B2B Lead Generation Blog

Word of Mouth Marketing relies on reputation not branding

The premise of my post is that B2B marketing and B2C marketing are different.  B2B must stop copying B2C - we’re not Coca-Cola, Disney or McDonald's - so let’s stop acting like it! 

When it comes to word of mouth marketing (WOM), I've observed that many B2B marketers, marketing blogs and the media seem overly concerned about brand building.  They have it wrong.  Instead they should focus more on reputation building especially, if they have a complex sale.

Why? Word of mouth is all about our reputation.  Our reputation leads others to make conclusions about our brand but our brand doesn't create our reputation. 

Recent research shows that reputation makes a huge difference for B2B companies in the following areas; demand creation, lead generation and overall revenue growth.

Sirius Decisions, a leading B-to-B research firm concludes,

"While brand isn't dead, we believe it has become a byproduct of reputation, the first of three overall outputs today's b-to-b organizations must systematically produce in order to be successful. Reputation has a direct link to the second output – demand creation – and indirectly helps to drive the third output (revenue) by building a foundation of trust and credibility that should be revisited as needed throughout a sales cycle."

Read my post on defending thought leadeship. 

So if you want to build a WOM marketing program, you must look at your reputation first - not your brand.  "Build it and they will come." - Field of Dreams. 

Should reputation take a back seat to branding?  Why or Why not? 

Sirius Decisions: The Real Link to Demand Creation

Link: A Penny For: Using Blogs for Word of Mouth Marketing.

New PDF Tracking Gives Us Pause

If you require registration on your website to download white papers or other "free" resources, you're losing up to 75%-85% of your potential sales leads (2004 MarketingSherpa Report).

In response, marketers have allowed free downloads but, added registration forms inside their PDFs.   

Now you can track PDF documents without making people register. New PDF Tracking Gives Us Pause.

My Mention In Writers Digest

Bob Bly mentioned me in a recent Writers Digest article.  His brief mention created a noticeable spike in visitors.  Thank you Bob and welcome fellow writers! 

Link: Daily Doses: Land more writing clients by taking advantage of the latest (and easiest) marketing tool.

Podcast: How Trigger Events improve Lead Generation

Have you ever wondered why some sales happen twice as fast others? 

For my first podcast I thought it would be fun to tell a true story about one of my clients. We'll call her Kristin. At the mid-year point, in 2003, Kristin's marketing budget was cut by 50%. Amazingly, her CEO still expected her meet her revenue contribution goal.  She had 2-choices...either quit or get creative. 

In the final 6-months, with a smaller budget, she exceeded her total revenue targeted by 25%! In this podcast, I'll tell you her secret... okay not her entire secret but most of it.

Listen to podcast on trigger events

(File size is 5.58 MB) (Show length 12:07 minutes)

Show notes
Links to companies and articles mentioned in the podcast:

• Technorati watchlists
• Google news alerts via email
• Yahoo! RSS feeds & via email
• HillSearch online Business Library

View my podcast feed

Sales Leads Via RSS via Salesforce.com

Otter Group CEO, Kathleen Gilroy, pointed me Charlie Wood's, Moonwatcher Blog, and his intriguing post on the subject of distributing sales leads via RSS. 

Woods is VP of Enterprise Solutions for NewsGator.com, a leading news aggregator.  By using RSS, Woods has eliminated the time consuming task of lead notification, distribution and keeping his management team up-to-date.   

He writes, "I don't have to spend my day with my head buried in Salesforce.com.  Instead I'm notified of new leads through a variety of desktop, online, and mobile RSS aggregators."  Here is his original concept.

It will probably take somewhere between 12 to 18-months for RSS to reach critical mass for the following reasons:

1. RSS is still bleeding edge especially for non-bloggers.  I read that just 20% of all web users have read a blog and just 5% of regular blog readers use RSS.  The number of RSS readers is infinitesimal compared to the general population of web users.  It will take time. 

2. RSS requires you do something different. Your computer doesn't come with a RSS reader installed but it comes with a browser.  RSS requires you do install something, add something, or log into a web based aggregator. 

I prefer to use hosted news aggregator, Bloglines, because I can catch up on my reading with out having to recreate/copy my feeds at home PC, work PC, and PDA.  There are many others that are just as good such as NewsGator.

