Category Archives: CRM

Speak to Me!

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Jean asked, “Should I hire a receptionist or a phone answering service?”

“What did you tell her?” said Gail.

“It depends.” Speak to Me!

“Hold on theah, Slippery, thas your answer to just about anything it seems to me,” said Rob, our loveable branding behemoth from the peach state. “Just what does it depend on if you please?”

Kate jumped in before I could say word. She said, “I can tell you what he’s going to say, Bubba, because I’ve had this discussion with him a couple years ago. I can’t swear to the statistics but he made a pretty good case for having a human on the phone, particularly for a small business like mine. As I recall

  • Somewhere north of 75% of all callers that get an answering machine hang up.
  • Nine out of ten customers that get a machine in business hours think you are too small to do business with.
  • About two thirds of people will immediately call a competitor if a human doesn’t answer.

I said, “You didn’t tell them the most important reason to have someone answering the phone…you can’t afford to miss a call, especially if you look at the average value of your proposals.”

Chris pointed out, “You didn’t really answer Jean’s question: Should she hire a receptionist or an answering service?”

“True,” I responded. “A start-up should definitely look at hiring an answering service. Later, when they can hire a receptionist, assuming there are other clerical activities that person can perform you should look at keeping the answering service on.”

“Wait a minute,” Chris said. “Did you say keep them on?”

“Yes,” I said. “the fact is that if you operate like Kate and a number of consultants I’ve worked with, you will have people calling in anywhere up to three hours ahead or behind the local time zone you operate in because you work with clients or prospects across the USA. In addition, if you are connected on multiple continents you need to worry about what day it is as well as what time.

Over 85% of the times someone might call are outside the time a receptionist is in the office! The beauty of an answering service, a good one, is that you can get coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On top of that, if you need to gather data for a form or other information a good service can handle it. There are even services that can set telephone appointments for you when someone calls in.

I did a little on-line research to be sure I gave Jean today’s facts. The numbers Kate quoted are still true. Here are a couple others I found that make it a good idea to work with a telephone answering service that is human:

  • 80% of callers that get a machine will not call back (and that percentage is increasing).
  • 73% of callers answered by a human will not call a competitor (but you have less than two minutes to have someone knowledgeable on the line to handle their questions or arrange for someone to call them back).
  • A study from the UK indicated that a human answering every call could increase sales by 25%.

So I believe that it is a worthwhile experiment to try using a human based answering service and carefully monitoring the change in acquisition of new business and retention of current business. The probabilities are: up to a 25% increase in acquisition and assuring between 60 and 70% retention.”

 

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and the unruly mob of business development professionals he consorts with. They discuss marketing that works from solopreneur to enterprise level. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and “Watson” of the dialogue.

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 25 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

 

 

 

Personal Touch Breakthrough

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“Once again a blast from the past takes over!” I said as I slid into my seat for lunch with the rowdy crew of business developers I’ve become the Watson for.

Personal phone calls build digital businessGail, our copywriter par excellence took a sip of iced tea and replied, “Can we assume that this has something to do with your choice of a topic for the day?”

Kate, the sales consultant sneered, “Yes, do tell. We’re all atwitter.”

Rob, who we call Bubba because he hails from Georgia, said, “Y’all are a cranky bunch today. Give the man a chance to ‘splain himself afore you go flingin’ him into the briar patch.”

“Thanks Bubba,” I said. “You know how we all get those heavy duty pitches from guys trying to sell us on line sales and SEO  expertise and products and you name it? Well I look at some of it but this last video really threw me. Usually these guys are all about on-line and they’re as personable as a loan shark looking for a past due account.”

Chris, the Digital Director said, “Whoa. Not every on-line business is that way. The truth is you have to offer some value or you will soon be out of business. You know that. You helped me when I was doing my entrepreneur thing.”

