The Grateful Dead were light years ahead of the concept of lead nurturing. In one of their early albums, they inserted the following message: “DEAD FREAKS UNITE. Who are you? Where are you? How are you? Send us your name and address and we’ll keep you informed.” The street address of the band’s office [...]
When did the job of selling get lumped in with everything else? Asking a great sales person to clean CRM data, lick envelopes and turn over rocks looking for prospects is about the same as asking your attorney to cut the grass – it could be fun but overall, it is not a good use [...]
OUR PRACTICES FOR KEEPING DATA CLEAN IN YOUR CRM
During the execution of an outbound prospecting campaign, CRM data hygiene is important. I’m going to share one of the processes we use internally to make sure users have a good way to “flag” inaccurate contact records.
When we come across an unworkable LEAD, a Salesforce.com or a ZOHO CRM field [...]
http://zoominfoblogger.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/making-sure-your-data-doesn%e2%80%99t-curdle/
Data, like unrefrigerated milk, goes bad fast. In fact, by conservative estimates 25% of the database will sour within a year. Add poor import practices and other minor mistakes and bad things quickly snowball. It isn’t until senior management realizes it is making strategic decisions on the back of sub-par data that heads begin to [...]
Mark your calendar for March 25, 2010. TedX is coming to Naperville.
TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxNaperville, where x=independently organized TED event. At our TEDxNaperville event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection [...]
Good data is the foundation for effective CRM. In B2B it is impossible to build strong marketing unless you know the names of the people most likely to buy from you. Maintaining a clean CRM punchbowl requires more than a summer intern.
NOTE: Robert Hamilton and I collaborated on this article.
It seems every week we talk to just another IT services shop trying to kick-start their marketing and sales process. We sit down with the founder and ask the same question: “so how are you different from all the other firms out there?”
When we ask that question, [...]
The next Silicon Prairie Social is here – are you ready? Join us for a drink on September 24 from 6 to 9PM at Arrowhead in Wheaton.
Ben Bradley will be speaking to the Midwest Entrepreneur’s Forum on September 14 from 6 to 8PM. The topic is Using Trust to Bridge the Sales and Marketing Gap. Please join us [...]
These are my experiences. The answer to the headline question is “yes and no.” Let me explain by talking about a few different ways we’ve converted social media activity in new business. Later, when I have more time, I’ll talk briefly about a few things that didn’t work.
TWITTER FOR LEADS? Personally, no. We have seen [...]
Ouch.
It hurts. Now what?
1) Ask why? What didn’t we do? It is important to ask the client for candid feedback. The candid feedback is an important opportunity to improve things going forward.
2) Ask “how were we being measured?” Did we both understand the measurement criteria? Was it the right measurement criteria? Where did we overpromise [...]