Rnordman

This morning, I joined our CEO Jeff Weiner on stage to share how we are accelerating our vision to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce (watch the recorded livestream). Over the last year, our product and engineering teams have rebuilt and in some cases, completely overhauled, our core member experiences, with the goal of helping our 450+ million members get the most value they can from LinkedIn. We want all of our members to use LinkedIn to be productive and...

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Whenever I speak at conferences or with clients their training needs, I ask this question:

“What will it take to engage your learners?”

From London to New York to San Francisco, the answers are surprisingly similar, and whether I’m talking with sales leaders or corporate learning leaders, there is broad consensus about what is required:

To engage today’s learners, training has to be flexible, personalized, bite-sized, relevant, provide meaningful data, and be accessible on demand across a wide range of platforms and devices.

Significant innovation is necessary in corporate training in order to meet these expectations and address the changing needs of today’s sales organizations.

Not only are learners changing, but the business environment has changed significantly as well. Over the 37 years that Richardson has been helping organizations improve sales performances, the pace of business has grown faster, ultra-informed buyers come to the table having already researched their desired solutions, and productivity demands on sales professionals are considerably greater. Time has never been a more precious commodity, and sales professionals must spend it wisely, maximizing interactions with customers and minimizing days away from the field sitting in training classrooms. This makes it more important than ever to deploy the latest technology to efficiently train sales people and drive rapid, sustained, and measurable behavior change.

A Salesforce in Transition

A driving force behind the need for change is an emerging multi-generational salesforce increasingly comprised of members of the millennial generation.

In 2015, millennials (born between 1980 and 1995) surpassed Generation X (1964 to 1980) in the workforce, just as Gen Xers once surpassed baby boomers (1945 to 1964), who surpassed traditionalists (born before 1945). Already, the next generation is set to take its place, as those in Gen Z (born after 1995) are beginning to graduate from college and move into the workforce.

Consider the implications for training and development. As demographics evolve and more people are working longer, it is possible – even probable – to have four or five generations represented in one salesforce. Millennial learners have grown up as digital natives and have expectations of online learning shaped by their recent high school and college experiences. Recent research shows that on average, millennials use three screens a day, and members of Gen Z typically use five, counting smartphones, televisions, desktop computers, laptops, and tablets. Attention spans are also on the decline; it is estimated that the average Gen Zer’s attention span is about eight seconds. Now, contrast that with the experiences and expectations of previous generations, like baby boomers and Generation X, and the challenge for corporate learning becomes clear.

The Business Case for Adapting to New Learners

The business imperative for sales organizations to adapt to how millennials learn was noted recently by the Aberdeen Group. According to its new report, “Sales Performance Management 2016: How the Best-in-Class Evolve Success,” top-performing companies adapt sales management to a changing audience:

More than three-quarters of those surveyed, 77%, reported making significant or extreme adaptation to managing millennial sales professionals. Further, the majority of these top-performing companies are investing in formal learning applications for their sellers, knowing how frequently millennials “consume content” and how top-performing reps are “hungry for any new edge they can get on their competition.”

Meeting the Needs of the Future Learner

Best-in-class organizations adapt to managing millennial professionals, and their needs and expectations are leading indicators of where the whole sales organization is ultimately headed. Given that, it’s critical to not just understand the needs of the millennials, but to think carefully about how to deliver thoughtful, blended experiences that meet the needs of the multi-generational sales team.

All learners – not just millennials – want relevant content delivered to them in ways they recognize and can access easily and quickly, wherever they are and whenever they want it. Technology is both a cause and a solution for current challenges in the sales environment. It is critical that we adapt to the changing needs and learning styles of sellers across generations, preparing a broader range of tools and technologies for accessing our content.

At Richardson, our team is making it easier for people to understand where they are in the learning journey, to assess their skills, and to identify where they need to improve and why. Depending on their preferences, learners will be able to access text and interactive content, educational videos, learning games, practice content, quizzes and tests, and user-generated content.

As we design training experiences to meet the expectations of future learners, our benchmark must be broader than just other training products. The courses and products that we develop will only be successful if they are as easy and intuitive to use as the best digital learning products, whether from Apple, Google, or open-source MOOCs and video-learning platforms.

The Roadmap for Innovation

Meeting the needs and expectations of clients and learners requires significant innovation on two fronts: the content that we offer and the delivery platforms that we use to bring it to learners.

In my next blog post, I’ll talk about how Richardson is developing the next generation of sales training content, and taking a scientifically-based approach to developing a broad range of modalities, learning paths, and integrated measurements. We’ll also discuss how adaptive learning, video, and cloud-based mobile solutions can be paired with skill-based teaching and coaching to deliver meaningful blended-learning experiences that sustain meaningful and measurable behavior change for sales professionals.

For more information about adapting your approach to sales training to engage a multi-generational audience download our complimentary white paper: The Future of Sales Training: Innovation for a Salesforce in Transition  or contact us at info@richardson.com.

The post The Future of Sales Training: Innovation for a Salesforce in Transition appeared first on Richardson Sales Training and Enablement Blog.

Telecommuters might feel guilty or ungrateful admitting it, but let’s be honest: We often miss the office. Even the too-talkative, too-messy, or too-cutthroat colleagues you willed yourself to ignore when they sat near you can seem endearing when you’re toiling away to the ticktock of your kitchen clock.

I’ve been telecommuting for almost 15 years. Sometimes it’s been across oceans and time zones (we are a military family), and sometimes it’s been across town (the office was short on space; I was a slave to my children’s schedules; the whole operation was virtual). At this point in my career as a freelance writer-editor and consultant, I’ve worked for multinational corporations, international development banks, associations, and nonprofits. I’ve identified one constant across this long-distance livelihood: No matter how satisfying the to-do list — or how much of an introvert you think you are — telecommuting leaves you craving company.

Here’s my advice. I don’t always follow it, but I’m happier when I do.

Use the time you save on commuting to read a good book. Most people read on the subway — I did, when I desked it in a downtown Washington, DC office for 10 years. Now that I’m based at home, I give myself half an hour at 8 AM and 5 PM to pick up my paperback. Whatever I absorb usually worms its way into my work, bringing a fresh perspective to the day’s writing.  Right now I’m halfway through The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Stephen Greenblatt. Its story of a bibliomaniac who unearths an ancient poem, cracking opening the cultural door to the Renaissance, has inspired me with a creative way to write about a risk capital project that’s due later this week. Really.

Get out of the house at least once a day. Just as General Stanley McChrystal recommends that you make your bed as soon as you wake up — so that no matter how crappy your day is, you’ve achieved at least one thing — getting out of the house forces a feeling of accomplishment. Walk around the neighborhood, go to the post office or dry cleaner, deliver a stack of old magazines to a hospital waiting room. Make up an errand if you have to. There’s one caveat: Resist the urge to waste $5 at Starbucks, because it will become a habit. You can dictate how long you’ll be away from your work based on deadlines, but even as little as 10 minutes meeting some tangible non-work-related goal can anchor you. You don’t have to make your bed unless doing it will keep you from crawling back in.

Don’t make a work-together “date” just because the other person is also a remote employee. Remember the roommate from hell? The one you were randomly paired with in college based on nothing but a shared birth year? (If you didn’t have one, you can borrow mine, who was obsessed with sheetrock knives.) Meeting up with other work-from-homers to “keep each other company” is like that. If you don’t already like the person typing away across the tiny cafe table, you’re not going to bond just because both of you are fleeing daytime doldrums. Eventually, the sound of their fingers hitting the keys will make you want to grab the nearest fork and stab it through their hand. You will long to leave, but you paid too much for that stupid cappuccino.

Make someone else happy. I used to have a picture tacked up on my wall: A cartoon turtle falling from a ceiling, presumably to its death, as it says, “Wheeee, I’m flying!” The caption seemed to be urging the born pessimists among us to look on the bright side of every situation (though it’s not clear why the turtle was on the ceiling in the first place). I try to remember this during the most desperate time of the day, usually around 2 PM. My eyes are desert-dry and stinging from staring at the computer screen; my tush is numb from not moving for hours. I’m on the verge of looking up old boyfriends on Facebook or binging on the year-old, rock-hard brownies at the bottom of the freezer. So here’s what I do instead: I call my 98-year-old grandmother. Because I know it will make her happy. As I hang up the phone, a pinprick of light pokes through my mood. I squeeze Refresh into both eyes, close Facebook (again), and get back to work.

Repeat “That’s what the money is for!” My favorite scene in Mad Men is when Peggy complains about not being appreciated for her sparkling copy, and Don, her boss, replies, “That’s what the money is for!” Yes, being appreciated is nice, but the point of work is to get paid. It’s an inarguable fact. Working from home means that no colleague will see how long it took you to rewrite someone else’s incoherent report, will hear how suavely you navigated the stormy conference call, or will understand the depth of the research you conducted so a client could grasp a technical concept as easily as an expert. No one will appreciate you, but someone sure will be glad to get your finished work in hand. And you’ll get a paycheck delivered to the same home where you’re still unshowered and wearing pajamas.

Exercise. My treadmill is the best “work-life balance” investment I’ve ever made. Weather be damned; I’m on it every day. I’m not talking about exercise for weight loss, though that might be a great side benefit. I’m talking about exercise for sanity and productivity — making an effort so taxing that it wipes your mind clean. You can then repopulate your brain with problems and hassles that, with a new perspective, might be solved in a fresh way. This is exercise that allows you to think of nothing except what you are doing at that very moment, that has you sweating through your shirt, that leaves you exhausted and euphoric. The exhaustion won’t last, but the euphoria will, and it will see you through the rest of your solitary workday.

When all else fails, remember Maverick. I know a Navy pilot — let’s call him Maverick — who deployed to an aircraft carrier for eight months during the Iraq War. If you’ve never seen anyone land a plane on a carrier in the dead of night, be assured that it’s terrifying. But flying missions in war, even landing in darkness, was a pleasure for Maverick compared to the abuse he suffered under a power-hungry boss. Once, when the boss summoned Maverick to his stateroom at 5 AM to scream about some perceived misdeed, the boss ended the meeting by throwing his beige, 1960s-era rotary phone at Maverick’s head.  (It missed.) Everything about this story comforts me when I’m hunched over my laptop feeling sorry for myself: I’m not landing a jet on an aircraft carrier at night, during a war. I’m not working at 5 AM. I’m not ducking a phone wielded by a madman whose judgment it would be treasonous to question.

Speaking of phones, I need to go call my grandmother.

It's an awful experience when an airline loses your luggage, and it happens to hundreds of passengers every single day.

Thankfully, the US Department of Transportation has started laying down the law on what should happen when you arrive somewhere and your baggage doesn’t.

Unfortunately, this still varies wildly depending on each airline and each specific situation.

To help you navigate these tricky waters, we've compiled everything you need to know for when your luggage gets lost.

If your luggage is damaged, get the airline to pay for repairs

If a bag is torn, missing a wheel, or in any way damaged, the airline should pay for repairs. If it's beyond help, the airline will pay you its depreciated value. Same goes for anything inside that's been damaged, though you'll have to prove that you didn't pack the damaged goods inadequately, especially if the outside of the suitcase is fine.

If your bag is delayed, report it as lost ASAP

Most "lost" bags are only delayed, as airlines have increasingly sophisticated systems of tracking them down, and can usually do so within a few hours. Chances are, your bags simply got on the wrong flight.

However, you still want a paper trail. Even if airline personnel has located your luggage and say it's on the next flight, ask them to file a report. You can give them your baggage claim tags, just make sure to get a copy of the report. Also make sure to get a phone number so that you can follow up/pester someone just in case.

Pro tip: take a photo of your luggage before you depart: it'll be more effective than describing your black suitcase.

Check the back of your ticket for maximum claims

Certain airlines have a maximum claim they'll allow, but you can usually find that on the back of your ticket. This means that if they have a maximum claim of $200, you might want to keep your brand new iPad in your carry-on, or buy "excess valuation."

 

Get ready to negotiate

Generally, you're entitled to getting back "reasonable expenses" incurred while luggage-less, though what you consider reasonable might not be in line with what the airline considers reasonable. This is when you need to flex your negotiation muscles.

Back in the day, airlines would have you begging for enough cash to buy yourself a toothbrush, but since the DOTs 2009 regulation, domestic airlines can no longer make up ambiguous figures to pawn you off with, but need to cover "all reasonable, actual and verifiable expenses related to baggage loss, damage or delay," so keep your receipts. Today, the per passenger maximum is $3,500 for for domestic flights.

Realistically, you will only get that amount if it's your wedding day and they lost your dress (though why did you pack that?!), but in theory, it means that if you need more than the, say, $50 they're offering you, you can probably eke out more just by asking and citing the DOT’s decree. And if that doesn't work, file a complaint with the DOT.

International flights are a different ballgame

International round trips that start in the US, one-way trips between the US and international destinations, and international round trips have different limits, which are set by the Montreal Convention. Currently that limit is 1,131 Special Drawing Rights (an international type of monetary reserve currency), which is roughly $1,800.

Get reimbursed for your checked baggage fee

Whether you actually get reimbursed depends on the airline, but asking to get reimbursed for the outrageous fee you paid for the privilege of having your bag lost can't hurt.

Don't assume that your delayed luggage will be delivered to you for free

Ask the airline first; negotiate if need be.

 

If sports equipment is lost, get the airline to cover your rentals

If you've arrived in Vail without your skis, most airlines are amenable to covering the cost of rentals.

If your luggage is lost lost, set a claim

Ok, so your bag is really lost (according to the DOT’s latest Air Travel Consumer Report, there’s only 2.9 reports of mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers, and that includes stolen, damaged and delayed luggage, so your chances of it being lost are slim — generally estimated at less than 2%), which means it's time to set a claim. The airline will do everything it can to find your bag and avoid having to pay out, but once it declares your stuff officially gone, they have to reimburse you for it. Basically, setting a claim involves filling out a claim form and explaining in detail what was in the bag.

Know that you will never get full prices on your things

Airlines will only pay depreciated values for things, so unless you can prove that something you lost is brand new, they'll only pay you a fraction of its value. The same goes for reimbursing you for clothes or anything bought while your luggage was temporarily lost — since they assume you will wear items again in the future they won't pay the full price.

Don't ask for too much

If airlines feel like you're exaggerating, or worse, lying, they might deny your claim entirely. They're also prone to asking for receipts or other documentation, so unless you're a hoarder with every receipt for everything you've ever bought, get ready to haggle with the airline on what your stuff is actually worth.

Check your home insurance and credit cards

Some homeowner's or renter's insurances will cover losses that occurred outside of your home. In a similar vein, some credit cards offer flight insurance or supplemental baggage coverage, which are often automatically applied when you buy a ticket with that card.  

Be patient

It can take airlines anywhere from a few hours to a month to locate your bag, and another four weeks to three months to reimburse you. In some cases, they’ll offer you travel vouchers worth more than the cash they owe you, but you should make sure those aren’t constrained by restrictions and blackout dates.

Join the conversation about this story »

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It doesn’t matter if you are in retail selling to consumers, or in a business that sells to other businesses, it is virtually impossible to create customer loyalty by being the lowest price provider.

Consider this. Low price shoppers are loyal to their wallets and purses, not to the business. As soon as these price-conscious customers find a retailer or any other type of business or vendor with a lower price than the one they have been doing business with, they will move. It’s all about dollars. The retail industry has trained consumers to think that way.

Some businesses have a loyalty or membership card that offers deeper discounts, and you would think that is a way to grab some loyalty. But, that only lasts until a competitor matches the discount programs. You see, if it’s easy to copy what you are doing, then others will eventually copy it.

So, I thought about how a retailer – or any business for that matter – could create some loyalty and still be a low price provider. One way might be through having some exclusivity of a line of merchandise that other low-price retailers might not have access to. The combination of a low price with exclusive merchandise can work.

For any type of business, an emotional connection between the customer and the company can create loyalty. It can be a person or team at a company or store. Or, maybe there is a community project or charity that the business affiliates with that can build a connection beyond price with a customer. Yet notice that both of these are trying to move away from price being the sole reason a customer does business with a company. These types of connections make price less relevant.

Of course I can always preach customer service as the way to attract customers and make them loyal. But, that is much more difficult if the company is focused on low pricing as a strategy. It doesn’t mean you can’t have friendly and even helpful service. It’s just harder to do so while keeping prices low.

So, rather than have a low price strategy, consider a competitive price strategy. A bit higher than the low price keeps you in the game, provided you deliver a better level of service or an amenity that the competition doesn’t offer. In other words, you deliver value. A competitive price, not necessarily the lowest price, combined with good service is a winning combination that can help you win the competitive game of business. Just remember, that if you choose to compete primarily on price, be sure to always be the lowest price, or be prepared to lose customers.

