2008 Top of the Funnel List

October 29, 2008 by 6 Comments

The oldest link-building trick in the book is the “best of” list. But this is not merely a link-building exercise. Actually, I have been dying to write this for a while. Since I have started the blog, I have found places on the Web to gather ideas and have had a chance to really think about the people that have given me the foundation for my ideology.

Because it’s my list, I created my own “best of” rules for how I made my choices:

The bottom line is that my professional career has to have been affected by you to make the list. That’s it.

There are only 19 on this list, so consider this Part I. I can’t help but find people as I expand my professional horizon.

So here are the 2008 Top of the Funnel Award winners, in no particular order:

  1. Michael Stelzner: I started reading his blog when I started mine. He’s really smart and interesting. Not surprisingly, he is a great writer and a clear-cut thought leader in what works or doesn’t work in the white paper business.
  2. Howard Sewell: This dude is a total stud. I have known a lot of people who have worked with him and believe in his work. He is known in Silicon Valley to be a guy who can deliver. So get this, I PAID to take Howard and Michael’s class on whitepaper syndication. That’s right, PAID. That typifies the kind of respect I have for them. I wish his blog posts were longer however.
  3. Stu Silverman: This guy gets WAY too much ink from me, but he was my boss, knows b2b lead generation as well as anyone, and always delivers. He’s a consultant who has built lead-development teams in the Valley for 30 years. Not a blogger, so, I have to refer you his one white paper. Spend an hour with him, and you walk out smarter.
  4. Jon Miller: You just know this dude is smart. His blog posts are insightful and Marketo (his company) is on the verge of greatness. I know a guy who is smart when I see one. I read most blogs when I remember to or feel like it. I always read his blog, Modern b2b Marketing Blog.
  5. Brian Carroll: I am a sell-out. There may not be a more famous guy in our business. And this is way too obvious choice. But, I like this guy and as an Internet guy myself, props to him for being the number 1 result on Goggle for “ b2b lead generation.” Anyway, I like his work, and he sits on top of the lead-gen world as our number 1 thought leader.
  6. Aaron Ross: This one is interesting. So, I know Aaron. He built a very successful outbound lead-generation group at Salesforce.com. But you always have to be careful as to whether companies like Salesforce.com made the man or if the man helped make Salesforce.com. The most important thing is that he built the outbound group that went after mid-size and higher opportunities, so he didn’t get to sit back and ride the Salesforce.com wave. I like reading his stuff a lot and think the guy is really smart. Also Aaron has a new business, Pebblestorm.com, which is innovative and ahead of it’s time.
  7. The guys from Sirius Decisions: I can’t choose one, I have liked everyone of them. I was introduced by my boy Matt Elders and was impressed. More and more marketing departments are using their lead-generation methodologies. That’s a good thing.
  8. The inventor(s) of Eloqua: I know they are trying to play their guy Steve Gershik up on webinars and over the internet, but I just couldn’t put him on the list yet. No offense, he just didn’t fit into my rule-set. But Eloqua will prove to be a landmark breakthrough for marketing, and all the others jumping in to play in the marketing automation game will ultimately thank these guys for inventing the category.
  9. MarketingSherpa: I love MarketingSherpa. Period. I read the reports all the time.
  10. Laura Ramos at Forrester Research: I saw Laura speak once and liked her schtick. Her stuff is good, not as “feet on the street” as some of the others, but valuable nonetheless.
  11. Anneke Seely and Sally Duby from Phone Works: I use their compensation reports in one of my posts and read them every year. Like Stu above, these gals run around the Valley building inside sales and lead-gen teams. They have a great reputation, and I love that they use the compensation reports to stay in our hearts and minds. In other words, smart.
  12. Brian Provost: Total fix here. I work with Brian, but let’s be clear: if there is a guy who has the best win percentage in the competitive b2b Internet market, its Brian. He IS SEO, not a guy who reads it out of a book, from classes, or online posts.
  13. Mike Damphousse: Mike does outbound appointment setting. He helped build up By Appointment Only and now has his own gig: Green Leads.  You gotta love the brute force outbound guys, especially those willing to take all the risk and charge you per-appointment. Check out his blog.
  14. Paul Dunay: Another referral from Matt Elders. Paul has a blog that I read, and when I spoke to him I was amazed at his sophistication. You want a guy who knows what DRIP/nurture marketing is? Talk to Paul or listen to his stuff.
  15. Robert Rosenthal: I like guys who write their blogs with curse words and raw opinions. His blog approach is close to mine, written like he talks and fun.
  16. LinkedIn Answers: This is obviously not a person. Maybe I could have listed their CEO, but since I think he should have sold the company last year when he had the chance, I’m not going to give him any props. I can however, sit back in awe of the greatness of Linkedin Answers. I use it, other smart people are on it, and the answers you get are awesome.
  17. The b2b lead blog: I just started reading this blog. The posts are interesting and witty. Also, they are prolific, so I get new content from them ALL the time.
  18. Tamara Gielen: She has a great email marketing blog, BeRelevant!. I particularly appreciate blogs that are easy to read and have practical advice. This is one of them.
  19. Denny Head: Denny has just started a consulting business, but I saw what he can do when he was with Avaya. He built a lead-processing machine there that is bar-none one of the best I have seen. Now he is selling his secrets.

