By Mark Helfen
► Instead of the marketing department just finding more leads and throwing them over the wall to sales, how about prospects that get nurtured until they become real sales leads.
► Instead of trying to sell potential customers who aren't interested, or at least aren't interested yet, how about letting customers educate themselves until they are interested in your product.
► Instead of your direct sales force spending time prospecting for customers from large list of unqualified names, spending time educating early stage prospects and working a wide pipeline, how about those same reps spending time with people who are ready to buy, or at least educated enough to decide if they are interested.
At Monday's (October 11) SDForum Marketing SIG, Jon Miller, VP of Marketing at Marketo, talked about broadening your thinking from a sales cycle to a highly effective revenue cycle.
According to Miller, "the internet has changed everything," and the result is "customers have seized control of the [sales] process." Marketo's model reflects the change in power from sellers to empowered buyers. Potential customers can get information about your products with no help from you or your sales force. They won't speak to sales reps until they want to. They're in charge.
Marketing needs to take responsibility for the entire revenue cycle, including the sales cycle, and 'nurture relationships" with potential customers not yet ready to consider buying. Miller said that just like its easier and cheaper to sell to an existing customer than a new one, its easier and cheaper to sell to a prospect once they have a relationship with your company, than to start with a new prospect.
In this model, marketing finds names, and nurtures them until they become leads. Marketing becomes a publisher, providing useful information - documenting best practices, or generating white papers. Eventually Miller plans to ad video to the mix.
By providing valuable information you gain permission to keep in touch and stay in contact. By tracking your prospects interests and their activity on your web site, you can find when there is enough interest for a name to become a lead, and it's given to sales.
Marketo's software system tracks information about names and leads, and generates statistics on how the whole process is working. Miller claims that the information tracked allows him to predict the number of leads that will be given to sales over a quarter, and visibility into revenue that will be generated.
=============
Mark Helfen is a freelance writer, journalist, and marketing consultant. He can be reached at:
mhelfen@wordpixel.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/markhelfen
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.helfen
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/mark_helfen
=============
Monday, October 18, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Can you read the "online body language" of your prospects?
By Mark Helfen
Given how much the internet and social media have empowered your potential customers, how can business efficiently sell complex products with long sales cycles?
According to Jon Miller, "social media has changed the relationship between sellers and buyers." Companies have to respond by changing the relationship between marketing and sales.
Miller, VP Marketing at Marketo, will be the speaker at the SDForum Marketing SIG meeting, 6:30 p.m. on October 11. Marketo is in the business of "revenue cycle management... revolutionizing how marketing and sales teams of all sizes work - and work together - to accelerate predictable revenue." At our meeting, he will discuss his ideas of how you can better manage the process that starts with finding new sales leads and ends with closing business.
Please note that this month we are at our normal location - DLA Piper in Palo Alto. NEXT MONTH we move, but those details will follow in a future post.
Miller's presentation is targeted to anyone responsible for driving revenue - lead generation, online marketing, or demand generation managers, and Directors and VP of sales or marketing. His ideas apply to complex business-to-business sales.
The change in social media has changed the relationship between you and your potential customers. In response, you need to "transform" the way sales and marketing interact to close business. When I spoke to him, he listed four key ideas that he will discuss next week.
1. Focus on the entire revenue cycle, not just the "top of the funnel," meaning lead generation.
2. Don't contact a lead before its time. Prospects now have a lot of information they can get on their own, and don't need you to contact them until they require help to move forward. For example, most companies in this category don't list their prices on their web sites, hoping that potential customers will get interested first and then ask. This is pointless from Miller's perspective - if you don't list your prices, people will find them a different way.
3. Make sure the process keeps moving - don't let it sit idle. Don't dump a bunch of leads in a sales reps lap and let them turn cold.
4. Understand your buyer's online behavior. Use web measurement tools to see what interests specific buyers, what pages they look at. Or, their "online body language."
So come to the next Marketing SIG meeting - online body language might not be as enjoyable as the old fashioned kind, but could be much more profitable.
=============
Mark Helfen is a freelance writer, journalist, and marketing consultant. He can be reached at:
mhelfen@wordpixel.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/markhelfen
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.helfen
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/mark_helfen
=============
Given how much the internet and social media have empowered your potential customers, how can business efficiently sell complex products with long sales cycles?
