Three sales and marketing predictions that probably won’t come true

May 24, 2013 by 4 Comments

I didn’t do a predictions post this year. (actually I am not sure I ever have)…The goal of this post was to get a couple things I have been thinking about out on the table. (which would not have been a very catchy title).  I also am currently writing blog posts about all four

1.  In 2 years desk phones will no longer have the inbound call feature — That’s right, they will just turn it off.  I am not even sure why you need it now.  Cell phones, email, social will all be the tools of the outbound marketer. Inbound marketing will be the absolute “must” overall.  We will have to buyers raise their hands to get to them quickly and in a meaningful way. [Read more...]

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, b2b Sales, big data, Content Marketing, Demand Generation, Email Marketing, Social Selling

Social Selling, mobile marketing, and qualified leads — This week on Twitter

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It’s been awhile since our last Tweet of the Week segment, lets call this “Tweets of the last couple weeks”. On to it!

7 out of 10 times at an account, the marketing client will say: “Sales will not follow up on my leads!”.  Sometimes it’s communication or process that’s the problem.  Truthfully, sometimes the problem has nothing to do with alignment and all that jive, the leads do actually suck. And actually, it is better for sales to cold call then follow up on these terrible leads.

Filed Under: b2b Sales, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Selling, Uncategorized

Content: That tie that binds you and your @Linkedin connections

May 21, 2013 by 1 Comment

The goal of this post is to be short but sweet.  What you have here is a story of how compelling content is the “tie that binds” you to your Linkedin connections (formerly known as your Rolodex).

Let me set the table: We are just starting out with our new business, Topo.  The sales person and I are were going through our Linkedin connections to create a list of contacts to re-connect with.  We were barely getting through the list when someone on our list shares my content.

Content Selling -- shared

I post content multiple times a day to my Linkedin profile. I will get a comment or a +1 here and there.  Ironically, the sales person I am working with on this was just asking me about sharing content on Linkedin.  Anyway, back to the story: I follow up with a simple message using the content as the lead and thanking him for sharing.

Content Selling, the Message

 

And we have a meeting set this week.

BOOM

 
Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic and a co-founder of Topo. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

Filed Under: b2b Sales, sales, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Selling, SocialCRM

Social Prospecting and Don Draper: A story about getting that hard-to-reach client

May 17, 2013 by 2 Comments

I have a very simple rule for prospecting: If you want to know tactics and best practices for getting to hard-to-reach prospects, then listen to the guys who run appointment setting organizations or outbound call centers. They do this for a living at scale.

I was putting together a preso for Sirius Decisions with Mike Damphousse from GreenLeads. He is the master at prospecting. He explained to me how they have changed their approach and then provided an A-MAZING example.

The game is changing, even for the outbound masters

Buyers just don’t pick up their phones very much anymore.   I talked about this problem in one of my earlier posts on cold calling. If you walked into an outbound call center two years ago, you would see reps staring at a list of people to call and making hundreds of dials.  They would hang up on voicemails and wouldn’t dare spend the time to write emails. [Read more...]

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, b2b Sales, Demand Generation, Email Marketing, Inside Sales and Tele-selling, Lead Development, Lead Qualification, Lead/Inquiry Generation, sales, Social Selling

The b2b buyer can now be the user and decision maker: Madlibs w/ @gretchende

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Gretchen Deknikker is an entrepeneur. (How is that for short but to the point) Everything you need to know about her is in this great post on Women 2.0. Here is my take on Gretchen: Funny, brilliant, caffeinated, remarkable, and about to be a pioneer in the social selling space with Social Pandas. Her Madlibs is just like I figured…witty and smart…enjoy

  1. The b2b buyer can now be the user and decision maker. Bottoms up SaaS sales models are increasingly ousting the gatekeepers of yore.
  2. The biggest innovation in sales is – social media (sorry, occupational hazard.)  Sales is the most social department in a company and they’ve got some really cool new toys.

    3. [Read more...]

