B2B Conversations Now

I read a great article by Kyle Flaherty on Social Media Today: Social media marketers can - and must - prove ROI. There are many points in the article which B2B marketers will find useful, but one of the most interesting quotes I saw was from the CEO of his company BreakingPoint. During a company meeting the CEO said “now is not the time to turtle, now is the time to stick your neck out and move forward”. I like that guy already.

Yes times are tough all over….

Yes customers are harder to find than ever….

Yes we enjoy using social media ourselves but wonder how to justify it to the CEO….

Ironically we spend hours talking and blogging about whether or not to do something while the CEO just says Do It! That’s why he’s the CEO. Sure, every decision might not work, but one thing is for sure; untried options never work.

Ask yourself this: What is your big idea for generating sufficient end-user opportunities for your organization in 2009 AND how is it different from what everyone else is doing?

So, take a tip from the CEO of BreakingPoint, a fast moving company that has great products and what appears to be a management team to match, stick your neck out and move forward.

Tags: B2B Marketing, B2B Sales, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation by daleu
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Paul Dunay (Buzz Marketing for Technology) and I recently discussed how to augment a lead nurturing system for sales ready leads. Here is the podcast as posted on Paul’s site.

Tags: Podcasts by daleu
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This is a guest article written by David X Lamont of MarketingSage®. MarketingSage® is a marketing consultant for one of EchoQuote’s premier clients.

The Psychology of Automated Price Quotes Can Boost Sales Leads 250% to 300%

Most good marketers have a Request For Quote (RFQ) form or email address on their web site. The leads from these RFQ requests are superior to leads generated by white paper or newsletter opt-ins because the prospect is actively weighing the cost of purchasing. As such, users are identifying themselves at a decision point rather than at a curiosity point. Additionally, the contact information provided by the prospects in an RFQ is usually accurate because they want a response. Contact information provided for white paper downloads and demos is often inaccurate if the visitor does not want to be contacted. Obviously, RFQ leads are especially valuable so how do you get more of them without increasing your web traffic?

As an outsourced marketing team, MarketingSage sees tens of thousands of sales leads every year from a variety of clients. All have RFQ forms. However, one savvy client did something different that boosted RFQs 250% to 300%. They added an RFQ button that offered an automated price quote from a 3rd party – EchoQuote (www.echoquote.com). They did not remove the existing house RFQ form. RFQs to the house form remained somewhat static. However, the EchoQuote system regularly generates 2.5X to 3X additional leads. The psychology is interesting.

Many people want a price without having to engage with a salesperson. Therefore, the 3rd party automated system appeals to them even though they know the price is only a budgetary price rather than a final price. The automated system is good enough because it’s fast and hassle free. Of course, to get the quote the prospect completes a form that captures their contact information and product interest. The quote is automatically delivered by email after a human reviews the request.

Tags: B2B Marketing, Lead Conversion, Lead Generation by daleu
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