What is wrong with the telephone?

In a discussion on LinkedIn, a very seasoned “C’ level executive posed the question, “What is wrong with the telephone?  I can’t find good reps that want to pick up the phone and prospect any more.”  I have certainly had moments when I asked myself the same question, “where are the fearless hunters?” 
The fearless hunters [...]

Outsourced Lead Generation?

I have been on both sides of the outsourcing fence, having built lead generation teams internally and outsourced the job to outside service vendors; both with mixed results based on internal and external factors unique in each company and with each vendor.  Before conducting a more complete evaluation of outsourcing options, I would first consider four high [...]

Finding Excellent Lead Generators

Cold calling is surely losing effectiveness as a key strategy for lead generation.  It can, however, be a useful part of an overall lead generation program if thoughtfully executed by the right individuals.  In my experience, finding good lead generation staff comes down to three base characteristics: 
1) Assess call reluctance – find the bounds of discomfort.  [...]

Increasing Sales Effectiveness (bridge the gap between Sales and Marketing)

with one another. This is not new insight. What is increasingly becoming evident is that when both teams work seamlessly Sales Effectiveness can be increased, sometimes dramatically.

Marketing Messages that Connect

I have observed two major trends that should be understood to develop messages for your audience:

First, broadcast messaging is losing its effectiveness. The rise of social media marketing speaks to this. Messaging in the social media markets is working (among other things) due to the extreme ability to target the distribution to a specific set of attributes. It’s not the only venue, but some valuable lessons can be learned from the uptake in social marketing.

Second, relevance and specificity rule the day. If you are going to target me specifically for your message, it had better be super relevant and specific to my role/objectives, and the venue I received the message in. Savvy marketing executives have long understood the importance of the “targeted message” but still fall short, in my opinion, of making the message perfectly relevant and specific to the recipient.