“My point is,” I said, “that because about midway through a video presentation that had some good stuff in it I was astonished when three of the experts being interviewed talked about how they experimented with personal touch in their on line businesses. What they tried was:

  • Hand written thank you notes to everyone that signed up for a free trial for an App. That more than doubled the conversion from trial to paid membership.
  • Personalized 30 second videos maintained that increase but cut the time needed per touch from five minutes to a minute or two.
  • A one-to-one text e-mail that is not generated by an auto responder started a dialogue that allowed a merchant to discover things about how his product/service is received and used. It proved to be a huge value for the next version.
  • You can use You Tube to put up an unlisted video. Then you send a link to the customer. They never forget.
  • You can overcome cart abandonment using the telephone. If you use a two-step sales approach (Contact info entered separately from Credit card) you can easily see who leaves without buying. Once a day or so, simply call those folks and have a conversation with them. You don’t sell, you just listen to the problem they have and let them know how your product can help them. This approach generates 12% to 30% additional sales.

Rick, our direct Marketing guy who really understands process said, “Let me sum up:

The Takeaway:

Customers do not want to be treated like numbers. They want to connect with a human being that understands their problem, relates to it and is really interested in them as a person. That pays off in increased sales.”

 

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and an unruly mob of business development professionals. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly plus creative thinking to find what works. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and “Watson” of the dialogue.

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

 

 

3 Automated Marketing Assumptions You Cannot afford

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Marketing automation 3 woesKate’s phone announced a new text message as our sales consultant took her seat.

“So help me if I could get my hands on this guy I’d throttle him,” she said.

Bubba, the branding Bhudda, said “What’s stuck in your craw?”

“Assumptions,” she replied. “I’m ticked off about the bad assumptions made by you automated marketing proponents. You give sales a bad name because you refuse to engage!”

Chris, the digital director said, “Kate, engagement is what it is all about. The more we engage the less sales people have to do to make the sale.”

“I can’t agree” I said. “I’m with Kate on this one. You know I believe in Automagic Marketing but that comes with one piece of advice most of the automated marketing doesn’t seem to take into account yet.”

Gail asked, “What’s that?”

“The world has changed,’ I said. “The customer controls how they access your information and how they move from problem to solution but most importantly they don’t like you thinking otherwise.”

“You got that right,” said Kate. “This Twit is a perfect example. I responded to his assistant’s request for some information as they wanted me to write some articles for them. One of the items I had to fill in on the form was my Cell phone number. They told me I had to respond to a text message immediately to finish the process. I couldn’t get the message because I wasn’t carrying the phone. People assume that because they have cell coverage where they are that it is the same way everywhere. Here in the west you can drive for four hours in some places and never find a signal!”

“That,” I said, “is costly assumption number 1: There is cell phone coverage and therefore sms everywhere and all my actions should be mobile oriented.”

“I’ve got one,” said Gail. “Have you ever noticed how the stuff you’re getting in your e-mail is so obviously oriented to someone that is not you and they don’t seem to want to learn about you? I try to get as much knowledge about the prospect as I can when I’m writing content pretty much what the folks sending out this stuff are doing. But I also know that other people have different needs wants, desires and knowledge levels about what I’m selling. I try to always give them options on how to learn more and how to get the information.”

“So I hear you saying that costly assumption number 2 is: Every customer journey is the same so only one path of information is required even though customization is easier than ever.”

“Hear, hear,” said Rick. In my direct marketing business it is difficult to get clients to shift their thinking from the behavior they believe prospects should exhibit with what is actual. Many times they are more concerned with click through rates button color and cart abandonment than how many people actually entered their funnel. As an example, some insist that all transactions must be on line.”

“That’s crazy, “said Chris. “I learned early on that some purchases require a telephone discussion with someone knowledgeable in the products or services. You have to have someone that can hear what the prospect is saying and respond in a way that moves the sale forward. Customization is part of it but the sales person still has to connect.”

Kate said, “I couldn’t have said it better.”

“That,” I said, “brings us to costly assumption number 3: With automated marketing, all the sales person has to do is take the order.”

The Takeaway

  • Automation is good.
  • Automation with customization can be great
  • Automation with customization and real connection is unbeatable

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and a group of business development professionals. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly plus creative thinking to find what works. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and secretary of the dialogue.

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 25 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

3 Secrets to Linked In Success

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Linked In SecretsAs I sat down, Kate, the sales doyen was saying, “It is amazing what you can do with Linked In! I use it to research companies and prospects and build my perceived expertise and all sorts of things.”