LinkedIn is in your face.

So much so that Jeff Weiner recently said he’s sorry.

Sorry for the weekly onslaught of connection requests in your inbox sucking your precious time into a social media wind tunnel.

Sorry like a James Dean character – he’s the problem, not you.

Like Most Job Seekers, You’re Over It.

LinkedIn can be a mysterious and somewhat intimidating platform.

Despite it’s apparent benefits, it remains quite complex to figure out.

Sure, you can click around, request connections, like posts, join groups and share content, but it’s hard to see how the sum of all that activity produces noticeable ROI for your career.

Besides, you’ve got better things to do than cultivate a LinkedIn network…right?

Don’t Be So Sure.

Like most rebels, LinkedIn’s value is still misunderstood. Even the Onion did a spoof on how baffling the concept is.

A 2015 Forbes study revealed that CEOs were the last demographic to hop on the social media bandwagon. Now, according to the same study, LinkedIn is their social network of choice.

Which means the race is on. Some people will figure it out first and will use it to get miles ahead of the pack. Others will play catch-up and will wish that they jumped on the opportunity when rewards were substantial.

The only real question is – where do you want to be?

How To Start.

Starting is rarely as hard as it looks.

Truth be told, the philosophy behind effective online networking is remarkably similar to that of in-person networking:

• be generous
• be helpful
• build win-win relationships
• connect with other outstanding people (don’t just connect for the sake of collecting connections)
• don’t be fake
• don’t be generic (no cookie-cutter approaches)
• don’t pretend that you care (instead, connect with people whose success you can see yourself caring about)
• be remarkable (that is, worthy of a remark)

Are You, In Fact, Remarkable?

Here’s where it gets a little tricky.

Your personal brand is not only a function of what you say about yourself.

To a much larger extent, it’s what your network says about you. And that, in turn, is a function of how remarkable you are at every touchpoint with your brand (multiplied by the number of touchpoints).

Which is why the most successful networking leaders – and people with strongest personal brands – don’t just collect connections.

They craft the next chapter in their brand story.

And if you also choose to build your network with such care and precision, it’s a no brainer to realise that LinkedIn is an incredible brand vehicle – because it allows you to exponentially scale the number of touchpoints with your brand (while having full control over their remark-ability).

What Is Your Purpose?

Before you log on to the platform again, ask yourself: What do you want to be known for?

Doing this will give strategic context to all your LinkedIn activity. It will focus your efforts and save you mountains of time.

It’s also a vital step for answering that other nagging question: How do you ensure that the time you spend on LinkedIn produces ROI?

What’s the best way to increase conversions? Apart from basic usability fixes, aligning your messaging and design with your users’ motivations is a good bet.

Problem is, discovering user motivations is one of those things that is much easier said than done.

There are, however, research techniques that purport to do just that.

Empathic design is one such technique, an underutilized facet of qualitative research.

It can do wonders in discovering brand perceptions and user motivations and to tease out some of the unconscious factors that go into consumer decision making.

What is Empathic Design?

According to Wikipedia, empathic design is “a user-centered design approach that pays attention to the user’s feelings toward a product.”

In the simplest sense, then, empathic design is a function of user-centered design – which is defined by Wikipedia as “a framework of processes (not restricted to interfaces or technologies) in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process.”

In practice, however, empathic design seeks to identify latent customer needs in order to create products or messaging that customers didn’t even know they wanted. It tries to tease out some of the subconscious desires that customers would normally have difficulty envisioning or articulating, as well as to align branding and design with those subconscious desires to create more motivation to purchase.

What we call “Empathic Design” is a bit different than the Wikipedia definition, in that it is an actual research process as opposed to more of a philosophy. What we do is use qualitative surveys as well as observation to create a piece of formative research known as a Limbic Map®:

Image Source

You may recognize this map as part of a UX research strategy popularized by André Morys from KonversionKraft (or before that as research from Hans-Georg Häusel). It’s actually a technique developed by German firm, Nymphenburg Group.

It maps emotions based on three categories:

• Stimulant
• Dominance
• Balance

“Stimulant” includes playful emotions like creativity, curiousness, fun, pleasure and humor. According to Sirja Sulakatko, “these emotions are vital for growing from an infant to an adult. When a person has grown-up, they play an important role in discovering new things.”

“Dominance” involves order and discipline but also attaining status or position over others. It includes words like power, pride, honor, ambition, and logic.

“Balance” includes security related terms like trust, friendship, loyalty, and home.

Why these particular values? Well, according to the Nymphenburg Group, “the rough assignment of these emotional values to certain fields was undertaken by qualified psychologists. Their distribution and relationship are based on empirical data.”

The Seven Limbic® types

In addition, based on where customers identify themselves on this map, there are seven Limbic® types (taken from Nyphemburg’s white paper on the technique):

• Harmonizers – very family-oriented, emotionally led and tend to avoid risks. They go for brands which signal positive emotions and trustworthiness.
• Traditionalists – usually lead a modest lifestyle and are skeptical of new things, risks, spontaneity and relaxed attitudes. They expect brands to be “safe” and trustworthy.
• Bon vivants – free-spending, money is no object types. They enjoy shopping and follow the latest fashion trends. They’re very event and experience oriented people.
• Disciplined – differ from traditionalists in that they do not necessarily place emphasis on tried and trusted products, but are attracted by the straightforward and uncomplicated. They like guaranteed quality and good price/benefit ratio.
• Hedonists – enjoy everything that highlights their body or personality, or places them in the limelight, including flaunting brand labels. They tend to be ambitious and creative. They gravitate towards impulsive buys, usually towards expensive products.
• Performers – assertive, highly ambitious, ready to take on responsibility and more rational than emotional. They value exclusivity and prestigious brands, rejecting cheap brands.
• Adventurers – love nonconformity, spontaneity and leadership. They are attracted by risks, novelties, fashion, attractive brands offering added value or performance attributes.

Based on this research strategy, we’ve created our own map for our Empathic Design strategy:

How the Technique Actually Works

What you’re looking for are the implicit reasons people use your product. With this knowledge, you can better design and position your product to align with their emotions and motivations.

Tactically, this can be done in a few ways. Mainly, you’re going to want to a gather a decent sample of people who have bought from you before (generally, we like repeat customers). You then give them a Limbic Map® and ask them:

When you are shopping for [Product Name], pick the top 3 words that BEST describe what you associate with the product.

With an adequate sample (we generally recommend at least 100), your heat map begins to illuminate certain emotions and motivations to which you can play in your design and copy.

You can also do this type of research for broader branding purposes, such as crafting advertising messages and positioning yourself in relation to competitors. All you do is change one word here:

Considering your experience with [brand name], what words do you MOST associate with [brand name]?

This question is also useful for tracking your brand over time, and especially if you try any drastic changes, like site redesigns or positioning shifts. It is also widely applicable for product packaging with physical goods.

Because of its formative nature, empathic design can be used in product innovation and development as well. Wikipedia puts it well:

“…in empathic design techniques, users are almost as involved in product design as designers and engineers. Therefore, such technique, when used effectively, can achieve breakthrough designs in potentially shorter product development cycles.

To achieve this, they caution that observation group should consist of several others than simply designers and engineers, including trained anthropologists and/or ethnographers”

One interesting thing about empathic design is that it is formative instead of summative:

• Formative research is exploratory. It’s done at the start of a design project to guide the process.
• Summative research is done at the end and is used to determine its success.

A/B testing, and analytics in general, are summative, meaning they are used at the end of something to tell you if it worked or not. When you use something like empathic design, or if you user test your prototypes (to give another example), these techniques are formative, and they work wonderfully in conjunction with summative analysis.

Image Source

Empathic Design in Action: How Is It Used?

According to the of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values, values refer to desirable goals that motivate action.

If we know that our most loyal customers have chosen individualism to describe the product the most it infers that they are pursuing their goal towards individualism and freedom with the product.

When we know the desire we can start finding ways to communicate it with copy, design and test if it has similar emotional effect on random people and if clearer message attracts more loyal customers.

Take the answers and design variations based on the reasons people are motivated to buy. For instance, if you have a pair of shoes, and people’s answers cluster around quality/function, individuality/rebellion , and style/fashion, you create variations that attempt to elicit each of these emotions.

This case study was outlined by André Morys of KonversionKraft in ConversionXL Institute. They found that answers clustered around three primary values – style, differentiation, and quality. So they treated each of the three as their own hypothesis and designed variations based on each of them:

Then you analyze the goal metrics and see which version works best.

As you can see, there’s a ton of room for creativity in terms of execution here. Just because you know now that your audience buys for “power,” for instance, doesn’t tell you exactly how to convey that.

But what happens, is we look at the distribution of those who associate the brand/product with “power,” and then try to demonstrate those traits.

For instance, power values emphasize attaining or preserving a dominant position within the more general social system.

Goals for this value tend to be achieving social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources.

So how can we portray that in our variation? It could suggest that customers are open to loud and aggressive sales. Perhaps that the design can be more dominant/powerful, which could include highly contrasting colors with dark reds and black.

Then we test designs based on that, as well as designs based on other values that received high distributions of answers.

So empathic design just gives you a starting point. A quality like “power” is open to the interpretation of designers, so from there on it’s iterative testing and optimization.

According to Unbounce, summing up Morys’ strategy, “you can validate your assumptions in two different ways – one qualitative and the other quantitative:

• Gut check your designs with user testing. Show volunteers your landing page design and ask them which of the values on the Limbic Map® comes to mind first. Make changes to the design and copy until they point to the one you were aiming for.
• A/B test different designs with your target audience and let the data speak for itself.”

Or you can do both, which is probably for the best.

Limitations of Empathic Design

What are the limitations?

Of course, this only tells brand associations, and not whether it is effective or useful.

Perhaps, although they associate with “independence” a design that portrays “safety” would be more more effective? Volition is a tricky beast, and even though someone says they associate a product with a certain word, does not mean that they actually do unconsciously. But like all qualitative data, it’s more of a guiding hand than it is a strict rule.

The insights you gain by mapping associations onto a Limbic Map® go as far as you test them, quantitatively, using controlled experiments. Similar to eye-tracking or user testing, or any other qualitative indicator, you still have to implement the variation (and there could be a million different ways to execute), but the qualitative insight is simply giving you evidence to support a given hypothesis.

It’s up to you, then, to explore new experiences given that direction. Despite any limitations of this survey and framework, I like to think of that George E.P Box quote, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.”

And this one can certainly be useful.

Conclusion

When it comes to A/B testing a product page, creating a promotional video for your product, measuring your brand perception over time, or benchmarking against competitors, empathic design can be a useful tool for your arsenal.

By mapping out user emotions and motivations on a Limbic Map®, you can get a better idea of what drives their decision making regarding your specific product or brand. From there, you can better develop A/B test hypotheses to explore.

I love the emerging focus on Account Based Everything. The principles of account based sales and marketing are fantastic–actually taking me back to my foundations in selling, where everything we did was account based.

Since the terminology around Account Based Everything changes with every person who talks about it, let me outline what I think it is.

• An intense focus on the customer, specifically on an account by account basis.
• Targeting specific accounts/customers based on our ability to solve their problems and the potential we might have with the account over time.
• Understanding the strategies, markets, business drivers of the account. Understanding the structure, priorities, key goals/metrics in the account.
• Developing strategies about how we can create the greatest value for the account and the functions we work with in the account.
• Tailoring our marketing, messaging, and engagement strategies specifically to the account. Focusing on their issues, priorities, and the things that are most critical to them.
• Complimenting that, tailoring our sales coverage, engagement, and strategies to what’s most effective with the account.

I’ll stop here, I’m sure I’ve missed some things, but I think I’ve captured the major ideas.

Account Based Everything is important because it enables us to maximize our share of account (remember, I firmly believe in our God-given right to 100% share of account.). It enables us to maximize both short and long term potential with the account, making us more important through both the value we create and through strategies that are specific to them.

Usually, Account Based Everything is presented in a contrasting it to everything else we do in sales. Often, I read things like, “Account Based Everything is different from traditional approaches, because of the specific focus on the account, their priorities, and how we can create value for them. Traditional marketing an sales approaches are much more general and less focused or specific…..”

Hmmmm…..

This is where I have the disconnect. It’s not about Account Based Everything, I think it’s very powerful and important in moving forward with our engagement strategies. It’s just that, shouldn’t we be doing the same thing in all our marketing and sales approaches?

The tools and technologies enable us to be very specific and very focused and very personalized in each interaction with our customers. So why are the principles of Account Based Everything so new and important?

We have the capability of segmenting 100% of our customers and prospects in very rich ways. By industry, by markets they serve, by positioning in the markets, by general strategies/priorities, by solution fit, by past business/relationships, by persona, and many other ways. We can focus our communications and messaging in very specific ways to whatever set of groups we want.

We can personalize those messages to an individual, in a certain role, in a certain type of company, in a certain type of industry, serving certain markets, facing these problems…….

But it’s taken the emergence of Account Based Everything to get marketing and sales people to recognize and start executing this.

What’s kept us and continues to keep us from doing this with all our customers and prospects?

Great consumer product companies have been doing this at an individual level, with millions to tens of millions of people. Google, Facebook, and many other social platforms have been tailoring our experience on their platforms for some time. Last night, my wife and I were sitting next to each other, catching up on things in Facebook. I looked onto her screen, and what she was seeing was very different than what I was seeing.

But for some reason, while we have had the capability of being very focused in how we engage B2B customers for years, we choose not to do so. Over 70% of email marketing has no or limited targeting.

We spend millions on developing very targeted content, yet when we do our outreach, we send the same messages to everyone.

My issue isn’t Account Based Everything. It’s fantastic so many have suddenly recognized the importance of focusing on the customer, tailoring our engagement strategies to specific accounts.

My issue is, why aren’t we doing similar things with everyone else?

It seems insane to be investing in tools and technologies that enable us to do some level of tailoring, customization, and personalization with every customer and not be exploiting it. We know these things are important in engaging our customers, yet we elect not to use the capabilities in platforms we are already paying for.

What am I missing?

Some things flat-out haven‘t aged well — like the first food pyramid, those ad campaigns from the ’50s where doctors endorsed cigarette brands, and roughly 90% of comedies from the '80s (to name a few).

It's a trend that has a place in virtually every facet of life, and sales is no exception — a lot of once-popular sales tactics have aged more like milk than wine, and it serves you to know which of those techniques are worth kicking to the curb.

To help you get there, we connected with some sales leaders for their takes on some outdated sales tactics you need to ditch. Let's see what they had to say.

6 Old-School Sales Tactics You Need to Ditch

1. Pushing Artificial Urgency

Juliet Dreamhunter, Founder and AI Strategist at Juliety, says, "Definitely ditch those phony ‘20 minutes left!’ countdown timers on your landing page. They're a total turn-off — everyone sees through the trick, and it makes you seem desperate rather than appealing. These fake deadlines undermine trust with potential customers, who may start wondering what else about your offer is less than genuine.

“If you've got a genuinely time-limited offer, a timer can be effective. But those fake 'urgency' tactics? They erode trust with your customers way faster than they'll get you sales. Instead, focus on building genuine value and showing why your product or service is worth their consideration.”

2. Leaving Next Steps Vague at the End of a Sales Meeting

Amar Ghose, CEO of ZenMaid, says, "One outdated tactic I‘ve seen is leaving next steps vague at the end of a sales meeting. You know, like saying, ’I‘ll call you on Monday at 11 a.m. to follow up.’ This method isn‘t reliable enough to make sure your potential client remembers the call — and you don’t want to risk losing a sale.

“Instead of just verbally agreeing on a follow-up, scheduling the next meeting right away is much more effective. Use an online calendar or send an email invite. This way, you ensure it's locked in your prospect's schedule before you finish your current conversation.”

3. High-Pressure Closes

Syed Balkhi, Founder of WPBeginner, says, "One sales practice that‘s out of date and should be avoided is high-pressure closes. It’s surprising to see how many businesses still do this, even though it's turning customers away at record rates. A recent example that comes to mind is when I was in the market for a new gym. I called a well-known gym one time and asked for their pricing structure.

"I did not make contact again after that first call because it was overpriced. Despite this, they sent me three emails, called five times, and even sent me text messages over the following month — trying to get me to sign up after I told them I wasn't interested. This type of aggressive approach screams desperation and makes people not want to associate with you or your business.

“My advice is to focus on building authentic relationships with prospects by offering them something helpful or valuable without asking for anything in return. If they are interested, they will stick around and give you an opportunity to talk about your solution without you needing to borderline harass them.”

4. Leaning Too Heavily on Product Demos

Paw Vej, Chief Operating Officer of Financer.com, says, "First of all, you should avoid depending on product demonstrations to seal the deal. In the '80s, product demos were a big deal, particularly in the boardroom, where leads gathered the information they needed. But that was over three decades ago, and times have evolved.

