The most important metric, from the company’s perspective of course, is ultimately the profitability of a marketing program. This holds whether it’s an in-house telemarketing program, a direct mail program, trade shows, SEO, a drip campaign, or an outsourced telemarketing campaign. Getting a positive…
Genuine lead generation takes time and costs money simply because a qualified lead often requires that the prospect express a desire to take action (e.g. talk to you). Going from a list of names (which may have cost something to acquire in the first…
Because there is so much confusion in the market about this, we need to talk about the definition of a sales lead. We will go into this in greater depth later, but it is important to define a lead in the context of the…
In the face of these increasing demands on salespeople, most companies are simply giving up. Many companies don’t even bother trying to train their salespeople to know or do anything more than the minimum, usually product training, that they need a salesperson to know…
As we discussed in another article “Companies Expect a Lot from Their Sales People”, the fact is that most people, and therefore most salespeople, simply can’t do all those things discussed therein. This is one reason why we instinctively think of different qualitative “levels”…
Most companies expect their salespeople to act as the primary interface with the customer, particularly when the customer is still a prospect. Salespeople are expected to find the prospect and initiate the relationship, introducing themselves, their company and its products. They’re supposed to establish…
If you’ve been in sales for any length of time, you’ve no doubt heard the saying that “nothing happens until somebody sells something.” Attributed to Jim Barksdale, it’s a source of pride for salespeople who understand the true value of what they do. It…
The fact is that a sales and marketing program can work if you use the right strategies and tactics, strategy and tactics that are valid for your unique situation. To be sure, what most people think of as marketing, lead generation, and even sales…
An effective Marketing and Sales Program can mean the difference between failure and success for your business, as illustrated by just a few examples: We helped an early innovator in IP security systems increased their sales from less than $1 million per year to…
Executive Summary For companies that sell their products through VARs, distributors or manufacturers reps, the initial savings and easier entrée into the market that they provide are attractive. But channel partners often require handholding, and you can give up quite a bit in margin….