Business Bedrock

Sales tip - how best to follow up when someone downloads your content

It was recently my pleasure to interview via webinar Craig Elias, author of SHiFT!, and renowned guru on all things sales, but in particular the theory of "trigger events".  Trigger events start buyers on new buyer journeys - if we can recognise or even better CAUSE trigger events then we give birth to new sales opportunities, WELL in advance of our competitors knowing about them!

Over the coming weeks, we'll be writing up various components of the interview - expanding on Craig's comments - and giving you links to the various literature he mentions.

To start things off - Craig made some very interesting comments on how best to follow up when a prospect downloads a piece of content - perhaps from your website, or maybe via the landing page associated with your recent email blast.

Via the link at the end of this article you can hear Craig for yourself - but by way of summary he made the following excellent points:

1. When building a form/landing page - the critical questions you need to ask are:
• Name
• Phone
• Email
• How did you hear about this resource
2. Once someone fills in a form and downloads your content, you MUST call them within 5 minutes(!)
• Craig referenced The Lead Response Management Study - carried out by Kellogg/MIT - that informs that the chances of contacting and hence qualifying a lead in 5 minutes is 21 TIMES GREATER than doing it in 30 minutes
3. Craig also referred to Aaron Ross's work around Predictable Revenue
4. So - once someone has downloaded your content - your have 5 minutes to call them.  What do you say?  Craig's advice is:

• State that you're following up on them filling in the form - and you have 3 quick questions, so can you take 2 minutes of their time(?)
• Question 1 - "Did you get the email that has the link to the resource you were looking for?"
• Question 2 - "How did you hear about this resource?" OR "What about this resource caught your attention?"
• Question 3 - "I am curious - what happened recently that made this resource more important/relevant to you?"

What you're listening for as you ask these questions is to determine where on the buyer journey the prospect is ie are they:

• Calm
• Their status quo is shattered ie they're in the "window of dissatisfaction"
• They're searching for solutions/alternatives

 

So - having determined where they are on their journey - what's the CTA (Call To Action)?

Based on information gathered - you may offer to send them a new resource to advance them on their buyer journey - or ultimately you may offer them some sort of "scoping study", wherein you can fully analyse their situation, and make specific recommendations.

So - are you responding to content downloads within 5 minutes?  And are you then asking the 3 key follow up questions?  Click on the link below to hear the relevant part of the interview with Craig.

Craig Elias - Following Up a Form Download

 

Optimising your online presence for shorter sales cycles

 

 By Jill Riddiford, B2B Marketing Consultant at Carpe Diem Consulting

 

Content matching with keywords

To better engage with customers we need to reach them with the right content at the right time. Buyers use different types of language, when looking for solutions, depending on what stage they are at along the buyer journey.

Businesses typically don’t have the mechanisms in place to attract prospects early in their buying journey, so using ‘late buyer journey’ tactics such as offering a ‘buy now’ incentive isn’t always appropriate. It certainly won’t help the buyer who is at the ‘search around problem’ stage and wants to first build their awareness of potential solutions to a problem.

So how do we increase the probability of buyers reaching us when they in the early stage of their buyer journey?

One of the best indicators of where someone is along the buyer journey is reviewing the types of keywords they are using within their searches - what people are searching for can provide a clue as to the type of content that could be developed.

For example the owner of a growing business wants to upgrade their phone network and types in: “upgrading small business phone system” which brings up a long list of suppliers and a few comparison sites, the “Search around problem” stage in diagram above.

The searcher takes a deep breath as he anticipates several hours of research ahead but notices on the first page of results, an article: “How to choose the right phone system for your small business.”

The article, authored by a Telco supplier, provides some useful information and the buyer is now better able to frame his requirements and the likely solution. The buyer narrows down the search to three suppliers which he then compares directly on their websites for features and prices, but he is more inclined to purchase from the supplier who provided the useful article.

Of course from the supplier’s perspective, throwing out a random ‘how to” article is not enough to ensure a high ranking in Google search results. Businesses need to build and nurture their online presence by regularly updating their website content, participating in social networks and using relevant keywords.

Using early buyer journey keywords in your website content such as white papers or blogs, means that buyers are more likely to discover you while still at the early stage of their buying cycle. At this point, buyers are unlikely to search for business names, and unless you are a major well-known brand, buyers probably don’t know who you are. But they may use generic words such as ‘review’ e.g. “cloud services review”.

