It seems almost daily that I have a conversation with technology marketers about whether or not they should publish pricing on their websites. I’m an opponent of publishing pricing for one simple reason; it will lose you website conversions.

Here’s why…

Say you are researching IT storage arrays and are familiar with the leading mid-tier players like Coraid, EqualLogic, Lefthand, Nexsan, etc. As you visit each vendor’s website you know there is much more information available in various forms than you could possibly review. So, to shorten your vendor list you decide to look for solutions that only fit in your budget.

So far, so good….

Most of the sites you visit have no way for you to easily request pricing without filling out some ridiculously long Contact Us form (you have a small voice inside your head saying “your request is very important to us and if you fill out this form we’ll be sure NOT to get back to you in a timely manner”). You move on.

Finally, you land on a site that surprises you. You search for “pricing” in their very own site search box and wham-o….you get to a hidden page that tells you the price for that particular system. You’ve just run across what I call a Lose-Lose for the vendor but a winner for the visitor. The visitor did not have to give up any information to get the pricing; good for them, but bad for the vendor marketing team and their B2B lead generation efforts.

This creates a Lose-Lose because if the end-user CAN afford the price they see then there is no reason to contact you. They have what they need to continue on their search. If they CANNOT afford the price, they may not realize that it is overbuilt for their purpose so they to will not contact your sales team.

The bottom line is that pricing is valuable to an early-stage end user, publishing it is like throwing marketing dollars down the drain.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Lead Conversion // Comments Off

Benjamin Franklin was a man of action. Over his lifetime, his curiosity and passion fueled a diverse range of interests. He was a writer (often using a pseudonym), publisher, diplomat, inventor and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

His inventions included the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove. Franklin was responsible for establishing the first public library, organizing fire fighters in Philadelphia, was one of the early supporters of mutual insurance and crossed the Atlantic eight times. Self-development was a constant endeavor throughout his incredible life.

Benjamin Franklin was clearly a man who knew how to get things done.

Here are 14 action-inducing lessons from him:

Less Talk, More Action

“Well done is better than well said.”
Talk is cheap. Talking about a project won’t get it completed. We all know people who constantly talk about the things they are going to do but rarely ever take that first step. Eventually people begin to question their credibility. Taking action and seeing the task through to completion is the only way to get the job done.

Don’t Procrastinate

“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”
This is probably one of the first quotes I remember hearing as a teenager. With an impressive list of achievements to his credit, Benjamin Franklin was not a man hung up on procrastination. He was a man with clear measurable goals who worked hard to turn his vision into reality. What are you putting off till tomorrow that could make a difference in your life today?

Be Prepared

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
You need a plan to accomplish your goals. Charging in without giving any thought to the end result and how to achieve it, is a sure way to fall flat on your face. Think like a boy scout. Have a realistic plan of attack and a systematic approach for getting where you need to be.

Don’t Fight Change

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”
Whilst many of us don’t like change, others thrive on it. Either way change is inevitable. The stronger we fight against it, the more time and energy it consumes. Give up the fight. Focus on proactively making positive changes, instead of having change merely thrust upon you. Wherever possible, try to view change as a positive instead of a negative.

Get Moving

“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.”
There’s a reason we use the expression, movers and shakers. Movers are the ones who take action, the people who get things done, while the immovable are sitting around scratching their heads wondering how others could possibly be so successful. Which group do you want to belong to?

Avoid Busywork

“Never confuse motion with action.”
We are always running around doing things. We rush from one meeting or event to the next, sometimes without achieving a great deal. At the end of the day, how much of our busywork are we proud of? How much of that running around improves anyone’s life (including ours) for the better? Make your motion mean something.

Give Yourself Permission to Make Mistakes

“Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.”
If we fear making mistakes, we become scared to try new things. Fear leaves us nestled in our comfort zone. Staying in your comfort zone rarely leads to greatness. Taking risks and giving yourself permission to make mistakes, will ultimately lead you to whatever your version of success may be.

