This morning I was talking to a marketing leader about his 2008 strategy and he brought up some concerns he had about the economy and its potential impact on him and others. Can you blame him?
In years past, marketing has been favorite target for cuts by CFOs and CEOs as they look to conserve cash and reinforce their balance sheets for tough times.
I’m less concerned about budget cuts and more interested in opportunities for him and other B2B marketers who choose to bring focus to their marketing efforts. We have to remember that regardless of the economy, sales people are still expected to perform. I seldom find sales quotas are lowered to fit the news headlines.
If you want to flourish regardless of the economic conditions, you need to look for ways to help your sales team execute and improve performance.
I’m convinced that one of the best ways to do that is to focus on lead generation. Yesterday, I read a Kate Maddox’s article in BtoB Magazine, "IDC: Tougher times for tech marketing," which supports that other B2B marketers are doing just that.
Much like a savvy investor who buys when the market is down, smart marketers can capitalize on this opportunity (and beat competitors), by bringing focus and attention to their lead generation efforts.
Read more…
Current Affairs, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Webcasts/Webinars
I spoke yesterday at MarketingSherpa’s Demand Generation Summit and I felt led to go off topic for a bit to address why I do, what I do. Personally, I’ve been pondering the idea of passion and what role it plays in our careers as marketers or leaders.
Read Mike Volpe’s summary of my presentation at the the Small Business Hub Blog.
In my short aside, I ended up talking about things we marketers often don’t talk about. Our heart. What drives us? What role does the heart play in our job as marketers?
How do we create relevance for ourselves, our colleagues, and those future customers we hope to reach and influence?
Can you market something without passion and still be successful? If so, why would you want to?
I’ve wondered how we can be passionate advocates to others outside our companies if we don’t have close relationships and trust inside our companies?
To me, disharmony is the enemy of execution. I liked something Seth wrote a while back, "…just about every successful venture is based on an unoriginal idea, beautifully executed." I agree.
In this age of automation, depersonalization, scoring and measurement, I’m not seeing the "human touch" in B2B marketing. So how can we humanize the process and actually build relationships?
Read more…
Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages
Ardath Albee, over at Marketing Interactions, tagged me for a meme "8 random things about me." Let me see… random…
Okay this is off the top of my head:
- I’m the oldest of three
- I disliked writing until I started blogging (nearly 5 years ago)
- Seriously thought about being a musician / song writer
- I love books and I’m a voracious reader
- My "too read" pile of books is still 3 feet high!
- I love road biking with my wife (want to bike across Europe)
- I’m going to write another book… but when?
- I’ve visited 49 out of 50 states (Alaska some day…)
Well that’s about as random as I could get. Ardath, thanks for the tag.
Read more…
Personal Messages
Fellow blogger Tom Pick, over at the The WebMarketCentral Blog tagged me to write something off topic, interesting, seasonal and non-work related this week. I liked Tom’s off topic post (great pictures) chronicling his kid’s deluxe tree house that began "innocently as a tree deck." I love learning history so I’ll see if I can meet at least a few of the above conditions in my off-topic post.
In the past, I’ve written about giving away ideas. But lately I’ve been wondering about selling ideas. So yesterday – somewhere between family, food and fireworks – I had a chance to think a bit about the Fourth of July and how it came to be. I believe history provides us a valuable lesson on how to sell an idea.
While historians may debate about the controversies and motives behind the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they all agree that it represented two fundamental ideas; freedom and liberty.
But before the declaration letter was drafted and signed those two revolutionary ideas had to be sold. Here’s a story you may not know… I’ll give you a hint: before there was “voice of the customer” there was “voice of the people.”
Read more…
Leadership, Personal Messages, Sales
Greetings and welcome new readers! I’m honored that the B2B Lead Generation Blog was chosen as today’s Typepad featured blog. I’ve been using Typepad to power my blog since October of 2003 and I think it’s a super blogging tool.
Their write up is quite glowing (aw-shucks) and it’s fun to be recognized. And, I’m even getting a cool t-shirt to boot. Thanks TypePad! 
TypePad Featured Blogs: B2B Lead Generation Blog
Current Affairs, Lead Generation, Personal Messages, Public Relations (PR), Web/Tech, Weblogs
I am pleased to announce that I’ll be hosting a new podcast show called "Start with a Lead" debuting in April.
The show will have content specifically for marketers and those who care about B2B lead generation, sales leads, and marketing strategies focused on the complex sale.
In the show, you’ll hear from thought leading experts on a variety of marketing and lead generation topics. You’ll get the latest tips and strategies; and learn what really works and what doesn’t to generate high quality leads in the complex sale.
