and a court would agree.'

For fax

'So, what does email offer that fax does not? Is it more reliable? No, not really. Email has inherently unreliable delivery, particularly with spam and malware filters which silently delete suspect emails. Is email more secure? Absolutely not. Email is unencrypted during transmission unless the message itself is encrypted. Does email guarantee sender identity better than fax? Quite the opposite. It's often illegal to obfuscate or alter your sending fax number due to junk fax laws, while spoofing email is trivial. 

Finally, since fax is established in the business world, it has become something you will often need not because you yourself haven't adopted a better technology, but because your business peers and customers haven't adopted a better technology. Even where it's not wanted, it's a mandatory legacy system to deal with people who must use fax for whatever reason.'

'Doctors pretty much are obligated to use fax or they will almost certainly end up violating HIPAA.'

Back to UX 

In our office, we don't have a spare phone line or a fax; we use a VoIP phone system, and we have to use eFax. I've forgotten my login to eFax, and the system doesn't recognise my email.

When I do try to send, I get an error report about 15 minutes later, so I can never dare to believe I've succeeded.

If I didn't already eat porridge with water every day for breakfast, perhaps I'd enjoy these brief moments of self-flaggelation.

If I send documentation by post, I have to wait for a few extra days.

I believe that if banks really care about UX, they need to enable customers on both sides of a transaction to send communication via a web portal. If this is possible for online banking, it can be possible for submitting evidence for disputed claims etc.

This web portal should be a usable site that also provides information about services and disputes etc etc.

If this kind of service existed, one could almost negate the postal element of paperwork. Even opening an account could be done remotely, after all, I can't recall sending originals through the post.

This method would be more successful for the bank; they could contact users electronically or by phone to say there is a pending dispute on a portal, giving us a unique number (even by post) to access this. My ideas about this might be all mixed up, but I'm pretty sure the current state of affairs is down to a resistance to change, even in the face of customer disenfranchisement.

Perhaps we are in a no-man's land waiting for biometrics. The wait is a painful one.

The larger a Facebook page's fan base is, the more difficult it is to reach a high percentage of that audience organically, without paying for increased exposure, according to data from EdgeRank.

EdgeRank analyzed more than 50,000 Facebook posts during September from over 1,000 Facebook pages "ranging in size and categories." 

• Facebook pages with less than 25,000 fans typically reach slightly more than 15% of their audience with posts that got no paid promotion.
• Pages with 25,000-100,000 fans typically reach just 10% of their audience organically with each post, and this proportion continues to decline as pages accumulate more fans.
• Pages that accumulate more than 1 million fans are slight outliers, because their unpaid posts reach 8% of fans on average (slightly more than pages with 250,000 to 1 million fans). Presumably, pages with more than 1 million fans grew so popular because they are highly effective at generating engaging content. 

The findings can help brands of varying sizes gauge the size of their effective audience when they post a piece of content on their Facebook page. 

Red Bull is a prime example of a brand that produces consistent, quality content on Facebook to drive engagement with its page. Red Bull posted 26 items of varying forms of media in October, and seems to be making a considerable investment in content development to generate fans organically. 

Of course, Red Bull and other major brands also have the resources to place paid media on Facebook, which can increase the reach of their content. Smaller brands are much more reliant on the organic reach of their content to reach their customers on Facebook. It means that they need to be more thoughtful and creative in how they communicate with their fans. 

Download the charts and data in Excel. 

Join the conversation about this story »

What non-startup brand do you emulate most and why?

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

1. Tesla Motors

Tesla spends little to no money on advertising. Instead, by creating an exceptional product, Tesla has been able to transform its customers into pseudo-spokespeople for the company. As a bootstrapped startup in the education space where word-of-mouth is invaluable, we have attempted to emulate this model by focusing all of our resources on creating an unparalleled experience for our users.

- Mehran Ebadolahi, TestMax, Inc.

2. Zappos

Zappos is our hero. It has built a company with such an amazing customer experience that it basically markets itself through happy customer referrals. As a society, we’re moving away from the era when companies could be king solely through market dominance — these days customer experience goes a long way in determining how a company is perceived.

- Patrick Conley, Automation Heroes

3. Amazon

Amazon has always invested in the long term. Although investors may have wanted the organization to take profits in the past two decades, the CEO, Jeff Bezos, always placed bets to improve the business and build it for the future. As a startup, it’s very easy to shift gears; we believe the best thing we can do is execute our plan and stay focused on our vision.

- Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

4. Apple

Apple has seen extended success not because it is the cheapest or first to market, but because it focuses on the little details that can turn a quality product into something truly magical. The video game industry resembles the computer industry in many ways, and we’ve similarly shaped our strategy around the little details to bring the magic back into gaming.

- James Simpson, GoldFire Studios

5. Cisco

I love the way that its CEO has made sales such a strong mantra throughout the company. He has everyone pushing his sales agenda. Sales is a current that runs through my business as well. I’m trying to get everyone on the team to see how they can play a part in the sales cycle.

- David Ehrenberg, Early Growth Financial Services

6. Ralph Lauren

Seeing the word “brand” makes me think Ralph Lauren. I think Ralph Lauren has done a fantastic job building a brand, innovating its products to keep customers purchasing and diversifying its offering to hit customers across demographics. It’s pretty rare that a single brand can simultaneously sell a $15 T-shirt at a discount retailer and a $2,000 Black Label suit in its stores and on its site.

- Carlo Cisco, FoodFan

7. Play-Doh

Play-Doh subversively turned generations of young people into sculptors and creative-minded problem solvers by providing a dead simple, super fun, and highly accessible utility that was branded and marketed in a playful way. They also were brilliant in solving for the “well what do I do?” type of creative paralysis by offering visual inspiration.

- Kyle Kesterson, Freak’n Genius

8. Microsoft

Microsoft has done a great job building out its business in a variety of fields. It’s come a long way from its early days and has become a billion-dollar company because of it. Forget what the naysayers say — it is one of the top 50 companies in the world for a reason.

- Russ Oja, Seattle Windows and Construction, LLC

9. Google

We emulate the culture and methods of Google as best we can. Like Google, we test and measure everything in order to make decisions based on data, which in turn moves us in a direction of growth and satisfied users. Having a healthy curiosity when approaching product development and then collecting actionable data to guide decision making is what we believe makes Google successful.

- Phil Chen, Givit

10. Bonobos

Bonobos calls its customer service reps “ninjas” and taunts customers to write in for chili recipes. Branding correspondence like this has given the company a memorable and recognizable face of particular importance for Web-based entities.

- Sam Saxton, Salter Spiral Stair and Mylen Stairs

11. charity: water

Imagine convincing people that giving to a charity is as cool as getting into an awesome club. That’s what Scott Harrison did with charity: water — he made charity cool. We’re making healthy cool, so we have a lot to learn!

- Derek Flanzraich, Greatist

Featured Image from Shutterstock

Many people use social media as a way to make ‘history’ today. Take for instance the Obama “Four More Years” tweet that had over 780,000 retweets, or Commander Chris Hadfield’s photography from space that earned him 700,000 more followers in two months. But envision, if you can, history coming to life on social media. Can you imagine what someone like Socrates could do on Twitter, or Thomas Jefferson on LinkedIn? Here are a few examples of historical figures that we all learned about in History class, that would have absolutely killed it on social media:

Socrates ~ Philosopher King of the Twitter Q&A

If Joan of Arc had a Facebook account, it would look a bit like this. Image courtesy of CollegeHumor Facebook-History.

Joan of Arc was a teenage peasant girl who won over the French people, later leading the French Army to several key victories during the Hundred Years War. At the age of 12, she started hearing voices from God sending her on a mission to help the French defeat the English. After convincing the King that she was genuine, Joan was presented a horse, armor, sword and banner. She was captured, handed over to the English and burned at the stake – being accused of heresy – at the age of 19.

Joan of Arc would have seen Facebook as the perfect opportunity to stage her revolution. Her Facebook page would be plastered with heroic photos of Joan leading the army into the siege of Orléans, and she would use Facebook Events to summon troops for her attacks. Joan would also be able to highlight her martial milestones, and engage with her soldiers and fans throughout France to keep moral high.

Andy Warhol ~ Instagram’s Pop Art Prince

Thomas Jefferson. Copy of painting by Rembrandt Peale, circa 1805. Image by Marion Doss via Flickr

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States and the drafter of the Declaration of Independence. He had relations with people all over the globe, including intellectual leaders in Britain and France to whom he would often write letters. Jefferson co-founded and led the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for over 25 years. Other than serving as President, he also was the wartime Governor of Virginia, first United States Secretary of State and second Vice President.

