By permitting its fans to record its concerts the Dead were, in essence, creating mini-musical advertisements (bootlegs) that, via sharing, constantly exposed their brand to both existing customers and prospects. They created lots of content (2,300-plus concerts), with new pieces of content (bootlegs for fans to share) for new customers.”. Walton, who saw 750 Grateful Dead shows, said that the members of the band constantly strived to treat their customers well. They cared about their customers and that’s what you have to do at your company. world. Subscribe to RSS. MORE >>

Successful sales people know that demonstrating character, integrity and trust is the only way to find new customers. sales person is judged and rewarded with new business based on his or her product knowledge, honesty, integrity and whether or not he or she acts in the best interest of her customers.  Really being useful requires that the entire organization be present for more unscripted moments of usefulness – moments when customers could use some guidance, information or focused attention. Guest Blog | Ben Bradley. Separating sales from social media is a good idea. MORE >>

The survey illustrates an ongoing dichotomy in sales and marketing precincts between the desire to increase customer acquisition and improve ROI and having the resources in order to execute. According to the survey, 74% of respondents stated that customer acquisition or lead generation is their primary marketing goal(s). Nearly a third (31%) of marketing executives in the manufacturing sector reported an increase in their marketing budgets compared with 2009, according to the GlobalSpec Industrial MarketingTrends Survey. For the full survey, please click here. Subscribe to RSS. MORE >>

The results stem from 231 respondents who indicated that they were marketing executives in b-to-b companies (half or more of their revenues generated from business customers) and whose marketing group generates leads for a sales organization or channel partners. That was followed by conditioning leads to improve the average value per closed customer and reducing the time from new lead to close sale for shorter sales cycles (48%). The highest profit potential lies with nurturing stalled leads, reported by 58% of lead generation marketers. Subscribe to RSS. MORE >>

The results stem from 231 respondents who indicated that they were marketing executives in b-to-b companies (half or more of their revenues generated from business customers) and whose marketing group generates leads for a sales organization or channel partners. That was followed by conditioning leads to improve the average value per closed customer and reducing the time from new lead to close sale for shorter sales cycles (48%). The highest profit potential lies with nurturing stalled leads, reported by 58% of lead generation marketers. Subscribe to RSS. MORE >>