However B2B buyers have become more sophisticated in their searches and are increasingly using “longer tail” keywords to enhance their SEO (search engine optimisation) process and increase the visibility of their website in organic, i.e. unpaid for search results. See example below, source: www.elliance.com

   

Long tail keywords are those that have less search volume but are highly targeted, e.g. “cloud services legal firms Sydney”. You can search for long-tail keywords with Google’s Keyword Planner Tool.

Or to generate ideas for long tail keywords, simply start typing in part of your keyword phrase into Google and keyword phrases will be suggested.

The SEO process doesn’t just apply to websites. LinkedIn profiles are also searchable so be mindful of the appropriate keywords to include on this platform to highlight the value you can provide to buyers.

By helping buyers to diagnose their needs — and at the earlier stages of the buyer's journey - businesses enhance their prospects of becoming a trusted advisor. To find out more, download our free whitepaper: Don’t let B2B buyers buy by themselves.

How do social and PR fit together for B2B marketers?

Social Media and Public Relations: “connecting the dots” 

By Jill Riddiford, B2B Marketing Consultant at Carpe Diem Consulting.

We often hear the question: what is the difference between social media and PR?

Social media is the new kid on the block compared to public relations, but both are part of the same brush in your marketing palette.

Both social media and PR - when done effectively - are about people saying good things about your business or your products and services, and spreading the word to other people.

Both PR and social can also build your brand and reputation over time. However, social media allows you to amplify your reach in ways that marketing via the traditional media can’t do.

Public Relations specialists typically work with editors / journalists rather than your actual target market. Social media specialists, on the other hand, are the ones who (should) know the insides of your business and be out there in your prospect base talking to real people.

A good social media consultant will be a natural networker and have their eye on what’s happening in your industry and community - they are not there to sell your product or service per se. They also build relations with less traditional industry influencers such as bloggers who can have a significant impact on your ability to generate awareness.

Also, with social, while you may ‘own’ the messages, you have limited control over how responses to your messaging will be reposted or circulated. On the other hand, traditional ‘earned’ PR allows some degree of control - in the context of the media relationships you have fostered. PR can also provide valuable third-party endorsement and credibility.

Here’s an outline of some more similarities and differences:

• Relationship building is key to both:

PR – you may only need a few key media targets, but these need to be cultivated carefully

Social – relationship is with many and allows you to have a two-way conversation with your actual customers/prospects

• You need to have something to say:

PR – usually have a ‘hook’ or particular event, i.e. something that is newsworthy that you can shout about for a short period of time

Social –You need constant ‘hooks’ and messages to take to your community on regular basis in order to maintain engagement and a cohesive image over time 

• Understand that your audience is different:

PR – your job is to pitch your story to the writer for your target media outlet, so you need to ask what will interest their readers?

Social – you are speaking directly to your customer/prospect so need to know their world inside out. You will need to repurpose content – e.g. don’t post in a press release format – use words that speak to them in their language

• Everyone is time poor:

PR - journalists like business owners are time poor these days, media fragmentation has disrupted the industry – which means your approach must be sharply honed

Social - need to take into account where your potential customers are on their buyer journey and package up your content/messages to get their attention at each stage

• It’s a two-way street:

PR- it is possible for marketers to coexist happily with the media - journalists value reliable contributors and having experts on hand they can call on

Social – use the 80/20 rule as a guide to your ratio of providing content around your customers’ issues vs directly promoting your business or services

B2B companies with an active social presence have a greater chance of attracting the broader media, as industry influencers such as journalists increasingly rely on content such as blogs to find story ideas.

Researching and nurturing the best media contacts for your business can be time consuming, so having a specialist PR consultant can be valuable. And it is always a good idea to have a PR on hand to help manage any adverse issues that may arise around your business. Of course any PR expert or social media specialist you appoint should have a thorough knowledge of your company.

You don’t have to be a big business to benefit from using PR as well as social – so don’t miss opportunities to make a mark in your niche – think about how particular insights from your customers could gain traction in the wider media arena.

If you would like to learn how to implement a successful PR & Social Media strategy, get in touch to register for a 1 hour consultation with one of our experts (limited number available per month).

Qualifying prospects via social selling - did they read the info we sent?