Why a new show? Over the past few years, I’ve experimented with podcasting, (you can see my old podcast here) but now like Emeril, I’m ready to ‘kick it up a notch’ and apply what I’ve learned from experience and listener feedback.
Also, I’m going to “open the phone lines” to listeners who’d like to ask questions in advance of the show so we can be more interactive and get your specific questions answered. I’m looking forward to learning with you as I interview leading experts (and ask your questions) to get the latest contemporary thinking on lead generation. Stay tuned!
Current Affairs, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Marketing Strategy, My Podcast, Personal Messages, Podcasting, Sales, Sales Leads, Thought Leadership
I had coffee with a potential partner and our conversation ebbed to a discussion about marketing philosophy and lead generation. He said something like, "I think companies [like yours] give away many of their trade secrets on their website. They provide too much information. If I wanted to compete with you… all I would need to do is read your website or blog. The purpose of a website is to solicit interest… you’ve got to get people to respond… to generate leads."
My response…
People use the web for research; they are looking for fresh ideas, insight and actionable information. Intellectual property is difficult to protect and is quickly commoditized by the market. Why not leverage some of your IP to your advantage? Leverage it and demonstrate your thought leadership.
It’s difficult to defend technology that can easily become commoditized and your processes can be copied or improved upon as well. You can’t even keep all of your people indefinitely. There are more protections for tangible products but not many for service based business, which most companies are evolving to anyway.
I have a friend who is a NASCAR fan and what he loves is that it’s more about the driver than the car. All the cars are the same. It’s the driver and the crew that make the difference. It’s kind of like that with business now.
Most companies have the same basic car. It’s really about how well you drive it. The driver and crew in this metaphor can be seen as thought leadership; the ideas and talents that set the team apart from others. It’s what people remember and identify with. Features and benefit are cool, but sooner than later everyone’s car has the same features anyway.
This is particularity important for companies engaged in a complex sale, where up to 70% of a customer’s perception of your brand comes from their interactions with your sales people. I believe that the people and companies who succeed today are those who learn faster and teach others what they know more effectively.
Read more…
Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Leadership, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Thought Leadership, Web/Tech, Word-of-Mouth
I’m speaking at MarketingSherpa’s Demand Generation Summit being held in Boston and SF this fall. I’ve worked out a special promotion with MarketingSherpa — you’ll get a complimentary autographed copy of my book and a $300 discount on the Summit if you register by August 31st.
This should be just in time to inspire you during your fall budget and planning season. Meet experts; mingle with your peers; and discover new data, strategies, and tactics (includes search, podcasting, email & microsites).
Please note, you must click on this link to register so you can get the discount and free book (that’s the only way our good friends at MarketingSherpa can identify you as qualifying for the complimentary, autographed book offer).
B2B Telemarketing, CRM, Current Affairs, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Event Marketing, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Leadership, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Podcasting, Public Relations (PR), ROI Measurement, Referral Marketing, Sales, Sales Leads, Web/Tech, Webcasts/Webinars, Weblogs, Word-of-Mouth
My latest project is ready! I just published a complimentary new e-book titled Start with a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation. Please download it and pass it on.
According to studies, the single biggest challenge for contemporary B2B marketers is effective lead generation. Conversely, it has been pointed out that 80 percent of marketing expenditures on lead generation are wasted because the leads are lost, ignored or discarded by sales people.
Marketers today are constantly reminded that the company needs more sales leads…now. Unfortunately, that immediacy is quite often at the direct expense of quality. Instead, marketers should adopt and tailor lead generation programs that will increase the odds of creating better sales leads and relationships that will ultimately result in long-term, happy and profitable customers.
In this e-book, you will learn how to develop high-volume, high-quality lead generation programs for your company. It was written for business leaders, managers and marketers who want to help their sales team sell with highly qualified business opportunities, because sales people should only be brought in when a lead has been qualified as “sales ready.”
Download Start With a Lead: Eight critical success factors for lead generation
Books, Cold Calling, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Event Marketing, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Leadership, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Podcasting, Public Relations (PR), ROI Measurement, Referral Marketing, Sales, Sales Leads, Web/Tech, Webcasts/Webinars, Weblogs, Word-of-Mouth
Each month, one of the folks over at BeTuitive Publishing writes a business book summary and review that is included in their newsletter and blog. The most recent review is of none other than Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. Todd Smart, BeTuitive’s president, and I have known each other for about fifteen years, but he assures me that the book was chosen for review on its own merits. 
Here’s some of what they had to say:
"This book will be most helpful for a reader with a keen interest in business strategy. The chapter topics are universally applicable to all industries, and the lead generation methods are suited to all types of business practices. The content flows logically, escalating from fundamentals to tactics and development."
Read the entire summary and review.
Books, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Marketing Strategy, Personal Messages, Sales Leads, Weblogs
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