Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales agency serving Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle) and all 50 United States.

This week’s entry comes to us again from Lauren Carlson, a CRM analyst for the website Software Advice. Recently she chatted with an author about the rules of engagement in social media:

Some people have gained so much notoriety in their respective fields that their names are almost synonymous with the field itself. When it comes to new media and social business, that person is Brian Solis. Principal of Altimeter Group, Solis has worked with many Fortune 500 companies and authored several books. I recently got a chance to sit down with him for the Software Advice website and talk social media and the evolving customer-vendor landscape.

image via flickr

We all know that social and mobile technologies have changed the way customers act and interact. This idea of customer centricity is not a new concept. However, Solis takes it a step further by calling this landscape or environment the “Egosystem.” The Egosystem is differentiated from traditional customer centricity in that the customer is at the center of, or owns, the experience. Yes, customers have always been the focus for companies, but it was the company that dictated the nature of the relationship and the rules of engagement, if you will. Thanks to social media and smartphones, the customer has immensely increased access to information outlets. They can ask product and service questions via multiple online and mobile channels without ever having to contact the actual vendor. They are in control. I think it is the shift of control that differentiates what Solis calls the “Egosystem” from tradional ideas of customer centricity.

But how do companies survive in the “Egosystem?” Customers do not want traditional communication and relationships. Instead they want engagement. Solis defined engagement by using six elements:

• Value
• Efficiency
• Trust
• Consistency
• Relevancy
• Control

I break down each of these individually in my original post. You can read it here on my blog.

Lauren Carlson, CRM Analyst

Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales strategies.  We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and Telemarketing services to your specific needs.

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

• B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
• On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
• B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
• Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
• Online Presentations and Webinars
• Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
• Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
• Pre and Post-Event Calls
• Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales agency serving Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle) and all 50 United States.

This week’s entry comes to us from Lauren Carlson, a CRM  analyst of SoftwareAdvice.com.  We agree with Ms. Carlson’s talking points because any par or superstar embraced the tools of SFA. If you were subpar or not doing your job then maybe the case was you didn’t want to use anything.

image via Flickr

The rate of adoption of sales force automation (SFA) software by sales professionals has been traditionally low.  Many reps viewed it as a way for management to play “Big Brother” and keep a close eye on the team’s activities.  Additionally, the original SFA systems were burdensome, with poor user interfaces and data entry prcesses.

However, much of that has changed in the past 15-20 years.  Many of today’s SFA solutions have a much sleeker look, can be deployed over the cloud and are flexible enough to match the individual’s needs instead of the other way around.  Now, instead of being a kludgy pain in the sales person’s neck, SFA has become one of their most powerful tools.  Lauren Carlson, a writer for the Software Advice website recently wrote an article about this.  Below are the four high-level trends she says have driven acceptance and adoption of SFA software.

1.  SaaS technology improved implementation.  Traditional client/server systems required long implementation times, as well as a large investment in internal IT.  Today, most SFA systems are deployed over the web, removing the need for IT involvement and a drawn-out installation.

2.  Cloud increases accessibility.  Many sales professionals are not operating from a single location.  They are out on the road, meeting with clients, closing deals and finding new ones.  Cloud technology has made it possible for these remote reps to take the power of the SFA system with them, no matter where they go.  This increased accessibility means no duplicate data entry and easy access to vital client information.

3.  Advanced analytics increases SFA’s value.  In the past, SFA served primarily as a contact manager.  Today’s systems are equipped with sophisticated analytics and third-party integration capabilities, resulting in a much more powerful tool.  Now, users can access valuable information on the pipeline, quotas and opportunities that weren’t available before.

4.  Improved processes compressed the sales cycle.  The key to sales force automation is that last word — automation. Newer systems have process mapping capabilities and built-in best practices to not only automate your existing processes, but enhance and improve upon them. This results in a reduced sales cycle and higher win rates.

These are just a few high-level trends that have shaped adoption of SFA software.  You can read about them in more depth on the Software Advice blog, SFA 15 Years Later Now Every Rep’s Best Friend.

by Lauren Carlson, CRM Analyst

Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales strategies.  We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and Telemarketing services to your specific needs.

