B2B Conversations Now

Are you a Marketer budgeting for next year’s list acquisition? Have you ever been frustrated trying to get pricing from other list providers like Jigsaw or Hoovers?

Zoominfo, the leader in business information and the market’s only source of just verified, in-depth profiles on millions of businesses and employees, is now offering self-service budgetary pricing for it’s most popular services; Zoominfo Data Services and Zoominfo Pro.

Zoominfo Data Services

There are 4 Data Service packages available on the Zoominfo Pricing portal; 10K, 25K, 50K and 100K contact bundles.

Zoominfo Pro Pricing

There are 2 Pro subscription packages available on the Zoominfo Pricing portal; 1- and 5-Seat Annual Subscriptions.

Here’s a screen shot of the new Pricing buttons. How’s that for convenience when budgeting for 2012?

Millions of professionals rely on ZoomInfo to make vital connections and to be found in the best B2B directory. Now you can easily discover and budget for next year’s campaigns!

For more information about Zoominfo’s Business Information Services visit www.Zoominfo.com/business.

Tags: B2B Marketing, Lead Generation // Add Comment »

We are in the process of rebranding our EchoQuote tool into a broader company we’ve dubbed LeadLifter. EchoQuote is a good name for our lead capturing tool because it attracts our customer’s customers when they visit our client’s websites. The name EchoQuote, however, did not resonate with OUR prospective clients; B2B marketers. EchoQuote will continue to be the tool name under the LeadLifter umbrella so nothing will change for our existing clients.

How we got to LeadLifter using LinkedIn

Instead of embarking on a secret campaign of finding a new name, we decided to come up with a basket of potential names and then put it out into the marketing community for feedback. It was a bit risky but we pre-bought several domain names to make sure we could get the name we would ultimately choose.

We posted this on LinkedIn in the B2B Technology Marketing Discussion Group:

“Help us name a new company, watch it get built

We are starting a new “umbrella” company and need help naming it from the tech marketing pros here.

Our current problem is that we are using one of our tool names as the company name and it confuses our target clients. The tool will become one of several offerings for this new, high-level company.

Since companies these days must have an internet presence, we are limited by the names we can register. Here are our choices so far:

ActiveFunnel
ConvertandSell
EchoLeads
FunnelMax
FunnelSage
LeadLifter
TwinFunnel
VortexBuilders

and a few other derivatives…

The value proposition for the future company is: “Our solutions maximize your marketing team’s efforts and supply your sales team with quality leads, fast. We do this by helping B2B marketers capture more high-quality leads from their existing websites quickly and inexpensively. We then help deliver those leads directly to the sales team for quick response, shortening the sales cycle and increasing sales. ”

Our target client is a VP/Director of Marketing and/or Sales of a mid-sized B2B company; generally technology based.

We want to choose a name that implies: action, fast, quality, lead conversion, funnel building, sales opps, etc.

The company is yet to be built. We’ve been agonizing over choosing the right name and I thought “go to the pros”. I’d rather use this method to get better feedback than a simple poll (which we will probably do once we get to a short list).

Of the name choices above, which would catch your attention? Which sound corny?

Suggestions and input will be greatly appreciated!”

The Response

LinkedIn members immediately began commenting on the posted names and came up with some terrific alternatives. There was considerable disagreement on several points but everyone backed up their positions with good data. We ultimately chose LeadLifter because it truly reflects what the new company does for its clients. Our flagship offering is our Lead Launch Program, a fixed price lead generation service that runs for 90 days.

Whether you are considering something major like rebranding or rolling out a new service, consider using social media channels to help guide you in the process. It worked for us!

Here’s our new LeadLifter logo with associated tagline “Maximize Marketing. Boost Sales.”

www.LeadLifter.com

Tags: B2B Marketing, Fun, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation, Podcasts, Social Media // Add Comment »

We’ve been searching for a tool that would help our B2B clients gauge the strength of the call-to-action offers they provide on their websites to assist with b2b lead generation. It seems everyone pulls from the same basic offer set including whitepaper downloads, webinars, newsletters and free trials. But how strong are they and what other lesser known options are out there?

In our search for a tool we turned up empty, so we decided to create one ourselves. It’s called OfferGrader™ and it is in it’s infancy right now. The idea behind it is to not only provide an “Offer Grade” and compare it to others in the same industry, but to include advice from well-known B2B experts. We have a half-dozen or so in the fold but are always looking for more contributors. Check out the Affiliates area if you are interested in participating as an Expert.

