by tradesmeninsights | Jun 1, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing, Uncategorized
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman at Sonnhalter
Let’s face it, we’re all in this for the same reason. To talk with people who share the same interest. We must always be tweaking and improving what we deliver.
Warranty cards and trade show leads are a start but we need to be more creative. Salesmen visits to job site are a good way to start a conversation.
So in order to get them to give up their email, we better come up with some interesting and helpful stuff that will make them want to read our emails for future gems.
It’s not only what you have to say, but how you say it. Beyond being potential customers, these contractors can be your best friend by sharing it with their peer group. Remember contractors need to know, like and trust you before any meaningful dialog will start.
Here are some tips to building a better list of contractors and tradesmen:
- Think like a contractor – What are their pain points? Give them practical solutions. Always answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”
- Talk like a human – Don’t use marketing or sales speak. Keep it conversational.
- Give them a reason to sign up – Sneak peeks at new products, exclusive product demos.
- Ask the contractor what they want help with – Get engagement from the audience you want to reach.
- Don’t be afraid of humor – People like to smile and it shows more of your human side.
- Reach out to contractors – On a regular basis, randomly pick several contractors and have a product manager call and pick their brains on possible new product ideas.
Emails are back and stronger than ever if we do them right. Remember, you’re not looking for a big list, but a good one.
by tradesmeninsights | May 31, 2016 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
We’re all focused on generating more leads these days, but I find it ironic that most companies don’t do much with them once they get them. Simply fulfilling a request is not the answer, but yet many companies do just that.
According to a recent survey of people who have requested info suggests that 80% of all sales are made on or after the third contact. The survey conducted by Marketing Best Practices, Inc. polled over 700 respondents with only 8% buying after the first call.
David Frey, the senior content editor and author of several marketing books advises, “An educated prospect is your best prospect, and if they haven’t become a customer it’s because you haven’t fully educated them on the value of your product and developed a relationship of trust.”
Why do many businesses have a problem following up with their prospective customers? Mr. Frey explained, “The problem is not that small businesses don’t have the capacity to follow up with prospects, it’s that they don’t have the systems in place to do it well.” In his recent newsletter, “Follow-Up Marketing: How To Win More Sales With Less Effort,” Mr. Frey advised, “A good follow-up marketing system should have three attributes:”
1. It should be systematic.
2. It should generate consistent, predictable results.
3. It should require minimal physical interaction to make it run.
This leads to a more pressing issue and that is, what is the difference between sales lead management and a CRM tool? According to Russ Hill, President of Ultimate Lead Systems:
Sales lead management is a sub-function within an overall CRM strategy. Traditional CRM programs like Salesforce.com, SalesLogix, ACT, Goldmine, Maximizer and others focus on the sales person entering and managing his own data and pushing it “up” to management.
Sales lead management starts with management generating and capturing leads from all sources, fulfilling information requests and delivering them to the sales channel and tracking follow-up and sales results to measure marketing return-on-investment.
Here are some other interesting facts:
INQUIRIES MEAN NEW BUSINESS!
67% of all inquiries are from legitimate prospects with real needs.
34% have current needs that must be satisfied within 6 months!
70% did not know the company made the product before seeing their ad. . . making them NEW PROSPECTS!
A six-year study* of nearly 60,000 inquiries conducted by Penton Media Company also found that:
43% of inquirers receive literature and information too late to be of use.
72% of inquirers are NEVER CONTACTED by a salesman.
25% of sales contacts are made at the inquirer’s request.
40% of inquirers purchase the advertised product, a competitive product or change their suppliers.
* NED Reader Action Reports
The key is to get a lead management system in place that can help your CRM convert those leads into sales.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
B-to-B Marketers: Why it Takes More than 3 Calls to Make a Sale
B-to-B Marketers: What are Your Most Effective Sales Channels?
10 Engagement Tactics That Will Help B-to-B Marketers
by tradesmeninsights | May 17, 2016 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
A recent study by email on acid reported that email marketing is going to remain a top priority for companies in 2016. Though we could have predicted this was the case, nearly three out of four companies (71.8 percent) say they are planning to spend more time on email production and more than four out of five (86.7 percent) report that they will increase email marketing budgets this year.
Here’s their interesting infographic.
To see the infographic clearly, please click here and download a copy.
by tradesmeninsights | May 3, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
We’ve had conversations here before about independent industrial distributors missing sales opportunities by not keeping up with the latest technology available.
I see that Industrial Distribution magazine is doing a webinar on this very subject on May 18th; you may want to sign up for it or suggest some of your independent distributors who are still lagging behind get in the game. Jon Eames from NH Bragg and Jack Templin from Affiliated Distributors will be contributors. Here’s what they will be covering:
Industrial customers are asking suppliers of all sizes to offer a highly functional e-commerce-enabled website. So how do smaller, independent distributorships take the first steps:
- Review ways independents can get in the game of e-commerce without breaking the bank.
