There is an old adage that is often repeated by business owners – “I know half of my advertising is working. I just don’t know which half.” CEOs have been repeating this expression for over 100 years without much disagreement. But I would disagree with one aspect of the statement – that the percentage that of most company’s marketing investments…
Outsourced Demand Generation – 10 Sticking Points to Negotiate with Your Agency
Outside demand generation firms (sometimes called appointment scheduling) can be a critical component of your marketing strategy. They bring a level of data science and technology to cold calling that is difficult to replicate in-house. But the logistics of managing these outsourced sales processes are more complicated than you might think. Below are ten sticking points that often cause friction…
Outsourced Demand Generation – 10 Questions to Answer Before Hiring an Agency
Looking to boost your lead generation results this year? Using an outside appointment scheduling (sometimes called outsourced demand generation) firm could be a key piece of the puzzle. I’d recommend anyone selling B2B experiment with these outside firms. They bring a level of data science and marketing technology that is difficult to replicate in-house. But they are not magicians or…
Engineering Revenue – The New Mission of Marketing
Gone are the days of guessing, hoping and praying for results. Today’s marketer needs to scientifically, reliably and predictably generate demand using data-driven approaches and modern technology. I call this approach engineering revenue. And that is the new mission for today’s marketing organization.
Why You Shouldn’t Hire a VP of Demand Generation
I’m seeing more and more companies (startups in particular) replacing the CMO (or VP of Marketing) role with a VP of Demand Generation. When you talk to the CEOs making these decisions they often say – “I want someone who is going to focus on generating leads versus all the other ‘stuff’ that marketing does.” Of course, the implication is…
Building a Lead Generation Factory
Executives love to compare their marketing organizations to a machine or a factory. You input X dollars and after a period of time Y number of leads are generated. The factory model implies that the outcomes of marketing initiatives are predictable and reliable rather than being driven by luck or chance. But if marketers are to operate like factory workers…
Building a Sales and Marketing Machine for SaaS Companies
In the software industry you often hear about sales and marketing being compared to machines or factories. Executives like this analogy because it suggests that sales and marketing is able to consistently produce outputs in a predictable, repeatable way – like a machine or factory would. Executives and investors want to remove the uncertainty that often accompanies sales and marketing.
How to Get ROI from a Tradeshow
Tradeshows don’t generate many leads. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do any marketing at tradeshows. The great thing about these events is that they gather a large number of people with similar interests in the same place at the same time. Face-to-face meetings are a critical part of building relationships with customers. If you are going to invest travel…
Tradeshows Don’t Generate Leads
In my experience, tradeshows rarely generate many new leads. Not because the sales team is hoarding all the business cards they collected at the show (marketing conspiracy theory #35). But because buying patterns have shifted. Anyone that wants to learn about a new technology doesn’t have to wait to visit you a booth at tradeshow (like they did back in…
The Virtual Assistant for Sales
Over the past year I have been hearing more and more criticism of Salesforce.com and other Salesforce Automation applications. Experts are challenging the value proposition of today’s SFA – questioning whether it really helps sales reps to sell more. Or whether SFA is really designed to help management track rep activity, sales pipeline and deal status.
