Having watched, observed and implemented many of the current social media tools, I felt I was in fairly good shape toward the end of 2011.  I got a little confused by Google+, but it went in OK, although very few people seem to be using it.  Then came Pinterest.  Again, installation was easy, but for me and many of our clients, its applicability to hi-tech B2B is unclear.

2012 has brought a new wave of applications and platforms which, along with the push toward using video and mobile applications, has me wondering if social media is the next bubble.  It is unclear where to put scarce resources, especially since the return on existing tools has a limited track record, with one blogger reporting that only 13% of B2B companies drive leads with social media.  Should I chase after Highlight, Glancee, Banjo, Chime.In, Scrolldit and others?

As with everything related to consumers and businesses, the competitive arena will thin out over time, but backing the wrong horse early can be costly.  Imagine believing that the Stanley Steamer was the car of the future, that DC current was the form electricity to use, or that MySpace was the way to reach your buyers.  In the past, reasonable people chose all these options.

Another element contributing to my fatigue is that “expert” advice is conflicting.  One group urges companies to get involved in social media as quickly as possible, and to engage with the customers and buyers immediately.  But another group of “experts” strongly suggests that you do everything right, that an error resulting in negative customer perception is very difficult to overcome, in short be like Zappos out of the gate.

Sifting through this overload of choices and advice, I am urging our B2B clients to do the following, once their strategy and objectives are in place:

1.      Today, before they begin working with you buyers know about your product and services.  Recognizing this, allocating resources to your web site and establishing industry thought leadership is job one.  To generate leads, one must cover all aspects of SEO, along with developing integrated marketing campaigns that nurture leads, while maintaining brand and position.  To obtain thought leadership, blogging, speaking, writing articles and commenting on applicable groups is mandatory.  These elements must be covered both well and completely before any diversion into social media.

2.      Find out which social media tool the bulk of your buyers use, be it Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

3.      Implement your social media offering on and around that platform. 

4.      Ensure that the organization is prepared for the commitment, in time and resources, to meet the needs/demands of your involvement regarding both the website and social media platform.

5.      Measure your results at 3, 6 and 12 month intervals.

6.      Ignore, for the present, the buzz surrounding the “next best thing” in the social media space.  There will be major and niche players that may or may not be useful to you.  In the short term, let them establish themselves and let the dust settle before allocating resources to them.

Dealing with social media is difficult and time/resource consuming.  If you are not careful, it can cause you to lose focus on what is really important, which is generating leads and promoting your brand.  The path to success lies on keeping your social media efforts simple, and measuring your progress on a regular basis.

How tired are you when it comes to social media?

RHM  3/27/2012

From Wikipedia:

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that are invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages.[1]

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor’s_New_Clothes>

Recently, on days ending with a “y,” I feel that many B2B Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are like the Emperor, and that social media vendors and supporters are the weavers.  They conjure up out of thin air meaningful tapestries of “hits” “bounces” “likes” “followers” “re-tweets” “viewed” and cover them with a cloak of viral.  If I were a B2B CMO and dressed with all this finery I would indeed feel proud and assured when meeting my peers…for they will be able to see how well-dressed I am.

For the B2B CMO who believes this, he will rapidly undressed when the CEO says, “You do look nice today, but tell me how you have helped to generate revenue”  Responses relating to building the Brand, and Brand recognition, along with success with key demographics tend to get tossed aside like dirty clothes thrown in the hamper.  Comments about selective pruning of leads, enhancing the quality of the pipeline, resulting in a large group of potential customers being nurtured via the new marketing automation system tend to appear like clothes that you slept in.  In short, from the point of view of contributing to revenue, “you aren’t wearing anything at all.”

What the B2B CEO wants is increased revenue.  To this end he has his foot on the neck of the VP of Sales, who in turn is saying one of two things; (1) I could close more business, but my team has to spend most of their time prospecting, or (2) Most of the leads we get are old, tired or not qualified. This leaves the B2B CEO with an impression that Marketing is not doing its job.  In this scenario the only solution is for Marketing to deliver an increasing number of qualified leads to the sales organization, month after month.  (This assumes that Sales and Marketing agree upon what is a qualified lead.)

