As an accomplished eMarketer, you may already have sophisticated Marketing and SalesForce.com Automation systems in place. You may also be using an analytics module to provide  in-depth stats by the minute, as well as a set of Automated Marketing Programs  to qualify, score and funnel Leads to your Sales system. With all of this in place, you will have a steady volume of prospects flowing through your system and a lead conversion rate on par with industry average.

However,  to add the ‘Customer Driven’ dimension to your automated marketing programs, one must design programs that elicit targeted actionable feedback from your prospects, leads, customers and marketing programs that are ‘Agile’ enough to adapt themselves based on customer feedback.

The key here is to ask the right questions to the right person. If you already have a lead/prospect/customer scoring mechanism built into your marketing programs, you could use the score to determine whom to ask what.

For Example:  When you lose a lead after he was assigned to a sales executive, you could send a satisfaction survey email asking to rate the salesperson. This feedback could be used by your agile marketing program to route your hottest (highest scoring) leads to one of your top salespeople in the future.

If one of your existing key customers gives you a very high overall rating, your agile marketing program would take note of this and send out an email asking for references or perhaps send another email to try and crosssell/upsell more products.

When reviewing automated marketing programs make sure you’re also evaluating just how agile and customer driven they truly are.

Pay-for-performance lead generation, on the surface, is an appealing notion. The idea of selecting an outsourced agency to do your telemarketing for you—and only pay them for the appointments they actually provide. They assume all the risk, right? How can you beat that? But, in the real-world, business-to-business appointment setting is a very risky model.

No B2B lead generation program (no matter how well planned) produces overnight returns. There’s always a period of planning, testing, execution and measurement. With that reality, it takes some upfront training and management to get results. And with telemarketing personnel turnover so high and training so expensive, does this model really make sense? Particularly if the pay-for-performance telemarketing agent does not get immediate results, they are motivated to push unqualified appointments into the funnel to reach their quota commitment. This is why telemarketing leaves most B2B marketing and sales departments empty-handed and eventually causes a jaded feeling about pay-for-performance lead generation overall. The fact is that the model isn’t broken. But, it has changed and the market needs to change with it for a better result to occur.

Some things to think about before you pay-for-performance

• Look at the process first and make sure to invest time to figure out the ROI.
• Don’t rely on people only. Invest in scalable and automatic lead generation that will occur overtime, not overnight because if demand gen does work, you’ll be hiring more sales people and they in turn will need more and more leads.
• Measure everything. The great thing about modern demand generation is the “digits are meant to measured”.  Today I can launch a program and see everything that happens in real-time, based on the prospects behavior. Now that’s real demand being created!
• Experience matters. This type of modern, digital lead generation is fairly new. Not everyone understands how to do it correctly, so do some due diligence and hire a team of marketers that are experienced and have shown real ROI results for other B2B companies.

Here, at True Influence, we’ve launched a new program called LeadPAC’s that deals with pay-for performance very nicely. To make this work we’ve partnered with the best-of-class data provider Jigsaw to create an almost limitless flow of sales-ready leads for our customers. For companies that sell to SMB and have a recurring need for higher quality lead flow, this is a great solution.

The arrival of a new year understandably compels people to think about starting anew. For me, the advent of 2011 meant sudden motivation to remove the clutter from my home office. First challenge: Wrestle with the mounds of files and papers that permeated the space.

As I began deciding what to keep and what to toss, I came across a binder of material from 1991. The binder contained all the material from my new-hire training as a rep for a sales training company: things like company positioning, product overviews, prospecting scripts, call templates and draft presentations that we’d re-create using flip charts (pre-dating PowerPoint). These were a few of the key sales issues our training looked to address 20 years ago:

• Too many salespeople are product-centric and need to become more “solutions oriented”
• Salespeople must evolve from “professional visitor” to “problem solver” to “needs satisfier” to, ultimately, “trusted advisor”
• The days of manipulative selling are over; the new salesperson is consultative
• Research shows that too many salespeople talk about product features instead of first determining customer needs through effective questioning and listening, and then linking those needs to the company’s relevant offerings
• The customer is in control, and the salesperson must learn to be the “navigator”

