B2B Sales Pipeline

One of my colleagues recently got an email from a vendor who sent over a “report” of all the anonymous visitors to his corporate website.  Looks impressive - It includes some very big name companies who are searching for his company name, flagship product, and his product type. 

So here’s the rant - It is IMPOSSIBLE to track the visitors to someone elses’ website because it requires some sort of tracking code to be placed on each page that is tracked.

So how can they justify sending over this nonsense to prospects?  2 reasons:

1.  Because it triggers the “Greed” gene in the sales people it targets.  “IBM is looking at our website????”  Nevermind that it would be nearly impossible to determine which of IBM’s 40,000 US employees visited.

2.  Because people are generally optimists, in spite of the fact that the prospect generall know that what they are being sold a bill of goods.

So what’s a good method to sell ethically, and restore prospects faith in the Sales process:

1.  Post your Pricing - although it cuts counter to your desire to keep your pricing a secret, it allows customers to go an look at the price at their leisure.

2.  Stand By Your Pricing- Once you’ve listed them, you need to stand by them.  Nothing screams “Used Car Salesman” like Making a Deal for your prospect.  If you’ll cut the prices to get the deal, why wouldn’t your eventual customer feel like they should jockey with you for a Better Deal?

At the end of the day, just be ethical in your dealings, because I hate dealing with customers that you’ve offended and are now jaded that I’m going to do them wrong…like some of you already have.

I just saw this statement from Marketing Sherpa regarding their B2B Summit, and I felt compelled to point it out.

…Jackie Kiley of Sybase advised everyone to *never* put suspects, inquiries, or unqualified leads into the salesforce.com system (or whatever salesforce.com wanna-be you’re using.)Fact is, the minute names hit SalesForce they hit the laps of your sales reps who then are judged on performance from then on. If you put anything in the system that a rep probably can’t close, then they look bad, they waste invaluable time, and soon they begin to distrust *all* the leads you give them.

Once sales doesn’t trust your leads, you’re completely sunk. Time to look for a new job.

Let that settle in for a second. 

If Marketing floods Sales with a list of 100 Names, how can we be expected to find the estimated 20% of those names who are actual “Sales Ready” prospects.

Marketers - A couple of items in the above statement that I would point out and Translate:

1.  *Never* put suspects, inquiries, or unqualified leads into the salesforce.com system - TRANSLATION- If they just filled out a registration form for a general whitepaper…they probably aren’t yet a lead.   Lead Qual, anyone?

2.  If you put anything in the system that a rep probably can’t close, then they look bad, they waste invaluable time - TRANSLATION - Nurture them in the Marketing Pipeline, and only pass those who show buying signals to your sales team.  Sacrifice Quantity for Quality.

3.  …Your sales reps who then are judged on performance - TRANSLATION - Quota carrying sales people have to close deals today….You should consider the following when determining what constitutes a “Lead” (Thanks to Jame Ervin for the definition):

• Is this person someone who wants to buy something? - If Yes, proceed
• Does this person have approval to buy something? - If Yes, Proceed
• Will they will buy your product, or one like yours soon (and let me note that “Soon” differs from industry to industry)?  If Yes - Congratulations…You’re the proud owner of a “Lead” that you should pass over to your sales team.
  

Anonymous visitor capture software by itself is worthless….there…I said it.

Over the span of the last few days, Pardot’s website was visited by several members of a large software company on the West Coast.  The individuals who came to the site searched for a competitor, landed on our site anonymously, and did quite a bit of research (viewed over 50 pages and 10 pages respectively).

Each day I’ve opted into a digest of all anonymous visitors to our site, so the large number of page views immediately caught my eye.  “Time to do some of that Sales Stuff” I said to myself (author’s note - I actually DO say things like that out loud, which reminds me to use my inner monologue).

Step 1 - Research the Company - In my estimation, it’s a fit.  Proceed to Step 2

Step 2 - Find my target at that organization.  A quick review of their management team identified the person I generally work with at a company - their VP of Marketing.

