Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Marketing. Web-to-Print. Warehouse Management.
4 Essential Steps to Sales Lead Follow-Up
When it comes to the worlds of sales and marketing, there are always items that we can look at to improve our effectiveness.
In marketing, it may may be that we want to increase brand awareness and acquire more leads. Or, it could be that we want to do a better job of attracting leads that are more highly qualified before they are handed off to the sales team.
But when it comes to Sales, one of the goals that should always be high on our priority list has to do with our follow-up process.
Here are four tips to help increase the effectiveness of your lead follow-up process:
- Do your research: If we want a sales call to go smoothly and turn into a success, we must take the time to learn what we can about each lead before we call them. We don’t need to go overboard — but in today’s world, we can quickly find out key details about most of the people that we may be interacting with. We should look at the data on social networks and in our CRM system and marketing database. That data can help us to deliver a relevant and compelling message to each lead.
- Be ready to get to the point: Are people busier than ever before? While I don’t know the answer to that, I do know that this is true: people have more communication and technology options at their fingertips than ever before! Thus, we must ensure that we can deliver our key message to people in a short period of time. Sales reps should have a catchy “elevator pitch” at the ready so they can quickly start the follow-up conversation and get it moving down the right path.
- Recognize the difference between pushing and being too pushy: While sales does rely on doing what it takes to close deals, it is important not to come off as too aggressive or rude. Nowadays, people are quite apt to air their grievances or complaints about a company on their social networking profiles. If you are outsourcing your sales follow-up needs, or perhaps using someone with limited experience, help them to understand the consequences of their actions during the follow-up process. However, we must strike a balance. We need revenue too survive — and that doesn’t happen simply because we’re nice. We need to find ways to ensure that our prospects understand the importance of looking at our products and/or services.
- Be happy and passionate: People like interacting with someone that enjoys what they do. They also will be more willing to listen if they think you truly believe in the product or service that you are selling. The tone and content in our follow-up efforts can certainly leave a big impression on other people when they think about our brand.
These are just a few tips to help improve the sales lead follow-up process.
I hope that you find them helpful!
How To Say Thank You To Your Customers All Year Long
Yes, it’s certainly the gift-giving season.
Companies across the world are putting forth the effort to send cards, cookie & candy baskets, flowers, and other items to express thanks and appreciation to their customers.
But to truly develop deeper relationships with people that we do business with, we must look beyond just special seasons to express our gratitude.
A loyal customer base is the lifeline of any company. If you want to show your appreciation for your customers all year round, think about implementing one or all of the following three ideas:
- Saying thank you to your customers throughout the year. And when you do, consider dropping a hand-written note into the mail. Nothing says “We value your business” more than a heartfelt sentiment.
- Gifts are a great way to communicate your thanks, especially to your most loyal customers. Candies, company-branded tokens, and gift cards are excellent gift choices. But to truly make an impact, send gifts when people aren’t expecting them!
- Yes, we are saying “Thank you” because we mean it. But at the same time, we are also hoping that it helps to keep our company in front of the customer’s mind. Coupons and incentives can keep loyal customers coming back while showing them you value their business.
These are just a few ideas to say Thank You throughout the year. If you have other ideas, I’d love to hear about them in the Comments section.
(0) Comments
Tags cards, coupons, customers, discounts, gifts, ideas, Incentive, inspiration, relationships, Sales, Thank you 5 Ways to Grow Your Business with Online Marketing
Many companies today recognize that online marketing efforts – including social networks, SEO, and their website – should be utilized to grow their business. However, there are still a lot of questions on how to truly use those channels to drive leads and interact with customers & prospects. Here are 5 ideas on how you can do that successfully.
Plan and Host a Webinar
Webinars can be one of the best ways to drive leads to your sales team. They also can help to get your Company’s name in front of a lot of people. Once you’ve planned a webinar, you can announce it on your blog, in social media sites, on your website, or in your email efforts. Webinars provide an opportunity to share your expertise with any number of people. In addition to that, they can create engagement opportunities. You can ask attendees to participate by asking questions, answering polls, and sharing their experiences. Also, by recording your webinar you will be creating another sales tool that your team can use in future efforts.