With all of these titles, Thomas Jefferson would have a completely stacked LinkedIn profile! You could also add (among other things) horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, author and inventor onto his list of skills. His profile wouldn’t look too shabby with endorsements from George Washington and John Adams. Because he had strong ties with many people worldwide, I’m sure if Jefferson lived today, we would be seeing “500+” connections for sure. Since he was such a boss in the political game, he would surely be one LinkedIn’s thought leaders.

Do you agree that these historical figures would have rocked on social media? Do you have you’re own favorite figures that would have owned the social media world? Let us know in the comments below.

Do you want to rock social media like these titans of history? Try HootSuite Pro for FREE for 30 days!

The NFL season is half over, and the teams that will be competing in the playoffs are starting to emerge. And while my office mates are rethinking their Fantasy Football picks, I’m thinking that lead generation success has a lot in common with winning football teams.

From the draft to the playoffs, football coaches and managers are constantly looking at player stats to tweak their game. The same should be true with lead generation. At every step of a lead generation campaign, early indicators can reliably show marketers if their campaigns are on track while also providing insight that enables course corrections before it’s too late.

Training Camp

Teams assemble players during the draft period then get a good look at how they perform during training camp. Just because a player is drafted doesn’t mean he won’t be cut.

Marketers should look at the first hours of a lead generation campaign as training camp. During this time, enough information is available to make decisions that can positively affect the rest of the campaign.

One of the best ways to know if a lead generation program is working is by looking at what prospects are saying during a live connect. “No interest,” invalid, and “not a fit” trends start to emerge that show if the message is resonating, if the team is effective in conveying it, and if the list is good. If there is a problem, it’s easy to pinpoint and make changes to your lead generation “roster.”

The same is true for first appointment data, which can provide helpful insights into what’s working. For example, is one title path more likely to set an appointment than another? Are certain title paths being referred that you aren’t already targeting? Is there a day of the week or time of day when appointments are more likely to be set? This insight will advance the winning season of your campaign.

Regular Season

A lot can happened during the regular season. New plays and formations are tried out, players get injured, and winners and losers emerge. The coaching staff reviews player strengths and weaknesses, and watches game tapes to develop a new strategy for every game.

Lead generation campaigns also benefit from constant review and assessment. As the campaign progresses, trends emerge that are indicators of what’s working and any potential problems that exist. Just as football teams make changes week to week, lead generation campaigns benefit from mid-course tweaking.

Post Season

In the post season, some teams progress to playoffs, while others regroup for next season. Even winning teams that make it to the playoffs will go back over the season to see how they stack up compared to other teams.

While it’s easy to compare one season to the next (“We did better this year than last”), the valuable metric is how the team performed compared to other teams. This insight is crucial for the coaching staff to determine where their true strengths and weaknesses lie, so they can go into the recruiting season with a good idea of their needs.

Marketers also should benchmark their campaigns against others in their industry to determine the success of the campaign. For example, a 2.5% response rate may seem low until compared to peers and competitors. Some lead generation partners can provide this information and help you understand how your campaigns fared against specific metrics, such as appointments and revenue by title path.

These indicators have the added benefit of shining a big light on other potential problem areas. For example, if you’re meeting all your expected goals but revenue lags, perhaps the market isn’t ready, the product isn’t priced correctly, or there’s a problem in the sales process.

In football as well as lead generation, there will always be winners and losers. However, the more you know about your lead generation campaigns, the better they become.

Here’s to winning campaigns!

The marketing industry is diverse and ever changing, and one of the easiest ways to stay on top is to read the most relevant and pertinent blogs. There are thousands of marketing blogs out there that focus on different aspects of the marketing industry from optimization, conversion, advertising, and content.

For businesses who blog, content marketing is vital. Here are the top twenty-five content marketing blogs for those businesses.

1. Content Marketing Institute

A vast wealth of articles designed to aid in ‘advancing the practice of content marketing.’

2. Copypressed

Building brands with quality content that will help drive up your conversions, focus your SEO, and more.

3. The Copybot

Having a great idea won’t get you very far with bad writing. This site provides ‘essential writing advice’ by Demian Farnworth, the chief copywriter for Copyblogger.

4. The Content Strategist

This blog offers more than just content marketing tips and advice, but should not be set aside.

5. Bryan Eisenberg

An online marketing pioneer, best-selling author, and professional speaker, Bryan Eisenberg and his brother Jeffrey share their years of experience on their blog.

6. Blog Growth

Founder Mauro D’Andrea shares his five core values to provide ‘Practical detailed advice to increase your online revenues by your blog.’

