Sales Lead Management Today

Millennial Exhibit Staff: Tips for Working with a Different Generation

Guest Blogger: Matt Hill, President, The Hill Group

Do you have Millennials as part of your exhibit staff?

They can be great staffers and make your trade shows successful or they can be horrible and drag everyone down and frustrate you to no end. Like any other generation, they have their strengths and weaknesses. So let’s dive right into how to work most effectively with your Millennial Exhibit Staff. And all of this info is from our live training workshop, “Managing Your Millennial Exhibit Staff” that we delivered at the ExhibitorLIVE! conference in March, 2015.

Take Advantage of Their Strengths

Collaboration: Millennials are great collaborators. They like to work in groups and with their friends. Millennials work productively with people they click with. Like their friends and friends of friends. They stay motivated and interested when the work is more social. Set specific goals, objectives, time frames, and boundaries, and their collaborative skills will result in amazing results.

Technology. One of the greatest strengths of the Millennials is their sound knowledge of technology. This can be a serious asset at a trade show because of Social Media, emailing, texting, etc.

Multitasking. Millennials are doing multiple things at the same time; they’re on the phone, texting, and working on a computer. Even though some recent studies have shown that multitasking results in a drop in productivity, Millennials seem very adept. Trade show managers should feel free to give Millennials multiple tasks and concurrent responsibilities - this really fits with the frantic pace of some trade shows.

Challenge them. Millennials thrive on learning opportunities. They want work they can learn from otherwise they are quickly bored. A willingness to try new things is one of their strengths - so challenge them. As the trade show manager you need to explain that not all of the work at a show is going to be new and exciting but it all makes a difference.

Understand and Manage Their Weaknesses

• Casual approach to authority.
• Not understanding seemingly arbitrary rules and regulations.
• Texting and emailing all of the time.
• Expect a constant stream of feedback.
• Use of casual language.
• Rationale or reason for every assignment or request.

Matt Hill is on the SLMA Advisory Board. He can be reached at the Hill Group

Opinion: How the Sale of Salesforce will Help Competitors

I have watched Salesforce CRM for many years, almost from its inception. I have used the product at half a dozen companies and supervised its purchase and installation at 3-4 more companies as interim sales manager at client companies. I have never experienced a company in the CRM industry that is so aggressive when it comes to selling their product. These guys never let go. They will not lose a deal if they can help it. They do not take no for an answer. They call when they are supposed to, follow-up when they promise and take whatever actions necessary in terms and price. They work the deal until it is done. I have seldom heard the word no.

It is my belief that if they are sold, the new management will probably look down-upon Salesforce’s

Posting to various social media venues requires a change of content.

Every social media venue has it's own language and style of posts. Some are hashtag laden, some prefer warmer stories, and some are all business.  You wouldn't wear the same outfit to a wedding, a business conference, a BBQ and a cocktail party - or would you? If you think one look covers it all, you may want to stop reading. If you only think you need to change shoes, stop reading.

Let's first cover the posting, not commenting styles for these venues that are often or exclusively used for business.

Twitter:

Include a LINK to something, unless you are sure that the inspiring quote you are posting is a standalone. But you have my attention for that VERY brief second or two - make it count. 

Find the company or people you are referring to and @mention them to give them an alert that someone is talking about them.

How Can Marketing Automation Build Revenue?

In this short SLMA Radio interview, Lars Helgeson, CEO of GreenRope makes the case that the right marketing automation program can definitely build revenue and users can measure the ROI from the campaigns. But how it does it is not necessarily what we have been taught to think. 

Certainly every marketing automation program makes this same claim, but as Lars points out, not every program can integrate all of the points of contact and properly allocate each one to understand what is contributing to sales.  You get the feeling it is working but you don’t know why.

Lars says that the right program can help businesses to understand what is driving people to take action on your site.  Yes, he gives us examples from GreenRope’s software product, but in doing so he easily points out the issues with so many software applications that boast and fail to perform. 

