Savvy's Resolute Adventures

Zingerman's - A Small Giant

Watch why Zingerman's is a Small Giant: http://tinyurl.com/yemvhc4

When I asked a friend in Michigan if he knew of Zingerman's - his instant reply:

Zingerman's is one of my favorite places on earth. I've been a long-time fan and have attended several of their special events. Its a high-end deli, some say the best outside of NYC. I disagree - it's the best anywhere. The people are what make the place special - knowledgeable, helpful, and - most important - passionate about food. Zingerman's is at the top of my most-admired businesses list.

 

Now, I want to go!

 

Step 11: Sales and Marketing Correlation. Step 12: ROI Metrics. Part III

Sales, Meet Marketing

Marketing should develop a close working relationship with the sales organization. Yet the two are often combative. Professor Ben Shapiro of Harvard Business School, an international authority on sales management, said the biggest problem in business today "is that sales and marketing are in different fiefdoms. They don't even talk to each other."

I've had the privilege of working with three Triangle sales executives who have all gone on to start and run new businesses: Tom Hanlon at OpenSite, who is now a partner with A Shred Ahead; Scott England, vice president of business development at Zift Solutions; and Greg Burnell, who headed up sales at TogetherSoft and then founded 6th Sense Analytics. As the vice president of marketing, it was my priority to collaborate closely with my sales leader counterparts. I would sit in regularly on their sales meetings to understand their pain points and how marketing could best assist. A decade later, Tom and I can laugh about the "positive friction" we created between our two groups that actually helped drive our revenue targets. We were acquired by Siebel Systems, at the time the world's fastest-growing software company, two years after I joined. Siebel was looking for online auction software technology to add to their product mix, and our brand and customer equity outshone the competition.

At OpenSite, I asked each member of my marketing team to buddy up with a member of the sales team to really understand their prospect opportunities and challenges. While at The Learning Company, I traveled with our vice president of sales and his key account executives on corporate calls to share marketing programs that would help drive sales. Marketing should have a chance to walk in the shoes of the sales team. Offer to go on calls to help make the pitch.

So there you have it, the 12 steps to being a savvy entrepreneurial marketer. I look forward to hearing your success stories.

www.savvymarketinggroup.com

Step 11: Sales and Marketing Correlation Step 12: ROI Metrics. Part II

Create Benchmarks

At General Mills, we conducted market research studies to predict what premium (toy in the cereal box) ideas would help sell best. At Sports Illustrated, using historical response rates, we were able to forecast what offers would allow us to most likely attain our circulation targets. For much smaller companies, there is often little to no historical data, no benchmarking. So entrepreneurs have the opportunity to create the starting point. For instance, each new trade show can be a comparison point - track cost per lead generated at each show and compare against each other.

In addition to these quantitative data can be an overlay of qualitative comments to be considered in decision-making. When I joined my first smaller company, I was amazed how colleagues in the industry would get out and compare notes. Talk to those you meet at industry events or friends in similar companies to collect additional data points.

Decide earlier rather than later what customer relationship management (CRM) system will be fitting for your company. When used well, a CRM tool will aid tremendously in tracking quantitative and qualitative metrics for a marketing campaign.

Jeff Slater, the director of global marketing for Nomacorc in Zebulon, said, "We view our Web site as analogous to a trade-show booth. Just like at a trade show, where you would establish a target of qualified visitors spending quality time at your booth, you want the same for your company's Web site. Using easily accessible tools like Google analytics allows you to easily determine how much time each visitor spends with you. You want to know that they have gained the information they need and to ultimately convert them.

"The overall idea is to establish metrics for each marketing activity and each year, continue refining. ... How would you know at the end of game if you won if you don't keep score? Keeping score is vital."

 

 

www.savvymarketinggroup.com

Step 11: Sales & Marketing Correlation. Step 12: ROI Metrics. Part I

 

Step 11: Increase correlation between marketing and sales.