Rick asked, “Care to share?”

“Allow me my direct marketing friend,” I said. “I’m always curious about how folks use social media tools. I wrote a primer for my clients on Linked In mostly about how to get started. Here are the three things I said were essential:

  1. Build a great Profile that includes your key words and start adding connections.
  2. Select some groups and participate.
  3. Research people, companies and prospects you find interesting and follow them.

Kate clapped her hands and said, “Way to go for the basics, big guy. Anybody have advice on the profile part first?”

Chris, who makes his living as a Digital Marketing Master, said, ”Remember that anyone searching you on linked In has one of two attention spans:

  • As long as gnat in a windstorm if they are scanning
  • As long as it takes to read it all if they really want to know about you… the kind of research I’ll bet Kate does.”

Branding Guru Rob (who we all call Bubba) piped up, “So you’d best ‘member to give folks a reason why to learn more with the words right behind your name.

“Good point Bubba,” said Kate. “I’m going to read that piece that Fletch wrote for the profile part. What about the part they call interests on linked In?”

Gail said, “I’m a writer, I like to know what they are calling things so I opened it up on my laptop. Under interests it has: Companies, Groups, Pulse and Education.

“Let’s stick with groups,” said Rick. “Do I want to go with peers or prospects? Do I even have to choose one or the other?”

“Kate,” I said, “let me take that one. I say both. If you do only peers it can wind up like you’re talking to yourself but you do need to know what is going on in your profession. Prospect groups can give you insight into what they want from people like you and whether or not they have problems you can solve… for a fee.”

“I agree,” said Kate. “The only way to determine which groups to join is to look at them. Look at the number of posts and comments and frequency to decide which ones merit your attention. Then get involved. You can set notifications from for every discussion to daily or weekly summaries.

Gail asked, “What about research?”

“Pull up my profile,” Kate responded. Notice that there are entries in just about every category they provide. Notice, too that the words sales, sales consulting, sales training and other sales references occur throughout. (Sign up to get your copy of the Networking Ninja Beginner’s Guide to Linked In.)

That gets people to come to me. But when you are looking for information you can use  just type the search term into the search box at the top of the page. A person’s name or a company name is where I usually start. Once you get to a person’s profile you’ll be able to learn more than you ever thought possible. Where they went to school, how they got to their current position, even how you might be connected.

Every person I know uses it slightly differently but there is no longer an excuse for walking into meeting with an executive knowing nothing about them.

The Takeaway
Have a complete profile that is consistent with your website, your other social media profiles and causes people to want to contact you.  Engage with the kinds of people that can keep you informed about your profession and may need your services. Be proactive. Look into those that express an interest and build the relationship.

 

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and a group of business development professionals. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly plus creative thinking to find what works. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and secretary of the dialogue.

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

 

Marketing In An Age Of Simultaneity

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“It’s morphing again,” Bubba said as he lowered himself into a side chair.

Robot juggler“You are the branding Guru” said Rick,” but sometimes you are more than a little mysterious my friend. What the heck are you talking about?”

“Marketing and ‘bout everythin’ else,” Rob responded.

“So,” Kate said, “does that include sales?”

Rob drawled, “If you can’t run with the big dogs, these days y’all gonna have to stay on the porch.”

“Rob,” I said, “back up and tell us what got you all stirred up.”

“Look around the table,” he said. “Ain’t a one of you that does just one thing anymore.

Rick is a statistical whiz which is why he’s so good at direct marketing. And on top of that he can network his way to new business pitch standing in line at an airport check in counter!

Gail, writes, edits, teaches others to do it and has been an on-air personality and run a couple of ad agencies.

Kate can consult in a boardroom in the morning and go out and make cold calls with a newbie in the afternoon and then make a speech in the evening.

Chris writes code plus drives a digital marketing team that has built a business to twice what it used to be and he dabbles in real estate because he likes the investment opportunities and making houses better.

Fletch has a degree in design but managed ad agencies and PR firms. He’s an expert at positioning, CRM and automated marketing and speaks on three continents on networking. Somehow he explains what Rick does.

