2009 January «

Archive for January, 2009

What’s a “fearless competitor?”

Published January 31, 2009 sales leadership 9 Comments

As you may know, my business is helping companies gain market share by becoming more fearless competitors. What is a “fearless competitor?”

To illustrate what that means, let’s wish to use an example from nature that we can also apply to business.

When we think of fearless and ferocious, most people picture a lion — the King of beasts.

Now let’s apply that analogy to sales.

You’ve just been appointed the head of a pride of lions. All of the lions in your pride are hungry. (Needing deals.) So you tell your lions to go out, kill some gazelles and bring them back — just like a VP, Sales might tell his troops to go out and sign new customers.

The lions go out in two groups:

Group One hustles and runs all over the place looking for gazelles. They run faster and faster, looking everywhere. As time goes on, they grow hungrier and more desperate.
Group Two moves slowly and figures out where gazelles feed, rest and travel. They find those spots, hide and lie in wait. Gazelles show up and they bag their prey.

Group One comes back at the end of the day — exhausted, frustrated and famished — dreading the next day.

Group Two comes back with half a dozen gazelles. Group Two has a feast while Group One goes hungry and frustrated.

Unfortunately, many sales leaders are like Group One today. They tell their salespeople it is a numbers game — more calls means more deals. In one particularly egregious example, a small company owner handed the Yellow Pages to a salesperson and told her to keep dialing. Another CEO I know told his salespeople it is a numbers game — more calls means more leads.

But this is a fallacy. Hustle with a lack of planning is a recipe for failure.

The noted sales expert, Jill Konrath, advises salespeople to slow down and think. Plan out your calls.

That is the second group of lions — the ones who had the feast. Slow down, plan your calls and be the King of Beasts. That is a fearless, ferocious sales organization.

What do you think? We love comments and give you these buttons to make sharing easy. Hope you will. Thanks.

For companies looking for best practices in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers using demand generation, Find New Customers is the place to go. CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they 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 only thing we have to fear, is fear itself”

Published January 28, 2009 Management best practices , Tough times 2 Comments

“This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Those words, uttered by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his first inaugural address in 1932 as the country struggled to emerge from the Depression, stands as a microcosm of our economy today. In the last two days, two CEO’s told me of deep fear for what the future might hold for their companies.

Will they have to lay off good employees?
Will customer marketing budgets be slashed further?
What they be able to keep cash flow up?

In my opinion, company leaders need to take a close look in a mirror. They need to realize that, in reality, they have advantages today that they do not have in a booming economy:

A company needs A players. In a booming economy, A players all have jobs and are off the market. Today, they are available.
A company needs to gain market share. In a booming economy, competitors are strong and aggressive — hard to combat. Today, they are weak and feeble.
A company needs companies to buy. In a booming economy, budgets are flush. Today, budgets are tight, but the pains are greater than ever. Customers will still buy, but the conversation has changed.

This calls for a new and fresh approach. The thinking of the CEO needs to change.

In the interview with Jim Collins in the February 2, 2009 issue of Fortune, it was asked “But in a time of no credit and slowing demand, how does a company afford to bring people in?”

The famed management guru and author of Good to Great answered “(Hewlett-Packard’s answer) was ‘How can we afford not to?’ You have to make the wherewithal. If you do not get those great people, you’re not thinking long term enough. In our long term research…we find that great companies manage for the quarter-century.”

How does a company find the cash to pay A players? Maybe sell some assets — like a corporate jet or the boss’s Range Rover. Maybe bring the A player in as a short term consultant rather than a full-time employee. Maybe outsource some existing services to free cash. Maybe cut some salaries. There are many ways to raise cash. Go talk to your CFO and ask.

In my humble opinion, the questions and thinking need to change. Instead of thinking of how to conserve cash and hold on, the leadership needs to be thinking “How can we use this downturn to seize a strong competitive advantage? How can we find and recruit A players? How can steal market share and drive out competitors?”

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 generate leads and implement processes for business to business lead generation.

Here we go again. Leading in tough times.

Published January 26, 2009 Sales knowledge , sales challenges , sales leadership Leave a Comment

Downturn Leadership

In this difficult market, I wish to tell you about a document I read by noted management consultant, Lee J. Colan, with the title above. I wish to summarize his excellent document, but I will also attach his PDF, so you can download it and read it for yourself.

The great graphic on the cover — the views of the tracks of a roller coaster at top — perfectly illustrates the dilemma of business today. We do not know how far or how fast we will fall. All we know is — we will fall.

Mr. Colan’s first point is telling. “No trend lasts forever.” I recall voicing skepticm on the housing marketing, only to be told that it will keep going up and up. Wrong. But he also notes that the best time for your company to gain a competitive advantage is during a downturn.

While most business leaders are trying everything they can think of conserve cash, leading minds like Mr. Colan and Jill Collins believe true leaders need to think of this time as a golden opportunity.

