The Remarkable Ways Marketing Automation Imitates Magic Posted on April 1, 2016August 29, 2018 by Jessica Lunk Most of us don’t stop to question exactly how Amazon delivers packages to our door. All we really care about is that the econo-sized laundry detergent we ordered was delivered to our door in 2 days flat, and that we may never have to leave our house again on a mundane shopping trip for the essentials. Many mechanisms are at work in the background to enable Amazon to stock, warehouse and deliver individual items to our door – probably in a process that would make our heads spin. But we don’t have to worry about how Amazon delivers to us, we just know that they always deliver, and that’s what makes it an awesome customer experience. Like magic, we don’t see the sleight of hand. We just see the end result. And it’s marvelous. You may not have Amazon-size resources, but the good news for small businesses is that simple, affordable technology has made it easier than ever to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Marketing automation provides a way for small businesses to tailor a unique experience for each consumer. The best news is, today’s tools are easier to use than ever before. Here are 4 downright remarkable things you can do to wow your customers while marketing automation works its magic in the background: Group and Organize Website Visitors For your first trick, all you have to do is place the marketing automation code into the back-end of your website. Typically you can just paste the code into the header or footer of your site. Now, in addition to seeing the number of visitors to your site each month through a tool like Google Analytics, the automation code can actually track individual visitors and record what they do on your site. This includes capturing any details they may submit to a form on your site – like their name, email address and how they heard about you. With more details about your individual visitors, you can better target future marketing campaigns and develop specific triggers for certain conditions. For instance, a visitor who heard about you on Facebook and visited your pricing page can receive customized email with an special offer for Facebook fan only. By grouping and organizing visitors based on their individual actions, you can communicate with them in a more personal way. Targeted messaging makes potential customers feel special, and, like a good magician, you never have to reveal just exactly how you are so in-tune to their needs. Market With Custom Content When it comes to custom marketing content, Amazon has become the gold standard: Regular visitors see information not only on what they have bought and researched recently, but also on similar products they may like. Marketing automation allows B2B businesses a way to provide a similar experience by offering content customized to their behavior, ensuring your content is useful to them. So when a a contact in your database visits your blog, you can automatically follow up with an email campaign that delivers great information on the same topic. This, of course, is the secret ingredient to customer conversion: Provide potential customers what they want, leaving them in awe, wondering how you know them so well. Measure Solid Evidence for ROI One of the best things about marketing automation is that it can play nice with other software. Specifically, it can interact with an existing CRM. Better yet, you can invest in an all-in-one sales and marketing software that includes CRM and marketing automation in one package, ensuring an integrated marketing communications strategy for your business. With marketing automation and CRM all in one place, you can track the entire customer lifecycle – from lead, to prospect, to customer. You can even keep track of former customers and lost deals. This means something magical for the sales team: Being able to precisely analyze which marketing efforts have positively impacted the pipeline and which efforts have fizzled. This means not only understanding the ROI of each marketing campaign and of each marketing channel, but also determining where to accelerate spend to bring in more customers and more revenue for your business. With better insights into your marketing channels, you magically appear where your potential customers are hanging out the most. Naturally Nurture Contacts into Customers Marketing automation allows you to learn a little more about potential customers every time they visit your site. The more data visitors leave behind, the more customized experience you can create for them. The data collected is useful for creating emails that nurture specific customers, providing information tailored to their individual needs along with hyperlinks to more relevant information on your site. And best of all, the customer never thinks twice about all of the complex code making this magic happen: They are simply happy to have a company driven by their needs and committed to providing solutions. If you really want to see marketing automation magic at work, be sure to request a live demo!