And we are not unusual. Like a lot of folks we do all that stuff simultaneously!”

Gail interjected, “So what is bothering you Rob?”

Rob replied, “Used to be y’all could be a writer or a coder or a single whatever. Today to be say a reporter you have to blog, tweet, video the event or the interview, photograph it, edit it and serve it up in multiple forms all of which require some expertise.”

Kate said, “I see what you mean. Most of us have been successful because we can do multiple things reasonably well rather than just a single thing.”

“But it’s more than that,” Chris noted. “That multiple expertise is what used to make us stand out but I think Bubba is saying that it is now the new marketing norm.”

“Y’all got it,” digital dude. “If you’re fixin’ to get into the business or you are ready to break out you’d best be adding some skills that match up with what you do or take it ‘round a corner folks haven’t connected yet.”

Gail said, “I’ll translate:

The Takeaway

Being good at one thing is not good enough anymore. You need to match your primary skill with a couple more that give you more insight and a greater spectrum of bankable capabilities.

 

This blog recaps the luncheon conversations of a group of business development professionals. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly plus creative thinking to find what works. Jerry Fletcher is the fictions ringleader and secretary.

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Fish Bowl Marketing

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Marketing using a Fish Bowl“So the challenge is to think of a least three ways a small business can use a fish bowl in their marketing,” said Rick, our direct marketing principal.

Kate, ever the sales professional, said, “And the prize is?”

“Lunch on me,” Rick said without hesitation.

Rob, our southern fried branding expert said, “Can I get a piece of that virtuosity?

“All are welcome,” said Rick. “What have you got?”

I jumped in, “How about you put a fish bowl on the counter next to your cash register and collect client cards and then send ‘em e-mails for specials?”

Gail, our copywriter said, “That’s a no-brainer but you also need a guest register for those people that don’t have business cards if you really want it to work.”

“Flip it,” said Chris the Digital Director. “Instead of asking people to put a card in, have them take one out … a coupon good on their return works really well.”

Kate suggested, “Work out a deal with a non-competitive store on the other side of town and each of you offer coupons for the other’s store. It’s a cross promotion.”

“Okay,” Rick said, “so far we have:

  • Business card collector
  • Coupon dispenser
  • Cross promotion coupon dispenser

Seems to me those are all kind of the same.”

“But Branding has not yet spoken,” drawled Rob “How about a way to use a fish bowl for a B2B business? Heah’s how that works. What you do is you get a nice glass fish bowl—gotta be glass to work right. And y’all get yourself some of those bags of tiny candy bars from a big box store. Then you walk into the front desk of a target account and you say you would really like to meet with the owner or manager but you only have time today to drop off this bowl which you’ll keep filled with candy by stopping in once a week if that’s okay. Then you pour some candy bars into the bowl from a little height so there’s this pleasant clinking noise.

You leave. And in a week you come back and fill it the same way. Nice clinking noise. You get to know the receptionist a little better and you learn a little more about the company. A question or two is never a problem as you fill the bowl.

After doing that for four to six weeks you should have a solid rapport and be able to ask for an appointment to see the owner and the folks in the company that will use your product or service. You have become known as someone who can be trusted because you clinked candy bars into that fish bowl once every week as you promised.

I know it seems like a lot of time, but I guarantee that dog will hunt. It never fails.”

“Bubba, you are one tough act to follow,” I said. “I know that Rick did a mailing once that used a fishbowl to sell medical practices on having aquariums in their waiting rooms. As I recall, a box arrived with a fish bowl and the next day a delivery person brought a live gold fish. Each time there was a note that talked about tranquility in the office and a request to present some research on how patients responded to aquariums on waiting rooms. A telephone call requesting a meeting with the office manager and the managing doctor followed.

Have you ever noticed how many aquariums there are in doctors and dentists offices?”

The Takeaway:

A simple fish bowl can receive, give, send and intrigue. It’s all in how you look at it.  How do you find a way to see a greater potential?

This blog recaps the luncheon conversations of a group of business development professionals. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly plus creative thinking to find what works. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and secretary. look into his products at www.Z-axisMarketing.com

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Passion of Pursue

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Passion of PursueI said, “A Linked-In contact in the Middle East described her ongoing education saying, “rather than pursuit of passion, I like the Passion of Pursue :).”