Any other metric beyond a Month-Over-Month increase in qualified leads is like the Emperor’s new clothes, i.e. invisible.  The B2B CMO can, and should, request that he be copied on all lost sales reports so that he can judge the quality of the leads and establish a feedback loop to success.  However, in my experience the sales organization that has the time to focus on writing lost sales reports has one foot out the door.

The bottom line of most businesses in America is profitability.  There are millions of way this can be achieved, but they all boil down to selling your product for more than it costs you to make, distribute and service it.  Selling it requires finding buyers who have a need, and convincing them that your product/service fills that need.  Growth comes from finding more buyers.  Profitability comes from controlling your costs as you grow, or cutting them if your revenue is flat.   One of Marketing’s roles is to find new buyers and pass this information along to sales.

Great marketing organizations provide month-over-month increases in qualified leads.  Good ones do so most of the time.  We need not worry about the ones that don’t, as they a finely dressed in today’s new clothes.

What are you wearing today?

RHM  2/4/2011

Much is being written today about aligning Marketing and Sales, a divide which is being exacerbated by social media tools, lead nurturing and new Marketing metrics.

Over the years I have had the privilege of working with some outstanding Sales people and Sales management.  They all have many things in common, but one trait that sticks out is skepticism.  Whether this is inbred or arises out of constant rejection is unclear, but if you scratch the surface of a good salesman you will find a skeptic.

This skepticism comes to the fore in discussions where Marketing trumpets its social media successes: increasing hits on the web site, a new CRM system that allows them to track inquires and downloads, Email open and click-thru rates, etc.  Since many of the charts start at a low level and increase over time, Marketing is looking good, and why shouldn’t Sales be impressed?

The Sales skepticism about the Marketing results can best expressed by the phrase uttered by Rod Tidwell in the movie Jerry McGuire, “Show me the money.”   Sales people aren’t interested in hits, click-thrus, downloads or other Marketing metrics.  What they want are solid qualified leads.  An added plus would be the customer’s potential pain points, as well as multiple contacts within the customer.

If the Sales force has to weed through patches of leads to find one that is worthwhile, then they feel that the work that Marketing is doing is not meaningful.  Sales people are generally paid on a commission, which to them means that time equals money.  The more time that Sales has to spend prospecting, the less time they have to sell and close.

David Merriman Scott recently released a white paper through Hubspot entitled 11 Examples of Online Marketing Success. Each example is indeed a Marketing success, but my skeptical Sales friends would say “show me the money.”  Only one of the examples deals with lead generation, and it relates to how John Deere gave away a tractor.  It does not report on how many of the people who registered to win the tractor were qualified leads for a sale.

I understand that part of Marketing’s role is to build and sustain a brand.  And I also understand that Product Managers are responsible for delivering the right product, at the right time and through the right channels.

But a key part of Marketing is delivering qualified leads.  In 2011 I think it is important that Marketing people don’t get caught up in digital metrics and overlook this important role.  When Marketing delivers qualified leads the conversation about a divide between Marketing and Sales disappears and the skepticism of Sales regarding Marketing goes down, however it never really goes away.

How well are you delivering qualified leads to your Sales forces?  How does this compare to how often are you telling Sales and management what a great job Marketing is doing on building the brand, recording hits, and downloads?

Are you focusing on the right thing?

RHM  1/13/2011

Many of the discussions that Dick, Tom and I have with clients and potential clients center on the lead generation processes and the conversion of  leads to sales.  Most companies have a combination of “older” programs (trade shows, direct mail, advertising, etc.) and  “new” programs (email, blogging, webinars, SEO, etc.) that generate leads.  Whether old or new the recurring question is some form of “how do I do a better job of converting a lead to a sale?”

Under the “older” programs, all leads are turned over to sales, or “qualified” leads that went through some screening process, are turned over to sales.  Once in the salesperson’s hands, it was up to him or her to follow up, understand the potential customer’s pain points and close the sale.

The emergence of the “new” programs and the rise of Customer Relations Management tools and programs add complexity to this process.  Now leads are followed and nurtured until a certain criteria is met, i.e., 3 visits to the web site, 4 downloads of white papers, 2 or more people from the same company looking at pricing, etc.  Then the lead is turned over to sales, who files reports on his contacts, both with the lead and other people in the company, ranking the probability of a sale.  The highest probability are recorded, ranked and followed, with additional resources, i.e., sales management, executive management, being called in at the appropriate time to close the sale.