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

• B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
• On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
• B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
• Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
• Online Presentations and Webinars
• Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
• Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
• Pre and Post-Event Calls
• Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales agency serving Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle) and all 50 United States.

This week’s entry comes to us from Art Sobczak, author of www.telesalesblog.com.  Mr. Sobczak warns us not to succumb to the robotic delivery of telesales calls:

To Be a Better Salesperson, Don’t SOUND Like One

By Art Sobczak on Sep 8, 2011 in Preparation

Just wondering …… why in the world do some salespeople feel like they must sound like a salesperson when they get someone on the phone?

What is it about presenting … whether it be selling by phone or speaking before a group that causes some people to cinch up and sound like the synthesized voice that gives the phone number on directory assistance?

I spend a lot of time on airplanes, and can’t tell you the last time I actually listened to the flight attendant giving the speech about the flat end going into the buckle. Oh yes I can, I flew Southwest a couple of weeks ago and, as many of their attendants do, this one delivered the announcement like they were actually talking to a person, and with humor and enthusiasm. That got my attention.

The bottom line is that on the phone, sounding canned, like you’re reading something, or like you’ve just been awakened at 3:00 a.m. is detrimental to your success.

But, many people sound that way. And many of those don’t realize it. Here are a couple of points to keep in mind.

We tune out–and are often annoyed by–unemotional, canned messages. Think about the sales calls you have received at home … the ones that follow the couple of seconds of dead air after you pick up the phone and say “Hello … hello …?”

You first hear the din of what sounds like a noisy restaurant, and the monotone voice greets you with,

“Hello, can I speak with (bad mispronunciation of your name)?”

Then they begin reading a script.

Likewise, think about some really bad acting you’ve seen in a play or movie. It looks and sounds stilted … unnatural, like it’s being read. It has the same turn-off effect.

People will speak with those who sound conversational.

What more can I add?

But please don’t misunderstand me on one key point:

Preparing what you’ll say and scripting your opening is still the best way to approach a call. But never, ever, SOUND like you’re working from an aid.

As I always say, the worst time to think of what you’ll say is as it’s coming from your mouth.

Exercises
So, what to do? Easy. The better prepared you are, the more natural you will sound. “Humanize” your calls. Remember, you’re talking to another person, not at a phone instrument. Listen to your calls on tape, and ask yourself, “Would I talk to a friend like this? Does this sound natural?”

Prepare your openings and recite–not read–them into a tape player. Pretend you are talking to a good friend in a social setting.

The less you sound like a salesperson, the more you’ll sell.

By Art Sobczak on Sep 8, 2011

 

 

Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales strategies.  We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and Telemarketing services to your specific needs.

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

• B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
• On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
• B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
• Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
• Online Presentations and Webinars
• Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
• Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
• Pre and Post-Event Calls
• Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales agency serving Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle) and all 50 United States.

This week’s entry comes to us from Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Coach from B2B Sales Connections.  Ms. Enns writes about the new business etiquette that salespeople must remember among the flurry of technology in today’s times:

Technology has changed our lives forever.  We can now communicate with virtually anyone, anywhere at any time.  However, technology has also created a new set of rules for what I consider acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Some believe this new business etiquette to be generational in nature; that since those who are younger grew up with technology, it is only them who make these faux pas. Since I have personally experienced people of all ages make these mistakes, I say age has nothing to do with it.

Let me give you some examples.  I am in the process of making a major purchase.  The product I will be buying is irrelevant, just suffice it to say it is a large ticket item and I will be comparing many competitive products and talking to many sales people before I finally make my purchase.

In one instance, the sales representative’s cell phone rang during our conversation.  He took the call, and to my surprise, he chatted for several minutes while I waited.  Not too long after that call was done and we started talking again, his cell phone rang again.  When he answered a second call, I literally walked out of his office.  Remember, one prospect face to face is worth two on the smart phone.

This was not a young rookie either.  Although he told me on several occasions he had 30 years of experience, I kept thinking he had 1 year’s bad experience repeated 30 times!