5 Proven Call to Action Buttons Missing from Your Website Posted on March 30, 2016June 28, 2016 by Jonathan Herrick With billions of online searches done each and every day for products and services, your website is the catalyst to driving more sales for your business. But even though you may have a modern, updated site, chances are you are probably missing out on the one major factor that can turn your website into a sales machine: well placed and intentional calls to action. In fact the majority – 70% of small business B2B websites – lack a call to action according to Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends. What does a Call to Action do? A Call to Action (CTA) is a text hyperlink, button, or image on your website designed to encourage potential visitors to take an action. According to Kissmetrics, 96% of people are not ready to buy from you the first time they visit your website, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t able to capture prospects early in the buying process. Placing clear CTAs throughout your site in exchange for valuable resources – like webinars, how to guides, checklists, and product offers – transforms your website from a digital brochure to a lead generation engine. CTAs also help your visitors to better understand what you expect them to do (learn more!) and what actions to take next (schedule a call!). Without these call to action prompts on your website, your visitors will bounce without learning anything more about your business, and without leaving any follow-up information behind. If you want to turn your website traffic into new leads for your business and generate more customers online, here are five CTA opportunities your website might be missing: “Solve Your Problem” Converting anonymous visitors to your website into actual leads you can follow-up with can be a real challenge for most businesses. By using “lead magnets” throughout your website, you’ll grow your pipeline of prospects. A good lead magnet attracts your ideal customer by addressing a specific problem they might be struggling with. Here is a great example from the Hatchbuck homepage: Offering helpful resources (like our free marketing planner) in exchange for a lead’s contact info and email address both gives your visitors tools they can use to be successful and grows your lead pipeline at the same time. The marketing planner lead magnet on our homepage, for example, was crazy successful at growing our pipeline. In fact, we drove over 1200 new leads into our sales funnel in just 2 weeks. If you aren’t sure what type of lead magnet to build for your website and need a little inspiration, here are 6 simple lead magnets to test on your site. Bonus tip: Keep your lead magnet form short a sweet. A name and email address might be all you need to start a conversation with a lead. Asking for too much information can actually deter leads from filling out your form. Instead, use your content as a way to segment your leads and their interests. For instance, we know that anyone who requested our marketing planner was looking at revamping their marketing efforts for 2016, while anyone who requested our marketing automation guide was ready to look at software. “Learn More About Our Business” Potential leads can land on your website in many different ways. They might do a google search and land on your homepage. Or they might click on a link they saw on social media and enter your website through your main blog. Including “Read More”, “Learn More” or “View Page” buttons on your site will drive visitors more deeply into your site content, helping them down the path to becoming a customer. Keep content on your homepage, your landing pages, and your main blog page short, easily scanned and well-organized. Cut out any unnecessary jibber jabber and keep it brief as a way to maximize the visitor experience. Instead of going in depth into a product or article, for instance, include “Read More” or “Learn More” CTAs that take visitors to a related page on your site where you can really dive into the nitty gritty details. That way, visitors can quickly scan the page they land on and navigate to the content that is most important to them, optimizing their experience on your website. Here’s an example from Hootsuite: “Like or Share” Along with lead generation, your website can help to promote your brand and reach more of your ideal audience. A simple yet often overlooked call to action tip is using social sharing buttons: Buffer uses social sharing buttons such as Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to help build their social audience and expand their reach – and you can, too. When a visitor to your site (including your customers) shares information with others via social media, they bring that third party cred factor to your brand. Their network is exposed to your business through a trusted peer, and your prospect pool becomes larger. The trust brands build with their audience through social media isn’t just about brand awareness. A strong social presence is a major contributing factor to why consumers decide to purchase. So, if you aren’t encouraging social shares on your site, considered it a missed opportunity. “Go Ahead. Check Out Our Product.” Once you have a visitor checking out your site don’t forget the obvious – make it easy for them take the next step to engage with your product(s). Using a prominent product CTA button on your homepage and throughout your site gives your potential customers a clear way to find out how your product meets their specific needs. A quick explainer video, or product page that lists benefits and features are great ways to give interested prospects an overview of how you can help them solve a problem. For example, LeadDyno has a “Take a Tour” button on their site that sends visitors to a quick overview video of their software: There are a number of ways to showcase your product depending on your industry and sales process. For some businesses a “Live Demo” leading to a consultative meeting with a sales rep may be the best fit. For some, a “Self Guided Tour” can give prospects all the information they need before they sign. As a best practice, have this button stand out by differentiating it from any other CTA buttons you use on your site. Keep the button color and button text consistent throughout your site, so when a visitor is ready to dive into your product, they instantly know where to click. Bonus Tips: When using a product call to action try to stick to what makes a powerful and clickable call to action: Keep this call to action above the fold. Think about common traffic areas on your site such as the top navigation on your homepage, pages that describe product features or benefits, and even blog articles with content relevant to your product offers. Maximize your conversions by keeping your button text simple and aligned with the offer on the other end once the user clicks through. “Buy Me” Once your prospects have had the chance to engage with your online resources and learn more about your product, don’t miss the opportunity to ask for the sale. This means using specific call to action buttons to to make it easy for your new customers to sign up for your products or services: Box uses simple CTA buttons to get visitors in the buying process. Bold “Buy It” buttons capture those who are ready to do business now. A less highlighted “Try It” button for a 14 day trial captures those not quite ready to take the plunge. Lastly, for users with more complex needs, a “Contact Us” CTA creates a better experience for enterprise visitors. When thinking about what calls to action will work best to close the sale, make sure you align the CTA with the needs of your visitors.Then, measure conversions with proper tracking to better understand what’s working and what’s not. A compelling call to action is vital to helping your visitors navigate through the buying process. Putting these 5 top call to action tips to practice on your website positions you to capture missed opportunities, turning more visitors into leads and converting more online prospects into customers.