3.  Bloggers over-hype RSS.  An average web user could care less and most don’t see it as relevant. We have to remember that 80% of all web users have never read a blog. 

Still, it is exciting for me to watch new ideas take hold.  I’m looking forward to seeing how this all develops.  I’ll share some best practices of lead distribution and notification (with out using RSS). 

Give Lead Generation Some Respect

Dean Rieck argues that lead generation is the Rodney Dangerfield of marketing - some give it no respect.

Reick shares the following tips:

• Get buy-in from executives and sales
• Create your follow-up plan first
• Offer something valuable and free
• Get your offer to the right people
• Track everything
• Focus on ROI
• Review progress regularly

DMNews.com: Give Lead Generation Some Respect

Paper Direct Mail is Not Dead

Jim Logan tells us why Paper Direct Mail is Not Dead.  Jim also shares ideas on how to leverage direct mail and combine it with other lead generation modalities to capture a higher response rate. 

You don't need to spend a ton of money on direct mail to reach top executives.  A simple, well written letter (hand addressed) in a #10 envelope can be just as powerful as flashy packaging or expensive 3-dimensional mailings.  What ever you do - do not execute a direct mail campaign like this creative lead generation blunder.

If you need a resource to help you get started with reaching executives with direct mail, here's a decent book, The Power to Get In by Michael Boylan.  He explains step-by-step how to write executive access letters that leverage your contacts sphere of influence (most people can skip the first 4 chapters).

Check out, Lead Generation Via Direct Marketing is Coming Back, and read the section on how to prevent bad data from trashing your sales lead ROI. 

Cold Calling Tips for the complex sale

When used correctly, the phone is a powerful way to start and develop relationships.  Peter Davidson at the BeConnected blog pointed me to Kevin Stirtz's post on cold calling.  Thanks Peter. 

Kevin Stirtz's post, How to Make Cold Calling Work for Your Business, has some good points but - there is a better way.

Peter explains that we can use a bit of marketing ESP by combining our shared knowledge from various mediums such as email newsletters.

He writes, "One of the best ways to pre-qualify your leads is to work off a list of those contacts that have subscribed and clicked thru on the content of your email newsletter marketing efforts. Properly written and distributed an email marketing campaign can provide incredibly detailed information and customer intuition that will help your sales staff know what your customers are interested in."

Absolutely - we just need to be judicious with how we use that information.  Don't say, "I wanted to speak to you about [topic they clicked on] because you clicked that link a dozens times."  I’ve received calls like that and it feels a bit… creepy. 

If you must cold call, how do make each call relevant?  How can your phone call be plus in that person's day rather than another unwanted distraction?

I did a webcast with Jeff Thull on how to have relevant conversations with executives in mid-size to Fortune 500 companies.  Jeff is the author Mastering the Complex Sale® and The Prime Solution®. 

The challenge of cold calling is make sure each conversation we have is relevant and meaningful.  That's what this webcast is about. 

My company uses Jeff's approach for many of our lead generation programs and it works.  Why?  There's no manipulation, pitches or trickery - it is simply about authentic communication.

Watch the webcast How to have relevant conversations with top executives (Executive Level Selling)

Better lead management leads to bigger marketing budgets

Marketing Sherpa: How to Get a Bigger Marketing Budget Approved: 5 Steps in 6 Months (Includes B-to-B Search Ad Tips)

Okay - I'll give you my vignette:  These marketers managed their leads really well.  They measured their response - used phone qualification - worked closely with their sales team - sent on only sales ready leads - closed the loop on each lead - increased revenue - cut costs - gave remarkable reports.  Now look like heroes. 

A CEO I know said, "small budgets foster maximum creativity."

This also ties in the post Tracking ROI From Web Generated Leads

Revised Lead generation strategy map for complex sales

To be successful at generating leads for a complex sale, marketers can't rely on one specific tactic but rather they need to leverage a portfolio of tactics.  It begins with a mindset that see lead generation as an ongoing conversation - with human beings - that's both multimodal and iterative.  Not just a campaign. 

I had a bit of writers block as I was working on my book last night.  I went back my earlier mind map and I revised it.  Hopefully I made it better.  (Click image to enlarge)

Are there any tactics/modalities that I'm missing? 

Download lead generation map.pdf

Okay back to writing...