On this day in 1989, American professional football (aka "soccer player") Jozy Altodore was born. Wait, people born in 1989 are professional anythings? Scary!
Now onto our B2B Friday thoughts!
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B2B Thought #1: Don't forget the Golden Question
Every day I talk to Marketers struggling with the modern lead management dilmena: "When should I pass a lead as sales-ready?" Unfortunately, the 3 most common practices I encounter are:
- Firehose
- Trickle
-and- - Alternating firehose & trickle
Then I ran into this post by Dale Underwood that really got me thinking: Before Nurturing a New B2B Lead, Ask the Golden Question. Dale argues that the "only thing worse than sending a non-qualified lead to sales is not passing one and finding out 6 months later that the lead turned into a customer...for your competition."
To make sure that doesn't happen, Dale shares this example of the golden question:
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Mr./Ms., May I ask you one question? Have you defined the requirements for your XYZ project, or no? For future reference, we have compiled a "Top 20 Customer Requirements List" from our customers and would be happy to share it with you. Thank you for your interest in WWW. YYY |
Matt here: I really love this approach.
- First, it's personalized. It's a message from an actual person, who I can call or reply to.
- Second, it makes sure I received what I requested. I am sure we all think our sites are perfectly designed for the visitor, but let's face it - requested item fullfillment is never as easy for a first time visitor as we imagine.
- Third, it promises an additional piece of highly valuable content that should interest me IF I'm a serious buyer. But, I have to reach out to the Rep and begin a dialogue to receive it.
- Fourth (golden question time), think of this as the lead management trump card. If "yes," nothing else matters - the lead goes to Sales- period.
Am I crazy to think a single question can trump the mighty scoring model? Please let me know if you are using anything similar in your organizations.
B2B Thought #2: Persistence & Process
Garth over at the Jigsaw blog had a post this week on Persistence. It's a great read with funny tidbits about persistence being the key to success. Here's an excerpt:
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It sounds so annoyingly simple, but persistence is the only trait that I have seen common in all successful people- from salespeople to CEOs to founders of companies. When it comes to sales, I'm not talking about a penchant for annoying and aggressive communications. Nothing is more pathetic than a sales guy who tries to talk someone into something. Don't put that idiot pan on your head and repeatedly slam yourself into a brick wall by ignoring it when a specific individual tells you "no." But do make sure you that you have exhausted all other avenues and connections, and that you have in fact been given a "no" for good |
Debbie here: I could not agree more that persistence is a key selling trait. I'll add to that with the need for a rock solid sales process behind it. So you aren't "stalking" your prospect by leaving a voicemail every day or WORSE not leaving one at all (the phantom caller ID trail).
I believe in a 4x4 calling methodology:
Put "4" contacts from a target companies through a "4" touch process - all within
10 business days. Hey, if you don't have a sense of urgency why should your prospect?
If you don't connect, make sure you kick them into your company's nurture strategy.
Persistence & process - far from magic, but it gives you something that is repeatable and measurable.
Think about the most successful sales people you know, are they persistent? Do they have a solid process?
(Photo Credit: priskiller)