Step 3- Call.  No answer.  Like an animal stalking my prey, I do not leave a message.  It gives away the element of surprise.

Step 4 - Set a Salesforce reminder to call their VP of Marketing again

Between Step 3 and Step 4, the actual visitor raised his hand.  A gentleman named Alex, who is the company’s Web Producer identifies himself on a form (e.g., “Raises His Hand”) and requests to be contacted.  (Author’s Note #2 - Alex is not in Jigsaw, nor was he identified on their site, so the likelihood that I would have located him is rather slim).  We chatted for a bit, and he’s a great fit, and will surely be a terrific ally as we investigate our solution to fill their needs.

So here’s the moral - Anonymous visitor capture caught the company, however standard sales methodologies (approach your target customer) would have led me to the completely wrong person.

PRACTICAL TAKE AWAYS:

1. Anonymous visitor capture needs to be coupled with some sort of call to action which is attached to a form, so the actual prospect can identify him or her self.  Otherwise it can cause your Sales Professional to spin their wheels trying to get to their target…who likely isn’t the person performing the research on your product or solution.
2. Anonymous visitor capture is terrific way to validate your existing sales efforts.  Did you just complete a demonstration for a key stakeholder at an organization, and 3 unsolicited, anonymous visitors perform research on your solution?  If so - you made your point and found your champion, who is now directing other people to your solution.

For any vendors who represent products that ONLY do Anonymous Visitor Capture - I’d love to hear where you see the value to be, because without some way for the prospect to raise their hand…I really don’t see how it does anything but create noise (e.g., a “lead”) for your sales team.

I hate air travel.  There - I said it.  After 5 years selling in a remote territory, I enjoy commuting to work…not traveling to it.  So more of us are required to do more selling over the phone.

A blog post related to Successful Telemarketing found its way into my inbox, and after reading it (admittedly a little skeptically) - it actually has a little meat between the fluff.  What follows it the Readers Digest “Condensed Version”:

The Opening - Pretty basic - Who - What and Why…but TRY to make the Why pertinent:

• Good - Good Morning.  This is Derek Grant with Pardot, a Marketing Automation vendor that dramatically improves the effectiveness of your online marketing efforts by individually tracking anonymous visitors and prospects.
• Bad - Hi.  This is Derek with Pardot - Calling to see if your firm is interested in implementing marketing automation
• Ugly - What up?  This is Derek. Do you want marketing automation?

Author’s note - I know this isn’t great technique, however I like to get all the pertinent information in before pausing, so the person has enough information to work with and doesn’t have the opportunity to barge in during the introduction.

Engagement Stage - Match your product’s features to their needs in order to show Benefits to their organization.  This requires sales people to do something many are not good at - Listening to the customer.  It also requires thoughtful questioning, and probing once the conversation begins to lull.  If, after you’ve spoken, you haven’t learned what their pain is, then you have wasted your time and theirs.

The Close -This isn’t necessarily the deal closing, however you should always understand next steps.  Not Interested?  “Since needs change quite frequently, would it be appropriate for me to call at the start of next quarter”.  Want a Demo?  “Do you utilize MS Outlook?  If so, I’ll send you a meeting request for the time and date we discussed.” (NEWS FLASH - not everyone utilizes Outlook, so this should be something you confirm prior to getting off the phone and blindly sending a meeting request - Perhaps iCal is more appropriate)

At the end of the day, if you excel at the three steps above, you’ll be able to spend more time at home, and less time in the airport.

Several days ago, I had the opportunity to chat with one of Parodt’s junior sales professionals.  This individual expressed frustration that it was difficult to get from a live demonstration (Stage 3) of the application to the close (Stage 6).  Since I’ve got a couple of years in this game, I thought to give a little advice.  Even though we talked about several concepts, I found a blog post on Selling to Big Companies, entitled Top 5 Tips for New Sellers, that I’d like to add as part of the advice.