I wonder how many times in the last century a well-meaning salesperson has been sent away “happy” from a sales call because the prospect asked them to “send me some information”, and they dutifully email off the company profile and some brochures.

The follow up phone call goes unanswered. How do we know whether or not the prospect actually looked at what we sent?

At Carpe Diem we prefer to talk about social selling WORKFLOWS rather than social media PLATFORMS, but every now and then the capabilities of a specific platform make us sit up and take notice.

We believe that social selling is really about “listening”, “publishing” and “participating in communities” – but tools such as Postwire interestingly deliver the “publishing” piece, whilst at the same time allowing us to “listen” to see whether the prospect is responding.

Postwire involves setting up individual web pages for individual prospects/customers and then posting information within that page that we believe is of interest to them.  The prospect/customer accepts the invitation to review the page (and is free to review the information we send to them) which we can regularly update over time.

What a great situation to be in if the prospect/customer accepts our Postwire invitation. We can regularly update the information contained in our Postwire page, with that page wedged into our customer’s browser’s bookmarks.

If we’re smart, we’ll AVOID putting information about our company and our products - information which frankly is extremely BORING to our customers.  We could however provide thought leadership pieces, case studies, checklists etc – using content marketing principles to position ourselves in the minds of the customers.

The trouble is, how do we know if they’re reviewing the stuff we serve up?

What’s great about Postwire (and other platforms such as SlideShare that has similar functionality) is that it reports back to us on whether or not the customer accesses our information. Furthermore, it tells us which pieces they access and when, as well as a convenient form for them to provide us with feedback.

In summary, if we accept that the knowledge as to whether or not a customer reads what we send them is a valuable qualifying tool, why wouldn’t we use these sorts of platforms to deliver information to customers rather than just “email it out”?

To learn more about social selling and how to increase your sales by using social media, attend our full-day training bootcamp: Leveraging social media for sales success, taking place in Sydney (Oct 2013) and Brisbane (Nov 2013). 

Digital Marketer of the Future – 4 trends disrupting the way we work

By Melanie McKinney, Marketing Consultant at Carpe Diem Consulting. 

Last week's blog was all about the exponential change that is effecting the Digital Marketer of the Future. This week's blog is all about the 4 trends that are disrupting the way we, as marketers, work. 

1. New customer journey

• Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)

Before consumers are purchasing, they use the web to talk to peers and find out information about the product or service they are thinking about buying. Find out more here: Zero Moment of Truth. 

• Consideration of Omni-channel rather than Multi-channel.

Multi-channel means different messaging comes from different channels all around the same product / company.

Omni-channel means a unified customer experience that acknowledges the different ways the product is marketed and purchased. All channels need to be fully integrated.

• Mobile landscape shifting rapidly

- In 2013 mobile internet usage will overtake desktop usage
- Australia has 2^nd largest mobile penetration in the world
- 41% use mobile as primary device for accessing social networking sites
- 36% use mobile as primary device for search
- The scariest thing about these facts are that in Australia, people spend 30% of media time on their mobile but the advertising industry is spending only 0.001% of their budget on mobile.

Impact?

• It’s never been more important to understand HOW your customers buy and how that changes your strategy. This effects B2B too – they way your customers buy has changed. You can learn more about this at our How to get on your buyer’s shortlist event, taking place all over Australia.
• It’s never been more important to understand how marketing activity translates into business objectives.

2. Social reengineering

• Social media shouldn’t be about “media” (which media platforms you use), it’s now all about the “social” part.  It is about changing the whole company’s relationship with consumers.
• Australians spend more time on social networks than anywhere else in the world. This creates a huge opportunity for marketers whether you are B2C or B2B. If your company isn’t social, you will miss out on sales.
• Read about the first crowdsourced Nissan Z

Impact?

• Collaboration is essential to make your company social. Cross-functional teams with shared decision-making.
• Marketers should stop trying to “own” social media and get everybody in the business involved. They should manage this process and facilitate this process – not get in the way.

3. Multi-screening  

Multi-tasking is standard.

 

80% use smartphones while:

• watching tv 48%
• using internet 34%
• watching film 29%
• playing video games 16%
• listening to music 46%

 Plus:

• People under 30 years old can do 5.4 things at once
• People who are 40+ can do 1.2 things at once

Impact?

• Are you just promoting your products / services on one screen or are you building multi-screen experiences for the multi-screen consumers? 

