Lead Nurturing for Sales

Published April 27, 2009 Management best practices Closed

Lead nuturing is way too important to leave to Marketing. Sales has a quota to deliver. Lead nuturing is needed to build relationships and trigger events let you know exactly when to contact them. The combination is ideal.

Why Jeff?

He took over a stagnant account and led 25 global salespeople to a 240+% revenue increase ($2.1 to $6.8 million) in just one year on one of the world’s toughest accounts.

Could that have been a fluke? Almost all companies prefer the rep at the competior who did the job in the past. This company did just that and he was dismissed in less than a year when he was unable to duplicate Jeff’s performance.

Jeff understands how customers buy, how they decide and what messages resonate, so he’s ideal to implement a demand generation program to find and acquire new customers and crush competitors.

lion

Can Jeff help your company grow profits?

Please click to download the white paper, How to Find New Customers. You can also listen to podcasts on topics such as Lead Nurturing and Trigger Events, as well as read Demand Generation case studies. You can read about the Services offered as well.

Look forward to connecting with you.

For companies looking for best practices in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go. CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they run marketing campaigns to generate leads and implement processes for business to business lead generation.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers. He can be reached at (516) 284-4930 or mailto:jogden@findnewcustomers.net.

The similarities between 9/11 military response and business

In his new book The Lies They Told, author John Farmer explains how years after the Cold War ended, the government was set up to fight the Russian threat.

Three F-16’s were scrambled to form a combat air patrol over Washington, but the radio quality was so poor, the pilots had no idea why the Pentagon was burning. They scanned the horizon for evidence of a cruise missile that had sneaked by. But they saw no planes.

Norad, with its antiquated radar systems, could not see large areas of the Continental United States. Both Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and VP Dick Chaney insisted they had been ready to shoot down any planes targeting the White House, but in reality, no planes were in place to intercept them.

The only decisive reaction taken on 9/11 came not from the military, but from the courageous passengers who stormed the cockpit of United Flight 93, leading the hijackers to crash the plane before it could hit its intended target in Washington.

What’s the point and what does it have in common with business?

Just like any large organization, most business suffer from a lack of agility. They grew up in pre-Internet days. Their view of the world is the one that existed in the world of Prodigy and America Online and before — just like the Cold War. Without a 9/11 or Pearl Harbor event, most of them will realize it too late.

With that kind of world-view, companies resort to sales and marketing techniques that worked in that world-view.

Hiring “Rolodexes” — salespeople who know people — and firing them after 6 months
Blasting out product info
Touting their company and products on their website
Engaging in ‘naked cold calling’ with no content marketing strategy

Their limited world-view means they are unable to see what works today:

Creating a great website based on client needs
Developing and using a content management approach
Having a clear target market
Nurturing leads regardless of their timing to buy

If any of my readers would like a road-map to this new world, I invite you to download the highly acclaimed white paper, How to Find New Customers. You can also get a good education for free by visiting the Education tab at Find New Customers.

For companies looking for simple lead generation in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go.

CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they generate leads through great marketing campaigns and implement processes for business to business lead generation.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create marketing campaigns for their lead generation campaigns. He also publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.

How to Find New Customers turns Green and embraces social networking

Published November 13, 2009 Demand Generation , Easy lead generation , Lead Nurturing , Simple lead generation , lead generation Leave a Comment

As most of you know, How to Find New Customers is the highly acclaimed white paper sponsored by Marketo. It was written early in 2009 with the help of someone whom I respect deeply, Jill Konrath of Selling to Big Companies and founder of the Sales SheBang for women sales executives.

I’m happy to report that How to Find New Customers has new life. It’s green and embraces social networks.

What do we mean? I hope you’ll choose to read this 40+ page document on your laptop or computer, saving the trees. But even more, let’s say you really fall in love with this document (and I really hope you do), you can click the Retweet button at the bottom of any page to share your comments with your Twitter followers.

It’s new. It’s GREEN. It’s Twitter friendly.

It’s the simple guide to revenue enhancement for your business.

We make lead generation simple.

For companies looking for simple lead generation in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go.

CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they generate leads through great marketing campaigns and implement processes for business to business lead generation.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create marketing campaigns for their lead generation campaigns. He also publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.

