Sales Engine

JULY 13, 2016

If you are familiar with the sales funnel, you are likely also familiar with the following: Your prospects’ expectations of you have changed, but your business leaders’ expectations haven’t. Prospects expect you to be a publisher , not a marketer. It requires a dialogue with prospects. Harder still, how do you sustain it?

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Conversion Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

JULY 13, 2016

If you are familiar with the sales funnel, you are likely also familiar with the following: Your prospects’ expectations of you have changed, but your business leaders’ expectations haven’t. Prospects expect you to be a publisher , not a marketer. It requires a dialogue with prospects. Harder still, how do you sustain it?

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Conversion Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 7, 2016

Only at the middle and bottom of the funnel (when you’ve qualified and are in negotiations with a prospect) will it be okay to inform them about the features, functions, and benefits of your solution. Today, we have to go about prospecting in a different way; no one wants to be sold to. They never did. This takes time.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Features B2B Thought Leadership Digital Marketing Funnels 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 7, 2016

Yes, but how does that help me get leads for sales? So how do you create content that makes your own customers and prospects feel that way? What business problem does your product or service help them solve? You should have resources at the ready to help them at each stage of this process. Know who your audience is.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Content Demand Generation Agencies Barriers 120

Sales Engine

MAY 22, 2016

Neil said “Why would a prospect want to write you a check for conducting a Sales Call”? They are walking encyclopedias who gain the trust of their customers and prospects because they are Sherpas who can help prevent buyers from making a major mistake! In Neil’s words “How you sell it is more important than what you sell”.

Allocation 136

Allocation RFP Consulting Paid Search Agency 136

Sales Engine

MAY 11, 2016

As most B2B sales people can attest to, the problem is that prospects will most likely misdiagnose their own problems and prescribe themselves the wrong solutions. We all know that the buyer’s journey has changed—people are avoiding initial conversations with sales people and performing their own research online.

Webinar Metrics 149

Webinar Metrics Sales Qualified Leads Demand Generation Agencies Marketing Automation Services 149

Sales Engine

APRIL 14, 2016

She uses an example of a sweepstakes offer on Facebook that many brands offer as lacking interest and engagement with prospective buyers. “I Quinn concludes that even though creative thinking in B2B can be more challenging, thinking like an industry disrupter can help. And what a difference would that be?”

B2B 168

B2B Blogger Content Public Relations 168

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 21, 2015

But, if you examine your total universe of prospects, what percentage are actively searching for a solution in the next three months? That means 20% of all of your prospects will evaluate solutions like yours in any given year. If you break that down into a three-month window, that’s 5% of your prospect universe.

Budget Programs 120

Budget Programs Work Management Marketing Management Allocation 120

Sales Engine

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Just the other day, one of our prospects told us that their SEO company suggested that they write no more than one blog post per week, and it should never be over 400 words. Of course, you want your content to be found by your prospects on the first page of Google or any other search engine where your prospects are typing in questions.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel SEO Content Marketing Long Tail Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JUNE 2, 2016

As part of your content strategy, you know you need to build something as a giveaway that all of your prospects are going to want to read. Your prospects do not want to consume weak, crappy content. Maybe it’s a white paper. Good idea so far. So you assemble a team to put this white paper together.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Marketing & Strategy Paper Content 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 27, 2015

During this conversation, the salesperson asks questions to further qualify the prospect. So whether that’s a Business Development rep making a phone call and leaving a voicemail, or an automated email sent to them containing a link to another piece of content—it must help them along and provide value. That’s nurturing.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads Buy 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 25, 2016

Lead-gen math looks at how many times you must interrupt your prospects in the hope of making a connection with those few who are actually in the market. Wow, that takes a lot of muscle to get in front of prospects, most of which are not even in the market. Media math is different. Let’s look at an example we can all relate to.

Enterprise Management 120

Enterprise Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

They won’t help your sales people meet quota. They won’t help you track where your prospects entered into the sales cycle and became customers. Prospects are already shopping on the internet for solutions to their problems. They won’t attract top performing salespeople to your organization.

