Strategic Guy

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Non-Knowing Sales Rep Exposed

She asked in the Email subject line if I were OK.  She didn’t care about my well-being though.  It didn’t take a genius to figure that out.

The Email was the third in a series of messages I received from a sales rep at a marketing firm pushing content development services.  She offered to save my consultancy “serious time” when it comes to writing high quality blog posts.

Of course, much of Strategic Communications Group’s (Strategic) work is in thought leadership content creation — for a client’s Web site or blog, or for one of our online buyer communities.  We are not a viable prospect for this vendor.  A quick review of our corporate Web would have proven that out.

In her Email pitch, the sender then made an unexpected shift in strategy from empathy to humor.

“I’m going to assume that you’re not dead or kidnapped,” she wrote.  Are you in prison?  If you are in jail, don’t worry – I’ll post bail for you.  Just let know the best way to connect so I know where to send the money.”

OK…I get it…an attempt to be funny.  To make jest of the fact I have yet to respond to one of these template pitches.  However, as someone who has performed stand-up comedy for nearly a decade (seriously!) I am well versed in the three tenets of humor:

  1. Be relevant to the audience’s interests
  2. Be timely
  3. Be responsive to reaction and feedback

To meet these standards, it helps to actually know something the person.  And this, my friend, is ultimately why most sales outreach with little, if any, diligence is so darn ineffective.  When we don’t know the prospect or customer, there is simply no way to credibly connect with them.

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Should Marketers “Tip” B2B Sales Reps?

During college I supported myself as a waiter at the Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chi-Chi’s.  I recognize how challenging it is to work in food service so, nearly 25 years later, I still generously tip when dining out.

I embrace the same view when receiving a sales inquiry.  This is my chosen profession.  I appreciate the fortitude required to reach out to a prospect and initiate dialogue.

As long as the sales rep has conducted an appropriate level of due diligence on me and Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), I give them a listen.  (It is important to note I have little patience for the “smile and dial” methodology employed by some organizations when it comes to sales.)

This is why I am disappointed when I receive this type of response from a new business prospect:

Hi Marc, can you please unsubscribe me from future mailings and put me on your do not call list?

It is true this marketer’s message is polite and professional.  And each person absolutely has the right to make this type of request.

Yet, this person’s job is to drive demand for her organization – lead generation, account based marketing programs and sales enablement.

How does she think her company’s sales reps identify new business?  How should the thousands of contacts in her marketing automation and CRM databases react to her company’s Emails?

The inherent nature of B2B sales is intrusive.  Yet, when a rep is sincere, diligent, professional and best practices oriented, marketers should consider “tipping” by investing a few minutes of their time.

I have included below a brief clip from the movie Boiler Room I thought you’d enjoy.

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3 Lessons from a Big Time Sales Mess-Up

I am currently the model of unacceptable incompetence and it hurts…bad.

Let me explain. During the past week I have missed an introductory phone call with an important new business prospect twice.

That’s right…the same prospect… twice. And this is after I invested the better part of a month to lock in a date and time to speak with this senior field marketer.

There are a number of reasons for my misstep, including a flakey Outlook calendar and attention paid to a myriad of work-related deliverables.

Ultimately, the excuses are meaningless and irrelevant. I demonstrated a lack of respect for a prospect’s time and, in doing so, reflected poorly on myself and Strategic Communications Group (Strategic).

Why do I share this with you?

Well…everyone messes up something, somewhere at some time. Someone who tells you otherwise is either: a) a liar or b) delusional.

It is how a person responds to flaws and failures that reflects their professionalism. I have always embraced a three step approach:

  1. Own up to it…and fast.
  2. Learn from the mistake and take action to avoid a repeat.
  3. Share the experience with your colleagues, contacts and connections. Success stories are wonderful, yet people often learn more from an experience gone awry.

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3 Reasons Why Voice Mail Remains a Sales Winner

The most powerful and persuasive sales tool remains the human voice.

It’s how we articulate knowledge, establish rapport and create connection. People do business with those they know and trust, right? Dialogue is the foundation of a meaningful business relationship.

This why I was stunned to read this misguided gem in a blog post authored by Howard Sewell of Spear Marketing Group:

“Who the heck responds to voicemail these days even if they DO have a need? Certainly not me. It’s 2015: use email, for crying out loud.”

The context of Howard’s comment was a discussion of lead nurturing and the appropriate role enterprise sales professionals should play in that process.

I met Howard earlier this year at a conference hosted by private equity firm JMI. I think he is well versed and his firm – Spear Marketing Group – does good work for its clients.