5. The Singularity

Ray Kurzweil (The transcendent man): “Technology is progressing at such a rate that it will intersect and surpass the processing power of the human brain”. He predicts this will happen 2029.

Scary stuff? It’s actually happening.

Examples:

• Connected devices - Evrythng
• Smart technology – Start Cap and Outback Steak House birthday chair 
• Wearable technology – Neurowear   

Impact?

• Are you building a culture of experimentation in your company?
• Have you found the right partners?
• Are you ready to fail sometimes?

 Panel pointers 

A few key pieces of advice from the panel experts:

• John Batistich - Director of Marketing - Westfield Group
• Matt James - Managing Director - Mi9 Media
• Niall Mckinney - CEO - The Knowledge Engineers

What skills do people now need?

• Businesses need their teams to collaborate; marketers now need deep technology skills and a large mirage of skill bases including sales, technology, and analytical skills. Matt James.
• Skills are only part of the mix. Test and learn with a sense of urgency and have the ability to take people with you. Encourage curiosity, creativity and imagination – this will allow you to adapt through this change. John Batistich.
• Digital is no longer a department. Data and data scientists are now no longer a small group of geeks – they’ve gone mainstream. John Batistich.

How to find people with this kind of talent?

• Recruit through social networks. There’s been a big change in the way we recruit from recruiting only when we need it to on-going recruitment so we create a talent pool or a talent pipeline. Create relationships now, then when / if a role comes up, you’re ready to go. John Batistich.

How to get your senior management to build this culture?

• Find out who the blockers are and who needs to be convinced – then use doses of fear (to motivate) change. John Batistich.
• Talk to them in their own language – make it highly practical and highly relevant to their business. Don’t talk blue sky and make sure you empathise with their concerns. Overusing fear can disable change too. Niall McKinney.
• Quantify it – can we afford to lose $20M if we miss out on an opportunity? Matt James.

If you work in B2B ICT and you think you / your company needs help addressing some of the issues above, download our related whitepapers on the topic. These are all specifically created for B2B ICT Sales and Marketing staff. You can also use our useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of your content marketing program against the needs of the modern B2B buyer.

To learn more about the new customer journey, come to our How to get on your buyer’s shortlist event, taking place in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne which is aimed specifically at B2B ICT Sales and Marketing Directors. Spaces are limited so register today.

Digital Marketer of the Future – exponential change

By Melanie McKinney, Marketing Consultant at Carpe Diem Consulting. 

I went along to the Digital Marketing of the Future event last week - run by the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) and The Knowledge Engineers.  We were presented with insightful and forward-thinking content and a view we could not complain about (the venue was the top of Sydney Tower with panoramic views)! This week's blog is all about the changing digital landscape and will be followed next week with a blog identifying the 4 key trends disrupting the way we work. 

Speakers:

• Sam Yorke –  Acting CEO & Head of Regulatory Affairs - IAB
• Niall McKinney – CEO – The Knowledge Engineers 

Panellists:

• John Batistich – Director of Marketing – Westfield Group
• Matt James – Managing Director – Mi9 Media

The changing landscape

With statistics such as “Digital ad spend is about to overtake free-to-air TV” and “182% increase in mobile ad spend growth from 2012 to 2013” – it’s clear that the way marketers are interacting with their customers is changing – and this applies to B2B marketers too. This is partly due to the changing ways consumers (and businesses) purchase products. The progression and adoption of Digital – whether it’s simply Google searching or advergaming – has changed the way customers purchase forever. 

To set the scene, Niall McKinney, CEO of the Knowledge Engineers (and my brother!) shared a very thought-provoking quote from James Cameron who spoke with the Editor of one of TKE’s products (12ahead.com). He said: 

 “All the skills I have learned as a young film-maker have changed. Each tech skill I learned at the time is obsolete. But I am not obsolete. We created a brand new toolset to expand what we can do as story-tellers”.

Exponential change examples

“The computer in your cell phone today is a million times cheaper and a thousand times more powerful and about a hundred thousand times smaller” (than the one computer at MIT in 1965).

1. The average number (across all categories and all industries) of sources consumers use before making a purchase:

• 2010 it was 5.2
• 2011 it was 10.4
• For B2B businesses, the numbers are likely to be on the higher end of this spectrum. When a business is parting with a large amount of money they do their homework – and may have multiple people working on this homework at one time (as opposed to one consumer looking to buy a new teapot).