This was fun. As I mentioned, 19 is not a lot, so stay tuned for more.

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, b2b Sales, Business Musings, DRIP and Lead Nurturing, Funnels, Internet, Lead Development, Lead Qualification, Lead/Inquiry Generation, Management, Marketing Automation, Thought Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Dead Men Walking: What Gets Cut from the Marketing Buys for 2009

October 28, 2008 by 3 Comments

The year 2009 is going to be painful for a lot of businesses, but it should also be really interesting to see what marketing departments do to adjust. Next year will be the year you earn the big bucks.

Here are the givens:

  1. Sales cycles will increase
  2. Your buyers’ budgets will be cut drastically
  3. A lot of your current contacts will be fired or will move
  4. You won’t have the money you did this year to get what you want to get done
  5. You want have the same amount of people you did this year in your organization either.

So what do you do? The flight to quality has begun and a couple “old school” marketing techniques may be finally put to rest in 2009.  Here they are:

  1. Direct mail: Admit it, do you really still do direct mail?  The direct mail business is a relic of the past, and 2009 may be its end.  My buddy does marketing for an online dating site and it works for him, but I can’t find any b2b buyers who can quantify or justify their direct mail spend. It’s finally time to make choices. That choice should be to move online.
  2. Trade shows: Speaking of moving online, say good-bye to the trade show. People are not going to attend shows unless they are local. The cost of travel is unjustifiable when you can educate people online.  Old-school trade shows at the Mandalay = dead.  Online events such as virtual trade shows, webinars/webcasts, and moderator-led chat sessions will prevail.  Come on, it makes sense.  There’s little you can’t do on the Web. And that’s where your prospects are. Now I’ve stood by tradeshows over the past couple years because frankly they are great places to meet customers and partners, but not because they are quantifiable lead-generation vehicles.  I’m sorry to lose the networking opportunity, but organizations will adjust with webconferencing and potentially telepresence. I just sat through a presentation at MarketingSherpa’s B-to-B Demand Generation Summit event and exhibitors are saying they are starting to see a 20 percent cancellation rate, up from single digits.
  3. Print ad spends: Need I say more?  The size of tech rags has gradually shrunk and nuclear ’09 may finish them off.
  4. Radio and TV ads: Leave those to the B2C guys.

The theme is the same, I believe that we will see a move online.  Yes, the online movement began years ago, but direct mail and trade shows refused to die.  Now, thanks to today’s unique economic environment, say goodbye to your old friends as they enter the history books.

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, Business Musings, Direct Marketing, Economy, Internet, Lead/Inquiry Generation Tagged With: , , , ,

Funnelholic Live at the San Francisco Marketing Sherpa Show October 26-28

October 24, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Anyone who reads my stuff knows how I feel about Marketing Sherpa.  I use the site all the time for stats, articles, reports, etc.  The title implies that I am speaking or have some billing at the show.  Well, I don’t.  Not big enough yet.  However, I will be there and it could be cool if you are a reader to meet up.  The San Francisco show is coming up on October 26-28.  If you don’t have tickets, you can ping me and as a sponsor I can get you a discount so email me at crosenberg AT funnelholic.com.