8 Things to Bring to Your Next Trade Show Posted on March 29, 2016September 13, 2023 by Jessica Lunk A trade show is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for businesses to strut their stuff and have fun. Employees get to cut through the emails, social media interactions, and the traditional venues to make lasting impressions on customers and peer businesses. Given the performance-like nature of the event, it’s almost as if a trade show is a form of theater—and no good theater performance could succeed without a proper set, supplies, and preparation. At your next trade show, don’t catch yourself on the receiving end of proverbial tomatoes; bring these items to help ensure a resounding applause. 1. Signage “Follow the signs” is a great adage for personal philosophy and trade shows alike—but it’s difficult to follow signs that just aren’t there. When planning for your trade show appearance, make sure you have multiple signs—posters, banners, etc.—that are visible to people from many angles. Draw attention to your booth in a noticeable and classy way. 2. Presentation Media Signs draw attention; proper presentation media helps to keep it there. When setting up your display, be certain to have some kind of engaging presentation media. Slideshow presentations, short video clips, and demonstrations packed with visual aides can go a long way to engaging potential customers. 3. Promotional Items Everybody likes free stuff—it’s a universal truth. Before your convention, reach out to a business that makes customized gifts—t-shirts, calendars, mugs, wristbands, tote bags—and emblazon some with your company’s logo, motto, and color scheme. You can also make well-designed promotional brochures and pamphlets to convey detailed information about your products, services, and company values to convention participants. 4. Business Cards At the end of a busy day, most trade show attendees will be saddled with fatigue, tote bags, and, ideally, business cards. These pocket-sized placards will help cut through the clutter—both of the physical and mental sort—and help clients remember and engage with you long-term. Make sure to keep your business cards to a standard, pocket-accommodating size. Some businesses try bookmarks or bulky postcards; don’t follow their example, as those oddly-shaped items only make a great impression in a trash can. 5. Organizers Sometimes it’s not always about what you display, but how you display it. Business cards and promotional items are important; don’t waste their potential with poor organization. Get stands for business cards, jars and boxes for promotional items, and maintain clear placement parameters for items on your table. Otherwise, the trade show’s chaos will overwhelm your setup and turn your booth into an unapproachable pig sty. 6. The Supplies Box There are few problems that can’t be solved with duct tape (and other school supplies). Always make sure to bring some kind of Macgyver kit—including pens, tape, rubber bands, stapler, paper clips, scissors, Swiss Army knife, zip ties, thread, etc—to help keep posters in place, table tarps attached, and displays from falling to pieces. Even if you don’t think you need it, bring it. It will help preserve your prepared image in case of emergencies and maybe even save the day for another exhibitor. 7. Power Strip and Extension Cords If your trade show display hinges heavily on technology, bring all the proper wiring equipment. Otherwise, your battery will drop like a stone and outlets will be just one foot too far away. In the worst case scenario, you won’t need your extension cords or power strip and can loan them to another business and make an ally in the process. 8. Refreshments A trade show is like a marathon. Amidst the churning crowds, you must pace yourself, maintain eyes on the prize, and, most importantly, keep hydrated. Bring the necessary snacks and water to survive the day, in case you can’t make a pit stop at a refreshment table and especially if there is an open bar. If possible, bring extra water bottles to hand out to potential customers. What’s good for their health is good for your business’s. Creating a memorable trade show presence takes planning and preparation. Use this checklist for a low hassle, no worries set up so you can focus on making those connections.
Choosing Your Leadership Style? Start with The 5 Must-Have Traits Posted on March 28, 2016October 16, 2024 by Don Breckenridge Whether you are the owner of a business or without a leadership title, you can choose the type of leader you want to be. There is a lot of research on this topic with articles and books devoted to the types of leadership and the many different leadership styles. Many leaders believe that others must conform to their style or their methods, but the all this research indicates that it is not only possible to pick the style of leader you want to be, but it is desirable to do so. Some respected business consultants such as Peter Drucker, John Maxwell, and Kevin Kruse believe that the only thing needed to be a good leader is followers. Sadly, they are short-sighted. Good leadership is not based on the number of followers a leader has, but how helpful a leader is in helping his or her fellow coworkers get the job done right. The question is, can leadership qualities be learned? The answer is a big yes! While most leaders exhibit innate traits that make them effective, the best leaders aren’t the ones who settle for just their inherent traits. The best leaders seek out every good trait they can find so that they can become more adaptable and relatable to those they lead. The Five Must-Have Leadership Traits While there is a long list of desirable traits every leader should aspire to, the following five build a solid foundation for the best of leaders: 1. Integrity The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively. – Bob Marley The most successful leaders build trust and the most effective way to do this is to show coworkers you are a person of integrity. Never do anything you wouldn’t want someone else to do. Never falsify information and make sure to take responsibility for your failures. The respect others have for a leader of integrity is one of the most powerful tools for success. 2. Patience Sometimes things aren’t clear right away. That’s where you need to be patient and persevere and see where things lead. – Mary Pierce A successful leader is not someone who flies off the handle when errors are made. That is the easiest reaction when things aren’t going well. Instead, a more challenging feat, he or she inspires change in others. Patient leaders understand that their coworkers aren’t just a means to an end, but that taking the time to build them up and teach them new things is actually best practice. 3. Kindness Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. – Lao Tzu People respond better to positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement. They respond to sincere kindness. This means giving credit when it is due and giving more responsibility to those who earn it. For those who aren’t meeting expectations, this means seeking first to understand them before trying to instill change in them. At the end of the day, it will always be worth it to have others who appreciate and respect you. 4. Delegation Don’t be a bottleneck… Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it. – Donald Rumsfeld Many leaders worry they’ll lose control if they task out responsibilities and as a result, they take on too much. It is beneficial to you to offload certain tasks so you can focus on the things only you can accomplish. Delegating tasks is also a great way to invest in others by providing them opportunities to learn new responsibilities. 5. Communication To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others. – Tony Robbins No matter how good it sounds in your head, if you can’t effectively communicate your ideas, they will never come to full fruition. Don’t just open your mouth just to see what comes out. Strategize how you should convey certain messages and take into account the implications your communications will have on the different individuals you lead. Remember, you have control of what kind of leader you are. You can change and adapt to be the best leader you need to be in any given situation. As you do find ways to acquire the above traits and many other leadership traits, you’ll find that others will be more likely to follow you and your business will be much more successful.