Step 12: Set metrics upfront-quantitative measurements for all marketing activities to guide progress and performance against business goals.

Indeed, why does marketing exist? To drive sales and find customers for businesses, I have always believed there needs to be a tight correlation between investment in marketing and resulting sales. Marketing is more of a science than an art. When planned and executed the right way, marketing is an investment, not an expense.

Just as Six Sigma is to manufacturing, science should and must be applied to marketing. When was the last time you gave your marketing plan a performance review or invested in an external audit? Marketing is core to every business. Marketing is not just the "fluffy stuff." Marketing solves people's problems with products and services at a profit. Give it the attention it deserves.

I was attracted to join General Mills straight out of business school - the brand management program promised us experience in general management with P&L responsibility. They lived up to that promise. When I worked in brand management at Clorox, our leader ingrained in us that every action we took needed to affect volume and profit; otherwise we shouldn't be investing our energies. For instance, when I was assigned to the Clorox liquid bleach brand, we painstakingly analyzed every proposed trade promotion based on historical trends to make sure each would pay out at an acceptable level before approving the spending. Nearly two decades later, our clients today expect and deserve exactly the same from their investment in marketing.

Do you want to earn the confidence of your CEO or CFO? Don't complain if you don't get your budget approved if you can't deliver the plan for measuring return on investment on your marketing investment. By setting metrics upfront, you can decide what programs to continue, stop or tweak. Be sure to know how you will define success, in both the short term and the long term. Sales cycles in business to business segments can often be months to over a year in length, so the true return takes time to monitor. In consumer categories, the products could be fast-moving consumables where ROI can be measured sooner. Regardless, the sales organization holds short-term targets. Marketing needs to think also of long-term implications and own the metrics of brand and customer equity.

www.savvymarketinggroup.com

Step 10: Get leads that generate sales. Part II: Web marketing

Because the majority of Web site traffic comes from search engines, many companies want to focus on better positioning. First, you need to determine whether your target audience will search online to find you. If so, invest energy in search engine optimization. This means ensuring that your Web pages are accessible to search engines and structured in ways that improve the chances they will be found and listed as far to the top of the list as possible.

Companies can also take advantage of many paid search vehicles which are usually measured by "pay per click."

E-mail marketing firms have found their business to thrive in the down economy, perhaps because this form of marketing is cost effective and when well-executed, can bear fruit. Winston Bowden, vice president of sales and marketing for Durham-based Contactology, offered this advice:

Segmentation: Segmentation means sending multiple versions of your message with the needs of different groups in mind. Sending relevant communication through segmentation is a sure-fire way to increase response rates. Our customers segment based on a variety of data points: who has opened an e-mail, who has clicked, who hasn't responded, etc. For example, a marketer might send a follow-up campaign to all the recipients who clicked on a link in an e-mail. Segmenting by demographic data is also critical, especially for retailers. It's likely that your male customers have different needs than your female customers. An 18-year-old customer has different needs than a 50-year-old customer.

Testing: Testing your campaigns is a great way to ensure response rates. Many e-mail marketing products offer testing, allowing marketers to send several different versions of an e-mail campaign to a small portion of their list. For example, you could send three different campaigns and try three different subject lines. You would then send the campaign with the highest open rate to the remainder of the list. You can test any portion of an e-mail campaign: subject line, imagery, copy variations and design elements.

Deliverability: Regardless of your industry and what goals you associate with your e-mail marketing campaign, Bowden said there are some core "must dos." Deliverability should be the No.1 concern of every e-mail marketer. If your message doesn't make it to the inbox, your campaign has zero chance of success. Work with an e-mail marketing provider that maintains strong relationships with the Internet service providers.

List quality: Just as important is for the sender to obtain permission before sending to an e-mail address. Individuals on the list should have asked to receive it. E-mailing to a purchased or rented list is not an acceptable practice in thee-mail marketing industry. Most reputable providers won't work with any list that isn't 100 percent opt-in.