Gail, our writer, replied, “The tenses and words are all twisted around but there is a beauty in the comment.”

Rick, ever the practical direct marketing guy surprised us all saying, “There is something magical in what she is observing.”

“Magic?” questioned Rob.

“Magic.” Said Rick. “All of us spend our days working on ways to build our client’s businesses. They expect us to be passionate about it. But we can never be quite as passionate as they are. And as much as they think that for us it is all about the money. It isn’t.

For us the passion is in what we are doing. It is about psychic rather than physical rewards.”

Surprisingly, Kate, the tough sales consultant was nodding in agreement.

“How often,” she said, “have each of us admitted that we would do what we do even if we didn’t get paid for it. Ours is the passion of pursue… getting it done, making something happen, wanting to make the world a better place.”

“That reminds me of Steve,” I said. He was flat broke when he came across an article in the paper. By the time he realized what was happening he had started what will become a charity. It has a crazy name: Carbon Sucking Trees. Take a look at the website. He’s done all this work with no hope of a personal payback. It’s the Passion of Pursue.”

“Carbon Sucking Trees,” mused Rob, our branding guru. “That is one of the weirdest brand names I’ve ever heard. I’m not going to ask, I’ll just go to the web site and figure it out. But I have to tell you this playful approach to words is one of the techniques commonly used to position and brand products and services. Here are some examples:

  • Famous:           The Uncola for Seven Up
  • Not so famous: The Untangler for Shell Tain a money consultant who is one of Fletch’s former clients
  • Sorta Famous: Digimarc (the name Fletch came up with for a “digital watermarking company”
  • Not so famous: KDI Americas (Fletch suggested adding the ‘s’ to broaden the scope of a company already known in Asia and Africa which was moving into this hemisphere. It worked.

I responded, “Bubba, you are kind to use examples from my portfolio. I do appreciate it. But I’d like to get back to what Rick and Kathy were saying. I agree that the true professionals in business development do it for more than the money. They are passionate about it, but it is the results that gets them involved.”

Chris, the digital director said, “Then how come the very best cost so much more than others?”

“They do and they don’t,” I said. If they are good at what they do, they are always working. They have less time and because of that they raise their rates. And the world knows they are good at what they do and more people are eager to work with them. That cycle repeats and repeats. But they are still intrigued and if you can lay a problem in front of them that gets their interest the price to you might not be as high.

The Takeaway

Don’t be put off by your fear of the cost of an expert. That expert may get you answers much, much faster. More importantly, if your problem is intriguing they will give you value in multiples of what you pay. And, should you catch them at the right time, their advice may cost nothing yet be the best you will ever receive because theirs is the passion of pursue.”

The lunch bunch is a group of marketing and sales professionals that meet for lunch each Friday. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly but mostly what works. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and the one that writes up their comments. Sign up to get updates on all their discussions at www.JerryFletcher.com/profit

 

Jerry Fletcher has been researching and implementing marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

CRM and a Grain of Sand

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Little things mean a lot in CRM“Little things do mean a lot, ” I said as I took a seat at the Friday lunch gathering and passed out copies of my year end thought starter:

“Take a single grain of sand. It’s the most common element on earth. You can find it on every continent. And not just along the shores. It is at the heart of each computer and just about every permanent structure that serves mankind.

A single grain is virtually invisible…unless it happens to be the mote in your eye.

In that case, that single well-placed speck is the most important thing in your life. That tiny messenger, by being in the right place, can demand all your attention. Nothing else can get your undivided focus until you have removed it.

One small particle can capture if not captivate you.

A handful can demonstrate human nature. Think back to the last time you scooped a handful of sand up and poured it from hand to hand. Wander down memory lane to the beach and cupping your hand to hold as many grains as possible. Remember what happened when you squeezed it. Do you recall how it first squirted and then dribbled out between your fingers and how much less there was when you again cupped your hand?

Customers and prospects, family and friends, staff and employees are all like that handful of sand. The harder you squeeze the less you have. The more you put pressure on them the more they stream away from you.