Give it a shot….it doesn’t require any email address or personal information. We are in data gathering mode!

Tags: B2B Marketing // 1 Comment »

There is no doubt content drives sales interactions. When a prospect encounters a business issue and starts researching a solution, the content prepared by vendors is critical. Whether a potential customer uses Google, Bing, YouTube or even social media for initial research, those vendors with fresh, pertinent content get the first shot. The question is, will the anonymous blog/site visitor think the content is really that new?

With modern marketing in overdrive to generate content, an interesting phenomenon is taking shape: content is becoming stale instantly or, to put it in cool, modern terms “at the speed of Now”.

That new whitepaper is powerful and will no doubt remain pertinent for an extended period of time. However, to the Marketer that created it, it feels outdated the day after it was written. Why? Because there are probably dozens, if not hundreds of others on the same topic…just a search away. The content “treadmill” is a hungry beast that demands constant feeding.

…and speaking of treadmills…I’d like to close with an example of what I believe is happening in modern content marketing using a classic cartoon from my era…The Jetsons.

Warning: Watch Speaker Volume!

Remember this scene?

The Jetsons was a classic space-age cartoon created at the height of our Apollo program. In the closing credits, George (the customer) is going to take Astro (the Marketer) for a walk. Using a space-age treadmill they begin a casual stroll together.

Soon, however, Astro becomes fixated on a Cat (new content) and begins chasing it relentlessly. In seconds, George the Customer is trampled under foot and completely forgotten. It’s a classic scene but unfortunately may be playing out far too often in B2B marketing life.

If you are a content marketer, enjoy the chase!

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation // 1 Comment »

Are you an IT Storage Marketer looking for disruptive ways to boost lead generation for your sales team?

If so, you need to check out David Lamont’s (MarketingSage) review of using EchoQuote™ to convert website visitors into actionable sales opportunities.

Why Storage Marketers should care about David’s opinion

David is a long time sales and marketing veteran of the data storage industry. I’ve known Dave for several years and met him through his MarketingSage work at Texas Memory Systems (TMS), a leading manufacturer of enterprise class Solid-State Disk arrays.

David was responsible for coordinating and executing various marketing campaigns fueling TMS’ explosive growth and about 3 years ago they decided to try EchoQuote™. After the initial successful trial, Dave went full steam ahead and used EchoQuote™ as one of the calls to action on virtually every campaign type you can imagine; online (website conversion), direct mail and even print advertising. I’ll let him tell you about the results.

While both Dave and Agnes are too modest to promote their storage focused marketing expertise, I have no such restrictions! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with them and have learned a lot along the way. If nothing else you should connect with them on linkedin and share your thoughts.

David Lamont

Connect with Dave on LinkedIn

Agnes Lamont

Connect with Agnes on LinkedIn

From their new storage marketing resource site “Storage Marketing”:

“We offer a blend of knowledge that combines marketing expertise, product knowledge and decades of experience in the data storage and data management realm of the IT sector. We have been marketers, product managers, and executives for vendors such as IBM, Seagate, EMC/Legato as well as smaller firms. For the past decade or so, we have been retained (through our agency, Marketingsage) by clients in a variety of emerging to medium sized companies who are involved in delivering hardware or software products that deal with the storage or management of data.

David and Agnes are partners in Marketingsage, a full-service marketing agency that’s helped clients make millions in new revenue by generating sales leads, building brands, launching new products, and establishing new sales channels. We’ve achieved that at about 50% of the cost of adding to payroll or using typical agencies by developing a more effective way of providing all the services of a larger marketing department including: Strategic Planning and Process Design; Advertising; Press Relations and Analyst Relations; Internet Marketing; Direct Marketing; Sales Lead Management; Channel Marketing; Event Management; Graphic Design; Copy Writing; Video Production.”

Tags: B2B Marketing, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation // Add Comment »

As I prepared to head off to the AA-ISP Leadership Summit in Minneapolis next week I was cleaning out the email inbox and came across a digest with a post from Matt Heinz of Heinz Marketing. Phenomenal stuff Matt!

Since our audience next week will be Sales Leadership folks, I wanted to guest post this timely article written by Matt.

Six ways to get your sales reps back above quota

In any given month, nearly every sales organization has someone under quota. Sales is a difficult job, and even the best reps have bad months or quarters. But if you have a rep in a prolonged slump, here are six things you can do to help get them back on track and above quota.