The CRM tool makers will tell you that their following and nurturing process is more successful than the older process.  Yet we see many companies who employ the older process who are doing well.

Stepping back and looking at the conversion process from a high level, several aspects are clear:

• Today’s buyer has much more information about the vendor, his products and competitors than he has had in the past.
• While price is always important, other elements have significant influence in the buying decision, i.e. pre and post sale service, reference accounts, specific features that match the buyer’s needs, etc.  Conveying these differences to the buyer is difficult.
• Most B2B buying decisions are made by multiple people or a committee.  Frequently a lead that is generated is by a heavy influencer, not a decision maker.
• Reaching all members of the decision making team through digital marketing is problematic.
• Finer customer segmentation is required today to achieve continuing growth.

Our 2011 recommendations for lead conversions mix the old and new processes.

1. Make sure that your web site is current and that you are close to the top via SEO.
2. Understand that the buying cycle will be shorter, and therefore transfer leads to the sales force as soon as it appears to be qualified.
3. Make sure the sales force is trained and/or that there are sufficient SE resources to augment the selling process.
4. Use multiple channels to reach your customers.
5. Use contact information developed by the sales forces to expand the digital process, but don’t depend upon it to impact the sale.
6. Obtain sales and customer feedback via social media.
7. Focus on all high probability sales that fall within a 90 day window.

In short, use the new tools to improve processes that are already in place.

What are your experiences?  Do you think that digital marketing and in-house telesales can take the place of field sales people?

RHM   1/7/2011

Below are only some of lead generation programs that you can use:

• Word-of-mouth referrals
• Advertising
  • Print (Magazine, Newspapers)
  • Billboard (Google: Jack Welch Billboards Lexan Detroit)
  • Bingo Cards
  • Collateral material
  • Television
  • Urinal inserts (See Maverick Marketing by Tom Hayes)
  • Blimps
  • Product placement in movies (Look for Bud Light in The Town)
  • Trade Shows
• On-line
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
• Social Media
  • Blogging
  • User Groups
  • You Tube
  • Microblogging – microsites
  • Facebook, LinkedIn groups
  • Facebook, LinedIn ads
  • twitter
  • Brainshark, SlideShare
  • Getting mentioned by influential bloggers
  • SEO for website
• Email
• Direct mail
• Product reviews

And this is only a partial list.  In talking with B2B clients in the New England area, Dick and I find that the vast majority use only a few programs; usually a mix of direct mail, emails to existing customers and purchased lists, print advertising, collateral material and one-two key trade shows (which don’t generate leads but are “required.”)  Some firms have put their toe into the Social Media environment,  but they really haven’t embraced it.

While the mix of what works for each company is different; based on their product, their industry, their available resources, etc., we find it odd that there seems to be a continuing reliance on past practices and a reluctance to try something new.  This is surprising as in many of our conversations the marketing people comment on the dearth of new leads and/or the unqualified nature of the leads they are getting.  Duh…what I am doing is not working, but I am correcting it by changing the ratio of what I have done in the past.

Today’s economy and the speed of change requires a philosophy of “try it, and if it fails, try something else” rather than “stick with what you know best, and ride out the storm.”  Five years ago only a few people were using the terms viral marketing and buzz marketing.  Today they are being used by creative people to generate leads, drive revenue and gain market share.  On the horizon are newer, untested approaches to get buyers attention and mind share.

Trying something new and/or changing your approach need not be expensive or incur significant added cost.  Failing to change may lead to lost sales.

Is Sales satisfied with the number of qualified leads that you are providing?  What new program are you trying?  If that fails, what are you going to do next?  Unabashed plug; we can help by reviewing your mix and making suggestions.

An interesting blog that talks about continuing with the tried and proven and the consequences, is here:  http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/09/dont_innovate_italian_soccer_s.html

RHM  9/23/2010

Well, I hope this helps you in your decision process and remember in all marketing, segmentation if one of the first critical step in any successful marketing activity!
RHL 9/9/10

A guest post by Craig James,  a leader in the use of social networks in generating sales.

By now, most of us have dabbled in one or more forms of social media, with varying degrees of gusto, and different degrees of success. In fact, many of us aren’t sure what “success” means; we’re still unsure of the merits of social media, or how to take full advantage of what’s available. Frankly, it can be overwhelming.