White Paper: WHAT MAKES YOUR BEST INSIDE SALESPEOPLE SUCCESSFUL

 

 

 

 

 

Published by: Velocify

 Cost: Free

 Highlights:

•  22 Pages
• A list of 15 factors that separate High Performers from Underperformers
• Authors: Steve W. Martin (author & consultant) and Nick Hedges CEO Velocify

 The first three pages include housekeeping issues: a percentage listing of study participants by company size, a mention that nearly 200 salespeople answered the survey, the type of salespeople, and quota achievement, etc.  

This is a great guide by reputable authors;  the study with a participation of nearly 200 people is statistically significant.  If sales managers will only read it and heed the research they will be far ahead of their competitors. It would more accurate to have at least 100 respondents for each of the company size categories, but that may be asking too much. I am sending it to several company presidents.  

Why its important:

If sales managers will only read it and heed the research

they will be far ahead of their competitors.

Page 6 reveals three categories differentiating between top performing and underperforming reps:

• Evaluate Culture and Perspective
• Evaluate Leadership and Experience
• Evaluate Systems and Process

 The 15 factors are further divided into results, and here are some of the outcomes:

 #1 - The higher that inside salespeople rate their sales organization (31% vs. 21%), the more likely they are to meet quota.

Cartoon: Real Marketing is a work of art.

 

When you think about it, buying growth is what market people do every day that they come to work.  They hammer day after day into the marketplace to find the most qualified buyers.  At least that’s what they are supposed to do. 

Unfortunately, anyone can say they are a marketer, there is no marketing manager bar exam that

Recipe for PR that Fuels Marketing/Drives Sales

I think PR is hugely underrated as a source for traffic, leads, and branding. In this SLMA Radio program, now a podcast, one of our most popular shows by listener count, Elizabeth Fairleigh gives the listener a recipe to drive sales.  

E-Book Review: A Guide to Lead Nurturing

 Disclaimer: This review was conducted independently without the advice or consent of the publisher. The company is not a sponsor of the SLMA. The company was asked for artwork should the review be published. 

Published by: Active Internet Marketing (Agency)

Cost: Free

Highlights:
•27 Pages
•Seven Chapters
•Loaded with Statistics
•Loaded with How-To Directions

This e-book reads like a book and not simply a white paper or an article on steroids. It is not a direct pitch for services, but the reader will be curious about the authors and their services if they know this much about the topic. We enjoyed the book as it presented some new insights and reminded us of the basics. Nice work.

Introduction: Slams you with the stat that only 27% of B2B leads are sales-ready.

1. Chapter One: Fundamentals with Lead Nurturing Stats
    a.25% of the leads are legitimate and should advance to sales
   

Named Account Marketing: New Tools and Techniques to Reach a Limited Universe

Some B2B marketers know exactly what accounts are in their target market.  What a luxury!  These marketers can eliminate the old “spray and pray,” and focus all their attention and investment in a finite universe of prospects and current customers.  It’s almost like mass customized selling, with maximum coverage and minimal waste.  Best of all, a number of new tools and tactics are now available to do the marketing job efficiently. 

I’ve been involved a few situations like this recently.  At DMA14 in San Diego, I heard a fascinating talk by Mark Rentschler, marketing director at Makino, a large manufacturer of machine tools.  They have spent a few years building a database of the 6,000 accounts they already do business with in North America, plus another 6,000 prospective accounts.  Makino’s approach?  “Laser focus,” says Rentschler.  “These are the accounts we pay attention to.”

Turnarounds Start with Lead Gen and Lead Management

     

 A Turnaround Must Start with Increased Lead Gen & Precise Lead Management

As the cartoon suggests, there is a lot more to a turnaround than just turning the chart around. Most often when a turnaround is in process, offices are closed, people are terminated, expenses are

Listen While You Work: “Why Your Sales People Are Losing?" SLMA Radio Interview from Patricia Fripp

 

It happens every year, salespeople are behind in quota, competitive sales that should come to you slip through your salesperson’s hands. The problem is that you very seldom know why. Host Susan Finch interviews Patricia Fripp, the woman with boundless energy and bottomless wit to get to the heart of the lost sales issue. 

 Excuse abound: 

• Pricing is too high
• A product isn’t good enough
• The marketplace sucks  
• The weather was bad on the east coast 
• Hurricanes in the south tornadoes in the Midwest
• And fires, floods, earthquakes  and freeway shootings in the west.