"With the advent of the internet, leads often have the information they need beforehand, making in-person product demos less relevant. While you don't need to completely discard product demos, consider leveraging the internet for online demos. This approach is less disruptive to the busy schedules of potential leads.

“Remember, your product demo isn't the sole factor in successful pitching. Given the competitive market, it's likely you're not the only one selling your product, so you need to distinguish yourself in other ways.”

5. Over-Reliance on Case Studies

Patrick Beltran, Marketing Director at Ardoz Digital, says, "Avoid over-reliance on case studies. Although case studies are a powerful tool to showcase credibility and social proof, sellers often utilize them prematurely, which is a mistake and not effective.

"Case studies effectively highlight the value you can offer, but only after you’ve fully understood how your product or service addresses the problem. They should be employed to reinforce value, not to manage objections at the start of the sales process or to do the selling for you. Introducing them too early means you lack sufficient knowledge about the prospect or their business to present a relatable case study.

“You need to first understand their needs and challenges and clarify how your solution can be valuable. Only then is it appropriate to introduce a case study. Representatives should bring in case studies later in the sales process to back up what they’ve already conveyed about the value of their solution. Case studies remain valid as sales tools, but they shouldn’t be the only method used.”

6. Hard and Impersonal Selling

Bhavik Sarkhedi, Growth Head and CMO of Content Whale, says, "From my experience, hard-selling is a tactic that‘s definitely past its prime. Today’s consumers are more informed and skeptical than ever, making the aggressive push to close a deal more off-putting than effective.

"Similarly, relying solely on cold-calling without any prior research or personalized approach can lead to high rejection rates. It's a method that not only frustrates potential customers but also wastes valuable time that could be better spent on more targeted, relationship-building strategies.

“Additionally, the overuse of scripted pitches without flexibility or genuine engagement fails to connect with prospects on a personal level, making it hard to establish trust. In today's sales environment, adopting a more consultative, personalized approach and leveraging insights and data to guide conversations are key to resonating with modern buyers.”

Sales is ever-evolving, and if you want to work as effectively as possible, you need to be too. That means staying on top of which trends and tactics to adopt and which ones to leave behind. Hopefully, the insight in this article has helped you with the latter — and your sales game is leaner, more modern, and smarter as a result.

 

Paying attention. Being fully present. Actively listening. Staying in the moment. It matters a lot when you’re meeting with a buyer.

As with any conversation, a seller should stay in the moment. Staying in the moment means paying attention to right here, right now. It means giving full attention to the conversation, the speaker, the setting and the connection.

Staying in the moment is impossible unless a seller eliminates all distractions and focuses completely on the buyer. This includes eliminating intrusive mental distractions about closing the sale, the next appointment, the looming quota, the possible objection the buyer may offer, and so on. It means turning off the cell phone and dedicating time and attention to the buyer (who expects no less).

Staying in the moment applies for both in-person and telephone meetings. Sellers who meet by phone may be surprised to learn buyers are extremely adept at identifying when a seller is “multi-tasking” instead of focusing on the phone conversation. Even the most mindless occupations like playing an online game during a phone call (yep, some sellers really do that!) prevent a seller from staying in the moment.

Why does staying in the moment matter so much?

In addition to being a professional courtesy and part of a seller’s personal brand, staying in the moment enables a seller to pick up on important clues offered by the buyer.

Distracted sellers miss all sorts of signals. Sometimes buyers’ signals are subtle, like leaning in and paying closer attention. Sometimes the signals are spoken, like a question indicating genuine interest. Sometimes the signals are more in how something is said rather than being in the words themselves – a more serious tone or an enthusiastic response, for example. A seller who is not in the moment could miss all sorts of buyer clues.

Missing buyer clues means missing sales opportunities. Simply dedicating your focus could earn you more sales. That’s why staying in the moment matters so much.

Next Steps:

• To learn more about DISCOVER Questions® and how to get connected in meaningful ways with your buyers, order your copy of this bestseller from Amazon.com
• When you need sales or management coaching, customized sales training, or a dynamic speaker call us at 408-779-PFPS or book an appointment with Deb.
• Check out these resources for sales managers and front line sellers. New webinars, infographics, research, podcasts and more added every month!

The award-winning CONNECT2Sell Blog is for professional sellers who believe, as we do, that Every Sale Starts with a Connection.

Deb Calvert, “DISCOVER Questions® Get You Connected” author and Top 50 Sales Influencer, is President of People First Productivity Solutions, a UC Berkeley instructor, and a former Sales/Training Director of a Fortune 500 media company. She speaks and writes about the Stop Selling & Start Leading movement and offers sales training, coaching and consulting as well as leadership development programs. She is certified as an executive and sales coach by the ICF and is a Certified Master of The Leadership Challenge®. Deb has worked in every sector and in 14 countries to build leadership capacity, team effectiveness and sales productivity with a “people first” approach.

 

The post Are You Staying in the Moment during Sales Calls? appeared first on People First.

Marketers seem to love using the term the “moment of truth,” or MOT (Marketers love acronyms too).

In 2005, in the Wall Street Journal, Procter & Gamble defined “The First Moment of Truth” as the three to seven seconds after a shopper first encounters a product on a store shelf. In 2011, Google defined the “Zero Moment of Truth” (loosely) as the moment you start learning about something you’re thinking of trying or buying on your web device of choice.

Today, I want to discuss another MOT. I don’t believe it matters what number you give it, but I do believe that any brand looking to convert prospects to customers with their website should consider this to be their most important moment. The moment occurs when somebody is on your website, interested in what you sell, and in need of answers. Call it “The Question Moment of Truth,” QMOT, if you like.

We’re talking about “convincing” a prospect to inquire and “converting” them into a buyer. So I was thinking: Who better to probe than Convince and Convert founder Jay Baer?

Jay agreed, and we had a fun 21-minute chat. Watch it here, read the highlights below, and join the conversation if you’d like.

Could Content Possibly Appease Everyone?

Barry: Do you think brands are responding well enough to this moment when somebody gets to your website?

Jay: No, I don’t, not generally speaking. I feel like too many organizations still feel like there’s a reason for somebody to come to their site other than if they have a question or have a problem.

I think a lot of brands still believe they are somehow competing successfully against Facebook for attention. (highlight to tweet) Somehow going to their website is going to be valuable entertainment. And so we are at a point, a transition phase, where business websites are going to become less, not more—and should—because nobody wants to go to your website unless they have a very specific task in mind.

Barry: I think a lot of marketers in the generation of content marketing think the panacea for solving their customers’ problems is publishing. Certainly you and I believe in the idea.

But does content help convert in each and every case when people come to your website?

Jay: Definitely not. Just because content exists doesn’t mean anything. Just because somebody comes to your website doesn’t mean anything, it does you no actual good, unless the person who comes to your website then takes a subsequent action, which either takes them closer to a purchase or makes a purchase.

So this idea that you should just make more content because you should make more content is a fool’s errand, and is also really expensive. Every single year three out of four marketers say they’re making more content this year than ever before. Eventually not all of that content can succeed, and a lot of it is people just running in place.

Does Customer Experience Trump Price?

I presented Jay with a quote from McKenzie & Company, a global consulting firm:

70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated.

Barry: Your book, Hug Your Haters, gets into the buying experience, and it’s largely about customer service. Do you concur with that idea?

Jay: Absolutely. In fact, there’s other research that says that by 2020 customer experience will be more important than price in the buying decision.

People will pay more for a better experience. Now, that already happens in some businesses. You’ll pay more for a better hotel. You’ll pay more for a better restaurant. But the concept is that faced with an equivalent product and an equivalent price, the quality of experience will be the determining factor.

Every prospective customer has a set of expectations about how every interaction with a brand or business will go. Now, in many cases, they can’t tell you what they are, but they have them. The businesses that can exceed those expectations are the businesses that are going to win. And the businesses that consistently fail to meet those expectations are going to be the businesses that fail.

Barry: I just read something that says customers remember service a lot longer than the price. So a couple years later, we might be talking about the dealership that sold us the car, and we’re not going to remember the price, we are going to remember the service.

Jay: In Hug Your Haters, I cited research that shows customers who have a problem with a business and that problem is successfully resolved become more loyal to the business then customers who never had a problem.

It’s almost like the Stockholm syndrome. It’s like, “Okay, I’ve now fallen in love with my captor because we had this problem, and we fixed it together, and now we’re all in this together. And it creates this very important psychological trigger.

So what I think, because I’m Machiavellian, is, “What kind of problems can we create for customers that we know we can solve to create that effect and boost loyalty?” It’s a fascinating concept that problems can be a good thing—not a bad thing.

Is Digital Deep-Sixing Customer Service?

Barry: Do you think, in this age where that moment of truth is largely the e-commerce experience, that the move to digital marketing is making great customer service harder to come by?

Jay: Yes and no. It giveth, and it taketh away. Digital marketing creates digital customer service opportunities.

The bad news, as we talked about in the Hug Your Haters book, is that people tend to complain online more than they complain offline. Not as a percentage, but it’s just easier to complain online. It’s easier to complain in an app on a smartphone than it is to call or email.

So it is harder to deal with that volume in some cases, because businesses are typically not set up today to use Facebook or Twitter, what have you, as a primary source of customer service. So that can be a little bit difficult operationally.

The good news is that from an expense standpoint, it is manifestly less expensive to interact with a customer on Facebook, Twitter, and beyond than it is via phone or email.

Barry: Our friend Andy Crestodina says, “Where’s there’s traffic, there’s hope.” Does hope die when the visitor gets to your website, and they can’t find what they’re looking for?

Jay: Sure. And it’s also an incredible waste of money and time and effort. There are so many circumstances where organic search, paid search, organic social, paid social, email, banner ads, any sort of traffic generation gambits are completely wasted because either there is no landing page. You’re just dropping somebody off on the home page and saying, “Figure it out, man.”

Or there’s no funnel. You’re just saying, “Well, we have all these things on this website, and you can determine which things you appreciate.”

We tend to forget that websites are the only form of communication in the history of communication where every individual consumer of that content has to relearn how to navigate that content every time. Every website has different navigation, which is absurd on surface. Imagine if you went to a news stand and every magazine had a different page numbering scheme: this one’s all prime numbers; this one’s all odd number; this one goes back to front. You’d be like, “This is insane. Why don’t we fix this?”

But that’s exactly how websites work. And we do not focus enough on the fact that in one second, somebody should open your site, and they have to assess all their options and sort through your terrible navigation and your bad design and then click and hope that they get what they wanted. And then they don’t, and they get to go back, like this weird game of informational peekaboo.

Ultimately, other than graphics, which have gotten better of course, I don’t know that websites in general are any better or easier to use than they were fifteen years ago.

How About Offering Visitors a Panoply of Options?

I mentioned Bontact. The company makes a plugin enabling website hosts to offer visitors an instant dialogue via their preferred channel: chat, text, phone, or email.

Jay: It’s a great idea, because this idea that everybody has to chat us doesn’t make sense. Some people hate live chat, but some people love it, and this idea that everybody has to call us doesn’t makes sense because people don’t want to wait on hold.

People have different preferences for contact modalities, the same way that people have different preferences for content consumption, which is why if you’re creating content marketing, the best possible scenario is it’s not a video or an ebook, it’s a video and an ebook, and whatever else. Because some people want to consume video, and some want to read.

So what Bontact does is say, “Look, we’re going to give you a panoply of options, and you choose. We’re here for you however you pick. We’ve got you covered.” It’s brilliant, and more people should think that way.

Barry: Do you think having fast access to a customer service person actually moves the needle for online sellers?

Jay: Yes, if that is introduced at the right point in the funnel. If I have exhausted my self-serve information and I’m like, “Yeah, I’m pretty ready, I’ve got a couple questions left, and I can’t figure out how to answer them,” why don’t you just tell me the answer at that time? Then, for sure, talking to a person is way faster.

If it’s earlier in the funnel, though, and I’m not even sure you’re the right guys, you’re still in the consideration mindset, or I still have very big questions to get answered, then no, then it’s actually annoying.

What Bontact is talking about is the same the thing that happens at JCrew. You go to JCrew, and if you’re browsing around and you’ve got a pair of jeans in your hand and you’re looking at them kind of quizzically, somebody comes up to you and says, “Is that not your size? Can I help you find a different size?”

You’re like, “Wow that was awesome, thanks very much.” But when you walk in and the first thing they say when you’re only six inches in the door is, “Can I help you find something?,” you’re like, “Too soon, man.” I don’t know if you can help me find something.

So it’s all about timing: engaging that assist and offering the assist when the customer wants and needs that assist.

Barry: It is indeed a moment of truth, and it matters most what the customer is thinking and where they’re at. But it doesn’t seem like a very interesting response to say to somebody walking around with jeans in their hands, “We have a great ebook about how to size your pants.” Right?

Jay: Right, because all the effort is from the customer. It’s like, “We’re not going to tell you. You have to learn this yourself.” And some people prefer that, like, “Look, I want to read it myself, I don’t ever want to talk to a real person.” That’s the case in some circumstances. But I completely agree.

There is a great Seinfeld episode: George is calling to get movie times, and Kramer is on the other end of the call pretending to be Movie Phone. And at one point he says, “Why don’t you just tell them what time you want to go to the movie?”

And that’s how this is. Introduced at the right place in the funnel, you’re like, “Thank you, you’re here.” What’s annoying, though, is when it’s introduced too soon.

Does This Approach Make for Easy Market Research?

Finally, I asked Jay: When companies do offer a variety of communications channels to communicate with buyers and address their needs, are they underutilizing it as a market research opportunity?

Jay: Yeah, it’s frustrating for me that we have all this raw material lying around our companies—whether it’s chat transcripts, whether it’s emails, whether it’s phone call transcripts, whether it’s observations from sales people—our customers will tell us what to do and what they want, but we just don’t listen very hard. We keep that data in individual silos. We don’t analyze it.

Your current customers are the petri dish for your future success. We just don’t think of it that way. We’re so focused on customer acquisition that we don’t spend enough time thinking about customer retention, and certainly not enough time thinking about what our current customers can tell us about what we should offer in the future.

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The Three “Lies” That Plague B2B Businesses Today Are: 

1. Cold calling is dead.
2. 57 – 90% of the buying process is complete before a sales rep needs to get involved.
3. Marketing and sales are aligned 

Do you agree these are lies?

In late August I asked industry experts that same question and asked them to substantiate their response. The team of experts includes:

Ardath Albee, Marketing Interactions, CEO and Business Strategist

Dave Brock, Partners in EXCELLENCE, President

Deb Calvert, People First Productivity Solutions, President

Ginger Conlon, GingerConlon.com, Chief Editor of CustomerAlchemy.net

Matt Heinz, Heinz Marketing, President

Dave Kurlan, Kurlan & Associates, Inc., CEO

Dave Stein, Dave Stein, Inc., Principal

Ruth Stevens, eMarketing Strategy, President

Mike Weinberg, The New Sales Coach, Principal

 

Today we will take on the third and final of the three lies, that marketing and sales are aligned.

 

Dave Brock: “And “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”  Actually, this is an “it depends.” What it seems marketing and sales are doing is better defining the silo boundaries. Better defining MQL’s, SQL’s and ABC’s focuses us on the boundaries and how to better defend “Tag you’re it” mentality. It has little to do with alignment, or more importantly integration. In fact, alignment misdirects us, we should be looking at marketing sales integration. We have specialists in marketing and in sales, they need to figure out how to work, nimbly, together through the entire process with the most effective person/job doing their part at various phases of the customer journey. We need to think of integration like a basketball team, each player has their defined role, we practice plays, but work and adjust nimbly based on what it takes to win.”

 

Dave Stein: “If that were only true, there would be no such thing as sales enablement. Marketing should have two constituencies: External, as in marketing communications, and internal, as providing sales with EVERYTHING they need to be successful. I’ve been observing attempts to align sales and marketing for more than 20 years. Other than in a few cases, it just ain’t working.