Marketo’s secret sauce for lead generation

Published November 11, 2009 Demand Generation , Lead Nurturing , inbound marketing , lead generation , marketing campaigns Leave a Comment

As you probably know, Marketo is the sponsor of How to Find New Customers. They are my business partner. And they are one of the fastest-growing companies in the USA. How did they do it?

I highly recommend you watch Jon Miller, their VP of Marketing share the Marketo Secret Sauce for Lead Generation. It’s not a sales pitch, but rather a detailed and fascination explanation of how Marketo does lead generation.

Everyone in marketing or sales should see this.

For companies looking for marketing campaigns in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go. CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they generate leads through great marketing campaigns and implement processes for business to business lead generation.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create marketing campaigns for their lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.

Steps for creating a true lead nurturing program

Published November 9, 2009 Lead Nurturing Leave a Comment

This great post on lead nurturing appeared on Brian Carroll’s B2B Lead Generation blog. I’m a big fan of Brian’s content, so I wish to share it with my readers too. You can read the original post by clicking on True Lead Nurturing.

Sometimes in an attempt to vamp up lead nurturing efforts, misguided and well-meaning organizations simply start sending out more emails. When email is misused in this manner, companies are really just training prospects to ignore or delete their messages.

See What IS and ISN’T Lead Nurturing

If your organization lacks a well-defined process for nurturing early-stage leads and building relationships before the buying process, you are missing out on opportunities. True lead nurturing involves creating and maintaining relevant and consistent dialog with viable potential customers – regardless of their timing to buy. Your content should help you become a resource to prospects.

A true lead nurturing program will always include:

A relationship building mindset
A multi-modal approach
The human touch continue a relevant dialog and make appropriate offers based on behavior and engagement.
Lead nurturing automation tools that will support, personalization, lower volume and ad hoc delivery while tracking all touch points such as phone, email, online efforts and personal contact.

The measurement of nurturing results such as:

Depths of contacts in sphere of influence
Contacts that “opt-in” for nurturing
Contacts that become “sales ready” leads

This can seem like a complicated ordeal. It’s easy to see why organizations get overwhelmed by the time and planning required for developing an effective program, so I’ve broken down the process into eight steps.

Define the Ideal Customer Profile: Make sure you are nurturing relationships with the right people and organizations.
Define the Universal Lead Definition: Higher standards on qualifying inquiries to actual leads positively impacts conversion with lead to pipeline and lead to sale.
Lead qualification: Marketers have a tendency to require too much information from their inquiries at the first touch in an effort to qualify someone right away. The process can be broken down into steps that balance out the process.
Understand and Capture Audience: You need to understand who’s involved in the buying process so you can build a database based on your prospect’s role. The goal isn’t to build the biggest database, but to build one that is going to be most relevant.
Message Development: Message mapping is a great way for organizations to tie in what they are selling with what the buyer’s key issues are.
Build Lead Nurturing Library: Gather content that you can use to set yourself and your company up as thought leaders.
Develop Lead Nurturing Tracks: Map out tactics for sharing your content. Remember to start out slow and build your program slowly.
Executing Multi-Modal Lead Nurturing: Track all touch points (email, web, phone, social media etc.)

If you want to learn about these steps, check out my upcoming webinar “8 Steps to Optimizing Your Lead Nurturing Program,” on Tuesday, November 10. I’ll outline some simple “how-tos” for applying them and present two partner case studies that show how effective lead nurturing programs can grow your opportunities in sales pipeline.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create marketing campaigns for their lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.

Great new book on how small companies can sell to big companies

Published November 7, 2009 Demand Generation , Lead Nurturing , Sales knowledge , lead generation , marketing campaigns , marketing funnel , marketing sales , sales challenges , sales leadership , sales process , tough selling situation Leave a Comment

Recently I was invited to do an Internet Radio called The SalesBuzz. Not only was my show a huge hit, but I met a bunch of great sales experts at The Brooks Group. Very, very sharp and savvy people.

You can check out my hit show by clicking The Importance of Lead Nurturing.

The folks at The Brooks Group invited me to review their new book, Playing Bigger than You Are, by William T. Brooks and William P. G. Brooks. Just finished reading it and want to share my thoughts with my readers.