7. Danny Brown

Manager of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, author, and multi-award winning blogger.

8. Traffic Generation Cafe

‘Big traffic ideas for small marketing budgets’ by Ana Hoffman

9. Sparring Mind

This blog focuses on improving your content through behavioral psychology, ‘behavior psychology research on creative work, persuasion, and habits.’

10. SEO Copywriting

Tips, social media writing advice and strategies for creating great web copy by the first agency to ‘focus on SEO content development.’

11. The Sales Lion 

‘Empowering people through the power of community’ is the standard of founder Marcus Sheridan. His blog contains inbound and content marketing help, and other important topics.

12. Ross Hudgens 

His blog specializes in content development and has experience working with businesses from the smallest to the largest.

13. Kris Roadruck

With a dash of humorous rants, his blog focuses on content marketing tips and SEO.

14. Kikolani

Created by Kristi Hines, she provides ‘blogging tips for personal and professional bloggers.’

15. Hubspot

The upmost authority on inbound marketing, hands down.

16. Inbound Marketing Agents

With a strong focus on unique content creation, this is one blog you don’t want to forget.

17. Post Advertising

Blog articles from around the industry with a strong focus on content marketing.

18. WebInkNow 

Marketing and leadership strategies by David Meerman Scott, a marketing strategist and bestselling author.

19. Marketing Interactions

Hosted by Ardath Albee, a B2B marketing strategist, her blog focuses on content marketing strategies.

20. How Soon Is Now

This blog is by Rick Liebling from Y&R New York. He shares his thoughts on the marketing industry, content marketing, and how it affects our culture.

21. IdeaLaunch

This blog uses an ‘idea-led, process-centered, data-driven approach’ to content marketing.

22. Vertical Measures

Read “The Weekly Measure” each week on the top articles regarding content marketing.

23. Vertical Leap

By using content-driven search marketing, Vertical Leap stressed the importance of quality content to bring marketing success.

24. Writing on the Web

‘How to use content marketing to get found, get known, get clients’ by Dr. Patsi Krakoff from The Blog Squad

25. Convince & Convert

The writers at Convince & Convert are ‘social and content accelerators’ who will help you improve your content marketing skills.

No matter where you go, you see how content marketing affects business and customers alike. The more it is talked about, the more it is working. Read these blogs to see different perspectives on content marketing and how you can use them in your own content marketing goals.

Do you have other websites that you go to for content marketing tips? Share them with us.

The most popular jobs in digital marketing show what employers are looking for

We showed in our recent review that digital marketing is now bigger than Internet marketing based on searches for knowledge and services related to digital marketing. As demand for digital marketing has grown, so has the number of specialist digital jobs needed in companies and agencies. Google Trends shows us that searches for Jobs in Digital Marketing has overtaken Jobs in Internet Marketing and continued to grow through 2013.

What is the talent gap between digital marketing jobs and resources

Earlier in 2013 we created the second infographic in this post showing the most in-demand online marketing jobs based on LinkedIn skills and the popularity of online marketing jobs in the UK. We have now added this related infographic which shows the Talent gap between jobs required by businesses against in-house roles in the US. It’s produced by Online Marketing Institute who have this report on developing digital marketing skills.  

What are the main types of Jobs in Digital Marketing?

We have researched the types of jobs which are most in demand and in this infographic we showcase the top jobs in digital by volume and growth. We also give ideas on what companies should be looking for when recruiting into digital jobs and what qualities candidates need to show to get the job. We hope it helps our readers, whether you’re looking to develop your career in digital marketing, or recruit the right people for your digital marketing team.

Job and role descriptions for digital marketing

To help marketers find the right job in digital and to help companies recruit the right person, we have created a new series of Digital marketing job description templates.

There are 10 detailed templates of digital job role descriptions , for each showing alternative job descriptions, main areas of responsibilities, typical tasks, technical and management skills needed and typical salary ranges. The jobs covered include both company and agency job of different seniority:

• Analytics Manager
• CRM and Email marketing Manager
• Digital Agency Account Manager and Sales Director
• Copywriter
• Digital Marketing Manager and Web Manager
• Ecommerce Manager
• PPC Search Manager
• Search Manager / SEO Manager
• Social Media Manager or Community Manager
• Web Developer and Web Designer

How to best structure a digital team to work as an integrated part of marketing is a key challenge too. To help here, we have created a companion guide to structuring a digital team. This shows options for different jobs and team structures in companies of different sizes.