Act Quickly on Opportunities

“To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.”
Opportunities are everywhere. The trick is being quick enough and smart enough to seize them when they arise. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that something won’t work or can’t be done, allow yourself the freedom to ask what if?

Continue to Grow

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”
We all have vices of some description. The key is to keep them under control or preferably eradicate them entirely. Be kind to those around you, whether they are neighbors, family, co-workers or friends. Never accept that you have finished growing as a person.

Keep Going

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
Have you ever looked at a successful entrepreneur or business person and thought how lucky they are? Most of the time, luck has nothing to do with it. Hard work and sacrifice on the other hand have everything to do with it. Successful people deal with failure. They tackle their demons head on. They pick themselves up and keep going.

Know Yourself

“There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.”
Understanding ourselves is not easy. Sometimes we just don’t want to see ourselves for who we really are. It’s much easier to hold onto a romanticized version of ourselves or to simply view ourselves through other people’s eyes. Start by being brutally honest with yourself. Follow through with understanding, compassion and acceptance.

Don’t Self-Sabotage

“Who had deceived thee so often as thyself?”
We spend so much time worrying about other people hurting us, yet fail to comprehend the damage we inflict on ourselves. If you are using negative self-talk, lying to yourself or indulging in addictive behavior you are self-sabotaging. Life can dish up enough challenges without us adding to the mix. Be kind to yourself. Treat yourself like you would a best friend.

Don’t Give Up

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
Achieving our goals can be downright exhausting. There will be days when you want to give up. There will be times when your energy levels flatline and you wonder why you bother getting out of bed. Yet you push forward, day after day because you believe in yourself and you have the determination and strength to back up that belief.

Wise Up

“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.”
Benjamin was definitely onto something with this one. Who hasn’t had the thought - I wish I could know then, what I know now? Unfortunately there is no time machine; there is no going back. The key is to wise up as early as you can to start forging a life of purpose, achievement and happiness.

By Thea Easterby, a freelance writer. Her blog www.writechangegrow.com offers inspiring tips on writing, career change and personal development.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Fun, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation // Add Comment »

I just finished reading Zero Time Selling by Andy Paul, which was selected as one of the top 3 sales and marketing books in 2011. The book details 10 essential steps that can accelerate sales for companies large and small.

The book is refreshingly simple to understand and focuses on several concepts that will give sales professionals immediate results. It got me to thinking about how our clients can employ Andy’s concepts to sell more effectively using EchoQuote™.

MILT and EchoQuote™

The central take away for me from the book is MILT, which is an acronym for MAXIMUM IMPACT in the LEAST TIME possible. There’s nothing that will increase your sales faster and we all want faster sales.

They key to MILT is RESPONSIVENESS.

Here’s the golden formula:

RESPONSIVENESS = CONTENT + SPEED

For any business the speed of selling is inextricably linked to responsiveness. Why is responsiveness so important? It’s simple. If you’re a seller and your prospects, or buyers, as we’ll call them, are working their way, step-by-step, through their decision-making process (otherwise known as the buying cycle), they won’t move on to the next step until their information requirements for the current step are completely met. Without responsiveness a sale, or a buying cycle, will come to a screeching halt.

Andy continues….

Responsiveness is composed of two elements: content and speed. A quick but incomplete response to a customer’s question is the same as no response at all (eg. an auto-response “thank you” for filling out a request form is not what a prospect wants). A complete but slow response to a customer is marginally better than no response. This has always been the case, and today it’s more true than ever. Given the trove of information available on the Internet about every type of product and service, if a buyer still has a question for a seller after doing their online research, then their need for an answer is, by definition, urgent and critical.

Think about MILT and EchoQuote™ in these circumstances.

1. CONTENT - In a MarketingSherpa study of B2B buyers, the #1 piece of information they want in the first step of the buying cycle (”Awareness” phase) is budgetary pricing.

Prospects don’t want to waste their time talking with a sales person or attending a Webinar when they are just starting to research a solution. They want to simply understand if they can afford it before they commit their time. That’s why generic “Request a Quote” or “Contact Us” forms don’t work very well.