Yet, his discount of voice mail as a credible and convincing channel for sales professionals is completely off-base. In fact, I encourage the sales teams at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) clients to embrace voice mail in their lead nurturing activities.

Here is why:

  1. Emotion is more easily communicated. I am certainly a fan of the emoticon, yet it simply doesn’t convey empathy like a well articulated voice message. Even if the person elects to not return the call, voice mail is an opportunity to brand and message.
  1. It is an effective complement to e-mail and other forms of digital communications. As our Inbox becomes increasingly noisy and cluttered, a simple voice message can call attention to a timely and important Email.
  1. The person may actually answer the phone. Yes…it happens…more often than you think. Always inquire if the prospect has a few minutes to talk. Even if the answer is “no,” I’ve found the person much more amenable to set a time to talk at a later date.

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Homage to the Art of B2B Sales

Signage at the Salesforce World Tour in Washington, DC. Hmmm, “Customer Success Platform.” I am not so sure.

One ring…two rings…and then the third.

 
That’s when voice mail typically clicks on. I always call the corporate line because it is rarely answered. Heck, I suspect many a prospect consciously neglects to check their messages on a regular basis. This is certainly true when it is an automated greeting that awaits me.

 
Yet, this is an essential component of the rhythm of business-to-business (B2B) sales. Establish familiarity. Initiate connection. Demonstrate knowledge and relevance.
These will hopefully serve as an entry point to an initial conversation.

 
Back to the call. My message methodology is comfortable and constant. I mention my name and company brand twice. The person’s name is woven in three times for personalization. And I always reference the soon-to-arrive Email which will include the words “Strategic Guy” in the subject line.

 
This is no smile and dial operation though. Prior to picking up the phone I’ve invested time on the prospect’s Web site, reviewed their LinkedIn profile and reviewed an analyst report or two.

 
Like the call itself, this due diligence is part of the cost of entry. If I have put in the time, my view is I have earned the right for a first chat.

 
I’ve been at this now for two decades; selling marketing, public relations and (now) Web2Sales services to corporate executives who work for B2B and government-focused technology companies. Although I am no wizard, I have secured hundreds of accounts that have collectively generated millions of dollars in fees.

 

 

The Pitcher Gets Pitched
Hello from the Washington DC Convention Center where I am on-site to attend the Salesforce World Tour. It’s a day long bonanza of speakers, panels, presentations and demonstrations all designed to convince the 3,000+ attendees to buy (or buy more) Salesforce stuff.

 

There is talk of the marketing cloud and how awesome it is. There is a shill for new features in the sales cloud and how cool that is. And there are partners – lots and lots of partners – hyping how they can make the Salesforce experience more profitable, meaningful and measurable.

 

The author and friend at Salesforce World Tour.

I am a Salesforce guy, and admire the company for its innovation, integrity and community commitment. A myriad of Strategic Communications Group’s (Strategic) clients rely on Salesforce technology to address their customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation needs.

 
That is why earlier this year I hosted a Webinar that featured a conversation with a Salesforce customer success manager to help marketers better understand what is possible.

 
Yet, the World Tour leaves me uneasy because the messaging Salesforce’s reps wax on about fails to stand up in a B2B context. They make two passionate appeals about the company’s products:

 
1. They make sales operations efficient and scalable
2. Companies that use Salesforce capture revenue more quickly

 

The initial contention I buy. The foundation of effective sales activities is to call on the right person at the right time with the right message. That is the core value proposition of both CRM and marketing automation.

 

Does this efficiency produce sales though?

 

 

The Science of Selling Falls Flat

There are three essential attributes that must be in place for an organization to successfully hawk its wares. And guess what? Salesforce has no influence or affect on these must-haves.

 

First, a company needs a good product or service. I realize that may strike some as rudimentary, yet there are many nifty features out there that masquerade as solutions.

 

Additionally, sales teams must target customer segments where there is need and budget.

 

For me, I’d embrace the feel good derived from helping charitable organizations and not-for-profits via our unique Web2Sales methodology. Strategic serves corporate accounts though because they can put forth an appropriate level of spend to fund our programs. It is that elementary.

 

And finally, each step in the B2B sales process must showcase the credibility of the company and its sales rep. No one ever got fired for hiring IBM. It’s a cliché for a reason.

 

Value proposition, messaging, use cases and credibility are all critical elements of the pitch. However, people ultimately buy from people they know and trust.

 

It was true yesterday. It’s true today. And you can bet on it for tomorrow.

 

So, by all means lock-in a sustained commitment to CRM and marketing automation. Even better if it is with the good folks at Salesforce.  Just never lose sight of fact that B2B sales is a relationship-driven endeavor. That’s the art of it.

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