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

I celebrated a pretty big birthday last week. So I thought I’d share it in this email by saluting one of the coolest albums of all time along with one of the coolest places in the world!

Give this song by Led Zeppelin a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week…

The Big 5-0!

Led Zeppelin’s fourth album was released (almost) exactly 50 years ago. Wow – what a great album. They were always an influential band for me, and this album has some amazing songs and production. “When the Levee Breaks”… the HUGE drums and the overall wall of sound on that song… gives me chills.

And add to the list of 50th birthdays: Walt Disney World! The Florida resort opened officially on October 1, 1971. If you’ve ever visited Disney World, you’ll understand how well-run a machine it is. I thought it would be fun to look at some business lessons we could learn from Disney as we celebrate 50th birthdays all around!

Here are ten business lessons you can learn from visiting Disney World. Some of my favorites:

• Personalize the customer’s experience. That’s no small feat for how many visitors Disney World gets – if they can do it, so can you and I!
• Keep it hassle-free. Think about your product/service as an experience – what’s the easiest and most seamless way to provide value and support?
• Be a trusted advisor. Think about your customers’ journeys and where they want to go… and how you can be the one to get them there.

If you’re an entrepreneur, Walt Disney himself can provide some great lessons for you – see how he learned from his successes AND his mistakes. For instance, don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself. Remember – Mickey Mouse may be the one you know, but he wasn’t Walt’s original cartoon star.

And finally, some lessons in leadership – and in perfecting the customer experience – from Walt Disney. The key: Whatever your product, service, or solution, you don’t build it for yourself. Know first what your customers want, and build it for THEM.

As Led Zeppelin puts it, mean old levee taught me to weep and moan. But perhaps you can learn just a little bit more when considering the most magical place on earth – and how it got to be that way!

Lead Follow-up DOES Matter!

Sometimes I worry that people just don’t care. We spend large budgets on generating leads, but let them die on the vine. Well, it seems you do care! I sent an email out to prospects this week that got some VERY emotional responses! Lead follow-up and lead management really DOES matter to B2B marketers and sales pros!!

Phew! What a relief!

Do YOU care? If so, check this out – I had the chance to discuss best practices with a top expert in this field (and she actually works with me)! Check out the recording here.

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 Lessons at Life’s Big Milestones 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!

I heard a song by AC/DC the other day. Aside from the catchy beat and the heavy guitars, I actually thought a little about the lyrics. How many times do we get convinced to do something, and end up doing it for less than our value (and I’m not just talking about getting paid in pizza to help a friend move)? Give it a listen as we check out what the experts are saying this week…

Is your sales team selling your solution dirt cheap?

If so, then here are some interesting resources for you:

Forbes outlines four steps that sales and marketing leaders can take to strengthen their strategic backbone in order for their sales teams to increase sales and build long-term, trustworthy customer relationships. It’s all about understanding your audience, building strong and memorable messages, and addressing your clients’ needs!

HubSpot goes further to explain that your teams need to focus on teaching vs. selling and guiding your prospects through the buying process. And of course, adding value during EVERY interaction. I speak to my clients about this every week – you can do anything you wanna do, but if you can’t add value, why bother interacting with prospects or clients?

The Twitch Leak – givin’ us the blues

Amazon-owned video game streaming platform Twitch is the latest victim of a monster data breach, making the highest-paid streamers on its payroll from August 2019 to October 2021 public knowledge. The leak showed that the top 25 gamers on Twitch made at least a million dollars a year. And the number one Twitch gamer made just under $5 million a year.

And this is net! There are (practically) no expenses. And this isn’t all the top gamers make – there are other avenues of compensation, like signing bonuses, exclusivities, tournaments, and sponsorships.

Few musicians make this kind of money. They may gross a hundred million, but the expenses are sky high! Their longevity isn’t great, they’ve got to constantly inject their profits into growing their careers… And it turns out those who draw the largest audience consistently, year after year, are those who made it in the pre-internet era, the classic rockers and those blown up by MTV. The more recent your success, the less you can continue to draw, unless you keep feeding the machine and having hits.

So is it worth being a musician nowadays?

How does this apply to B2B? Sometimes you need to ask those hard questions: Are we in the ‘best’ business for us? Do we have the highest potential? Time to make a pivot before the teardrops start…

Your Lead Follow-up Sucks

But it doesn’t have to. I had the chance to discuss best practices with one of the top experts in this field (and she actually works with me)! Check out the recording here.

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 Communicate the Value – Not Just the Product appeared first on Virtual Causeway.