Playing Bigger Than You Are book At first look, this book seemed similar to my all-time favorite book by my all-time favorite lady (wife excepted) — Jill Konrath and her highly regarded and best-selling book, Selling to Big Companies. (Hint: That book better be in your collection. If not, click on it and buy it today.) But after reading it, I can say that this book belongs in your collection of the best sales books ever written.

These men have written a cogent and clear “how-to” manual on how even the smallest company can target and win in big companies. They explain how it can transform a business and even the advantages enjoyed by small firms.

One of my personal favorite chapters in “How Corporations Buy.” One thing Find New Customers advises all of its client is to gain a deep understanding of ideal customers.

What makes them tick?
What concerns them?
What are their challenges?
How do they find solutions to business challenges?
Whom do they trust?
What language do they use?

The bottom line is that, for most businesses, a deep understanding of these questions will enable them to become vastly more effective in marketing and sales.

In sum, buy this book, buy Jill’s book, and read both cover to cover. And when you find time to browse, head over to Find New Customers, where we believe in Lead Generation Made Simple. We’ll welcome you with open arms.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create marketing campaigns for their lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.

How to Write Proposals, Sales Letters and Reports

Published November 5, 2009 Demand Generation Leave a Comment

I’d like to alert my readers to a book coming out on November 10th. Very important topic by a great author.

We’re in a tough economic climate. Successful proposals and sales letters can be the difference between maintaining and building a business or seeing it decline.

For those who find business writing intimidating, and many of us do, this book helps remove that fear by providing a step-by-step process that’s user-friendly, clear and concise.

For those who want to improve their ability to come up with compelling proposals and sales letters, this book provides great tools and concepts to do just that.

I’ve read this book. In my opinion it’s a great opportunity for anyone to improve their business writing easily and effectively and help build their business.

Reviewers love this book

A “superb, easy-to-use guidebook recommended for business writers of all skill and experience levels.” The Midwest Book Review

“The book was very helpful in eliminating the fear of having to write/create a proposal.”Clearvision Media

“This extremely easy-to-use guidebook is a class of its own… Keeping one in the bookshelf is probably one of the smartest writing moves one can make.”BookReviewClub.com Rating: 5 Extremely Recommended

Neil Sawers has over 30 years experience as a corporate writer. He is the author of the best seller “Ten Steps To Help You Write Better Essays & Term Papers” for high school and college students. Neil’s goal? Make the writing process easier for as many entrepreneurs, business people and students as possible.

On Tuesday November 10, for one day only, Neil makes this very special offer. Buy How to Write Proposals, Sales Letters & Reports today for $10.37 (Save $6.58 off retail $16.95).

Buy it for yourself, your business, your non-profit, and recommend it to anyone you know who’s challenged or intimidated with business writing. They’ll thank you.

Learn More

For companies looking for marketing campaigns in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go. CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they generate leads through great marketing campaigns and implement processes for business to business lead generation.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create marketing campaigns for their lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.

My toast to bad sales leaders

Published November 3, 2009 Funny , sales leadership Leave a Comment

sales coaching cartoon

I have to thank Eric Blumthal of Count5 for this very humorous portrayal of the typical sales management. You’ll find more at Funny Sales Cartoons.

Their idea of sales “leadership” is simply flogging the troops. In my long career, I’ve worked for many of these. And I once worked for a very large software firm whose sole focus was “purchase order acquisition.” Unhappy customer? Not your problem. Go sell.

On the other hand, good sales leaders ask questions. My personal favorite is “What do you need from me to make your numbers? How can I help you.”

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create marketing campaigns for their lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.

7 Simple Steps to Get Started With Content Marketing

Published November 2, 2009 Demand Generation , Easy lead generation , Fearless Competitor , Lead Nurturing , lead generation Leave a Comment

This post originally appeared at http://www.genius.com/marketinggeniusblog/1070/7-simple-steps-to-get-started-with-content-marketing.html I’m pleased to share it with my readers as well.

Jep Castelein
Contributing Blogger

When I started in marketing, content was a necessary evil. Of course, you had to write some brochures and issue some press releases. But communicating the real value of your solutions was done one-on-one with journalists, analysts and your sales force.