1.  Actively Listen to Ask the right questions

Don’t assume you know what matters to your clients.  After you’ve done your homework on the prospect, you’ll need to put all of your preconcieved notions to rest and…Ask Them…what causes them aggravation on a daily basis.  Most importantly, you’ll need to actively listen to ensure that you can find opportunities to match your benefits to small admissions by the client.  And - Don’t just launch headlong into benefits once the prospect gives you “the in,” rather ask more probing questions to ensure you understand the depths of their pain.

2.  (Per Selling to Big Companies) - Focus on making a difference.

“Nobody cares about your product, service or solution. That’s the hardest thing for sellers to realize. All they care about is the difference you can make for their organization.”

This is so key - Not Features…Benefits.  No one cares that your organization’s Salad Shooter “Slices, Dices and Makes Salads”.  You may have to explain that once you’ve had the opportunity to demonstrate the product, however you can’t focus on these, since they are features. What prospects care about is Benefits such as “after a hard day at the office, it will allow you to quickly and easily make a healthy dinner for your family”.  If you asked the right questions, and have a thorough understanding of the prospect, you’ll know their pain points, hot buttons, and what benefits will be most valuable to this particular client.

3.  Ease Their Mind by Removing Risk

At the end of the sales cycle, you’ll need to reassure the customer that they are making the right decision and that there is no risk to them.  Think about it - You’re probably a little jaded by having purchased something and then having buyers remorse a short time later.  Remember that feeling - That’s what prospect’s are trying to avoid.

If you’ll take the time to listen, understand their needs, match your benefits to their needs, and then assure them that you’re their partner in this initiative, you’ll see your close rate shoot up.

Like the faithful salespeople at your organization, I was working a few evenings ago, when I integrated the Google Apps into Pardot’s Salesforce.com instance.  These free tools are pretty cool add ons to SFDC.  After I integrated Google Docs, and Gmail, I started thinking…what other cool things are available for my CRM?

For you CRM administrators, take the time to look at the native eco-systems available for your Salesforce Automation Tool. 

Salesforce.com  AppExchange- http://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/

Tons of free tools, dashboards, and interesting widgets such as the Google Apps.  There are a couple of Dashboards that are awesome.  Most of the apps can be tested within your instance of Salesforce, enabling you to Try it before you Buy it.

NOTE - Salesforce enables AppExchange partners to integrate (for free) with their Professional Tier of service, which opens these solutions to many more customers (e.g., API Access is required to integrate third party applications - This is normally included only with their Enterprise tier of service)

NetSuite SuiteFlex- http://www.netsuite.com/portal/partners/applications.shtml

Not as many tools as Salesforce, however NetSuite does a great job of categorizing these applications to fit your organization’s needs / pain points.  Based upon the names I see out there, there are some very widely distributed packages (LivePerson, Epiphany and Five9) which are noted to be quite powerful. 

SugarCRM SugarExchange - http://www.sugarexchange.com/

Tools for the Open Source community.  If you haven’t heard of this powerful Open Source CRM system, check it out.  It’s powerful (full disclosure - I love SugarCRM), and has a growing eco-system of tools that extend the power of this terrific application. 

 The economic prosperity of the last few years has begun to resemble Newton’s observations of gravity: What goes up, must come down.  News of the impending recession is everywhere, and if you listen to cable news you would think the entire country is about to collapse. While that may be somewhat exaggerated, what is true is that marketing budgets are usually the first to get cut by CEO’s looking for ways to cut costs and keep the company afloat until economic growth can be measured.

Of course, marketers we know that the few companies that actually invest in marketing during a downturn are those that will come out  of the recession with a competitive advantage, having kept open the lines of communication with potential clients. Does it have to be a big investment? Not necessarily.

Lead nurturing tools are a great - and inexpensive - marketing investment that can bring considerable returns and also help your sales team pinpoint their message in a refined manner. First off, nurturing your leads means that you will no longer throw away the majority of your prospects simply because they aren’t ready to buy: you can keep them in the system and educate them about your product over time by sending them emails and white papers. When they are ready to buy (and a lead nurturing tool helps you keep tabs on everything your prospect is doing), your sales team will be there, ready to make the sale.