Great employees are available today that are never available.
Complementary partners are hungry for help.
Competitors are weakened and vulnerable.

So Mr. CEO, you have a choice. Do we run and hide or do we look at this as an opportunity to become a leader in our industry?

Let’s talk. I’d love to discuss my ideas with you. (516) 284-4930 or JeffLOgden@gmail.com.

Sales 2.0 in a 1.0 World

Published January 25, 2009 sales challenges , sales leadership Leave a Comment

Most sales leaders of today grew up in what is termed a “sales 1.0″ world. Hire a bunch of salespeople, train them on a technique like Solution Sales, give them laptops, phone and brochures and turn them loose. That used to work, till the Internet came of age.

Today we live in the world of the self-informed customer. They can research their problem, possible solutions, reviews, spec sheets and more. Barry Trailer, Founder of CSO Insights wrote a fascinating White Paper on this very issue — called “Run Away and Join the Circus.” In Mr. Trailer’s parlance, the 1.0 world is the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus — central control, few stars and orchestrated actions. Contrast this with Cirque du Soleil. Many performers, all collaborating, communicating and cooperating.

In the 2.0 world, businesses don’t find customers — customers find you. This is why search marketing is so important today. You must be easy to find. But you must go well beyond search marketing alone. Look at the customer buying process and create content to match the process. Create landing pages and viral tools. For a good example, look at HubSpot’s Grader.com, with Website Grader, Press Release Grader and Twitter Grader.

How great companies turn crisis into opportunity

Published January 23, 2009 Management best practices 1 Comment

Great interview with management guru Jim Collins in Fortune, February 2, 2009. Those who panic on the mountain, die on the mountain. You must go up or down — you don’t wait to get clobbered. So too companies must make changes in this market and not panic. “What can we do to not just survive, but to turn this into a defining moment in history?”

Great companies realize it is the caliber of their people that gets them through. “If there is a storm on the mountain, more important than the plan are the people you have with you.”

How do you distinguish the truly great from the rest?

The right people don’t need to be managed. The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake. (Author’s note: No resume in history has shown self-management!) The right people don’t think they have a job — they have responsibilities. They do what they say they will do — so they are careful about what they promise.

His final paragraph is perfect:

“I don’t care how hard this period is. You have to have a combination of believing you will prevail, that you will get out of this, but also not be the Pollyanna who ignores the brutal facts. You have to say that we will be in this for a long period and we can turn this into a defining event, a catalyst to make ourselves a much stronger enterprise.”

Refocus on customer personas

Published January 23, 2009 Customer personas 1 Comment

The market is tougher than ever. Time to get out there and talk to customers and prospects. Get to know them. Everything. Ask lots of questions.

Very simple. Start it Monday.

Are you giving away 80% of business?

Published January 19, 2009 Management best practices , inbound marketing , lead generation , marketing funnel , marketing sales , sales funnel , sales leadership 2 Comments

Yes, that headline is shocking. What business leader would hand a whopping 80% of their revenue to competitors? Obviously the answer is no one, yet that is precisely what many companies are doing today.

Ask yourself this simple question. “In my company, the persons responsible for sales pipeline development is _____________”

If your answer is “Sales,” you just gave away 80% or more of your business!

Think about it… Your salespeople are working the phones and emails, hustling to find business. But in a slumping economy and a changed world, this is a losing game.

How do we know this? MarketingSherpa did an exhaustive survey of B2B sellers and buyers a short time ago. I urge you to purchase the full Lead Generation Handbook, but for this exercise, you can simply download the free Executive Summary.

2007 Study on Who found Who. More shocking in 2009.

As you can see from this chart, the overwhelming majority of decision makers and contributors said “We found the vendor.” This is shocking, compelling and a great opportunity for visionary CEOs. This means that instead of focusing on cracking the whip with salespeople, you have to set up your business to be easy to find when prospective customers are ready to buy. This means search marketing, landing pages, blogs, press releases, viral tools and much more.

If you are looking for a company that gets Inbound Marketing, I suggest you check 0ut HubSpot.

The Happiest Meal: Hot Profits — Management lessons from McDonald’s

Published January 11, 2009 Management best practices Leave a Comment

Count me among the ones who drove past McDonald’s to a competitor. Unhealthy, fattening food. Sterile restaurants. And aggressive counter people pushing us to “Super-Size” everything. No thank you.

However, in this morning’s New York Times SundayBusiness section a very interesting article appeared. McDonald’s has now delivered 55 consecutive months of increases in global same-store sales. In a horrid stock year, McDonald’s is one of only two in the Dow Jones to eke out a gain — with a 6% increase.

How did McDonald’s turn itself around? I believe there are lessons here for every CEO. It can be summed up in a change in culture from the numbers to the people, from short term results to customer experiences, and from a focus on market share to a focus on product.

It seems so easy in hindsight. The changes seem so logical. But we also ought to remember what went wrong in the first place — a short term focus on financial results and market share. This lead to “Would you like to super-size that, Sir?” and over expansion of restaurants. Ditto for Starbucks.

