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Checklist: Maximize Your Marketing Campaign ROI by @KendraLeeKLA

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by Kendra Lee

Checklist: Maximize Your Marketing Campaign ROI

Business owners of more and more SMB companies that we talk with are frustrated because they can’t put a finger on the return on investment (ROI) from their lead generation campaigns. They’ve invested time, money and staff, but can’t articulate the value they’ve received.

Use this 8-point checklist to evaluate the success of your marketing campaign elements. We’ve infused the checklist with some humor to guide you in identifying where you need to put more focus to get the marketing campaign ROI you expect.

Who you gunna call? (Ghostbusters, obviously.)
Just kidding. Nothing spooky here! But the first step to successful marketing campaign ROI is to know WHO you are trying to reach. What solution are you trying to sell to them and how does it align with your target market? Knowing this is critical to developing a plan of action that targets the right people with the right messaging.

You must be a keyboard, cuz’ you’re just my type. Really?
It’s time to practice your pickup line. Developing your company’s value statement centered on your target market’s business issues, your solution and your unique differentiation, is critical. This step will inform your messaging throughout both your lead generation campaign and your sales activities for your target market. It creates a cohesive, memorable message that resonates with prospects who need your assistance.

Know thyself and thy market.
Choose your lead generation campaign strategy carefully. Consider how your target contacts prefer to receive information. Do you live in a small community that benefits from local events Cities where email, webinars and warm calling are best received? Then look internally. Are you better at cold calling, email campaigns, personal visits, events or something else? Ultimately, you want to choose 3-5 specific prospect attraction strategies that align with your strengths, who you’re targeting, and your campaign goal.

Variety is the spice of life!
And the spice of successful marketing! If you do the same things to the same group of people all of the time, you’ll lose their attention. Likewise, if you don’t do enough of the right lead generation activities – like in-person events in a smaller community where face to face relationships matter – you’ll see lackluster results. Use a variety of lead generation activities and be consistent in your communications to get noticed and build your recognition ROI.

No really, who are you going to call?
Your lead generation list is one of the top two critical success factors to achieve campaign ROI. Whether using a list you already own, or acquiring a new list, it must be clean and accurate, and segmented by target market. You also need a strategy that continues growing your lead generation list by capturing qualified website visitors.

Let’s play the Data-ing Game!
Testing, measuring and tracking marketing campaign results – i.e. email opens, clicks, replies, call returns, social media shares and comments, Google analytics, referrals, sales conversions, closed sales and so much more – can help you understand who on your list is engaged and which of your campaign messages are most resonant. Establish specific campaign metrics to monitor, and review them regularly with the intention of adjusting your lead generation strategy based on your results.

Embrace the combined power of MQL and SQL
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) are those prospects who have engaged with a predetermined amount of lead generation campaign activities. Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) are prospects that Sales has qualified as having immediate potential to become clients. Establish a closed loop process to move leads from MQL to SQL, then don’t shirk the calls. Be sure to call every marketing qualified lead and qualify if they are real sales opportunities, then measure the conversion of MQL to SQL and SQL to close. If MQL leads aren’t converting, often Sales needs a skill refresh for their calling.

The finish line is only the beginning.
Throughout (and after) each lead generation campaign, perform a strategic assessment to understand if there are any adjustments that need to be made – to your campaign, your sales and marketing processes, and the skills of your teams. Look beyond the sales metrics and assess how your marketing and sales overall need to evolve to achieve your company growth goal.

Marketing campaigns that produce strong ROI require more than sending a few emails if you want to see a healthy influx of new leads. We know firsthand that it takes time, planning, consistency, testing, strategic evaluation, and sales and marketing integration to produce the results you desire.

If you’re missing the expertise or ability to execute any of the steps above, KLA Group can help. We’ve got the team and the strategic framework to simplify your marketing campaigns, integrate your sales team, and dramatically improve your results.

Want to learn more? Give us a shout at 303-741-6636 or click here to request a free consultation. We’ll get on the phone with you and talk through all the opportunities you have to better leverage your lead generation to get more customers and grow your business.

Kendra Lee

 

Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert, author of the popular books “The Sales Magnet” and “Selling Against the Goal,” and president of KLA Group.

