Timing is Everything

The other day I submitted an online information request to a well known financial institution regarding financing interest rates. Incredibly, less than 20 seconds later, I received a telephone call from a representative asking if I would like to speak with a financial expert. I was quite impressed with their rapid response and rewarded them by taking the call and speaking to their representative. Had they waited even an hour, I probably would have been on to something else and in a different mindset, screened with caller ID, and not have accepted the call. But, they knew I would most likely still be near a phone and in a mood to discuss the topic and they were right. Could there be any better way to follow-up with a potential customer?

I'm sure it is difficult for companies of any size to develop and implement a follow-up system as efficient as that, but it seems like it would be well worth it to try. This company is successful and obviously has found a way to provide almost instaneous follow-up - a sound strategy for 2011.

Nothing But the Truth

I took my two sons on a bus trip for their first ever visit to Yankee Stadium over the weekend. It was a great game and great visit to a great ballpark. Unfortunately, the bus ride home wasn't so great. When the bus blew its engine on Rt. 95 in Connecticut and we were deposited unceremoniously at an abandoned train station to wait for another bus, we knew we were in for a long night. But how long was it going to be before we were rescued by another bus? We heard the trip organizer tell people the wait would be 15 minutes, an hour, any minute now, and so on. In truth, it was was going to be 4 hours before he could get another bus to take us back to Rhode Island. Had we known the truth up front, many of us could have explored other options - we had friends in the area, there was a train station nearby, or I could have asked my wife to pick us up and we still would have arrived home hours before the bus ultimately did. As a result, I and the 45 other people on the trip will never do business with this organizer again nor will the hundreds of other people who hear this story from us in the coming weeks. The moral of the story is that the organizer should have simply told us the truth up front - it wasn't his fault that the bus broke down unexpectedly and we would have been somewhat sympathic to his plight.

I tell this story because it is similar to a recent discussion I had with two media representatives. I was looking for options to promote a client on an online product portal and spoke with the sales representatives of two leading Web sites. The product was targeting a niche market and I wasn't sure that either of the two sites could accommodate my program. The first representative said flat out that he was sorry, but his site wasn't going to be any help in its current configuration. The second representative said that he worked with companies like mine all of the time and would put together a proposal and send it the following day. Well, three days later I called the representative back to see where the proposal was and he hemmed and hawed that his key Web designer was unavailable due to personal circumstances, but he would be back soon and he would send the proposal in a few days. After a week of silence, I call the representative yet again for the proposal. This time, he said that they couldn't accommodate my request now, but probably could do so in a month or so. So, I had wasted a week and a half of my time and my clients time.

As a result, I have great respect for the first media representative who told the truth and will work with him in the future and recommend him to others if the opportunity arises. As for the second media representative, he's been crossed off my list (as well as his business) for any potential future dealings.

Let's just tell the truth folks. It's a respectful way to do business.

Develop the value proposition – the most critical step before designing a new product.

You are a very intelligent engineer. You have a killer idea for a product. You have discussed it under non-disclosure with several respected colleagues and they agree that it solves a significant problem and will take the market by storm. You have worked endlessly to file for technology patents, develop a business plan based upon your theories and premises, seek investment funding, rent office/manufacturing space, built prototypes, test the product, and ultimately build the widget of your dream. Now you are ready to launch and reap the emotional rewards and financial benefits of a selling a commercial product. Sound familiar? All too familiar, I’m afraid.

In this scenario your chances of success are slim. Why, because the most important step in launching a successful product is missing. I left out this factor because it is a most common mistake made by entrepreneurs and one that may never allow your product to succeed, no matter how elegant in design.

Long before you open your CAD program and product design tools (which is what you love to do) you need a concise understanding of the problem your product solves, how it solves the problem better than what’s out there already, who is most impacted by the problem your product solves, how much is the solution worth to the end user in terms of dollars, and will they be willing to pay it. In other words, you need to develop the value proposition for your invention and test it before you build the product.