2. SPEED - An MIT study on B2B buyer behavior shows that you lose a prospect’s interest after just 5 minutes of them waiting for a [pricing] request.

Your sales team needs to have the tool(s) to receive, research and satisfy a prospects request for pricing, anywhere, anytime, within 5 minutes. That’s where EchoQuote™ comes in.

Here’s how a typical MILT transaction happens with EchoQuote™

1. EchoQuote™ empowers end-users to create their own quote requests via a link on the client’s website
2. The requests are routed instantly to the appropriate sales team members
3. Within seconds they can research the requester and make an approval decision
4. If approved, the budgetary quote is sent back to the waiting prospect immediately

The customer gets the exact content (budgetary pricing) they want faster than they ever imagined. Sales gets a high-quality, inbound lead and can follow-up easily. The whole cycle takes less than 5 minutes.

Now that’s MILT to the HILT!

This is just one of the many golden nuggets in Andy’s book. Whether you sell widgets, digits or time, get a copy of Zero Time Selling and start selling in Zero-Time! Your customers will thank you.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Lead Conversion, Zero-Time Selling // Add Comment »

This is a special post for LeadLifter clients currently using our EchoQuote™ lead capturing solution who want to maximize their marketing and sales results. My thanks go out to dozens of contributing customers that have helped us design and shape this process. If you are not an EchoQuote™ user, many of these concepts still apply because the goal of responding quickly to website visitor requests should be a goal for every B2B company.

What is a Red Zone Response plan?

Do you have a formal process for how to handle incoming B2B leads from your website or blog? Most marketers do for leads generated from traditional, non-selective calls to action like Whitepapers, Webinars and Contact Us forms.

But what about specialty Calls to Action like EchoQuote™ where the sales team, not marketing, handles and approves the requests?

Since EchoQuote™ captures serious, early stage prospects, they need to be handled by sales quickly, within 5-10 minutes if possible. To make this happen consistently, we’ve developed a process we call our Red Zone Response plan. This article explains why it’s important and how to implement it.

Why a Red Zone Response plan is critical for EchoQuote™ leads

Inbound leads captured by EchoQuote™ are not your typical marketing leads. For the 60,000+ that we’ve captured thus far, we know that they are generally much better qualified and most share the following characteristics:

• There is a real project underway
• The project is in it’s early stages
• The decision criteria has not yet been defined
• Budgetary estimates are in flux
• Potential vendors are not yet engaged

Early stage prospects that have real projects underway are exactly what most B2B sales teams are looking for. These inbound leads are not “ready to buy”, they are “ready to design”. Although they have not formally reached out to the sales team and are engaging with us indirectly via a quote request, we can connect and engage with them IF we understand their position and give them what they want.

What you need for this Red Zone Plan

As I mentioned earlier, this is a specific plan for sales and marketing users of LeadLifter’s EchoQuote™ service. You will need, at a minimum, the following:

• A current, active EchoQuote™ instance running
• Link(s) from your website to EchoQuote™ (see samples)
• One or more designated Sales reps to receive the EchoQuote™ requests
• Email and Web access via iPhone, Blackberry or any smart phone is highly recommended but not required

Speed is the key to earning trust

The Red Zone Response plan focuses on the first 30 minutes following an inbound quote request from a prospect. It begins when a prospect responds to a “Self-Service Budgetary Pricing” Call to Action on your site and completes the EchoQuote™ process. The EchoQuote™ system will send your designated Sales rep(s) a special email notifying them of the request.

The clock is now ticking….

There are 2 critical steps in the Red Zone Response plan:

1. Deliver exactly what was requested within 5 minutes
2. Follow-up within 20 minutes and open a dialogue

Step 1 - Deliver exactly what was requested within 5 minutes

This one sounds easy but can be tricky because auto-responders don’t count. Sending an email saying “Thank you for your request and someone will contact you shortly” is a slap in the face. You might as well tell them “We don’t care that you are interested in our products, we’re too busy finding new customers.”

