B2B Lead Generation Blog

Podcast: A new role for sales as expert content filters

I just had a great interview with Robin Carey, co-founder of the Customer Collective.

Salespeople have become the second choice for information among buyers who'd rather just go to the Internet. This trend actually creates an opportunity for those who think and act like trusted advisors.

You can listen here

In the interview, I share how I got my start and how the Internet has shifted control away from marketers and salespeople. I also describe how today's sales people can add value to the buying process by becoming expert content filters for prospects. This is the key to lead nurturing with a human touch.

What's The Customer Collective? It's a new business outreach community for sales and marketing executives. It was built in collaboration with established media companies like Business Week, ZDNet and BNET. I see it as a social media site (that doesn't focus on social media) but rather looks at real meat and potatoes sales and marketing. We need more sites like this.

InTouch Acquired by MECLABS Group, Parent Company of MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments

When I started the B2B Lead Generation blog back in 2003, my purpose was to have this blog be a launch pad for practical ideas, not commercials. So that’s why many of you probably don’t know what I do in my day job as CEO of InTouch. But today I’m making an exception. 

After a long partnership with MarketingSherpa as a featured speaker and presenter at their B2B marketing summits, we made the decision to be acquired by MECLABS Group, the parent company of MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments. Read the press release.

With this acquisition, nothing will change for InTouch clients, future clients, partners and employees. We'll keep our name, our staff, and office in Arden Hills, MN. I along with our executive team will stay intact and we will continue to focus on building the company.

I often talk about the need for a “human touch” in marketing to overcome this age of automation and depersonalization. I fervently believe the only way to drive sales is to feed this need for relationships.

What exactly does InTouch do? We’re a professional B2B contact center that provides clients with the essential human touch required to develop and convert more leads into sales.

At age 24, I started InTouch (then Carroll Communications) back in 1995 out of my apartment living room with a second hand computer and $350 (I’m not kidding). At the time, I hoped to make a living while making a difference with how companies acquire and grow customer relationships through B2B telemarketing.

In 1999, we acquired one of our clients with which we had developed awfully good synergies, iNETech, an IT consulting Services Company specializing in software application development and I gained two great business partners, Pat Lorch and Brandon Stamschror. The new name of the firm, of course, was InTouch.

Since then, our company has been executing lead generation programs designed to profile sales prospects, uncover viable opportunities and create demand. Core services include: teleprospecting, lead qualification, lead nurturing, lead management, and marketing automation tools. Peg Davis over at MarketingExperiments blog wrote a great post that explains more.

That’s why all of us at InTouch are excited about tapping into MarketingSherpa’s practical case studies and know how, and MarketingExperiments’ online laboratory to discover what really works. Together, we can profoundly change the way people think about lead generation for the complex sale.

Plus, now our research for you will be supplemented by the team at MEC Labs Group. They run an actual laboratory facility in Jacksonville Beach, FL, where they conduct live campaign experiments in partnership with folks such as The New York Times and Reuters.

I want to sincerely thank you all of you for reading this blog. I have learned so much from your comments and our conversations. This blog will continue. And I look forward to us learning, doing and sharing together what really works for lead generation for the complex sale. 

Think more, do less

Are you too busy to think? Many of us feel that way at times. As simple as it seems, finding time to think effectively is vital to developing a solid sales, marketing and lead generation strategy. Without question, our mindsets ultimately influence our strategic choices.

Which is why I think Michael Webb’s post on the subject of thinking differently and banishing waste from sales and marketing is very compelling.

Michael explains that one of the most valuable questions he asks sales and marketing teams is, “What kinds of things clearly add no value to your sales and marketing operations?” Webb has found that people react strongly to this question. He often hears the same feedback over and over. Such as:

• Time spent on administration, reporting, and menial tasks (leaving little time for customers)
• Trade shows and events that generate boxes of “leads” not worth calling on
• Marketing literature that no one reads
• Wasting time with the wrong prospects

I see these same things too. So, instead of spending time looking at ways we can to create more of the same activity, why not think about how you can focus on what your internal and external customers really care about?

This involves asking provocative questions about the lead generation status quo such as:

• Will creating more activity for sales people really drive more revenue?
• Do I really want to know what my sales team is doing (or not doing) with our leads?
• Where is our sales team getting stuck in advancing our leads?

Also, I think you’ll find this post by Ed Batista on Strategic Quitting relevant. He highlights some thoughts from Seth Godin's book The Dip and he ties in some ideas from Peter Drucker.

Ed shares these questions, “Where can I deliver excellence? Where should I expect excellence in return? And how can I focus my time and energy to make this as likely as possible? This allows me to do some strategic quitting--or even better, not to start misguided efforts in the first place--and substantially increase the return on my personal investments.”

Some of your lead generation tactics may generate more inquiry activity than others but that doesn’t mean they are more valuable.

For example, I’ve talked with marketers who have analyzed their lead generation results and found tactics that generated the most activity often proved less effective at driving actual ROI, while others that didn’t produce as much activity did. These types of insights and ROI measurements can only be gleaned over the long term but if your status quo is to continue driving more campaign activity; then you may never know the difference.

At some point, if we are willing to stop and examine our decisions and the status quo, we will likely catch ourselves starting more low value activities and quit before we pursue them in the first place. Now, that’s time well spent!

7 Tips to Improve Sales Follow-up & Close More Leads

If you are like most B2B marketers, lead generation is at top of your priority list. But as you may already know, generating tons of “leads” doesn’t guarantee sales will follow.