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, b2b Sales, Madlibs with the Funnelholic, sales, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Selling, SocialCRM

Marketing to the SMB: How SMBs use social and why marketers should care feat @johnsjawn

May 14, 2013 by 1 Comment

Marketing to small businesses used to be a “spray and pray” game. In this short video segment, John Hurley from Radius Intelligence talks about the importance of social media for SMBs and how marketers are using social data to be more effective

We are hosting a Demand Generation Summit with Radius Intelligence, join here:
RSVP 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, big data, Lead/Inquiry Generation, Social Media, Social Selling, Uncategorized

Critical trends in demand generation feat. @heinzmarketing

May 14, 2013 by 1 Comment

In this short video segment, Matt Heinz answers the question: “What are the biggest trends in demand generation?” He is always fun and always thought-provoking.

If you want to hear more from Matt, join him on May 15 for a full presentation on what works in demand generation. You can ask him anything! RSVP here: RSVP 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, Demand Generation, DRIP and Lead Nurturing, Lead management, Lead/Inquiry Generation, Social Selling, Thought Leadership, Video

The future of sales is micro-marketing: Madlibs w/ Jamie Shanks

May 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I just really met Jamie Shanks 4-5 months ago. I asked Koka Sexton for some people he thought were “keeping it real” in social selling and he listed Jamie amongst others. I reached out to Jamie, we did a webinar together, I have been listening to his tips and best practices, and overall,  I have confirmed, he is one of the good ones.  When you read his Madlibs, you will see a lot of really interesting ideas including (micro-marketing).  Enjoy:

1. The b2b buyer is – Empowered.  For the first time in human history, a buyer can gather information on nearly anything, without human interaction.  The buyer is also becoming increasing comfortable with gathering information in the background – before needing some assistance to finish the purchase.

2. The biggest innovation in sales is – Social Selling.  The 1980’s brought you Consultative selling, and the 1990’s – early 2000’s had Solution selling.  From 2013 – 2020, sales reps must embrace online interaction. [Read more...]

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, b2b Sales, Funnels, Lead/Inquiry Generation, Madlibs with the Funnelholic, sales, Social Media, Social Selling

Marketers are having fun again : Madlibs with Jason Miller

May 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

Jason Miller is not just a guy who works in content and social at Marketo.  He is a convincing, compelling evangelist for social marketing ROI.  He is one of the few people out there that talks about social marketing as a ROI-driving, results oriented practice.  He is so good, he gets ROI on Facebook and he wants you to get ROI on Facebook as well which is why he shares all his secrets. It’s worth listening to.  We have collaborated on content in the past — check this session we did on theMarketo Happy Hour!  Here are his Madlibs:

  1. The b2b buyer is in complete control of the buying process. Your job as a marketer is to build that relationship as early on as possible by helping, educating, and sometime entertaining the buyer until they are ready to talk to sales. Staying top of mind is the key.

    2. [Read more...]

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, Content Marketing, Madlibs with the Funnelholic, Marketing Automation, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Selling, Video

SMB social, a/b testing, facebook fan $, and inbound marketing: This Week on Twitter

April 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Hi everyone — once again, I present to you my favorite of tweets.  These posts are my worst traffic performers, but I do enjoy putting them together.  For those that do read these posts, thank you!

Shameless plug: If you love demand generation, content marketing, social marketing, and want to learn about b2b video. Pls RSVP for my Demand Generation Summit and pass the word along.

Now, what you came for: My Tweets o’ the Week. Enjoy:

Small business is built on word of mouth and social is the ultimate word-of-mouth platform. Newspaper advertising is dead. I can’t possibly believe those dudes on street corners waving those arrow signs work well.  Great SMBs always lived of word of mouth.  Now, as more SMBs embrace social media, data is starting to show that they are seeing ROI. That number will keep rising as more SMBs get educated on how to use social media. [Read more...]

Filed Under: b2b Marketing, b2b Sales, Content Marketing, sales, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Selling, SocialCRM, Tweet of the Week
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