8 Excel Features That Will Make Your Life Easier Posted on March 25, 2016June 3, 2016 by Jessica Lunk Microsoft Excel is an exceptionally useful tool for small businesses, but if used incorrectly, it can make the time frame for completing projects feel hopelessly long. Fortunately, it’s easy to pick up the pace if you’re aware of the program’s hidden gems. If Excel is currently occupying far too much of your time, it’s to start using these nifty Excel features: Flash Fill A shockingly underutilized feature, Flash Fill saves time by detecting patterns and using that information to automatically fill in data. Flash Fill can be used to: Format phone numbers and email addresses Separate first and last names Concentrate already separated names Extract first or last initials from names Watch Window Unsure about a particular formula’s calculations? Confirm your suspicions with Excel’s Watch Window, which prevents constant scrolling by letting you watch cells (and their attached formulas) that are not currently visible. Conditional Formatting Conditional formatting isn’t exactly hidden — the icon for it is right on the home tab. However, few Excel users think to use this handy tool, which offers easy access to a variety of options for shading cells based on the data they contain. Icon Sets Conditional formatting includes a useful option known as icon sets. This formatting tool features a vast array of icons, including directional icons, shapes, and a variety of other indicators. These can be managed via the conditional formatting rules manager. Paste Special Typically, when data is copied from one cell and pasted into another, all of the information from the original cell is copied. However, with Paste Special, it is possible to paste only certain parts of a particular cell. For example, if, while using the Paste Special function, you wish to merely paste the formatting from a given selection of cells, you can do so by selecting the formulas option within the Paste Special window. Sparklines Excel’s formatting is generally easy to navigate, but things get a bit messier when graphs and other visual displays are added to the mix. Sparklines solve this issue by adding small charts to various cells’ backgrounds. These make it easier to observe patterns while quickly glancing over spreadsheets. Power View The highly interactive visualization feature Power View was originally designed to promote ad-hoc reporting. Popular Power View visualization features include maps, bubble charts, and card view. Many users already struggled to pinpoint Power View in Excel 2013, but now, it is even more difficult to find in the 2016 update. Fortunately, it’s still available — all that is required is a customized ribbon and the Power View add-in. Pivot Tables One of the more intimidating Excel features, pivot tables allow you to analyze and summarize data sets. Instead of crossing your eyes over a full spreadsheet, Excel will easily regroup your data so you can make better comparisons. By viewing your data in these different perspectives, you can get a better picture of where your revenue is coming from by customer, offering, month, etc. These tools can speed up a variety of functions, but they may not be enough for your business needs. Red flags indicating the necessity of CRM assistance include frequently missing data from Excel files, an overly complex client onboarding system, and minimal visibility regarding your team’s performance. If, after implementing the features listed above, you continue to struggle, now may be the time to take the next step and transition to a CRM, which will improve efficiency more than all of the above steps combined.