2. Volume of mobile data used by the average person (in the world) every year:

• 2010 it was 55MB
• 2011 it was 150MB
• 2012 mobile internet overtook fixed line in India (and in China this year).

3. Some 90% of the world’s consumer data was created in the last two years. The majority of this data is unstructured.  

What does this means to marketers and how we do business?

• Skills: The world has changed and our skills as marketers have to change with it. We are not obsolete – but we need new skills to keep on top of these changes.

• Speed: We need to be able to quickly change our business models and marketing / sales practice when it’s needed - rather than following fads.  

• Change: We need the ability to change - in our own roles and in our companies. Our places of work have to nurture this.

If you work in B2B ICT and you think you / your company needs help addressing some of the issues above, use one of our self-assessment tools to identify where your weaknesses are. These are all specifically created for B2B ICT Sales and Marketing staff: 

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of your content marketing program against the needs of the modern B2B buyer.
2. Assess your business to see if social media is being used to maximise your marketing & sales outcomes.  

To learn more about the new customer journey, come to our “How to get on your buyer’s shortlist event” taking place in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne which is aimed specifically at B2B ICT Sales and Marketing Directors. Spaces are limited so register today.

 

How to get on your buyer's shortlist - 5 key insights

By Melanie McKinney, Marketing Consultant at Carpe Diem Consulting. 

Last Wednesday (29/05/13) was the first instalment of our ‘How to get on your buyer’s shortlist’ roadshow which is taking place in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane over the next two months. 

The roundtable took place over lunch for just 15 handpicked people from the B2B ITC sector and was led by Bruce Rasmussen, Founder and Managing Director of Carpe Diem Consulting. 

If you would like to attend the next roundtable, please register here. You can also download our relevant whitepaper ‘“5 tell tale signs your sales team don’t know how buyers buy” or talk directly to one of our expert consultants about our sales training courses.

1. We don’t sell how buyers buy.

The most effective way of showing how out of sync the sales process is with the buyer’s journey is this useful visual diagram we put together in 2011 which has only got more relevant as time has gone by. 

 

 

 

How to tell if you / your company is not selling how buyer’s buy:

1. Lower margins and win rates based on late engagement

2. Not enough “fresh” opportunities

3. You provide solutions to problems that may be misdiagnosed

4. You rely on building relationships to win deals 

5. Marketing generates leads – and throws them over the fence to sales

2. Identifying sales triggers

“Sales triggers” are the events that happen to buyers that move them from “calm” to “loss of status quo”.  This generally signals the start of a new buying journey.

Top 3 triggers:

1. Bad experience with current supplier

2. Awareness of need to change – to avoid a problem

3. Change of company or job role 

Download some free chapters from the book that defined “sales triggers” here.

3. Listen for sales triggers

If we can “listen” to hear when a buyer has experienced a sales trigger, then we can reach out to help them – well before our competitors. 

There are an array of tools and methods to listen to for sales triggers: 

1. Bad experiences 

• If people are unhappy with their current supplier – they talk – people love to complain when things aren’t going well!

• You can watch your prospects / clients on Twitter e.g. search for complaints such as “mobile phone network rubbish!” or “printing company sucks” etc.

2. Awareness of need to change / problem

• When buyers first recognise they have a problem, they will generally type their problem into Google – to see who else has that problem, to find out how to fix it etc.

• We want our websites packaged with the keywords used when customers type their problems into Google – we want them to land on our page (SEO).

• Customers will also often share their problems with their peers in online groups and forums – we need to be there listening and ready to help. 

3. Change of company or job role

• Interestingly buyers often buy something when they have a new company and/or job role

• Keep an eye on your prospects and clients so you never lose track of where they are

• IKO-System accesses your LinkedIn profile and sends you an alert every time someone on your “watch list” moves company or job.  

4. Sales profile types who can create sales triggers

Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson from the Corporate Executive Board report in their book that there are 5 main types of sales people. Which one can you identify with? 