Does the sales team either ignore your hard-won leads or complain about their quality? Do you ever wonder was the lead even contacted? If so, what’s the status?  Could you have helped move it along by going deeper in the sales cycle?

This chronic lack of visibility has a snowball effect of making it challenging for marketers to measure their effectiveness and understand their return on marketing investment (ROMI). So what can be done about it? 

Here's 7 Tips to Improve Sales Follow-up

1. Get buy in from sales team on your "sales ready" lead definition
2. Provide qualification information for each sales lead
3. Qualify and Distribute sales ready leads immediately
4. Communicate hand off to sales person
5. Measure sales pursuit - If lead not followed up it will be pulled / reassigned
6. Regularly close the loop -what gets measured gets done
7. Sales management must also audit and track rep follow-up

How often do you close the loop? I’ve found the most powerful way to improve sales follow-up on marketing generated leads is doing more frequent sales and marketing huddles.

Read Collaboration Huddles and 35 Other Ways to Improve Sales and Marketing Teamwork

Finally, if you’re using these tips already and still feel that your marketing and sales teams are working against each other instead of being on the same team, you could have some challenges with office politics read on.

MarketingSherpa just published an interview with Marketo CEO Phil Fernandez from a marketing view point and Barry Trailer, Co-Founder, CSO Insights who brings a sales perspective. Together Phil and Barry share seven other strategies to get both sides talking including how to:

• Model the sales/marketing funnel
• Develop a common vocabulary
• Create a closed-loop reporting process

MarketingSherpa: Overcoming Office Politics - 7 Strategies to Generate & Close More Leads.

Related posts:

Closed Loop Feedback: The Missing Lead Generation Huddle
Closed-Loop Marketers More Likely to Reach ROMI Goals
Podcast: Using Closed Loop Feedback to Boost Lead Generation ROI

Off-Topic: On Selling Ideas in 1776

Fellow blogger Tom Pick, over at the The WebMarketCentral Blog tagged me to write something off topic, interesting, seasonal and non-work related this week. I liked Tom's off topic post (great pictures) chronicling his kid's deluxe tree house that began "innocently as a tree deck." I love learning history so I'll see if I can meet at least a few of the above conditions in my off-topic post.

In the past, I've written about giving away ideas. But lately I've been wondering about selling ideas. So yesterday – somewhere between family, food and fireworks – I had a chance to think a bit about the Fourth of July and how it came to be. I believe history provides us a valuable lesson on how to sell an idea.

While historians may debate about the controversies and motives behind the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they all agree that it represented two fundamental ideas; freedom and liberty.

But before the declaration letter was drafted and signed those two revolutionary ideas had to be sold. Here’s a story you may not know… I’ll give you a hint: before there was “voice of the customer” there was “voice of the people.” 

Before he was president, Thomas Jefferson was the chief writer of the Declaration of Independence letter. But despite being brilliant thinker and writer, historians say he was extremely afraid of public speaking. At times, he would even avoid speaking in public by faking illness!

Despite his fear, Jefferson was getting ready to sell a new and remarkable idea inspired by Thomas Paine’s work “Common Sense” that asserted America’s Independence from England. But little did he know that his fear of speaking would help him develop a powerful new approach to selling an idea.

I came across an interesting article by Greg Oriancant that explains how some historians believe Jefferson developed his “voice of the people” writing style. Jefferson's writing style evoked a sentiment that identified with the desires of a people who were unhappy with English rule. It is believed that this style enabled him to sell the idea of independence at the continental congress.

In his article, "How the Declaration of Independence Could Have Been Declared Out Loud", Oriancant notes the following about Jefferson's writing, "...he [Jefferson] put careful consideration into eliminating any indication of individual opinion in fear that the people would ultimately balk at going independent from England. Instead, he made powerful, persuasive arguments that would be irrefutable by the people--plus making the people part of the process.”

In the book, Declaring Independence: Jefferson And The Art Of Public Speaking author Jay Fliegelman writes, "Jefferson was saying there are certain universal truths about the public good and political rights that are re-articulated over the length of history, from the classical period onward. To him, the point is to recover these truths rather than to invent something new."

Fliegelman also asserts that Jefferson drew his inspiration on how to write persuasively from the writings of Homer (the thinker not The Simpson's guy), and even emerging ideas of music theory. Jefferson was a violin player and he read an influential music theory essay by Mozart's father. That eassy taught how to bring an group of musicians with different styles together (soon to be people and ideas) to make an audience believe in what you were playing.

As I look back on how these powerful ideas were sold, I realize how little has changed about the collaborative process of selling ideas. The variety tactics we use now different but the overall process of selling ideas is virtually the same.

Here's some "on-topic" resources for selling your ideas in the workplace:

How to Sell an Idea is a concise and well written guide on selling ideas.

Selling your ideas: A critical executive skill is another good resource on selling ideas.

Podcast: Interview with MarketingSherpa's Anne Holland

Would you like some inspiration or some fresh ideas for your marketing and lead generation strategy?

If so, MarketingSherpa just released their “Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08” and I had the privilege to interview Anne Holland about this year's findings. Very useful stuff. Download the Executive Summary

During our in-depth interview, Anne shares some terrific insights and helpful data on numerous marketing and lead generation tactics.

Three data points that I found particularity interesting:

1. Teleprospecting works. As we all know, tech buyers are a notoriously tough crowd to cold call. Sherpa's findings contradict the "calling doesn't work" line we've heard for years. Their data shows that over 50% of tech buyers admitted to short listing a vendor after receiving a well timed and relevant phone call.