What this means for the marketer is a robust marketing plan to get opt-in subscribers. Place a sign-up button on your Web site. You can also run paid search campaigns that direct Web traffic to your opt-in form. If you're a business with a physical presence, include a sign-up form at your front desk.

How often you contact your target customers depends on the expectations the marketer has established with its recipients. A news organization might send an e-mail every day. A retailer, however, may send only a few e-mails a month.

The key is sending valuable content. Don't waste your recipients' time. If you send too frequently, you risk alienating your list. That means fewer individuals will open and click on your messages. Even worse, it's likely many of your subscribers will request to be removed from your e-mail offers.

Email marketing is "the ketchup on the burger" for companies and organizations using the Web to drive sales.

Place links on your Web site so visitors can easily opt-in to your communications. Without e-mail marketing, a visitor to your Web site could browse and leave. No sale. With e-mail marketing, a visitor to your site can choose to opt-in to your e-mail content. You've taken what could have been a lost prospect and turned them into an e-mail subscriber.

Responsiveness: Once you have signed up subscribers, reward them with coupons and special offers. An opt-in is a clear sign of interest. Send them e-mail immediately and include lots of links back to your site.

Highlight any special sales, new products or industry news that they might find interesting.

Most importantly, segment your e-mail marketing based on whatever data you've collected about the subscriber: location, age, gender, etc.

www.savvymarketinggroup.com

Step 10: Get leads that generate sales - Part 1

Continually test appropriate lead generation vehicles that make sense for your category such as e-mail marketing, search engine optimization, paid search, direct mail, targeted trade shows and conferences, or a motivating referral program. Track the return on investment of each marketing program to know what to refine, continue or drop.

Sales teams will always desire high quality leads. They don't want to be calling into unqualified opportunities. Clay Ritchey, vice president of marketing and strategy for Hill-Rom IT Solutions, made the promise to his sales organization that marketing would not hand over leads unless they met certain criteria.

Ritchey explained that leads handed over to sales must have a budget and accountable decision maker, a demonstrated need that Hill-Rom can fulfill and a timeline to purchase within 12-18 months. The sales team then agrees to make contact within a week.

Dan Clem, director of marketing at AlertNow, said that large events have proved the most effective in reaching his company's target audience, K-12 educators.

Events require great attention to detail before, during and after the show. Companies should step back and think through the goals and corresponding key components to their trade show and conference sponsorship strategy to warrant the investment required. Goals could include: driving awareness with media and analysts who can influence the market, generating prospects for sales, and connecting with potential partners.

Often the leads generated from trade shows are not as targeted as with other marketing programs.

How to evaluate

Before signing on for a trade show, evaluate:

· Is this a must-attend show (especially, to continue to be on good terms with a key partner)?

· Will there be opportunities to speak that can contribute to your company's stature as a "thought leader"? You may need to plan months in advance of the show to make their deadlines. Develop a couple of topics.

· Is the timing appropriate to launch a new product? If so, be sure the product is ready by show time.

· How many attendees does the show organizer expect, and what titles and companies will be present? How closely does this fit with your target audience?

· What is the total cost of the show,, and what is predicted average cost per lead?

· How many people will it take to staff, and can you afford to take sales reps out of the field - is this the best use of time? If not, do you have non-sales staff available? Or a hybrid approach?

· What press will be attending? Can you get the media list and make appointments ahead of time?

· Can you obtain an attendee list to market directly to each before and after the event?

· What are booth size choices, and what will be your messaging, promotional idea, and signage/communications? How will you stand out?

· Can you get prime positioning by registering earlier? What size booth are your competitors taking?

Before an event, train the staff with key messages and answers to frequently asked questions so that everyone will be singing off the same song sheet. After the show, see whether it makes sense to provide an immediate follow-up e-mail to all those who attended. Social media such as blogging and micro-blogging should be used throughout the event. Follow-up is best within hours of a show while attendees are still excited about what they saw. If an event yields a large volume of leads, an e-mail marketing campaign is a good way to help get to them.