An open caring relationship keeps more of them with you.

Can there ever be enough? Each of you must make that decision. But the more there are, the greater the risk of losing some through inattention and the vagaries of the winds of time.

Think about that picnic on the beach when the breeze picked up. How about the first time you saw a sand dune. Stop now and consider the number of grains that there were in that dune you climbed. Imagine stacking them up to get someone’s attention. What do you see in your mind’s eye? Do you see the dune or the grains? Your business, your career and your life are like that. Each action, every statement as well as any and all your behaviors add to the stack, grain on grain, until people see the combined aspect.

That shifting, wind-sculpted mass is your persona. It’s the face you present to the world, at once ever changing and yet the same. It is your achievements taken together, which are perceived.

You, your career and your company are the sum total of your deeds and those of the folks you draw around you.

You can choose to be a mild irritation blown helter skelter by each passing breeze or
you can add a little water, some lime and cement and have mortar.

Mortar. With it you can lay brick on brick and build strong and straight and tall. Suddenly the world sees you differently. You’re no longer a drifter. You’ve settled. You’re going to make something of this choice you’ve made.

But be wary. You must mix well to make sure the edifice stands. Too little sand or too much and the hold on the bricks crumbles.

Better perhaps to add some chunks of rock to the mix and fill a form with the amazing material the Romans discovered and named.

We call it concrete. It is a reasonable symbol of how a business or a career or a life can be built that will last. One of the Roman’s aqueducts still carries water to Rome centuries after it was built. It was conceived by engineers and constructed by men proud of their craft. It was a joint effort. No single individual could claim all the credit.

Yes, some took more risks than others but all acknowledged it was a group effort.

They, like we, were and are interdependent. Today that interdependence is global. The World Wide Web is allowing more of us to be swept along together than ever before.

The Takeaway:
The grains are accreting.

Some are trying to squeeze profits from them. Others see only the encroaching dunes. This Age of Access is still in flux. Nothing, as yet, is cast in concrete.

Only the sands of time will tell.”

Each week Jerry and his rowdy but experienced crew of business development consultants gather for lunch and a discussion of what works, what doesn’t as well as the good, bad and ugly marketing and sales they have observed during the week. Yes, their conversation will be back next week. Sign up to get your copy of every blog here.

Jerry Fletcher is a Networking Ninja, Marketing Rainmaker and a CRM Magician. Learn how he answers the question “What do you do?” View the video on his home page at www.JerryFletcher.com

View videos of him speaking at www.NetworkingNinja.com

A Nudge Is Not A Call To Action

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Wake up! Call to ActionThanksgiving weekend. The plane was full. He collapsed into an aisle seat pulled his ball cap down over his eyes, lowered the seat back and in seconds was in deep slumber.

When we pushed back from the gate a flight attendant tried to wake him. Three times she nudged his shoulder and said “Sir.”

It didn’t work.

Then she whispered in his ear, “Honey, wake up!”

He startled and came immediately awake.

The ladies of the lunch bunch snickered and the guys looked puzzled.

I said, “It is not an uncommon problem. Sometimes, no matter what we do we can’t seem to get their attention. The answer is in finding the emotional hook that penetrates deep into their psyche.”

“A female voice. An intimate name. A command.” Rick, our Direct Marketing wizard noted. “That, my friends, is one delicious call to action. It works because it operates way below the logical level. It taps into the old brain, the one that causes us to bolt and run at the appearance of danger or to leap up to rescue the maiden.”

“You might could say that stewardess got that fellow’s attention,” said Rob. Rob looks like the Gerber Baby after about 50 years and is our bouncing branding expert. He went on, “Much as I preach at y’all about branding this is one of those areas where I stand in awe of folks like Rick. When you have to make the sale in print or on the air or on-line knowing how this sort of thing works is worth every penny ya’ got to pay for it.”

“Thanks, Bubba,’ said Rick.

“If you two start holding hands I’m going for an ice bucket,” said Kate our sales doyen. “So why did you bring this up Fletch?”