2. Sherpa's data shows that more decision makers (not just influencers) are attending webinars and watching archived events. This indicates the importance of relevant educational events and online content for lead generation.

3. Companies who provided fewer but higher quality "sales ready" leads to their sale people have better sales conversion rates than those that send lots of early stage leads and that creating a "cost per lead" culture just does not work.

Listen to podcast now (31 min MP3)

Show Agenda  

• Benchmark data that B2B all marketers must know
• Fresh ideas and best practices for lead qualification
• Why you should capture and track all web inquiries in your CRM
• How many buyers/influencers in the typical F500 buying process (hint: it's big!)
• Sherpa's unexpected data on B2B telemarketing (teleprospecting)
• Useful data on lead management and lead nurturing
• How webinars are reaching more decision makers than you would expect
• Common email mistakes (and why mobile devices matter more than you think)
• How and why high quality content is important and influential to buyers
• Why fewer leads is better (the CEOs role) and why "cost per lead" budgets fail
• Distinguishing characteristics of top performing marketers
• Unconventional research that will improve your corporate website homepage

The Business Technology Benchmark Marketing Guide features data on numerous marketing and lead generation tactics especially valuable. They also have practical data on search, email, PR, direct mail, lead generation, trade shows, podcasting, telemarketing, budgeting and more. They interviewed over 1000 marketers, plus this year they gathered in-depth research from 4,658 actual business technology buyers.

If you are a marketer for a company that sells technology, I encourage you to get a copy of this report. It will definitely help you better budget, forecast, and benchmark your marketing results.

MarketingSherpa: Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08

Social Media Pundits Disconnect from B2B Marketing

As someone in B2B, do you feel left out of the social media buzz? I read a good article on "What’s Wrong With Social Media For B2B Marketing" by John Miller who also writes the Modern B2B Marketing blog.

John's article highlights something most of us in B2B marketing have come to accept. B2C marketing gets the vast majority of links and clicks while B2B hears the quiet sound of crickets chirping.

I remember when I started blogging in 2003 and there was only 11 true B2B marketing related blogs. Now there's are over a hundred. John lists about 80 of them on his blog.

John concludes, "The result is that there are fewer pundits and thought leaders writing about B2B marketing, resulting in fewer links to those early adopters who do write about business marketing techniques. And since links mean leadership on the web, the result is that the less-trendy subjects in B2B marketing—like marketing accountability and lead management—get left behind."

Personally, I think the reason B2B marketing receives less attention comes down to time and momentum.

I don't know a B2B marketer who isn’t swamped and time constrained. They often have more projects than hands to do them.

Plus, there are more B2C marketers than B2B marketers. Why? There are simply more consumer buyers than business buyers. And as consumers, it’s easier to understand B2C marketing experiences, concepts and ideas. There’s just more to write about, more people and thus there’s more momentum.

B2B is more complex. Complex things are harder communicate and take more time and effort to build momentum. For example, my business partners and I were talking at lunch about why Steven Hawking is less known at this stage of his life than Albert Einstein (don't ask why were talking about this). One person said, "You can put Einstein's E=mc2 on a t-shirt and then a consumer will buy that. You can’t do that with Hawking.”

My point? Those who spend more time talking about the trendy marketing mediums (ie. Blogs, podcasts, WOM, etc.) are easier to link to than those who are talking about the strategy and execution aspects that B2B marketers really need. It’s a momentum thing.

B2B marketers may never have the same amount of buzz as those in B2C and that's okay. B2B marketing isn’t a popularity contest. It's about results. Without us, B2C marketers wouldn't have anything to sell and our economy would suffer. That's a fact. And that's why I love it.

Collaboration Huddles and 35 Other Ways to Improve Sales and Marketing Teamwork

I just got back from speaking at the New Marketing Summit and it was great. But it seems that I can’t attend a marketing conference with out hearing marketers swap complaints about their sales teams.

I don’t know about you but I’m fed up with the same old story.  Companies continue to waste millions of dollars because of poor teamwork and collaboration between marketing and sales.

Even the very best lead generation program cannot compensate for poor teamwork and collaboration, but unfortunately we continue hear about it time and again.

Sales and marketing often believe they are working together but collaboration takes more than annual or even quarterly planning meetings. Teamwork is something that must exist in a very real way each day.

I’ve found the most powerful way to foster teamwork and collaboration is to do more frequent and effective meetings. At InTouch we call them “huddles." We have short huddles daily and weekly between the marketing and sales team. 

In our huddles we do three things: Talk. Understand. Execute. (Repeat again) Talk. Understand. Execute. (Repeat again) Talk. Understand. Execute. Okay got it? (Repeat again).

In addition to huddles, there are other ways that sales and marketing can and should collaborate together.  This is just one list of 35 possibilities that we’ve tackled in our huddles and I hope you’ll add your own too.