Hmmm. Sound familiar? To quote that “famous philosopher” and baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again. Aren’t many of these the same issues we still see today? Then another obvious question popped into my head: After 20 years, why aren’t salespeople getting better? Here are some reasons why, as I see them:

• Sales is still treated as a craft, not a profession. How many high school students do you know who want to go into sales as a career? Few colleges offer majors or minors in sales despite the fact that, according to some estimates, 40 percent to 50 percent of graduates with marketing degrees go into sales. Until viewed as a profession (e.g. accounting, finance, marketing) with a college curriculum that leads to a degree and a clear understanding of what it means to be a “professional salesperson,” sales will continue to be a “learn as you go” occupation without a career roadmap beyond making your number and hopefully moving into management.

• Old stereotypes die hard. This is somewhat connected to the bullet above. Ask the average person what it takes to be a good salesperson and you’re likely to hear “likable” or “outgoing.” Not “knowledgeable” or “a good listener.” I was a pretty good salesperson, but would genuinely get offended when someone would compliment me by saying that I “could sell ice to an Eskimo” — implying I could convince someone to buy something they neither needed nor wanted. Yet this is still the perception of successful sellers today. Even within companies we work with, it’s common to hear folks outside of sales refer to reps as “undisciplined” and doing most of their work “on the golf course.” It’s important that people outside the sales organization understand that selling requires a combination of competencies beyond just having a dynamic personality and the ability to hit nice tee shots. It’s time for sales organizations to identify and map these specific competencies, and then make them a formal part of the hiring and training process.

• Companies say one thing, then do another. You can’t become solution-centric if all your product training focuses on pushing your allegedly superior features and whiz-bang technology. You can’t expect reps to become trusted advisors and look to develop long-term relationships when your comp plan promotes a short-term approach and a “make the numbers at all cost” mentality at the end of each quarter. And, you can’t change the behavior of your salespeople without the support of the entire marketing and sales organization, which obviously includes the unwavering commitment of marketing and sales leaders.

But the ultimate reason may simply be the human condition. Getting back to the pep in our step we feel at the start of a new year, we may make resolutions to lose weight or start exercising, yet more than half are broken within the first six months. Instead, we still search for that magic elixir that will actually enable us to eat all we want – while somehow also losing weight. Maybe sales organizations are no different; perhaps they hope to find their own “magic elixirs” among the latest sales enablement tools or selling philosophy (provocative selling anyone?). But the reality is that hiring, training and developing salespeople to become those trusted advisors we all aspire our reps to be takes hard work.

Just like an individual whose resolution is to get organized or live a healthier life, organizations seeking to change their sales habits for the better need to understand that the hoped-for results will not happen without a long-term commitment, ongoing efforts to make and maintain positive change, and constant reassessment of your progress. Otherwise, the most optimistic resolutions will soon yield to the usual approach of “just you stick with what you know, the tried and true, hope for the best and you’ll get around to further developing your salespeople if and when you can.”

After all, there’s always next year.

With so many disruptive, addictive technologies such as Email, IM, RSS and Cell Phones prospects are distracted like never before—and chances are, so are you!

So what can you do?

Key Tip: If you provide something of value to prospects, they will give you their respect, loyalty, time AND ultimately their business.

Consider the facts. Studies show that execs value Business Briefings (aka White Papers) most—more than case studies, product literature, articles from industry journalists, analyst reports, company websites, webcasts, blogs, online video and podcasts.

One thing is for sure – senior-most executives hate to be sold.  They want to be in control and make their own decisions to buy.  They view themselves as thought leaders and and love to have a “trusted advisor” (like you) nearby that they can count. So if you give away some of that proprietary, hard-earned insight in the form of a business briefing or ebook, you actually can propel yourself to a position of thought leader/trusted advisor and attract opportunity.  This may seem counterintuitive but it works.

Of course there is a right way and a wrong way to do this…  What’s the right way?  Give your readers plenty of sample content before they are asked to trade their personal contact information for access.  So many web sites ask for detailed information and lose valuable leads.  Make this an interactive, engaging process that gives more value than you get and they will come in droves.