How to Create a Culture of Referral Giving written by John Jantsch read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

This week I’ll be out in San Diego talking to owners and marketers of health clubs about referrals.

I plan to use the occasion to make a point about how to create a culture of referral giving.

photo credit: djwhelan via photopin cc

Fitness Centers depend upon referrals and, like so many businesses that get this, they actually abuse their customers in an effort to maximize this dynamic.

Of course no industry is immune to this practice. Most businesses look at referrals as something to get from their customers and I plan to take on this point of view.

The common approach is to make a customer a financial offer so they’ll give over some referrals. A typical health club tactic might be to give away a free month for every new membership referred.

The problem with this approach is that it forces the customer into making a financial decision when referrals are fundamentally social. It forces the customer to think “what can I get” rather than “what can I give.”

In order to tap the true power of referrals we need to focus on creating a referral motivation that is about giving rather than taking. We need to find a way to create an environment where the primary reason someone makes a referral is because they believe another person will benefit by them doing so.

This mindset changes the referral equation dramatically.

This mindset forces a business to think about ways to deliver real value first and in doing so become more referable.

This mindset forces a business to make supporting a vibrant community as important as getting the next referral.

Creating a culture of referral requires that a business give and give first and in doing so create a culture where customers want to give and give as well.

I know that the idea of giving to get referrals is not exactly a new concept, everyone acknowledges this, but finding ways to apply it in the realm of a specific marketing initiative seems a little harder to pin down.

So, how can a health club give to get?

• What if a health club created a series of presentations geared towards traveling business executives that showed them how to stay healthy on the road and away from the club?
• What if a health club created a community of expecting and new moms and taught pre and post-natal fitness while providing a play-group like community?
• What if a health club created a new customer package that included supplements, coupons for prepared Paleo meals and a foam roller all gathered from strategic partner businesses?
• What if a health club sponsored an after school kids fitness program that encouraged parents to use their facility free of charge during a once a week community program?
• What if a health club sponsored a monthly “live fully” night that featured renowned chefs teaching nutritional cooking, chiropractors talking about healthy at work practices and classes on meditation, breathing, rest and recovery?

For today’s post I used a health club as an example, but the give to get referral mentality applies just as surely to a financial planner, plumber or executive coach as it does to selling health club memberships.

So, how can you give more value in your marketing efforts?

We all know how important sales motivation is.

The level of sales motivation a person has is going to be reflected in the level of sales they make.  Conversely, the more sales a person makes, the greater their level of motivation.

This time of year it seems as if there is some holiday we have to work around, whether it be due to days off or a complete closing of a business. Don’t allow a holiday to destroy your motivation. Instead, use every holiday as an opportunity to bump your motivation even higher.

Make holidays a game for you to reward customers with your positive attitude and outlook and, at the same time, a game to become even more efficient.

It can be too easy to use the excuse that due to holidays impacting schedules, your sales results are simply going to be lower. That’s an excuse average salespeople make, but because you are a high-performing salesperson, you simply do not have room for that level of thinking.

Use holidays to your advantage. Use them as opporutnities to connect with people you don’t normally meet. Use them to get meetings with higher level people at an account.  Holidays are not going away, so that means the best way to deal with them is to leverage them.

Be aggressive in finding out what your competitors are going to do in terms of being open and serving customers.  Many times, holiday periods can be an excellent opportunity to pick up new customers, all because their normal vendors are unavailable due to either being closed or on vacation.

To me having competitors out of business over the holidays is music to my ears.  There’s no better way to pick up new business than by being there when others aren’t.

Holidays are a great time! Use holidays to your advantage and remember that the level of sales motivation you have is going to make a direct impact on the level of business you get.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

Integrated marketing solutions, also referred to as, “integrated marketing communications” (IMC), appeared in marketing lingo in 1989. The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) defined IMC as, “an approach to achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other.”

But we’re not huge fans of marketing jargon…

So what does that really mean? What are the ultimate goals of the integrated marketing approach?

• To integrate your content marketing and sales process
• To empower your marketing tactics and sales process with clarity, consistency and differentiating impact
• To engage, educate and win the respect of the B2B buyer

Integrated marketing solutions get sales and marketing working together. (Finally.)

When your marketing department syncs up with your sales team, each party understands what the other needs. This opens the door to better content from marketing and better personalization, segmenting and targeting from sales.