During huddles, you can brainstorm, go over marketing and sales programs, and accomplish or think about any or all of the things on the list below:

1. Get feedback from the sales team – look at the conversion process and have regular face-to-face meetings or conference calls. Where is your sales team getting stuck?
2. Seek to understand if the sales team is at capacity.  Don’t generate more leads if they are focused on closing deals. Support them with nurturing.
3. Encourage sales people to follow-up on leads and hold them accountable, while still treating them like customers…ask them what they need. 
4. Develop a strategic lead generation and growth plan between sales and marketing.
5. Marketing and sales can work together on standardizing and documenting their lead generation and sales process so that what is happening can be easily tracked and measured.
6. Develop a marketing program that helps the sales team sell at a personal level.
7. Train your sales people on how to optimize your lead generation investment and give your feedback. 
8. Centralize the lead qualification process.
9. Use your huddles to introduce new sales people to the marketing team. 
10. Share lead generation best practices amongst the sales team.
11. Assign revenue goals to your joint sales and marketing plan.
12. Be flexible in your planning, so that you can adapt to changing requirements.
13. Lead generation must be promoted from the top down and bottom up.
14. Develop a culture that values leads by creating a universal lead definition.
15. Get the marketing team out in the field with the sales team regularly.
16. Arrange your compensation so there’s a shared accountability around lead generation.
17. Remember what Steven Covey say’s, “seek first to understand.  Then be understood.”
18. Close-the-loop on each sales lead being generated.
19. See that marketing takes over as many of the non-selling tasks as possible.
20. Integrate sales and marketing activity by using the same database or CRM system. 
21. Define and map out the responsibilities shared by both sales and marketing.
22. Share details about upcoming, events, articles, and press coverage.
23. Go over the upcoming lead generation program strategy and what the outcomes of that strategy are expected to be.
24. Mutually share new insights gained from customer feedback.
25. Share effectiveness measurements from recent lead generation activities.
26. Jointly develop message map and value proposition for you lead generation program.
27. Ask, what have you learned from the leads? Are there changes in hot topics for your target audience?
28. Discuss common concerns raised by potential customers and how the sales team is addressing them and develop solutions together.
29. Do your lead generation messaging align with your target audiences needs?
30. Analyze competitive information, and develop a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
31. Improve relevance of sales tools and marketing materials with sales input.
32. Map out your customer’s decision and buying process and then map out your value proposition for each role involved in the buying process.
33. Determine an answer to the question: What is the life cycle of a lead?
34. Strategic accounts: Can you develop content and lead generation events with your existing customers as references (ambassadors) to your audience? 
35. Define your expertise: how can you demonstrate your ability to solve business problems and share new ideas?

I’m wondering what you do in your company to foster better sales and marketing collaboration? Please share your thoughts and comments. Who knows? Your comments could be included in my next book.

The Difference Between ROI and Marketing Accountability

What's the difference difference between ROI and marketing accountability? My post a few weeks ago, "On B2B Demand Generation tools and Lead Generation Dashboards," started an email exchange between me and Jeffrey Eisenberg on the subject. Our exchange spawned an article by Bryan Eisenberg over at ClickZ.

Bryan writes, "Measuring the ROI of lead generation isn't the same thing as full accountability. If marketing is a profitable activity, it still doesn't mean that what it is communicating to the universe of buyers is building the business. I've seen lots of marketers sacrifice early and middle stage buyers because they had to show an immediate ROI on each campaign they ran. Who is accountable for all the potential business they lose by saying the wrong the thing to the right people at the wrong time?"

I agree with Jeffrey. I think our "instant gratification" culture is the main culprit. We're a Fast Food Nation, and this mindset has permeated into how we do business.

For example, most CEOs feel that they aren't getting enough activity at the top of the sales funnel. Marketers are constantly reminded that more leads are needed...now!

So here's the challenge that most marketers face...they want to think long term but keep getting sucked in by the more immediate and pressing issue of a not having enough high quality sales leads.

We all want our ROI, and we want it now! So who's to blame? The CEOs who cower to the will of their investors, boards, analysts and media? The investors who applaud short-term returns in their portfolio? The analysts who predict the future success of a company and then punish them for falling short? The media who criticize leaders for thinking long-term?

In addition, we can't ignore research showing the average tenure of a CEO is six years. But for a marketing leader, it's less than 24 months. So I think fear plays a role, too.

Bryan replies, "So many companies are still scraping the bottom end of their sales funnel while many potential prospects are left unsold. The soution?"

Continue reading at ClickZ:The Difference Between ROI and Marketing Accountability.

Going beyond the sales lead

Ultimately, the purpose of B2B marketing is to help the sales team sell. But marketers often get so wrapped up in driving activity that they seem to forget it's about driving sales conversion.

For example, ask most executives and marketers what sales people need and they will say, "more leads." Your sales people don’t want more leads actually, what they want is "more effective selling time." It's not about more activity. It's about helping the sales team achieve better results.

After working with hundreds of sales people and seeing their sales processes first hand, I frequently hear this "stuck point." They often ask, “How do I advance the lead when there isn’t an immediate need?” Sales people are often stuck wondering, “What else can I talk to them about?”

With out your input, sales people often resort to boring or irrelevant messaging that don't position them as trusted advisors. Phone calls such as, “I’m just calling to touch base” or emails that say, “I’m just checking in…” are like saying “Are you ready to buy yet?”  This is not because they lack creatively, it a simple matter of time or perspective. Sales people need to spend their time selling, not building content and messaging.

With or without your knowledge, sales reps are altering your messaging and creating their own collateral. Remember: The first impression matters.  So does the second.  So does every single touch after that. This is especially true with complex sales that require multiple conversations on the phone before you may get your first face to face meeting in the later stages of their buying process.

B2B marketers need to do more for their sales team than just throwing leads over the wall. If marketing wants to view sales as their customer, they need to be much more involved from the customer's perspective to understand their buying process and go beyond the lead.  This is an opportunity for marketing leaders to shine.

To do this you need to be thinking strategically, which involves getting more than one perspective. That means that sales must provide input to marketing (and marketing needs to accept and value the input) on the development of things such as sales collateral, white papers, case studies, articles, advertising, e-mail campaigns, value proposition development etc. as a joint team.  It also means getting out in the field with your team to really understand how you can help them sell.