4 Reasons Why Cold Calling is Dead Posted on March 24, 2016May 27, 2016 by Jonathan Herrick For a modern small business, cold calling is dead — or at least it should be. It may have worked in the days before caller id – when phones were attached to a desk or a wall. But today, sales and marketing channels are fragmented, putting consumers in the driver’s seat when it comes to who they want to engage with. So before you pick up the phone, consider the following reasons why you should give cold calls the cold shoulder: 1. It’s Outdated According to the International Smartphone Mobility Report, Americans prefer text communication over phone call communication. Nowadays, people are more likely to screen phone calls and avoid unfamiliar numbers. Even random calls from familiar business numbers provoke fear from otherwise willing customers. When it comes to calling business clients, it’s increasingly more difficult to navigate extensions, operating systems, and voicemails. Many people refuse to give out direct lines and refer inquiries to email addresses instead. And, given the myriad communication options available today, cold calling is no longer creative or optimal. 2. It Wastes Time As the adage goes, time is money; small businesses desperately need to conserve both. In fact the average sales rep makes 8 dials an hour and prospects for over 6 hours to set just 1 appointment (Source: Ovation Sales Group) Both as an input and success output, cold calling wastes time. The act itself forces the caller to sit through: Phones ringing Dial tones Gatekeeper blocks Voicemail recordings Directory messages Dropped calls and disconnects Other technical concerns Industry statistics indicate that cold calls have an average 2% success rate. Common sense indicates that rate hardly counts as sales success. 3. It’s Irritating As the world is becoming overloaded by brands due to modern technology, customers are increasingly looking to reputation as a means to sort out their options. Goodwill is crucial in the present business climate and cold calls are a great way to tarnish that goodwill. Cold calls, by their nature, are disruptive. They take the recipient out of their likely busy day and set them in a state of momentary alarm. Why is someone calling me? Is there a concern I should know about? And how does this interaction actually benefit me? Even if you’re calling with something they’d likely need, that doesn’t change the initial impression of frustration or alarm. 4. It’s Exasperating for Employees Not only is cold calling taxing for recipients, it’s emotionally draining for assigned employees. Most everyone has been on the receiving end of a cold call and can understand the annoyance; with every call made, your employee feels the inconvenience being caused and braces for customer backlash. This very quickly turns into burnout and high turnover. Employees who are asked to cold call day in and day out suffer mental fatigue and a drop in productivity—leaving them feeling that their emotional labor was spent on a highly unproductive and tedious tasks. Marketing strategies in which the business initiates contact with the prospective customer are categorized as outbound or push strategies. Cold calling is a prime example, along with other strategies like direct mail and TV ads. So if you’ve been convinced to hang up on your cold-calling, outbound marketing ways, how can you reach prospective customers and drive new business? Consider The Alternative: Inbound Marketing While outbound tactics like cold calling interrupt your potential prospects, inbound marketing pulls warm leads into your sales process through your blog, website, social media or other channels – giving you the chance to spend more of your time with people who are actually interested in your products and services. With inbound marketing you still leverage conversations to advance the sale but in a different way. The calls come inbound to you versus having to dial up lists of un-interested people just to find the one that might be. There are a number of reasons inbound marketing is the smart alternative: 1. Drive More Qualified Leads Inbound leads are proven to be more qualified than cold calling sourced leads. Here’s why: When you cold call to build your pipeline, the sales rep is responsible for moving the prospect throughout the entire buying cycle on one call. From initial awareness, to consideration, to decision. It’s a recipe for disaster. This highly inefficient approach burnouts your list, leaving your prospects more excited to get you off the phone than to stick to the meeting you just booked with them. Inbound marketing attracts your ideal buyer to your website and uses content to pull them into your sales process. Then, by using marketing automation tools, you can nurture leads with valuable, timely content until they are ready to buy. In fact, studies show that when businesses use marketing automation to nurture prospects they experience a 451% increase in qualified leads. 2. Create Better Communication Cold calling is a one way street that focus on what you want and how you can get the prospect on the other end of the phone to just say yes. When you leverage inbound marketing to engage with your prospects, however, you create a two-way communication stream. You might even call it a conversation. With inbound, your business delivers valuable thought leadership content through professional networks such as Linkedin, social media channels such as Twitter or Facebook, or even through your blog. In doing so, you have a chance to build a relationship with your potential customers early in the sales process — and in sales, relationships win. 3. Save Time There are only so many valuable selling hours in the day. If you do the math, based on a 2% conversion, you would have you make 50 calls a day just to set an appointment, much less a new customer. If you’re like most small businesses you need to find more efficient ways to do more with less. By using inbound methods to bring hot leads to your doorstep, you’ll spend more time talking to prospects that are ready to buy and let your inbound marketing process nurture those leads that aren’t quite ready to have a personal conversation or or might still be in research mode. Instead of chasing cold leads, you get valuable hours back in your day. 4. Save Money If you look at the costs to staff an outbound sales team, procure the targeted call list and mash those up with the slim conversion rates into a customer – you are left with an inefficient way to grow sales in today’s digital world. Contrast the cost of outbound sales to the budget you need to get found online and drive inbound marketing leads, and it’s easy to see why cold calling is dead. In fact according to the Search Engine Journal, inbound leads cost 60% less than outbound leads. When you build out an effective inbound strategy there is some initial work upfront such as creating your customer personas, building a website that converts, creating email marketing campaigns and developing content (such as your blog) that is aligned to your buyers’ greatest challenges. But once you create the assets for your inbound plan, you own them. Then, it only becomes a matter of testing the right channels to discover which ones drive the most leads at the best cost per lead. So before you spend your valuable sales time making futile cold calls, give inbound marketing a shot. By shifting to an inbound approach, you’ll attract more HOT leads to your business and have a more cost effective way to boost sales and bring in new customers.