Sales reps using EchoQuote™ only have one decision to make; “Do I approve or deny this request?”

Since everything has been pre-loaded and automated by EchoQuote™, the Sales rep does not have to spend any time putting together a budgetary quote. They simply need to use the tools that are readily available to research the requester QUICKLY, and make that decision.

Who should approve the request?

The best way for organizations to handle this varies but in our experience you do not want to designate someone who will be a bottleneck. We have seen Sales managers try and manage these requests but are soon overwhelmed because of their other responsibilities. It may make more sense for the Sales manager to control the process initially to get a feel for it but then assign the duty to one or two designated inside sales people.

If a Sales manager holds onto or ends up denying these requests because they are too busy, then the process will fail. The end-user must get their requested budgetary quote quickly for Step 2 (engagement) to work.

Assuming the requested quote in Step 1 has been approved within 5-10 minutes of the request (and delivered by the EchoQuote™ system), a sales person simply follows up within 20 minutes to start the sales process. The danger here lies in how sales follows up; this is where most companies blow it.

Some companies have their sales rep(s) pick up the phone and call the prospect and it completely backfires. If a prospect has requested something via EchoQuote™, then the next thing they are expecting is to ACTUALLY receive the quote. Respect their wishes and resist the urge to call them. Nothing grates on a serious prospect more than a hollow promise on a website followed by a phone call from a “helpful” sales person. If they wanted to talk, they would have called.

Step 2 - Follow-up within 20 minutes and open a dialogue

Instead, have the Sales person respond with something like this:

Hi Jim,
My name is Dale with LeadLifter. I approved your quote request and it has been sent. This is a courtesy follow-up to make sure you received it. If not, please check your spam filter.

May I ask you one question?

Have you defined the requirements for your XYZ project, or no?

If you are just beginning to research solutions, we have compiled a “Top 20 Customer Requirements List” from our hundreds of customers and would be happy to share it with you. Just reply with “Send me the top 20 list” and I’ll send it over.

Thank you for your interest in WWW.

Now, think about your own experience as a consumer. First, wouldn’t the quick response to your request make you start to trust them just a little bit? Doesn’t the follow-up email give them a “human” quality that seems easy to do business with?

The reason we know this sequence works is because we have tested it. Over the past 4 years we have processed over 60,000 of these requests for sales and marketing clients. Through trial and error, we’ve shaped and honed the method and have discovered that there are no short cuts.

Red Zone Response Wrap Up

We are all consumers. Many of us use the web daily to research and make buying decisions. We want information on our own terms and we don’t want to be bothered by sales people or worse, being promised something and not getting it.

Creating a Red Zone Response plan can give forward thinking companies a competitive edge. By acting on a prospect’s request quickly and respectfully, we can build a larger sales funnel and close more business. Engaging early stage prospects with EchoQuote™, we can help establish the decision criteria, add more value, and sell our solutions at better margins.

Tags: B2B Marketing // Add Comment »

We are in the process of rebranding our EchoQuote tool into a broader company we’ve dubbed LeadLifter. EchoQuote is a good name for our lead capturing tool because it attracts our customer’s customers when they visit our client’s websites. The name EchoQuote, however, did not resonate with OUR prospective clients; B2B marketers. EchoQuote will continue to be the tool name under the LeadLifter umbrella so nothing will change for our existing clients.

How we got to LeadLifter using LinkedIn

Instead of embarking on a secret campaign of finding a new name, we decided to come up with a basket of potential names and then put it out into the marketing community for feedback. It was a bit risky but we pre-bought several domain names to make sure we could get the name we would ultimately choose.

We posted this on LinkedIn in the B2B Technology Marketing Discussion Group:

“Help us name a new company, watch it get built

We are starting a new “umbrella” company and need help naming it from the tech marketing pros here.

Our current problem is that we are using one of our tool names as the company name and it confuses our target clients. The tool will become one of several offerings for this new, high-level company.