Another sales representative kept saying he answers his cell phone 24/7, 365 days a year.  Seriously?  You will really take my call at 8:00 am Christmas morning?  Not only did I not believe this, but I also started to question all the other claims he made about customer service during his sales presentation.

Just like your cell phone, texting during meetings is also inappropriate.  It doesn’t work to hide your phone under the boardroom table either.  Everyone in the meeting sees you looking down and it is very obvious that you have lost focus.

Web surfing while dining, be it with business associates or friends is also not acceptable.  Besides, isn’t the whole point of social networking to connect with people?  It’s more effective to connect with the person sitting across from you rather than tweeting about who you are with.

Some other business etiquette tips to remember are:

1. When you are using a speaker phone or hosting a conference call, you should announce who else is in the room.
2. When you meet someone, make eye contact, smile, and give them a firm hand shake.  Gentlemen, don’t dislocated the person’s shoulder by shaking too hard.  Ladies, the palm of your hand should be perpendicular to the ground, and your hand should not bend at the knuckles.
3. When you are introduced to someone, always call them by the name you are given.  Don’t assume that you can shorten Susan to Sue or Thomas to Tom.

Yes, technology has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us.  However, just because you can doesn’t mean you should!

Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales strategies.  We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and Telemarketing services to your specific needs.

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

• B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
• On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
• B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
• Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
• Online Presentations and Webinars
• Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
• Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
• Pre and Post-Event Calls
• Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales

Welcome to the ultimate B2B Marketing Agency serving San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle) as the most strategically biased Marketing and Web Design Agency.  We gladly serve California and all 50 United States.

This week’s post comes to us from Bryan Ong, author of A Marketing Blog by Marketing Journal. Mr. Ong relays the simple answer to growing both your brand and market share:

How to Grow Your Brand & Market Share

by Bryan Ong

April 22, 2010

Marketers and CEOs, how do you grow your brand or your company’s market share & sales volume? A few years ago, I posted on my blog titled ‘what is your marketing iq?’ which has all the answers. The answer is actually quite simple, so simple that most don’t know the answer.

Most companies would think that the answer is to get existing customers to increase their purchase frequency i.e. buy more from you or by increasing customer loyalty. This is why so many companies allocate a substantial amount of their marketing budgets towards customer loyalty programs. But in fact, this is not true.

The answer to growth is to actually get more customers or buyers. This is not too hard to understand, imagine there are a 1000 people in your market and you have 700 people who are your customers. This is 70% of the market share and thus making you the market leader. Having 100 out of a 1000 people buying multiples times from you still doesn’t change the fact that you only have 10% market share. Simple, isn’t it?

If you are interested to know more about how brands grow, you need to visit this website or buy this book from Professor Byron Sharp titled ‘How Brands Grow‘.

There are a lot of marketing knowledge from this book where most marketers don’t know:

1. Growth in market share comes by increasing popularity; that is by gaining more buyers (of all types), most of whom are light customers buying the brand only occasionally.

2. Brands, even though they are usually slightly differentiated, mainly compete as if they are near lookalikes; but they vary in popularity (and hence market share.)

3. Brand competion and growth is largely about building two market based assets: physical availability and mental availability. Brands that are easier to buy – for more people, in more situations – have more market share. Innovation and differentiation (when they work) build market based assets, which last after competitors copy the innovation.

Stay tuned! We at SalesFish Brand Marketing &  Sales, Marketing Agency, Advertising Agency, Interactive Agency, Digital Marketing Agency, Web Design Agency, B2B Telemarketing, B2B Tele-Sales and B2B Insides Sales thank you for joining us in the commitment to unwavering strategic marketing and sales.

Fish around our site and “Improve your Net”

www.salesfish.com

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing, Event Marketing and Sales, California’s most strategically-biased event planning, event management, event marketing, sponsorship sales, exhibit sales, and event marketing agency.

We serve Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Portland, and Seattle. We are very much at home in all 50 United States.

Today’s Event Marketing post comes to us from Mike Thimmesch of www.skylinetradeshowtips.com.  Mr. Thimmesch offers great advice on lead generation for your trade show:

100 Trade Show Lead Generation Ideas

May 01, 2010 | Mike Thimmesch

For most exhibitors, lead generation is their #1 reason for exhibiting at trade shows.  Exhibit marketers want leads to replenish their sales pipeline, bring in new and repeat customers, and generate sales revenue.