If you go beyond the lead, you’ll generate much greater return from your lead generation investment and you’ll be doing what you’re meant to do… help the sales team sell.

Here's 9 ideas to help you go beyond the lead:

1. Build a library of selling and nurturing content specifically designed for you sales team. (The content does not have to be flashy, just relevant.)
2. Make the content library easily accessible. 
3. Use the phone to qualify all inquiries before sending them to the sales team.
4. Establish a clear process for handling and distributing leads.
5. Leverage your CRM system to create a lead management process.
6. Distribute leads rapidly.
7. Expect your sales team to follow up on each lead promptly.
8. Measure sales lead acceptance and follow up by sales team.
9. Close the loop with your sales team regularly.

On giving away ideas

I had coffee with a potential partner and our conversation ebbed to a discussion about marketing philosophy and lead generation.  He said something like, "I think companies [like yours] give away many of their trade secrets on their website. They provide too much information.  If I wanted to compete with you... all I would need to do is read your website or blog. The purpose of a website is to solicit interest... you've got to get people to respond... to generate leads."

My response...

People use the web for research; they are looking for fresh ideas, insight and actionable information.  Intellectual property is difficult to protect and is quickly commoditized by the market. Why not leverage some of your IP to your advantage? Leverage it and demonstrate your thought leadership. 

It’s difficult to defend technology that can easily become commoditized and your processes can be copied or improved upon as well. You can't even keep all of your people indefinitely. There are more protections for tangible products but not many for service based business, which most companies are evolving to anyway.

I have a friend who is a NASCAR fan and what he loves is that it's more about the driver than the car. All the cars are the same.  It’s the driver and the crew that make the difference. It's kind of like that with business now. 

Most companies have the same basic car. It's really about how well you drive it. The driver and crew in this metaphor can be seen as thought leadership; the ideas and talents that set the team apart from others. It’s what people remember and identify with. Features and benefit are cool, but sooner than later everyone’s car has the same features anyway.

This is particularity important for companies engaged in a complex sale, where up to 70% of a customer’s perception of your brand comes from their interactions with your sales people. I believe that the people and companies who succeed today are those who learn faster and teach others what they know more effectively. 

My skeptical coffee companion had a schotoma (blind spot) because his viewpoint came from a product driven, B2C, branding perspective.

I didn't have any formal training in marketing before I got started. At first that seemed like a disadvantage, but now I realize that having a clean slate gave me the advantage of being untainted. I strive to not have preconceived notion of how it SHOULD BE.  Instead, I listen to the voice of my customers and what I hear is that they want a relationship with a trusted advisor, not someone who guards their thoughts and ideas.

So what happens to people/companies that keep the ideas to themselves?

Jure Cuhalev over at the g. blog also has some great thoughts on giving away ideas. Jure writes, "...I have a theory of what happens to them. They start losing their ability to produce new ideas, since their current idea preoccupies them. They think about it all the time to the point that they can not think of anything fresh." 

Jure also quotes David Kelley, one of the most visible product designers in the world, especially in the world of high technology. Kelly is founder of IDEO, America's largest independent product design and development firm.

I think Kelly's viewpoint goes well beyond design. Read the following quote and replace "designers" with your role (ie. CEOs, Marketers and so on)... I think it will ring true.

According to Kelly, "Successful designers just send out their vision to the world; and then, when somebody else builds on it, that’s okay. They’re not protective of their ideas because they’re so used to having ideas. A creative designer has an idea a minute. Publicizing an idea is a way to improve on the idea—someone else can build on it, expand it. If you’re fluent with ideas, as most design people are, you don’t have to be fearful. You don’t protect your one good idea because your afraid you’ll never have another good one."

Again, it's not the car. It's the crew and driver.

Podcast: Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way

It's been well documented that quality of collaboration between sales and marketing directly impacts ROI. 

The challenge that many organizations face is that their sales process is a black box.  No one except the sales team knows what is going on inside the black box until a proposal or sale happens.  Worse still, 80% of the leads that go into the sales black box are rarely seen again. 

This makes it particularly challenging for marketers who are trying to measure their revenue contribution and lead generation ROI.  So what can be done about it? 

Process mapping is a well-known technique for creating a common vision and shared language for improving business results.

I had the chance to interview Michael Webb, founder of Sales Performance Consultants and an expert on sales process improvement on his excellent book, Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way. Michael gives some great input on how sales and marketing can use the six sigma process to create better sales and marketing results. 

Show Agenda

• How is six sigma relevant to the sales and marketing process?
• How can sales and marketing apply a six sigma process and what are some problems the process can address?
• What are the barriers in helping to create the six sigma process?
• How do you encourage people in sales and marketing who have tried to create a process that hasn’t worked, to give it another shot and how can you help them create one that works?
• Provide examples of companies with complex sales that applied six sigma to the sales and marketing process.

Listen to podcast now (MP3 24 min 5.5 MB)

How to Become a Thought Leader and Attract Customers

Would you like to be more visible and generate sales leads on a limited budget? Become a thought leader! Thought leadership gives you an edge to combat commoditization and attract more business. 

RainToday recently released the results of a new, year-long research project called How To Become A Thought Leader. The report was written for service providers but I believe the core ideas also apply to most companies with a complex sale.  Thanks goes to Britton Manasco for reminding via his blog post, "It Pays to Be a Thought Leader."

