Sales Tip: Preparing for the Sales Call

Sales representatives can improve their preparedness by asking and answering for themselves questions such as:

1. What data might help me engage and intrigue my prospect?

2. What is the main objective of my meeting with this prospect?

3. What possible issues might be influencing my prospect’s buying decision?

4. How can I create desire for my product in my prospect?

5. What questions might my prospect ask me and how will I answer?

6. What hurdles can I anticipate between where the sale is now and finalizing the sale?

7. How will my presentation help my prospect understand the value I offer?

The Top 10 Tried and True Ways to Waste Your Digital Budget

It is planning season -- or it should be. As the summer wanes and back-to-school ads start to turn your head to fall, you can see the coming year looming just over the horizon of holiday glitter. You are starting to think about 2014.

A lot of marketers seem intent on looking for ways to waste their budgets, so as a public service we put together some time-tested ways to reliably ensure that you are wasting your time and money, including:

1. Plan blindly and quickly. Don't consult your site stats or your previous campaign or performance history. What could prior results possibly tell you about the current state? Be sure to condense the planning schedule so that you can't possibly execute anything effectively.
2. Work the wrong metrics. Or no metrics at all if you never agreed on goals or placed and tested the technology to track your success. Consider using multiple, conflicting analytics platforms to measure performance or rely heavily on an individual source of data without scrutinizing the data source or confirming it -- your choice. While you are at it, you should collect a bunch of data that you will never use or can't use.
3. Plan in organizational silos. Don't consult the people who deal directly with your customers because if they are not in your department then they don't know anything. Worse yet, they might have information or opinions! If you have multiple teams with access or impact in a given channel let them all play as they see fit. No need to coordinate.
4. Set it and forget it. Make a plan at the beginning of the year and have confidence that the world will stop spinning, technology advances will stand still, and that competitors and customers are in a permanent stasis. Don't optimize your landing pages, test anything new, monitor customer response, rotate creative, or even read or respond to results - it's a waste of time. At least we think it is, but without data, who really knows?
5. Copy your competitors. Whatever they did last year must have worked great and would work really great for your customers, business model, scale, territories, and budgets. Trying to outspend your competitors as a matter of pride and principle is always a good idea.
6. Be trendy. Come on -- digital marketing is a meme-filled, viral hotbed of new, new, new. Regardless of your audience, history, budget, or goals, pick the hottest trend or channel and throw a ton of money at it.
7. Integration is overrated. Just because your customers are exposed to massive amounts of expensive media across channels doesn't mean you should try to leverage that exposure to more interactive and actionable behaviors and modes.
8. Focus solely on conversions. The rest of the funnel or future conversions are of no consequence. That longer term thinking makes our heads hurt and no one cares about the leads that may turn into conversions down the line when you have already been promoted or changed jobs. Likewise, building remarketing channels or integrating into CRM systems should not be your priority. Let someone else worry about that. (FYI -- it's probably the same poor soul who insists on market or customer research. Let her have at it. You can ignore it later.)
9. Pretend digital is the same as other channels. We heartily endorse using your print ad as an email. While you are at it you should repurpose it to a landing page and maybe an expandable banner ad as well. Just one version -- remember, we're not wasting time to test anything.
10. Ignore lead or customer quality. The quality of customers is theoretical anyway. So what if some customers spend more, talk more, come back more, and have more influence on their friends? If we ignore this we can give our business to the nice vendor who brings those great muffins and generally shortcut our way to those big numbers we are always chasing.

So you see, planning to waste your 2014 digital budget is really not so hard. It takes just a bit of attention to the fundamentals and a commitment to following through on a couple of key principles. If you keep our head down you could have it buried in the sand in no time at all. 

How are you planning to fail this year?

(Source: Robin Neifield, ClickZ, 08/07/13) 

Vine and the Six-Second Video Ad

Twitter's Video Sharing Service, Vine, is Drawing Marketers Looking for an Ad Format That's Catchier Than an Image but Pithier Than a 30-Second Video 

As the number of advertising platforms continues to grow, the attention span of consumers continues to shrink. To keep up, marketers have moved from billboards to online pop-ups to YouTube video messages, experimenting with formats to find the right medium for ad content that holds consumers' attention. Brands have begun asking, "What's catchier than an image but pithier than a 30-second video?" 