“Because I was trying to figure out how to help an acquaintance in an Agency in China who had noted a sales problem in his operation. He and his sales manager were concerned about the necessity of making a bunch of cold calls and having to generate lists of folks to call on. This is a digital agency that landed a few whales to get started but now those projects are running out and they are discovering that professional service businesses, like agencies, need rainmakers.”

Gail our resident copywriter and editor piped up, “And they need to know how to network to new business.”

I said, “The way you do that in my book is:

  • Go where the money is
  • Sell what they want to buy
  • Do it again.

That works in all businesses not just professional services but the key to get the contract is to find that emotional hook that pushes the new prospect to take action. My acquaintance understands nurturing a market for a client but doing the work got in the way of finding a way to sign up new business. ”

“And the moral to that story, “said Rick, “is that no matter what business you are in the call to action is critical. If you can’t get them to move you have no business. Even in business to business situations an emotional hook performs better than anything else. Always.”

Jerry Fletcher focuses on making the techniques of enterprise level marketing available to entrepreneurs, professionals and small businesses. His consulting website is www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry speaks professionally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic internationally. His speaking website is: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Marketing Is The Pour Not The Funnel

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Marketing is the Pour Not the Funnel“Big business or small business marketing is not a funnel,” I ranted as we took our seats.

Kate our sales doyen said, “The whole thing of getting people to buy has been called the sales funnel for years, why are you arguing with the obvious?”

I said, “Because it isn’t.”

Rob, the rotund branding Buddha, asked, “What isn’t?”

“Marketing is not the funnel. It is the pour, I said.

Five voices said in harmony, “The pour?”

“I think about Small Business Marketing all the time. One of the confusions that has occurred as we’ve seen the world move toward digital marketing is the integration of automated marketing and sales force contact management systems and what are now called contact relationship management systems. Marketing, Sales and Customer Relations are all being knotted up in a single system so the boundaries keep getting confused,” I said.

“I thought you liked integrated systems,” said Rick, our go to guy for direct marketing.

“I do,” I said, “but when sales expects marketing to hand them leads so qualified a rookie could close them something is wrong with the system and when sales pushes the maintenance of a relationship off to customer service…”

Kate pounced saying, “What is your problem? Sales is responsible for hitting higher quotas every year. We have to make sure we’re closing all the time. Now you have the tools to do the nurturing you need to do to get us good leads. What is your problem?”

“My problem,” I said, “is the same one that marketing departments and agencies and consultants all have. The expectations of corporate America have shifted to make us responsible for the funnel instead of the pour. Before, our job was to pour as many folks as possible into the sales funnel. We were always pushed to qualify them as potential customers. But sales had to close them”

“Thas right,” said Rob. All our ads built awareness of the brand, gave folks reasons to prefer the brand and even included offers for more information or free trials. Our job was to pour people into the funnel. Sales had to nurture them.”

“Bubba, I couldn’t agree more,” said Rick. My business is a combination of marketing and sales so we have to understand objections and stalls and all the stuff that a sales person goes through nose to nose with a prospect because we have to deal with it in print and video and you name it. Our job was to pour people into the funnel and move them as far down it as possible either getting the sale or handing off to a sales person.”

Gail said, “But things have changed. Marketing is expected to pour people into the funnel and then do all the information provision, all the nurturing, all the Q & A, all the funnel fact analysis, all the digital body language observation and in some cases even take the orders on line.”

Chris said, “But that is not all bad. My Marketing staff and the Sales staff sit side by side. There is great feedback both directions. We try to be professional about it. Marketing knows that our primary job is to pour as many people as possible into the funnel. And we know that we can help move people down the funnel but sales ultimately is responsible for changing contacts into contracts.

Thing is, we used to fight about the materials and presentations needed and sales would go zooming around completely off the Value Proposition.

Not anymore.

By working together we close faster, easier and more profitably.

Marketing’s job is the pour and to lubricate the customer’s journey down the funnel.”

“I guess I can buy into helping grease the funnel,” I said, as long as marketing is still the pour.”

 

Jerry Fletcher is focused on making the techniques of enterprise level marketing available to small businesses. His consulting website is www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry speaks professionally on networking, marketing and Contact Relationship Magic across the Americas. His speaking website is: www.NetworkingNinja.com