 

Matt Heinz: “Some sales & marketing teams talk about being aligned, but in practice they are not.  They have different goals, different messages, different understandings of the buyer’s journey.  The handoff of prospects from marketing to sales is clunky at best (if it truly exists at all).  There are many reasons for this, but also just as many opportunities for these groups to finally get on the same page and operate more efficiently, productively and successfully moving forward.” Read these for more from Matt:

http://www.heinzmarketing.com/2015/07/a-sales-and-marketing-alignment-checklist/

http://www.heinzmarketing.com/2015/11/three-statistics-that-make-the-case-for-sales-and-marketing-alignment/

 

Dave Kurlan:  Marketing and sales are aligned like Kias and Mercedes are both cars. They both serve an audience – Kias the economy minded buyers and Mercedes the luxury minded buyers. Kias are for getting from point A to B.  Mercedes are for getting there in style. Marketing and sales both serve an audience.  Marketing serves sales, to generate new interest from new prospects.  Sales serves those prospects and their goal is to get their business. They only area in which alignment can be expected is in the messaging, the systems and the processes.

http://www.omghub.com/salesdevelopmentblog/tabid/5809/bid/107290/This-is-the-One-Thing-Missing-from-the-New-Way-of-Selling.aspx

 

Ginger Conlon: If only. Yes, some companies have figured out the magic formula for aligning marketing and sales--often through shared goals and variable compensation dependent on meeting those shared goals. But many companies still deal with marketing and sales teams that don't collaborate and may even be at odds, often due to priorities and goals that compete instead of align.

 

My take: In most organizations, marketing and sales are out of alignment – and, they won’t align if they are left to their own devices. I hear marketers say this all of the time: “My job is to get leads to sales. It is their job to qualify, nurture and close those leads.” From the other side of the aisle: “Most of the leads I get from marketing are of no value. I don’t have time to sort through dozens of tire kickers that are not even with qualified companies.”

Recent “advances” in enabling technology have just made things worse. In fact, marketing automation has made it possible to get more poor quality leads to sales faster than ever before.

There is a solution:

1. Get the right people in the room (not just sales & marketing) and create a common definition of a lead (what Brian Carroll calls a Universal Lead Definition.
2. Establish a Judicial Branch to make sure no lead is left behind. Establish what SiriusDecisions calls a demand waterfall: Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL’s) become Sales Accepted Leads (SAL) which become Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) and eventually closed / won business. There are benchmarks for each step. The key to this is to make sure leads are proactively rejected or accepted (between MQL and SAL). The Judicial Branch determines where the break down occurs (is it that the lead did not meet the agreed upon definition or because sales gave up on a lead for non-intuitive reasons – like “I called three times and they did not call me back so they must not have been a lead”.)

The truth? Well:

1. Cold calling is not dead.
2. 57 – 90% of the buying process is not complete before a sales rep needs to get involved.
3. Marketing and sales are not aligned

 

Reach out to me if you want to talk about how to fix problems in your company. 

All Sales are Not Equal

You might be surprised to learn that some purchases actually increase customer churn. After buying software, many customers discover that it’s not a good fit for their needs, which prompts them to cancel their subscriptions. With new revenue alone as the goal, a large number of companies waste significant time and money attracting and attempting to keep the wrong customers.

On the other hand, when your company appeals to customers whose needs more closely match your solutions, retention increases and costs decrease. That’s why defining, delivering, and communicating a clear value proposition is the first and most important step in achieving high customer loyalty.

Benefits of Focus

A company’s natural tendency is to appeal to everyone. Entrepreneurs dream big, believing all prospects can benefit from their new idea. Investors, anxious for a massive payday, often support the viewpoint, too. Marketing follows their lead by casting the widest possible net to generate leads, and salespeople sell as much as they can to whoever will buy. When it comes to markets, bigger and broader always seems to trump narrower and deeper.

But there’s a high cost to generalizing. Lack of crisp market focus causes developers to add irrelevant features to products and services, increasing complexity without good reason. Absent a distinctive target audience and a clear message, marketing spends more money to compensate for low response rates. The sales cycle gets longer and more expensive, too. Closing sales becomes difficult because there’s more competition and less differentiation. Meanwhile, the operations team must support a wider range of needs, reducing economies of scale. Facing slower growth and higher costs, executives must then make difficult choices about the road ahead. A lack of market clarity inevitably leads to wasted time, resources, and money, causing a perilous situation for the enterprise. .

Focus is the solution. Greater segment concentration yields faster revenue ramps and higher profitability, as well as higher customer loyalty:

• Context begets value. The more relevant your solution, the more your customer will perceive value and purchase from you. For example, a graphic designer will be more enthusiastic about a utility that makes her visual assets easier to archive, edit, and distribute than a vanilla application that simply stores her various files online. Customers find increased utility addressing more aspects of a particular problem than fewer aspects of a general problem.
• Trust precedes loyalty. When customer expectations for value and quality are clearly set and consistency met, trust grows. When you state explicit value rather than cite vague platitudes, and then follow through on your promises, your actions have significant impact. For example, if your company specifically promises to save a customer substantial time searching for visual content, the customer has more belief in you when she finds the promise realized. Customers are more loyal to suppliers they trust.
• Understanding promotes caring. The more you relate to customers in the terms they care about, the more the customer has in common with you and the stronger your relationship. For example, if the customer is a marketer who uses an application for sharing branded materials, your company’s marketing savvy would be a great match because you can speak her language. Greater shared understanding stimulates mutual appreciation and personal connection.

When your company is focused, your Customer Success team is more effective, too. When more of the “right” (and fewer of the “wrong”) customers gravitate to the firm, CSMs don’t waste time trying to “save” lost causes. CSMs can concentrate deeply on the application or the industry knowledge common to a group of customers, thereby adding more value and enhancing customer loyalty. In this scenario, departmental metrics even make more sense. Churn rates become more meaningful when they no longer include customers who never should have purchased in the first place.

Winning Value Propositions

Achieving laser focus requires some work, but the following step-by-step technique can help companies choose, deliver, and communicate compelling value[1]:

1. Decide who the company is (and is not) going after. Your starting point involves formally rejecting less attractive opportunities in order to double down on the more captivating ones. Nobody likes to hear or say the word “no,” but without market discipline, your company quickly falls into the trap of wanting to be all things to all people.
2. Make benefits explicit and relevant. For the chosen segment, formulate specific, measurable, end-result benefits customers will enjoy. Clarity is paramount. It’s best to state exactly how much faster, easier, more accurate, etc. in terms that are meaningful to target customers.
3. Articulate the costs and tradeoffs. Consider carefully what you’re asking customers to pay or give up. Doing so generates ideas to make changing to your SaaS software less traumatic for customers and prepares you to overcome objections in the sales process.
4. Deploy throughout the organization. If you state that your integration process saves the customer half the time it normally takes, make sure you can prove it. For example, higher professional services resource availability or more extensive data conversion tools may be strategies that help your company deliver its promise. Derive design specifications, process requirements, metrics, and all other day-to-day operations from your value propositions.

If you want to keep more customers, it is critical to begin by marketing and selling to the right ones. Sharp value propositions help you achieve greater focus, increase value, build relevance, and strengthen relationships. Refine yours and see the difference.

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[1] Lanning, M. and Phillips, L. “Building Market-Focused Organizations,” (Gemini Consulting White Paper, 1992).

 

Inside sales reps need to make a lot of friends. Their job depends on their ability to be gregarious, informed and likable, which is not always the easiest task.

It’s like trying to be the cool kid in high school. The words “try” and “cool” just don’t fit together. Sales people have a difficult task: Make people like them without appearing desperate. It’s got to be organic and natural, even if it takes practice.

When the “try” far outweighs the “success,” sales can take a sharp turn into the realm of stalking. No one likes a creepy sales paparazzi, badgering customers and skulking around leads instead of acting as a trusted friend and advisor. I’ve pulled together a few tips and tricks to avoid giving the wrong impression when wooing prospects.

1. Take genuine interest

Prowlers fiend interest to obtain relationships. Sales leaders ask real questions and uncover meaningful connections.

According to sales expert, Rick Roberge, “Casual conversation about the prospects convert. How did they start? Why did they start? What gets them up? What gets them down? What have they tried? What have they heard?” To help forge connections, Rick has compiled a list of 100 sales questions to ask to get meaningful information about a prospect’s circumstances.

An inside sales rep’s interest should go beyond their commission. Salespeople who take interest in the success of their customers become “cool” and “likeable” as a byproduct of their positive intent.

2. Be informed on what matters

There’s a line in the sand that separates the informed from the creepy. For some, that line may seem obscured by pressure to appear prepared. Research does benefit inside sales reps who want to craft a valuable use case. But it’s important that their research has a clear intention. Inside sales reps should research to become an informed resource, not a best friend with hearts on their binder.

Social selling expert Heather R Morgan puts it this way, “While it’s important to do your homework and research your sales prospects to understand how they think, letting them know you stalked them and know what they had for breakfast isn’t necessarily a plus. The best strategy is to leverage the information you learned in your sales prospecting to have relevant conversations that combine their pain points and desires with what your product or service can offer or solve for them. In short, you need to use your research to discover really targeted ways that you can help them even more, rather than just thinking about yourself.”

3. Act with consideration

A stalker demands center stage and lets their desire lead conversations. It’s an inconsiderate way to do business. Inside sales reps who want solid relationships need to make the prospect center stage. A good rapport is built on a lot of active listening.

Here is sales expert Barb Giamanco’s take, “Appropriate rapport will happen when your sales approach and messaging are focused on what the buyer cares about and NOT what you want to pitch or demo. This is the definition of rapport – “a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other’s feelings or ideas and communicate well.” What the buyer wants is for salespeople to demonstrate that they can help them solve their business problems. You don’t build rapport with someone you don’t know with a pitch or an offer to do a product demo. It is that simple.”

4. Know when to walk away

You can’t win them all, and that’s okay. It is important that inside sales reps know when to walk away. The old adage “don’t take no for an answer” is a formula for disaster. If it’s not a fit for the customer, you’ll end up doing your company and brand more harm than good. If they simply aren’t interested and you continue to press the topic, you’ve entered the threshold of stalker. Cut your losses and find a prospect that is a better fit. The more time you waste on a disinterested prospect; the more money you lose from neglecting potential buyers.

NewVoiceMedia CEO, Jonathan Gale, feels strongly that good company sales come from an honest and upfront approach. He says, “If you look at behavioral science studies, what all of us want, in any conversation around sales or service, is the bad news early and a positive end to the conversation. Often, we treat prospects as an SQL or an MQL or pre-pipe or discovery. And that dehumanization of the people that we are engaging with and looking to sell to creates all sorts of problems. For managers, are you encouraging your salespeople to get the reasons why you might not be the best supplier for a prospect out early in the conversation? Or have you set your team up to try and obfuscate that and push it back?”

Who better to talk to about Buyer Persona than the person who wrote the book, Buyer Personas!

I’ve read it twice, so I was super excited with this chance to talk with Adele.

WHAT IS IT?

It’s an example of the real buyer, an aggregate or composite of who you want to influence through your marketing efforts.

It’s about being able to understand what your buyers are thinking and caring about. When we engage in sales and marketing activities, we have an idea of what would be important to the buyer, and not just us.

DR: I think there is a lot of confusion around what a true buyer persona is versus what’s called a buyer profile. Can you clarify the difference?

AR: The key difference is that the buyer profile describes the person, and may go into varying degrees of depth around any of the attributes of that person. This can include psychographics, goals, priorities, concerns, education, and income levels for B2C marketing.

This is all well and good, but if you think about the purpose of a buyer persona, which is to help us to understand how our sales and marketing interactions should be designed, we start to see that this is insufficient. We’re missing the key element, which is the part of the buyer persona, which tells us how, when, and why buyers start to engage with the idea that they should sell whatever it is that we’re marketing. I wrote the book because I became deeply concerned that we were getting all of these buyer profiles, but people weren’t going to get enough value from them. So, it’s not a bad idea to have a buyer profile, but it’s a little tiny piece of what we need to know. The more important thing we need to do is really get into the mindset of the buyer during the time that they’re making the buying decision we want to influence.

DR: So, to get a true buyer persona, is basically a buyer profile, plus how they came to their decision- the journey they took.

AR: We think that there are five insights you have to have in addition to the buyer profile. Those insights, allow us to peek inside the mindset, or the expectation, that buyers have as they are going through this very specific decision that we want to market to them.

The remarkable part of this is that as a career marketer myself, I’ve sat in countless meetings, sort of reverse engineering the benefit statement based on the value, or maybe even the unique value of what we do. At the end of the day, we finally have something that we’re going to talk about. The problem with that is there is a missing piece of data in those rooms. As we’re talking about all those benefits, capabilities, and even what’s unique about our product, there are still questions like:

• Which of those benefits really factor into our buyer’s decision?
• Does the buyer even care about what’s unique?

We’ve done studies where we’ve had to tell the company that we know they’re really good at what you do, but your buyers aren’t really thinking about that- it doesn’t really matter to them. So, if you’re talking about it all the time, they’re going to ignore you, because it isn’t important to them.

DR: I bet you’ve saved people lots of headaches. I can only imagine how much it’s helped companies to get that clarity.

AR: Sometimes I wonder whether we’re doing this for the buyers or the vendors! If you spend as many hours on the phone with buyers, as we do, talking about these decisions, you realize how frustrated they are with their inability to get useful information- from anything we’re doing.

As I look at the practices around content marketing, there’s plenty of data being published about how much content is wasted. It’s clear to me that it isn’t whether we’re doing banner ads, or spending more time on Youtube or Linkedin, or wherever- it’s what we’re saying in those places. If we’re not delivering useful information to buyers, and giving them confidence that they’re making a good buying decision, then they’re going to look elsewhere.

DR: Not to mention, the suppliers have wasted time and so much money.

AR: I always say that part of the reason I got good at this process, is because I got so tired of sitting in meetings and trying to make this stuff up. That’s why my book is dedicated to every marketer who questions the wisdom of making stuff up. I find that making stuff up is so much harder than listening to what the buyer really wants.

DR: If you have direction, everything is really 100 times easier, without a doubt. Now, buyer personas- more for B2B or B2C, or is there a difference?

AR: That’s an interesting question. My background is mainly in the B2B high-tech sector, but now we do work with B2C companies. We began to realize that it doesn’t matter if you’re selling to businesses or consumers. What matters is the amount of consideration your buyer gives to that decision. If your buyer is spending days, weeks, or months deciding to buy, and weighing the strengths and weaknesses, we can interview those buyers and have them tell us what factored into their decision.

• Now you can’t approach someone in the grocery store and ask, “Hey, I noticed you have Dasani water in your basket, did you also see that Crystal Springs was on the shelf, what factored into your decision?” I can promise you they will either call security or ignore you!
• On the other hand, if we have a CEO who is deciding where to take his family on a big vacation, we could conduct an interview about that and learn about everything that factored into that choice. Why he or she decided now was the time to go on vacation, how they decided where to go, how did they choose a hotel? At the same time, let’s say that CEO is involved in a big capital investment for his or her company, we can also interview them about that and learn what factored into that decision.

So, it’s not about b2b or b2c, it’s about the amount of time and investment the buyer makes in thinking through those decisions and gaining insight.

DR: I think you’ve painted a really clear picture of the value around buyer personas. What are the first steps one would need to go through to complete a buyer persona? Do you start with general information?

AR: The way to get these insights is to talk to real buyers who have made the decision. Ask them to tell you their story. It’s so interesting that when marketers think about doing this kind of work, they tend to either turn to their internal experts, or maybe their current customers, an online survey, or a script. All of those things are going to give you inadequate insight into something that could really change the game for you as a sales and marketing expert. They way to change that game is to step out of the box.

This is why I wrote the book- there is a lot to know to do this correctly. The short version is that we need to get people on the phone who represent our buyer persona in terms of the target market- the right size industry, the right job title, AND who have, in the last year have participated in the buying decision we are trying to influence. We can have them tell us their whole story- from beginning to the end.

One of my most frequently asked questions is, “Adele, can you send me the script for this?” That is the absolute wrong approach. If we have a script or jot down the questions we want to ask- we’ll only get the answers to those questions. We want to take the buyer back to the day when they realized they had a need. We want to prolong the answers.

DR: Would you start with your clients?

AR: I would worry about just interviewing your clients. If you do, make sure that they’ve just recently purchased from you. But don’t just go with the people who chose you, the most important information will come from those who didn’t choose you- people who chose your competitors.

DR: What if you’re just getting started? What if you don’t have any clients yet?

AR: This is a little bit trickier. You may want to get a professional involved to help you. You would want to get a recruiting partner. If you do a Google search for “qualitative research recruiters” you’ll find companies who specialize in setting up phone calls for you. Now you’ll have to be careful about giving your recruiter a set of criteria for those interviews that match your target buyer. We have to give them all the attributes with respect to demographics and job titles, but we have to screen with people who have made the buying decision recently. As vendors, we can get really caught up in our own language, and it’s interesting on its own to see what happens when we give recruiters this information. We can sometimes end up with people on the other end of the phone who have no idea what we’re talking about.

DR: So, it sounds like it’s a little trickier, but it can be done.

AR: Absolutely, we do it every day, but it just takes a little more research.

DR; I’d love to get your thoughts on big data. How big of a role does it really play in this, if at all?