A possible answer lies in Twitter's newest investment, Vine. Launched in October 2012 and bought by the social media giant this past January, Vine initially set out to be a mini-video sharing application for everyday users. But it has gained major popularity among advertisers for content marketing and brand promotion, having garnered a total of 13 million users across the globe. 

The app lets you shoot up to six seconds of looping video footage using a smartphone that can be cut up into a handful of short clips, or two to three larger chunks -- just touch the screen to record, and lift your finger to stop. These videos can then be uploaded either directly onto Vine, or onto Twitter as a link, where your followers will be able to see them as expandable links. Some brands have understood the value of departing from the obtrusive 30-second video ad spot, and have condensed their content to suit a more time-sensitive consumer base, giving customers the choice to opt in to watch their ads. Michael Litman, a co-founder of BRANDS ON VINE -- a website that monitors more than 50,000 brands on the platform -- describes Vine ads as "brand blips"; he considers them a strong medium for content marketing because they "(don't) need to be 'watched' to be seen -- there's no decision-making process by the user." 

Publishing house Simon & Schuster -- which didn't have much of a presence in the video ad domain -- took to Vine to give its customers a six-second slideshow of books they could be reading. Burberry spliced together six seconds worth of backstage footage and highlights from a 15-minute fashion show. And Bacardi U.K. produced a series of six-second cocktail-mixing lessons for the platform. 

Vines like these are tweeted on the company's official Twitter page and are then often re-tweeted by fans and followers, creating a snowballing effect. Michael Lebowtiz -- CEO and Founder of digital ad agency Big Spaceship -- calls this the "propagation value" of the app, and says it's a major reason brands adopt Vine. Case in point: Toyota Spain. A couple of months ago, the Spanish division of the giant automaker released a simple stop-motion video of a paper-cut-out car driving off a tablet and up its user's sleeve. The post became widely popular among the brand's 80,000-customer strong social media community. 

Lebowitz acknowledges that not everything will be a blockbuster. "With so much social content, you can't expect everything to get noticed," he says. But while social media's short lifespan may seem like a strike against Vine marketing, it's actually a selling point for brands that see the platform as a safe and cheap space to exercise creative freedom and test new ideas. "Video is another opportunity for brands to define their own social behaviors," says Lebowitz. Rebeca Guillen, a social media manager at Toyota Spain, agrees, noting that the platform provides a "perfect opportunity to test (marketing) speed and agility" and generate original content. Brands like ASOS and Nintendo of America, for example, have published rather simple videos that essentially show staff unboxing their products in order to bridge the gap between online shopping and in-store shopping -- both brands aiming to exhibit how gratifying it can be to open a box. 

A major reason why brands have gravitated toward the mini-video platform is because of the community it has generated around itself. Kevin Sigliano, a partner at Spain's leading social media marketing firm, Territorio Creativo, calls it an "ecosystem where brands and consumers talk directly." Brands have taken things a step further by hiring individual Vine-artists -- as opposed to big ad agencies -- to work with them on their six-second marketing content. Khoa Phan, a 23-year-old Vine artist, has worked with MTV, the (RED) campaign, Livestrong, and most recently Snapple. Specializing in stop-motion Vines, Phan describes the mini-video as having the ability to "pack (in) a lot of visual information," doing a lot with a little. 

Artists from other fields, like English singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding, further demonstrated the strength of this mini-video community when she enlisted fans to upload Twitter Vines inspired by her newest record "Burn" under the #ellieburnvine hashtag. The best of these fan-made Vines were compiled into a long-form collage uploaded on Youtube, making the marketing and art-making process collaborative. 

In this way, Vine ad content is gradually helping consumers back into the marketing equation, making the ad experience what it should be -- quick and easy. The platform probably won't be the last of its kind, but it is, for now, teaching marketers the value of crisp and unobtrusive content.

(Source: Varun Nayar, CNN Money, 07/29/13)

Sales Tip: Identifying the Real Objection

When customers say they want to "think over" their buying decision, it's often safe to assume that they have an objection they're not sharing.

Asking "What do you want to think over?" can seem intimidating, and probably won't help you uncover the real problem. Instead, ask, "Is it a question of price?" Then quietly wait for a response.

By guessing a specific objection, you'll encourage prospects to correct you by stating their true concern. If your suggestion is correct, you probably found out what's making your buyer hesitate. You might be surprised at how much this strategy improves your closing ratio.

Seven Actions to Control Your Sales Success

Have you planned how you're going to make successful sales? If you haven't, it isn't too late -- but you're already behind the eight ball. Here are 7 actions you must take and take now if you want to control your own destiny:

1. Flush Out All of the Tail-Chasing "Prospects" in Your System.
We all have "prospects" in our pipeline that take up time and energy but that we know in our hearts will never buy. Get them out of your system now. Don't spend any more of your precious time on them. Concentrate on real prospects, not the "hope someday." Vow not to spend any more time chasing your tail.

2. Get Organized.
Most of us spend as much or more time "organizing" each day as we do working. Take a day or two and get yourself organized and then 30 minutes each evening getting ready for the next day. Don't waste time "getting ready" to sell.

3. Know Who a Real Prospect Is.
If you haven't already defined your ideal prospect(s) in detail, do so now. Many salespeople waste a great deal of time chasing unqualified prospects because they haven't taken the time to define for themselves exactly who their real prospects are.

4. Focus Only on Real Prospects.
Even many who have defined in-detail who their real prospects are, find themselves chasing after those who don't qualify. Commit yourself to staying on track. Defining your prospect doesn't do any good if you allow yourself to wander.

5. Eliminate the Success-Killing Busy Work.
If what you do isn't directly involved with finding qualified prospects, making sales presentations and closing sales, or getting a sale completed, it's busy work. Busy work may make you feel like you're accomplishing something but it isn't making you a dime. If it doesn't make you money, don't do it.

6. Learn to Generate Referrals.
Referrals are the best, most cost-effective prospecting and marketing method there is. Nothing can beat referrals in terms of ROI, close ratio, and client loyalty. Yet, few salespeople generate many quality referrals. Less than 15% of all salespeople generate enough quality referrals to impact their business. Learn the process that really generates a large number of high-quality referrals and turn your clients into your marketing platform.

7. Create a Consistent Client Communication Campaign.
If you don't already have a consistent communication campaign for your clients and prospects, create one now. You should be touching each of your clients and long-term prospects 12 to 16 times a year. Use a combination of media, and make sure each of your communications brings value to your client. The key question to ask yourself before making any contact is "does this benefit the client or only me?" If it doesn't benefit the client, don't send it or don't call. Never waste your client's time.

Time is short. But implementing these 7 "musts" will get your sales on track.

Broadcast Networks remain tops in "Must Keep TV"

ABC leads all networks viewers cannot live without.

ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC continue their grip on the top four positions on the list of top 10 TV brands that American consumers consider “Must Keep TV,” according to an annual survey by Solutions Research Group (SRG). It was a close race for number one, with ABC posting just a slight lead over CBS overall in the latest survey of 1,400 American consumers age 12+ in Spring 2013.

The next five in the rankings are cable networks, with ESPN once again the top cable brand for American viewers and holding the number five spot overall for the fifth year in a row. There has been some shifting
in the ranks, though, with History moving up to sixth place, eclipsing seventh place Discovery for the first time as the top non-sports cable brand since 2007. HBO has rejoined the top 10 at number eight after two years outside the top echelon. USA is number nine, rounding out the cable top five. The final spot in the survey’s top 10 goes to another broadcast network, albeit a non-commercial one, PBS.

While the broadcast Big Four still top the list, SRG notes that fewer survey respondents list ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC as a network they can’t do without. Only 75% had one of the four on their “must keep” list this year. That’s down from the peak of 83% when Toronto-based SRG did its first U.S. survey in 2007.

Outside the top 10, SRG noted upward movement by A&E, climbing to #11 from #16 last year thanks to hits like Duck Dynasty and Storage Wars. AMC, home to The Walking Dead and Mad Men, shot up to #18 from #33. “HGTV is another cable brand to watch. It showed increases across all key demos,” said SRG. MTV, meanwhile, dropped out of the Top 20.

Five Key Attributes of Salespeople

According to a survey of some 5,000 executives, conducted by a joint team at the Sales Executive Council and Marketing Leadership Council, respondents were asked to list 50 key attributes of salespeople in order of importance. Here are the top five:

1. Offers unique and valuable perspectives on the market.
2. Helps me navigate alternatives.
3. Provides ongoing advice or consultation.
4. Helps me avoid potential land mines.
5. Educates me on new issues and outcomes.

Each of these attributes speaks directly to an urgent need of the customer not to buy something, but to learn something. They're looking for salespeople to help them identify new opportunities to cut costs, increase revenue, penetrate new markets and mitigate risks in ways they may not recognize.

The message from the customer is clear: "Challenge me. Teach me something new."