Otherwise, if you are going and want to meet I will be there or at least close by.  Either look for me or email me in advance.

More information on the show here


Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: b2b Marketing

Beyond Thunderdome: 5 Myths You Can’t Believe in the Coming Economic Depression

October 21, 2008 by 1 Comment

There is no way to sugarcoat this, world economic markets are screwed. It’s one thing to have fun with The Funnelholic, but I can’t ignore what is happening right now. All of us in the B2B marketing and sales media need to band together and provide tips to one another on how to keep be successful and even keep your job in these hard times. I have already begun — see 3 Changes Marketers Must Make to Survive in This Post-Apocalyptic World.

We will figure out what to do, but we can’t live in fantasyland. We won’t be able to make the necessary adjustments if we don’t swallow the reality. And by the way, we should assume the worst and create a plan that we can execute confidently. My buddy Steve puts it simply: “Mad Max” time.

It’s on the forefront of our minds, and I am not sure any of us has the answers. I certainly don’t. Here are 5 myths you will hear in today’s Mad Max landscape and why you can’t believe the hype:

  1. “Everyone always needs leads”: It’s what the lead-gen guys always turn to for comfort, but it’s not entirely true. If this really is a depression, more and more companies will go out of business, more and more will not spend money, and you will have less and less sales guys and thus need to spend more and more on leads because there are fewer leads available.
  2. “Target the CFO. He has the purse strings”: Not this again. I went through this with startups I was advising in the 2001 debacle. Guys, the CFO doesn’t want to talk to you unless you are IBM, Oracle, or (insert gigantic blue chip here). You are wasting money and personnel trying to reach this Holy Grail. In ’01, I had security startups asking for CFO leads. (I had to pick myself up off the floor every time). Realism is the key here: I know the CFO carries the purse strings, but time and money is your enemy here. Putting this restriction on your lead definitions is not the right decision. Sales guys need to identify pain and need and work their own way into the CFO office.
  3. “Prosperity is just around the corner”: If you know anything about history, Herbert Hoover is reviled for his many quotes in the face of the Great Depression. The best way for all of us to do our jobs the best we can is to understand reality. Hope is one thing, but to market and sell effectively in these times, we have to make the proper adjustments. You can’t just find ways to figure out how to get someone to buy your product, but in some cases you will have to find a way to get them to buy at all.
  4. “Marketers have to quantify their ROI to keep their jobs”: This is controversial, so let’s see if I can explain it. When this economic disaster really hits, you are not going to want to see the ROI numbers. ROI can be difficult to quantify for marketers because they can’t control what happens in the sales cycle. Despite the coming apocalypse, marketers need to be judged on their JOB: the number of opportunities and opportunities created, not what happens downstream in the sales process.
  5. “Now more than ever you need qualified leads”: Ok, this is true but it depends on the qualified lead definition. Lead definitions actually need to EXPAND a bit as organizations cut budgets, so your classic definition of budgeted project becomes harder to find. Your sales guys will be sitting on their hands. You will need to evangelize and sell economic benefit regardless of whether there is a budget.

Look, I want to be reassuring. Scaring people is not the idea here. Grounding our ’09 strategies in reality is.

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, CRM, Economy, Lead Development, Lead/Inquiry Generation, Random-ness Tagged With: , , ,

You like me, you really, really like me! Funnelholic interview on Lead Gen

October 16, 2008 by Leave a Comment

One of my favorite blogs, the Modern b2b Marketing blog, has posted an interview their editor Jon Miller did with me.  It’s part of their thought leadership series (yes, I was excited to be called a thought leader).  Anyway, it is a very thorough post with lots of good info on my thoughts on b2b lead generation.

Read here: Funnelholic Interview on Modern b2b Marketing Blog about Lead Generation

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Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, DRIP and Lead Nurturing Tagged With: , , , ,

Funnelholic Tip of the Year: Avoid the Reg Form Decathalon

October 14, 2008 by 3 Comments

I just read a great blog post from one of my favorite bloggers and b2b marketing thought leaders, Howard Sewell:  “Should You Require Registration for Web Content?”

