OK, this is a rant so read on only if you are in the mood.

Yesterday I received the following email. Please take a peek:

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On Style
Are you kidding me? How much time, effort and energy was put into this communication?

Typos, spacing mistakes, mismatched fonts & sizes, no call to action and no phone number.
 

On Substance
There is absolutely nothing in this email to show that the sender took the time to learn anything about me or my business. There are no like-customer references, no acknowledgement of my role or business challenges and the email is filled with marketing speak.

Also, the subject line referrences our domain "bridgegroupinc" and not our company name "The Bridge Group, Inc.". This demonstrates the sender's unwillingness to expend 1 click and 5 seconds on the most basic pre-call planning. 
 

On What's In It For Me
So, let me get this straight, you want to talk to me about lead generation, marketing automation and sales enablement and yet your Sales & Marketing processes obviously suck lemons?

Dude, I don't care if your technology could take me to the moon, the only thing you did today was make me feel bad for you and take the time out of my day to write this post on how you sent me the worst email I have EVER received.

Did this come out of the text book for ineffective sales communication? And, to make matters worse, no initial phone call. Just this one-off spam email.
 

What I'm Asking You to Do
Run don't walk over to your Inside Sales organization and ask to see the last 10 messages they sent to prospects - and that includes those sent via your marketing automation system. You may get a rude awakening!

And end rant - off to do something productive with Clients who care how they are perceived in the market.
 

PS - If you have recently received a horrendous email and would like to add it to this post, feel free to cut and paste it into a comment. I bet this one will still win the prize!

PPSS - On the flip side, if you think your team does a great job with email communication, pick your favorite and post it in the comments as well.  It's OK to brag so give them the kudos they deserve!

I was just catching up on some blogs & tweets from last week's Sales 2.0 Conference in Chicago. At the conference, Lee Levitt of IDC's Sales Advisory Practice, stated, "The 4th Quarter of 2009 is the most important quarter of the decade." Wow - no pressure!

There is and will continue to be significant discussion about Sales 2.0 (and its implications), the new sales economy and how much selling has changed. But, it is not just the science of selling that has changed but also the basic art of prospecting.

Now for the four of you who know me well and read this blog (Hi Nana!), you know I love backpacking, hiking & camping. So I thought I might share a simple (if not perfect) analogy: taking a walk.

Back in the day

Today

Does this mean we should proclaim "taking a walk is scary and to be avoided at all costs"? Of course not!

But what we might do is to apply new tools to this challenge: trekking poles, show shoes, winter boots, crampons, etc. to regain effectiveness and ensure we stay on our feet.

This is the fundamental reality of prospecting 2.0.

On a related note, Trish is participating in a live webinar on Prospecting 2.0 on September 23^rd. She and the panel will be discussing addressing this new reality and sharing insight on applying the appropriate tools to improve prospecting effectiveness.

The Details:

Prospecting 2.0: Bridging the Sales & Marketing Chasm
Date: September 23, 2009
Time: 2PM Eastern, 11AM Pacific

Featured Speakers:
Lorri Freifeld, Editor of Sales and Marketing
Trish Bertuzzi, President, The Bridge Group, Inc.
David Fitzgerald, EVP, Sales and Marketing Services, Brainshark

Register Now

So join the webinar and learn how to get ready for the most important quarter of the decade!

Craig Elias, the creator of Trigger Event Selling is today's guest blogger.
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In your team's efforts to keep their prospect list clean, does a bounced email, or a returned piece of direct mail, trigger them to delete this person from their lists? If so, you are missing one of the biggest opportunities to increase sales.

Here's why...

One of the three keys to sales success is timing - getting to right person at EXACTLY the right time.

When you have the right timing the sale almost happens by itself - no challenges getting to the Decision Maker, understanding their dissatisfaction, presenting a solution, or closing the sale.

So how is a bounced email relevant to timing? Because it's a sign there has been a change in people at the organization. A change in people is the #2 Trigger Event to create timing.

