B2B Lead Generation Blog

The Human Touch of Lead Nurturing/Marketing Automation

I participated in a webcast and podcast combo on the adding the human touch to marketing automation as part of the Marketing Mastery Series sponsored by Eloqua, MarketingExperiments and ON24.

You can watch the webinar recording here. Because the webinar was a brief 20 minutes, we held all audience questions for a podcast interview right after. Steve Gershik VP of Marketing Innovation for Eloqua and the Innovative Marketer Blog interviewed me for his podcast on the subject of lead generation.

During the interview we talk about lead nurturing and how marketers can add the human touch to B2B lead generation programs. You can listen to our Q&A interview here.

Podcast: How to Optimize Teleprospecting Vendors

More companies than ever are using third party providers for teleprospecting and lead management operations, however there is little information on how to select, engage, and measure these vendors who will add that essential human touch.

I just interviewed Sridhar Ramanathan, President of Pacifica Group, on how to evaluate and optimize outsourced teleprospecting partnerships (aka inside sales, telesales, telemarketing). 

Sridhar is an industry thought leader in marketing and former HP executive that grew HP's Managed Services unit to $1B in revenue. He has spent that last seven years advising his clients at Pacifica group on how to implement successful marketing strategies that increase revenue. 

If you are involved in lead generation for a complex sale, this podcast offers practical information you won't want to miss.

During the interview you will hear Sridhar discuss:

• Why his client's decide to outsource
• What to have ready before engaging a firm
• The criteria companies should use when hiring a firm
• Success metrics used to evaluate effectiveness
• Pitfalls to avoid in a partnership
• Co-sourcing or Outsourcing?
• Best practices that make teleprospecting partnerships very effective

Listen to podcast now (27 minutes MP3 9.58 MB)

Podcast: How to Select and Optimize Teleprospecting Partnerships

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.

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)

Podcast: The New Rules of Marketing & PR Interview with David Meerman Scott

Before the Internet and social media tools, companies could only communicate through the filter of advertising or media ink placed by a PR firm. But fortunately the rules have changed.

I just interviewed David Meerman Scott author the new book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. The book was officially released on June 4, 2007.

David also writes the Web Ink Now blog and has been named to the MarketingSherpa Viral Marketing Hall of Fame for the past two years in a row. During our interview we cover a variety of topics that are relevant to lead generation, PR and marketing.

Show Notes

• The New Rules of Marketing & PR
• Strategies for reaching more buyers directly via the web
• The role of content in reaching people earlier in their buying process
• Building your online credibility and authority
• Thought leadership and the changing role of media and journalists
• PR tactics that work

Listen to podcast now (MP3 27 min 12 MB)
Subscribe to the Start With the Lead Show

David is a friend and colleague so I'm happy to see his book is doing so well. As I write this post his book is ranked in the top 100 of Amazon Best Sellers. Congrats David! Get your copy of The New Rules of Marketing & PR on Amazon.

Lead Generation via Podcasts: An Interview With Paul Dunay

Did you know that podcasting can help you generate more leads and nurture future customers? Research shows that Podcasts do impact B2B purchase decisions.

Buyers want to know you understand them and that you’re relevant to their specific needs. They also want to know the people behind the company. An excellent way to reach them is by developing thought leading (educational) content in the form of podcasts.

If you provide your prospects with high quality thought leading content as part of your lead nurturing process, then you will find that your prospects are calling you first when they are ready to buy.

I interviewed Paul Dunay, Director of Global Field Marketing for BearingPoint. Paul also writes the insightful Buzz Marketing for Technology Blog. I really enjoyed learning from his experience in the trenches. This year he's going to do over 120 podcasts!

Show Notes

• Where podcasting fits in the multimodal lead generation portfolio
• How podcasting helps establish and reinforce thought leadership
• Where podcasts can help your lead generation ROI
• Why podcasts are perfect for lead nurturing (I was flattered to learn that Paul found inspiration in my book to develop his strategy.)
• Outsource podcast production or do-it-yourself
• Hints and tips for marketers to start podcasting for lead generation

Listen to podcast now (MP3 22 min 5.6 MB)
Subscribe to the Start With the Lead Show

Now Announcing the "Start With A Lead" Podcast Show

I am pleased to announce that I'll be hosting a new podcast show called "Start with a Lead" debuting in April. 

The show will have content specifically for marketers and those who care about B2B lead generation, sales leads, and marketing strategies focused on the complex sale.

In the show, you’ll hear from thought leading experts on a variety of marketing and lead generation topics. You'll get the latest tips and strategies; and learn what really works and what doesn't to generate high quality leads in the complex sale.

Why a new show? Over the past few years, I’ve experimented with podcasting, (you can see my old podcast here) but now like Emeril, I’m ready to 'kick it up a notch’ and apply what I’ve learned from experience and listener feedback. 

Also, I’m  going to “open the phone lines” to listeners who’d like to ask questions in advance of the show so we can be more interactive and get your specific questions answered.  I’m looking forward to learning with you as I interview leading experts (and ask your questions) to get the latest contemporary thinking on lead generation. Stay tuned!

Podcast: Use Feedback to Boost Lead Generation

Ever feel like the results of your lead generation efforts aren't being fully utilized? You’re not alone. Without a solid process in place an astonishing eighty percent of marketing expenditures on lead generation are wasted because the leads are lost, ignored or discarded by sales. But there are steps you can take to improve lead acceptance and generate better ROI.

I was recently interviewed for a story by Marketing2IT's Ginna Hall on the subject of "Closed loop feedback" which is a vital to improving any lead generation program.

Agenda

1. Why closed loop feedback is so important to lead generation.
2. The best way to gather feedback.
3. Who needs to be involved.
4. Who owns the feedback process: marketing or sales?
5. Three obstacles and how you can avoid them.

Listen to podcast now (MP3 16:55 min 5.5 MB)

Podcast: What Sales Really Needs From Marketing

John Jantsch, small business marketing expert and author of Duct Tape Marketing recently interviewed me and sales expert Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies about what sales really needs from marketing.

This podcast was conducted for the marketing alliance partners for Sage Software, makers of ACT!, Peachtree and SageCRM software.  John originally hoped that Jill and I would debate or lock horns (Jill from the sales viewpoint and me from the marketing viewpoint). Instead, we could almost finish each others sentences : )

This is one of my favorite podcasts. I share more ideas on what marketing can do to create and nurture leads before handing them off to the sales force.

Listen to podcast now (MP3 60 min 45 MB)

P.S. I just read John Jantsch's new book, Duct Tape Marketing. If you're a small business owner (or plan to be one in the future) you'll want to put this book on your reading list. It’s great. If you decide to get a copy, you should check out his bonus offers. I'll be posting my Amazon review soon.

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)