This idea comes from the video game market. Remember playing video game demos that provided you access to the first two levels?  The same strategy can be applied to free business briefings.  When your registration form finally appears, this is the prime opportunity to ask readers if they want to join your email opt-in list, in addition to receiving the briefing.  Try it and you’ll see.

One of the many healthy side effects of introducing a marketing automation system is the updating of definitions for each stage of the sales/marketing pipeline. The definitions of what constitutes a lead are often reviewed, discussed and determined during the implementation of a new Marketing Automation system. This takes place so companies can easily communicate with different kinds of potential customers in tailored, appropriate ways.

Many companies find, during this process, that Sales and Marketing have developed different definitions over time, and regaining unanimity via a fresh round of discussions can help to align potentially disjointed efforts and make the pipeline more efficient.

One set of definitions might be as follows:

Prospect – an individual who, based on title, company, and/or industry, should be interested in a product/service
Lead – has responded to some form of Marketing outreach (downloaded a white paper, took part in a webinar, visited the website, etc.)
Opportunity – has been contacted and qualified (via BANT or similar method – budget, authority, need, timeframe)

The call to action, then, for any company that has not brought together Sales and Marketing together within a reasonable period (say 18 months) is to bring them together to discuss how each department views and communicates with Prospects, Leads, and Opportunities. If your company is evaluating a Marketing Automation system, this discussion is even more urgent, as Marketing will be better equipped to use this information to nurture each category of potential customer in a focused, targeted manner with nurturing campaigns on an ongoing basis!

Its a safe bet that many companies have made New Year’s resolutions to increase revenue streams as so many companies, large and small were hard hit in 2009. While becoming leaner and meaner as some companies have done can help reduce expenses, there are other strategies that can be employed. Namely being smarter when it comes to sales.

If you’ve been asking yourself  “what can I do to get leads flowing again? Here are five areas where businesses can look to improve their sales potential:

1. Poor Lead Stewardship. The number one reason sales are lost is that they are forgotten. Many companies have poor systems, or no systems in place for tracking leads from the moment they are aware of them to the time a customer deal closes. Take a hard look at the “lead leakage” in your business, adopt or modify your existing process, and you’ll see sales climb quickly.

2. Are you Listening?  Any successful salesperson knows that “Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm.” You must be enthusiastic about what you are selling, but you have to also keep your focus on the customer’s needs. Make sure you are asking focused questions about their business process, their sales needs, what’s working, what isn’t and how you can help them achieve their goals. Be relentless, less ”selling” and more listening! IMHO, buyers will choose the company that they feel hears and understands their pain points and has a solution that seems designed just for them! (After all, each of us want to be heard; this simple shift can bring some profoundly positive results.)

3. Lack of Urgency.  Hand in hand with the previous point, is how well you are managing urgency. You’ve probably heard many times: The most important question in sales is not “Why should I buy your product or service?” but “Why should I buy your product or service NOW?”  Buyers are more cautious than ever, so coming up with compelling reasons why they shouldn’t delay making a commitment to your products/services is very important for success. 

4. Craft a new elevator pitch. The beginning of any dialogue often starts with: “So, what is it that you do?” Even experienced, savvy sales people may use a list of bullet points to explain what they do. What they’re not getting is that your prospects don’t care about what you can do. They really only care what you can do for them to solve their problems. Tell them why you are the best one to provide this solution. Its time well spent to understand exactly what your core value is to your customers and develop the strongest focused messaging to communicate this effectively.

5. Pay for Performance Marketing. Shameless plug : True Influence has developed LeadPacs to help companies who don’t have the time, resources or money for in-house multichannel marketing campaigns but need more warm leads for Sales. Pay-for-performance leads mean you get exactly who you want, leads scored on the behavior you specify. Once you provide the content to us, we launch a campaign on your behalf and immediately deliver the results to your Sales Team!

Wishing everyone a Happy and PROSPEROUS New Year!

I saw this today and thought it was inspiring for all of us to view as we start a new year.

The concept is that at 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. Its that 1 degree that makes the difference in 2010. Kudos to www.simpletruths.com for making this available.