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Cold Calling Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Ranking 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 24, 2015

So the bottom line is that if you’re not engaging your prospects through content , you’re not getting an invitation to the dance. Yes, it helps you build credibility. Yes, it helps establish you as a thought leader. You’re going to be well positioned and you may get to help design the RFP. Content is the new currency.

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies RFP Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 21, 2016

If I have a particularly tough subject matter, instead of taking it to the Internet, I’d rather have a conversation with them and have them explain it so I can write a more thoughtful and helpful article.”

Content 159

Content Internet Marketing Training Education 159

Sales Engine

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

So we made a few big changes that have helped us achieve the growth trajectory that we want: We gave our marketing executive a quota We committed to content marketing The problem that a lot of companies still have is that marketing thinks its purpose is branding and awareness, measured through increased traffic to the website.

Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Qualified Leads High Quality Lead Conversion Paid Search Agency 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 13, 2015

People can hide behind voicemail, prospects can hide behind email. Examples in case studies help people latch on to stories. From when you're a baby, there are parables and stories that help us understand things better. Eighty-five percent of B2B phone calls go to voicemail and are never returned. The power has shifted.

Lead Ranking 120

Lead Ranking Storytelling Marketing Qualified Leads Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

MARCH 28, 2016

Demand generation requires a complete marketing program that not only attracts prospects to your website, but also converts them into leads, nurtures them over time through their own buying journey, and assists the consultative sales person to close. When prospects come looking, we’re the ones they find. Currently we’re down to 10.

Marketing & Strategy 120

Marketing & Strategy A/B testing Broadcasting Content 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

I would answer that it is definitely worth it, even if it does nothing more than help you know your customer more intimately. Remember, the goal of content marketing in the first place is to create a minimum amount of content that gets us the maximum amount of desired behavior from our prospects and customers.

Content 120

Content Thought Leadership Custom Publishing Segmentation 120

Sales Engine

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

I would answer that it is definitely worth it, even if it does nothing more than help you know your customer more intimately. Remember, the goal of content marketing in the first place is to create a minimum amount of content that gets us the maximum amount of desired behavior from our prospects and customers.

Content 120

Content Thought Leadership Custom Publishing Segmentation 120

Sales Engine

AUGUST 20, 2015

A salesperson who can tell a compelling business story is going to make me care; she’s going to show me how her product or service helps another human being. I helped them shape that new strategic story and share it internally with their employees as well as externally with their customers and strategic partners. KOGLER: Numerous ways!

Storytelling 120

Storytelling Work Management Acquisitions Marketing Management 120

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 16, 2015

A consumer of your content is not a prospect—or not yet, anyway. Many salespeople make the mistake of assuming that when someone reads your content, they immediately become a prospect. What additional information can you send to them that’s going to be helpful? Go back and review point number 1. How can you add value?

Content Marketing 120

Content Marketing Lead Ranking Content Marketing & Strategy 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 18, 2016

And when taking a deep look at marketing results, we were a bit surprised that the data actually helped to diagnose asales problem. We also measure days to close—do they close faster when the prospect is engaged with marketing? Specifically, are dollars best spent on sales or marketing?

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Cost per Lead 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 20, 2016

And most importantly, adding more sales people (or hiring calling firms) to prospect down a list won’t get you where you want to be either. They need help getting in the door. Many of us who grew up in sales thought that we were awesome at prospecting. The clicks help to identify those with need. They need marketing.

Lead Ranking 218

Lead Ranking Lead Gen Lead Scoring Leads 218

Sales Engine

OCTOBER 4, 2017

economy and an ever-expanding arsenal of technologies to help both salespeople and marketers reach more prospects, many companies continue to struggle to grow sales. In the pre-Internet universe, salespeople held all the information prospects needed to make purchase decisions, from pricing to detailed product information.

Paid Search Agency 120

Paid Search Agency Trade Show Content Urgency Marketing 120

Sales Engine

MARCH 24, 2016

Inbound marketing , a term popularized by Hubspot, is all about producing content that extends the boundaries of company-owned web properties in order to catch the attention of prospects and entice them to engage with your web properties, including social channels and blogs. Use whatever works for you and helps you make money.