So to help stoke the lead generation fires, here are 100 ideas to get you more leads at your upcoming trade shows, divvied up among 5 main areas:

Get more trade show leads by how you select shows

1. Go to more trade shows outside your local region
2. Go to more trade shows, in your best vertical markets
3. Go to more trade shows, in foreign countries
4. Go to fewer trade shows, but put more effort into booth staff preparation and promotions for each remaining show
5. Exhibit at trade shows where your buyers are
6. Track leads to determine and expand in the shows with the best ROI
7. Evolve show selection to match changes in company’s best vertical markets

Get more trade show leads with your exhibit design

1. Get a bigger booth
   1. Get a booth space closer to the hub of traffic, or by a bigger competitor
   2. Get a corner booth space
   3. Backlight your trade show display graphics
   4. Design your exhibit to more boldly and clearly say why attendees will benefit from working with you
   5. Put fewer elements on your exhibit, but make the remaining images and messages bigger and more concise
   6. Use graphics with images and benefits that appeal more directly to attendees at your vertical market shows
   7. Put benefit statements on your trade show exhibit graphics
   8. Replace your tired old display with a new trade show exhibit
   9. Make your exhibit architecture more inviting to enter
   10. Pick more exciting colors on your exhibit
   11. Bring fewer products, such as only your most popular products, to minimize clutter
   12. Get a taller exhibit
   13. Add more lighting
   14. Put messages on your flooring
   15. Avoid an exhibit that looks like everyone else
   16. Keep your booth neat and clean throughout the show
   17. Move interesting equipment and technology to the outside of the booth
   18. Use a theme that gets attention and memorably ties into your competitive advantage or offering
   19. Match your exhibit message to your other marketing materials

Get more trade show leads with pre-show promotions

1. Send an inexpensive postcard offering a free gift in your trade show booth
   1. Run a banner ad on the show website
   2. Send a pre-show email blast to your clients and top prospects located close to the show location
   3. Put stickers with booth location and show info on all outgoing mail
   4. Email invitation to a pre-show microsite with targeted messages and offers
   5. Have your sales people invite their prospects to visit your booth and set up meetings in advance
   6. Send an email invitation to the show’s pre-registered attendee list for this year, and the registered attendee list from last year
   7. Use social media to reach more attendees
   8. Send half of something of value to attendees before the show, and promise to give the other half in your booth
   9. Contact your industry press and tell them about the innovative new product you will be introducing at the show
   10. Put your booth number on all your pre-show promotions: email, mail, ads, website
   11. Design more creative and compelling pre-show promotions to cut through the mailbox clutter
   12. Invite top prospects to lunch or dinner at the show
   13. Send a pre-show promotion offering a more valuable gift in the booth, but not to the entire list, but only to the subset of show attendees that match your target audience
   14. Send free tickets to the trade show to clients and best prospects
   15. Post your trade show schedule on your website with a link to sign up for appointments
   16. Ask the show for additional promotional opportunities

Get more trade show leads with at-show promotions and activities

1. Introduce a new product at the trade show
   1. Add motion to your exhibit
   2. Offer food, especially if it smells good, like baking cookies
   3. Offer drinks to your booth visitors
   4. Give your attendees something entertaining and fun to do
   5. Do an engaging demo in your booth
   6. Get your client to hold your product
   7. Go beyond sight to appeal to attendees’ sense of smell, sound, taste, and touch
   8. Add interactivity
   9. Run presentations or video loops on large video monitors
   10. Offer healthy food, not just candy
   11. Put out a candy or chocolate dish to slow down attendees long enough to engage them
   12. Offer in-booth massages
   13. Give a free sample of your product
   14. Give a free sample of a product made with your product
   15. Hire a celebrity for your booth, where the celebrity is popular with your target audience at the show
   16. Hire a celebrity lookalike for your booth, where the celebrity is popular with your target audience at the show
   17. Giveaway something useful to your target audience
   18. Hire a performer, such as a magician, to attract attention to your booth
   19. Have a raffle, sweepstakes, money machine or a game
   20. Hold a press conference if you have newsworthy news
   21. Sponsor something highly visible at the show
   22. Have a contest for attendees in your booth
   23. Get signage in the show hall promoting your booth presence
   24. Offer a show special or discount
   25. Get someone from your company to be a speaker at the show
   26. Give presentations or educational sessions in your booth
   27. Do door drops that target only show attendees at their hotel rooms
   28. Pay to include an invite or a gift in the official show bag each attendee gets
   29. Put an ad in the show book
   30. Brand your staffers with outfits or similar attire
   31. Offer one really big prize (worth thousands of dollars) to get more attention

