by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 10, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
Let’s face it, in your world, qualified leads are or should be the holy grail of marketing. According to a report by Marketing Sherpa, 78% of B2B marketers biggest challenge is generating qualified leads.
Here are some tips on how you can improve your process:
- Create a plan – that will include message, method of delivery, when to hand lead to sales and measuring ROI.
- Define your USP – What is your unique selling proposition? What makes you or your offer different from the competition?
- Offer them something of value for free – If you want them to start an engagement, you need to show some good faith and give them a tool they can use everyday (conversation chart, smart phone button, competitive parts interchange).
- Match the offer to the audience – Not all messages are for all audiences. A concrete tool offer to a HVAC contractor probably won’t get much return.
- Capture and nurture leads – Once you get a lead, there has to be some qualifications done before sending it to sales. We’re not trying to overload the sales department with leads, rather we want to give them qualified leads that they are excited about calling on.
- Handing off the lead to sales – Depending on the criteria that you’ve developed, you need to forward the lead and what you know about it (in the sales funnel) so when sales calls on them, they know what to talk about, i.e., initial evaluation stages, engineering comparison questions or ready-to-buy type of questions.
- Close the loop on the lead – Did they buy? If not, why? This should be documented in a CRM system so we know why you’re gaining or losing sales.
- Review performance – Repeat what’s working and stop what isn’t.
by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 9, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
I know everyone is so focused on social media and content creation, but that’s only the beginning of the sales cycle. When people identify themselves, who makes the sale – the internet or a person? I’d say unless you’re selling a commodity or selling on price, there needs to be interaction with a person(s) along the way. In other words, the Human Factor takes over.
I’ve been in the sales game for over 40 years and I’m here to tell you times have changed and if you don’t adapt, you’re going to be working harder, not smarter. More importantly, we all need to try to improve ourselves and those around us.
I just finished a great book by Daniel H. Pink titled To Sell is Human. It goes into who is selling now, how they should approach it and great tips on being more effective.
Here are some highlights that I got out of it:
- The A,B,C’s of selling no longer apply – You can’t be always closing because folks will turn you off. You need honesty, fairness and transparency. No longer is it a buyer’s beware, instead it’s a seller’s beware landscape.
- 25% of our waking hours are spent listening – That’s why God gave us two ears and one mouth. We need to learn how to ask better questions and then listen.
- We spend 41% of our time trying to persuade someone to do something we want – that pretty much makes us all salesmen of one sort or another.
- Non-selling is the key to success – instead of trying to upsell someone, try upserving them and see what happens. It will transform the mundane into something memorable, and guess who they are going to buy from?
The key to selling is being able to move others to your way of thinking and times have changed. The book is a good read. Enjoy.
by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 4, 2014 | Social Marketing
Rachel Kerstetter, PR Engineer, Sonnhalter
Sometimes in life you encounter people who are jerks.
Via Mike Licht
As children, we were often told to ignore the jerks. As adults we find ways to cope with the jerks we encounter throughout our days.
It’s a little more difficult for companies to deal with the jerks on social media. Unfortunately social media also provides jerks with a megaphone for their poor attitudes.
You can’t make everyone like you on social media, but you can take the high road when it comes to the social jerks who you encounter.
Don’t fire back at them.
If someone tweets nasty things at your company, don’t tweet nasty things back at them. It makes you look petty and like a jerk yourself.
Do fix legitimate problems.
People often use social media for customer service problems. If someone is having a problem that has them upset, they might come off as a jerk on social media. Publically respond that you would like to do what you can to fix their problem and ask for contact. For example, “We’re sorry to hear you’re having a delivery problem, please direct message us your email or phone number so we can find out more about your problem.” Or “We have been experiencing some issues with x, please call customer service at 800-xxx-xxx for an update.”
Don’t let jerks scare you away from using social media.
Often when we consult with a company who either refuses to join social media or has their channels locked down, it’s because they’re concerned about negativity on their social media channels. People will say what they want, if you let them say it on your channel you can be aware of it, try to fix it, or let your community come to your defense.
Do let the rest of your community support you.
Social media jerks (they are usually called “detractors”) tend to show themselves for who they are. Social community members are great at identifying the jerks out there and will sometimes shut them down for you by responding with their own positive tales. Definitely foster a positive social media community, it can work for your organization.