How different the world is today! Through web and email, the marketing team directly talks to prospects. Also, you don’t need a journalist anymore to be published–just write a blog post. With this change in doing business, great content is now mandatory.

Content marketing is about creating and distributing valuable content to attract a clearly defined target audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Key points are “clearly defined target audience”, “valuable content” and “profitable”. You need to know as much as possible about your target audience to be able to create relevant and compelling content. The ultimate goal is to attract more customers, so that’s how you will measure your strategy. For more detailed definitions, see Wikipedia and Junta42.

1. Develop Personas

Personas contain a detailed description of your target group. Developing a persona helps understand who you are marketing to, and therefore what content will be valuable to them. If you don’t know who you’re writing for, content marketing won’t be effective.

2. Focus

It’s hard to stand out with content because so much information is already freely available on the Internet. To be successful you should focus on a niche that interests your personas: you can provide your unique view on the market and attract a dedicated audience.

3. Create Value

If you want people to read your content it should be about them, not about you. If the content provides value to the reader, they will continue to read it and recommend it to others. If it reads like an advertisement they will leave and not come back. Use yourpersonas to find out what is interesting, and what is not.

4. Avoid “Gobbledygook”

“Gobbledygook” is a term invented by David Meerman Scott to highlight examples of bad writing. Examples of “Gobbledygook” are powerful, flexible, seamless and easy. These words mean very little and they sound like advertising. For effective Content Marketing, use simple and authentic writing.

5. Keep Content Fresh

Unfortunately Content Marketing is not a one-time effort. It requires a constant flow of new content. You can refine the content based on feedback from the readers. This does not only build a loyal audience, but also creates lots of long tail keywords for search engine optimization.

6. Share information and Link to Others

In this broader community there are lots of great ideas and the best part about social media and bloggers is they are open for comment, dialogue and sharing of information. Take advantage of it. It’s more than ok (as long as you attribute the source!) to expand on others insights.

7. Invest in Search Engine Optimization

And finally, a content strategy really pays off when search engines are rating your content highly. This will drive lots of people to your site, at no additional cost. However, for this to happen you need to optimize your site, choose your topics wisely, and promote your articles (see also my SEO Optimization 101 post).

The wrong formula

Published October 30, 2009 Demand Generation , Lead Nurturing , lead generation Leave a Comment

It used to be so simple. The formula was clear.

Problem — We need sales.

Answer — Hire salespeople, especially those with industry or specialized experience.

Continue reading ‘The wrong formula’

6 Things You Need for Demand Generation

Published October 22, 2009 Demand Generation , Easy lead generation , Lead Nurturing , lead generation Leave a Comment

Here’s what you need:

A clear universal lead definition – agreed by sales and marketing.
A strong value proposition – specific, measurable and time-constrained.
Compelling and remarkable content – bite-sized and multi-media. (It’s only compelling and remarkable because your clients say it is so.)
An ongoing and automated lead nurturing process. (If you do a great job of combining 3 and 4, you’ll get the kind of reaction I got from a prospect, when they said “He walks on water.”)
Well mapped lead scoring – to ensure salespeople focus on hot leads.
Metrics – to measure and refine the process – for continual improvement.

Do those six and in a bit of time, sales-ready leads will begin pouring in — first a trickle, then a stream and finally a river.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is President of Find New Customers “Lead Generation made simple” and author of the famed white paper, How to Find New Customers. He’s been called the guru of lead generation and Find New Customers helps businesses execute lead generation programs to excel at acquiring new customers.

Lead Nurturing for Sales

The similarities between 9/11 military response and business

How to Find New Customers turns Green and embraces social networking

Marketo’s secret sauce for lead generation

Steps for creating a true lead nurturing program

Great new book on how small companies can sell to big companies

How to Write Proposals, Sales Letters and Reports

My toast to bad sales leaders

7 Simple Steps to Get Started With Content Marketing

1. Develop Personas

2. Focus

3. Create Value

4. Avoid “Gobbledygook”

5. Keep Content Fresh

6. Share information and Link to Others

7. Invest in Search Engine Optimization

Further Reading

The wrong formula

6 Things You Need for Demand Generation

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