ViewPoint

APRIL 18, 2012

While still in the early days of companies adopting it and developing best practices, Aberdeen is seeing social media marketing moving from being around awareness and thought leadership to really being around demand generation and lead management and so forth. Along with this trend, media integration is becoming more prominent.

Trends 120

Trends Practices Marketing Automation Services Work Management 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 31, 2013

For this ‘best of’ edition we revisit the hot topics—social media, mobile marketing, sales lead follow up. Koka Sexton, LinkedIn, People Still Buy from People, Regardless of Technology. I continue to enjoy the insightful discussions I have with sales and marketing experts in our PowerViews series. Today''s Featured Guests.

Lead Scoring 120

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Cross-Selling Best Practices 120

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Successfully engaging prospects depends on a mix of tactics to maintain positive awareness of your offering until it’s time to buy. Multi-cycle : Most prospects buy at more than six months out, so expand planned contact from over a few days to over several weeks and across multiple sales cycles.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 120

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 14, 2010

This is particularly true where there is a complex buying landscape, a long sales cycle and a high-investment solution. The next installment concludes the series and reviews the seven best-practice lead generation recommendations. Cost-per-opportunity and cost-per-deal are better indexes when measuring prospect development initiatives.

Cost per Lead 120

Cost per Lead Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 4, 2018

It was a best of both world’s brand promise, and part of a hugely successful campaign. Other costs not considered in the buy/build decision are those associated with turnover, including rehiring, retraining, and lack of productivity when a position is vacant. Remember the old light beer tagline: “Tastes Great, Less Filling”?

Cost 168

Cost Marketing Management Advertising Benchmark Paper 168

ViewPoint

AUGUST 6, 2018

And, they want to hear from your throughout the buying process – NOT 57% – 78% of the way through the buying process as some would have you believe (see this interview for more). Taking the time to continue conversations with qualified targets even if the times not right for them (yet) to buy is well worth the effort.

Marketing Management 136

Marketing Management Sales Qualified Leads Cost Lead Scoring 136

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 27, 2016

Per Julie Schwartz, senior vice president, research and thought leadership at marketing research, consulting and training firm ITSMA : “It’s widely believed that 60% to 70% of the buying process is over before prospects want to engage with a salesperson. See more …”.

Top of Funnel 189

Top of Funnel B2B Sales Account Based Marketing B2B Thought Leadership 189

ViewPoint

MAY 23, 2018

There’s value in continued contact with prospects in the marketing pipeline that do have a specific planned next step to be taken within a reasonable time frame, even if they’re not ready to buy now. In fact, buyers perceive value in interacting with sales at every stage of the buying process—even the early stages. True Nurture.

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads ROI Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 149

ViewPoint

MAY 16, 2017

Technology is great at automating best practices, but you have to have them in place first. Before buying new technology, define the processes your organization needs to make the most impact. So start by engineering your processes to focus on lead quality not quantity. That is, by not using a cost-per-lead metric.)

Sales Leads 202

Sales Leads Process Top of Funnel Lead Scoring 202

ViewPoint

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Is 60-70% of the buying process over before prospects want to engage with a salesperson? Is 60-70% of the buying process over before prospects want to engage with a salesperson? From Julie Schwartz, ITSMA, January, 2016: "It’s widely believed that 60-70% of the buying process is over before prospects want to engage with a salesperson.

Lead Ranking 149

Lead Ranking Demand Generation Agencies Account Based Marketing Paid Search Agency 149

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

57 – 90% of the buying process is complete before a sales rep needs to get involved. Today we will take on the second of the three lies: 57 – 90% of the buying process is complete before a sales rep needs to get involved. Here are their comments: Dave Brock: “The customer is wherever they are in their buying process.

B2B Thought Leadership 120

B2B Thought Leadership Cold Calling Thought Leadership Business 120

ViewPoint

MAY 21, 2015

Credited as the visionary and leading authority of the consultative sales movement, Linda is also a best-selling author of 10 books, including the recently released Changing the Sales Conversation. They’ve already advanced far into the buying cycle by the time they engage with sales. They’re more risk averse and expect results.

Conversion 120

Conversion Buying Cycle Forrester Consulting 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 5, 2018

4,319 contacts who downloaded a white paper but may or may not be in targeted companies or have any need or authority to buy (email addresses, many bogus, no company firmographics and no telephone numbers). 117 appointments with people in the right companies but may or may not have any need or authority to buy.