Since companies these days must have an internet presence, we are limited by the names we can register. Here are our choices so far:

ActiveFunnel
ConvertandSell
EchoLeads
FunnelMax
FunnelSage
LeadLifter
TwinFunnel
VortexBuilders

and a few other derivatives…

The value proposition for the future company is: “Our solutions maximize your marketing team’s efforts and supply your sales team with quality leads, fast. We do this by helping B2B marketers capture more high-quality leads from their existing websites quickly and inexpensively. We then help deliver those leads directly to the sales team for quick response, shortening the sales cycle and increasing sales. ”

Our target client is a VP/Director of Marketing and/or Sales of a mid-sized B2B company; generally technology based.

We want to choose a name that implies: action, fast, quality, lead conversion, funnel building, sales opps, etc.

The company is yet to be built. We’ve been agonizing over choosing the right name and I thought “go to the pros”. I’d rather use this method to get better feedback than a simple poll (which we will probably do once we get to a short list).

Of the name choices above, which would catch your attention? Which sound corny?

Suggestions and input will be greatly appreciated!”

The Response

LinkedIn members immediately began commenting on the posted names and came up with some terrific alternatives. There was considerable disagreement on several points but everyone backed up their positions with good data. We ultimately chose LeadLifter because it truly reflects what the new company does for its clients. Our flagship offering is our Lead Launch Program, a fixed price lead generation service that runs for 90 days.

Whether you are considering something major like rebranding or rolling out a new service, consider using social media channels to help guide you in the process. It worked for us!

Here’s our new LeadLifter logo with associated tagline “Maximize Marketing. Boost Sales.”

www.LeadLifter.com

Tags: B2B Marketing, Fun, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation, Podcasts, Social Media // Add Comment »

We’ve been searching for a tool that would help our B2B clients gauge the strength of the call-to-action offers they provide on their websites to assist with b2b lead generation. It seems everyone pulls from the same basic offer set including whitepaper downloads, webinars, newsletters and free trials. But how strong are they and what other lesser known options are out there?

In our search for a tool we turned up empty, so we decided to create one ourselves. It’s called OfferGrader™ and it is in it’s infancy right now. The idea behind it is to not only provide an “Offer Grade” and compare it to others in the same industry, but to include advice from well-known B2B experts. We have a half-dozen or so in the fold but are always looking for more contributors. Check out the Affiliates area if you are interested in participating as an Expert.

Give it a shot….it doesn’t require any email address or personal information. We are in data gathering mode!

Tags: B2B Marketing // 1 Comment »

There is no doubt content drives sales interactions. When a prospect encounters a business issue and starts researching a solution, the content prepared by vendors is critical. Whether a potential customer uses Google, Bing, YouTube or even social media for initial research, those vendors with fresh, pertinent content get the first shot. The question is, will the anonymous blog/site visitor think the content is really that new?

With modern marketing in overdrive to generate content, an interesting phenomenon is taking shape: content is becoming stale instantly or, to put it in cool, modern terms “at the speed of Now”.

That new whitepaper is powerful and will no doubt remain pertinent for an extended period of time. However, to the Marketer that created it, it feels outdated the day after it was written. Why? Because there are probably dozens, if not hundreds of others on the same topic…just a search away. The content “treadmill” is a hungry beast that demands constant feeding.

…and speaking of treadmills…I’d like to close with an example of what I believe is happening in modern content marketing using a classic cartoon from my era…The Jetsons.

Warning: Watch Speaker Volume!

Remember this scene?

The Jetsons was a classic space-age cartoon created at the height of our Apollo program. In the closing credits, George (the customer) is going to take Astro (the Marketer) for a walk. Using a space-age treadmill they begin a casual stroll together.

Soon, however, Astro becomes fixated on a Cat (new content) and begins chasing it relentlessly. In seconds, George the Customer is trampled under foot and completely forgotten. It’s a classic scene but unfortunately may be playing out far too often in B2B marketing life.

If you are a content marketer, enjoy the chase!

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation // 1 Comment »

Are you an IT Storage Marketer looking for disruptive ways to boost lead generation for your sales team?