The Number One Marketing Issue for Small Business Posted on March 23, 2016September 16, 2022 by Jessica Lunk Every business should be concerned about growing, and that means one thing: acquiring new customers. Unfortunately, many businesses go about this the wrong way. For example, Luxury Daily reports that over half of small businesses in America spend over $1,000 every year on local advertising without having a solid customer acquisition strategy. Fortunately, there are three easy steps to help you learn more about your customers, nurture mutually satisfying relationships, and acquire new customers to maintain continuous growth. Building Relationships Whatever your business, it’s important to know every aspect of it. While this obviously applies to your own company, it’s also vitally important to understand fellow businesses and fellow business leaders in similar fields. This is partly to help you network – to develop the cordial relationships that may eventually become professional relationships. However, it also lets you develop ideas for how to stand out from the competition by developing products and services that other businesses do not have, encouraging them to turn to your company as a pioneer within the field. Use customer relationship management software to analyze sales. Considering the sheer amount of software and hardware for small businesses that is available, the task of picking the best one for customer acquisition may be daunting. However, the answer is simpler than you may think: Customer relationship management software is absolutely vital for your company. If building relationships is one of the first major steps in acquiring new business, then relationship management software is the next step because it helps you to keep that business. Such small business CRM helps you to collect data and view it in an easy-to-process visual form. This is particularly useful for companies accustomed to the frustrating task of juggling multiple applications for things like sales leads and customer records. Being able to view all of this in one location allows you to assess the data necessary to strengthen relationships with existing businesses. This information can be used to create future marketing campaigns designed to entice similar businesses to become your clients. Collect Data for Everything Speaking of data, both small business CRM and tools, such as Google Analytics, allow you to examine data like never before. For instance, you can link marketing efforts – even basic ones, like sending out a newsletter, to an analytic reporting system to determine what clients do with the information you provide them. Of course, knowing how current clients process and react to information you send can help you tailor your marketing to bring in more businesses. The more data you have, the more effective this process becomes, making data collection and analysis the most powerful tool for growing your business by growing your client base. 21st Century Marketing One of the lessons of the 21st century has been that business is always changing, running in a neck-and-neck race with revolutionary technology. Fortunately, though, the core principles of building relationships with businesses and optimizing your usefulness to them have not changed. Technology need not be a rival. It can simply be a way to help you successfully grow your business like never before. For more tips on growing your business, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!
6 Last-Minute Tips for Generating Leads on the Road Posted on March 22, 2016May 27, 2016 by Jessica Lunk The last time you headed to a trade show, conference, or other event, did you come back with a stack of leads to follow-up with and a way to track ROI? Or did you come back wondering what you actually spent money on? Trade shows, conferences, and other events can be valuable tools for lead generation. However, without a well-thought-out strategy, the time and money you invest will not result in quality leads. Here are a few last-minute marketing strategies you can employ to capture leads at your next tradeshow, conference or event: Traditional Sign-Ups Generating event-based leads can be pretty simple. As you network and make connections with new people, you can gather contact details like their name, their phone number, and their email address. Merely leaving a form within eyeshot is not enough, however. Leads are best captured after you’ve made a real connection with a person – a connection like having a great conversation, giving away a fun door prize, or offering to email a valuable ebook post-event. Tablet-Based Sign-Ups If you are setting up a booth at a conference or trade show geared at a younger, more tech-savvy audience, your brand will feel more relevant if you opt for tablet-based sign-ups. More importantly, tablet-based sign-ups are very efficient, taking away the need for later data entry work, and allowing you to automatically follow up with hot leads, making sure nothing slips through the cracks. This advanced take on the sign-up process can extend beyond mere email collection to include valuable customer feedback regarding your products and services, or the quality of your booth or presentation. Additionally, tablets can be used to provide your audience with interactive content, like videos, surveys and polls. Have event attendees provide their contact information in exchange for survey results, for instance, to create a fun and interactive experience and keep the conversation going well after the event. Harnessing Social Media Whether you opt for tablet-based sign-ups or standard paper-based forms, you can harness the energy and reach of an event by having a strong presence on social media in addition to your booth or table. Dedicate one person on your team to be in charge of the conversation on social. Follow influencers, connect with event attendees and monitor event hashtags to add your brand’s voice to the conversation. Sharing photos of the event on social can help your audience feel like they’re there, while encouraging people at your booth to share photos can help to amplify your brand on new networks that you didn’t have access to before. Social media can also drive attendees to your booth by helping you spread the word about a giveaway or free resource. Finally, a tradeshow or conference is a great way to get your brand in front of a highly-targeted audience of quality leads. Use the opportunity to offer a lead magnet on social to cast an even wider lead capture net. Using Tradeshow Goals to Generate Leads Immediately after signing up for a conference or tradeshow, it is essential to establish specific goals for that event. Are you hoping to change the community’s perception of your brand? Or is your goal to expand your reach within the professional community? Clear goals will ensure that you adequately prepare for the event and make the most of any opportunities that arise while you’re there. Additionally, goals can guide the details of your tradeshow exhibit, ensuring that it appeals to your target audience. Don’t be afraid to quantify your goals — set a realistic number of leads and customers that you can strive to capture during each event. Join Expert Panels You’ll find it far easier to generate leads if event attendees think of you as an industry authority and not just a source of free food or trinkets. One of the easiest ways to gain that authority is to join a panel held during the event. Other means of improving credibility in the lead-up to your event include highlighting business accomplishments in press releases or publishing white papers. Nurture Tradeshow Leads An event is just the beginning of your relationship with leads. Especially for B2B companies, it takes time to build trust and educate leads about the value you bring to the table. You could ask for the sale right away, but you’d likely be met with mostly “nos.” Instead, use marketing automation to put new, cold leads on a drip campaign post-event to warm them up, increasing conversions and overall ROI of the event. Lead generation is a numbers game, but the quality of your leads can make a big difference between an event that ultimately generates new customers or a money pit that does little to elevate your brand. A combination of the strategies detailed above will help you connect with the right people and meet your tradeshow goals.