As I wrote a while back in my post, "in defense of thought leadership," there are just a few select thought leaders in every industry and field of study.  So everyone can't be one. But if you have the vision, desire and passion to do it, this report tells you how. 

I was humbled to be interviewed, along with eight other business leaders, and to be able to contribute to this report, which includes:

• 100 Pages of expert analysis on how to become a thought leader in your field
• 95 Pages of stories and advice from thought leaders in professional services
• 20 learning checklists and questions for self-evaluation
• Down-to-earth views of how passion, relevance and reach work together for you

Download my 14-page interview on thought leadership (243K PDF)

Get more info on the report at http://www.raintoday.com/thoughtleader.cfm

Telemarketing big with Xerox

Do you use the telephone as part of your multi-modal lead generation strategy? 

A recent BtoB Magazine article by Carol Krol, "Copy this: Telemarketing big with Xerox" shows that, although the phone may not be as buzz worthy as other lead generation tools, it remains the backbone to successful lead generation. 

However, as Krol’s article shows, the telephone shouldn’t stand alone.  It should function as the integrated hub for all other lead generation modalities and the central point for qualifying inquires converting them into sales ready leads. 

It is fascinating to see just how versatile––and necessary––the phone is for lead generation, with such applications as:

• Initial prospecting and qualification.
• Qualifying inquiries from various sources.
• Appending data and information.
• Reconnecting with past customers and leads.
• Centralizing leads for profiling and scoring.
• Following up on requests for information.
• Driving seminar and webinar attendance.
• Inviting and following up on trade show attendees.
• Validating direct marketing lists.
• Following up on direct mail campaigns.
• Building a database.
• Scheduling sales appointments.
• Developing relationships.
• Getting internal referrals.

To use the phone as an effective lead generation strategy, consider creating a specialized teleprospecting function within the marketing group. Teleprospecting teams often improve ROI because they create functional bridge between the sales and marketing to increase accountability and results. 

Creating a teleprospecting or lead management team, as an internal unit is easier said than done.  So it is not surprising that more organizations are now outsourcing their teleprospecting activities to companies like InTouch. 

Podcast: Marketing and Sales for Big Complex Selling (Pt 1)

I had a great time chatting with Todd at 800-CEO-READ on lead generation. This is the first of three podcasts 800-CEO-Read is doing on B2B sales and marketing.

Here's what Todd says about it:
"In this podcast, I talk with Brian Carroll, author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. Next week, I interview Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies. In week three, I bring Jill and Brian together to talk about the interface between marketing and sales."

Like many of Todd's podcasts; this one is a high-level discussion geared for business leaders and those who support sales people. While you're there, I encourage you to take some time to visit 800-CEO-READ's other websites. They are a super resource for anyone who reads business books.

Listen to podcast now (MP3 43:47 min 30.1 MB)

Speaking at MarketingSherpa's B-to-B Demand Generation Summit 2006

I'm speaking at MarketingSherpa's Demand Generation Summit being held in Boston and SF this fall.  I've worked out a special promotion with MarketingSherpa -- you’ll get a complimentary autographed copy of my book and a $300 discount on the Summit if you register by August 31st.

This should be just in time to inspire you during your fall budget and planning season. Meet experts; mingle with your peers; and discover new data, strategies, and tactics (includes search, podcasting, email & microsites). 

Please note, you must click on this link to register so you can get the discount and free book (that's the only way our good friends at MarketingSherpa can identify you as qualifying for the complimentary, autographed book offer).

New complimentary e-book - Start with a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation results

My latest project is ready! I just published a complimentary new e-book titled Start with a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation. Please download it and pass it on.

According to studies, the single biggest challenge for contemporary B2B marketers is effective lead generation. Conversely, it has been pointed out that 80 percent of marketing expenditures on lead generation are wasted because the leads are lost, ignored or discarded by sales people.

Marketers today are constantly reminded that the company needs more sales leads...now. Unfortunately, that immediacy is quite often at the direct expense of quality. Instead, marketers should adopt and tailor lead generation programs that will increase the odds of creating better sales leads and relationships that will ultimately result in long-term, happy and profitable customers.

In this e-book, you will learn how to develop high-volume, high-quality lead generation programs for your company. It was written for business leaders, managers and marketers who want to help their sales team sell with highly qualified business opportunities, because sales people should only be brought in when a lead has been qualified as “sales ready.” 

Download Start With a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation

Sales Leads Are Too Valuable For Sales People Alone

David Meerman Scott's blog post, "Sales Leads Are too Valuable for Sales People," is worth a read. He shows the folly of marketers who throw sales leads over the wall and expect sales people to catch them. This is an ongoing pattern for lead generation failure. 

I've written that consistent, patient, long-term contact with sales prospects results in better ROI. The reality is that early-stage leads, which are often lost, ignored or discarded by sales people, represent between 40 and 70 percent of missed sales!

Because the sales team is responsible for much of the customer’s perception of the company, concerted care must go into developing the ongoing, relevant communications that the sales team will employ as it builds relationships with customers.

Marketing should nurture leads via a relevant and consistent dialog with prospects, regardless of their timing to buy.  A key aspect of lead nurturing is the ability to provide valuable education and information to prospects up front, so that you become more than an expert; you become a trusted advisor. 

Kate Maddox's article in BtoB Magazine, "Integration Key to Lead Generation," emphasizes the need for close sales and marketing integration. The article is based on a recent white paper, as well as research by CSO Insights. 

