Marketing Clique

I recently listened to a presentation by a marketing executive from a very visible, ostensibly easy-to-reach company. At the end of her PowerPoint presentation there was the quintessential how to contact me slide. Her presentation was fine, up until then. She looked up at her how to contact me slide on the presentation screen and began gloating that she's hard to reach; that she doesn't answer phone calls; travels a lot, and receives such an extreme volume of email that if she doesn't recognize the sender she's unlikely to respond.

The response from many in the audience was a nervous grin and a knowing nod, as if they too were so damn busy they didn't have time to communicate either. My reaction, however, was a gagging in my throat, and I think a few others felt the same.

Given the convergence of sales and marketing, I think it's incredibly important to meet customers where they're at. If a client or prospect "reaches out to you," it's a good thing to respond. In other words, they're not going to respect the idea that you're so busy that you don't have time.

The same goes internally. If you're a big, important executive who has an army of people who report to you, take the time to connect with your tribe. It's good for everyone. Employees are an important variable in the success quotient. Umm, they're human.

The convergence of sales and marketing means that marketing has to be more accessible

The lines are blurring. The roles are converging. Times are different in the B2B lead generation world. Be accessible. I'm not suggesting that you be available 24/7. But if you supposedly make yourself available via telephone, email, IM, then be prepared to use those tools when people are trying to contact you.

The CEO of a very well-known company I used to work for once explained to me:

"Greg, I always answer my phone and respond to emails. Why? Not because I know who everyone is. Quite the opposite—because I don't know who everyone is. It could be someone who helps me and my business. Quite often it is. I'm still in control. If I'm through with the telephone conversation I let the person know. Likewise, I'll tell the person via email what to expect as a next step, and sometimes it's 'don't bother following up with me any further.'"

I can tell you, first-hand, that he held true to his communication ideals. He responded to all direct communications. We were in a taxi together, after hours, and his cell phone (a number he provided on his business card!) rang. He didn't know who it was, didn't recognize the number. It turned out to be a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. She was on deadline, needed to crank out an article within the hour, and wanted a quote from my boss. He gave her a snappy quote. It appeared in the WSJ the following day, was read by many thousands of businesspeople and furthered my boss' position (and our company's) as an authority in the marketplace.

Proposals present another ideal time for marketing and sales to buddy up. According to the Sant Corporation, a leading proposal automation software company, many organizations' proposals are hastily assembled. Unfortunately, salespeople end up sending out what amounts to a jalopy–an amalgamation of disparate proposals they've sent to a variety of prospects.

Unfortunately, most salespeople resort to "cloning" as a means of getting their proposals done quickly. They borrow a proposal that somebody else has written for a different client, use the Find/Replace function in Microsoft Word to change the client's name, and print it! That's about as personalized as a can of spinach. (Plus they run the risk of having the wrong client's name show up somewhere in that proposal. You can imagine what that does for rapport and credibility.) —How to Write a Winning Proposal, Sant Corporation

The proposal is the ultimate opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of your prospect's business challenge and how you propose helping them to solve it. While the proposal ought to be all about your prospect, it's also a time to show off your company's branding. Use this opportunity to produce a document that exudes professionalism–a foreshadowing of what it's going to be like working with your organization.

The proposal is clearly one of the most critical elements of the sales process. Research supports that the sales process, along with product and service featuers are most important to the buyer.

• Related Post: 2 Ways to Beef Up Your B2B Sales Process

Marketing and sales distilled into one document

Since the proposal is a personalized summary of what your company is going to deliver, it's a marketing project. But since it's about closing business, it's a sales project. Therefore, marketing and sales need to sit down together and agree on how proposals should be structured, from a branding and marketing standpoint. That doesn't mean that salespeople need to be sending out "boilerplate" proposals. But it does mean that your company's proposals can have a consistent look and feel–branded, instead of the jalopy that normally gets sent out.

If you have a growing team of salespeople and there is an increasing volume of proposals, sales letters, and responses to RFPs being delivered to prospects, consider hiring a professional company like Sant Corporation to support your efforts to becoming more streamlined.