If so, you need to check out David Lamont’s (MarketingSage) review of using EchoQuote™ to convert website visitors into actionable sales opportunities.

Why Storage Marketers should care about David’s opinion

David is a long time sales and marketing veteran of the data storage industry. I’ve known Dave for several years and met him through his MarketingSage work at Texas Memory Systems (TMS), a leading manufacturer of enterprise class Solid-State Disk arrays.

David was responsible for coordinating and executing various marketing campaigns fueling TMS’ explosive growth and about 3 years ago they decided to try EchoQuote™. After the initial successful trial, Dave went full steam ahead and used EchoQuote™ as one of the calls to action on virtually every campaign type you can imagine; online (website conversion), direct mail and even print advertising. I’ll let him tell you about the results.

While both Dave and Agnes are too modest to promote their storage focused marketing expertise, I have no such restrictions! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with them and have learned a lot along the way. If nothing else you should connect with them on linkedin and share your thoughts.

David Lamont

Connect with Dave on LinkedIn

Agnes Lamont

Connect with Agnes on LinkedIn

From their new storage marketing resource site “Storage Marketing”:

“We offer a blend of knowledge that combines marketing expertise, product knowledge and decades of experience in the data storage and data management realm of the IT sector. We have been marketers, product managers, and executives for vendors such as IBM, Seagate, EMC/Legato as well as smaller firms. For the past decade or so, we have been retained (through our agency, Marketingsage) by clients in a variety of emerging to medium sized companies who are involved in delivering hardware or software products that deal with the storage or management of data.

David and Agnes are partners in Marketingsage, a full-service marketing agency that’s helped clients make millions in new revenue by generating sales leads, building brands, launching new products, and establishing new sales channels. We’ve achieved that at about 50% of the cost of adding to payroll or using typical agencies by developing a more effective way of providing all the services of a larger marketing department including: Strategic Planning and Process Design; Advertising; Press Relations and Analyst Relations; Internet Marketing; Direct Marketing; Sales Lead Management; Channel Marketing; Event Management; Graphic Design; Copy Writing; Video Production.”

Tags: B2B Marketing, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation // Add Comment »

As I prepared to head off to the AA-ISP Leadership Summit in Minneapolis next week I was cleaning out the email inbox and came across a digest with a post from Matt Heinz of Heinz Marketing. Phenomenal stuff Matt!

Since our audience next week will be Sales Leadership folks, I wanted to guest post this timely article written by Matt.

Six ways to get your sales reps back above quota

In any given month, nearly every sales organization has someone under quota. Sales is a difficult job, and even the best reps have bad months or quarters. But if you have a rep in a prolonged slump, here are six things you can do to help get them back on track and above quota.

Focus on the numbers
Start with a bottoms-up review of their pipeline, and be as empirical as you can. This template for a weekly meeting with inside sales reps, for example, demonstrates how you can start with closed business, work back through pending opportunities, and continue to get more granular and tactical until you find a specific area for deep dive and improvement.

Focus on what they can control
It’s not productive to complain about lead volume, lead quality, market conditions, outdated collateral, or any of a myriad things outside of your and the rep’s control. Instead, focus on what they can control, starting immediately and every day. Activity volume, outbound calls, crispness of presentation, lead follow-up, etc.

Compare current and previous habits and performance measures
Athletes in a slump review video of themselves when they were “in a zone” to identify what they were doing particularly well (and may have stopped doing or adjusted since then). Salespeople can do the same thing, and you as a manager can help them. Look at their performance habits when they were at the top of their game. Not just funnel metrics but attendance records, follow-up rates, presentation close rates, etc. Figure out the right mix of measures for your business and sales floor, and look for what’s changed.

Peer shadowing
Have a trusted colleague shadow the rep for an hour or so - watch their activity, listen to their calls, sit in on a new presentation. It’s often difficult to pinpoint on our own what we’re doing wrong, but someone else (who isn’t living it minute-to-minute) can often spot these things quickly - especially when they’re filling a similar role next to you.