Time with Best Selling Author Bryan Eisenberg

My good friend, Bryan Eisenberg and I met up while he was on his book tour in Minnesota.  Like many visitors to Minnesota (Land of 10,000 Lakes), Bryan wanted to see the Mall of America. Being married with two daughters, I'm a highly qualified mall tour guide ; )

After walking around the mall a few times, we stopped by Barnes & Noble to sign the remaining copies of our books.  We both wished we had a camera to capture this event... I mean how often do two friends have their books come out on the same day and then get to autograph them together! 

Later, we met up with our friend, Dan Janal, of PR Leads fame for dinner.  Dan brought his camera along so now I can share the pictures with you.  All three of us had a great time exchanging ideas on marketing, life, business and books.  Thanks for treating us to dinner Dan! 

Well, Bryan's new book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark, just hit the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today Best Sellers list all in the same week!  Congratulations to Bryan and co-authors Jeffrey Eisenberg and Lisa Davis! 

Podcast: Interview on the Cullinane & Green Report

I was interviewed by podcasting experts Joe Cullinane and Roger Green on the Cullinane & Green Report. I encourage you to check out their other interviews with Mike Bosworth, author of Solution Selling and co-author of CustomerCentric Selling and Jackie Huba co-author of Creating Customer Evangelists too.

During this podcast, I share my thoughts on how to use technology tools like podcasts, blogs and RSS for new business development and lead generation. 

Listen to podcast now (36:26 minutes)

Podcast: Duct Tape meets Lead Generation for the Complex Sale

I'm a guest on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast today hosted by John Jantsch.  John's Duct Tape Marketing Blog was chosen as a Forbes favorite for small business and was twice named "Best Small Business Marketing Blog" by the readers of Marketing Sherpa. While you're visiting John's blog, be sure to subscribe to his newsletter. It's terrific. 

Listen to podcast now

Sales and Marketing as a Team: Five Tips to Improve Performance

The best mindset, strategy and tactics – and the most astute sales and marketing individuals – are for naught without the collaboration of everyone involved. The unrealized potential can be likened to the batteries in a flashlight. If the batteries aren’t inserted in the right direction or are otherwise out of proper contact, their latent power is unusable.

Likewise, the harmonious interaction of sales and marketing is crucial. If they are askew and going in dissimilar directions, sales and marketing will not empower a successful complex sale or sales lead strategy. Bottom-line sales performance reflects just how well sales and marketing are working together.

I liked the collaboration tips in Sherri Leopard's article, "Five Steps to Connect Marketing to Sales, and Sales to Financial Results" in MarketingProfs.com.

I've summarized Leopard’s tips with my thoughts below:

1. Sales and Marketing must collaborate on defining leads and marketing objectives.
2. What gets measured gets done. Connect sales and marketing metrics together.
3. Focus on the data points you REALLY need to measure in your CRM.
4. Is your value proposition clear? Does your sales team have sales-ready messaging? 
5. Create content that's relevant for each stage of the buying cycle.

Simply put, what matters most is having everyone on the same page, integrated and respecting one another. If you can't do that, your brilliant lead generation plans and tactics won't matter.

PR Has New Rules for Reaching Buyers Directly

In launching my book, I didn't want to rely on the same time-worn lead generation tactics as everyone else. A normal book launch involves sending press releases to the media and then hoping and praying that overworked and overwhelmed journalists (who doesn't know you exist already) will suddenly see you on the radar...I mean, come on. That's so “book launch 1.0” (thanks for the idea, Debbie Weil). 

Simply put, the web has changed the rules for press releases. You can now reach your potential customers directly with your PR. This is called PR 2.0. 

Has your PR firm told you about this yet? If not, the reason may be this...many PR professionals resist direct-to-consumer PR. Just like many marketers resist changing the way they do lead generation from “campaigns” to “conversations.” 

Another important reason is that it's hard to admit you are powerless to start, control and mold your message. Just like you can't dominate a conversation without risking that people may tune you out. The key is that you need to listen first, ask the right questions, participate and be relevant. 

David Meerman Scott, author of Cashing In With Content, wrote a post on direct to consumer press releases today as discussion leader on the IAOC blog.  He features my recent book launch as a direct to consumer news release case example.  It all began in this conversation, Direct-to-Consumer News Releases: Do they suck?

If you have not read it already, I recommend you get David’s free e-book “The New Rules of PR." It explains how to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly.  It’s made a world of difference to me. 

New Book: Lead Generation for the Complex Sale is officially released

The wait is over! My book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, was released this morning. You can read the press release or listen to my podcast about it. 

I liked what Bryan Eisenberg, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Call To Action and the new book Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? had to say: 

"The lead generation game has changed in the age of the Internet. If you don't have this new playbook your competitors will. Brian Carroll closes the loop on lead generation, taking you from defining a lead, thinking like your prospects, tactics to increase lead generation, passing leads from marketing to sales, measuring the results, and nurturing the leads for increased revenue. If you don't read and then apply lessons from Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, then let me know how things work out for you."

Read the book announcement press release

Listen to the book release podcast (7:43 min 7.12 MB)

Download a free chapter

For the real thing, order on Amazon. You can find the book at your local Borders or Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. For multiple copies, order on 800-CEO-Read (Call Meg at 800-236-7323 ext. 206 CST.)  For the buzz on the book, read reviews and news. More about the author.

Update:  The book made its debut in Amazon's top 100 (sales and marketing books) today.  Debbie Weil author of The Corporate Blogging Book calls my book launch an example of Book Launch 2.0. 