Analyze the return on investment of the past year's shows - what the total costs were, how many leads were generated and what business (deals, public relations, partnerships) yielded as a result.

Immediately upon accepting the worldwide marketing leadership role for TogetherSoft in Raleigh, I inherited the responsibility for launching a new product at the largest trade show in the category we competed.

I thought about how we could let our broader target market that would all be in attendance (many of which used our competition) learn about the key attributes that our smaller, but loyal users had come to rely on. We came up with "The TogetherSoft Challenge" a la the Pepsi Challenge.

From my research, we knew where we excelled, and we crafted a simple survey for software developers (our target audience) to rate us against our competition after viewing the latest version of our software tool. Those that viewed the demo and then took the survey were entered into a drawing for a BMW StreetCarver skateboard.

We had hundreds participate after viewing our demo and more than 90 percent thought TogetherSoft performed better and was the preferred product.

We sent the survey results to trade publications and industry analysts resulting in extensive coverage. Several months later, one of the two competitors of TogetherSoft purchased the venture-backed company.

www.savvymarketingroup.com

Step 9: Promote yourself

If your product is sold via channels, think through ways to promote to a corporate buyer as well as retail customers. For some businesses, the majority of revenue occurs in key seasons such as the holidays or summer vacations. Promoting valuable offers, unique products or gift packs to induce trial of incremental offerings could create the key difference in reaching revenue goals.

Lulu.com, headquartered in Raleigh, is a digital marketplace that serves both authors and readers. The company needs more authors to attract more readers and more readers to attract more authors. The marketing staff thinks about both groups in approaching promotions.

"For authors, one of the most compelling aspects of Lulu is that it's free to publish. We charge no upfront fees," explained Rob Croft, director of marketing at Lulu. This year, Lulu built a campaign around that fact. It promoted its free platform and the availability of free ISBNs. And the company threw in a free book so authors could experience the satisfaction of seeing their works in print. Lulu relied heavily on search engine marketing, which gave the highest return on investment for acquiring new customers.

As it turns out, authors also are instrumental in book sales at Lulu. They all have a base of readers and are always eager to encourage them to buy. This year, Lulu started monthly sales contests for its authors. The company gave participants coupons to promote their books and offered tips on increasing sales. It awarded cash prizes to winners. This program created both community and action.

"We planned a number of 'doorbuster' deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday to drive sales," Croft said. "Every day in December, we'll have a different promotion to help our customers find and create memorable and meaningful gifts at the best prices. We'll also have a gift ideas page with our holiday pricing."

All of the promotions Lulu is running this holiday season have been informed by experiences from the year. The company has spent much of 2009 looking at ways to drive more transactions during off-peak periods.

Not everything Lulu has done has worked, such as promoting hardcover books, Croft said. Hardcovers fall into the luxury category, making it harder to drive sales even with promotions, Croft said. Know your audience well and assemble your promotions accordingly to be most appealing.

Promotions can be used to launch new companies and their products as well as mature companies - with the latter being often more challenging to make compelling. While the brand's heritage may be more established, it is more difficult to come up with a promotion that seems new to the target market. Years ago, when I was responsible for consumer product line management for a publicly traded educational software company, I was responsible for a mature software title that you may remember playing in school called "Oregon Trail." As I was brainstorming the possibilities one day, I remembered that the 25th anniversary of "Oregon Trail"'s first version on the teletype computer was on the horizon.

I worked with our team on a 25th anniversary edition of "Oregon Trail" complete with serialized limited edition authentication certificates, classic versions along with the latest on one disk, all captured in a wooden keepsake box with western wagons burnished along the sides. The title quickly rose to the top 10 of the educational software rankings.

No matter what product or service you offer, take the time to step back and brainstorm compelling promotions, keeping your revenue goals, product attributes, its newness (brand new or mature?), target audience and ties to a season in mind.

www.savvymarketinggroup.com