KLA Group is a Sales Consulting and Training firm focused on helping clients get more customers in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment.

10 Sales Situations to Boost Your Confidence with the Power Pose by @KendraLeeKLA

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10 Sales Situations to Boost Your Confidence with the Power Pose

by Kendra Lee

No matter how confident you are or how great a sales rep you are, sales is filled with moments that are intimidating. Whether it’s picking up the phone to prospect, speaking with angry customers, dropping by a business unannounced, or giving an important presentation, there are high-stakes moments where you have to put yourself out there.

And those are times when no matter how good you are, you aren’t feeling as capable or confident as you are.

That’s where body language comes into play.

You know that your body language can influence how others see you. But even more importantly, body language can alter how you feel about yourself.

That’s right. The way you sit, stand, walk and carry yourself impacts your own perception of yourself.

For those oh-so-intimidating moments, you need to strike your power pose. If you’re not familiar with the power pose, definitely check out Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are” and my blog post “Want to Win More Sales? Improve Your Body Language!”

For women, this powerful stance is called the Wonder Woman pose; for men it’s known as the Superman pose. (Feel free to play the appropriate theme song if you like! I’m already humming it as I write this post.)

When you assume these superhero poses, it creates the right frame of mind for facing potentially intimidating moments by giving your confidence a much needed boost.

Here are 10 difficult sales situations when striking a power pose will boost your self-assurance and power you through.

Use it before you:

1. Make cold calls.

2. Ask requirements gathering questions your prospect may find uncomfortable.

3. Want to reframe a prospect’s frozen thinking.

4. Make a recommendation you aren’t sure will be received well.

5. Present a financial justification for a high priced solution.

6. Deliver a proposal for a high priced solution

7. Ask for a referral from a client who isn’t expecting it

8. Begin a potentially challenging negotiation

9. Close a sale

10. Have any difficult conversation – with prospects, customers, peers, managers and leaders

Each of these are sales situations, but the power pose works beyond sales. I jump into the Wonder Woman stance before all of my speaking engagements. And when I just want to feel strong.

It’s almost addictive because of the positive feeling it creates.

You’ve probably heard that you should keep a mirror in your office to watch your facial expressions during phone calls. Those expressions stand out in your voice too.

Now, take it a step further.

Don your figurative superhero cape and strike a power pose in the mirror before you pick up the phone. Feel the surge of self-confidence. That self-assurance will transmit through the phone lines and change your prospects’ perception of you and the conversation.

Body language plays a significant role in how you feel about yourself, and how customers perceive you. The next time you find yourself in a potentially difficult sales situation that requires all your confidence combined with your sales skills, use the power pose. You may just find more people stop and listen to what you have to say.

If this topic fascinates you as much as it does me, then you must give Amy’s new book, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges a read. Her ideas can help you harness the power of your body language even more.

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kendra leeKendra Lee is a Prospect Attraction Expert, president of KLA Group, and author of the award-winning books The Sales Magnet and Selling Against the Goal. KLA Group helps entrepreneurial and growing companies break through tough prospecting barriers to exceed revenue goals. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and events. To find out more about the author and her “Get More Customers” strategies, visit www.klagroup.com or call +1 303-741-6636.

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10 New Tips for What’s Working in Email Today by @KendraLeeKLA

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10 New Tips for What’s Working in Email Today

by Kendra Lee

Let’s face it, writing emails that get a response is an art – and it’s constantly changing.

Last night I had the opportunity to write a series of emails for a campaign for one of our clients. As I was writing, I realized that there are 10 new tips you need to be aware of as you craft your emails.

Whether you’re a sales rep writing prospecting emails, or a marketer writing lead generation campaigns, these tips apply. Because let’s face it, when an email arrives in the inbox, until your prospect opens it, they shouldn’t know what type of email it is.

1. Keep the subject line short. Long subject lines tend to get skimmed over because subconsciously they imply a long email. Short subject lines are quick reads. If they feel relevant to your prospect, they’ll draw prospects into the email quickly.

2. Exception to tip #1. If you know the person you’re emailing, then using the subject line like a chat will often get a quick reply.