Lead Generation for the Complex Sale on wsRadio.com

I just did a 40-minute live interview on the Online Marketing show with RSS Ray broadcast by WS Radio.com, the world wide leader in internet talk radio.  A podcast version of the show is available via iTunes or the host website RSSRay.com.

During the interview, I share new ideas for generating B2B customers and talk about my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, that's being released next week.

Click here to listen to the recording. 

Book Cover and Advanced Praise for Lead Generation for the Complex Sale

We're quickly approaching the official release of my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale : Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROI.  Also, my book got a new cover!  (click image to enlarge) 

I'm humbled by the incredible endorsements that I've received for the book so far. You can read the advanced endorsements here, more here, and via my new book website before they're posted on the major on-line bookseller websites. 

For those who pre-ordered the book, it will arrive with the new cover in June.  I just got my first shipment of author copies and they look great!  Thanks again! 

Podcast: The Innovative Marketer

Steve Gershik of the Innovative Marketer Blog interviewed me for his podcast on the subject of lead generation.  During the interview I talk about my early roots in marketing, some of my philosophy, my upcoming book, and what marketers should be thinking about about to develop effective B2B lead generation programs.

Listen to podcast (right-click to save to your desktop)

Link: The Innovative Marketer: Podcast #4 - Brian Carroll, Author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale.

Why CEOs Must Be Actively Involved in Lead Generation

Jeff Thull, author of Mastering the Complex Sale, recently published an article, "Sales and The CEO," that puts CEOs at the head of the sales department.  I like the article because it emphasizes the key role that CEOs play in developing a successful go-to-market strategy. 

I think biggest obstacle to go-to-market success is the absence of execution.  The lack of synergy between sales and marketing on lead generation is so common as to risk cliche.  It goes like this… marketing feels that sales doesn’t follow-up on marketing generated leads.  Sales counters that the “leads” aren’t any good. And so on. 

I've interviewed hundreds of companies, and less than 10% have a clear, written, and universally accepted definition of what a sales lead means.  Even in small companies, I can ask three sales people “what is a sales lead to you?” and get three different answers. 

Like the complex sale, lead generation, with its many facets and interactions, can be properly sparked only by the CEO who believes in it and creates culture to support it.  CEOs can make a huge impact by focusing on collaboration - between sales and marketing - and seeking consensus on the following three things:

1. Ideal Customer Profile (company wide – for each product, service, or solution)
2. Universal Lead Definition of a "sales ready" lead that's applied to all inquires/leads
3. Connecting the marketing/sales process with your customers buying process 

As I explain in this post, "Prediction: Lead generation dashboards will likely be a hot topic," a key goal of many CEOs for their marketing department is to answer this critical question: "What's our marketing team's contribution to sales revenue?" 

Just by developing an Ideal Customer Profile InTouch saw one client's average sale, which had been $60,000, increase by more than 30 percent to $80,000, while overall revenue increased by 20 percent.   Why?  The sales team focused on fewer opportunities - requiring the same effort as before - but the results were of much higher quality.

Another client built consensus on their Universal Lead Definition and ensured the sales department’s total buy-in.  With the same tactics and budget as the previous year, return on investment was 120 percent greater than before.  The full agreement of sales and marketing on a universal lead definition was credited as being the crucial success factor. 

If the CEO isn’t an active supporter of marketing in the company, the proper environment for good, sound lead generation is far removed from reality.  The CEO, after all, shapes the vision of the company and sets the tone for its corporate culture. 

In the absence of CEO support, I believe marketers are in the unique position of being catalysts for change.  Ultimately, it becomes the job of the marketer to lead the charge in pursuit of success of the company’s lead generation program. 

The first step is to develop a collaborative culture by focusing on the on the three things I noted above.  Then commit to closing-the-loop on each marketing investment which includes all sales leads. 

I've conducted dozens of Lead Generation Collaboration Workshops to facilitate this process for sales and marketing teams engaged in a complex sale.  I explain the basic steps on how you can develop your own universal lead definition here and Chapter 3 of my new book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale.

Webcast: 8 Critical Success Factors for B2B Lead Generation

Join me for a complimentary webcast on Thursday, March 16th at 2pm EST.  I'm speaking on the "8 Critical Success Factors for B2B Lead Generation Success" along with Mark Organ, CEO of Eloqua.   

Watch the recorded webcast archive now

During this webcast, I will share the most critical – and often overlooked - factors in successful lead generation including:

• How to combine sales and marketing to optimize the number of leads
• Preventing lulls in your sales cycle
• Developing Universal Lead Definition (ULD) and ideal customer profile (ICP)
• Building, maintaining and growing your database
• Multi-modal lead nurturing - a crash course
• Ready yourself for what's next - new and promising tactics
• and more...

Register for this webcast registration is closed. Watch the recorded webcast now

Sponsored by Eloqua, provider of the leading integrated demand generation platform for executing, automating and measuring highly effective B2B marketing programs.

Podcast Segment 1: Selling to BIG Companies

If you're involved in complex sale, be sure to listen to the recording of my live teleseminar with Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer and author of Selling to Companies.  Over 93% of the live audience (200 marketers and sellers) strongly agreed or agreed that they found value in attending this session.  I'm sure you will too.

Listen to Segment 1: Selling to BIG Companies (17:51 min 4.1 MB)

• Why has it become more difficult to sell to large organizations?
• Who is the seller’s toughest competitor?
• What can a marketing do to help this?

Over 93% of the live audience (200 marketers and sellers) strongly agreed or agreed that they found value in attending this session.  I'm sure you will too.