According to Jon Miller, "social media has changed the relationship between sellers and buyers." Companies have to respond by changing the relationship between marketing and sales.
Miller, VP Marketing at Marketo, will be the speaker at the SDForum Marketing SIG meeting, 6:30 p.m. on October 11. Marketo is in the business of "revenue cycle management... revolutionizing how marketing and sales teams of all sizes work - and work together - to accelerate predictable revenue." At our meeting, he will discuss his ideas of how you can better manage the process that starts with finding new sales leads and ends with closing business.
Please note that this month we are at our normal location - DLA Piper in Palo Alto. NEXT MONTH we move, but those details will follow in a future post.
Miller's presentation is targeted to anyone responsible for driving revenue - lead generation, online marketing, or demand generation managers, and Directors and VP of sales or marketing. His ideas apply to complex business-to-business sales.
The change in social media has changed the relationship between you and your potential customers. In response, you need to "transform" the way sales and marketing interact to close business. When I spoke to him, he listed four key ideas that he will discuss next week.
1. Focus on the entire revenue cycle, not just the "top of the funnel," meaning lead generation.
2. Don't contact a lead before its time. Prospects now have a lot of information they can get on their own, and don't need you to contact them until they require help to move forward. For example, most companies in this category don't list their prices on their web sites, hoping that potential customers will get interested first and then ask. This is pointless from Miller's perspective - if you don't list your prices, people will find them a different way.
3. Make sure the process keeps moving - don't let it sit idle. Don't dump a bunch of leads in a sales reps lap and let them turn cold.
4. Understand your buyer's online behavior. Use web measurement tools to see what interests specific buyers, what pages they look at. Or, their "online body language."
So come to the next Marketing SIG meeting - online body language might not be as enjoyable as the old fashioned kind, but could be much more profitable.
=============
Mark Helfen is a freelance writer, journalist, and marketing consultant. He can be reached at:
mhelfen@wordpixel.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/markhelfen
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.helfen
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/mark_helfen
=============
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
There's more out there than Google, especially for marketing and sales managers. You will be "surprised" by what you are missing in web searches.
By Mark Helfen
If you thought the ultimate internet search tool was Google, come to the next combined meeting of the SDForum Marketing and Search SIGs. According to our speaker, you will be surprised by what you're missing.
Penny Herscher will speak on the topic Intelligent Business Search. Please note that this special combined meeting will be on a different day, and at a different location than our regular monthly Marketing SIG. We will be at the LinkedIn campus, 2027 Stierlin Court in Mountain View on Thursday, September 9. Details here.
This will be the only Marketing SIG meeting in September. In October, the Marketing SIG will return to its regular schedule, the second Monday of the month, at DLA Piper.
If you thought the ultimate internet search tool was Google, come to the next combined meeting of the SDForum Marketing and Search SIGs. According to our speaker, you will be surprised by what you're missing.
Penny Herscher will speak on the topic Intelligent Business Search. Please note that this special combined meeting will be on a different day, and at a different location than our regular monthly Marketing SIG. We will be at the LinkedIn campus, 2027 Stierlin Court in Mountain View on Thursday, September 9. Details here.
This will be the only Marketing SIG meeting in September. In October, the Marketing SIG will return to its regular schedule, the second Monday of the month, at DLA Piper.
Friday, July 16, 2010
How can product managers show leadership on privacy issues?
By Mark Helfen
It's scary out there, and Phil Burton has the stories to prove it. Customer profiles and data put at risk by poor design, poor testing, and just not caring.
Burton is Principal Consultant and Trainer at the 280 Group, who bill themselves as "Product Marketing and Product Management Experts." Burton has been with them for four years, and has a 25-year career in product management and product marketing focused on information security, data communications and networking.
The problems come from three source - policies that the company decides on, or maybe ignores making a decision. Operations that don't work well, and customers that aren't educated. In the end, product manager will need to provide leadership in all three areas.
At Monday's (7/12/2010) SDForum combined Marketing and Security SIG meeting, Burton discussed a long list of companies where poor decisions and operations about privacy put their brand image at risk.