Instead as the Times article stated, “McDonald’s reinvented itself by putting quality ahead of expansion.” Bob Goldin, EVP at Technomic, a food industry consulting firm, says McDonald’s “executes the basics flawlessly.”

If we look at the changes made, it seems so simple and logical, but in the relentless pressure for results, we often lose focus on what really matters. In McDonald’s case, the changes included:

60% of revenue comes through the drive-in window, so focus on speeding the process.
Customers prefer bottles, so put milk in bottles rather than cartons.
Chicken is considered to be healthy, so offer more chicken sandwiches.
It refocused on drinks — now longer just an add-on to meals

We also need to look at management style. Jim Skinner, 64, is the son of an Iowa bricklayer and lacks a college degree. (Boy, there is lesson there for hiring managers!) He is also quick to credit the company plan (Called “Plan to Win”) and to give credit to his colleagues. He credits “alignment of the organization.” ”Right people in the right place.” Empower your managers and give them a long leash to produce results.

Another central theme is patience. Change takes time. This turnaround in McDonald’s took six years.

Stay tuned for further management lessons.

Let’s talk. I’d love to discuss my ideas with you. (516) 284-4930 or JeffLOgden@gmail.com.

Good luck and good selling.

Use the phone for new relationships and updates. Not email.

Published January 8, 2009 lead generation 1 Comment

Just got an unsolicited email from a company called GasPedal. It was sent using Vertical Response and was obviously carefully crafted. One big problem: I’d never heard of the company and I did not request anything from them.

I unsubscribed and started thinking about what was wrong with their process. Why didn’t I read it carefully and why did I unsubscribe?

If you’ve seen my earlier postings on inbound marketing, I am a big believer in it. Telephone sales is dead, is it not?

I contend the the answer is no. Phones still play an important role but it has changed. It is no longer a good selling tool, but it is the best for initiating and building relationships. It is also good for updating one’s database.

This is why GasPedal would have been smart to call everyone on the list and to very gently introduce themselves. Let the target account be introduced to them. Then when the email goes out, the recipient thinks “I know these guys.” They read it.

Here’s a tip: Use the phone to start and build relationships and well as to clean up your lists, as well as to further existing relationships. Don’t use it to sell today. It is a part of lead generation — an important part — but not the whole thing.

Turn around a struggling business

Published January 2, 2009 CEO Action Items Leave a Comment
Tags: Turnaround

(A hypothetical introduction of a new CEO in a turnaround. This author brainstormed it as if he was this person. I hope you find it illuminating. Jeff)

Hi everyone,

I’m glad to be here today and I look forward to meeting each and every one of you. As you know, our old CEO is gone and the Board has brought me in to turn things around. But I certainly cannot do that by myself. I need the help of each and every one of you. I assure you I will not make promises I cannot keep — we have to make choices — some of which will be painful. But we will do whatever it takes to get this company on solid footing.

Here’s what we are going to do:

Sit down with R&D, Marketing and Sales to re-craft our value proposition. We need to clearly articulate the value customers get from working with us. It’s not about us – it’s about them.
Go out and visit customers. As one of the executives I greatly respect, Charlene Begley of GE was told by Jack Welch — customers don’t lie to you. They’ll tell it like it is. The closer we get to our revenue sources — our customers — to really understanding them — the better.
Using what we learned from our customers, we’ll going to re-target our marketplace.
We’ll clearly identify to whom we sell and who they are. We’re going to map their needs and identify their personas — their personalities, their drivers and their sources of information. And we’re going to develop sales tools that really work — that empower our salespeople to say the right things to the right executives at the right time. No more product oriented, feature dump “Quickies” as used by my predecessor.
Marketing — we’re going to focus on what really works to build mutual trust. We’ll start having real conversations with these prospects that we know better than ever. We’ll build educational content — webinars, white papers, e-books, pod and video casts, and participating in social networks. We’ll also focus on inbound marketing — search marketing, landing pages and social networks. (We’ll look to partner with companies like HubSpot.) We want to become the go-to source of best practices. We’ll also take advantage of trigger events — using the news and changes to engage at the right time. We’ll also get creative — soliciting input from customer and employees to find creative ways to get attention — such as a humorous and entertaining YouTube video.
We’ll invest carefully and judiciously. For info on companies and trigger events, we’ll use ZoomInfo or InsideView. To map our selling process, we’ll use Salesforce.com or Landslide. And to automate our marketing activities, we’ll use Eloqua or Vtrenz.
We’ll also going to rebuild our teams. We’ll sit down with each one of you and discuss your personal goals and assess your contributions. Some of you will get new roles. Some will be promoted. A few will undoubtedlyl be asked to resign.

The journey will be slow and painful — I expect it will take 9-12 months, but if you are willing and motivated to join me on that journey, then by the end of 2009, this will be a healthy and prosperous company once again.

I hope you take take this journey with us.