When you harness a bounced email you can:

• Increase close ratios
• Shorten sales cycles
• Sell at higher prices

So how does Sales harness this trigger event? Read on...

Timing and the Window of Dissatisfaction

The best timing is after a Decision Maker realizes that the Status Quo is no longer sufficient but before they start the process of Searching for Alternatives.

During this powerful selling window - the Window of Dissatisfaction - the Decision Maker wants to solve this problem but they are so busy that they haven't gotten to this problem, YET!

According to my research, the average sales person is 5x more likely to make a sale simply by getting to Decision Makers who are in the Window of Dissatisfaction, before the competition.

The Window of Dissatisfaction and Trigger Events

The Trigger Events that shift a Decision Maker from the buying mode of Status Quo into the Window of Dissatisfaction typically fall into one of three categories:

1. Bad Experience: A decision maker has a bad experience with a product/service, with people, or with a provider.
2. Change or Transition: There has been a change or transition in people, places, or priorities within an organization.
3. Awareness: A decision maker becomes aware of the need to change for legal, risk-avoidance, or economic reasons.

I'm willing to bet that any Inside Sales person (with 3+ years selling) already has had several prospects become customers when a buyer, or decision maker, changed.

This change in people is the 2nd most powerful Trigger Event that creates sales opportunities for savvy Inside Sales teams.

The unfortunate thing is that the vast, vast, majority of Inside Sales Reps miss the Trigger Event of a bounced email to get in front of Decision Makers who recently entered the Window of Dissatisfaction.

Harnessing the Trigger Events That Create a Window of Dissatisfaction

Don't miss one of the biggest opportunities to create new customers or generate additional revenue from existing customers.

Know that the Trigger Event of a change in people creates a minimum of three opportunities for a savvy Inside Sales Rep to follow up on.

The next time you get a bounced email, don`t let this trigger you to take people off your direct mail or email newsletter list AND doing nothing else, have your finger on the #2 Trigger Event and follow up on:

1. The person who left - where did they go?
2. The person who left - who took their place?
3. The person who took their place - where did they come from?

You can read more about Trigger Events by visiting http://www.triggereventselling.com/

I have a confession to make: I used to scoff at the phrase Sales 2.0.

I mean, for the entirety of human history were we really selling one way? And just now, have we taken a giant leap forward? Add to that the hordes of technology vendors liberally throwing the term around and you might see my point.

Then I read something from Mark Parker over at Smart Selling and it finally clicked. Here is an excerpt:

Wow. I think I get it now. Here is what Sales 2.0 means to me:

• It's about communication & collaboration between sellers & buyers.
• It's about access to the right information during the sale for both sellers & buyers.
• It's about real-time measurement of the entire selling ecosystem.

Net/net - Sales 2.0 is a strategy or philosophy that allows buyers and sellers to communicate more effectively.

Tools are a big part of that communication process so I thought it might be interesting if the authors on this blog shared some tools we are using today and how they support Sales 2.0.

I'll go first. Matt Bertuzzi

Salesforce.com
Beyond the concept of CRM & Software-as-a-Service, Salesforce.com enables some truly amazing integrations & customization that deliver huge value to Sales.
For instance, in our implementation we have an integration with Google for news on our prospect & client Accounts. It provides a scrolling ticker on what is being said by and about these Accounts in real-time. (see screenshot below for the Account - "Hubspot")



Here are 3 recent & relevant articles on Hubspot delivered to me in my CRM on the Account's screen. Consider the time this saves in pre-call planning. Think about how much more tuned in I am when I can speak intelligently to what is happening in their business today.

Gail Milton

Jigsaw
"I love jigsaw because it allows me to confirm email addresses, confirm titles and get direct dial information.  This allows me to get to the prospect faster and personalize my messaging based on their role. Since the information is constantly being updated as changes or errors are found, the data is more up-to-date than many traditional list vendors."

Cindy Littlefield

LinkedIn
"Linked allows you to learn not only great information about your target prospects, but also who they know and any mutual connections you share. Like Jigsaw, LinkedIn gives incredibly up-to-date information."

