Salesforce Automation (SFA), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Point of Sale (POS) are all software solutions created to specifically track interactions and transactions with individual prospects and customers. The business rules and the logic built into those programs do what they were designed to do — show individual sales people where leads, customers and prospects are in the buying cycle. CRM solutions are designed to help with customer retention, cross-selling, and upselling individual customers. None are customers. MORE >>

Value: How thoroughly does it address a customer pain point? Recently I sat in on a great Webinar put on by Brian Carroll of MECLABS Applied Research. Brian is the organizer of the LinkedIn B2B Marketing Roundtable of which I am a member. Instead of the speaker being a B2B marketing resource, this Webinar was a real-life case study presented by a true B2B marketer, Michelle Levy, Associate Vice President of Marketing Programs for ECI Telecom. Help aligning content offerings to the buy cycle from Sirius Decisions. After taking its inventory, ECI found 695 assets. Blog Reprints. Games. MORE >>

All great sales people will tell you that asking the right questions is one of the most important elements in qualifying and pitching prospective customers. Never ask, “Would you like to have a personal demonstration of the product?&#. Instead, ask, “When would be the best time for you to get a personal demonstration of the product?&#. The rule is to never ask questions that can be answered with the word “no.&#. Unfortunately, many B2B marketers are unaware of this rule. Today’s tip for B2B marketers: Learn from great sales people. MORE >>

It is often the first place prospective customers go to find out if the company that has contacted them or that they’ve heard about is real and legitimate. Helping a newly formed B2B company create their first Website spurred me to visit dozens of sites in search of examples I could show them from their industry that follow best practices. In the process, I made a sad discovery. Not one followed what I know are the most basic rules of good Web design. The rules (that is — what should be on the page and where) are the ones I learned from Amy Africa of EightbyEight. MORE >>

All our customers are ABC providers.&#. Mind-opening Argument: All of our current customers are “ABC providers&# because that’s the only vertical we’ve ever marketed to. When I vented last October about various managers in B2B companies sticking their noses into areas of marketing that are not their concern, responsibility, or expertise, I thought I’d said it all. was wrong. In fact, the problem may be getting worse. When reading Amy Africa’s QLog today I was reminded of the reason this interference continues. Mind-opening Argument : a. MORE >>