Deal walkthroughs
Take a particular opportunity in the slumping rep’s pipeline and walk through it in detail. Where did it come from, what are the prospect’s needs, how are they qualified, what are the next steps or roadblocks to moving forward. Sometimes this level of detail can help identify something that can not only kickstart that particular opportunity, but give the rep the confidence and momentum they need to push back up to their normal performance levels.

Evaluate effort, attitude and drive
Great salespeople go through slumps. But there’s a difference between someone who’s giving it everything they’ve got and those who are mailing it in. Look for signs that your reps might have a decline in motivation, initiative or passion for what they’re doing. The source of this could be inside or outside the organization, but either way it’s affecting their performance. Help identify and resolve any issues as best you can (without crossing any HR lines, of course).

Use positive reinforcement & constructive feedback
If a slumping rep isn’t trying hard and isn’t responding to the above steps, they might be on their way out the door. In every other case, they feel awful about their numbers. They know the organization isn’t happy with them, and they’re equally unhappy with the paychecks they’re taking home. Have some sympathy and empathy for these individuals, and make it clear that you’re equally committed to helping get them back on track.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales // 1 Comment »

As a follow-up to a recent piece I wrote about why prospects want pricing first, I found an interesting article by Dave Brock and supporting article by Ardath Albee.

Dave Brock, President and CEO of Partners In EXCELLENCE, just wrote a good piece on his Partners in Excellence blog titled, Price is Never the only decision criteria!. As a top sales consultant, Dave has been encountering an increasingly number of clients’ reps that cite Pricing as the first thing customers want to know.

Here’s a short excerpt:

“I have to admit being a little frustrated. Over the past two weeks, I must have done a couple of dozen opportunity reviews and deal strategy sessions.

‘Tell me something new, price is always an issue. It may be their top issue, but it is never their only issue! What other things are they going to base their decision on?’ Over 80% of the time, I get blank stares. ‘We don’t know, they keep focusing on price.’ is the response from the sales person.”

As sales professionals, we have all dealt with the occasional customer that seems keenly focused on price and won’t focus on anything but price until they are satisfied. This used to be rare but is now becoming the norm, even for traditionally complex products and services that must be configured to solve a specific problem.

Solution or Price - which comes first?

It seems we have hit on the proverbial “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” problem. How can a rep give a price for a complex solution if the customer hasn’t yet disclosed what they perceive the solution to be?

I am seeing an increasing number of top-earning sales and marketing folks discuss this trend.

Ardath Albee recently wrote an article One Content Asset Can’t Do Everything that included the following:

“We’ve got to talk to them about pricing first. Otherwise they’ll think they can’t afford our solution and they won’t engage.

* Context > Understanding > Interest > Confidence > Engagement”

Solving the problem of customers asking for pricing

I disagree slightly with Ardath’s “Context > Understanding > Interest > Confidence > Engagement” model only because some of the steps require a potential customers TIME, and time is valuable. Content is certainly king but the volume of content around each and every solution may simply be overwhelming the interested prospect.

What many may be reading as an obsession with Pricing may actually just be an initial filter to reduce the number of solution providers that can be considered. If a prospect can use budget fit and eliminate some of the potential vendors then they can do a “deep dive” on their short list choices. Putting this in the context of Ardath’s model, I would simply insert a single, additional step called BUDGET FIT, like so:

Context > BUDGET FIT > Understanding > Interest > Confidence > Engagement

It may sound crazy but how can we ask prospects to spend their valuable time learning and researching our solution unless they know they can afford it?

I believe many sales consultants are misreading the statement “the customer is only interested in price” as meaning the customer already knows what he wants. In fact, customers are still receptive to sales people that can help them and they will engage much easier if they know their time is being spent on an affordable solution.

One way to accomplish this without over- or underestimating a potential solution is to provide “sample” pricing of other projects. This would not be an apples to apples comparison but rather would satisfy a prospect’s need for pricing so they could then focus on their needs.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales // Add Comment »