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This time of year is always tough. For some, it’s full of sadness and feelings of emptiness and loss – kids are back at school, summer is ending, relationships are changing… it’s easy to feel sad and down and get caught up in the turmoil of the season! And how do you keep your team motivated – need I remind you that Q3 is almost over already?!?

This song by Smashing Pumpkins evokes a ton of memories for me… and it seems to have some glimmers of hope in it! Let’s listen and try to collectively ease the pain as we see what the experts are saying this week.

When I Can, I Will

Are your sales reps focusing on the wrong things? I loved a recent post by Art Sobczak on LinkedIn. So much emphasis in sales is focused on getting a ‘meeting’ with your prospect. But what’s their preference? According to Art:

A prospect agreeing to a meeting is a result of them seeing some possible value in speaking with you further. Not in you wanting to “get 15 minutes on their calendar.”

Focus more on what is going on in their world that the RESULT of your product/ service might be able to address.

Do your research, craft your approach accordingly – personalized and customized of course – ask questions during the initial conversation, and then quality meetings are a result, IF they feel you might have something that can help them/their organization.

I totally agree with this – sales and prospecting success is not about what YOU want. We need to ensure that our prospecting is smart, focused, and not self-centered and generic. Try to understand that when you can show a prospect value, they will talk to you!

Hail Satin! (Yes, you read that right)

I mentioned the Foo Fighters album of Bee Gees covers a while back (it’s actually pretty good!). Well, I’ve got some more ’70s nostalgia-related news for you! You may have heard that the original members of ABBA announced a reunion recently.

They’ll be releasing an album of new material, and supporting it with some live-ish performances. On May 27, 2022, they’ll perform a digital concert in London – with the performances handled by ABBA avatars, each modeled after the members as they looked in 1979 (also a great Smashing Pumpkins song!).

All our time can’t be given back – but maybe this is a way for those aging bands that can’t tour physically anymore to stay in front of fans and still be relevant (and still look like we remember them from their prime)!

Is this the future of B2B events as well? Digital avatars and fancy light shows? Who knows – but it will definitely ensure life won’t be so, so dreary!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post It’s a Give and Take with Prospects – but Focus on the Give appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Marketing is all about timing. The right message to the right audience at the right time. So – is sending a weekly email on a big public holiday a bad move? We’ll see! But I guarantee that you’ll always get SOMETHING out of the emails (which is why you should get them direct instead of waiting for the blog post)! I promise I’ll keep it short this week, but there’s some great info below…

Give this song by Blondie a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying.

Call me anytime? Well, not quite…

What’s the best time for a sales call? If you’re a sales rep, you might say anytime… but what about your prospect/customer? Factoring in the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the way many people work and engage with businesses, flexible work locations and schedules have made sales call trends more unpredictable than before. Let’s look at HubSpot’s research on the best times to call buyers in 2021!

1. Best Day for Sales Calls – Wednesday and Thursday remain the best days to call prospects. By mid-week, people have had enough time to settle into their working week and take care of pressing matters without your call feeling like an interruption.
2. Best Morning Time for Sales Calls – The highest likelihood of answered calls is 10-11 am. The last hour of the workday, 4-5 pm, is also good to reach prospects as they wind down for the day.
3. Worst Time of Day for Sales Calls – Calling before 10 am can cause uncertainty about whether your prospects are ready and willing to take your call.
4. Best Response Time – There could be a 450% difference in response time for leads receiving a follow-up call within an hour of submitting an inquiry and those that didn’t! Call those leads ASAP!
5. Persistence Pays Off – Over 30% of leads never receive a follow-up call after initial contact. But salespeople have a 90% success rate on making contact with their lead on the SIXTH call. Make more attempts and you can experience a 70% growth in contact rates!
6. Speed-to-Call Trumps All – Responding quickly to a lead can make or break your ability to close the sale! 78% of buyers buy from the first company to respond; sales teams that don’t respond within five minutes experience a lead qualification decrease of 80%.

So what have we learned here? Be smart about your calling – when you call, how many times, and how quickly! And if you can’t handle the volume or be consistent, talk to an outsourced provider to see how they can help – anytime, anyplace, anywhere, any day, anyway…

I hope you’re enjoying your Labo(u)r Day weekend and wish you and your families all the best. Let’s finish the year strong!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post You CAN’T Call any Day or Night – Best Calling Times for Sales Reps appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

It’s me against the world. At least that’s how I feel sometimes when I’m staring down Q4! Can you relate? This week I’ve got some ideas to help in planning a better future. Maybe we don’t have to be ordinary… give this a listen and get motivated with me as you read on.

Here is what the experts are saying, and some takeaways from the past week:

Outsourced SDR Buyer Framework

Do you have an in-house Sales Development Representative (SDR) team? Do you outsource at all? The Tenbound Outsourced SDR Industry Buyer Framework is a timely resource for companies considering outsourcing all or part of their SDR function.

The framework provides criteria for choosing an SDR vendor best suited to match your needs. They identify three major areas to help in your outsourcing decision:

• What is your specialized area? Vertical and Industry Size
• What is the usual size of your Target Market?
• What are your current needs? Performance-Based Appointment Setting, Full Stack, or a Fully Automated solution

We’ve found our clients achieve better sales and marketing results because of our focus. Rather than trying to be all things to all people, we concentrate on developing skills, refining processes, and creating strategies specifically related to B2B, SMBs, ABM and the technology sector. When working with an outsource partner, you want to find one that closely aligns with your sales and marketing objectives, right?

Marketing Budget Evolution?

‘Tis the season for marketing budgets! Last week we looked at CMO versus CFO perspectives. But in Tracking The True Costs Of B2B Marketing 2020, Forrester SiriusDecisions argues it’s time to upset the applecart and strategically evolve our approach. Their recommendation is to align marketing budgets to audience-oriented initiatives rather than organizational structure. Their report is based on data from hundreds of B2B companies and shows that marketing programs are the largest investment (52-63%) of marketing budgets.

Traditionally, program budgets would be organized by activities such as website, social, events, channel, etc. But the challenge comes in the difficulty of linking those activities to business outcomes. Alternatively, Forrester SiriusDecisions recommends organizing spending along program lines’ reputation, demand, engagement, enablement, and the separate component of marketing operations. This helps set marketing goals that align with company objectives and offers the opportunity for improved performance metrics. It’s worth giving it some thought – be the hero! (I’ll leave the milk and cookies by the spreadsheet for you.)

The Canvas Strikes the Right Chord!

2020 is full of surprises. Bands and musicians are starting to use a tool utilized heavily by startups and tech companies – the Business Model Canvas. I stumbled upon this article that explains how bands can use the tool for greater success in the music business – very cool!

We love the Business Model Canvas and use it at Virtual Causeway internally and with our clients. So many people are often put off by the traditional plan approach involving a lot of text and calculation. With the Canvas approach – grab some sticky-notes and go for it! Are you using it at your organization?

Webinar – Best Practices in Lead Follow-up and Nurturing

We’re hosting another What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? (in 29 minutes) event next month! Please join us and listen in – and of course – contribute! Do you need to get your existing inbound or outbound leads moving again to close more business? Our panel will discuss how to get your B2B lead pipeline unstuck!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or ask how I can help.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat | President | Virtual Causeway | 519.866.1600 x622

The post The Changing SDR Role appeared first on Virtual Causeway.