The hard worker

• Always willing to go the extra mile

• Doesn’t give up easily

• Self-motivated

• Interested in feedback and development 

The challenger

• Always has a different view of the world

• Understands the customer’s business

• Loves to debate

• Pushes the customer

The relationship builder 

• Builds strong advocates in customer organisation

• Generous in giving time to help others

• Gets along with everyone 

The lone wolf

• Follows own instincts

• Self-Assured

• Difficult to control 

The problem solver

• Reliably responds to internal and external stakeholders

• Ensures that all problems are solved

• Detail-oriented

Only one of the above can truly create sales triggers – the Challenger. These sales people focus on pushing customers' thinking, introducing new solutions to their problems and illuminating problems customers overlook.  Instead of listening for sales triggers – Challengers create them. 

5. Shattering the status quo

Be different - TEACH

• Offer insight that no others can
• Communicate – and foster communication

Be knowledgeable - TAILOR

• Know what the customer values
• Know what drives the customer’s success

Be assertive - CONTROL

• Discuss the money
• Keep the customer moving

Next steps

If you want to know more about the buyers journey and other topics raised in this blog, register now for our ‘How to get on your buyer’s shortlist’ taking place in CBD Sydney July 30. We are bringing the roadshow to Brisbane and Melbourne in July too, so if you’re interested in attending or co-hosting, please email me.

Carpe Diem Consulting has a range of training and consultancy packages based on all of the topics raised in this blog. Our model has been tried and tested hundreds of times with some of Australia’s leading ITC companies such as Microsoft, Optus and CA Technologies. Some of our most popular courses in 2013 include:

• Social media for sales training

• Content marketing training

• Sales process development training 

• Challenger sales training 

Contact me for more information on any of these training courses. 

Are we marketing and selling so that we follow the B2B buyer's journey?

B2B buyers have fundamentally changed how they approach the purchasing process.

They are time poor and risk averse - but also (due to the internet) enormously well informed.

They resent our "interruptive" marketing approaches such as advertising, cold calling, direct (e)mail etc - and they don't trust our salespeople.  They are more than happy (in fact demanding) to do their own research, and then call upon us as vendors and service providers when they are ready.

With social media they can reach out to friends, experts - in fact anyone interested - and get detailed feedback on the problems they're trying to solve, the solutions they're investigating, and who to purchase them from.

What does this all mean for our demand generation and sales efforts?

If we accept that we should be aligning our sales and marketing efforts with the buyer's journey, we should compare this journey to our current sales funnel.

Comparing the buyer's journey to our sales process

The above graphic shows a typical sales process (blue), and the typical buyer's journey (green) (NB - full disclosure - I have no doubt my green representation of the buyer's journey is plagiarism - I've seen something very similar before, but I can't remember/find the source.  Apologies if I've copied your work without reference - and if anyone knows the original source please do let me know so I can update). 

B2B buyers don't just wake up in the morning and say "I must go out and buy something" - they only need to buy something once the have a problem, or they recognise the opportunity to grow/improve.  In other words - their status quo is shattered.  When this happens, in over 90% of occasions they will go to a search engine, and type in words associated with their problem - just to see who else has had the problem, what they've done about it etc.  At this stage they DON'T know what sort of solution they want - they're just trying to frame the problem in their heads.

By searching online, however, they start to frame the problem, and start to come up with categories of solutions:

SEARCHING AROUND PROBLEM -> CATEGORISING PROBLEM -> FRAMING SOLUTION

I can't pay the bills -> I have a cashflow problem -> I need to buy an overdraft from the bank

I'm falling behind my competitors -> I keep bringing new products to market too late -> I need to buy collaboration software so my product development team can work better

My sales staff keep resigning -> I'm not doing the right sort of professional development -> I need to buy a sales training program

If we are unaware that the buyer has a problem and that therefore their "status quo" has been shattered, then the buyer will proceed along a path of researching their options via search engines, framing the problem they have and hence choosing a category of solution - and will then use social media to reach out to colleagues and respected experts to discuss the best solution, and who to purchase it from.  The problem for the selling organisation is that there is only a small likelihood that the buyer will CORRECTLY diagnose their problem - and then arrive at what they believe the BEST solution to be - and then ring US to engage with us to hopefully purchase our solution.

If we are not "listening" online - and/or if we don't have an inbound marketing strategy attracting buyers to our website - then the RED arrow in the diagram above will prevail: if we find out about the buyer at all, it will be after they have already framed their problem, solution, and narrowed down their list of prospective service providers.  It's very hard to influence the sale at this stage - low percentage return in competing head on with other sales organisations that the buyer may also have contacted.