Focus on the numbers
Start with a bottoms-up review of their pipeline, and be as empirical as you can. This template for a weekly meeting with inside sales reps, for example, demonstrates how you can start with closed business, work back through pending opportunities, and continue to get more granular and tactical until you find a specific area for deep dive and improvement.

Focus on what they can control
It’s not productive to complain about lead volume, lead quality, market conditions, outdated collateral, or any of a myriad things outside of your and the rep’s control. Instead, focus on what they can control, starting immediately and every day. Activity volume, outbound calls, crispness of presentation, lead follow-up, etc.

Compare current and previous habits and performance measures
Athletes in a slump review video of themselves when they were “in a zone” to identify what they were doing particularly well (and may have stopped doing or adjusted since then). Salespeople can do the same thing, and you as a manager can help them. Look at their performance habits when they were at the top of their game. Not just funnel metrics but attendance records, follow-up rates, presentation close rates, etc. Figure out the right mix of measures for your business and sales floor, and look for what’s changed.

Peer shadowing
Have a trusted colleague shadow the rep for an hour or so - watch their activity, listen to their calls, sit in on a new presentation. It’s often difficult to pinpoint on our own what we’re doing wrong, but someone else (who isn’t living it minute-to-minute) can often spot these things quickly - especially when they’re filling a similar role next to you.

Deal walkthroughs
Take a particular opportunity in the slumping rep’s pipeline and walk through it in detail. Where did it come from, what are the prospect’s needs, how are they qualified, what are the next steps or roadblocks to moving forward. Sometimes this level of detail can help identify something that can not only kickstart that particular opportunity, but give the rep the confidence and momentum they need to push back up to their normal performance levels.

Evaluate effort, attitude and drive
Great salespeople go through slumps. But there’s a difference between someone who’s giving it everything they’ve got and those who are mailing it in. Look for signs that your reps might have a decline in motivation, initiative or passion for what they’re doing. The source of this could be inside or outside the organization, but either way it’s affecting their performance. Help identify and resolve any issues as best you can (without crossing any HR lines, of course).

Use positive reinforcement & constructive feedback
If a slumping rep isn’t trying hard and isn’t responding to the above steps, they might be on their way out the door. In every other case, they feel awful about their numbers. They know the organization isn’t happy with them, and they’re equally unhappy with the paychecks they’re taking home. Have some sympathy and empathy for these individuals, and make it clear that you’re equally committed to helping get them back on track.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales // 1 Comment »

As a follow-up to a recent piece I wrote about why prospects want pricing first, I found an interesting article by Dave Brock and supporting article by Ardath Albee.

Dave Brock, President and CEO of Partners In EXCELLENCE, just wrote a good piece on his Partners in Excellence blog titled, Price is Never the only decision criteria!. As a top sales consultant, Dave has been encountering an increasingly number of clients’ reps that cite Pricing as the first thing customers want to know.

Here’s a short excerpt:

“I have to admit being a little frustrated. Over the past two weeks, I must have done a couple of dozen opportunity reviews and deal strategy sessions.

‘Tell me something new, price is always an issue. It may be their top issue, but it is never their only issue! What other things are they going to base their decision on?’ Over 80% of the time, I get blank stares. ‘We don’t know, they keep focusing on price.’ is the response from the sales person.”

As sales professionals, we have all dealt with the occasional customer that seems keenly focused on price and won’t focus on anything but price until they are satisfied. This used to be rare but is now becoming the norm, even for traditionally complex products and services that must be configured to solve a specific problem.

Solution or Price - which comes first?

It seems we have hit on the proverbial “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” problem. How can a rep give a price for a complex solution if the customer hasn’t yet disclosed what they perceive the solution to be?

I am seeing an increasing number of top-earning sales and marketing folks discuss this trend.

Ardath Albee recently wrote an article One Content Asset Can’t Do Everything that included the following:

“We’ve got to talk to them about pricing first. Otherwise they’ll think they can’t afford our solution and they won’t engage.

* Context > Understanding > Interest > Confidence > Engagement”

Solving the problem of customers asking for pricing

I disagree slightly with Ardath’s “Context > Understanding > Interest > Confidence > Engagement” model only because some of the steps require a potential customers TIME, and time is valuable. Content is certainly king but the volume of content around each and every solution may simply be overwhelming the interested prospect.