3. Keep the content brief – less than 99 words. If possible, use less than 50 words. The shorter your email, the more likely your contact will be to actually read it before making a delete decision.

4. Include a call to action as your last sentence. Closing with “Let me know your thoughts” or “I look forward to your reply” alerts the prospect that this email isn’t merely informational, you’re expecting an answer.

5. Follow up. If you haven’t heard from a sales prospect, follow up in three days. If you’re writing a marketing email campaign, consider inserting follow-up emails periodically to increase engagement.

6. Include a grabber. Have a business issue or trigger event that you know is top of mind with your prospect and use it. Rather than talk about your product or solution, focus on the grabber.

7. Turn the first paragraph into a mini-email. Mobile readers may only read the first paragraph of their emails. Write it in such a way that it conveys the most important information and makes your prospect want to keep reading. Include your grabber here. But a word of caution – you still have to keep the paragraph brief.

8. Ask a relevant question. Another way to get a response is to ask a question that feels like you should reply. In a prospecting email it might be “Does Wednesday morning work for you?” In a lead generation email, it may be a question about the email topic, such as “Is this an issue you’re experiencing?”

9. Give an agenda. When suggesting a meeting, tell prospects what you’re going to talk about. “Let’s discuss your lead generation strategy and what we’re seeing that’s working in your target markets.” This way you create interest – and maybe even excitement – in having a conversation.

10. Be casual. Too often prospecting and lead generation emails sound stiff, and that implies boring conversations. Envision a real prospect and write as if you’re talking to him. Insert a friendly statement. Not, “I hope this finds you well.” Instead, “I’m looking forward to our conversation.”

These are the latest tips that we’re finding drive increased response rates and engagement as we create our clients’ campaigns. If you’re thirsting for more, download our free 27-page Email PowerProspecting ebook. I couldn’t cover them all here!

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Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert, author of the award-winning books, “The Sales Magnet” and “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the small and midmarket business (SMB) segment.

Relationship Building Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving – And you Should Be, Too by @KendraLeeKLA

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Relationship Building Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving – And you Should Be, Too

by Kendra Lee

When I first started in sales for IBM in 1984, the buzz phrase that everyone was talking about was “relationship selling.” That phrase stuck for most of my time at IBM, but trendy new sales approaches and buzzwords seem to have taken over in recent years.

For instance, in 2011, the Harvard Business Review published an article declaring the death of relationship selling and the rise of the “challenger sale.” The key distinction was that challengers push prospects out of their comfort zone and drive them to learn new things about their business, market, or pain points.

While I think that approach has serious merit, its supporters often overlook one thing: In order for a salesperson to impart that knowledge and awareness on a prospect, they must first establish a relationship. This is especially true in an age where content marketing and nurturing play key roles in the actions that prospects take.

In fact, in many ways, I think we’ve come full circle from my days at IBM.

Today, the most successful salespeople aren’t just good at challenging a buyer to explore new ways of solving problems and addressing needs. They’re also experts at creating and nurturing authentic, congruent relationships with prospects across multiple channels (social, phone, email, events, etc.).

Sales Isn’t Just Phone and Email

While most prospecting is done via phone and email, we now have the luxury of numerous other channels to find, engage, and contact prospects — whether it’s LinkedIn, LinkedIn Groups, Twitter, Google+, or (depending on the scenario) Facebook. The very best salespeople are particularly adept at deploying a multi-faceted prospecting approach to establish and build relationships, and they strive to create a congruent relationship across all of those communication channels.

Why is that important?

Think about this scenario: Let’s say that your company executes a nurturing campaign that conveys a blissful, friendly, highly personalized message, and at the same time takes a hardcore telemarketer approach to secure a phone appointment.

How do you think prospects will respond to that? My guess is that they’ll be confused. And, in the end, that will probably cause you to lose them.

Consider the Relationship Prospects Want to Have With You

To avoid losing prospects from incongruence, consider the relationship your contacts want to have with you, and then to be consistent across all communication channels. For instance: When you prospect on LinkedIn, prospects don’t want to be sold to. If you blatantly ignore that protocol, you’ll very likely lose credibility and connections.