Don’t be a jerk yourself.
Whether this is on your personal or your company’s social media, do what you can to not be a jerk. If you have a problem with a product or service and choose to try to solve it on social media, do so in a human and respectful manner. It sets a great example for all around you.
Do report abusive users.
It is absolutely okay to report a social media account that is spamming or harassing your company. On a promoted tweet program for a client, one user took their hate for promoted tweets so far as to abuse our client’s account and claimed to report us for spam. (All social media ad programs that we run are in compliance with the platform’s policies and are in no way spam.) So we reported the user back for harassment. Make sure you read the terms before reporting a user so that you aren’t being a jerk. (By the way, if you don’t want to see a promoted tweet or post, click the dismiss button and Twitter won’t show it to you again.)
by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 2, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
I’m still amazed by the number of folks who are still trying to sell me something instead of trying to solve my problem. I think it’s because they are struggling with their story and finding the right voice to tell it on. The old school model of glad handling and feature benefit selling has gone by the wayside for the most part.
Let’s face it none of us wants to be sold. We want to have a conversation. Humans, by nature, are social by design and want to interact with others. Interaction is a two-way street where both parties are part of the conversation. It’s not grabbing attention, but earning and holding attention.
How do we do this? By acting and speaking HUMAN. Storytelling is an essential human activity and must be a vital part of your strategy.
I recently read an article in Chief Content Officer magazine by Kevin Lund and Eileen Sutton that talks about speaking human and gives us some tips on how to be successful at it.
Here are some highlights:
- Be Clear – No marketing speak. Use plain English with no jargon and more heart.
- Be Helpful – Be relevant to a specific issue. Show them how you add value.
- Be Concise – Keep it to the point. Less is better.
- Be Consistent – Use the same voice and tone throughout all channels.
If you can figure out how to make life easier for your customer, everyone wins.
by tradespeopleinsights | Nov 26, 2014 | Uncategorized
As the Thanksgiving weekend approaches, I’d like to say thanks to the many friends and clients we’ve had the good fortune to come in contact with over the years. We’re all running in several different directions all the time, and this time of year we need to slow down a bit to appreciate the things around us.
So this weekend, don’t take your briefcase home, and your emails will still be there Monday morning when you get back in the office. Recharge your batteries this weekend. Play with your kids or grandkids, visit an old friend or watch some football. We take a lot of things for granted sometimes – our Families and Friends. And no matter how screwed up our country is in Washington, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
Enjoy the weekend. We can get back to the rat race next week.
by tradespeopleinsights | Nov 25, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
I don’t think any manufacturer out there would argue the importance of training. What manufacturer wouldn’t want to ensure their customers are trained properly on how to use their products or informed on their latest product offerings. Plus, training offers manufacturers a way to further differentiate themselves from competitors, as well as continue to build their brand with their customers.
There are many ways to approach and handle training; from how-to videos and online training courses, to traditional, printed instructional manuals and sales people demonstrating products in the field. But sometimes there is no substitute for in-person training.
One manufacturer that is leading the way for in-person training is Viega. I should note that Viega is a client of Sonnhalter. The Viega Education Facility, located in Nashua, NH, is a stand-alone, dedicated building for training and I have to say, a pretty impressive facility. It first opened up in 2006 and since then, over 10,000 people have completed training sessions. Viega averages over 200+ days of training per year, with attendees ranging from architects, contractors and engineers to apprentices, distributors and even Viega employees. Currently there are over 13 standard courses covered in two-day, three-day or five-day sessions.
For the majority of industries, continuing education becomes a necessity to staying up-to-date and informed on the latest techniques, trends and technologies affecting their respective fields. Additional training can also offer up the benefits of increased productivity, reducing your liabilities for errors or omissions with updated knowledge of laws and regulations, increasing morale and job satisfaction, as well as reducing employee turnover
Kevin Higginbotham is the CEO of the Evergreen Marketing Group. Evergreen has always been a leader in product training since its inception, and Kevin gives us some insights into what their group is doing to advance professional training using a multi-dimensional approach.
Both manufacturers and distributors acknowledge the importance of training.
How are you utilizing Training?