What many may be reading as an obsession with Pricing may actually just be an initial filter to reduce the number of solution providers that can be considered. If a prospect can use budget fit and eliminate some of the potential vendors then they can do a “deep dive” on their short list choices. Putting this in the context of Ardath’s model, I would simply insert a single, additional step called BUDGET FIT, like so:

Context > BUDGET FIT > Understanding > Interest > Confidence > Engagement

It may sound crazy but how can we ask prospects to spend their valuable time learning and researching our solution unless they know they can afford it?

I believe many sales consultants are misreading the statement “the customer is only interested in price” as meaning the customer already knows what he wants. In fact, customers are still receptive to sales people that can help them and they will engage much easier if they know their time is being spent on an affordable solution.

One way to accomplish this without over- or underestimating a potential solution is to provide “sample” pricing of other projects. This would not be an apples to apples comparison but rather would satisfy a prospect’s need for pricing so they could then focus on their needs.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales // Add Comment »

Lately I’ve seen many YASTS (Yet Another Sales Training Start-up) emerging and I cheer when people decide to take the entrepreneurial leap. I’ve done it several times myself and there is nothing more exciting than channeling your past experience into a new venture and hanging out a shingle.

For those with high hopes of quick success with a big cash out however, I encourage them to check out Nick Carter’s new book “Unfunded - From Bootstrap to Blue Chip”. For new service start-ups, there is a lot of hard work ahead so be smart about.

“You can’t sell a job”

This is my favorite quote in the book but I’ll leave the source of that quote for you to discover. The bottom line is this; if your service business is not developed in a way that you can “productize” your services, then you will forever be the linchpin in the business. One unit of service, one unit of pay. Is that what emerging entrepreneurs want? I doubt it.

The Skinny

In 152 of the fastest reading pages I think I’ve ever seen, Nick lays out the pitfalls and opportunities for anyone thinking about taking the entrepreneur trip. His real life experiences growing up on a farm is a great back drop of inspiration, and perspiration, for us all.

Get it, read it (I could not put it down) and live it!

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Fun // Add Comment »

Are you a newly promoted VP of Sales? Would you like to know 10 key areas to focus on so you can ramp your team up quickly?

Are you a VP or Director of Marketing? Want to know what the VP of Sales really thinks?

I attended the Inside Sales 2011 conference in San Francisco in February sponsored by AA-ISP. One of the most interesting breakout tracks was presented by Brett Wallace, VP of Sales for Zoominfo. In the slideshare presentation below, Brett highlights 10 specific action areas that can help any Sales Manager or Executive ramp up quickly.

By the way, have you SEEN how much value you get for the price with Zoominfo Pro’s 1- and 5- Seat annual licenses?

Now, Zoominfo Pricing is self-service for both Data Services and the Pro subscriptions.

My advice?

Take what Brett serves up, mix with a bit of Zoominfo Pro and you have a quota crushing machine.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Q59 Videos // Add Comment »

Do you want to crush your 2011 sales or marketing objectives?

If so, you’ll need a good dose of inbound marketing to augment your traditional outbound processes. Enter Bernie Borges, founder of FindAndConvert and an inbound marketing and social media expert.

In this exclusive pre-recorded webinar hosted by Bernie, you’ll see first hand how to capitalize on your Social Media activities. It’s not enough to just create great content and hope people engage; you need an edge that reaches out and captures serious prospects when they land on your website or blog. Isn’t that the whole reason you’ve convinced others in your company that you need to participate in Social Media?

Forget the “you need to do Social Media” pep talk.

In this webinar, Bernie casts aside the fuzzy logic and teams with EchoQuote to show you how B2B lead conversion is really done. You’ll see, exactly, how a small hardware reseller uses Social Media to drive traffic and then converts that traffic into actionable B2B sales leads with a Self-Service Pricing Call-to-Action. This company not only succeeds, but has become the top equipment provider in it’s territory against 600 competitors. You will see an actual, live demo of where to place the calls-to-action and how to follow-up.

This was recorded live on January 19, 2011 and may go down as THE big idea for crushing your 2011 sales number.

Enjoy!

I’ve known Bernie Borges for three years and am a big fan of his book Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap between Seller and Buyer through Social Media Marketing.

Bernie is also a nationally known speaker and is launching his new seminar “Social Networking for Job Seekers” at www.BernieBorges.com.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation, Q59 Videos // Add Comment »