Dos and Don'ts

• Do make the proposal about the prospect. Of course you need to describe your organization's approach to solving their business problem, but keep it focused on them.
• Do use consistent, branded verbiage to describe your company's products and services. It reduces confusion and makes deliverables easier to explain.
• Do keep the proposal as brief as possible. Ideally, a proposal is being sent to a prospect once there has been agreement that it is time to formalize a relationship. In a perfect scenario, the proposal is simply a way to summarize what you and the prospect have already agreed to, informally. If you haven't verbally agreed to anything it might be too early for the proposal.
• Don't deliver the proposal as a PowerPoint presentation. It's not a presentation, or a pitch. It's a proposal. That doesn't mean you can't get buy in and a verbal agreement to work together using a pitch or a presentation.
• Don't use the proposal as a detailed project overview. I know it's tempting, because your delivery team doesn't want to get roped into an underpriced project. But the project timeline and detailed description should be a separate document.
• Don't use the proposal as a master service agreement (MSA). The proposal doesn't have to be the document that gets dragged through legal. The MSA is that bugger. The MSA is a dry, boring, chocked-full-of-legalese document that only lawyers should read.
• Don't give away the farm! Some proposals end up being so detailed that a wavering prospect can take the proposal and turn your services into a commodity by pricing out each deliverable.
• Do have your colleagues proofread it before it goes out the door.
• Do consider sending a hard copy via FedEx, especially if you think the prospect is receiving multiple bids. A FedEx delivery still commands an air of urgency, importance, and curiosity in the business world. It's good insurance that your proposal will get opened.
• Do keep in mind that your proposal may be read by a number of different people, not just the recipient. So resist being overly familiar. Explain products, services, and deliverables in an easy-to-read format.

Once we've established a client relationship, one of the questions I have traditionally asked my customers is, "What's the best way for me to keep up-to-date with you and your needs?" My customers' responses have varied:

• Weekly conference call
• Skype
• Twitter
• Email
• Mobile
• Come by their office once a month
• Meet up with them at industry conferences
• Call them on their cell phone Thursday afternoons at 4:30 p.m.
• Hand off to a colleague / subordinate who will be handling the relationship
• Send reports and wait for them to contact us if they have questions

One size definitely doesn't fit all. And for better, or worse, the telephone seems to be the least preferred method of communication. I have regularly heard executives (who don't have an assistant) admit that they simply don't answer their desk telephone and let it roll to voicemail, which they check intermittently throughout the week.

Keeping Up With Customers: The Roll of Social Technology

A March 2010 report from The Altimeter Group entitled, Social CRM: The New Rules of Relationship Management (view entire report embedded below) explores how companies are approaching Social CRM initiatives. The report finds that companies are unable to keep pace with the rate at which customers are adopting social technologies. The recommendation, given that it's a slippery slope, is that organizations need to adopt an organized approach to social. Companies that are overwhelmed with the fast-paced frenzy of social need to take a step back and evaluate how to move towards more mutually beneficial and meaningful interactions.

Executives need to decide on a strategy for keeping in touch with customers. Embracing social is becoming increasingly important, so organization leaders need to decide on a plan of action. Strategies will vary, depending on many factors. But one thing is for certain, social is here and it's hot. Ignoring it won't make it go away.

Like many IT issues, implementing a proper social strategy may require bringing in an outside expert consultant. Partly because it is relatively new, there is a lot of hype. Keep focused on addressing core business challenges, and resist chasing after technologies for technology's sake. An outside consultancy may be able to help your organization streamline efforts to integrate a consistent, authentic Social CRM strategy.

How Does This Relate to Marketing & Sales Convergence?

I continue to try and tie these issues back to how they affect marketing and sales, working together. While a Social CRM strategy is vital for much of the organization, marketing and sales have another unique opportunity to work together and meet the customer where they're at. Sales needs to remain as customized and tailored as possible, when it comes to communication, respecting their customers' wishes. Marketing needs to take its lead from sales, ensuring the highest value of communication.