Launch an eNewsletter Campaign
A monthly eNewsletter campaign can be one of the most effective marketing activities that your company does. eNewsletters are a great way for people to stay up to date with what your business is doing. It also gives you’re an opportunity to show a more personable side to their audience. For example, you can provide a variety of content in each issue — this might include a How-To-Guide, a video featuring one of your staff members, links to popular blog posts & industry news stories, and pictures from recent events.
Host an Event or Seminar
Okay – yes, I am talking about creating an offline event. It might be an open house, a seminar, or a lunch and learn. But by creating these events, you will generate a tremendous amoung of opportunities to connect with your online audience. You can create emails that invite people to register via a landing page. You can create videos that highlight why people will benefit from the event. You can encourage people to talk about the event – before, during, and after – by using a specific hashtag on Twitter. Also, you can connect with all of your registrants on channels such as LinkedIn. The offline event itself might only last a few hours — but those online connections and engagement opportunities can certainly extend much farther.
Provide an eBook or White Paper
One of the best ways to drive leads to your sales team is to create an eBook or White Paper and then encourage people to download it. Once you’ve created the content, develop a simple landing page that allows people to register for the eBook or White Paper. Do not ask for too much information up front! Perhaps you should only ask for their email address. This will help to increase downloads and drive more leads to your team. Your reps will thus have the opportunity to follow up with these people and strive to learn more about them in the future.
Create a Contest
It’s true – people love games and prizes! Online marketing channels provide plenty of opportunities for companies to capitalize on that in the form of contests and giveaways. You can incorporate them into your eNewsletter, blog, social media sites, etc. Make it easy for people to register for the contest. Once that is done, send them a “Thank You for Entering” email. During that interaction, encourage them to check out some of your other online content while they’re waiting to see if they’ve won.
These are just a few ideas on how you can use online marketing activities to interact with your customers, generate new leads, and build buzz about your company. Those efforts should absolutely play an important role in helping you to grow your business.
The Future Leaders of the Print Industry
Posted by John Foley, Jr. 
on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 
at 10:56 AM 
in Business, Marketing, Technology 
On March 29th, I had the privilege of attending and participating in the Bill Treadaway Print Leadership Forum at Clemson University. I am very thankful for having the opportunity to meet and interact with the faculty and alumni that attended.
But more than that, I am quite energized by having been able to spend time with students from the Graphics Communications department at Clemson.
Why We Need Students More than Ever Before
The print industry is changing, that is for sure. However, I truly think companies will be able to remain relevant in the future if they embrace the ideas — both creatively and in regards to communication channels — that will come from the youth of today.
The students in the Graphic Communications department at Clemson certainly have a passion for print. But they also spend a great amount of time communicating, publishing, and consuming information via channels such as social media, mobile, and more.
Will their future employers shun those activities once these students have jobs at their print facility?
How to Embrace Change in Your Organization
While it may not always be easy to implement change, service providers may find tremendous benefits if they embrace it.
- They should find ways to use the knowledge from these students to run more effective marketing campaigns that promote their business and its services.
- They should use the student’s experience to train their sales staff on how new channels can help them to find prospects and to engage with customers.
- They should use the student’s passion to effectively offer integrated marketing solutions to clients, that include interactive print and other new channels.
Yes, future generations may push to implement ideas that are different than what some in the print industry have been used to.
But in these changing worlds of marketing, communication, and education, I think that’s exactly what we need.
Ideas on How Realtors Can Use QR Codes in their Marketing Efforts
Many in the real estate industry have moved forward with incorporating QR Codes into their marketing efforts. This past weekend, I saw them on rider signs, business cards, and on the back of a realtor’s truck.
Recently, interlinkONE’s Michelle Jollymore sat down with Grow Socially‘s Matt Sullivan. They discussed a few ideas on how other realtors can reach their mobile audience with QR Codes. They also present best practices for ensuring that your QR Codes are as successful as possible:
