Adam Linscomb, Director of Delivery

Timing is everything. A vitally essential tenet to the success of any sales & marketing team is timeliness. In past corporate generations, the “word of mouth” method of discovering new leads (that are congruent with the service offering) too often led to hap-hazard, guess-based strategies. Making a blind call or inquiry into a company to gauge interest in a value-added service, without proper knowledge of need, budget, etc., can lead to a significant number of “dead-ends,” and in the long run, puts a great deal of strain on resources (a basic mis-step when evaluating Opportunity Cost).

In today’s corporate landscape, a robust increase in number of providers coupled with the ability of an industry’s largest vendors to adapt to a greater scope of needs, time (or more appropriately, timing) is more important than ever. A premium is placed on finding the right opportunity at precisely the right time. Unlike the “good fortune” method discussed above, companies can no longer afford to sift blindly through the marketplace hoping to strike a hot lead by chance. A company with little to no sense of timing continues to come up short, while rival companies reap rewards for their assertiveness based on prior knowledge of Trigger Events. Event-triggered marketing allows an organization to “rise above the noise” of other (competing) vendors, giving them the valued leverage of being able to say that they were the first in the door, the first to hear the news and (perhaps most importantly) the first to be proactive.

Does your organization have a plan in place to monitor the corporate landscape in real-time? Do you have the resource bandwidth to be able to properly and proactively pursue leads before they might even be considered leads? Most companies would say no. Allow your sales & marketing team better “at-bats” by equipping them for success: purchase them the commodity of time.

Jeff Fischer, VP of Marketing

Increasingly, companies – both large and small – are realizing that an integrated CRM is no longer a luxury, but is increasingly becoming a mandatory component to the operation. With a staggering number of options available, how does one choose what is right for business today, as well as tomorrow? Does one maintain the data in-house or use a SAAS model, supported by an outside provider? How will a CRM integrate to an existing ERP?

Unfortunately, some of the difficult questions posed above can not be answered in a vacuum. The people wanting to have this discussion are the same ones that simply want to sell you an integrated package that will allegedly cure all your ills. Therefore, it is our hope that we can begin a discussion with some of the experiences that you have had with your CRM and how you found, or perhaps are still looking for, a solution. Next week, stay tuned for a frightful story about our experience with CRM integrations.

Jeff Fischer, VP of Marketing

The skills that your Sales Team possess are typically not conducive to what may be referred as “cold calling.” Getting the right people on the phone to determine interest level in a particular product or solution is more of an art, rather than a science.  There is no magic bullet.  Individuals, stemming from a wide & diverse background, are typically more effective as they are able to speak to what drives new business:  Solving Key Business Objectives.

Think about it.  What solution has ever been sold that did not help to address a key business issue or directive?  Be it cutting costs with F&A, A/P, A/R, HRO, to providing some software that helps drive new revenue, all solutions, ultimately purchased, address a Key Business Objective – otherwise, proposals go to die on the Executive vine.   In fact, asking questions, and listening (after preparation, and proper introduction) are the ways to determine if a Sales Opportunity exists.  An outside firm, setting you up for success, is not trying to “sell, sell, sell” over the more important aspect of listening, and uncover key business issues – issues that may or may not be germane to the solution being offered.  With that said, have you considered an outside firm to help you close your deals and assist you with warm calling?