B2B Sales 149

B2B Sales B2B Inbound Marketing Cold Calling 149

Sales Engine

JULY 20, 2016

economy and an ever-expanding arsenal of technologies to help both salespeople and marketers reach more prospects, many companies continue to struggle to grow sales. In the pre-Internet universe, salespeople held all the information prospects needed to make purchase decisions, from pricing to detailed product information.

Paid Search Agency 120

Paid Search Agency Trade Show Content Urgency Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JULY 20, 2016

economy and an ever-expanding arsenal of technologies to help both salespeople and marketers reach more prospects, many companies continue to struggle to grow sales. In the pre-Internet universe, salespeople held all the information prospects needed to make purchase decisions, from pricing to detailed product information.

Paid Search Agency 120

Paid Search Agency Trade Show Content Urgency Marketing 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 28, 2016

Even though this article talks mostly about media companies, the same can be applied to B2B content marketers : We’re simply putting out too much content for our prospects to consume—and the more we produce, the less engagement we actually have. Instead, ask: Where do my prospects congregate digitally? Very poor—like 0.05%.

Webinar Metrics 120

Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Content Paper 120

Sales Engine

APRIL 24, 2018

Whether you connect via email, text, social media, or your website, the currency of engaging your prospects is content. By creating quality content like blog posts, white papers, eBooks, infographics, videos, podcasts, and case studies, you can connect with potential buyers in meaningful ways that help solve their most pressing problems.

Paper 159

Paper Planning Marketing Plans Marketing Automation Services 159

Sales Engine

AUGUST 12, 2016

It’s true that a sales rep’s approach may be changing in line with today’s buyer journey, and ideally marketing has replaced some of the prospecting at the top of the funnel. But it also puts a burden on us as content marketers as well—we need to put good, responsible tools in front of prospects to help them come to the right conclusion.

Top of Funnel 136

Top of Funnel Content Marketing Cold Calling Sales Qualified Leads 136

Sales Engine

AUGUST 15, 2016

Your prospects are shopping online for solutions, with or without you. Whether or not your prospects know they have a problem your company can solve or not is irrelevant--they don't want to talk to sales people. Research and hunting skills. Buying lead lists won’t cut it anymore, either. A head for analytics.

Lead Nurturing 120

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 120

Sales Engine

JANUARY 22, 2016

Your prospects are shopping online for solutions, with or without you. This is a relatively new role designed to bridge the gap between sales and marketing, using content and sales skills to build ongoing relationships with prospects and move them toward qualified conversations over time. Research and hunting skills.

Lead Nurturing 120

Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads Leads Lead 120

Sales Engine

MARCH 15, 2017

Demand generation is about creating a presence in the minds of your prospective buyers. To maintain a brand presence in the minds of your prospects, you must continually perform and optimize all of the activities above. What is Demand Generation? If you bring on multiple full-time employees or hire an agency, costs will add up quickly.

Demand Generation Agencies 120

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Resources Demand 120

Sales Engine

DECEMBER 7, 2015

It’s true that a sales rep’s approach may be changing in line with today’s buyer journey, and ideally marketing has replaced some of the prospecting at the top of the funnel. But it also puts a burden on us as content marketers as well—we need to put good, responsible tools in front of prospects to help them come to the right conclusion.

Top of Funnel 120

Top of Funnel Content Marketing Cold Calling Sales Qualified Leads 120

Sales Engine

JULY 21, 2016

Sure, you can start writing some blogs and you might get some inbound traffic, but the leads will be substandard and it won’t help you hit growth numbers of 20% or more. Obviously you can help them solve those problems, but the prospect may not be ready to hear it. How do I evaluate vendors?

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Top of Funnel Generation Ad Building 120

Sales Engine

JULY 21, 2016

Sure, you can start writing some blogs and you might get some inbound traffic, but the leads will be substandard and it won’t help you hit growth numbers of 20% or more. Obviously you can help them solve those problems, but the prospect may not be ready to hear it. How do I evaluate vendors?

Lead Generation 120

Lead Generation Top of Funnel Generation Ad Building 120