Another great feature of lead nurturing tools is the ability to provide you with an ROI on your marketing dollars. In tough economic times, nothing is more important for marketers than being able to show that the money spent is generating sales for the company. Finally a way to show the CEO and CFO that marketing doesn’t just produce costs, it also creates revenue flows.

When the going gets tough, lead nurturing is the way to go.

Plus, it really makes it easy on those of us in sales, who are trying to capture a seemingly shrinking market, and nurture prospects along.

It’s critical to have competitive intelligence. There are a number of ways to get competitive intel - One of the tried and true techniques is to contact a competitive organization, pretend to be a prospect, and ask pertinent questions. The following is a story of such an attempt:

While I was on vacation in NYC, I received a voice mail from a gentleman named Adam Roud (If you’ve read my posts before, you’ll know that I always change the names to protect the innocent) from a company named “Sequento” (Google it…it doesn’t exist). Adam’s voice mail asked a pricing question about an application component that could not be purchased alone - This would be similar to calling the Mercedes dealership and asking the price of the drivetrain (”No, I don’t want to know anything about the car, just tell me how much the drivetrain costs.“). Immediately I realized that this question doesn’t pass the “Smell Test” (e.g., if it doesn’t smell right, it probably isn’t right), but I called Adam anyway, to try to get an idea of what he was hoping to accomplish, and determine if my company’s solution might meet his needs.

Cell Phone, with no company name provided - things are smelling worse.

I left a VM asking for a time to chat and determine exactly what he was looking for. Qualify young reps - Qualify. Since he didn’t call back, and for all of the items I’ve identified above, I considered him a junk (unqualified) lead, and I set a 30 day follow up in Salesforce.

When I saw the reminder earlier this week, I thought back to the Smell rule, which prompted me to search Adam’s name in LinkedIn. Lo and behold - Adam works for a competitor. I called the competitors office, asked for Adam, and let him know that I would love to chat with him, since it’s always good for competitors to get to know each other. At the time of this posting, Adam has not called me back, and has likely joined the witness protection program.

So here’s my point - Competitive Intel is King, so how can you get it?:

1. Act like a Prospect - Note to Adam’s boss - Get him acting lessons, because if he’s as bad of a sales support engineer as he is an actor, you should probably cut him loose.

• Make the Cover Story fit - In the era of Google, it’s probably a bad idea to name a company that doesn’t exist
• Pretend to be someone else - With resources like LinkedIn, Spoke and JigSaw, you probably shouldn’t use your real name.
• Ask relevant questions - Back to the Mercedes example - You should probably ask questions about the solution as a whole, and sound like an educated prospect (”After looking at the BMW, I feel this Mercedes is the better buy because it has Leather, Sunroof and Heated Seats for the same price…but I’m curious about the drivetrain?”).

2. Research on the Internet - Again, in the era of Google, you should probably just search for your the information you seek.

3. Post-Mortem Follow Up’s - Talk to your customers who you’ve won during a competitive procurement, or wrap up with prospects you’ve lost. Always preface with - “I don’t want you to cross any ethical lines, but…..” Satisfied customers can provide insight about the competitive landscape, and prospects who didn’t select your solution can tell you why they went with someone else.

In the end - Adam - I love your moxie. You did the right thing, but you aren’t getting any Academy Awards from me.

Last week, I wrote about the importance of Marketing and Sales working together as a team. I probably used more sports metaphors and analogies then you’re used to as well.