AR: The process we’ve been talking about now, the how, what, and why that went into their buying decision- you’re not going to get that from big data. But there are things we can learn from data.

• What our buyers are downloading from our site,
• how they’re going through the journey with us,

But, there are a lot of holes in that data. So, while it’s insufficient, it’s ok as an add-on.

Where we’re seeing big data shine, and where it’s used the most effectively is in very low consideration buying decisions. For high consideration buying decisions, we need to build trust. It’s not enough to know what my marketing automation system tells me, I really need to know why they are doing it.

DR: Circling back to building these personas, about how many people do you need to talk to in order to gather enough insight?

AR: This is the best news I’m going to share today. In quantitative studies, we need big samples, but this is qualitative research. In these studies, you can work with relatively small sample sizes. If we have a homogenous group, then really, ten interviews is all we need to get the insight. There is such a diminishing point of return on the 11th through the 20th interview, we tell our clients it’s a waste of money. The only exception is if the client wants to know what’s different between one part of the market than another. In that case, you would need between 6-8 in each group.

DR: So, even as few as five or six is enough to get you on the right track?

AR: If you’re an in-house marketer, and you’re just trying to get to the point where you have some confidence that you’re on the right track,

• Do at least 6 interviews
• Do at least one interview a year for the rest of your life.
• If you’re working with an agency, I would highly recommend ten.

DR: What do you do if you are an in-house marketer or an agency, and either your boss or the owner of the company is hesitant to let you talk to their clients?

AR: It’s a little different for each situation. For an in-house marketer, I would tell my boss that our salespeople are trained to go out and listen to prospects before they ever try to pitch our solution. As a matter of fact, we tell them to never go in with a pitch until they go through a discovery call. The sales people are collecting data and that allows them to formulate a compelling story for that prospect. Now, the salesperson is trying to persuade one buyer at a time, while I’m trying to persuade a marketplace of buyers. I never get a chance to listen to people before I talk. So, unless we’re going to tell salespeople to quit doing discovery calls, I don’t know how I would be expected to have effective marketing strategies if I don’t do discovery first.

If you’re an agency, it’s a little different, because you’re at an arm’s length relationship. Often the client will tell you that they already know their buyer. I can then ask them to put me in touch with the buyer expert in their company- because I need insight into the buyer. I suggest interviewing that person- role playing as if they were a buyer. First, they’ll be able to experience the kind of interviews you’re going to conduct- which is often different than they thought. The other thing that happens is when that person starts to realize they don’t have all the information, and they start to be more open with you.

DR: I think we have covered a ton here today, and you’ve given such clarity and really shared about the importance of buyer persona.

AR: I think this is a really popular concept, I think the thing to do is decide how much energy you’re going to put into this. I will tell you this- every time we’ve done a study, we’ve uncovered things that were unsettling. We’ve found things that were completely different than what the companies thought their buyers were thinking. This isn’t a criticism- we know what our products do and don’t do- what we don’t know are perspectives. There is a mismatch 100% of the time. And uncovering these differences can give you an incredible competitive advantage.

WHERE CAN YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT ADELE REVELLA?

Adele blogs are BuyerPersona.com. You can find her book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. She loves to hear from people and tries to answer every email!

ADELE REVELLA

Adele Revella is CEO of Buyer Persona Institute and author of Buyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into Your Customer’s Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business (Wiley 2015), recently named a Top 5 Business Book by Fortune Magazine. Adele’s unique perspective derives from decades of experience as a sales and marketing executive, trainer, researcher and entrepreneur.

To See The Original Blog Post, Please Click Here

For manufacturers and distributors looking to get better results from sales teams, the sales rep software you select is one of the most important decisions your business can make. Sales rep software gives sales reps the tools they need to do their jobs more efficiently, but the right tool for your team depends on what your sales reps need to do. Not all software applications are the same, and not all teams have the exact same needs.

So what sales rep software applications do your sales reps need to do their jobs? This depends on the clients you’re working with and how your team is structured, but for most sales teams, there are some tools that are simply indispensable for reps.

7 Sales Rep Software Apps Your Sales Team Needs to Succeed

1. Presentation software. Back in the day, sales reps relied on thick paper catalogs, portfolios, and books to present their product lines to clients. Today, many sales reps prefer to use presentation software like PowerPoint, Keynote, or Prezi to visually showcase their product lines with customers. Sales reps can also run these tools on the same mobile devices they use for other parts of their job, which makes them a much more convenient option than a suitcase full of catalogs and collateral. Regardless of the presentation software tool your team selects, you must make sure your sales reps have the materials they need to make a positive impression in their customer presentations, an important step toward supporting your team’s sales goals.
2. Marketing automation. Today’s sales reps are expected to deliver higher results than ever before, in part because better tools exist to do what were once the most time-consuming components of their jobs. Following up with leads and prospects is one such time-consuming task that can now be managed with a digital solution: marketing automation software. Marketing automation makes sure that the right communications—such as automated prospecting emails, newsletters, and promotions to current customers and prospects—are sent to the right prospects at the right time. This not only guarantees that prospects are getting the right messages, it also frees sales reps to respond to customers who are ready to buy. Marketing automation can even help to uncover more obscure buying signals such as what customers are researching on your website, so you can move them from prospect to customer more quickly.
3. Order management software. The ability to take and manage orders is critical for most sales reps. The best order management software shouldn’t just take orders, it should also include a digital catalog and eCommerce functionality. Why? Because 75% of B2B buyers say buying from an eCommerce site is more convenient that buying from a sales rep, and 93% say they prefer buying online when they’ve already decided what to buy. These statistics don’t mean that sales reps will go away, but it does mean that the sales rep software you choose should be oriented toward facilitating the order management process and allowing customers to manage orders themselves if they choose to do so. This allows sales reps to focus on higher value activities, rather than being mere order takers.
4. Meeting scheduling software. Some figures indicate that businesses spend as many as 4.8 hours each week scheduling meetings. Over the course of a year that could mean hundreds of hours wasted. Yet, for sales reps, scheduling meetings will always be a necessity. Automated meeting scheduling software such as Calendly and ScheduleOnce can make this much less of a time waster. Users can easily schedule meetings at a convenient time through these applications with a few clicks, visualizing mutually available times and selecting the one that works best, then specifying where and how they’d like to meet.
5. Social media. Once, sales reps relied almost entirely on face-to-face meetings and telephone contacts to establish and maintain relationships. Today, many sales reps are successfully using social media to uncover those opportunities. Social media, whether it’s LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or other applications, can allow sales reps to search for contacts in a given territory, or that fit certain parameters. LinkedIn, for example, offers an advanced search option that allows users to search for alumni of specific universities, employees of specific companies, or by geographic location. This can be a useful tool when seeking out new customers and new opportunities within a sales rep’s territory.
6. “Softphone” VOIP phone applications. Skype has become synonymous with this category of software. A calling app is one of the best tools around for your sales reps to keep in touch with clients. These apps can be used on desktop or mobile, and the contacts follow your sales rep wherever he or she goes. These apps can do more than just call: they can also send and receive SMS text messages and can be used as part of an online message center where sales reps can manage their various communication.
7. Mobile signing applications. When bringing on a new client, there can be a lot of paperwork to fill out and contracts to sign. It’s not always possible to sign these documents in-person, so a mobile signing application like DocuSign or eSign can be a great way to get those signatures quickly and easily. These applications also allow you to easily sign and store PDF documents that can be referred to when there are questions or to make those documents available to customers in their account histories without scanning, saving, and uploading.

From finding new prospects, to warming up your leads and closing more business, selecting the right sales rep software apps for your team is an important step in making sure that your team and your business accomplish your sales goals.

When it comes to competition, no two brands have had a more fierce, long-standing head-to-head battle than Coke and Pepsi.

In fact, historically they’ve had many famous clashes, but one in particular stands out. Pepsi, in an attempt to undercut Coke, launched an infamous “taste test” campaign that drew a lot of attention and short-term gains.

The basic premise of this challenge revolves around a blind taste test. Each participant gets two small cups, one filled with Pepsi and the other with Coke. Once they finish drinking, they choose which one they liked the most.

Pepsi brought this event to public locations and found that people preferred its product. However, there’s a critical flaw which undermines the effectiveness of this marketing strategy: Pepsi is sweeter, so the first taste is more appealing than Coke. Over the course of drinking the entire cup, the sweetness becomes less desirable and ultimately doesn’t achieve its ultimate goal as well as their competition – to quench your thirst.

If Pepsi had asked its participants to drink two full cans instead of sipping out of a small cup, the results would be much different.

Applying These Lessons to Evaluating Marketing Technology

When you’re researching potential technology vendors, be wary of traps like the one Pepsi created. A “taste-test” may seem tempting and simple, however, selecting a solution based on your first sip rather than considering the long-term marketing and business benefits will ultimately leave you unsatisfied.

Predictive technology presents an even greater challenge. With more than 62% of B2B marketers implementing predictive and most following a “taste-test” method, there is a critical need to change the way we buy predictive.

So, what’s the alternative?

The best way to compare predictive vendors is to…

Focus on the outputs specific to your company’s pain point and use case, as well as the ability of the providers to partner effectively with your requirements, technology ecosystem, and team

If you don’t consider all of these elements, you risk investing significant resources in the wrong technology. Unfortunately, to date, buyers have limited their evaluation criteria to model accuracy, resulting in poor selections and higher than expected churn due to misaligned expectations.

“Most marketers judge model accuracy, which is not enough.” – Kerry Cunningham, Senior Research Director at SiriusDecisions

To address this widespread issue, we partnered with Kerry from SiriusDecisions to deliver a new, simple five-step framework that every potential buyer should follow. Kerry has guided hundreds of organizations toward the best solution, and we’re confident that investing 45-minutes reviewing his framework will save you many days and headaches throughout the buying process. Hear Kerry unveil the five-step framework and download his presentation for yourself.

So what makes the technology evaluation for predictive unique, and if you’re not careful, complex and risky?

Unique Challenges with a Predictive Evaluation

What makes predictive so powerful – the data, the many applications, the options for vendors – also exposes buyers to risks. There are three challenges that every buyer should be aware of through the evaluation process:

1) Timeliness of the predictive provider’s dataset is devalued

You run into a few problems with the traditional “taste-test” vendor evaluation process. A training model with historical data devalues the timeliness of the predictive provider’s dataset. Frequently updating data such as intent and event is devalued during a bake-off.

You only see a small example of the product’s performance. What happens when you want to run a large-scale model? Is the system you’re looking at going to crash and burn as you make your way through the entire can?

2) You only evaluate one out of many predictive use cases

An assessment may limit itself to only one out of many predictive use cases. Your organization’s needs change on a shifting basis and the ideal application for one team may be completely different for other areas. A thorough evaluation must occur to know whether you’re actually getting what you need.

For example, if you’re evaluating predictive to help you better understand prospects and customers, and apply new insights to improve conversions, then the predictive segmentation use case is for you. A vendor’s ability to deliver on predictive segmentation could be assessed by several criteria, such as the ability to:

• Demonstrate relevant predictor variables
• Deliver complete market coverage
• Increase campaign conversions with hypersegmented leads

However, if your organization is focused on growing customer value and retention with improved upsell and cross-sell campaigns, then your predictive solution must deliver on customer insights and scoring use cases. Your evaluation criteria will change to:

• Predictive models are able to integrate and ingest customer data
• Account and customer success teams approve high-scored customers
• Programs tested against model-sourced customer in given segments see upsell lift

Determining your use cases and relative success criteria a vendor should meet is essential to selecting the right solution.

3) Your expectations don’t match your buying process

While we want surefire bets when making any investment, many buyers expect vendors to show them bulletproof ROI and business cases in unrealistic time frames prior to purchasing. Understanding what a vendor can prove within a given buying process is critical to both determining which buying process you should follow and what success criteria you will have available to base your decisions on.

For instance, as Kerry puts it, “The shortest form is a trial, or what I like to call a ‘Sniff Test’.” A vendor should be able to show how their product can solve your pain points with product demos, case studies, and customer references. This process could be as short as one week.

Most organizations take the middle road that involves some proof of concept (POC), which Kerry calls a ‘Taste Test’. However, if conducted correctly, a POC will allow you to see the results of initial predictive models based on your use case. Some vendors can deliver back a POC in several days, others can take months.

The last option is the ‘Sample Meal’, or pilot. Here vendors can build and deploy models, and buyers can test those models by running campaigns and delivering model-sourced leads to small teams. Conducting a pilot is the only option if you want to see conversions or impact on bottom line, and they are typically paid. Length can vary greatly and should be based on your sales cycle and average campaign response curve. Expect at least 30 days, but some teams run pilots over the course of several months.

Keep an Eye on the Long-Term Objectives

You need to base your predictive vendor evaluation on your long-term needs.

Predictive lets you target your best prospects with a personalized message and enables you to build a relevant customer journey. But in order to be successful, you need a platform that is capable of delivering on its promised value for many years to come.

If you want to learn more about the predictive vendor selection process, or need help identifying a suitable vendor for your business, watch our webinar with Kerry Cunningham from SiriusDecisions.

Getting people to download your mobile apps is half the battle. Then you have to convince them to actually use the apps.

While downloads may make your app look popular, marketers know that it’s how many people who actually use the app that have the impact on your bottom line. Because sadly, the majority of people who download the app won’t actually continue to use it. Research shows that only about 6 percent of the people who download an app are still using it 30 days later.

If people aren’t using your app, they definitely are buying in-app items, they aren’t clicking on your ads, and they aren’t signing up for your lists or taking other actions to become leads.

Facebook recognizes the problem and is now offering a solution to help change that.

The social giant notes that the majority of time that people spend on mobile devices is actually spent in apps — about 90 percent. A smaller majority of purchases that are made on mobile also take place in apps — about 58 percent.

Therefore, it is important to find ways to get people to spend more time in your app and to spend money in it.

Facebook has introduced a new advertising tool, called App Event Optimization, that aims to give advertisers direct access to mobile app users in order to increase these purchases.

How the Tool Works

App Event Optimization gives developers more access to app users by allowing them to target people specifically during the app registration or other key events in the app.

Options for targeting include:

• Completion of app registration
• Initiation of checkout
• Completion of purchase
• Adding something to the cart
• Viewing content
• Achieving a level

More events are included in the tool, and as the tool grows in use, it is possible that even more events or options will be added.

Developers can choose to show their ads or special offers during any of these events, and they set their budget just the way they do for Facebook’s regular ads.

The precise targeting helps advertisers to get better results. They can tailor their ads around the events that partner best with what they have to sell. For example, an ad can display a product that complements something the person is already buying.

You can combine options to ensure you get the best targeting and the best results.

Effectiveness of the Tool

Facebook has reported that its new in-app advertising tool is getting great results for advertisers.

Specifically, Facebook said that advertiser Poshmark was able to reduce the cost per lead by 24 percent using the app. Another advertiser, Smule, said that it reduced its cost per lead by 32 percent and increased the revenue per use by 22 percent using the ad tool.

In order to use the tool and start getting these kind of results for yourself, you will need to install the Facebook SDK. You can also use the tool in Facebook’s Power Editor and in its API.

These tools help to measure the effectiveness of the ad tool in order to make improvements where needed.

Advertising Your Apps

Of course, before you can sell ads in your app, you need to also sell your app. No one is going to see your ads if they are not actually in your app to start.

While launching its in-app advertising tool, Facebook also launched two new tools to advertising mobile apps.

Facebook offers dynamic ads that show people ads during the app-installation process. The ads are specifically for items or websites that they have already visited or shown interest in, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the ads. It is a more advanced type of retargeting that you can use to promote installations of your app.

Facebook also offers canvas ads that provide a more immersive experience. These ads can show much more of what actually happens in your app in order to entice people to download it. You can use these more immersive ads to either encourage new downloads or to re-engage customers who maybe downloaded your app and then became one of the majority who was no longer using it after 30 days.

Between these two tools, you can get more downloads of your app, which will make it more profitable for in-app advertising and purchases. You can then use the App Event Optimization to target buyers in the app and get more sales and leads.

Of course, you can also use the App Event Optimization to generate advertising revenue for your app. You don’t have to try to increase your own sales; you can simply use your app as a conduit for other advertisers and collect that revenue.

Using the right tools can help you get much more out of your app, whether it is a free one meant to generate advertising revenue or it is a paid app that helps promote your brand.

In 15 minutes you'll be giving a big, important presentation.

Your heart is racing, your mouth is dry, and your palms are damp. You're starting to panic.

It's completely normal to feel nervous in the moments leading up to a big speech or presentation.

Darlene Price, president, of Well Said, Inc. and author of "Well Said! Presentations and Conversations That Get Results," tells Business Insider that instead of trying to lose the butterflies, you should aim to leverage them. "The adrenaline surge can fuel your body with the energy and enthusiasm necessary for a great performance," she explains.

