What Sales can learn from Marketing

I am spending the last few days of 2009 in several sales training groups. If you’re in marketing or communications, I would strongly suggest you do this every year (or every other year, at very least). Why the hell does a marketing or communications executive want or need to sit in sales training? If you’re asking that question, I’ll tell you right now you’re missing the point of your job. As a marketing or communications executive, you’re one of the few departments that touch every aspect of the company – whether it’s sales, IT, the executives or board, or product development. As such, you need to know a little bit of how each department or group works, what they do and how they do it. You need to be the jack of all trades and master of marketing them all by creating communications that appeal to the company’s audience(s).

So, why am I in sales training? Part of any marketer’s job is to make certain that sales is being fed leads, but another part of our job is to help build a successful sales culture by training sales in proper messaging, establishing sales guidelines (with the head of sales) and to support your sales people.

Here are some very simple, but often overlooked communications principles that should be applied to sales:

1.    24-hour rule: Return any and all communications - email or voicemail – within 24 hours (max time limit). I often return all calls the same day (even if it’s after hours).  

2.    Email is not the Holy Grail for reaching people. People have gotten so accustom to email that it’s become a primary form of communication. Either sales people fire off mass emails. While email is an extremely useful tool, email communications for sales has been exploited and people are exhausted from having to exhume any email – let alone one from an unwanted sales pitch. Try leading with a conversation on the phone and use email as the follow-up.

3.    Know your corporate message. Understand what your corporate messages are and how to deliver them effectively. If you can’t describe your company, product or services in less than 20 seconds without industry jargon, you’re already in trouble.

4.    Listen: Believe it or not, more than half of the sales people I meet talk A LOT. In my opinion (and I’m guessing the opinion of your prospects), that has the making of a really bad sales person. While it’s good for a sales person to be able to converse easily, you also want a sales person who can listen and ask the right questions.

5.    Follow-up:  A high performing sales guru will very likely miss the details and fine points. He/she is great at that initial meeting, but doesn’t always follow-up.  Sound familiar? Well….that’s why there are tools out the like MS Outlook and Salesforce. Sales people don’t need to scribble down information on a sticky note that will get lost or a notebook, where he/she will find the action item a few months after the call.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with some high performing sales people who never miss a step. Of the companies I’ve worked with, Ricoh and Arbitron had the best sales culture and people. The two corporate cultures put business development as one of the single most important activities without sacrificing the importance of each employee to the company.

If you want to read more….

Why Sales People Fail – Are the right people in the right positions for sales?

Best Sales Practices: Build Lasing Relationships

Pepsi and FedEx Take a Pass on Super Bowl 2010

Both Pepsi and FedEx are taking a pass on Super Bowl 2010 advertising. It shouldn’t be a surprise that FedEx is sitting out this quarter, as the overnight shipping giant fumbled in yet another earnings quarter with a 30% Q2 profit fall with a 10% decline in revenue. Spending a few million on Super Bowl Sunday might raise a few eyebrows from shareholders.

Pepsi – a 23-year Super Bowl advertiser – is pulling out of this year. The only Pepsi brand that will remain an event advertiser is Doritos with its $5 million Crash The Super Bowl contest, a truly amazing integrated marketing campaign that brings both offline and online together. Could the reason be the one-time $900 million payment Pepsi will make to Dr Pepper Snapple Group for the rights to distribute some of its beverages (including Dr. Pepper, Crush and Schweppes brands) in North America? Hmmm…that’s a lot of Super Bowl commercials.

Could this be a time for Coke to blitz Pepsi during Super Bowl 2010? I doubt it..unless they can build a similar action-oriented integrated marketing campaign like Doritos. A lot of big brands are still not getting past integrating their online and offlines campaigns. Forget the big brands, the major agencies are still not doing it...so how can we expect traditionally siloed corporate marketing people to understand it?

First impressions: Is Flock a Flop?