We need to move from the "red line" to the "green line", which represents early engagement.

So - the question is - how can we be alerted to the fact that a buyer's status quo has been shattered AS SOON AS THEY START SEARCHING AROUND THE PROBLEM?

Getting buyers to find us when they're not looking for us

One approach is to use search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques so that - when the buyer does hit the search engines - a page on our website comes up at the top of the list.  This means that your website should NOT be dominated with stories about your company or your products - it's unlikely that the buyer with their new problem will search for us!  THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW YET WHAT THEIR PROBLEM IS!

What is important is to outline all of the phrases that you think the buyer might type into the search engine straight after discovering they have a problem - and have a page on your website for each one (see 1st case study in this series).  (And - yes - my website is being rebuilt as we speak!)

The SEO game has changed only recently, with the Google's and Microsoft's of the world changing their search algorithms to - in particular - incorporate social media.  Well researched keywords are no longer enough - our ability and intent to engage via social media is also now critical.

Being where buyers are

Social media extends to us - and B2B buyers - the opportunity to instantly relate to a range of peers and experts, to discuss problems, talk about solutions etc.  The concept of an online "community" is particularly popular, and is championed by the Linkedin's of the world via their Groups construct - or indeed communities can be purpose built to attract specific participants.

In terms of the buyer's journey - by joining or forming groups where our target B2B buyers "hang out", we will be on hand to hear when they're having a problem, as they discuss this within the confines of a forum. Important rule, though, is NOT to "sell" - buyers resent this.  Rather - we should provide advice and content to the buyer to assist them frame their problem and identify a solution.  If we're seen as "helpful" and "expert", they'll approach us - we won't need to "sell".

Using social media to "listen" for "sales triggers"

"Sales triggers" are things that happen to buyers, that shatter their status quo.

The excellent book SHIFT! explains that there are 3 types of sales triggers:

1 - An unsatisfactory experience with a current supplier (with Twitter being a huge source of expressed disatisfaction)

2 - Some sort of problem in their business (FOCUS an excellent example of a site dedicated to getting problems solved)

3 - A change in job role, or indeed company (B2B folk like to put their "mark" on a new role - with Linkedin automatically sending us these details direct, or conveniently collated by new sites such as IKO System).

However we do it - if we can be alerted to these sales triggers, we have the opportunity to engage early, which has always been the cornerstone of successful selling.

How many opportunities are you missing out on, by waiting for the buyer to contact you after they've diagnosed their own problem, and BY CHANCE has been given a recommendation to contact your organisation?

Facing facts - sales people can't be trusted

I'm facinated by the dramatic changes in behaviour of B2B buyers, and in particular their increased use of social media to seek opinions from peers prior to approaching sales organisations.

I see 2 key drivers for this: - a lack of trust in the motives and behaviours of salespeople, and a resentment of the behaviours of marketing managers who focus on "cut through", in essence "throwing rocks through buyers' windows".

This (deliberately inflammatory) post hypothesises that sales people can't be trusted - and probably revives many archetypal views of "the sales person".  My background is the IT industry, so I will use this as well as B2B in general to illustrate the points made.

My generalist - and admittedly inflammatory - statement is that as a community salespeople are not trusted. In his book "The Speed of Trust", Stephen M R Covey advises that trust relates to BOTH character (ie intent, integrity) and ALSO credibility (ie capabilities and results).

So - where's my proof?

IDC's 2010 Buyer Experience Study reports that, on average, 50% of sales calls are made by IT sales reps that are insufficiently prepared. Unlike professions such as medicine, accounting, law, many trades - sales lacks any rigorous or widely recognised accreditation dictating entry to the profession. Particularly for IT channel members sales must be one of the few jobs where you can walk in, earn over $100k per annum, with little or no training. Frost & Sullivan in 2006 documented that the 1st and 3rd highest market restraints in the Enterprise Content Management market were "difficulty in understanding business benefits" and "mismatch between business needs and solutions offered". These factors related directly to sales person performance. There goes "capabilities".

Results. I have no formal statistics on the number of IT projects that "fail", but the number is not negligible, and the consequences are high. In my home town a $64m public health payroll implementation has failed - and will take $209m to fix.  No doubt a sales person was responsible for early reassurances that this project was actually on track.

