From the category archives:

Sales Optimization

Make Boring Spreadsheets and Charts Come Alive with Actionable Maps

It is well known that one of the biggest challenges marketers face today is the problem of distilling massive quantities of data down to actionable insights. This “cup runneth over” problem of data can very easily create an obstacle to achieving the ultimate goal of analytics (and reason for investing in analytics in the first place) – better decision making.

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B2B Marketing Analytics: Miscommunication Can Lead to Faulty Conclusions

If you’re a marketer working with an analytics team, it’s likely you are providing input for and/or reviewing the output of different types of analysis. It’s critical that you communicate your requirements clearly, check for understanding, and request that all assumptions and business rules are clearly stated in all output. It’s easy to misinterpret and misuse data when definitions and rules are unclear. Here are 3 tips for communicating and clarifying requirements.

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Lead Nurturing: The Third Most Important Thing Salespeople Can Do Right

Lead Nurturing, next to Lead Generating and, of course, the Closed Deal, is the most important part of the sales process. Lead nurturing starts with qualifying a new prospect or current client. Are they a good fit for the product or service being offered? Do they have the money available to purchase? Do they have the authority to buy or move the conversation to the next level? Is there an immediate need? As salespeople we have all been taught the Acronym, B.A.N.T. (Budget, Authority, Need and Time frame). The sales process used to end there.

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Can Lead Generation Become More than “Frosting and Cherries?”

I recently called on a client and he described his vision of lead generation as “frosting and cherries.”  Let me explain.  His view is that the current state of lead generation is dead.  Salespeople in the “Internet world” have relied on leads from marketing which are neither good nor productive.  In his opinion, salespeople need [...]

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Pareto’s Law or the Long Tail Theory? What Marketers Must Measure Now.

The foundational concept of all database marketing is the Pareto Principle, that 80% of your sales and profitability will come from about 20% of your customers. When we have analyzed our clients’ customer bases to prove out this theory, we often find that the distribution is even more uneven– that 100% or more of customer profitability comes from an exceedingly small group—because clients are actually losing money from some part of their customer population. The 80/20 theory often holds true for product sales as well – 80% of sales often comes from just 20% of the products offered by a manufacturer. This concept has driven everything in database marketing from audience identification to campaign structure, sales strategy etc.

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Understanding the Five Customer Relationship Stages to Full Engagement With Your Brand

As our clients juggle new channels, new technology and new media, we realize that their relationships with their customers and prospects have to be 24/7 and “always on”. How we help them with Analytics, strategy and marketing technology today really goes beyond just the marketing process, but helps them deliver a consistent and relevant brand experience across the entire consumer relationship.

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The 7 Features You Must Include in Your B2B Sales Playbook

An effective B2B Sales Playbook can energize your sales team and make them more productive in closing new sales. With a playbook they will have fewer unproductive calls and reduced time spent in pre-call planning efforts. The sales playbook is an important tool that Marketing often uses to provide invaluable marketing information and sales tips.

Sales playbooks exist in many styles and forms, selected are key features that are common to those that are the most successful.

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B2B Sales Enablement: Using B2B Sales Optimization Dashboards

In the B2B sales world in which I live, my view of B2B Sales Enablement focuses on bringing together both internal customer information (sales, contact history, etc.) and external firmagraphic information (SIC Codes, Sales volume, locations, etc.) and presenting that in an easy to understand, access, and use format. In addition, it includes ranking of prospects by potential and by timing, allowing the rep to focus his efforts on those opportunities that are most likely to generate the highest return in the shortest time frame.

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Cookie Cutter B2B Sales Methodologies Don’t Work.

No sales cycle should ever be looked at from a cookie cutter approach, but this is especially true and examining the B2B sales process. In B2B transactions, there is no way to fully predict the decision making hierarchy, as every organization has a different marketing or purchasing structure with unique buyer types. This can make your B2B marketing messaging a challenge.

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Call Center Optimization Through Better Marketing Analytics

In this case study, among the available prospect data records, only half were contacted each month, leaving the other half of the prospect data records untouched. The initial list selection was based on annual sales/revenue, which succeeded in eliminating the poorest performing prospects. However, those prospective customers were not further prioritized for their call center representatives to focus on the best prospects.

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