More specifically, I emphasized the usefulness of drip marketing and nurturing leads that aren’t sales-ready. Dale Underwood over at The Confident Marketer recently wrote a piece arguing that drip marketing doesn’t do much for salespeople. I respectfully disagree, and here’s why:

Leads that aren’t ready to buy don’t want to talk to salespeople. That’s the simple truth. And that’s why drip marketing is such a powerful tool. In my view, there are plenty of sales opportunities out there that can take months to develop. Rather than having the sales team jump all over every sales opportunity, marketing should be in charge of slowly but surely nurturing leads until they are actually ready to buy. Today’s commercial software is often complex and requires the potential client to do a lot of research before being ready to buy. Drip marketing is a great way to do this: marketers can customize the information that the lead receives, and make sure that a prospect is receiving information at regular intervals. In no way am I saying that drip marketing should be doing all the work, rather it should be a tool that assists Sales along the way.

The other great advantage of drip marketing is that it requires minimum involvement. Trying to sell to leads too early in sales cycle is risky and often unproductive. No one wants to feel like they’re being pushed to buy. On the other hand, having the sales team  manually nurture leads is a waste of time. Salespeople should be able to spend their time doing what they do best: selling the product to leads that know that the product is about, and showing these leads why your product is better. Drip marketing lets the Sales team concentrate on what it needs to be doing, and ensure that Marketing is creating high-quality leads, instead of handing-off poor prospects that will be counter-productive and a waste of the sales teams’ time.

This kind of teamwork is critical to creating a seamless sales cycle that begins with carefully designed marketing campaigns (including automated drip marketing) and ends with a salesperson that closes the deal. Drip marketing doesn’t make a sale on its own, but it sure helps.

We’ve all heard the phrases and more than likely utilized them. “There is no I in team,” and “Don’t give up until you reach the finish line.”

You probably think I’m referring to sports, whether it’s utilized in basketball, football or baseball. In fact, these quotes, analogies or any of the Vince Lombardi phrases that people toss around are applicable in business.

The world of business utilizes sports analogies and phrases so much for one reason: both sports and business rely heavily on teamwork. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to accomplish much of anything on the playing field or in the board room.

Recently, I was playing in a church league basketball game. With my team engaged in a tight contest, we suddenly found ourselves a man short on the court. This was not due to an injury or for a lack of players, but because one of our players decided to take a breather by going to the bench to catch his breath.

Now, imagine our surprise when we realized we had only four players on the court to the opposing teams five.  When up against superior numbers in a team game, the side with fewer people will always lose. Look at how hockey teams in the NHL do in power play situations. Have an advantage over your opponent, especially in terms of a numerical advantage, translates to scoring and the ultimate goal: winning.

Taking this story and applying it to the business world would be interesting. Imagine your team is comprised of sales and marketing individuals. The marketer’s job is to promote brand and consumer awareness of your product or service. By advertising and distributing information on your company, the marketer does everything in their power to create an atmosphere where the sales team will be successful in that selling that product or service. 

By making the public or other businesses desirous of your good or service, the marketing team has done their part, and then they hand off the task of closing the deal to the sales team. If the marketing team has done their part, then a slam dunk will occur on the sales-side of things.

Say though, the prospect is like most potential clients, and requires a longer sales cycle then the slam dunk prospect we are all hoping will come along.

At this juncture, the marketing team must continue to assist the sales team if a prospect needs to be nurtured along the path to the promised-land: the deal. 

But what is the best way to utilize both sales and marketing department’s valuable time? Drip Marketing.

Through drip marketing/drip emails, the sales team can stay in touch with a client that is not sales ready and send out personalized emails on a timed basis. These periodic, automated emails ensure that you stay in touch with a client and nurture them to sales ready status, all along automating the process to further qualify your lead. This can help to free up valuable time for both sales and marketing teams, leading to high fives all around.

In short, marketing and sales teams working together to both nurture and ultimately convert the prospect into a client is the end goal. If one falters then the team suffers, much like the basketball team I play on when we were in a four-on-five match-up. By using drip marketing/drip emails, both sales and marketing can focus on other avenues and constantly stay in the prospects mind, without to much of a time investment.

Oh, and just to put a further exclamation on the point: we lost that game by 19 points.