Entries from January 2006
Make the most of your marketing events
The year is already underway. You may have a number of live seminars, workshops, Web seminars (webinars), videoconferences, trade shows and speaking engagements planned for future months. Here is a short summary of how best to use events to drive sales and revenue.
- Leverage other marcomm tactics such as direct mail, email and telemarketing.
- Speak or exhibit at others’ events, saving the time and expense of running it yourself.
- Use events to move known prospects along the sales cycle, rather than focusing on those who are new to your company.
- For mid-stage prospects, use “bite-size” events, such as “lunch and learns,” “executive breakfast briefings,” or Webinars.
- For hot prospects who have already indicated they are close to buying, offer events that will give them details they need to make the final decision.
I go into more detail about this making the most of events in your marketing plan in my article “[What role should events play in your marketing plan?](http://www.sales-lead-experts.com/tips/articles/event-role.cfm)”.
Customer relationship management
Your CRM, sales database or sales lead management software could be your number one asset. The right sales lead management software can increase marketing effectiveness and shorten sales cycles. I can help with everything from cleaning up your existing data to using profiles of your best customers to find more companies and contacts just like them.
To find out more: B2B sales lead management software and marketing databases
Business-to-business leads
[](http://www.sales-lead-experts.com/tips/articles/sales-followup.cfm)
Only one in four of the prospects that eventually buy have short-term needs, according to research done by my clients and other marketing communications organizations serving the business-to-business marketplace.
I’ll bet that most of your salespeople, reps, resellers or distributors are only following up with the [business-to-business leads](http://www.sales-lead-experts.com/tips/articles/sales-followup.cfm) they believe represent short-term sales opportunities. Why? Because most salespeople need to focus on shorter-term sales opportunities to meet their monthly and quarterly quotas and earn commissions.
If this is also the case with your company’s salespeople, you may be missing three out of four sales!
To avoid missing these three out of four sales represented by the longer-term sales opportunities, try changing the measurement and compensation system to reward salespeople for following up and nurturing longer-term prospects, too. Turn those unsold business-to-business sales leads into sales.
And use some of your sales budget to fund programs designed to keep in touch with longer-term prospects until they are ready for sales attention.
My wish lists for B2B marketing and sales
A new year is a good time for new ideas in your B2B marketing and sales programs. Refresh your thinking with these wish lists for both marketing and sales departments. Read the full article here: [Wish Lists for B2B Marketing and Sales](http://www.sales-lead-experts.com/tips/articles/wish-lists.cfm)
Here are a few examples:
### Marketing
- I wish that CEOs and CFOs would approve B2B marketing budgets based on the percentage of the forecasted sales revenue, rather than the percentage of last year’s revenue. B2B marketing is an investment in the company’s future sales. It shouldn’t be based on past results. Especially if last year’s sales were down.
- Better yet, I wish companies would budget for B2B marketing based on what needs to be accomplished, rather than simply based on a percentage of past or future sales.
- [More...](http://www.sales-lead-experts.com/tips/articles/wish-lists.cfm)
### Sales
- I wish corporate management would quit creating sales targets and quotas using the WAG (Wild Ass Guess) and WT (Wishful Thinking) methods. Instead, it would be more realistic to base targets and quotas on a combination of market research, past performance, and forecasts from the sales people in the field.
- I wish sales management would design compensation programs that reward salespeople for all behaviors that contribute to the success of the company. Commissions are important, but how about also rewarding salespeople for “closed-loop” feedback on sales leads, more accurate forecasts, adding names and information to the sales and marketing database, and other tasks important to the company’s ongoing success? Then, maybe salespeople would invest more time and effort towards these important tasks.
- [More...](http://www.sales-lead-experts.com/tips/articles/wish-lists.cfm)
