What was old is new again
It seems we’ve come full circle when it comes to communicating with our prospects and clients. I noticed recently that I’ve been paying a lot less attention to online newsletters and those pretty HTML announcements that arrive in my in-box every day. There are a few exceptions of course. But for the most part I’m interested in the CONTENT of what is being delivered, not the design or graphics. When given the choice I no longer ask for the HTML version of anything - instead I choose the text-only version.
There was a time when it was unusual to receive anything but plain text into your email box. Then we moved to designing branded newsletters and “postcard-like” invitations that would capture the attention of our readers. Now, thanks to ever-improving SPAM filters a lot of those fancy invitations, announcements and emails aren’t even making it to our desktop. And for those that do get through the fire-wall, we’ve become jaded and tired of looking at all those designs. We just want the information - short, sweet and simple.
Playing on this hunch we recently experimented with a client that has been holding a series of seminars. As is typical, invitations had been sent out using HTML and branded design. But registrations were down and we were looking for a way to drive attendance. So we sent out another announcement about the event, except this was a simple text email. Read more
Don’t Confuse Marketing with Selling
This month’s Fortune magazine has an article about how to manage your business in a recession. Like many other
articles, the writer mentions the importance of investing in marketing. “Kohl’s, the big retailer, actually spent more on marketing this past holiday season than it did last year,” writes Geoff Colvin. We’ve received several inquiries from CEOs of small and midsized companies that want to talk about implementing a marketing program to increase revenues. My first question back to them is usually a surprise. I want to know about their sales team.
- Do you have a strong sales leader?
- Do you have an established sales process?
- Do you track your pipeline?
- How many people sell in your company?
- Do you have a mix of hunters and farmers?
It’s not that we’re trying to be difficult. We just don’t want to waste your money and our time. If you don’t have a good sales team, a clear sales process, and a system to process leads through your pipeline, then spending money on marketing is going to be a waste. No deal was ever lost because a sales person didn’t have the right brochure. And (to my knowledge), no deal was ever won because the buyer saw a data sheet and yelled, “Holy smokes, lets go buy this product based on how great this data sheet looks!” (Although this would be really cool if it did happen.)
How Your Customer Can Be Your VP of Sales
Here’s food for thought. Ever think that your best sales people and your customers have a great deal in common? Here at Zephyr Strategy, we have uncovered the value of this commonality and how to use it to your advantage.
Your customers know the truth about your company. They know how well you sell yourselves, provide services and follow up. They know if they are being served by your A-team or not. Your customers see how your company responds when mistakes are made. They know who your competition is and how they market themselves. And, your customers are aware of other sales opportunities for your company.
Some of your best sales people already have this knowledge. Both your best sales people and your customers know the true value of the services and products your company provides. However, only your customers know where they feel there might be room for improvement. Customers are the mirror every company needs to see its true reflection.
Ho Hum Women’s Initiatives
A well-respected, senior-level businessman recently asked me, “What’s a women’s initiative?” That is a good and honest question! Women’s initiatives have been initiating for decades now, so I’m surprised he had to ask; however, this businessman truly didn’t know. This lack of understanding is only one of the obstacles companies face when starting an initiative for their women.
Women’s initiatives continue to crop up in corporations, professional services firms, non-profit agencies and communities. The intentions are certainly admirable, yet most women’s initiatives have the same Ho-Hum quality.
Here’s what I’ve observed about why these initiatives are often Ho-Hum: Read more
Cliff Notes® For Selling
Most of our technology clients are involved in complex sales across several vertical markets. The sales cycles are often quite long, and there is a learning curve that goes along with each sale. So by the time the deal closes, the Account Executive and the Sales Engineer have built a lot of knowledge about all the aspects of selling the solution. The TRICK is keeping that knowledge in-house, and making sure that if the sales person leaves, that knowledge doesn’t go walking out the door with him. Additionally, our clients want to duplicate the successful sale across other geographies or verticals. To help enable this, we developed a process for writing up sales guides. The goal of these guides is to share the best selling practices and help our clients duplicate these wins. When a new sales person gets hired, reading these guides can help shorten the learning curve - anything that gets a sales person selling faster is a good thing, right? Here is the outline we follow, (with modifications for each client’s unique requirements.)
Sales Comp - a Moving Target
Elements of BD
I often get asked if I know of any best practices on how to compensate sales and business development professionals. This topic has been a moving target since the first sale of anything ever happened! How do companies balance their need for more sales against the motivations and drivers of their sales and business development people in order to get what everyone wants?
You won’t get the silver bullet in this post, however, we’ve made observations worth sharing. Part of the problem is that the One-Size-Fits-All-Sales-People Compensation Program that companies adopt creates that moving target that makes you crazy. If the “one size fits all” doesn’t work, then a more flexible structure could be explored. Read more
Partnership with SpringCM
We recently announced a Partnership with SpringCM. This is a big event for Zephyr, as it marks the first time we’ve entered into a formal relationship with a software company. We were so impressed with the Privia product and how it can help our clients manage their federal proposal efforts that we approached SpringCM for training on implementing and using the software solution. If you are involved in federal proposal work, then you should definitely take a look at this online solution. Read more