Intent. Predominantly IT sales people are bonused on orders, revenue, margin etc. There's minimal focus on recommending the right solution, successful customer outcomes etc. Temkin Group reports the 5th highest organisational obstacle to great customer experience (all industries) is "lack of incentives & rewards".  Sales people are goaled on "making the sale" - not specifically "solving the customer's problem".

Integrity. Look no further than feedback from sales teams themselves. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management (#2, 2009) cites studies where 49% of sales managers surveyed report their salespeople had lied on calls, 34% report their salespeople had made unrealistic promises, 22% report sales of products that customers didn't need.

I'm obviously trying to be provocative here - but I'm convinced the growth (for example) in social media usage by B2B buyers reflects an accelerated shunning of salespeople, and moving to talk more with trusted peers prior to engaging with vendors and channel members.

So - comments please - how widespread is distrust of sales people - and what should sales and marketing professionals do to address the situation?

Social media, the myths of B2B marketing & understanding why buyers buy

The explosion in social media - with B2B buyers actually outpacing their B2C counterparts in uptake - reflects a massive change in buyer behavior.  To remain relevant and hence effective, B2B marketers need to understand these dynamics, and similarly adapt their behavior.

A great research report into how business buyers buy reveals some myths that mislead B2B sales and marketing efforts, namely:

1. The best product always wins
2. The playing field is level
3. The world is your market
4. Face-to-face doesn't count any more
5. Buyers are rational
6. Every purchase is researched
7. You can recognise a qualified lead.

Instead of the rule of strict financial and non-financial business cases, irrationality rules.

And what causes this gap between "rational" purchase decision making, and the "real world" experience?

Buyers are nervous - they don't trust marketers and salespeople - and they are driven by making sure they DON'T make the WRONG decision.  The internet now provides all the information they need around sellers' products and services, reputation etc - so whereas salespeople once provided this information, the sales function is now disintermediated and salespeople need to wait in line until the buyer is ready to contact them.

A key theme in this report is that "B2B buying is all about risk avoidance".  IBM used this with great success, coining the phrase "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM".  A sellers' tactic - creating "Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt" (ie FUD) - even has its own wikipedia page.

GIven this nervousness - and the lack of trust in traditional sales and marketing approaches - buyers turn to people they know to seek opinions on what to buy, and from whom.  Internet based social media tools simply allow buyers to do this:

• with immediate feedback
• from a broader audience unconstrained by existing personal relationships
• because of this broadness from an audience that is more expert ie having a higher likelihood of having had the relevant experience to help any individual buyer

These myths have been recognised in various B2B sales methodologies such as Solution Selling which focuses on removing buyer pain points - even urging sales resources to create anxiety within buying groups to further their cause.

(Interestingly, even risk avoidance can be overridden, as noted in the Strategic Selling methodology which talks about the necessity to create "personal wins" for all involved in the buying decision.  At time of writing even Barack Obama is questioning the wisdom of the FIFA decision to award the rights to host future World Cups to Russia and Qatar, with FIFA's own technical analysts rating Qatar's big in particular as the most risky. [DISCLOSURE: my home country Australia was an unsuccessful bidder for the 2022 World Cup hosting rights.])

(Also - ironically - whilst the internet is providing more feedback to buyers to point them towards trusted advisors, it is also making them even more nervous about poor purchasing decisions.  In my home state of Queensland in Australia there is public outrage throughout both online and traditional media on a debacle associated with rolling out a new payroll system for the State's public hospital system.  For months doctors and nurses have been getting the wrong pay - or no pay at all.  The State Government has announced a program to fix this that it estimates will cost AUS$209m - the system cost AUS$64m to implement - the fix will cost over 3 times the initial cost! The original buying group will no doubt be exceedingly risk averse moving forward!)

So - what to do if we're in the B2B sales and/or marketing game?  We need to recognise that buyers will turn to sources they trust before they turn to us.  Therefore - quite simply - we either:

• need to be a trusted source that they can find, or
• need to be seen as a trusted source by someone the buyer will turn to.

B2B social media strategy flows from these 2 points, and future posts will discuss how we can make this happen - will elaborate on why sales people can't be trusted and what we can do about this, and also elaborate on why traditional B2B demand generation programs essentially involving throwing rocks through people windows, which understandably buyers are tiring of.

What steps are your organisation taking that ensure you can be found when the B2B buyer needs you - and that when this happens you're seen as credible, based on how you've influenced that buyer's peers?