Howard gives his opinion on the three common tactics regarding access to content:

  1. No reg form or free content. According to Howard: “ridiculous”
  2. Initiation ritual reg form (e.g.,  making users fill out numerous forms and activities to get to your content). According to Howard: “don’t do it”
  3. Light reg form, which captures minimal information. According to Howard: “thumbs up.”

As you can imagine, I loved his post. I was going to let my registration form rants lie quietly for awhile (see “Don’t Scare the Buyer Off on the Reg Form:  3 Things You Don’t Ask on a First Date“ from earlier this month, but after his post, I think it’s time to pile it on.  I won’t even address free content. I am in lead generation not public service.

The question is: Do you want leads or not?  The answer is not whether you are going to try to “qualify” users via the reg form decathalon.  There are some simple rules here:

  1. Everything and anything you add to a reg form affects conversion. Did you get that? EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING.  We don’t put street addresses on our forms because guess what, we don’t do direct mail (or stalk our buyers).  We certainly don’t make users go through numerous screens. We like our high conversion rates.
  2. You don’t need all that information on the first shot.  Allow yourself to gather information progressively as the prospect gains trust and advances through your lead-qualification cycle.
  3. The more you ask, the more the data sucks anyway.  Hello? Ever filled out a reg form?  Do you really respond: “Please have sales call me” or  “Timeframe: 3 months.”  You hate that stuff, and you either answer it untruthfully or you drop out.

Howard drops a great take on why we have ridiculous reg-form disease:

Putting prospects through this type of initiation ritual is ridiculous. But clearly it’s the result of some past sales VP saying “unless we know these facts about every prospect, I don’t want my reps calling them.”

News flash to all sales VPs: you don’t need to capture all that information as a first step.

The guy originally wanted to read your white paper. He doesn’t give a damn now. He’ll find the information somewhere else. He’ll find a shorter reg form. Asking for just the facts, ma’am. Not only do you not have him in your database, you’ve lost the chance to educate him.

I’ve said this so often, I should have it tattooed on my forehead (for all you know, it is, and that’s just an old photo …) — forms should ask “business card” information:

  • Name
  • Company
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Zip

There is one question that may be relevant and if it is essential, add it.
Howard said,

If there’s some other absolutely vital qualifying data — for example, the person MUST have Microsoft Exchange installed or there’s nothing you can do for them — then ask that too, but stop there.

To recap:

  1. Limit reg forms to business card data and maybe one knockout question.
  2. Gather the rest in your nurture process via lead-qual teams or marketing automation.
  3. Make money.

Boom outta here.

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: Lead Qualification, Registration Form

Building a Successful Lead-Development Program Part 2: Managing Your Team

October 8, 2008 by 1 Comment

In last week’s post, “Building a Successful Lead Development Program,” I focused on Part 1, the people making up your team. This week I want to focus on how to manage your group. I’m going to save marketing automation and CRM for a post of its own. Instead, I want to talk about how department management should work with your company’s lead developers to support their success.

First, I want to once again pound into your heads the difference between lead development and lead qualification:

  • Lead qualification is the process of taking inbound requests and qualifying them before sending them to sales.
  • Lead development is the process of taking leads attained from avenues such as white papers and convincing registrants to hear more from your organization and then qualifying them.

Lead development is a challenge, but one of the most critical functions in the-lead generation supply chain. A lead-development group has unique needs, you as manager must feed them the right food.

Essential Reading: The Funnelholic’s 5 Management Essentials to Lead-Development Success:

1. Pass out “Hang on the Wall Materials”

I can tell a good lead-development process by what the lead-development reps have hanging on their cube walls. When we talk about “hang on the walls” materials, these have to be simple one-page documents. The “product marketing”-created sales training materials should be on the bookshelf. What the team needs from you is simple and easy to understand. Here are some must-haves:

  • A call script, which includes an opening two- to three-sentence value proposition
  • A qualification script
  • Objection handling
  • A product grid. Provide one that is simple with a high-level value proposition and the types of buyers interested in these products. But remember this caveat: you really DON’T want the lead-development team getting too far down pitching-product road. You have to train them on how to use this document so they can clinch a meeting. The prospect should know that your company is equipped to help them, but the pitch and scope should land squarely in the hands of your bag-carrying sales rep.

