Why Inbound Marketing Alone Doesn’t Always Deliver
I tell my audiences every day that the key to success is taking action. Take a minute to look over this weeks featured articles and videos that highlight the different ways you might take action and have it positively benefit your bottom line.
Why Inbound Marketing Alone Doesn’t Always Deliver High Level Prospect Meetings
by Caryn Kopp
It’s no secret that buyer behavior has changed with the ease of information access we all enjoy through the internet. With a click of the mouse, we can get what we need to evaluate new products and services. There’s no doubt that shifting some dollars to digital marketing that attracts key prospects is important. However, those who expect an inbound strategy alone to bring the right prospects to their doorsteps, ready to buy, too often miss their sales goals. I’ve seen too many business owners not only disappointed, but frankly perplexed when their inbound strategies fail to deliver the initial meetings and opportunities with senior level decision makers that they dreamed possible.
Let’s take a closer look at why this might be happening and what you can do about it. One business owner I know created a robust inbound marketing campaign. You name it, he did it…wrote thought provoking blogs and white papers, hosted webinars, launched social media and SEO campaigns. He even commissioned research studies for additional content to support his efforts. He became a recognized thought leader in his industry. He spent a lot of time and money to make this happen. Everyone in his company thought they had achieved success because of the large number of people who were interested in their content. In fact, at one point, 800 people were registered for one of his webinars. Yet, even with this swirl of activity, they didn’t close more sales and, worse, the sales they did close weren’t the kind of sales they wanted. His excitement quickly fizzled when he realized his sales numbers were not going to reflect the amount of time, money and effort he poured into the campaign…
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How to Inspire Loyalty and Retention
by Kathleen Quinn Votaw
Everything is personal. We all know that from firsthand experience. Who doesn’t like to be complimented or remembered? Feel valued or part of something more? And who doesn’t hate being treated unfairly or ignored? We are emotional creatures, so it’s natural that our loyalty goes to the people and places that make us feel best. What perplexes me is why so many businesses still ignore this fact.
Where businesses go wrong is in assuming that if they offer a good product or service and market it effectively, that’s basically all that matters. The customers will come; the employees will stay. They assume employees will be happy enough if they get a little training, a few benefits and get paid about the same as the person down the block. Apparently, none of these assumptions are true, but they are definitely costly in terms of lost business potential and dollar outlay.
The facts are: 78 percent of consumers are not loyal to a particular brand (Nielsen); 70 percent of customers cite poor service as a reason for not buying from a brand (McKinsey); and more than 60 percent of customers stop dealing with a company because of an employee’s perceived indifference (Target Training International). The average company loses 20-50 percent of its employee base each year (Bain & Company). The typical cost of per-employee replacement is usually cited as 150 percent of a person’s annual salary, and much more for executives. If your company is anywhere near these rates, you have a loyalty issue…
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The 3 Biggest Mistakes You’re Making in Sales
by Craig Wortman
Congratulations: you landed a meeting with a prospect. Here’s how not to screw it up.
As an entrepreneur, you know your product better than Stephen Hawking knows theoretical physics. And therein lies your fatal flaw. Here are three mistakes prodigiously informed entrepreneurs make in the sales process.
- You go too deep:
You can wax eloquent for hours about the tiniest nuance of your product, telling prospects with the utmost confidence why your algorithm is 41% faster or how a 37% decrease in time-to-market is a game-changer. But in a sales meeting, diving just two inches below the surface of basic product information is almost always too much.A successful Chicago-based private equity investor characterizes the problem this way: “The person selling invariably understands the product or technology at levels of detail that should never be introduced into a sales presentation. They don’t adapt to the level of understanding of their counterpart.” Too often, this investor has seen his CEOs lose conversational momentum after diving into the weeds. Or worse: they lose the deal altogether.
A few simple questions at the beginning of each meeting can save you from the too-much-information trap. Ask prospects, “How familiar are you with this type of technology?” or “Would a very high-level description of the product be useful or redundant here?” Follow those questions with such statements as, “Please stop me if I’m being overly simplistic or going too far down into this” or “Please help me understand how deep to go into the product set.” By asking for guidance, you can calibrate your selling efforts to suit the audience.
- You put “tell” before “ask”
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