10 August, 2015
Cold calling is especially tough with complex sales for a few reasons:
Let's use a recruitment company as an example.
Step 1: Get permission
When the rep gets a "no" to the initial meeting request, they retreat to "can I send you some information on who we are and what we do should you need us in the future?" Not wanting to appear dismissive, the prospect will grant this request more often than not. The rep now has a name, job role, industry vertical, email address and most importantly, permission to send marketing communications.
Step 2: Nurture
From within their CRM, the rep then adds the prospect to a "lead nurturing drip" campaign. Over 12 months, the prospect will go on a relevant, targeted communication schedule mixing personal one-to-one emails with tailored marketing content. This could look something like:
Post call: personal thank you for your time email with company profile attached
1 month: case study of recent project done for company in their vertical
3 month: vertical-specific profiles on candidates looking for work in their field etc.
Step 3: Get insight
Here's what happens in the background:
Step 4: Re Engage at the right time
When the prospect has demonstrated engagement the rep knows it's time to pick up the phone and reconnect with the prospect! "Send me some information" is just the start of a nurturing journey with that prospect.
Let's say that 6 months after the initial sales call, the prospect is now hiring. The prospect receives an automated and timely email on current industry salary statistics, clicks through and visits 5 pages on the website. An alert is sent through to the rep and they then "just happen" to call to see what the prospects hiring needs are in the coming months. It's now a lot easier to book that meeting.
Reps need to be taught how to act on the insights that marketing automation provides. Being relevant and helpful is great. "I saw you visited 5 pages on our website this morning" feels like someone's hiding in the bushes outside the office.
05 February, 2016
There's a tendency to think the only use case for marketing automation is at the front of the sales funnel. In reality, marketing automation can become the glue that ties the entire customer journey together. From lead generation and nurturing, through to re-engagement, solution selection, customer onboarding, and proactive account service. Let's take high level look at how marketing automation can enhance the customer experience and drive revenue throughout the customer lifecycle:
More14 July, 2016
Beginning the journey towards implementing marketing automation technology is exciting and, as with all things new, contains a few unknowns. Here at LavaBox we've been around the Pardot block a few times and have some useful suggestions to help you plan for your implementation.
More01 September, 2016
Lead nurturing empowers marketers to craft tailored content journeys that take prospects down different routes based on their actions (like clicking through on email links) or data profile in Salesforce (like their lead score or industry vertical). These campaigns deliver content that supports the sales process and influence prospects throughout the customer journey. Below are five lead nurturing campaigns that help move prospects from "new lead" through to "contract signed."
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