Laurie Page

On-Demand Sales Presentations
"For example, Brainshark, CynoCast & others. The ability to record a presentation that prospects can view at their convenience is of value for both marketing & sales to use in their process.  The result is insight into who is interested and what specifically got their attention."

Trish Bertuzzi

ConnectAndSell
"I just had my first hour using the service and they delivered as promised.  5 connects in one hour!  Think about how productive your sales team could be if they could talk to 5x the prospects they normally do.  We will be blogging more about our experiences with ConnectAndSell in the coming weeks so stay tuned."

So what does Sales 2.0 means to you? There are lots of people out there with strong opinions, so jump into the conversation.

In my role as Marketing Manager, I buy services/technology/etc. for our inside sales consulting company. So I am a buyer, but does that mean by definition I am a liar?

Full disclosure I have been in Sales as well. And even blamed an occasional slipped close date on a "buyer-liar".

Here's a real world buying situation: I am currently looking at a new service. The vendor's Sales Guy has been great to work with, it's relatively cheap and easy to measure ROI. In short, I am very excited and have decided to buy.

But - I didn't buy in July, or in August. I don't know if I will be buying in September. Am I just reinforcing the idea that "buyers are liars?" 

 I don't think so. At any point during this sales process, I could have been asked some tough (and some less tough) questions to better gauge the opportunity:

• Is this project one of your top 3 initiativesfor this quarter?
  Me: "No."
  This is a great chance for a follow up question from the Sales Guy. "When will it be?" or "Where does this project rank today?"
  
  
• When are you looking to make a purchasing decision? When will you be implementing?
  Me: "The decision is made. Implementation will be next quarter."
  Note: to me as a buyer "decision" doesn't mean "ink".
  
  
• What would you like to see happen as a next step?
  Me: "Not a thing. I have all the information I need. Once I can give this project proper attention, I will pull the trigger."
  
  
• If you were me, would you forecast this business this month?
  Me: "Definitely not this month and probably not until next quarter."

By asking these questions, the Sales Guy would have a much clearer idea of my needs, objectives & timeframe. While I am guilty of not volunteering everything, proper forecasting is his job, not mine.

Check out this post from Trish if you want to see some more Great Sales Questions. Asking questions like these can make the sales process work better for you (the Sales Guy) and me (the Buyer).

So what do you think? Am I a "buyer-liar" or are there some questions that have to be asked to bring out the full picture?

Requesting referrals from clients/prospects is critically important when sales prospecting. Referrals will increase your pipeline and establish credibility with prospects. You are significantly more likely to get a call back when you leave a voicemail stating that "So-and-so from XYZ Company suggested I call you about our solution."

Below are some techniques for getting referrals:

• The Top Down Request: You can speed up the sales cycle with a top-down referral (with the decision maker referring to someone on their team). "I know you ae not the person who would actively evaluate our solution but who on your team would be?"  While you don't quite have "buy in", there is "approval" from management to look at your product.
  

• The Narrow Down Request: It's easier to choose from 20 people than from the world so this approach narrows the choices. "Are there any other people within your organization who could benefit from our solution?"

The following request is my all time favorite and I have great success with it!

• Help Me Request: On a whole, people like to help, so when you pose an open ended question it usually works. "I was hoping you could help me, can you think of anyone (else) who could benefit from our solution?"


• Thank You Request: Thanking the person before the referral makes them feel obligated to help. "If you could point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it."


• The Guilt Request: Believe me this one works (just ask my mother-in-law . . . just kidding). "I realize our solution does not seem to meet your requirements at this point in time, can you think of anyone that might benefit?"


• The Good Friend Request: Here's another great way to request a referral. "Can you think of someone within your organization or industry, who should know about our solution?"


• The "If You Were Me" Request: This places the person in your shoes and makes them stop and think about it. "If you were me, and you wanted to let people know about our solution, who would you call?"
  

So remember, it's important to ask for a referral at the close of every conversation!

If anyone has other techniques that have worked, please post them!