2.  Optimize script and objection handling

  • Everyone should use the same script and do the same things.
  • Optimize the script on the basis of feedback. Discuss the objections the lead-development team is receiving. The objection-handling document should be a living, breathing, evolving document.
  • Keep in mind that lead qualification is totally different from lead development, so these meetings should not be combined so the staff isn’t confused.

3.  Develop call campaigns
Control the variables. You need to develop lead-development campaigns for your reps: when to call and how many times, when to send an email, and how long a lead should stay open. Here are some important factors to consider when developing your approach:

  • The first 24 hours are critical.
  • The law of diminishing returns starts after 24 hours. Don’t give up because people are busy and can’t always be reached immediately, but your connection rates are higher earlier in the process.
  • Establish an email template for your reps. They shouldn’t waste precious time on email, unless they are personally responding to a contact. Instead, focus on establishing standard emails that look personal and sound personable. Optimize the content in the email and free up the rep’s time for calls.

4. Set simple goals for each interaction

  • Initial voice mails and emails should be designed to connect. Reps don’t necessarily have to sell the company. They just need to make a connection on the phone. They simply qualify the contact and sell them on talking to a sales rep.
  • As a lead-development rep, they need to remember their job is to sell the meeting, not the company.

5. Live by a unified lead definition

  • Make sure your sales team and your lead-development team are on the same page. No arguments. They should agree on definitions and expectations. And I can’t emphasize this enough — keep things simple.
  • There has been so much written having the same lead definition, and I could harp on and on about this, but I’m just going to stress its importance. If both sides have don’t have the same lead definition, you’re doomed.

Stay tuned. The next topic is automation. Remove your teeth from your nails …

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: Direct Marketing, Lead Development, Lead Qualification, Lead/Inquiry Generation, Management Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Don’t Scare the Buyer Off on the Reg Form: 3 Things You Don’t Ask on a First Date

October 6, 2008 by 1 Comment

More and more, marketers are trying to “qualify” leads through their Web registration form.   I don’t believe in this practice.  I am believer in “business card” information and geo and company targeting. Geography is a common question (thanks, though, for the thousands of leads from Kazakhstan, but I have no sales presence there), and I understand company size. I don’t believe this information causes pause for users.

What I don’t get is the “qualification” questions about budgets and projects. As Web users, we fill out plenty of forms. Do you really want to tell a company you have a project in the works? And that you have a budget? That’s basically chumming the water for the sharks, and users know that. So, essentially you are scaring prospects away, thus hurting conversion rates or in the case of the user actually filling out that form, creating fake data. Or catching the smallest fish in the organization who needs to be thrown back.

There is an easy rule here: Don’t ask anything you wouldn’t ask on a first date.

Here are the three most important questions:

  1. How much money do you have (or, at least, the range)? Do you have budget? If so, how big is it?  Guys, get real. The budget question is inappropriate. It’s a judgment call whether it’s even appropriate on the first call.  You need to establish a relationship and common interests and ensure the person likes you before you can ask that. Jumping into the budget question right away makes you look desperate. It makes you look like you are worried about who’s going to pay for dinner.
  2. I don’t know you, but I’m concerned about the following potential problems you might have. Please choose one so I know how to approach the rest of dinner. These questions are usually phrased empathetically in terms of “pain,” “what keeps you up at night” or  “what problem are you trying to solve”? And, presumptuously, your issues are pre-selected and served up a la carte in a drop-down menu.  Dude, this one is incredible. Don’t fake concern. They don’t know you yet, so why would they trot out their character flaws?
  3. How long will it be till we sleep together? (In case you’re missing the connection here, these are the reg form timeframe questions.)  This one’s worth a shot because you really have nothing to lose if you’ve gotten this far. But no one really answers this question honestly and most want to avoid it altogether. They know you will call them, but they may not be ready to get serious so soon.

The bottom line is:  It’s noble to try, but don’t use reg forms to do the job of your lead qualification or sales team.  You are scaring great prospects off, and are hurting conversion too little benefit.  Use your reg forms to confirm interest, target your market, and get their info.  Gather more data on your second date or your third when you’ve both invested some time.

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, Lead Development, Lead Qualification, Registration Form Tagged With: , , ,