Integrated marketing solutions provide the marketing resources you need to achieve sales enablement.

It’s not just about content. Collaboration and training are the foundation of the integrated approach. Establishing expertise and thought leadership is key to sales enablement. With the powerful marketing resources these solutions provide, your sales team is able to leverage (and become) subject matter experts in your specific industry. With sales demos (e.g., how to present pricing), your sales reps become sales stars. Your buyers learn from and, ultimately, buy from the best of the best.

Integrated marketing solutions make things simple through (you guessed it) integration.

All of your marketing resources are at your sales reps’ fingertips, so they’re able to get that prospect or client exactly what they need, when they need it. All of your content is organized and categorized according to the type of buyer it’s meant for, the buyer’s pains, the buyer’s stage in the buying process and the content’s format. It’s all about syncing your sales process with that buyer to get him comfortable with your business and seamlessly guide him through his buying process.

Capitalize on powerful, hyper-personalized integrated marketing solutions with Accent Technologies. Align your marketing and sales teams, enhance sales enablement and start winning in today’s competitive, information-saturated B2B market.

Conversation (Photo credit: Robert Tea)

If you have not been living under a rock the past five years, it is hard not to notice the ubiquitous nature of an always-on society beginning to emerge. Parenting now involves monitoring teens tethered to digital devices. Car manufacturers are increasingly attempting to create a digital cave as part of your driving experience. It is apparent the tethers of digital technology are affecting every facet of life.

The world of B2B business has been rocked by these changes. Digital technology is creating newfound abilities to be more efficient, effective, productive, and collaborative. These digital advancements are proving to be valuable for adaptable firms. When we look at the marketing and sales functions of B2B businesses today, we find a maddening search underway on how to adapt to the digital and buyer revolution underway.

Blinded By Terms

This maddening search has created an explosion of new terms over the past five years. Evidence of this is a new lexicon consisting of social media, social marketing, content marketing, inbound marketing, content selling, social selling, insight selling, online marketing, and much more. At times each promising just the ticket, which will have you connected with buyers today with untouchable competitive advantage.

The number of these new terms and approaches, which has emerged over the past few years suggest the maddening search is still on. In my hundreds of interviews with buyers over the past few years, on behalf of companies attempting deeper understanding, buyers outside of marketing and sales functions rarely use these terms. It is not – that – they are not aware, but are outside observers to them.

This maddening search suggests something very important is being missed.

A Missing Art and Science

The advent of digital technology has created better tools. Yet, it is how we use such tools to make a difference. If we use such tools within the context of out-dated product marketing and selling precepts, then the tools just foster more efficient one-way communications.

There have been efforts to foster more conversation and more engagement. We even have a term for this – conversation marketing. A problem surfaces here. When you attempt to have a conversation within old contexts – guess what? Maybe the other party – buyers – is not interested in talking.

Additionally, conversation may be the wrong context.

Conversation usually refers to an informal exchange of thoughts, ideas, opinions, and etc. In my interviews with buyers, there appears to be something more missing. What is missing is the art and science of dialogue. What is the difference between dialogue and conversation? Are they not the same? Not necessarily. Dialogue is usually defined within a context of people taking part in a conversation towards an attempt to resolve a problem or reach a mutual understanding.

The Struggle Continues

Understanding the nuances and differences between one-way conversation and two-way dialogue is becoming more important. Buyers today are seeking constructive dialogue, which helps them to resolve a problem and accomplish goals. They do not want to have just a conversation nor just listen to one-way communications on how you think you are the best one for the job.

How to have constructive dialogues with buyers today is the ongoing struggle for most B2B organizations. In which, it is very difficult to do so if you know nothing about them, the problem they are trying to resolve, and the goals they are attempting to accomplish. If this is the case, you are left with no choice but one-way communication – posing as a conversation.

Has marketing and sales lost the art and science of dialogue? In many ways, I say yes. There is a little bit of irony in all this. Before the Internet and the introduction of new digital technologies, the B2B organizations, which excelled, did so because they were great at constructive dialoguing.

All these new terms and buzzwords may be coming with a price – companies losing their skills and competencies in having dialogues with their buyers and customers. To get it back, companies will need to make the critical effort in time and resources to learn about what problems are in need of resolving and what goals buyers and customers wish to accomplish.

Only then can you begin to figure out how to use new digital technologies in ways, which foster effective dialogues.

If you wish to have a constructive dialogue about this article, reach out to me. There is no doubt we will learn a thing or two together.