Transcript the Presentation.

Pipeline Building,
Measuring,
Improving Your Odds
September 12, 2012
Sam Patrick, President
Glad To Meet You
• 25+ years in sales and marketing
• Ad Agency, corporate marketing backgrounds
• Launched PM&C in 2004
• Consumer goods, technology, financial services,
retail, professional services, hospitality
• DowBrands, Publix, Wachovia, Datastream, Denny’s
• Biased to building brands, unbiased as to how
• Help our clients accelerate their profitable growth
Getting Started
How do I build a pipeline of
selling opportunities?
Getting Started
STEP ONE: Your database
If you don’t have a database, you can’t go to STEP TWO.
 electronic file for contact names and histories: target
companies, referral sources, past customers, etc.
 enables control of communications delivery
 tracks marketing and sales results
 drives your:
- communications
- appointment-setting
- sales and marketing initiatives
The Buying Cycle
Marketing builds the brand at the front end… sales
resources build relationships, close deals.
TIME
Brand
Awareness
Familiarity >
receptivity,
trust,
preference
Spark
Interest
Information
of value,
ideas that
match needs
Create
Desire2Buy
Motivate $
Action
Tailored
solutions
Reasons to
buy now
Sales resources, programs
Marketing tools, programs
Marketing Channels
Reach vs. Cost vs. Customer Interaction
PR
# OF PROSPECTS REACHED
Advertising
Direct Mail/Email
Newsletters/Lit.
Telemktg/Awareness
Telemktg/Apptmt.
Events/Seminars
Sales calls
Adv. <.25
PR <.03
Newsl./Lit. $3-4
Dir. Mail <$2
Tele/Appt. $100-200
Telem/Aware. $30-50
PERSONAL INTERACTION
Sls call $3-500
Events $150-250
Putting It All Together
Develop
Awareness
Brand familiarity
Advertising
PR
Newsletters
Email/Mail
Website
Spark
Interest
Useful info, get
appointments
Create
Desire
Follow-up &
persistence
Motivate $
Action
Reasons to buy
now
Sales strategy
Qualify opports.
Proposals
Mail & Call
Set apptments.
Scope needs
Webcasts
Nurture key
Power close
Events/Shows
relationships
Seminars
“Network”
Marketing tools, programs
Sales pros, plan, strategy
Marketing vs. Sales
Who does what?
Marketing Pros
Sales Pros
Develop _____________
Add, remove ___________
Execute _____________
Call to ________________
Create ______________
Build _________________
Maintain _____________
Visit __________________
Develop _____________
Provide ________________
Orchestrate __________
Follow up ______________
Coordinate ___________
Close _________________
What Does Marketing NOT Do?
Marketing programs do not…
… create _______________________________
… replace _______________________________
… serve as a replacement for _______________
… always lead to _________________________
Metrics & Measurement
What are some useful
pipeline metrics
that I should know and use?
Cold Calling
Cold Calling – Not so easy…
On average, it takes _________ attempts to
reach _________ prospects.
It takes __________ targets to
conduct _________ conversations.
Cold Calling
Cold Calling – more benchmarks
It takes __________ conversations to
set _________ appointments.
1000
100
56
10
When you get there, you’d better have a meaningful offer that
addresses a need and present your value proposition in a
powerful way!
Measuring Your Marketing
What are some other
Marketing program or Partner/Agency metrics?
Marketing Program Metrics
Marketing Programs
Some metrics you might consider include:
Response Rates
Cost per contact
Qualified leads
Cost per appointment
Ad inquiries
PR inquiries
Trade show contacts/leads
Proposal opportunities
Email/DM response rates
Database growth
Website traffic (qualified)
Proposal win rate
Webinar participation
Media/industry interest
Brand awareness
Search engine position
Marketing Agency Metrics
Evaluative metrics to consider include:
Marketing expenses to budget
Marketing investment versus new revenue generated
New client acquisition – pace, investment required
Proactive ideas to advance your business needs
Responsiveness to requests
Industry and customer insights (value-added)
Investment level versus industry norms
Business growth and progress
Achieving Success
What % of new customers
are typically won
after 3 sales calls?
Achieving Success
Do you know…
_____% of sales are made on the 1st contact
_____% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
_____% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
_____% of sales are made on the 4th contact
_____% of sales are made on the 5th – 12th contact
Improving Your Odds
How do I improve my odds of success?
Lessons learned…
Making the Pieces Fit
1. Be prepared.
2. Never walk alone.
3. Listen as you work.
4. Targets don’t care.
5. It don’t hurt to know
Joe.
6. Weed, seed, fertilize.
7. Honor the process.
Lessons Learned
1. Be prepared.
•
Research, networking, LinkedIn profile
•
D&B, customer database check
•
Website review, competitor check, recent news
2. Never walk alone.
•
Team selling
•
Peer insights
•
Relationships in common
Lessons Learned
3. Listen as you work.
•
Talk less and ask more questions
•
Ferret our personal and business information
•
Record details; don’t rush to fill conversation gaps
4. Targets don’t care.
•
Their issues, not our qualifications
•
Unhide the hidden agenda
•
What gets you in may not be what you sell
Lessons Learned
5. It don’t hurt to know Joe.
•
Demonstrate a mutual acquaintance
•
Let ‘em know you know their competitor
•
Leverage your referral network for intros
•
Find the hidden Cubs fan inside
6. Weed, seed, fertilize.
•
Listen 80/20
•
Bring questions and take good notes
•
Thank you’s still work wonders
It’s A Numbers Game
7. Honor the process.
•
Do it right, don’t just do it
•
Record everything
•
Scour for news on your prospects
•
Build your database – add, delete, enhance
Lessons Learned
Expect to interface with a prospect 3-6 times
before you get a sale
•
Improve your odds with clean target lists
•
Close more with timely, benefit-rich offers
•
Glean more opportunities with improved listening
•
Do the little things well and the big things will
follow suit
•
Be consistently persistent
In Closing
Questions or Comments?
Thank you.
Sam Patrick
Patrick Marketing & Communications, Inc.
[email protected] - www.patrickmkt.com