When you reach out to prospects over the phone, they don’t want to be unabashedly sold to. They want a quality, professional conversation.

When you prospect via email, people don’t want to be spammed. They want messages that demonstrate the sender has put thought into how they relate to the prospect.

When you nurture prospects on Twitter, people don’t want constant self-promotion. They expect authentic engagement.

The key theme here is that you need to be congruent in how you engage with your prospects to initiate a long-term relationship. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes and look at relationship building from their perspective. If you do that, your multi-faceted efforts will come across as more genuine and relevant, and you’ll develop the much-needed credibility that more “modern” sales approaches are so reliant upon.

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kendra leeKendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert, author of the book, “The Sales Magnet” and the award-winning book, “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the small and midmarket business (SMB) segment.

This Year’s Success Is Hidden In These Numbers by @KendraLeeKLA

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by Kendra Lee

This Year’s Success Is Hidden In These NumbersIt’s that time of year again when we all turn to goal setting. And it’s not just because it’s the beginning of the year and people are setting New Year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat more healthily, and spend more time with family. In our business lives, the start of a new fiscal year causes us to look ahead to what we want to accomplish in the new year.

I’m not one to set New Year’s resolutions. It won’t surprise you to learn that I don’t believe you have to wait until January 1st to set resolutions that will change your personal or professional path. I also don’t believe that you have to wait until January 1st to start what you know needs to be done.

“Do it now!” is my motto.

Most recently I set goals in October, announcing to my team that the next 12 months will be a year of numbers. The salesperson in me would love to be spontaneous and make decisions based on my gut instincts. But the business owner in me knows that your gut can only take you so far before you must confirm and adjust your direction based on the numbers.

And it’s never been easier to track numbers whether you’re a business owner, salesperson or marketer.

It seems that CRM, email, marketing automation, accounting and operations applications all track just about everything you can imagine. Why not use those numbers to our advantage?

So, this year my goal is to use the numbers available to us to guide our business. Here are the top 4 numbers that I’ll be monitoring:

1 Profitability and monthly revenue, of course. Every business owner has to monitor these. I also have my team leads monitoring them because frankly, why should I shoulder all the risk?

2 Lead generation campaign metrics from clicks, views and downloads to conversions and closes. People tell us they love our content. The metrics confirm specifically what they love and help me determine our content and solution offerings direction.

3 Prospecting metrics including appointments set, length of the sales process and closes. As authorities in prospecting, I have to constantly research what’s working and what’s not. But we’re a business, too, and every business needs a consistent influx of new clients.

4 Social conversion, monitoring discovery, engagement and conversion. Social networking is a necessarily piece of business today and consumes resources to do it right. I want to be sure it’s not just “right” but also generating revenue.

Even if numbers don’t seem as fun as gut instincts, they provide insights that will allow you to quickly shift your business without waiting for the next New Year. What numbers are in your goals this year?

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kendra leeKendra Lee is a Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencer. She is a Prospect Attraction Expert, president of KLA Group, and author of the new book The Sales Magnet and the award-winning book Selling Against the Goal. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps mid-market companies break through tough prospecting barriers to get more customers. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and events. To find out more about the author and her “Get More Customers” strategies, visit www.klagroup.com or call +1 303-741-6636.

12 Tips to Close End of Year Sales Fast by @kendraleekla

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2015by Kendra Lee

It’s December! For most sales reps and sales managers that means it’s crunch time for achieving your sales goals. With just weeks left in the year, you need to close sales fast, but don’t want to appear desperate.

Here are 12 strategies you can use to close sales without proposing discounts and special offers:

  • Review all the proposals you closed this year and make a list of things customers decided to “wait to do.” Close them now.
  • Spend two days closing lingering proposals, even the ones from last January.
  • Upsell add-ons you thought would inflate the original solution you sold this year.
  • Sell one more. Look for opportunities to sell one more of something small or simple: one more PC, one more small project, one more staff administrative position. Sell a bunch.
  • Conduct a 2014 review meeting with your top eight customers. Look back on the year’s successes and forward to what still needs to be accomplished before year end.
  • Look for clients with remaining budget this year that they’d like to spend on next year’s priorities.
  • Call every client you haven’t talked to in 90 days to see how they’re positioned to start next year. Do they need your services in December to get off to a fast start?
  • Call all prospects who’ve been holding off on moving forward with a proposal. Check in to see how they’re positioned to achieve their first quarter initiatives.
  • Review your forecast and identify the steps required to close everything – then execute.
  • Enlist your manager’s and / or team’s support in overcoming roadblocks holding any of your customers or prospects back from buying.
  • Remind customers you welcome referrals. Who do they know that needs help to get through year end?
  • Set appointments for January to give yourself a fast start to next year. You may find last minute opportunities while you’re at it!

