Tag: Sales Leads

  • Generational Bias May Not Be Founded

    “Know your audience” is the marketing industry’s equivalent to Socrates’ directive “gnothi seauton” (though perhaps marketing could use a little more self-awareness from time to time).

    Know your audience. It sounds like a simple imperative, especially when big data allows us to see trends that in the past would have seemed unfathomable or strictly hypothetical. This understanding is even more available when we consider all the interactions that occur publically across different social media platforms, providing direct feedback on our marketing efforts.

    Understanding your audience is essential during the brainstorming process before launching a marketing campaign. However, from a practical standpoint it is necessary to know where that audience resides. Traditionally choosing a platform for a particular marketing campaign has relied heavily on demographics, such as using print media and television for Baby Boomers and social for Millennials. But as hinted at in our previous post on multi-pronged marketing, and expounded upon by Liane Dietrich in her recent post on Marketing Land, this arbitrary division of different platforms should come to an end.

    We (Were) the Future

    Oldmancafe
    (via Unsplash.com by Jeff Sheldon)

    Liane writes, “Cross-device behavior is often seen as being associated with Millennials. This young, tech-savvy demographic group of digital natives is known for using multiple platforms to connect with brands, research, and shop for products.” As a member of Generation-Y myself, I understand the point that she makes here. I use Twitter for social interactions, LinkedIn for business networking and Netflix for entertainment. Not only that, my entire career has taken place sitting in front of a computer screen (a little sad, but true).

    Often times the driving force behind this level of engagement across different platforms comes from a generational desire to do things better, more efficiently and to not heed the warnings and advice of earlier generations (for better or worse). In fact, old media in some ways has been dubbed “old” because of its association with its primary demographic. I remember one time when I wanted to get a new bed. I mentioned something about it at a family dinner to my grandmother. One week later, she came back to the house with a bundle of newspaper clippings of different beds. Little did she know that earlier that week, I got a bed off Craigslist, ordered sheets from Ikea and had a custom pillow made on Etsy.

    Change is Happening (Not Where You’d Expect)

    Whether due to the increasing integration of “things” with the internet, increased exposure, or negative feedback like the situation described above, the demographics of those using multiple platforms is changing. According Liane, a study done by ComScore reveals that people over the age of 55 are now the fastest growing group of multi-platform adopters. So it high time that we abandon our preconceptions about where our target audience is. We live in a global society, but it is important to not forget about the generational diversity that exists across different marketing platforms.

  • Getting The Most Out Of Your Company’s Sales Leads

    Getting The Most Out Of Your Company’s Sales Leads

    Salespeople all across the country believe that the leads they are provided by their employers play a major role in their sales success. It’s a running conversation in every sale’s office. Everyone wants the new lead, the fresh lead, and the hot lead. Nobody wants to old, tried, stale, never-could-get-them-on-the-phone lead. All too often disillusioned salesmen and women find that the new leads are the same as the old leads. Frequently it’s the lead source that is the issue. Other times it’s the way in which the leads were generated which causes the problem. No matter the issue, there are ways every company can ensure that everyone gets the best out of the available leads. Let’s take a look at some of the ways to ensure that your salespeople are getting the most out of their leads.

    Know Your Customer Inside and Out

    A running theme on this blog is that business owners simply must know who their customer is. They should know the age range of their customer base, whether they watch football or tennis, whether they drink beer, wine, or neither. Every lead which was generated in an honest fashion and contains valid information about a prospect in the demographic of your client base is a good lead. In order to judge your lead provider you have to know as much as possible about the client base which you expect your lead provider to deliver to you.

    Spare no Effort to Contact Your Leads

    Though it may be seen as going overboard, many a sales manager has demanded that their sales people call current leads up to six times per day in order to qualify to receive new leads. Of course no one wants to harass the prospect. And the nature of the business will help to determine the rules of contact. For example, debt relief leads require more calls because people being harassed by creditors are less likely to answer the first few calls. More delicate leads may require fewer calls. Overall, salespeople should make every reasonable effort to contact current leads before giving up on them and going on to the next. This includes using voice mail, email, and even traditional mail when appropriate.

    Ban Lead Bashing and Use the Poker Player Analogy

    So much of sales is morale. Too often when a salesperson is in a funk they begin to look for anything which they can blame for their lack of success. Leads often take the brunt of the blame. There are thousands of capable salespeople who have convinced themselves that sales success is “luck of the draw,” with those who do the best simply being lucky enough to draw the better leads. It is a good idea to outright ban lead bashing among salespeople, while remaining open to honest feedback and dialogue about the leads, feedback which can lead to better targeting. One helpful analogy for those who think sales amounts to getting lucky with the leads is to ask them if they think the average person can beat a world champion poker player in a game of poker. After all, the cards dealt in poker amount to luck. If they agree that top poker players have skill, then they should be able to see that it’s what you do with your leads determines your success or failure.