B2B Lead Blog

Would you like some inspiration or some fresh ideas for your marketing and lead generation strategy?

If so, MarketingSherpa just released their “Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08” and I had the privilege to interview Anne Holland about this year’s findings. Very useful stuff. Download the Executive Summary

During our in-depth interview, Anne shares some terrific insights and helpful data on numerous marketing and lead generation tactics.

Three data points that I found particularity interesting:

1. Teleprospecting works. As we all know, tech buyers are a notoriously tough crowd to cold call. Sherpa’s findings contradict the "calling doesn’t work" line we’ve heard for years. Their data shows that over 50% of tech buyers admitted to short listing a vendor after receiving a well timed and relevant phone call.

2. Sherpa’s data shows that more decision makers (not just influencers) are attending webinars and watching archived events. This indicates the importance of relevant educational events and online content for lead generation.

3. Companies who provided fewer but higher quality "sales ready" leads to their sale people have better sales conversion rates than those that send lots of early stage leads and that creating a "cost per lead" culture just does not work.

Listen to podcast now (31 min MP3)

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B2B Telemarketing, CRM, Current Affairs, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Event Marketing, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Leadership, Marketing Strategy, My Podcast, Podcasting, Public Relations (PR), ROI Measurement, Referral Marketing, Sales, Sales Leads, Thought Leadership, Web/Tech, Webcasts/Webinars, Weblogs, Word-of-Mouth

As someone in B2B, do you feel left out of the social media buzz? I read a good article on "What’s Wrong With Social Media For B2B Marketing" by John Miller who also writes the Modern B2B Marketing blog.

John’s article highlights something most of us in B2B marketing have come to accept. B2C marketing gets the vast majority of links and clicks while B2B hears the quiet sound of crickets chirping.

I remember when I started blogging in 2003 and there was only 11 true B2B marketing related blogs. Now there’s are over a hundred. John lists about 80 of them on his blog.

John concludes, "The result is that there are fewer pundits and thought leaders writing about B2B marketing, resulting in fewer links to those early adopters who do write about business marketing techniques. And since links mean leadership on the web, the result is that the less-trendy subjects in B2B marketing—like marketing accountability and lead management—get left behind."

Personally, I think the reason B2B marketing receives less attention comes down to time and momentum.

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Current Affairs, Lead Generation, Leadership, Marketing Strategy, Podcasting, Thought Leadership, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Word-of-Mouth

Before the Internet and social media tools, companies could only communicate through the filter of advertising or media ink placed by a PR firm. But fortunately the rules have changed.

I just interviewed David Meerman Scott author the new book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. The book was officially released on June 4, 2007.

David also writes the Web Ink Now blog and has been named to the MarketingSherpa Viral Marketing Hall of Fame for the past two years in a row. During our interview we cover a variety of topics that are relevant to lead generation, PR and marketing.

Show Notes

• The New Rules of Marketing & PR
• Strategies for reaching more buyers directly via the web
• The role of content in reaching people earlier in their buying process
• Building your online credibility and authority
• Thought leadership and the changing role of media and journalists
• PR tactics that work

Listen to podcast now (MP3 27 min 12 MB)
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David is a friend and colleague so I’m happy to see his book is doing so well. As I write this post his book is ranked in the top 100 of Amazon Best Sellers. Congrats David! Get your copy of The New Rules of Marketing & PR on Amazon.

Books, Marketing Strategy, My Podcast, Podcasting, Public Relations (PR), Thought Leadership, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Word-of-Mouth

I know there’s a lot of emphasis on lead generation (that’s a good thing) but, getting a ton of leads doesn’t guarantee that increased sales will follow. In a complex sale, my experience is, most of the selling actually happens when the sales person isn’t there.

Startling as it may seem, recent research (and even studies from ten years ago) shows that longer-term leads (future opportunities), often ignored by salespeople, represent almost 80% of potential sales. You can increase your odds success by adding a lead nurturing program.

What’s lead nurturing? Lead nurturing is all about having consistent and meaningful communication with viable prospects (those that are “a fit” for your solution) regardless of their timing to buy. It’s not “following-up” every few months to find out if a prospect is “ready to buy yet?” Lead nurturing about building trusted relationships with the right people.

Continue Reading at the INSPIRE SmartMarketers.com Blog (a new blog I’m contributing to monthly) presented by Netline.

On June 6th, I’m doing a webcast on a multimodal approach to lead nurturing as part of ON24′s Wednesday Webcast with Experts Series. I hope you can make it. Register here.

B2B Telemarketing, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Event Marketing, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Lead Qualification, Marketing Strategy, Podcasting, Public Relations (PR), ROI Measurement, Referral Marketing, Sales Leads, Webcasts/Webinars

Did you know that podcasting can help you generate more leads and nurture future customers? Research shows that Podcasts do impact B2B purchase decisions.