However, it can’t be denied that social media—Linkedin in particular—can help you generate more revenue. LinkedIn, unlike sites such as Facebook and MySpace, tends to attract people who want to develop business relationships, as opposed to friendships. But while many of us are familiar with the basic features of LinkedIn, we don’t always know how to best leverage them to drive sales. And because LinkedIn and its members rightfully frown upon solicitations for business (pitches), many have discounted its value as a useful sales tool. In fact, LinkedIn provides a multitude of ways for you to both develop and nurture relationships, which can lead directly to sales opportunities, and allows you to position yourself as a thought leader and a valuable resource who prospects will come to, without your having to “sell” them.

Get and give recommendations
What impression do you suppose a prospect will have after reading glowing endorsements about you from former coworkers, bosses, and, especially, clients? While they may suspect those clients likely did not volunteer to write those recommendations, they also know that clients would not agree to do so if they did not feel comfortable legitimately endorsing you. What’s the most tactful way to get a recommendation? Write one for someone else. Doing so accomplishes three things: one, it clearly flatters the person you write it for; two, it helps him or her look better to people viewing his or her profile; and three, it creates a desire to reciprocate.

Conduct Polls
People like giving their opinion about issues that are relevant or important to them. Every so often (once a quarter or so) use LinkedIn’s polling feature to take a poll. Your name appears (once again), reminding your connections you’re out there, and in so doing, keeping you top of mind. While having participated in a poll is not in and of itself likely to get someone in your network to buy what you’re selling, when combined with all your other LinkedIn activities, it will increase the likelihood you’ll be contacted when a need does arise for what you sell.

Read news
Each group has a news section that contains news articles other members post, and increasingly, blog entries. You never know what interesting tidbit you might come across that the difficult-to-reach prospect would appreciate receiving (and reward you for sending with a return call).

Contribute to discussions
Adding your experienced-based comments to existing discussions in the groups to which your clients and prospects belong is an unobtrusive, but powerful, way to demonstrate your thought leadership and your willingness and ability to provide value.

For example, I contributed to a discussion in one of the Mergers and Acquisitions groups. The very next day, I received an email from a boutique M&A firm on Long Island saying they “would like to learn more about [my] firm and services as they may be beneficial to [his] prospects and client base.”

Post documents, presentations, share what you’re reading
While you may not sell people on LinkedIn, your marketing material may. Use LinkedIn Applications such as SlideShare Presentations, Google Presentations, Box. net Files, and Reading List to passively communicate about your company and yourself. I’ve used this to post my standard sales presentation, which promotes what I offer, and a couple of books I’ve read and recommend. This helps others get to know me better as a person, effectively building my personal brand. Others use it to establish thought leadership by posting white papers their firms have authored.

In addition to these ideas, there are a few I’d like to share courtesy of a fellow business owner. David Leaver of Opus Partners recommends that his clients identify some trigger events—events that, when they occur, will create a need for a product one sells—among the weekly updates mentioned above. For Leaver, who provides sales training services, one trigger is when a VP of Sales changes jobs, since often times, he or she will want to bring in a sales consultant to evaluate the staff being inherited.

Better Targeting
Premium LinkedIn users have a host of additional benefits that are beyond the scope of this article. One that I’ve found extremely valuable is the ability to search for contacts using premium-only demographic criteria, such as company size, function, and seniority level. This provides me with a reduced, and more targeted, list of prospects, enabling me to zero in on the exact person or persons I want to reach, in the size of organization I want. I can then send a custom, targeted message to those prospects via InMail, or, if I don’t have a premium account, via a connection.

As we have seen, there are a plethora of easy-to-use tools available to you on LinkedIn that can help you improve your sales results. Start by picking one or two, and use them for about a week, until they become second nature. (Nigel Edelshain of Sales 2.0 disciplines himself to devote 15 to 30 minutes each and every day.) Then, gradually start using the rest of the features presented here, until you find yourself becoming a bona fide LinkedIn maestro.

Resources

• Three Ways to Link Your Company to LinkedIn
• Control Social Media Mayhem
• What I Learned About Link Backs

Author Information:

Craig James is the founder of Sales Solutions, a sales productivity improvement business located in suburban Boston. He can be reached toll-free at 877-862-8631, or by e-mail at craig@sales-solutions.biz.