Facebook is in a class all of its own, maybe because of its size. If you were alive and breathing over the last 90 days, you couldn't have missed the huge controversy over their new (and newer again) privacy settings. According to Burton, the privacy policy reflects Facebook's long-standing strategy to "monetize their customers private information.
In Burton's estimate, Facebook is "cavalier" about sharing users private data. "Its astonishing how much information they consider public."
In a famous speech, Facebook's founder said, "the age of privacy is over."
Blippy is another example. The company lets their users share limited information about their credit purchases with their friends, who can see what their friend's latest purchases are. But in an example of an operational failure, the system exposed information it wasn't supposed to - the credit card numbers of their users.
It's scary out there, and Phil Burton has the stories to prove it. Customer profiles and data put at risk by poor design, poor testing, and just not caring.
Burton is Principal Consultant and Trainer at the 280 Group, who bill themselves as "Product Marketing and Product Management Experts." Burton has been with them for four years, and has a 25-year career in product management and product marketing focused on information security, data communications and networking.
The problems come from three source - policies that the company decides on, or maybe ignores making a decision. Operations that don't work well, and customers that aren't educated. In the end, product manager will need to provide leadership in all three areas.
At Monday's (7/12/2010) SDForum combined Marketing and Security SIG meeting, Burton discussed a long list of companies where poor decisions and operations about privacy put their brand image at risk.
Facebook is in a class all of its own, maybe because of its size. If you were alive and breathing over the last 90 days, you couldn't have missed the huge controversy over their new (and newer again) privacy settings. According to Burton, the privacy policy reflects Facebook's long-standing strategy to "monetize their customers private information.
In Burton's estimate, Facebook is "cavalier" about sharing users private data. "Its astonishing how much information they consider public."
In a famous speech, Facebook's founder said, "the age of privacy is over."
Blippy is another example. The company lets their users share limited information about their credit purchases with their friends, who can see what their friend's latest purchases are. But in an example of an operational failure, the system exposed information it wasn't supposed to - the credit card numbers of their users.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
How can product managers show leadership on privacy issues?
By Mark Helfen
Privacy is becoming more critical, both to consumers and to businesses. While the underlying security technology may be complex, you don't need to be an expert to exercise leadership and help assure that your products meet market expectations.
At next Monday's (July 12) combined SDForum Marketing and Security SIG meetings, Phillip Burton will speak on the topic "What Every Product Manager Needs to Know About Security."
Burton is Principal Consultant and Trainer at the 280 Group, who bill themselves as "Product Marketing and Product Management Experts." Burton has been with them for four years, and has a 25-year career in product management and product marketing focused on information security, data communications and networking.
When I spoke to Burton this week, he said, "There are an alarming set of privacy issues" showing up with social media and Web 2.0, but some companies don't seem to care.
While raising alarms, he insists that "I'm not being alarmist."
"A single incident can damage your brand," said Burton. While he thinks that large companies are more likely to have their act together, recent incidents involving Facebook and Google Buzz show even they can get bitten by privacy problems, gaining bad P.R. in the process. For small businesses, a privacy breach can cause permanent damage.
Privacy is becoming more critical, both to consumers and to businesses. While the underlying security technology may be complex, you don't need to be an expert to exercise leadership and help assure that your products meet market expectations.
At next Monday's (July 12) combined SDForum Marketing and Security SIG meetings, Phillip Burton will speak on the topic "What Every Product Manager Needs to Know About Security."
Burton is Principal Consultant and Trainer at the 280 Group, who bill themselves as "Product Marketing and Product Management Experts." Burton has been with them for four years, and has a 25-year career in product management and product marketing focused on information security, data communications and networking.
When I spoke to Burton this week, he said, "There are an alarming set of privacy issues" showing up with social media and Web 2.0, but some companies don't seem to care.
While raising alarms, he insists that "I'm not being alarmist."
"A single incident can damage your brand," said Burton. While he thinks that large companies are more likely to have their act together, recent incidents involving Facebook and Google Buzz show even they can get bitten by privacy problems, gaining bad P.R. in the process. For small businesses, a privacy breach can cause permanent damage.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