Whether you're stepping to the front of the room to speak to just a few people, or making a grand entrance in a ballroom to address thousands, here are a few ways to effectively use the 15 minutes before you go up to prepare your body and mind for peak performance:

SEE ALSO: 13 public-speaking mistakes you should avoid at all costs

Use the restroom.

When you're nervous, you may feel like you "have to go." So, plan ahead and use the restroom before you take the stage.

Check yourself out in the mirror.

There's nothing worse than wondering, "Do I have something in my teeth?" as you start talking to the audience.

Check out the meeting room and the audiovisual set-up

Get to the room early to check out the space and test the equipment so there are no surprises once you start.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

There have been too many articles, white papers, and case studies written on the “death of the annual performance review.” But when you brush past the hyperbole, you find a diverse list of successful companies changing the way they measure employees.

Surprisingly, it’s not just the Googles, Zappos, or *insert trendy startup name* who are changing. Decades-old, massive companies from diverse industries are ending their annual performance reviews. Companies like Accenture, Adobe, Deloitte, IBM, GE, Gap, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Netflix are among the most well-known names.

The “death of the annual performance review” could not be a hot topic for bloggers, thinkers, and influencers without being paired with a silver bullet solution. Every blog post and tweet promises a panacea for your annual review induced woes. Real-time feedback programs are one of the most popular recommendations.

Maybe your company is considering implementing a real-time feedback program to shift culture – but changing a culture is not easy.

Technology from a new vendor or a home-grown program is only one piece of many to successfully change your organization. Change management is a big, hard problem to solve.

Lasting cultural changes don’t happen until employee mindsets catch up to the tools and programs they are equipped with. Without actions and attitudes regularly reinforcing thoughtful feedback at every organizational level, new programs will struggle to gain traction.

If you don’t change thoughtfully, engagement and participation in new programs will drop off, and your team ends worse off than they started. Employees still aren’t receiving frequent feedback, and without annual reviews, there is less clarity on where they stand relative to peers.

Thoughtful managers can be a powerful catalyst for mindset changes.

Changing a culture requires many steps, and to build a culture of real-time, thoughtful feedback, there’s an underutilized weapon: the manager-employee one on one.

This weekly (you’re doing them weekly right?) meeting is the best place to start living a culture of real-time feedback and constant improvement, but is often misused, underutilized, or not used at all.

I wrote this article both to reflect on my experiences and scratch an itch. When I started having one on ones for the first time as a manager, I felt blindsided. I had no idea how to make these meetings valuable for myself and my colleagues.

I never thought having a meeting would be a challenge. After all, I’ve been in so many (read: too many).

First things first – these meetings are hard (for both participants!).

Even with the best preparation and practice, there are bound to be times when you don’t feel the benefit, or get across the desired message. Employees don’t know what they can share, the meeting is lost to work time, and manager feedback can feel vague or detached.

By no means have I perfected this process, but in my goal to improve my own one on ones, I’ve gathered some useful ideas that could help you improve yours.

1. Setting a Topic

(Alternate Between Medium Term and Long Term Discussions)

Meeting weekly is important, but chatting about the same topics each week can lead to stale and repetitive conversations.

One way to keep discussion fresh is to alternate topics weekly between the “medium term” – progress on projects and initiatives the employee is involved in, and “long term” – progress towards career goals, learning and development, and responsibility growth.

For the most part, I’ve found it useful to limit tactical, “short-term” discussions to informal chats and project meetings, excluding these topics from one on ones.

2. Preparation

Set An Agenda (just in case!)

Many one on ones don’t go according to agenda, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

One on ones should be designed as an opportunity to discuss anything on an employee’s mind detached from tactical day to day workflows. These discussions often don’t need much encouragement, but taking time to prepare thoughtful questions and discussion topics to reflect on is better than stumbling through non-sequiturs, or staring at each other silently for thirty minutes when neither person has anything to say.

3. Technology

No Unnecessary Laptops or Phones

This is one I could do better at.

Despite our self-delusions, it’s impossible to have a thoughtful in-person conversation while looking at your phone or the 25 browser tabs you have open. The best conversations don’t need reference materials or notes, so ditch the tech when you can.

One useful way to force this is to do one on ones seated outside or on a walk. As an added bonus, leaving the office on busy days can help free up headspace for better introspection and conversation.

4. Consistency

Busy? Don’t skip, reschedule.

Things happen, and inflexible schedules don’t jive with fast-paced environments. If either person is too busy to thoughtfully engage for the time allocated for the one on one, just reschedule.

A late conversation is better than an unfocused or cancelled one.

5. Feedback

Tie Specific Tactical Feedback from the week to Overarching Principles.

Throughout the week, you may offer directive feedback in real-time, revising and rethinking work.

In real-time, it can be difficult to dig deeply into your feedback’s central principles. Employees can only grow so much with surface level feedback – ultimately, they need to understand the themes and processes leading to the feedback they’re receiving.

Using the one on one as an opportunity to reinforce overarching themes and principles is an important way to help employees grow and anticipate future feedback.

6. Listening

Don’t just give feedback. Ask for it – for yourself, your product, and your company.

One sure way to make people unhappy at work is to deny them a chance to give their take on what could be better. This feedback can cover your management, to product features, and even to the overall company strategy.

While your company should be encouraging feedback from all employees through surveys and focus groups, don’t wait for them – do it yourself.

One easy way managers can help is by encouraging feedback during one on ones, both specifically for the employee (i.e. “What can we do to support you in your role more?”) and for more general company level insights (i.e., “What opportunities are we missing out on?”).

Now we want to know – what’s worked for you?

These are some strategies that have worked well for me, but by no means is this an exhaustive list. What makes your one on ones work?

Share your favorite examples with us on Twitter.

Ready to take the next step in building an extraordinary organizational culture? Check out our latest guide:

Platforms are all the rage these days. Powered by online technologies, they are sweeping across the economic landscape, striking down companies large and small. Uber’s global assault on the taxi industry is well known. Many platforms, some household names and others laboring in obscurity, are doing the same in other sectors.

Surveying these changes, you might conclude that if your business isn’t a platform, you had better worry that one is coming your way. Everyone from automakers to plumbers should count their days as traditional businesses. And maybe you should jump on the platform bandwagon too. If it worked for Airbnb, why not you?

Based on our research into the wave of online platforms that have started in the last two decades, we don’t necessarily disagree. Traditional businesses should worry, and maybe they should think about platform strategies. But we think these conclusions are overwrought — and miss what’s really going on.

The businesses most at risk from platforms powered by rapidly improving online technologies aren’t, in fact, traditional businesses that sell products and services to consumers. They’re “traditional” matchmaker businesses that have been operating platforms for connecting different groups of customers.

After all, platforms, including disruptive ones, are nothing new. Village matchmakers started making their living organizing marriage markets millennia ago. And many platforms today, such as 50-year-old MasterCard, were started back when a browser was someone thumbing through magazines at the local newsstand.

The evidence is striking that these existing matchmakers, rather than traditional firms, have so far experienced the greatest disruption from new platforms.

We identified significant platforms based on three different measures of importance: the five largest publicly traded ones by market cap; the five largest nonpublic startups by most recent valuation; and the five largest by web traffic. Two online platforms appear in both lists, so we have 13 online platforms. All but one of these new matchmakers directly disrupted an existing platform industry. Airbnb is the one exception. It has mainly disrupted the hotel chains, which are not platforms, but it may well disrupt online booking sites, which are.

 

These empirical findings make sense. Existing matchmakers have already identified situations in which a platform can create value by helping to connect members of different groups that could benefit from getting together. But they also face significant risk from startups that use new technologies to operate more-powerful, more-efficient, and more-scalable platforms.

Microsoft Windows, for example, has been the dominant platform for users, developers, and hardware makers for more than 25 years. Using new technology and business models, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating systems whacked Microsoft hard enough that the sale of Windows-based PCs fell. As this happened, Windows lost its developer mojo, as developers shifted to mobile, and that doesn’t portend well for its long-run future. Meanwhile, people who used to only look at Windows screens now spend most of their time outside of work — and of course at work — looking at mobile screens based on mobile operating systems. Microsoft knew it was at risk from mobile but just couldn’t compete with the new kids on the block.

Taxis are a more mundane, and maybe surprising, example. In many cities, taxi companies really aren’t any different from ride-sharing companies, except they do a lousier job of connecting drivers and riders. They operate dispatch services based on a central switchboard, often hire drivers as independent contractors, and connect the drivers with people looking for rides. (To get a flavor of their operations, you can watch Danny DeVito and Judd Hirsch in reruns of the television show Taxi.) In the cities that have taxi medallions, their prices are plummeting, reflecting investors’ views that these old matchmakers don’t have a bright future. Uber and the other ride-sharing companies have disrupted them.

Google and Facebook didn’t upend traditional businesses either. They used new technology to hammer ad-supported media. Some of the victims were stodgy print newspapers and magazines that were still operating much like they did a century before. But these ad giants also toppled two internet kings that ruled at the turn of the century: AOL, once worth $165 billion, and Yahoo, once worth $128 billion. Verizon bought both companies for less than $5 billion each in the last year.

Some new matchmakers do send traditional industries into a tailspin. Personal computer operating systems, with third-party software developers, helped destroy the minicomputer business and took a big dent out of the mainframes with proprietary apps. And general-purpose payment cards, which consumers could use at many merchants, sent the store card business into steep decline. So far, though, online matchmakers haven’t been the scourge of traditional businesses.

Any business whose value comes from serving as an intermediary between different groups of customers — and that is not harnessing and keeping pace with relevant technology — does, however, have a target on its back. If you are thinking about starting a matchmaker, the best place to look is at platform businesses that haven’t kept up.

That includes all the successful online platforms that dominate the market cap listings and headlines today. The technologies that have been behind the recent wave of matchmakers aren’t standing still. They continue to improve at an amazing pace and to spread around the globe.

The inertia of existing platforms creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to one-up the last generation of online platforms. Rapid technological change has compressed the time between when a new platform is established and when it faces a threat from an even newer platform. Yahoo will not be the last of the internet giants to be cut down to size.

Creating great content is only one-half of the content marketing equation. Getting eyeballs on that content is the other. Many brands have a handle on their owned and paid channels, doing their best to optimize their blog, build their newsletter, and run effective social campaigns. But when it comes to truly optimizing earned media, making great content for publishers and influencers to feature, brands often hit a wall.

According to a new survey from research and advisory firm Outsell (commissioned by PR Newswire), 81% of small-firm marketers and 73% of large-firm marketers consider earned media to be as effective or more effective than paid media.

Outsell research also found that audiences consider earned media to be the most authentic form of marketing.

Yet, despite these sentiments, brands often struggle to promote their content through major sites and publications—or never try at all. Understandably, it can be a challenge for any marketer, whether you’re a solo operation or have a robust PR team behind you.

We feel your pain. Over and over, we’ve heard the same complaints.

“Why try? They’ll just say no”

Sure, they might. But remember that creating content for publishers is what they want you to do. You’re actually providing them a service (when you do it the right way) for several reasons.

1. It’s free: You mean you have quality content that publications don’t have to produce themselves or pay for? Yes, they’ll take it.
2. They don’t always have the resources: Publishers would produce more content if they could, but they may be lacking manpower, time, or skills. This is especially true when it comes to visual content.
3. It makes them look good: Whether it’s a fresh story that might impress a higher-up or a sleek interactive that engages their audience, great content helps journalists and editors succeed.

“OK, but pitching is a lot of work—not enough ROI.”

Yeah, cold pitching 100 journalists with irrelevant content out of nowhere is a waste of time. But thinking strategically about your targets, creating content for publishers that serves editorial objectives, and nurturing those relationships provides plenty of ROI.

SEO/Traffic: Publishers and influencers have enormous followings and, subsequently, their sites carry strong domain authority. In addition to getting more eyes on your content, publishers will cite your brand as the source. Getting inbound links from major sites increases the health of your site, helping improve your overall SEO rankings. The more visible you are, the more traffic you get.

Conversions: According to Outsell, over the last few years (2013-2016), marketers identified “maximizing pre-qualification of our prospects” as the no. 1 area to allocate spending and 72% said “identifying and engaging with [the] right prospects at the right time” continues to be the biggest barrier to achieving their goals.

With earned media, it isn’t just traffic you gain—it’s quality traffic. By creating content for publishers in niche markets, you reach an audience comprised of your ideal consumers. They are far more likely to be interested and/or in need of your service or product. High-profile publishing is just taking their hand and leading them down the path to purchase.

Brand Awareness/Credibility: Getting placement in major publications is a great way to grow your audience and build your reputation. Because your brand is associated with sources they trust, your audience will view you, transitively, as trustworthy, and be more likely to engage with you in the future.

This is especially important for newer brands, who have a larger hurdle to clear. One of our biggest recent wins was getting a small startup placed on Upworthy. Now, they reference this placement in order to establish legitimacy with their prospective customers.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know where to start.”

Well, we do. It starts with shifting your approach. The key to getting your content published isn’t obsessively hounding publishers and praying they like your content. It’s creating the right content for publishers, content they love so much they can’t wait to feature it.

How to make great content for publishers

Oftentimes marketers make the same content marketing mistakes at both the content stage and the distribution stage, focusing on the brand’s needs and wants instead of its audience’s needs and wants. (Don’t know what your audience wants? Learn how to create customers personas to find out.)

The creative process tends to go something like this:

To increase your chances of placement, you need to reverse the process. You have to start with your target publication in mind, create content intentionally, and lay the groundwork for distribution all the while.
Here is our 5-step process to guide you through it.

1) Choose Your Targets

Before scheduling any creative brainstorm, you need to establish your end-goal. That means identifying exactly which publications you want to be featured in.

This does require legwork up top, but what’s worse: taking time for due diligence or wasting that same time and energy on an ineffective piece of content?

Identify your audience: Who are you trying to reach? At what level (broad or niche?) Figure out where they get their media.

• What subjects do they like?
• What information do they crave?
• Where do they go for industry info?
• What types of sites do they trust, including social channels?
• What newsletters do they subscribe to?

The answers to these questions should come both from your knowledge and directly from your consumers. You can send over a quick email to ask them about their favorite (aka bookmarked) publications. Once you have this info, you can start to look at the major media players in that space.

Create a list of publications: Now is the time to assess which publications most align with your audience’s habits. These may include:

• Major news outlets
• Industry publications
• Professional organizations
• Popular blogs
• Other relevant sites

Narrow it down: Which publications are most likely to connect you with the audience that you’d like to convert? Which will serve your goals? Choose your top 3, then get to researching.

The goal here is to learn what type of content these targets publish, both in terms of subject, format, and angle. These questions will help you figure out whether or not the publication is truly the right fit and if your brand is capable of producing that type of content. Things to research:

• Topics covered
• Overall aesthetic
• Content types (articles, infographics, interactives, video, etc.)

Identify your contacts: You don’t want to email an entire publication. Show your professional intelligence by figuring out who covers what and searching for their contact info. Some useful tools:

• Muck Rack helps you find journalists in your industry.
• Group High helps you find bloggers and influencers.
• LinkedIn may help you find publishers you’re directly or indirectly connected with.

2) Reach Out to Targets

The key to success in building relationships with journalists is doing your due diligence and approaching them professionally.

Establish your relationship: Your first goal isn’t to pitch a story; it’s to get on their radar and start a dialogue. To do this, you should follow them on Twitter, comment on their articles, connect with them on LinkedIn, and stay up to date on the topics they cover.

You’ll have their contact info by now, so reach out with an intro email to introduce yourself. Let them know you’d like to help provide support and want to know what content they’re most interested in.

You want to mine your contacts for information that will help you brainstorm an idea they’ll love. A few prompts:

• What content types perform best on your site?
• What topics do your readers most enjoy or engage with?
• Do you have any recent posts that could benefit from supplemental visual content?
• Which forms of visual content engage your readers most?
• Are there any particular topics/trends you’re covering right now?
• What content do you wish you had the resources to produce?

Note: Be considerate of journalists’ time and schedules. A sports editor will obviously be very busy around the Super Bowl.

Get their editorial calendar: Editorial calendars are often available at publishers’ websites (try the Advertising or Media Kit sections), although you might have to ask. This will help you identify content opportunities—and those to avoid altogether. (For example, a candy company might not want to pitch during National Children’s Dental Health Month in February.)

The editorial calendar will also give you a sense of the publishers’ timeline. Some publications work very far in advance, meaning you might have to pitch Christmas ideas in July.

Example: Mashable published our #PeopleforPeriods interactive and infographic, which we created to de-stigmatize menstruation, in honor of Menstrual Hygiene Day.

