The city of Phoenix—cultural center of the Valley of the Sun and well known for its “dry” heat. Incorporated as a city in 1881 when a few chuck wagons could still be found, today, food has taken a more permanent role. Phoenix has plenty to offer in terms of great restaurants—none of which are on wheels anymore. So, where does one begin? That’s where the Sonnhalter Insider’s Guide to Phoenix comes in. It’s our way of helping you find the city’s best restaurants, nightlife, the sights and of course, places to cool off.
We asked some of our Phoenix friends for their recommendations on the best places to sample some of the local cuisine—and not just the rattlesnake steak. We wanted those secret locales that only the locals know about. Because at Sonnhalter, we not only like to get our hands dirty…we like to get them greasy! When you’re not convening at the convention center, make sure you have a little fun in the Valley of the Sun.
Welcome to New York, New York (the city so nice they named it twice). Here in the Big Apple, you’ll find the biggest and best of everything. The catch is, there’s so much of everything, where do you start? Well, your friends at Sonnhalter are here to help. We’ve put together this Insider’s Guide to New York. We’ve cut through the clutter to let you know about where to go for a night on the town in the city that never sleeps.
We asked some of our Gotham friends for their recommendations on places native New Yorkers prefer. Those secret locales where the locals like to hang. Here, you’ll find everything from fine dining to fine deli. You see, at Sonnhalter, we not only like to get our hands dirty…we like to get them good and greasy too! You’ve made it here. So make sure you get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of Uptown, Downtown, all around the town. See why more than 50 million people visit New York, New York every year!
Welcome to San Francisco—the City by the Bay! S.F.O., cable cars, hilly streets and beautiful vistas—a great place to live— an even greater place to live it up. To help you find some of the city’s finest in dining and entertainment, we’ve put this guide together and cut through the clutter to let you know about the best places to eat, drink and then eat some more.
We asked our Bay Area friends for their recommendations on where to sample the local cuisine. The result is a list of those secret locales only the locals know about. After all, at Sonnhalter, we not only like to get our hands dirty…we like to get them gooey too! When you’re not busy with business, be sure to head up—or down—the street to sample some of the many hangouts and hideaways. And make it a point to check out the famous landmarks, but most of all, enjoy…there’s no place like San Francisco!
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman at Sonnhalter
To keep our sanity in trying to keep up with and engage potential customers, it makes sense to use some sort of marketing automation tools to help the process. And there are plenty of options out there: Marketo and Hubspot being two of the better known.
We all know nurturing improves lead quality and moves them through the famous sales funnel. The problem is most sales funnels aren’t simple straight lines.
Here’s the reality – the typical sales funnel isn’t as straight forward as we’d like to think especially in the B-to-B world. The Forrester graphic below is probably more accurate.
The challenge for me is determining messaging for each level to get them to the next step. We need to make them as personal and to the point as possible, but you can’t have 20 different e-mails.
Depending on what you’re selling (engineered product), the selling cycle is longer, and in many cases, there are multiple decision makers, all of which have different hot buttons. How do you handle them? Ideally you want to send leads to sales that are sales ready.
Here are some tips:
Try to identify where they are in the sales funnel so you don’t lose them on messages that are already past.
Give them something to download that will help them in their job (i.e. calculator, configurator, relevant case study).
Make them aware that CAD files are available for downloading.
Try to initiate a question that will want them to talk with one of your application engineers.
What are you doing to better qualify leads before sending them to sales?
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman at Sonnhalter
Are we living up to our customers expectations? As consumers, we know that through the improvements in technology that most of us want fast, cost-effective and personalized levels of experience. And most are getting it, but at what cost?
Is this any different for the manufacturing world and your customers? Have your distributors and contractors become more demanding? My guess is yes, because remember, they are consumers too and they expect the same from their business dealings.
I read an interesting article in eMarketer recently that companies in general are having trouble meeting customer expectations. 93% of business leaders worldwide said technology has changed the customer experience in the last 10 years.
How does that stack up with what you’re experiencing?
What are your biggest challenges? Are they in this chart?
What are you doing about it?
Customer service. We all say we have it, but what is it? Where does it start?
Unless you are offering something you can’t get anywhere else, then you’re going to have competition from someone. So what makes your customers or potentials want to do business with you instead of them?
Assuming you have a good product, then I’d say the customer experience would be the major deal sealer or breaker. Customer service starts the moment someone from your company answers the phone, through the sales process and follow-up with your customer service department if a question or problem arises.
I guess what I’m trying to say is your company’s customer service should start with every employee. Those that are on the front line (be it a CS or delivery man), they have the one-on-one contact with the customer and can sway future purchases by their actions or inactions. We all build our business around repeat sales so everyone in the company needs to be goodwill ambassadors. The challenge for all of us is to find the friction in our process and smooth it out.
Do you know what a customer is worth to you? Think beyond this quarter or even this year. Think about the last 5 years. How much stuff have you sold them? More importantly, if you come out with something new, where are your best chances of selling it? To someone new, or to someone who knows, likes and trusts you?
Here are some insights on how we can make the customer experience better, resulting in better loyalty and ultimately more sales:
Deliver outstanding quality – from a great quality product to courteous customer service and user-friendly literature.
Understand what your customers want – don’t assume to know what they want – ask them.
Connect with them – direct relationships are the most important and the most challenging. Always think WIIFT (What’s In It For Them). Be sincere and upfront with them. When communicating with them, don’t always be selling. Try to help solve a problem even though it might not, in the short-term, result in a sale to you.
Under promise and over deliver – exceed your customers’ expectations, then do it again!
Don’t sit on your laurels – yes, you have some neat products, but instead of sitting there and just doing the same old same o, innovate. If you don’t, someone else will.
Now these points probably aren’t a revelation to you, but when was the last time you focused on your customers and said THANK YOU!
Do you use a creative brief to guide your marketing plan?
In the most recent Marketing Minute video from Sonnhalter, Matt explains what this useful marketing tool is and the 11 elements that Sonnhalter’s creative briefs include.