Sales Qualified Leads 136

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 136

ViewPoint

AUGUST 20, 2018

In our experience, best practices suggest that a separate group, inside or outside the company, needs to take control of the vital lead development function. If you are inspecting outcomes and conducting in-depth analysis at every step, you can substantially improve results. Whose job is lead filtration, qualification and development?

Sales Qualified Leads 149

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Leads Lead 149

ViewPoint

MARCH 1, 2016

In January, 2016 Julie Schwartz of ITSMA stated: “It’s widely believed that 60-70% of the buying process is over before prospects want to engage with a salesperson. In fact, buyers perceive value in interacting with sales at every stage of the buying process—even the early stages.

ROI 159

ROI Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads MQL 159

ViewPoint

JUNE 2, 2016

Per Julie Schwartz, senior vice president, research and thought leadership at marketing research, consulting and training firm ITSMA : “It’s widely believed that 60% to 70% of the buying process is over before prospects want to engage with a salesperson. See more …”.

Lead Nurturing 120

Lead Nurturing Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 7, 2016

Today we will discuss why it’s vital for marketing to develop a training guide for sales so all are on the same page as far as understanding what constitutes a lead in your organization, and what’s the best way to follow up on one. Many sales reps lack insights on the best way to follow up on a lead. Set sales straight—it’s a win win.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads PointClear 120

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 1, 2015

What really accelerates this is getting out from behind your desk and hitting the road to meet with your best prospects. 3) Get personal fast because companies don’t buy anything, people do. Have open, regular dialogue with sales and stakeholders on what’s working and what’s not to quickly adapt their joint efforts.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Automation Services 120

ViewPoint

APRIL 28, 2015

Kizer stated after the game: “Say, that Hail Mary is the best play we’ve got.”. The best known examples are Staubach to Person in 1975 and Flutie to Phelan in 1984. What I do believe to be critical is that you recognize where the prospect is in the buying process and move the sale forward from there. 3) Execution.

Lead Scoring 120

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads Sales Leads 120

ViewPoint

JANUARY 22, 2016

It’s a relief to see a return to a balanced approach to selling, and those sales teams who best blend new methods and old, using all means available, had, and will continue to have, the most success. go out and buy it. I hope you have enjoyed these three blogs and best wishes for 2016! What They Can Do Better in 2016?

Top of Funnel 149

Top of Funnel Work Management PointClear B2B Thought Leadership 149

ViewPoint

JANUARY 22, 2018

Requiring budget and timeframe to qualify a lead (other than those for low-priced commodity offerings) ensures that you are eliminating some of the best opportunities. In fact, buyers perceive value in interacting with sales at every stage of the buying process—even the early stages.”

Sales Qualified Leads 127

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking PointClear 127

ViewPoint

JUNE 24, 2016

PMI), an industry-leading sales best practices consulting firm, and Dave is the founder of the independent advisory firm ES Research Group, Inc. Traditional sales books tend to focus on that very limited period of time when a customer is in the process of buying. Relationships matter.

RFP 159

RFP B2B Sales Work Management Cross-Selling 159

ViewPoint

JUNE 6, 2013

Ryan also observed that new attendees aren''t just tire-kickers and prospects are armed with more knowledge than ever—asking tough questions for which the best B2B marketers must be prepared. CMO Council study: Content has significant impact on buying process. As usual, giveaways and demos are used to get attention of attendees.

B2B Marketing 120

B2B Marketing PointClear B2B Trade Show 120

ViewPoint

JANUARY 27, 2017

It’s about honestly and objectively understanding your best way to go to market, determining who has what role, then executing together. What will make or break its value is how completely sales and marketing teams, together, buy into developing and following it through. This isn’t about boundaries or who gets credit.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

NOVEMBER 8, 2016

In my experience, I've seen that the average sales force closes nearly 20 percent of sales-accepted leads while best-in-class organizations close closer to 30 percent. It is definitely not dead, but your company might be if you buy into the hype. Their company does not force them to. Call it what you want. or cold calling.