I was humming along on Twitter last night and found @ChrisMessina tweeting about Russell Crowe (Yum-O) and Pastry Kits – two totally non-related topics. I was curious and fell down the rabbit hole looking for connections. Within two clicks, I found Flock, a social web browser (what the heck is that? – just kidding). See Flock browser beefs up Twitter, Facebook support in the NY Times for more info.

Well, before I even got that far, this is what I saw…I came close to feel a bit woozy from the picture. 

Here’s the lesson here. While Flock may be a great social media all-in-one browser, the site itself leaves much to be desired. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And, oh, boy….this one nearly drove me away from the website.

The World of Blogging according to Debbie Galant, former NYT columnist and all around superwoman

A few weeks back, I went to a NJ Women in Communications event on Blogging Real Time. And Debbie Galant of Baristanet fame (Baristanet is one of the first successful localized blogging sites) was there to talk about how she got started and what she does. Here are her take-aways on how to become a successful blogger (Red text is my commentary):

1. Post often (well, here’s another 2010 resolution for me)

2. Develop a voice (my would be loud and straight-forward)

3. Encourage participation (e.g. tips, polls, contest, comments)

4. Make it visually stimulating (that sounds almost dirty, but Debbie is right)

5. Keep it short (but make it meaningful)

6. Make it useful (how many times have you looked at your corporate blog and felt like you’re imparting the wisdom of moses, but wonder why you don’t have millions of followers)

7. Make it fun (or at least try)

8. Propel it with viral media (a total time sucker, but it’s worth it)

Well, I see that I have one big new year’s resolution for my business and that would be working on the blogging. I’m the little engine that could and I keep saying “I think I can. I think I can.” Hmmmm…maybe I need to adopt a more proactive thought process for my own blog and take on Nike’s “Just do it” attitude.  I write at least a dozen blogs a week for my clients. Now why can’t I do just one more little blog entry for myself?

Apparently, I have a bit of a following (scary!). Thanks for Matt for his encouragement (and gentle nudging about the lack of content). And, to Vinny for the big push. For all those out there following me – on this blog, Twitter, etc., give me a holler if you see week after week of silence. And, thanks for the follow.

Back to the main point….blogging takes time and thought.  You can keep it short, but make it meaningful.

Furniture for Black & White People: Stop thinking like a corporate marketer

  To be successful with social media marketing or viral marketing, you have to stop thinking like a corporate marketer.

Two lifelong friends who look like they just graduated from college last year – Rhett & Link – decided to marry their dream of becoming film makers with their comedy, music and the Internet.  Today, they have their very own new media production company. I believe the duo’s success comes from their ability to NOT think like corporate marketers (both have an engineering background) and to have fun with the product. Think about it. What would you react more positively to and be willing to share with your friends – a funny, quirky online video or one that’s a run of the mill corporate sell?

While they don’t always get it right (e.g. get the message or brand across), sometimes they really capture the essence with a lot of fun. When that happens, the viral spread is social media marketing at its best. Take The Alka-Seltzer Great American Road Trip as an example. I’m not sure how successful the campaign was, but the online video and song sure is catchy – and it speaks to the product.

Another extremely successful local commercial is the Black & White People Furniture – Red Hour Commercial – where the video spread quickly online beginning on YouTube. It’s so popular that the local North Carolina furniture store (Red House Furniture) started selling “Black & White People” T-shirts. 

What’s the point of all this? Sometimes, you just have to take off your corporate marketing hat and start throwing out zany ideas. See what sticks. 

 

Social Media: Here to Stay

You question whether social media is a fad? This video attempts to give an answer. And, I believe it's pretty successful. It leverages facts on why and how social media is and will continue to be a powerful tool. So far, it has gotten over a million eyeballs on YouTube.

Characteristics of a Conference Worth Going to - IAITAM

I just returned from the IAITAM Annual Conference in Henderson, Nevada (right outside of Vegas). While most conferences are scaling back and losing exhibitors and attendees, IAITAM (International Association of IT Asset Managers) seems to be one of the few associations that have grown its annual conference and its membership. The question is why and how?

I think there are several important reasons to why/how IAITAM grew.

1-   ITAM as a trend is on the rise. No matter where you go, you hear about IT asset management and cost control. This industry is part of the popular IT trends as seen in the ITAM Industry in the Ascendancy article by @ITAMReview.

2-   IAITAM is an extremely niche topic/industry that hits across all IT markets. Everyone could benefit from ITAM.

3-   Companies and people are seeking ways to either re-educate or to continue to educate themselves in their industry. The IAITAM conference is a perfect place to garner information.

4-   Unlike other organizations, IAITAM brings everything in-house – from production of attendee bags to signs to its membership magazine. The savings allows for the organization to give back to its members by giving a first class conference with world class food and entertainment.

So, while I think majority of trade shows and conferences are not worth spending money on. The annual IAITAM conference is one of the few that fit the criteria of must attend if you are in the ITAM industry for the following reasons:

1-   Great networking opportunities.

2-   Attendees are extremely targeted audience and, this year, they are ready to spend money.

3-   An extremely targeted audience.

4-   The luncheons and dinners are served in the exhibit hall and the association does everything possible to drive attendees to the booths. There is also an extremely limited exhibition time, which is good for a show that’s only about 400 people.

5-   Qualified leads. No need to shift through information.

With that said, look for shows with the characteristics above and you can’t go wrong.

Trade show boothmanship training? Not bloody likely

I’ve been getting a lot of emails from trade show/conference vendors about training for trade shows. While I’m a big fan the e-newsletter, this might not be the best tactic for companies who create exhibit booths and signage seeing as the economy took a nosedive this past year and just about everyone has cut back big expenses – like trade shows. Marketing and sales folks are recycling what they have from last year and an email about “boothmanship” training isn’t likely going to change their mind and drive them to the company for a soft sell. So, what should these companies do?

Well, if I headed up marketing at a trade show company, I wouldn’t give up the newsletter, but I also wouldn’t send it every 2 weeks. That’s just going to annoy me. I’d also go back to some traditional marketing to create brand awareness and I’d revamp my message to talk about:

-          Cost effective methods for trade shows and conferences – cut your cost in half, while increasing qualified leads

-          Pre-conference jitters: Practical methods on how to maximize sales time at the event

-          Attracting attention to your company: How to make them come to you

With all that said and done, these companies likely won’t see the dollars coming in for another 6-9 months, but at least they will be top-of-mind once corporate marketers can spend again.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The power of social networks - we want our voice heard

Many of you know I'm a big fan of social networking (specifically Twitter, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn and some favorite vertical communities). While social networking has changed the face of marketing and communications as we know it, it has also changed how some societies are defying governments. Today's NY Times article Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online shows the power of an open communications system.

While marketers are working on social networks, people all over the world are using social media to have their voice heard and gain their freedom.  

Social media expert – Anyone? Anyone?

We keep hearing the phrase, “I’m a social media expert” time and time again. But, it seems like everyone is a social media expert or, at least, feel that way. Does it make you a social media expert if you have a blog, Tweet a bit and know what the hell Ning is? IMHO, I don’t think so. Like any industry or market, social media marketing must come from experience. It’s a bit of a Catch 22.

So, how do you become a social media expert.

1-      Read/Research – ‘nuff said on this.

2-      Check out what the influencers in the space are doing.

3-      Join social media sites and starting “listening in” on the conversations. I find that while you learn something about the folks participating, it’s very similar to high school cliques, except all the popular kids aren’t jocks.

4-      Ask questions. Most social media influencers are willing to help.

So, how the hell are you supposed to know who to trust? Look for history, call references and then go with your gut. You can hire a major agency, but it’s gonna cost you. If you hire a small firm or a one-person shop, make sure you are looking at case histories; getting good references and that you like/trust the person. And, no matter what who you hire or how many people are at the company, bring your B.S.-O-meter.

Additional  reading…..

Is the Social Media Expert Going the Way of the Dodo?

15 Social Media Maxims for Marketers

Nobody’s an Expert in this Crazy ‘Social Media’ Thing