- Hold true to their business objectives while developing an e-commerce strategy.
According to Forrester Consulting, a 2014 study shows that 52% of business buyers expect at least 50% of their purchases to be made online in 3 years’ time. This should be an eye opener for distribution, but some are ignoring the facts. The big boys like Grainger (40% of their sales are from the internet) and MSC Industrial (over 50% of their sales come from online) are certainly taking advantage. Shouldn’t that set the tone for the independents? Forrester forecasts that B-to-B e-commerce will exceed $1.1 trillion and comprise 12% of all B-to-B sales by 2020.
I’ve said in the past that for smaller industrial distributors to survive, they need to use the internet. They can’t count on the business model of contractors coming in at 7 in the morning or around lunch time to pick up what they need. Time is money, especially for them.
Industrial Distribution magazine recently released some research on The state of B2B e-commerce in Industrial Distribution. Here are some highlights:
- Independent distributors are slow-moving in implementing e-commerce programs.
- Technical challenges are making sites user-friendly, making it aesthetically appealing and staying ahead of the competition.
- Primary reasons of not engaging online was lack of demand, technical obstacles and lack of marketing/promotional resources.
Customer satisfaction and the customer experience are the key factors in developing an online presence. Ironically, that’s how the independent distributor built their business in the first place. Now they just need to transfer that to a different platform not only to keep existing business, but to grow additional revenue.
Source: Industrial Distribution
My worse fear is that the Amazons and the Alibabas of the world are going to make the independent extinct in a few years. I understand that the AD buying group has just instituted a new program to help members deal with some of these issues. It’s too early to tell if it’s making an impact, but at least they recognize the issue and are trying to help.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
What’s the future of small independent industrial distributors?
Are independent industrial distributors helping Amazon to succeed?
Distributor Strategy: What’s yours?
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 28, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Manufacturers who focus on contractors and professional tradesmen need to understand who they are and what makes them tick. They need to spend less time selling and more time solving the contractors problems.
I recently presented to a group of building material manufacturers at a marketing summit put on by Mark Mitchell from the Whizard Strategy. You can find the entire presentation here.
I’ve been talking with contractors for many years and here are some takeaways to consider when wanting to connect and support them.
Contractor Profile
- Most are family-owned businesses
- Most have fewer than 20 employees
- Most started working in the trades and moved into starting a company
- They have long days, usually starting around 6:00 in the morning and ending around 5:00 in the evening
- They have to multitask — project management, purchasing and sales
- Most of their day is spent in the field
- Biggest challenge is finding qualified workers
- Second biggest challenge is training them
What are Contractors Looking for?
- Solutions to their problems
- How to do job better, in less time
- Have access to knowledgeable factory people for technical assistance
- Manufacturers who under promise and over deliver
How to Connect with Contractors
- Have your sales force spend a majority of their time in the field talking with contractors
- Have a special contractor portal, hotline and emails to get their questions answered in a timely fashion
- Mobile apps (if applicable) to help them do their job better, i.e., an estimating tool
- Online product/application training for their workers
- Send them leads
Contractors buy stories before they buy stuff. If you’re trying to establish a long-term relationship, the contractor needs to know, like and trust you first. It’s like any friendship; it develops over time and the relationship is mutually beneficial to both sides. If contractors are your life blood, take good care of nurturing them as a good friend would do.
by tradesmeninsights | Feb 10, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I recently read a post by John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing, People Buy Stories Before They Buy Stuff, that reminded me how true that statement was, especially when talking with contractors.
Tell me, do you know a contractor that won’t talk your leg off? If you do, it’s a rarity. Contractors learn by telling and listening to stories. Whether it’s about how they developed a short cut in their process to save them money, to a funny story about one of the new hires screwing up a job royally until they stepped in and saved the day.
I think we all agree that stories are an important part of the selling process. For you, it starts with how you write an email or blog post, to your interaction when face to face with a contractor. They need to feel comfortable with you.
Yes, they know you want to sell them something, but most want to do a little talking first (consider it foreplay). There is a right way to use stories as a way to guide contractors to that perfect journey.
John outlines several keys to building a better framework for storytelling:
- The ideal contractor persona – you need to know what drives them, what they believe and what they fear. Your local distributor should be able to help fill in the back story on each contractor. It’s about establishing yourself as the right person to help them.
- Make them the hero – the main character must be your ideal customer persona. You’re there to help them understand the real problem and that you can help them solve it.
- Help them understand their problem – and give them practical and proven methods of fixing it.
Understanding contractor’s goals and questions during every phase of the buying process gives you, the manufacturer, a chance to create content and campaigns aimed at satisfying their needs.
Do you really know your ideal customer’s persona?
