Your marketing documents should act as natural extensions of your sales efforts. They need to be good enough to pay for themselves by consistently generating leads, appointments and closed business.
The tagline captures the benefits of CRM and sales/prospect/customer management — essentially “success.” That’s the bottom line for sales people. You need software to stay out of the way so you can continue to develop relationships with people and solve their problems. “Not software” captures the cloud computing angle and this desire to have things work without hassles.
So, when I talk to people about Facebook, Twitter and the like, I often come back to the idea that business is social and the Internet is just another communication device. It’s no different than the pony express, the written letter, the telegraph, the steam boat or the telephone.
So, how do you connect with customers when they’re so resistant to new spending initiatives? How do you generate better leads when customer budgets are shrinking?
Yes, times are tight. However, as marketing managers, creative directors and sales people, you still have to sell. I’ve detailed this in other posts and showed you how the smart companies actually gain market share during recessions or depressions. So I won’t belabor that point any further. Here are the important issues: How do you connect with customers when they’re…read more →
Ask people to join you in a meeting about social media, and you’ll find a lot of takers. But you’ll soon find out that most people don’t know what the heck they’re talking about or what the heck they want to accomplish with social media.
I just read an interesting article on persuasion specialist Robert Cialdini’s Influence Report site. The studies he’s following indicate that “timid” swear words peppered throughout sales and marketing presentations capture the attention of the audience. If the words are left out (as indicated in group studies) the messages have less impact and memorability. Here’s the article link again: What New…read more →
We talk a lot about conversational voice and tone in these pages. Conversational style engages and persuades people. That’s the gist of it. A lot of businesses still shy away from this type of writing in their Web sites, eBay listings and marketing collateral. I came across validation for the conversational approach in another book (which is great, by the…read more →
The following comes from the Online Marketer Blog: “Not only are 1 in 4 internet users consulting reviews before purchasing offline, but they are willing to pay more if the service is ranked as excellent. It seem that after the year of exuberance that was all about Facebook and twitter, business is finally getting around to answering the question of…read more →
If you haven’t tried advertising in Facebook yet, it might be worth a shot. Facebook is the social network site that brings friends together according to interests, existing connections, networks and groups. You can place ads and display them to anyone on Facebook based on demographics, interests, hobbies and so forth. It’s a good way to reach very targeted audiences….read more →
“Phil – part of your talent lies in your ability to work with a host of personalities and corporate cultures..not an easy thing to do. Global Crossing looks forward to continuing our relationship with you. The only way you could get a “10″ on Response Time would be to become a full-time Global Crossing employee – which doesn’t’ appear to be in the cards. I put a 9 down only to manage my own expectations that I may need to wait a few days for you to be available…. 
”
Michelle Soltesz
Senior Marketing Communications Manager
Global Crossing