Until recently sales leads were generated by buying “lists” and sending out letters, holding “meet and greet” events in local areas, exhibiting at trade shows, placing bingo cards in trade publications and advertising.  In 2010 that has all changed.

Below is a representation of what was and what is happening today:

Lists are still being bought, but they can be purchased in much more granular fashion for targeted campaigns.  Leads generated from Google and Facebook ads, Webinars and other “opt-in” tools are much more valuable as they are already self-selected, perhaps better leads those generated at  “meet and greets,” as no food or drink is involved.

This change puts an emphasis on having a top-tier web site, easily navigable, with literature and “freemiums,” that can be easily downloaded,or information/tutorials that can be found on places like YouTube or BrainShark.  Buyers today are going to the web, your site and other areas, searching based on key words, evaluating companies based on what they find, selecting the 2-3 that are well presented and inviting them in for a final presentation.  In some cases they know more about the technical aspects of the product than the salesperson.

Have you looked at your allocation of Marketing dollars for 2010?  Do they correspond to today’s environment?  Are you using an obsolete marketing mix to reach your target market(s)?

RHM  3/5/2010

 Five major indirect channel misconceptions:

 1-      Partners, resellers, etc. are all alike. Nothing could be further from the truth! The major impression is that most indirect channels carry vendor’s products, do some form of telemarketing and just take orders. In reality resellers come in thousands of kinds and types.  From pure distributors, to value added resellers, to system integrators.  Many resellers not only know the products and/or services better then the vendor; they usually have very knowledgeable sales people with solid long-lasting relationships with their customers.

 2-      The indirect channel is only interested in pricing for products and /or services. While everyone is in business to make a profit; the indirect channel is equally interested in areas such as marketing programs, territory alignment, training, technical support and LEADS!  And like all good businessmen, they recognize the positive nature of continuing relationships with key customers.

 3-      Your channel programs can be applied to all resellers/partners equally.  If you believe this then you are in for some very rough times with your resellers. Again resellers come in different forms. Some are product oriented, others specialize in services, while others focus on certain type of industry applications.  Therefore one needs to tune each program   for each different type of partner (reseller, distributor, etc.).

 4-      Indirect channel partners only know how to sell. Just like myth number 2, channel partners can and do have many capabilities. Again usually each has one or two major strength capabilities, so make sure you know what they are when selecting a indirect channel partner such that their strengths matches with your distribution strategy.

 5-      Indirect channels do not need much care and feeding after the initial start up. This is like the myth of the direct sales force that “loves them and then leaves them” but coming from the other direction.  Probably the worst thing you can do is to ignore your indirect channel. Take this approach and see how long your partners last with you. Make sure you have sales people who know how to manage and support your indirect channel.  The most successful companies have channel partners who have been with them for years.

 In summary, noting that the indirect channels are actually more complicated then the direct channel, one should make absolutely certain that the partners/resellers you select match your strategy. Next, depending on why you selected the appropriate partner, make sure that your partner programs meet your and your partner’s needs. Lastly make it a partnership relationship not just a business relationship!

  Have you thanked your channel partners today?

RHL 01/12/10

On the second day of sales, marketing gave to me two value propositions and an outstanding brand!

On the third day of sales, marketing gave to me, three new market segments, two value propositions and an outstanding brand!

On the fourth day of sales, marketing gave to me, four campaigns for the year, three new market segments, two value propositions and an outstanding brand!

On the fifth day of sales, marketing gave to me, five new social networking medias, four campaigns for the year, three new market segments, two value propositions and an outstanding brand!

On the sixth day of sales, marketing gave to me, six product introductions, five new social networking medias,…

On the seventh day of sales, marketing gave to me, seven testimonials, six product introductions, five new …… 

On the eighth day of sales, marketing gave to me, eight email campaigns, seven testimonials, …….

On the ninth day of sales, marketing gave to me, nine blogs per week, eight emails campaigns,….

On the tenth day of sales, marketing gave to me, ten case studies, nine blogs,…..

On the eleventh day of sales, marketing gave to me, eleven new pieces of collateral, ten case studies,…..

On the twelfth day of sales, marketing gave to me one hundred and twenty thousands leads, eleven new pieces of collateral, ten case studies,……….

What are you giving to sales this season??

RHL 12/22/09