Creating a winning value proposition is no small task, but one that is critical to your success. The value proposition takes into account product alternatives, process workflows, end user biases and preferences, critical capabilities and features, functional specifications, packaging requirements, environmental concerns, and pricing. There are many ways to gather this quantitative and qualitative information, including broad market surveys, telephone surveys, face-to-face meetings, and fee-based research from business analyst groups. Many organizations are well qualified to help you in the process. And while your cash is short at this point, it is an investment in both time and money that you absolutely need to make.

With a strong value proposition in hand, you will understand your market and will have clearly identified and defined your target audience; you will understand the product capability requirements, product lifecycle expectations, end user interface, and useability design considerations. You’ll also know the price point that the market will bear and give you guidance in building a cost effective product that meets your profit margin objectives. This information will also help you build a stronger business plan and help you secure investment capital. And finally, when you are ready to launch, your sales professional can develop a winning competitive sales strategy. And don’t forget, it is vital that you hire a sales professional to close the deals. More about that later.

Successful Marketing Automation Requires Buy-in from the Sales Team

Just read an interesting report on When to Adopt Leading Scoring, and How to Justify the Investment that was written by Emily W. Salus (@ewsalus), Sr. Marketing Manager, CollabNet, and published on Marketing Sherpa (@marketingsherpa).

Lead scoring is a subset of marketing automation systems designed to sort prospects from leads and deliver better qualified leads while refreshing the pipeline in an automated fashion. As Emily describes, "lead scoring enables you to assign a value (points) to the demographic characteristics (job title, revenue, geography, etc.) and activity (Web visits, email clicks, webinar attendance, collateral download, etc.) of the individuals who engage with your company." With this information, conceptually, marketers can segment, prioritize and provide qualitative information about a lead to the sales team.

Marketers have always struggled with the ability to measure, qualify, and justify ROI. And, these days, with so many prospect touch points, it has become increasingly difficult to measure the impact of any one marketing campaign, much less the cumulative affect of ongoing programs across multiple media platforms. Emily goes on to describe the significant effort involved in implementing such a scoring system and if it is a good fit for your company.

Personally, I believe that it is critical to attempt to measure the impact of our marketing campaigns however possible. But ultimately, success will be measured by the sales force in terms of results, or more specifically, increased sales.  And because of this, marketers needs buy-in from the sales team prior to deploying a marketing automation system so they are inclined to be proactive supporters and actively engaged in making the system work the way it was intended.

5 - Ways for Exhibitors to Succeed at a Trade Show

I just returned from Pittcon, the world's largest conference and exhibition for laboratory science and I am still amazed that so many exhibitors simply waste the opportunity to make a positive brand impression and engage with potential sales prospects. If you've attended a trade show, I'm sure you've witnessed the behavior. The guy sitting in an empty 10 ft. exhibit with his face buried into his laptop checking email while potential sales contacts walk by. The groups of booth staff with their backs to the aisle chatting about the previous night's adventures, oblivious to the person seeking help in their booth. Poorly designed booths that don't convey a message. I could go on.

Let's face it - it is expensive to exhibit at a live trade show, but since you've made the decision to invest, why not make every attempt to maximize the ROI of your efforts? Here are a 5 very basic things you should do to achieve success at your next trade show:

1. Take advantage of all free marketing. First, make sure you are listed in the program (print and electronic) and your company description accurately reflects your products and services - about as basic as it gets, but you would be surprised at how many companies don't bother to look at their exhibitor manual to submit their information in time. Also, review the guide to see what other marketing programs the organization offers to give you more visibility.

2. Send pre-show announcements. Tell your customers and prospects that you will be exhibiting and why they should visit your booth - new product, service, etc. Most conferences provide rental access to the pre-registration list of attendees, and for a bit more money, you can send an email or post card with your news. It's well worth the investment. Download the free registered media list and send out an announcement to the trade press covering the trade show.

3. Take your booth graphics seriously. At a busy tradeshow, you have only a few seconds to capture interest of attendees walking by your booth. Be sure your graphics tell your story - who you are and what you do. They should be light on text and easily readable.

4. Bring products. If at all possible, display your products in your booth - people like to touch and feel the real thing and often times the products will be the main attraction to your booth.

5. Engage attendees. Most importantly, focus on engaging people who seem to have interest in your products. Spend more time learning about their problems and interests vs. giving your sales pitch. Be yourself, be friendly, and you'll most likely have a positive interaction and a possible sales lead.