Buyers want to know you understand them and that you’re relevant to their specific needs. They also want to know the people behind the company. An excellent way to reach them is by developing thought leading (educational) content in the form of podcasts.

If you provide your prospects with high quality thought leading content as part of your lead nurturing process, then you will find that your prospects are calling you first when they are ready to buy.

I interviewed Paul Dunay, Director of Global Field Marketing for BearingPoint. Paul also writes the insightful Buzz Marketing for Technology Blog. I really enjoyed learning from his experience in the trenches. This year he’s going to do over 120 podcasts!

Show Notes

• Where podcasting fits in the multimodal lead generation portfolio
• How podcasting helps establish and reinforce thought leadership
• Where podcasts can help your lead generation ROI
• Why podcasts are perfect for lead nurturing (I was flattered to learn that Paul found inspiration in my book to develop his strategy.)
• Outsource podcast production or do-it-yourself
• Hints and tips for marketers to start podcasting for lead generation

Listen to podcast now (MP3 22 min 5.6 MB)
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Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Strategy, My Podcast, Podcasting, Thought Leadership, Web/Tech

I’m looking forward to launching my new podcast, “Start with a Lead,” this April.  Our first interactive show will be on lead generation via podcasts.

As a lead generation tactic, podcasting is still in its infancy but it’s expected to be used by many more b-to-b marketers in 2007. That’s why I’m excited to interview Paul Dunay, Director of Global Field Marketing for BearingPoint. Paul also writes the insightful Buzz Marketing for Technology Blog.

I met Paul as a fellow presenter at MarketingSherpa’s Demand Generation Summit and I loved his presentation on podcasting. Paul uses podcasts to engage senior leaders and create demand and generate leads for his firm and he has a ton of real-world experience to share with us on podcasting. This year, he’s planning to do over 120 podcasts! 

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Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Strategy, Podcasting, Sales Leads, Thought Leadership

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

It’s been well documented that quality of collaboration between sales and marketing directly impacts ROI. 

The challenge that many organizations face is that their sales process is a black box.  No one except the sales team knows what is going on inside the black box until a proposal or sale happens.  Worse still, 80% of the leads that go into the sales black box are rarely seen again. 

This makes it particularly challenging for marketers who are trying to measure their revenue contribution and lead generation ROI.  So what can be done about it? 

Process mapping is a well-known technique for creating a common vision and shared language for improving business results.

I had the chance to interview Michael Webb, founder of Sales Performance Consultants and an expert on sales process improvement on his excellent book, Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way. Michael gives some great input on how sales and marketing can use the six sigma process to create better sales and marketing results. 

Show Agenda

• How is six sigma relevant to the sales and marketing process?
• How can sales and marketing apply a six sigma process and what are some problems the process can address?
• What are the barriers in helping to create the six sigma process?
• How do you encourage people in sales and marketing who have tried to create a process that hasn’t worked, to give it another shot and how can you help them create one that works?
• Provide examples of companies with complex sales that applied six sigma to the sales and marketing process.

Listen to podcast now (MP3 24 min 5.5 MB)

Current Affairs, Lead Management, Leadership, Marketing Strategy, My Podcast, Podcasting, Sales, Sales Leads

Are you finding that trade shows or events are a “waste of time” for lead generation? You may want to think again. I interviewed Ruth Stevens, author of Trade Show and Event Marketing, to get her views on what marketing and sales can do to increase the effectiveness of their event marketing and she gave some helpful insights.

Show Agenda

• Why did you write Tradeshow and Event Marketing and what were you hoping to address?
• What are the critical success factors in effective event marketing?
• What are the issues that marketers are facing in event marketing?
• What are some tips to improve event marketing?

Listen to podcast now (MP3 24 min 5.51 MB)

Event Marketing, Lead Generation, My Podcast, Podcasting, ROI Measurement, Sales Leads

I wanted to share the final installment from the podcast series I did with 800-CEO-READ.  In this podcast, Todd interviewed me and Jill Konrath on the critical interface between marketing and sales. 

Here’s what Todd says about it:
"Here is the final installment to our podcast series on marketing and selling to big companies. We again have Jill Konrath and Brian Carroll talking about the topic. What we try to spend time on in this call is "space" shared between marketing and sales. Brian leads the call with the stat – "80% of leads sent from marketing to the sales organization are lost, ignored, or discarded." You can see why this is a good topic to explore."

Listen to podcast now (MP3 35:56 min 24.68 MB)

Visit 800-CEO-Read Podcasts to hear the complete three part series

Current Affairs, Direct Marketing, Lead Generation, Lead Management, Marketing Strategy, My Podcast, Podcasting, Sales, Sales Leads