3) Get Your Brainstorm On

Armed with all of this information, you can start brainstorming content ideas that will appeal to your targets publications. In addition to publication-specific angles, follow these guidelines for publisher preferences.

WHAT PUBLISHERS LOVE

• Fresh stories: Publishers want a story that hasn’t been covered a million times before. This helps them differentiate from competition and engage readers. That doesn’t mean certain subjects are off-limits, but you should find an unusual angle or surprising insight that tells a unique story.
• Data-driven topics: New research, studies, reports, or data sets provide an additional layer of story—particularly when it shows current or future trends.
• Measurements of ROI: Any data that shows a direct correlation between an action and a successful result tells a great story.
• Relatability: Any story that is relevant to the individual or personally actionable is highly coveted. This is especially true for data sets where readers can “find” themselves in the data—think interactive maps, city-specific stories, generation- or gender-specific content, etc. Relatable stories spark curiosity and result in greater engagement.

WHAT PUBLISHERS HATE

• Overly branded content
• Stale or overly saturated topics
• Too much copy/content in visual content
• Irrelevant topics
• Poorly produced content (both in writing and design)
• Questionable sources (highly biased groups, skewed or misleading data)
• Content that doesn’t fit publication tone/voice

Once you have your brilliant idea, you’ll want to run it by your publisher contact to confirm that you’re headed in the right direction. This is their opportunity to suggest feedback, additions, or a different direction.

Note: It is important to have journalists vet your ideas at this stage. If you approach them too early with a “general” topic or an open-ended request for story ideas, you are putting pressure on them to come up with a story idea for you, which they have no time for.

Conversely, if you approach them after your idea has been fleshed out and designed, you risk wasting time and resources if they’re not interested or would prefer a shift in direction.

CAVEAT: Even if a journalist expressed interest or buy-in, publishing can be a finicky world. Depending on news, trends, or editorial direction, they may backtrack or dismiss the idea. If so, ask if you can come back with more.

Example: This infographic by Jobvite shows you how to create a strong employer branding strategy to recruit quality employees. Inc. published it because it helped solve a specific problem their audience faces.

4) Create Your Content

Once you have a great idea, you need a great execution. Whether it’s an article or visual piece, creating compelling content is the key to making publishers fall in love with you. Remember, above all, that you are telling a story—not your brand story. Maintain quality in both story and design.

STORY

• Craft a focused narrative: Your job is to tell a cohesive story of substance, not write a volume or cobble together a handful of facts (a problem we often see with infographics).
• Speak the right language: This is very important for publications. Your content should mimic their approach in tone, style, and format.
• Demonstrate your expertise: There is a reason you’re telling this story. It’s because you are knowledgeable and capable. Build on the current conversation, bring in authority sources, including data, research, and studies, to support the story.
• Be transparent: Audiences get information from publications because they trust them. Don’t jeopardize that relationship or your relationship with the journalist by including inaccurate information. Cite solid sources, fact-check, and proofread.

DESIGN

• Don’t distract with design: Design should always reflect the story tone and subject matter. But remember that design is meant to enhance—not overpower—the story, through color, photography, illustration, data visualization, etc. (Specifically, avoid these 8 common design mistakes.)
• Match publication style: Use the appropriate colors and visual language elements.
• Create a clear hierarchy: Make it easy to navigate through the visual content. A good viewer experience will reflect better on you.
• Follow data visualization best practices: Remember the Fox News pie chart that adds up to 193%? We, personally, will never forget it. Accurate representation is crucial. (See this guide to designing common charts and graphs.)

Example: This data-heavy Captora infographic on the ROI of content marketing was published by Entrepreneur, Mashable, and Inc.

5) Share Your Work

Once you have your beautiful, vetted content prepped and ready to go, send it over to your contact.

• Use an attention-grabbing subject line: This goes for potential headlines, too.
• Keep your pitch personal and brief: Put the story front and center.
• Highlight key takeaways: Include a brief overview, as well as a few bullet-points or “tweetable” stats so the journalist doesn’t have to dig for them.
• Include multiple story angles: Pitch stories that will best align with their audience. If appropriate, offer to write a sample post (especially for infographics) if the journalist is strapped for time.

Example: High-tech brand Oerlikon wrote an article, including infographics and other visuals, for their site on the subject of how air travel is affecting the business of airplane manufacturing. Not only did Business Insider publish the visuals, they actually syndicated the entire article.

Again, there is always the possibility that a journalist will pass on your content for one reason or another. Worst case, you can pitch to a different publication or publish yourself knowing you have a great idea that resonates with your target audience.

You can also learn more about getting more eyes on your content by downloading our free e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Content Distribution.

TOUCHDOWN for the Influencers!

Let’s be honest, influencers are kicking major butt in the marketing world. And luckily for us, an influencer from the A-team is willing to share his play-by-play for great strategy.

Billy’s full title is as well-seasoned as one of his enjoyable recipes. He’s a self-proclaimed Food and Content Creator, sometimes TV Host, Picture Taker, Daddy, Husband, College Sports Enthusiast, Fashionisto, Film and Music Lover, and Co-Founder. Whew!

Billy believes in the power of extra production value and creating delectable ROI for himself and his brands. With a little creativity and a lot of love, content can grow and shine for long-term return.

Billy Parisi is a content creator and influencer for outside brands as well as his own. He has his own blog, a one-stop-shop for everything food- and cooking-related and more. It’s the perfect place to find everything you need if you’re excited about football season, savory foods, and tailgating.

In This Episode

• Why influencer marketing is powerful for long-term ROI
• How to build your following and find your niche market
• Why video and higher production value is becoming more important
• How to turn your passions into a successful career
• Why it pays to be patient and constantly experiment with posting strategies

 

Quotes From This Episode

“You may not get 1,000 pins in one day, but you might get 1,000 pins after a week.” —@ChefBillyParisi

“Feel free to reach out to influencers directly because for me, personally, I would absolutely love to work with a brand direct.” —@ChefBillyParisi

“Things have definitely changed, but I don’t even think it’s scratched the surface yet.” —@ChefBillyParisi

“It’s really still extremely expensive to get great engaging content, and often, through advertising agencies, it can be just pricey. There’s overhead. But when you hire a blogger to create content such as myself, whether it be an influencer or as a content creator for their properties, we know what’s trending. We know what’s going on. We’re in the nitty-gritty every single day. We can create incredibly highly engaging, highly entertaining content at a fraction of the cost.” —@ChefBillyParisi

“Algorithms are going to change. They’re going to make it harder and harder for things, organically, to get out there.” —@ChefBillyParisi

“I do think as people are cord-cutting more—getting rid of television and local cable providers—I think strong, well-produced content will be more powerful than ever online.” —@ChefBillyParisi

“80% will buy something based on a recommendation from a social media friend or influencer.” —@ChefBillyParisi

“There are tons of bad videos on YouTube, but there’s a ton of great content as well. I do think that people will need to invest in some of their production capabilities and overall technology just to make sure that they’re pushing forward their best stuff.” —@ChefBillyParisi

Resources

• In the News: Snapchat Is Getting Pop Cultured With E! News’ Original Series “The Rundown”
• Billy Parisi Twitter: @ChefBillyParisi
• BillyParisi.com
• 5 Loaves 2 Fish
• Reynolds Consumer Products
• ifood.tv
• Foodchannel.com
• NCAA

 

Would You Rather

Would you rather forget who you were or who everyone else was?
Oh, my gosh. I’d probably say I’d rather forget who I am. I’d rather put away my past.

Would you rather always have to take a cold shower or sleep an hour less than you need to be fully rested?
Oh, sleep an hour less, no doubt. A cold shower is the epitome of misery.

Would you rather go without TV or junk food for the rest of your life?
You know what? Yeah, I’d get rid of the food. Gosh, just don’t take away my college football.

Most people that come to your website aren’t there to buy.

Chances are, they’re not ready.

Most likely, they don’t even realize they need what you have to offer.

Instead of going straight for the sale, your primary goal should be to start generating new leads, then you nurture them over time (until they’re ready to buy).

Only problem?

The same old, boring ‘free newsletter’ ain’t gonna cut it. Your conversion rate, or the number of people signing up as leads, will only be as good as what you’re offering them.

The highest conversions go to those companies that have the “most unique, differentiated offers“.

Here’s how to create one.

Step #1. Creating Your First Lead Magnet Offer

A lead magnet is a specific incentive used to generate an early lead.

Breaking down the jargon into English:

• Specific: Focused on a painful, agitating problem your customers are dealing with daily
• Incentive: Provides a high value, easy-to-digest solution
• Generate: In exchange for some customer information (e.g. email address)
• Early Lead: These people are aware of a problem need, but often aren’t ready to purchase

The term ‘lead magnet’ is a fancy word made up by marketers to describe the things you’re already familiar with, such as: discount coupons, free eBooks, free consultations, and giveaway contests.

While discount coupons might work great for a local product business or eCommerce stores (think: transactional sale), a higher touch offer that’s more immersive or educational like a free guide or tool works better for training, software, or services (think: consultative sale).

So the good news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You just need to take what already works, and improve upon it.

The first step is specialization. Already have a guide for Amazon-based businesses? Write the Amazon-based businesses for international expats instead.

Look no further than the 114 Membership Site Niche Ideas guide (shameless plug).

It works, because it’s specific. It’s long, where others are short. And it’s actionable, where others are general.

The second, could be depth. Is a 30-day free trial common in your industry? Do a 90-day one.

Some might provide a one-page checklist of tips to follow, but Lowe’s Lawn Care Plan takes this to the next level. It offers a completely customized annual plan that you can follow and takes into account your climate and foliage of choice.

Last but not least, you can differentiate based on format. Are there a deluge of eBooks crowding the marketplace? Create a free calculator instead.

That’s what one software company does. They provide visitors, who aren’t ready to throw down a credit card, the opportunity to at least get some basic feedback on their current efforts.

Creating a lead magnet is not a new topic on the interwebs. So here’s a few excellent articles by Digital Marketer (including one that generated 35,859 leads in only 60 days), Conversion XL, and Copy Monk to read if you’re stuck at the idea stage.

Step #2. Creating the Landing Page

Once you’ve got the asset created, you’re going to need an infrastructure designed to handle anywhere from two visitors to two hundred — automatically and without your involvement.

Here’s how the process usually works:

1. A stranger sees your enticing ad and clicks (we’ll discuss this part next week).
2. They arrive at your specially designed landing page (we’ll touch on this below).
3. They provide basic information in exchange for receiving the lead magnet.
4. They receive a carefully-crafted series of ‘drip’ emails to nurture them and then eventually buy something. (we’ll touch on this in a few weeks).

This process could get super complex and sophisticated, but it doesn’t have to at this stage.

For example, after people see an ad, they arrive at a landing page where your lead magnet is strategically ‘gated’ (requiring some kind of sign-up or opt-in to gain access).

You could go hire a designer, developer, and copywriter to build out your page.

Alternatively, you could simply sign up for something like LeadPages and have this system created in minutes (as opposed to weeks).

It already provides ready-made templates, simply upload images and tweak the copy. You can hook up most major email marketing services that you might already be using, and it’ll take care of the gritty details of form submissions and ‘thank you’ confirmation pages.

LeadPages was used to create, host, and operate our ‘Niche Ideas’ landing page offer too.

The landing page should have a checklist of critical elements to make sure the value in your offer is being communicated loud-and-clear to customers. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the essential ones:

• Headline: Advertising legend David Ogilvy once remarked that “5-times as many people read your headline as opposed to the body copy.” On landing pages, and for offers like this, it also has to work double time by being the first thing people see in their email subject line or Facebook status update.
• Hero Image: A ‘hero image’ is named as such because it represents the ideal scenario. It transports the visitor to show them what they’re gonna get (or what they can become) if they take advantage of this incredible offer.
• Supporting Copy: This section includes ‘teasers’ and previews of the benefits you’ll get from the information inside the book.
• Opt-In: You’ll also notice that there’s only two form fields. That’s by design, as you can expect higher conversions with less fields (as much as 120% in some cases).
• The CTA: The key here is to focus on using words that are as specific and relevant as possible (because that, over a generic ‘Sign Up’ button can result in a 213% increase).
• Credibility Indicators: The phone number in the upper right probably doesn’t get any calls. But that’s OK, because it’s still an important ingredient. It’s subtly communicating that this offer is brought to you by a professional organization that you can trust.

Once you have all of this stuff published and ready-to-go, it’s time to promote and start generating new leads…

… but we’ll cover that in the next post in this series. Stay tuned!

Some customers love the experience of doing business with your company; unfortunately, others have encountered problems with the experience. But aren’t all customers fair game for a cross-selling or upselling pitch?

Not so fast. Think hard before blindly committing to another sales pitch. In particular, stop wasting time and energy selling to customers who are detractors of your company.

Instead, spend that time fixing those relationships. Turn around the situation so that these detractors become at worst neutral, and ideally real promoters. Only then will you have decent odds of winning new business.

Consider the math behind this logic. Looking at one metric for gauging customer advocacy, the Net Promoter Score, promoters are worth nearly three to seven times more in lifetime value than detractors, depending on the market. That’s because promoters buy more, stay longer, often cost less to serve, and are more likely to recommend your company to colleagues and friends. They become promoters because they’re delighted with your products or service, and maybe the entire experience surrounding the product. You have earned the right to ask them for another sale.

Not so with detractors. These customers don’t want be upsold, cross-sold, or sold at all. A call from a sales representative will just get their blood boiling, and could send them defecting to a competitor. Alternatively, a detractor could attempt to extract a price discount to make amends for prior service failures.

Why do companies persist with indiscriminate selling without regard for a customer’s recent experience or attitude toward the company? One reason is the intense pressure to hit quarterly sales targets. Another is that the sales organization often flies blind: Sales reps simply don’t have feedback from the customer — that is, if the company bothered to gather feedback at all.

Making the situation worse, many companies rely on customer relationship management (CRM) systems that use algorithms to generate sales plays following a trigger event. Too often, the algorithms don’t fully factor in what’s happening in the customer’s world.

For example, at one business-to-business supplier, the CRM system monitors customer spending, and if the spending drops by a certain amount, the system spits out a recommendation for a sales play. The algorithm did not factor in seasonal spending declines. Worse, it did not account for supply chain disruptions that plagued the company and annoyed many customers. Ramped-up sales calls were the last thing that customers wanted from this vendor.

The remedy for such awkward overtures is to proactively obtain feedback from customers — from specific buyers within accounts — and then fold that information into account planning discussions. In most cases, any problems they raise will fall into three categories: product performance, price, and service around the product. A strong closed-loop system routes the feedback quickly to the relevant frontline employees so that they can determine the root causes of the various problems, fix them, and get back in touch with customers to report on progress and start to repair trust.

Given scarce resources and a long list of problems, companies have to identify the highest-priority problems and focus on those first. They can do this by ranking each problem or defect by frequency of occurrence across the entire customer base and severity of the effect on the customer’s relationship, as measured by the defect’s correlation with the customer’s loyalty score.

For example, an insurance company could have a dozen service defects cited by its broker customers, but two problems in particular could occur most frequently and cause the most-severe damage to relationships: delays in claims handling (which angers the end consumer) and lack of regular contact (which leaves brokers uninformed about changes in the insurer’s products or policies).

Once the company determines how to resolve the problem, it should follow up first with the highest-priority customers.

(Of course, there may be situations where even your happiest customer is not receptive to a sales call — the buyer is going on vacation the next day, it’s the wrong time in the budget cycle, and so on. These situations simply require the good judgment to ask, “Is this a good time to talk?”)

The sales force also needs to be in the loop about problems and how they are progressing toward resolution. That way, their account planning can cover what has to change for a customer before the team should renew sales efforts.

One large property management company implemented a feedback system last year for its office and retail customers. The company had been generally aware that tenants wouldn’t renew their leases if they had too many problems with a property. But incorporating the customer feedback system into the sales process gave the company a smarter sales approach. The firm sorted accounts according to their level of advocacy and the company’s share of their property spending. For customers with the lowest levels, the company pledged to fix the basics and delay sales. For customers with high spending but low advocacy, the company set about understanding the root causes of the problems and addressing them immediately. Customers with a low share of wallet and high advocacy qualified for upselling, and the company now has focused its selling on that group.

Sales teams have a role in advocating for their customers to make sure that the root causes of problems get addressed in a timely way. Only after it’s clear that the situation has turned around should the customer become a legitimate prospect again.

We’ve all seen company taglines and slogans plastered on billboards, banner ads…even T-shirts and baseball caps. And over the years, we’ve seen some great taglines come out of big brands and creative ad agencies. Think of catchy lines like “Just Do It” and “Where’s the Beef?” They stick in your head, and when you hear them you immediately connect them to Nike and Wendy’s.

