B2B Lead Blog

If you’re looking for some marketing wisdom and inspiration, my MECLABS colleague, Daniel Burstein wrote a post on the MarketingSherpa Blog, “Marketing Wisdom: In the end, it’s all about…” that’s definitely worth checking out. He brings together the collective wisdom of a project he spawned by asking  bloggers to reveal their most important message; look for posts on twitter with #lastblog.

Here are just a few of Daniel’s favorite takeaways that are worth reading…

Pursue purpose
“True entrepreneurs will never be satisfied with riches. They have to affect change, and will risk everything to make their vision reality.”
– The Last Blog Post: 5 Lessons I’d Leave Behind by Paul Roetzer, PR 20/20

Exciting but intimidating times
“As a marketer we have no choice but to improve what we are doing. Embrace change.”
– The Last Blog Post: Marketers must embrace change by ToddLebo, MECLABS

When there is an elephant in the room, introduce him
“It’s in the flaws of our products that our customers really see the personality of our company.  So, let’s agree that instead of hiding the elephant in the room that we find ways to show how our companies go above and beyond when our products aren’t perfect.”
– The Last Blog Post- What Marketers can learn from The Last Lecture by Maria Pergolino, Marketo

Delight
“When writing I try and ask myself, “Will this be fun to read? Will the audience be delighted?” If the answer is no, then maybe it’s time to take another crack at it. The important thing is not to forget that I am writing for people, not just suits.”
– The Last Blog Post: The 4 Metrics That Matter by Jesse Noyes, Eloqua

Link: MarketingSherpa Blog: Marketing Wisdom: In the end, it’s all about…

Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Thought Leadership

As you can see, my blog has a new look.

That’s because it isn’t just my blog anymore. There are a multitude of thought-leading voices that deserve a platform, and I look forward to making sure this blog provides that opportunity. This will truly be a roundtable to discuss and explore the best ideas. Click here to see our regular contributors; I look forward to adding more in the coming months.

There’s a new name, too. That’s because, when I began this blog in 2003, lead generation had a far narrower scope than what it encompasses today. The internet and the applications that have evolved with it have created a new marketing and sales world. Today, we’re leveraging concepts that were nonexistent eight years ago. Whole companies and careers have been built up around them – as they should.

We now have within our reach the ability to engage more customers in a much more meaningful way than ever before.

This, at heart, is what lead generation is all about – but I don’t believe the term “lead generation” is adequate enough to encompass  all that driving leads entails – the process is so much more involved than it was a decade ago. Whoever heard of lead nurturing or marketing automation or revenue performance management in 2003? The platforms weren’t available to execute them.

However, regardless of innovation, our work is still about creating the conversations that drive leads and, ultimately, revenue. We hope this blog continues to be the inspiration for them.

I hope you like our new look, and our new name, and I would love to hear what you have to say about it. Feel free to comment here or on the B2B Lead Roundtable LinkedIn Group.

Finally, if you have subscribed to our RSS feed, be sure to update your subscription to the new feed at the top right of the page as the previous RSS feed will end soon.

I look forward to keeping up with the accelerating evolution of the business environment, and helping you do the same. 

Lead Generation, Personal Messages, Thought Leadership, Web/Tech, Weblogs

I’m back from presenting at the Cisco Partner Velocity Conference in Barcelona; the experience was every bit as meaningful and memorable as I thought it would be. 

You see, I turned 40 there and brought my family along to celebrate. It was a great experience for all of us. Barcelona is a beautiful city.

It was thought-provoking to observe a different culture, one where making money appears to rank an easy second to family and friends.

I especially noticed this when we went out to dinner (at 10pm which is quite typical in Spain). People who had arrived before us were still there when we paid our bill.

The restaurant wasn’t trying to push them out to attract more customers. Instead they allowed their guests to enjoy the experience of being out together, lingering over a meal, and sharing conversation – something they clearly were doing long after their dinner was done. It was a scene that was replayed throughout our trip.

It drove home to me, once again, how conversation is absolutely critical to relationships, no matter who you are, no matter where you’re from.

When I was starting out in marketing, doing teleprospecting and lead generation, 16 years ago, email was just emerging. My tools of the trade were mostly phone and fax back then. But marketing was still about having a  conversation with the customer; it was still all about building relationships. And, some of the marketers I met at the conference – who, like me, traveled across the globe to be there – are doing what I was doing years ago because the human touch matters.  

But, interestingly, they all face the same struggles as the rest of us: 

• How do we give our sales team more effective selling time?
• How can we build better alignment between marketing and sales?
• How can we make sure sales follows-up on marketing-generated leads?
• How do we measure ROI of marketing programs?
• How do we convince our sales people to update the database?

No matter where you are in the world or in your career, no matter how many marketing tools and you have to available, marketing all boils down to the challenge of having relevant conversations with the right people in the right companies and building the kind of relationships that ultimately result in sales.

So much has changed in the marketing world since I entered it at age 24, and yet, in so many ways, it is essentially the same. 

Here’s a good recap about the Cisco Velocity event by Peter O’Neill at Forrester, “Cisco Continues To Accelerate Its Partners’ Marketing“ 

Human Touch, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Thought Leadership, Web/Tech

Rain Today, a great resource for those who market and sell services, selected their Best Books of the Decade for marketing and selling professional services. I was humbled to see that they picked my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale for their list.