3 Lessons Small Business Can Learn From “The Profit” Posted on March 21, 2016June 24, 2016 by Jonathan Herrick Running a small business is no easy feat – it’s a truth that Marcus Lemonis knows all too well. If you don’t know who Marcus Lemonis is or haven’t watched the show “The Profit” on CNBC, you are missing out. Marcus, the CEO of Camping World and Good Sam Enterprises is a successful entrepreneur who has invested over $35 million of his own money and expertise back into struggling small businesses to help them grow. Along with catching some great TV, small businesses can learn a lot from the way Marcus helps fellow owners and entrepreneurs get unstuck and clear the daily hurdles of running a business. Here are 3 lessons your small business can learn from The Profit: Stick to the Formula A tried and true formula for success that Marcus subscribes to is investing in people, process and product to accelerate small business growth. Focusing on these three areas of your business sheds light on what you can improve to create a repeatable, sustainable business model that attracts, wows and delights customers. People There isn’t a single episode of The Profit that Marcus doesn’t drive home the importance of people in small business. After all people are your most important asset. Think strategically about what key team members you need to drive the business forward. As a small business, it is easy to look at the bottom line and make decisions based on expenses or salaries. On episode 17 Vision Quest Lighting– a manufacturer of custom lighting- was struggling financially so they let go of one of their most experienced welders due to high salary/wage costs. But as Marcus points out cheaper isn’t always better: The More Experience Employee Delivers a 16% Savings In this example, the more experienced employee made $30 per hour and his replacement only made $18 per hour. On the surface you would think that is a huge savings to the business. However, when the more experienced employee is more productive. delivering the same or better results in ½ the time, the math drastically changes. They key here is to measure the right value metric when it comes to hiring and retaining your employees. While cost is a factor, it shouldn’t be the only factor. If you want to build a great business, surround yourself with great people. Another important aspect when it comes to your people is creating a culture of engagement. Your people are more likely to love their work, perform at a high level and deliver an amazing customer experience when you support their needs first. Just take a look at the episode with the boutique business, 240 Sweet. They are a gourmet marshmallow company and their toxic approach to running their business and lack of leadership forced Marcus to walk out on the deal and their best employee to quit. Sam-Co-Owner of 240 Sweet By supporting your people and proving them with the tools, training and resources to grow personally and professionally, you’ll keep them long term and they will be in a better position to help your business succeed. Marcus couldn’t be more accurate when he says: “The customer is not number one – they’re number two – right behind the employee.” Product You can’t run a healthy small business without great product strategy and execution. It isn’t just about creating cool, innovative products. It’s all about narrowing the focus and delivering the right product to your ideal buyer, at the right price point, in the right place. A great example of this is Inkkas shoes. Dan, the founder of this hip footwear business was inspired by his travels to brings unusual fabrics and designs from other countries into his own shoe line. Dan-Founder of INKKAS Shoes Dan and his team were facing slowing sales and brought Marcus in to turn around their small business. The majority of their sales came from online sales, followed by retailers and a retail shop they were running locally. While customers and retailers loved some of their core products, Dan was investing a lot of his time in designing new models from his own insights to try and fuel sales – with limited success. So, with Marcus’s help, Innkkas went into research mode to get feedback from their customers and retailers on which shoes were actually driving the most sales. The response was overwhelming. There were 5 core models that made up the majority of their sales. The 80/20 rule. So they created 5 basic products to meet the needs of their customers: 5 Core Products of INKKAS Shoes Also, the decision was made to shut down the retail store which had sluggish sales, inconsistent inventory, and an overall poor customer experience. Without the distraction of the retail store, Dan and his team could focus their entire efforts on online and wholesale business where their business was making the most impact. The next thing they focused on was the quality of the product. While their customers liked the look of the shoes, there were opportunities to improve comfort and quality. They switched vendors to deliver a more quality shoe. Although the new vendors where more expensive, addressing the quality issue would enable Inkkas to create repeat buyers and drive a higher price point. Dan and his team took the new, more focused product strategy to retailers and landed new accounts and revamped their website. The end result was a boost in sales, higher profit margins and a reduction in expenses from unused inventory. As a small business owner, you