There’s a common misconception, though, that in order to create a great tagline, you need to take cues from old-school geniuses like Don Draper and isolate yourself with a hearty supply of cigarettes and a decanter of whiskey. Or if you’re feeling really adventurous, you can literally get in their audience’s shoes by donning control top pantyhose and heels, lipstick and mascara, just like Mel Gibson did in What Women Want.

But the fact is, you can’t just rattle off a series of keywords and concoct a genius tagline for your multimillion-dollar campaign. We were able to get away with this shot-in-the-dark approach in the past. But now that content marketing is so widespread, and all companies have the power to plan and roll out these awareness- and lead-generating initiatives, brands need to be more thoughtful about their campaign themes and taglines.

You need an in-depth understanding of your target audience — their wants, needs, pain points, goals and aspirations. And then, you need to build your messaging. In fact, I’d argue that buyer-focused messaging is the genesis of a great tagline. When you go through the messaging process, you’re able to take a hard look at your target audience and look for patterns between their behaviors and their preferences, as well as your company’s unique value proposition and what you’re trying to convey throughout your campaign.

To that end, it’s important to note that a tagline isn’t just a one-and-done initiative. It needs to tie into all elements of your campaign — including your website, banner ads, social posts, billboards, events and, of course, your content. So the more your tagline revolves around your buyers, the more your content will, too.

Once you have foundational messaging in place, you can start to get creative. Use words that resonate with your audience. Think about how they will see and digest the tagline. Will it make sense to them? Will it metaphorically punch them in the gut and force them to think long and hard about their professional life, their technology or how they’re doing things?

As you brainstorm taglines, continue to revisit your messaging and question whether they align. It’s okay to push creative limits and test different messaging for your taglines as long as it’s strategic and aligns with your buyers’ needs. But as you run through your list of tentative taglines, make a point to read them aloud. It will make a huge difference and will encourage you to analyze whether the tagline is succinct and easy to digest. Let me walk through a few examples to show what I mean:

Always, “Like a Girl”

This commercial debuted during Super Bowl XLIX, and the nationwide viewer response was astounding. The tagline in and of itself was effective, but it really hit home because girls and women of all ages got involved and were sharing their thoughts and experiences.

Think about it: How many times have you heard the phrase, “like a girl”? A lot, I’m sure. Well, Always took this common phrase and put a new spin on it by taking its target audience’s perspective. “Like a girl,” at its core, has an extremely negative connotation, so the brand strived to show that being a girl is pretty friggin’ awesome!

Let’s break this down even further by showing the target buyer, their pain point and the business opportunity:

The buyer: Adolescent girls and women.

The pain point: Being a female can sometimes be difficult, and societal standards and stereotypes are making my life more difficult — to the point where it’s taking a toll on my self-esteem and self-worth.

The business opportunity: Show them why being a girl is awesome, and provide tools and resources that empower them.

American Express, “Everyday Moments”

Having star power like Tina Fey is a huge perk, but what makes this campaign so powerful is the tagline and how it ties into the flow and storyline of each commercial.

As you can see from this example, Tina Fey goes through her daily tasks and shopping trips and shows how her American Express card plays a role in her everyday life. Most of all, she shows how each purchase can help her get more rewards. If American Express members use their cards to make at least 20 purchases each month, they’ll earn 20% more rewards. Even better: This particular card doesn’t have an annual fee. Talk about perks!

This example takes a more business-oriented approach:
The buyer: Consumers with good credit who are eligible for an American Express card.

The pain point: I have a lot of credit cards already, but they’re leaving a lot to be desired. They all have annual fees, and their perks are lousy at best.

The business opportunity: Spotlight the benefits of this particular credit card and how members can earn rewards and perks without having to jump through too many hoops.

General Electric, “Childlike Imagination”

When trying to show how innovative their companies are, marketers sometimes get carried away with tech jargon and superfluous language. GE kept it simple by showing the brand through the eyes of a child. Using a little girl as the narrator, the television commercial illustrated how her mother helps GE create amazing technology that’s almost hard to believe.

In fact, the commercial taps into the child’s imagination to show that GE’s innovative technology almost sounds too fantastical to be real. The title or tagline for the spot, “Childlike Imagination,” also ties well with the company’s slogan: “Imagination at Work.”

The buyer: Brands that are looking for tools and technologies to help them improve operations, organizational processes and environmental efficiencies.

The pain point: Business is moving and changing faster than ever. I need technology that will support our ongoing growth but will also be good for us economically and even environmentally.

The business opportunity: Use storytelling and compelling visuals to illustrate GE’s dedication to innovation and the environment in a concise and easy-to-understand way.

As you can see, all three brands have very different target audiences, business models and goals. The thread connecting these organizations, though, is that they used their buyers’ wants, needs and pain points to create hard-hitting taglines that helped them truly stand out.

If you’re ready to get started, download our buyer-focused messaging guide.

As B2B marketing strategies continue to evolve, surveys become a valuable and persuasive resource. Insightful research combined with shrewd marketing strategies create an unbeatable recipe for B2B thought leadership. Let’s look at how this is done.

The Relationship Between B2B Thought Leadership and Surveys

Let’s first answer the question, what is thought leadership? Thought Leadership Lab defines the concept this way: “Thought leaders are the informed opinion leaders and the go-to people in their field of expertise.”

Independent research can help position your company as a thought leader in your industry. –Shauna Ward

People want statistics, numbers, facts, data — this is what convinces people. It adds credibility to your work. What happens when you offer up surveys in your content? Your prospects, media (and B2B buyers) are drawn in by your evidence. For example, you can say that demand for your product has surged or alternatively say that it is up five times over last year. The specificity helps establish your bona fides.

At the same time, surveys create news and help define a field. HubSpot, for instance, yearly releases with much fanfare its much quoted State of Inbound Marketing report.

Let’s look at specific methods your company can use to leverage surveys in your marketing to generate both B2B thought leadership.

Stand Out From the Crowd

With content creation a top priority for every business, buyers are inundated on a daily basis — in and out of the B2B sector. What can make your company different?

Amidst this endless sea of content, surveys can be a refreshing and welcome change. Surveys help you produce original content and establish benchmarks in your industry. Wouldn’t you like to be the person helping to define your industry?

Build Your Credibility

Buyers have a tendency to distrust brand-centric content from the start. It’s easy to dismiss it as marketing fluff. So, don’t focus on your brand’s products and solutions in your content. Instead, showcase your knowledge and insight on market trends and statistics — as gleaned from your survey — to carry more weight with prospective buyers.

Survey results give your reader the chance to benchmark their experience against that of their peers. –Katie Martell

Create compelling commentary on your research and present progressive and enterprising ideas based on it. This will help establish your B2B thought leadership.

Quinnipiac University is an excellent example of this. The university has successfully used surveys to boost its brand, transforming a regional school into a national presence. Using surveys, the university has garnered attention from major news outlets, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and CNN.

Mold Your Surveys Into Appealing Content

Let’s face it — even though surveys are reliable and informative — the raw data often has all the appeal of wet cardboard. You need to turn this data into content that will appeal to and engage a wider audience. Here are some ways to do just that:

• B2B thought leadership report
• Social media posts with key stats
• A press release for target, niche publications
• Multiple blog posts
• eBook of best practices
• Infographic of key stats in a visually appealing format
• Quiz showing visitors how they measure up to the findings
• Video Q & A that leverages these key stats
• SlideShare content

Get industry-leading bloggers to link to this content, and it will strengthen your search engine ranking. Don’t however wait to the last minute. Pre-announce your upcoming survey to influential bloggers, asking it they’d like to get a sneak peak ahead of time. This will help create a well of support. Also post a full survey report on your site so bloggers and media will link to it. This impresses those elusive search engine elves, and also improves the traffic to your site.

Boost Your PR Thought Leadership

Perk any journalist’s interest with attention-grabbing, one-of-a-kind data that impacts your industry. Reporters can sometimes receive hundreds of emails from companies trying to capture their interest, and inspire coverage. How can you grab their attention?

Journalism is all about storytelling. The key to procuring media coverage is to create a story that reporters will be persuaded to tell. Craft your survey into a story that will whet a journalist’s appetite. What insight does this data offer on the future of your industry? Offer an interview on the survey’s findings with your company’s CEO, or a glimpse at how companies can benefit from the data. Do everything you can to make the reporter’s job easier while ensuring your data comes alive.

Equip Your Sales Team with Authority

Your sales team is representing you on the front lines — fighting for your company. It’s your job to equip them with timely tools to get the job done. Surveys are a powerful tool when wielded by a seasoned sales team.

Think about it — how better to convince potential buyers to work with you than to generate a sense of trust, or even urgency. Surveys can be the key to unlocking these emotions, and beginning the purchasing process.

Surprise Customers by Revealing a Need

Customers who don’t see a need won’t pay attention — period. This false sense of security is what you need to break through if they are going to take you seriously. Show them that you know the industry, including the unseen threats that even they many not realize.

Shake them out of their comfort zone by revealing a pain point that needs attention. Use your research to shine a bright light on problem areas that the industry as a whole needs to address. In what areas are they wasting precious resources? How can they be more efficient? Once they understand a legitimate need, you’ll have their attention.

Thought leaders are perceived as being entrenched in the pains that exist in the market. –Glenn Gow

Once you have their attention and you have demonstrated you understand their needs — then and only then — can you talk about how your product or service can solve their problem.

Ultimately, surveys done right are an important component that takes your company from status quo to thought leader. Have you tapped into this key marketing strategy? If not, now’s the time.

When you read the statistics on the benefits of aligning marketing and sales for B2B organizations, you can’t help but sit up and take notice. Here are a few that caught my attention recently:

Companies with aligned sales and marketing generated 208% more revenue from marketing. (MarketingProfs)

B2B organizations with tightly aligned marketing and sales achieved 24% faster revenue growth and 27% faster profit growth over a three-year period. (SiriusDecisions)

According to International Data Corporation, B2B companies’ inability to align sales and marketing teams has cost them upwards of 10% or more of revenue per year.

When sales and marketing teams are in sync, companies became 67% better at closing deals. (Marketo)

Knowing that marketing and sales alignment is crucial, leads to the question: What opportunities exist today to bring the two together in a way that will lead to higher sales and ROI?

According to Liz Gelb-O’Connor, VP of Inside Sales Strategy and Growth at ADP, “Reps who use social selling are 50 percent more likely to meet or exceed their sales quota.” In addition, “anywhere from 57 percent to 90 percent of B2B purchase decisions are made by the time the buyer reaches out to a specific vendor.” Buyers are finding information online before they reach out to vendors. If buyers are searching online, many doing so on social media, it makes sense that the place to focus our marketing strategy is on social media. Enter – social selling.

B2B firms need to develop social selling strategies that will bring marketing and sales together in a way that gives both of them ownership of the process and results. So, the question becomes, what would that process look like?

Social Selling University defines social selling as using “the power of social media to understand your prospects’ needs, and actively seek the right person, with the right message at the right time.” This definition inherently involves the alignment of marketing and sales. Marketing creates the message and content based on their research on prospects’ needs and buyer data. Next, sales and marketing are both accountable for delivering the message on social media. Sales is then responsible for attracting and seeking out buyers on social networks who fit the buyer profile and developing relationships with them.

Marketing’s Role in Social Selling

Social selling involves attracting the right buyers through an online presence on social media by publishing useful content. Several key areas for marketing to focus on here are:

• Determining the target audience through the development of buyer personas and analyzing buyer metrics.
• Actively conducting social listening to find out what their target audience is saying online, what they are commenting on, and what questions they are asking. Included in this is using social listening to stay informed about key updates happening at target firms.
• Developing useful content which adds value to the target buyers by solving their pain points, entertaining them or answering their questions.
• Publishing the content on the proper social channels where buyers are spending their time. For B2B customers this will likely be LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter.
• Monitoring the effectiveness of their content and social media strategies.

Sales’ Role in Social Selling

• Setting up complete and professional profiles on social media channels and establishing an active presence there.
• Taking the social messages that were developed by Marketing and publishing them social channels, with the goal of developing a reputation as a thought leader and influencer in their industry.
• Engaging in social listening, which involves monitoring their prospects’ social activity, determining their business goals based on their comments and posts, and providing value through helpful comments.
• Interacting in industry-related groups, such as those on LinkedIn and Facebook, and connecting with like-minded individuals.
• Using social media to research prospects before contacting them. Determining their corporate role and responsibilities, their goals, and common ground.
• Developing relationships with connections on social media. Using messaging and email effectively to foster and nurture relationships. Inviting connections to take a closer look and refer other connections.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of social selling efforts.

Aligning Marketing & Sales

Research by IDC determined that when buyers were asked “How did social media improve your purchase decisions?” the following results were revealed:

• 55% felt more comfortable that they had the information they needed to make a decision.
• 54% felt more comfortable with the expertise and credibility of their vendor.
• 46% felt they had more satisfactory options available to them.

Social media and the process of social selling, if done right, enhances the buyer experience and helps develop relationships with buyers. It builds trust as buyers get to know the company and sales staff on a more personal level. Social media makes it easier than ever to position your business in the midst of your buyers online, attract them through useful content, and connect with them through social networking. B2B firms who are taking advantage of social selling have the upper hand. Aligning marketing and sales is imperative to the success of a firm’s social selling strategy.

We know that “highly aligned organizations achieve an average of 32% annual revenue growth, while less-aligned companies reported an average of 7% decline in revenue.” (Aberdeen) So, how does this alignment happen? There are several factors that will increase the success of marketing and sales alignment in social selling.

• Corporate-wide buy-in of a firm’s social selling strategy.
• Resources need to be allocated to marketing and sales to carry out the firm’s social selling efforts.
• Marketing and sales should meet regularly, offering sales the opportunity to share feedback they are learning from their social listening efforts and interaction with potential customers on social media.
• Include sales in any marketing communication and content planning. The field needs to know what is being communicated to customers before it happens.
• Automate the email and follow-up systems that sales will use with potential customers, resulting in a more efficient and effective system.
• Train sales staff on how to effectively carry out social media prospecting, including setting up social media account profiles, how and where to search for prospects, how to establish connections with prospects and how to develop relationships with prospects. Using social media isn’t necessarily intuitive for all sales staff. Training in this area can align them with common goals and tools to use in their social selling efforts.
• Automating the process makes it easier to carry out social selling initiatives. There is a multitude of online tools available to manage social media content, as well as marketing automation and CRM software to manage communications, customer records and measure results. Using automation effectively will make the process more cost-effective.

If done right, social selling adds value to prospects by meeting them where they are online and offering valuable information that serves their needs. As a result, a level of trust and credibility is built which can lead to developing relationships with buyers and ultimately to an increase in sales. When aligning marketing and sales in the development of a company’s social selling strategy and their efforts to carry out that strategy, higher revenue is the likely result.

How does your firm meet the challenges of aligning sales and marketing in social selling? We’d love to hear what is working for you.

Sales and marketing go hand in hand. In many organizations, it’s the job of the marketing team to provide sales with a steady flow or qualified leads for them to sell to. But there are some surefire ways for salespeople to lose sales and thereby waste the efforts of a strong marketing team.

Here are five sales mistakes to avoid if you want to convert prospects to customers:

1. Stick to the script

Sales scripts are important, whether you are selling by phone or in person. Scripts help new salespeople learn on the job quicker, and help experienced salespeople stay on track. But there is a problem when companies require their salespeople to stick to the script too strictly. The best salespeople are able to go off script based on the nature of the conversation they are having with a prospect. A script should be a loose outline, not a word for word mandate.

2. Forget the coaching

Nobody is perfect, and no worker is ever as effective as they can be. Even professional athletes still have coaches. Sales people will benefit from constant coaching. Experienced coaches and sales managers are able to offer genuine feedback on performance, help with new sales strategies and techniques, and make sure the team is operating at maximum capacity.

3. Don’t ask questions

Questions are powerful conversational tools. The right questions, in any conversation, help to guide and steer the flow. In sales situations, questions put the focus on the prospective customer. When used effectively, they can help the salesperson find the sources of hesitation, the real problems the customer is looking to solve, and the right answers that will lead to the ultimate sale. When you ask questions, you put the prospect in control of the conversation, and you make them a partner in getting to a sale.

4. Sell the product, not the customer

One size does not fit all. Not every customer is the same. Your job as a salesperson is to identify the problem that the customer is trying to solve, then focus your pitch around the benefits specific to their situation. Prospects don’t want to hear a laundry list of product features, they want to know how your product will make their life better.

5. Ask for the sale

A great sales pitch can fall flat right at the end when the salesperson is afraid to ask for the sale. When you have a prospect who is impressed and ready to make a deal, your job is not done. Don’t be afraid of scaring them off. When they’re ready, close the deal.