They write, “Brian Carroll’s book is chock-full of information to help you identify ideal leads, align sales and marketing, build a strong pipeline, and effectively use lead-generation tactics.”

If you market or sell professional services or have a complex sale be sure to put these “best of the decade” on your reading list.

• Selling to Big Companies by Jill Konrath
• Guerilla Marketing for Consultants by Jay Conrad Levinson and Michael W. McLaughlin
• Writing White Papers by Michael Stelzner
• Winning the Professional Services Sale by Michael W. McLaughlin
• Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss
• Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff
• Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi 
• New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott
• Professional Services Marketing by Michael Schultz & John Doerr 
• Purple Cow by Seth Godin
• Rain Making: Attract New Clients No Matter What Your Field by Ford Harding 
• Strategy and the Fat Smoker by David Maister 
• The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford

RainToday: Best of the Decade: Marketing & Selling Professional Services, 2000-2009

Books, Personal Messages

I seldom write personal posts but I’m making an exception to share my joy. Lydia Faith Carroll was born on 7/8/09. She is 7lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. Mindy and Lydia are doing great!

Lydia getting some rest : )

Our first family photo with Lydia as a happy family of five! I feel very grateful and blessed.

Personal Messages

Inside CRM ranked the top CRM blogs based on their insights, readability and frequency of posting. I'm honored to have been included on the list.

As I read over the list (which includes 20 blogs) I discovered some new ones worth reading along with bloggers already follow like Jim Berkowitz, who writes the CRM Mastery Blog; John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing Blog and Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba who write the Church of the Customer Blog. I feel honored to be included in such great company.

Read Inside CRM's complete list "The Best CRM Blogs of 2008"

CRM, Personal Messages, Weblogs

I had a great time doing my webinar on putting the human touch into lead generation sponsored by Citrix Online and we had almost 1600 people register. Wow!

In my presentation I emphasized how lead nurturing is about timing, consistency and relevance.

Today (which happens to be my 38th birthday) I got this email with a personal video from Gary Anderson, CEO of NetBriefings. I wanted to share this with you because I think it is a great example of lead nurturing by combining the human touch and timing in a personal way that connected with their business value proposition.

Brian, I heard it was your Birthday today! Here is my personal Birthday Video Greeting!

http://proclaim.netbriefings.com/flv/nb/nsux9/nbnsux9101573/   

Have a Great Day!!!!  You deserve it!!

Gary W. Anderson

The video is 29 seconds but it made my day and I must confess that it caused me to think about his company (which is the point). Please note: it’s not a polished or pretty video but he put in some effort to be personal and that’s what made it stand out. That said, I don’t think this would work for everybody.  Let me know what you think.

Human Touch, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Sales Leads, Web/Tech, Webcasts/Webinars, Weblogs

There are numerous tactics for generating leads these days — everything from the traditional email or phone call to the explosively popular social media craze. However, the real challenge is not necessarily in generating leads, but more in truly connecting with them. It doesn’t matter how many leads you generate if they aren’t willing to listen to what you have to say next.

You need to develop and then engage in memorable and relevant conversations with prospects. You need to position your company as a thought leader and solution provider that understands your prospect’s needs. You need that “human touch.”

During this one-hour, live webinar you will learn how to:

• Engage your prospects with memorable and relevant conversations
• Build and maintain quality relationships with potential clients
• Develop a lead-nurturing process that really works
• Recapture lost leads and opportunities

I’m teaming up with Citrix Online to bring this webinar to marketers of all levels. Whether you are a VP of Marketing, a VP or Director of Sales, or a Sales or Marketing Consultant, you’ll learn how to connect by sharing your expertise.

Watch the archived webinar on demand

Event Marketing, Human Touch, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Personal Messages, Sales Leads, Thought Leadership, Webcasts/Webinars

Craig Rosenberg recently created a list of the most influential people in B2B Demand Generation, and I’m honored to have been included. Many know Craig through his blog, Funnelholic, or through his company Tippit. Funnelholic is a very insightful and original B2B marketing blog written for those marketers who live and work at the top of the B2B funnel.

Others bloggers named to Craig’s 2008 Top of the Funnel List include Jon Miller, the author of Modern B2B Marketing blog, and Michael Stelzner, the author of Writing White Papers Blog and many other great resources. I feel privileged to be in such great company. Thanks Craig. Check out the Craig’s 2008 Top of the Funnel List

Personal Messages

To what extent can you substitute emails for telephone calls and face-to-face meetings when maintaining and developing relationships with clients and other key market contacts? The answer to this frequently-asked-question affects how you spend your precious business development time and money.  Getting it right will improve your sales effectiveness.  No wonder it’s so frequently asked.  But what is the answer?

On September 22, four bloggers will post their answers simultaneously.  They are:

1. Ford Harding, student of selling professional services.
2. Tom Kane, specialist on marketing and selling legal services.
3. Mark Buckshon, prodigious blogger and specialist on marketing and selling design and construction services.
4. Yours Truly.

We hope this attention to the issue generates conversation on the subject with all of our readers.

Email Marketing, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Sales