often end up making product or marketing decisions from your gut instead of finding out what customers really think. The greatest lessons to be learned from Inkkas shoes is to stay close to your customers and potential customers, understand their needs and interests and get as much real-time feedback as you can. Work tirelessly for a great product customer fit and narrow your focus so you can deliver “One Thing” exceptionally well, versus trying to serve “Everything” to everyone unsuccessfully. Process Having a consistent, repeatable process is the foundation of scaling any small business or franchise. Just ask Mike and Kathleen of “My Big Fat Greek Gyro.” They are the owners and operators of a franchise with multiple locations that struggled mightily with consistency and a lack of process. Because each location looked and operated differently and delivered an inconsistent customer experience, Mike and Kathleen faced profit losses month after month. “My Big Fat Greek Gyro” owners, Kathleen and Mike Marcus met with the franchise owners to streamline the customer ordering process, simplify the menu options to include fresh, easy to prepare ingredients, and branded the franchises consistently across every location. Marcus even changed the name to “Simple Greek: to better align with their new simpler process. “My Big Fat Greek Gyro” rebranded to “The Simple Greek” When the franchise lacked a process, the business struggled to communicate with employees and locations, resulting in misalignments – like serving off-message and off-brand foods, like frozen cheese sticks. By putting the proper process in place throughout all aspects of the business, Mike and Kathleen now have the foundation to scale up their small business. So what about your small business? How do you consistently attract new customers to your business? How do you ensure quality at each touch-point of the customer journey? Do you have a repeatable, scalable and measurable process that your employees can follow and deliver on? By instilling smart processes into your small business, your people will be more efficient, productive and your bottom line will see a big benefit too. Know Your Numbers If you have watched The Profit long enough you have undoubtedly heard Marcus say: At the end of the day, the numbers don’t lie. He consistently highlights the importance knowing your numbers and profit and loss statements to his small business owners and partners. I am amazed on how few owners on the show actually know their metrics. Like the old saying goes, You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Before Marcus is willing to invest, he does a deep dive into the financials to understand the health of the business and also the valuation. In the episode 10: Bentley’s Corner Barkery, Marcus sits down with Giovani, one of the owners and goes through the balance sheet and financials. Then he asks him: “Do you know that you are losing money?” Giovani, Co-Owner of Bentley’s Corner Barkery Giovani was surprised and mentioned that he doesn’t run the business off of the balance sheet but by the checking account. The sad thing is, Giovani and his wife had an unbelievable passion for the business and truly put everything they had into making it successful. But they were running blind, the business expanded too fast to 7 stores, and they were underperforming. Their small business didn’t know their numbers and thus didn’t understand when to scale up or when to pull back. If you find yourself needing help on the financial side of the business don’t fret, as owners we all have strengths and weaknesses. Make the investment to bring in the right help whether it’s a financially focused team member or even a financial consultant. No one can do everything well, which brings us to our next lesson… Don’t Go at it Alone So why do businesses flourish after Marcus Lemonis walks through their doors? Is it his vision to see what the business could be? Is it his methodical process he implements? Is it his capital invested strategically in the right areas of the business? The answer is yes, all of the above. There is a big difference between starting a business and growing a business. In every case, when Marcus walks into a small business he brings more than just capital to the table. He brings a fresh perspective and a complimentary skill-set that is provided when someone outside the business enters as a trusted business partner. Marcus partnering with Miranda, Owner of Lano Company But none of it would be possible if the businesses didn’t acknowledge they needed help and decided to look for a partner. In your own business, it’s healthy to step back from the day-to-day tactical elements of the business to think strategically. Inventory your strengths and weaknesses, and consider the possibility of looking for a partner to help you take your business to the next level. It can definitely be tough to let go of control, but the key is finding the right partner who holds integrity, the right skills, and shared values. By bringing in a trusted partner, you can focus on what you do best and let your partner excel at their core strengths, giving your small business a greater ability to grow and succeed. Running a small business is a roller coaster – that’s why it makes for such great TV. But, if you want to cut out the drama and build a sustainable, scalable business, take a page from The Profit. Stick to a formula, know your numbers, and don’t try to go at it alone.