Trade shows can be very valuable to furthering your business interests - take care of the basics and set yourself up for success.

When in Doubt, DON'T Send it Out

I just browsed through a white paper (http://img.en25.com/Web/CisionUS/Cision_When_In_Doubt.pdf - requires registration) offered by Cision, a media management company, which discussed the most basic principals of media targeting. The main message for PR professionals was to do your homework, research the journalist/blogger and their areas of interest, and only send information that is relevant to their area of interest. It sounds like PR 101 and makes you wonder why they would need to write a white paper on the most basic of PR principles. The media and communications professionals alike are all dealing with information overload and it can be easy to overlook even the most basic principals when pressed for time and stressed for results. So, probably not a bad idea to remind ourselves to stop and take a breath from time to time to be sure the media list is appropriate and the communication on target.

Is it all over for live Events?

Are we nearing the end of the live trade show as we know it today? Many believe that trade shows are already dead and buried evidenced by shrinking attendance, rising costs to exhibit and attend, and the advent of virtual events that can be staged for a fraction of the cost of a live event.

Personally, I believe the opposite. While the glory days are long gone, the value proposition for the live event experience remains strong. The main reason is due to the value derived from face-to-face interactions. And even though much of the information gained at a trade show can be downloaded via the Web from the comfort of your office, what's missing is the feeling you get about the company when you visit their exhibit, a personal hands on demo of their products, and the impression you formed of the company after meeting their representatives in person.

Why is that so important? Let's say, for example, you were in the market to purchase an automobile. With today's technology, you can probably visit the corporate Web site, select the make and model, color, interior, engine size, tires, etc., and purchase your exact automobile of choice with a click of a button. However, I doubt most people would do that. Before making a $30,000 investment, most people would drive down to the dealer, take the auto for a test drive, check out the service organization, and if everything seems to fit, haggle over the price. And before making the final decision, the buyer might just drive down to the other 10 area dealers to see of they can find a comparable vehicle at a better price.

And that's also the value of a trade show. I don't think business people can make an informed purchase decision on high ticket capital equipment after downloading marketing literature from the vendors. The most productive place to evaluate products from multiple vendors is at a live event, where one can visit all of the players in one place, speak directly with the technical people that are typically unavailable over the phone, see the product in action, and form an impression of the vendor.

So, in an age of shrinking travel and marketing budgets, hopefully, live events can survive. I'm still rooting for them.

Thanks to David Meerman Scott for his recent “epic” rant on “Freakin ROI” (courtesy of Todd Defren’s PR Squared Blog). It’s certainly music to the ears of marketing and PR professionals everywhere. Just think, wouldn’t it be nice if corporate executives could rely on their professional staff’s education, years of real world experience, and intuition and listen with an open mind to new ideas, strategies and tactics, like social media for instance. It’s an energizing wish, but in reality, they won’t and the reason is because of “Freakin ROI”, or the lack thereof at this point.

In today’s corporate culture, sales executives typically have the loudest voice in the conference room, and when quarterly sales don’t meet expectations, they are also first on the hot seat. In my experience, their first line of defense typically is to comment on the lack of sales leads. Of course, next in line is the marketing executive who now needs to justify his/her marketing tactics – and so the search for measurable marketing results begins. And when marketing budgets get cut, the first programs to be put aside are those tactics that are difficult to measure.

As David points out, many marketing tactics can and should be measured. But even with sophisticated analytics and CRM packages, tracking a contact through multiple touch points and attempting to correlate back to a sale or a sales lead, is as we know, nearly impossible in large B2B enterprises. Hence, creating a measurable ROI model for each specific marketing tactic is even more difficult.

So should we continue to attempt to generate ROI models, or is it futile and a waste of time? I believe that ROI is indeed important, while recognizing that there are many marketing and PR tactics that are clearly related to ROI, but not clearly measurable.  I guess, in the short term, it’s most important to fight the battle and continue to attempt to analyze and correlate data. In the long run, we can support the efforts of David Meerman Scott and other new media evangelists to change the entrenched corporate culture that’s reliant solely on ROI.