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kendra leeKendra Lee is a Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencer. She is a Prospect Attraction Expert, president of KLA Group, and author of the new book The Sales Magnet and the award-winning book Selling Against the Goal. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps mid-market companies break through tough prospecting barriers to get more customers. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and events.

To find out more about the author and her “Get More Customers” strategies, visit www.klagroup.com or call+1 303-741-6636.

Want to Win More Sales? Improve Your Body Language! by @KendraLeeKLA

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Photo Credit: M J M via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: M J M via Compfight cc

by Kendra Lee 

Just for a moment, imagine that you’re meeting with a financial advisor to discuss your investment strategy.

As you look across the desk at him, you notice that he’s sweating, twisting his wedding ring, and refusing to make eye contact. As he delivers advice and proposes that you put large chunks of money into certain funds, he stammers and trembles.

Now, ask yourself this question: How confident are you in giving that person the power to control your financial future? Not at all confident, right?

As a salesperson, your posture and body language can have a similar impact on how your customers and prospects view you, your company, and the products or services you sell. As hard as it may be to believe, the better it is, the better your chances are of gaining the confidence and trust of the people you sell to! The worse it is, the worse your chances are of getting them to listen to what you have to say.

In fact, in the recent Ted Talk, “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are,” Harvard social psychologist Amy Cuddy went so far as to suggest that body language (or, as Cuddy calls it, non-verbal communication) can change other people’s perceptions of us, as well as our own body chemistry. So, even though you might not feel confident when you meet with a prospect, you can actually convey confidence through your body language, posture, and movement. And that can have an enormous impact on your ability to close more sales.

Need Big Results? Make These Small Changes

Now, I’m not saying that you should all of a sudden start acting like an over-confident meathead in sales meetings – shouting, cracking crude jokes, or awkwardly attempting to dominate the conversation will get you nowhere.

Rather, I’m suggesting that you consider making some relatively small tweaks. As the Wall Street Journal’s Sue Shellenberger points out in this article, embracing the concept of striking “power poses” to raise your confidence before you enter meetings or pick up the phone can drastically improve performance.

What exactly does a power pose look like?

According to Shellenberger, it can be as simple as standing in front of a mirror, leaning forward a little bit and placing your hands on a table in front of you. Or, it could be sitting back in your chair and kicking your feet up onto your desk. Both body positions instill power and confidence, and Shellenberger’s article suggests that they raise testosterone levels and lower the presence of the cortisol – a hormone that has been tied to stress and anxiety.

Act Confident, Even When No One is Watching

Winning sales is really about the confidence you’re able to convey to your prospects (in addition to solid solutions, of course). If prospects trust what you’re saying, they’ll be more likely to buy-in to your recommendations. If they don’t trust you, even the best recommendations will fall on deaf ears.

How you stand, smile, pose, or speak can change the energy in a face-to-face meeting with a customer, while the tone, power, and confidence of your voice can greatly influence the flow of a phone conversation.

So, smile as you talk. Stop slouching. Breathe from your diaphragm. Strike a power pose when you stand up from your desk. All of those things will raise your energy level and confidence. And that will undoubtedly translate to winning more sales!

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About Kendra Lee and KLA Group

kendra leeKendra Lee is a Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencer. She is a Prospect Attraction Expert, president of KLA Group, and author of the new book The Sales Magnet and the award-winning book Selling Against the Goal. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps mid-market companies break through tough prospecting barriers to get more customers. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and events.

To find out more about the author and her “Get More Customers” strategies, visit www.klagroup.com or call+1 303-741-6636.