Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Hi,

I think you should use a combination of both the classic ways (personal attention) and the resources available (internet, cyberspace, etc)
As what has happened is that people have lost the power of the sales visit, the human voice, the gift personally handed over, etc...

In our company when we got payment for a product we get the sales rep to bring a big cake to go and say thank you...

Not everybody can do this but its the geste that counts.

Next to that is more and more a growing trend that sales functions and marketing functions blend with one another. This is also logical as many smaller firms do not have the resources to pay MM. and SM's

Given that in my opinion partly it should be like this as the KNOWLEDGE needs to flow both ways and the decades old fight between SALES and MARKETING needs to get a new face!

Regards,

W

Hi There,

While internet is a phenomenally fast growing source of information and lead generation, I believe that it simply creates a greater need for integrated lead generation techniques. By integration I am referring to a businesses ability to draw on a variety of lead generation mediums.

Take a look at the Marketing GAP Analysis I performed for our company this year. Use it as a template to find areas in your customer offering life cycle where you may have "Gaps". Focus especially on the lead generation area.
www.fstau.com.au/pdf/eblast/MarketingGapAnalysis.pdf

Some of the integrated lead generation tools I would suggest include:
1. A robust CRM database where information about leads (and obviously current customer information) can be stored securely and accessed easily from the road or internally by customer service. Depending on your industry and needs there are a number of different types available. The two that are most well known for integration with other software are:
www.salesforce.com and www.saleslogix.com. You may opt for a sync based system where development costs are not as high but requires syncing from a central server and can be difficult to update and maintain but has greater flexibility. or you may go with a web based system. It is up to you.

2. An industry based lead management service. Sure you could search for days on company websites and sign up for a thousand newsletter updates, but you will never really have the time to keep up with all industry related opportunities. A lead management service should enable access to industry tenders or contracts before they become publicly available. You can set the service to send you leads from the area or market you require. How much this service costs can depend on the industry you are in and how many users you intend to allow to use the program. I suggest a central coordinator who filters leads and emails out to a sales force.

3. Direct Mail outs and Email Outs. Depending on your CRM database you may be able to run this from there. Generate leads by purchasing industry lists from selected sources (remember SPAM laws may apply in some instances or geographies). If your CRM system doesn't allow for this, you will need to integrate with an email analytics program. If you are a business to business seller, deliverability is of utmos importance. Make sure that when you speak to sales people from various emarketing companies, they they have deliverability policies and standards. There is no point in sending a personalised email if it never gets there!
The companies I have personally looked into and been impressed with because they offer dynamic content solutions, delvierability and SPAM compliance practises and integration with offline databases and also any offline campaigns include:
CheetahMail
EmailLabs
ExactTarget
Campaign Master

4. Having a form on your website encouraging people to sign up for a newsletter, promotional items or a white paper is imperative. You may like to place code which allows it to pop up when people enter or leave your site.

5. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is essential to actually drawing those people to your website to sign up via the form in the first place. Some of the techniques involved in this include:
- Clean code which search engine bots can read quickly and easily
- Formal submission to all major search engines (Google, MSN and Yahoo). Don't even both with the others. The main thing is to get onto the Open Directpry Project. Most other smaller search engines reference that database for their search results so you should need to pay through the nose to get a listing with the 3% of searches not done through the three search engine giants.
- Keywords within pages that match meta tag descriptions
- Links galore from other RELATED websites (try the program called Zeus. It has worked well for me before)
- Pay-per click campaigns. If you are going to use this, make sure you also have a web analytics tool which enables you to see how these impact on your sales or visitation to your website to ensure you do get ROI. Be careful - these nasties can put you up for hundreds or even thousands of dollars - if you are prepared to wait the 1-6 months to be indexed by a major search engine it pays off. In fact, some people purposely won't click on a paid ad because they feel an organic listing has more credibility!

6. While tradeshows are a dying breed in some industries, there are still ways to get a great ROI with them. The main things to remember when attempting to generate qualified sales leads from a tradeshow environment are:
- Have a pre show plan with specific goals
- Spend money on getting people there (invitations...etc) rather than on giveaways which will just end up in the bin
- Have a follow up plan for all attendees. Eg: Reminder email/letter that the show special is about to expire...etc

7. Creating partnerships and credibility through industry associations and through sponsorship of community or research based projects. It gives you a claim to being at the cutting edge. Rather than sponsoring with money, try to sponsor through product discounting. This requires less tax paperwork and is more beneficial to your company in being able to say product was used.

8. Live Seminars. Try to create something educational rather than making anything into a sales pitch - believe me, your potential customers will see straight through it if you do!

9. Customer Referrals. Especially in a B2B environment where word of mouth is essential, try rewarding current customers for referring a new client. It may be in the form of tickets to a sports game or perhaps in a less personal level, discounted product or service/support. Creating the opportunity for referrals recognises those people who act as unpaid sales people for your business - your customers!! It also means that your company can gradually form a network of connected clients/customers.

10. Last but not least - cold calling. Especially in a B2B environment I do not recommend third party cold calling (telemarketing). The time professionals have for telemarketers is short or none at all. Try different tacks with cold calling and compare results. Try simple introductions, try special offers, try a free seminar. Track your response levels to each and then invest time and energy into the one which works the best for you.

I hope the helps you. I think I have just written an essay!!

Michelle Bourke

While sales has never been "easy", it has now become really hard. You have to talk to the right person, say the right thing, and ask the right questions - at just the right time - or you're dead.

I was going through an article at https://www.industrialego.com/ and found some interesting techniques. Sales people need to change some of their attitudes about buying and selling and learn a few new techniques.

1. They need to be able to use questions to stir up buying emotions.
2. They need to be able to bond with anyone - no matter how different they seem.
3. They need a strategy to maximize your selling time on the winnable deals.
4. They need to be comfortable securing commitments early and often.
5. They need to be able to get prospects to pursue you and reveal their budgets.

The most important thing here to understand is that a sles guy have to be able to close a high percentage of the deals they work on AND have to spend your time working on only the best deals if they want to make the most money as a commissioned sales rep.

As i was interested in sales, before going to different interviews, i read lot of stuf on sales startegy and also covered the following points:

Selling consists of two main functions:
a) tactics
b) strategy

Sales strategy is the planning of sales activities: methods of reaching clients, competitive differences and resources available.
Tactics involves the day-to-day selling: prospecting, sales process, and follow-up

The tactics of selling are very important but equally vital is the strategy of sales. The advantages are too compelling to ignore.

Competitive Advantages of Strategic Sales Planning

1. Increased closing ratio by knowing clients hot buttons
2. Improved client loyalty by understanding needs
3. Shorten the sales cycle with outside recommendations
4. Outsell competitors by offering the best solution

Then i also an article on Triple-tiered Sales Strategy https://sbinformation.about.com. Please go throught it as well.

Hope this will help.