Cold Calling 149

Cold Calling Sales Qualified Leads ROMI High Quality Lead 149

ViewPoint

OCTOBER 6, 2015

I consider SiriusDecisions to be the gold standard when it comes to best practices in B2B marketing and sales processes. There are technologies that help us score not just "leads" but accounts, to prioritize focus and follow up in a way that really reflects complex b-to-b buying. That’s what it takes to be an efficient marketer today.

Account Based Marketing 120

Account Based Marketing Lead Generation Lead Ranking Lead Scoring 120

ViewPoint

APRIL 2, 2013

LinkedIn's network of groups is one of the best tools for business-to-business marketers looking to contribute to conversations related to their industry and establish themselves as thought leaders, according to WSJ’s Kate Mitchell. Among the capabilities Weber Shandwick will market via MediaCo are native advertising and digital media buying.

B2B Marketing 120

B2B Marketing Linkedin PointClear Marketing Automation Services 120

ViewPoint

MARCH 26, 2013

Do the marketing managers buy tools, but fail to extract the information that can be gleaned from them? Buy the tools and then use the data to improve? “Spend money on things that work and let competitors spend money on everything else.”. Is the “fools and tools” analogy what is happening here? Is it really that simple? I think so.

Marketing Automation Services 120

Marketing Automation Services Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation 120

ViewPoint

DECEMBER 18, 2012

You can also read his feature article Make 2013 Your Best Sales Year Ever in the January 2013 issue of Success Magazine. He insists that we have reached the point where there is no more to be gained from buying from the lowest bidder or squeezing money out of suppliers and that there will be more focus on symbiotic growth.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Work Management Business Marketing Management 120

ViewPoint

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

57 – 90% of the buying process is complete before a sales rep needs to get involved. The handoff of prospects from marketing to sales is clunky at best (if it truly exists at all). 57 – 90% of the buying process is not complete before a sales rep needs to get involved. Marketing and sales are aligned.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Cold Calling 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 10, 2016

But the majority of the leads you generate will still likely not be ready for your sales team, be ready to buy, or even be the type of customer you want to sell to.”. The reality is: sales doesn’t want lots of leads—they want leads that will buy. Recognizing where the prospect is in the buying process is key to driving the sale.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Planning Peer-to-peer Work Management 120

ViewPoint

APRIL 19, 2017

Buy them both. Anthony Iannarino explained The New Buying Cycle: Identify a better future state, build consensus around needs that will move the prospect to a better future state, eliminate price as an element of the evaluation, getting agreement to take the steps necessary to get to the best possible future state.

Conference 149

Conference PointClear Cold Calling Work Management 149

ViewPoint

JANUARY 17, 2012

Cahners Research has shown that 45 percent of qualified leads will end up buying a solution from someone within a year. Ideally, what emerges at the other end—ready for professional handling by a lead-hungry sales force—is a steady supply of qualified leads, each with a defined process and timeframe for buying.

Lead Qualification 120

Lead Qualification Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads 120

ViewPoint

JANUARY 17, 2012

Cahners Research has shown that 45 percent of qualified leads will end up buying a solution from someone within a year. Ideally, what emerges at the other end—ready for professional handling by a lead-hungry sales force—is a steady supply of qualified leads, each with a defined process and timeframe for buying.

Lead Qualification 120

Lead Qualification Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads 120

ViewPoint

MAY 18, 2016

Inbound drives smaller deals that often involve lower-level decision makers : Marketo said it best: “It’s unlikely that CXOs are going to spend time trolling the web for blogs and other content.” This number is proof that it will take outreach to engage your entire target market. an average of $1,350 for a qualified outbound lead).

Planning 168

Planning Sales Qualified Leads Top of Funnel Paid Search Agency 168

ViewPoint

AUGUST 21, 2013

I think this quote from Friedrich Nietzsche says it best: “The visionary lies to himself, the liar only to others.”. When the Internet came to be, people said that catalogs would go out of business because people would buy online. It is definitely not dead, but your company might be if you buy into the hype. or cold calling.

Cold Calling 120

Cold Calling Sales Qualified Leads ROMI Lead Qualification 120

ViewPoint

JUNE 5, 2015

In the first 2 parts of this series we discussed the role of executives and best practices for planning and preparation when outsourcing your lead generation program. The best example of this is an appointment setting company that charges by the appointment. But it is NOT 50% of the sales-qualified leads they work.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads Lead Generation PointClear Lead Qualification 120