Sales departments wish that marketing would stop thinking they are the rulers of the earth, marketing departments wish sales departments would take their cocky arrogant attitudes to another planet for… well… ever, and the tech crew wishes that sales and marketings’ peanut-sized brains would grow at least to a size where they could identify what caused a problem rather than stating what the problem is.

Today (and this was confirmed through some meetings we’ve had in recent weeks), companies large and small have these three vital departments wasting TONS of time, energy and resources due to a lack of understanding in modern business principals.

Marketing departments need to understand that the days of throwing a hundred grand at a TV or billboard campaign and watching the sales teams phones light up are a thing of the past. People are able to educate themselves about you now with the click of a mouse. They are doing the research light years ahead of when they used to… and they’re doing it without your help. It’s just them and their Dell laptop. That’s right sales guys… there’s no cheese ball with a big ‘ol smile “helping” them in making their “best choice”. They are all alone and there’s nothing you can do about it.

So, here’s what needs to happen… and quickly… or your fortune 500 company or dream of a Fortune Small Business cover story may just go bust in the next few years.

Tech

Guys and gals… listen up… Your job isn’t to sit in a room and code any more. That’s part of it, but put your marshmallow shooter away because you need to put in a little more time now. Marketing is now in your job description whether you like it or not. It’s your job to create lead generating web sites, content management systems, and automated follow up systems for the marketing department. Don’t like it? OK… go work for Microsoft or Google in a department that has no influence on sales or marketing. When you’re part of a company that has active sales representatives and spends money on marketing… it’s your job now to get involved and think ‘tech’ with sales and marketing in mind.

When it comes to technology, today’s marketing department members tend to be dopes. Don’t be offended marketers… it’s not all of you, just the majority. They were taught the ins and outs of marketing and it had NOTHING TO DO WITH TECHNOLOGY. The “idiocity” that you sense really isn’t “idiocity”… it’s ignorance, and they are uncomfortable stating that they don’t understand something. Work with them, teach them, and show them the creative side that 80% of you possess. Prove that you can make their lives better and easier… it’s finally time for you to shine, my friend… so do it brightly.

Marketing

Listen closely… you DO NOT know everything. I know! That education of yours was “way expensive” and you did learn a lot about psychology and how people react to the color blue… but tech has something to offer you. And guess what… It’s now your job to do the sales reps job! What???!?!?! I know, it hurts to hear that and your ears and cheeks are getting redder and redder. Listen though.

Product and service buyers (whether consumers or businesses) used to have to call a sales rep to get information. Well, now it’s right online. All “Bonnie Buyer” has to do is give Google a shout and Google tells all right then and there. So first off, if Google doesn’t feel you’re the most important when Bonnie types “” into the search engine, give “Timmy Techguy” a call and have them get you to the top of the engines. If they don’t know how, hire someone to.

Once they find you… your job isn’t done. You need to convert them into a lead by getting their information. Here’s where A LOT of SEO’s screw up royally. So many search engine optimizers are so consumed with getting to the coveted number one spot that they don’t even think about what’s going to happen with the traffic once it gets there. Type just about anything into google and click on the number one result. You’ll find that about 90 percent of them don’t even have a call to action on the page. WHAT A WASTE!!!

OK, so you’re getting traffic and getting leads now, right? So now you’re going to give them to sales, right? NO! STOP! DON’T. If you do the water cooler talk in the sales department will sound something like this:

“Man, Harry… how about these horrible leads that marketing’s been sending over… they really suck!”

Now, am I saying that sales is “right”? No, I’m not… but if you want growth in your organization… you need to “cultivate the leads” so that they actually turn into prospects. So, call “Timmy Techguy” again.

Have Timmy build you a customized CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Or, of course, he could use ours if he calls us. 8 )

The CRM will automatically follow up with the leads via email and schedule things like letters, phone calls, thank you cards, gift sending and more to your clients based on the product or service that they’re interested in. Marketing… you’re now the “assistant” to the sales team. Does that tick you off? Well it shouldn’t… just deal with it.

Sales People

I’m going to make this simple. Ditch the BS. Toss out the superficial attitude. It smells like the trash can in my garage (I have 4 kids… two in diapers) and EVERYONE can smell it a mile away. But here’s the thing, you don’t need it anymore. When you get leads from marketing, it’s because they have been followed up on and they’re now ready to buy. Your job becomes explaining to them why they should buy from you and not one of your competitors. Be respectful and understand that any attempts to snowball them can be stopped with the click of the mouse. A huge issue I see every day with sales people is their lack of technical ability… especially those over the age of 35… it like an epidemic. Go take a class for goodness sake.

So look, all of you get in the same room together, and it will be uncomfortable. Tech… you’re the kingpin bringing it all together, so if you don’t like to talk in groups, get some help. The bottom line is: get traffic - get leads - cultivate leads (through automation and personal touch) - close leads.

This is your show. Now have at it.

So I was making a sales call the other day to an individual who filled out one of our online forms interested in some more information about ProspectMX.  I called the number and a guy answered and I asked for the person that was on the form and he proceeded to explain there is nobody here by that name. Then I asked if this was so and so business and he said no and then I obviously read back the number on the form and he said that is my number, actually my cell number. At that point there was no more need for pointless questions and my sales mind simply overlooked wrong guy right number and proceeded to the obvious next question. However, before a hint of air could pass through my lips the guy on the other end asked “So, what is it that you do?” I kindly went into detail about our services and that lead into a 20 minute pitch which proceeded into a scheduled appointment for next week.

Now one obvious conclusion is that this person is actually the person that did indeed fill out our form and is caught up in it so much at this point, there is no turning back. Whatever the case, I want to thank either my new prospect or Mr. Smith for filling out our form and putting in this other persons phone number. And Mr. Smith please call me anytime with your needs and feel free to leave a wrong name with the right phone number.

As you know, a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. In the same way, lead generation is only as strong as a company’s sales force. In other words, it’s important that the leads that are generated by your customized lead generation campaigns are followed up just as strongly as any other lead you would receive in your company. Many companies make the mistake of looking at online generated leads as not being as high a priority, when in reality those leads are just as important. The online consumer thinks about making a buying decision much earlier than your typical brick and mortar lead that comes into your building or even the lead that gives you a call.

Understanding the Online Consumer

The Internet has done amazing things for business but one of the bad things that it is done is added a bit of confusion. Think about this for a second. Every single piece of data that you could ever need is now available like your fingertips via an Internet connection. What this has enabled consumers and people looking to purchase business-to-business products and services the ability to be able to do all of the research online instead of doing things like calling for a quote. Therefore, these Internet leads are often much earlier in the buying process. So often, business sales people let these leads go to waste by not following up with them on a regular basis. The leads then end up still making a purchasing decision. The problem is, they do it from someone else.

We have literally spent years educating business people on how to follow up with online generated leads. After learning that there are virtually no programs available to simplify the process of follow-up, we decided that we would create one ourselves.

We are proud to present Prospect Maximizer.

Prospect Maximizer is a solution that enables customized follow-up to all of your leads, whether they’re generated online or off-line. Online leads can automatically be entered into prospect maximizer and with a simple selection of a campaign, they can automatically be followed up with via e-mail, phone calls, letters, postcards and more. Off-line leads are just as easy. We have an incredible import feature which will allow you to take leads, from a trade show for example, and upload them directly into the system. Those leads will then be followed up with, just as your online generated leads are.

Our Prospect Maximizer solution is web-based, and therefore can be accessed from virtually any computer anywhere in the world with an Internet connection.

To learn more about Prospect Maximizer simply fill out our form, give us a call, or send us a text message using the navigational bar the right.