Get more trade show leads with better booth staffing

1. Bring more booth staffers
   1. Bring booth staffers who actually want to be there
   2. Hold a contest to reward the staffers who take the highest quantity of qualified leads
   3. Leave your wallflowers at home
   4. Train your booth staff how to work a trade show booth
   5. Communicate to your staff the company’s goals and your expectations of them in the booth
   6. Don’t use booth staffing as a training ground for brand-new employees
   7. Ask visitors open-ended questions and listen to their answers
   8. Get faster at recording each lead by not writing down every visitor’s name and address, but instead using a badge scanner
   9. Have enough badge scanners to avoid lines with your booth staffers in busy times
   10. Bring crowd gatherers (not booth babes)
   11. Smile
   12. Keep your booth staffers fresh by giving them regular breaks
   13. Learn to more quickly disengage with unqualified attendees
   14. Thoroughly train your booth staffers on the new products you are introducing at the show or just introduced recently
   15. Make friends with your neighboring exhibitors, and refer attendees back and forth
   16. Bring your top management to booth staff, and tell attendees they will be there
   17. Get staffers out of the bowels of your booth and out to the edge of the aisle
   18. Don’t sit down in your booth, unless you are talking with visitors
   19. Don’t hide behind tables
   20. Instead of giving away literature, offer to mail it to attendees, and get their contact info
   21. Prepare your booth staffers with several good engaging questions
   22. Arm your booth staffers with answers to common objections

100.Train your booth staffers to know your products and how they solve your clients’ problems

Which of these 100 ideas will you choose?  Perhaps you are already doing several yourselves.  Some can be combined to be used simultaneously.  It’s a long list, and there’s no way anyone can do all 100.  Some of them even contradict each other.

Yet as Bob Milam advises, while knowing a lot of tactics is useful, knowing which tactics to use and when to use them is even more useful.  Determine your strategy first, then choose among these trade show tactics the most appropriate ones to support your strategy and generate more leads.

Also, while I’ve listed many tactics to get more leads, of course you need to also strive for getting higher quality leads.  And if you can do both, go to the head of the class.

Stay tuned for future relevant Event Planning, Event Management, Event Marketing, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales content.

We at SalesFish Event Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering Strategic Event planning, Event Management, B2B Telemarketing, B2B Tele-Sales, B2B Inside Sales, Sponsorship Sales, Exhibit Sales, Audience Acquisition, Brand Marketing and Execution.

The SalesFish team brings more than 30 years’ experience, and more importantly, extreme focus in each of the following disciplines:

• Event Management, Planning and Marketing / Advertising: Positioning, Branding, Brand Identity Marketing, Creative, Public Relations, Advertising, Direct Response, Multi-Media, Interactive Media, Promotional and Web Design
• Event Strategy, Logistics, Event Planning and Event Training
• Comprehensive Event Registration (online/onsite) and On-Site Event Production (lighting, sound, staging, talent)
• Pre- and On-Site Real Time Statistical Data and Market Research
• Event Sales Activities and Fulfillment (reporting, Sales Activities, B2B Tele-Sales activities, B2B telemarketing services, Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales, Sponsorship Sales and Post-Show follow-up)

We welcome the chance to cast your net in the area of Event Management, Event Branding, Event Marketing, Event Sales, Event Promotion and Execution.

Call today and Catch More!

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales agency serving Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle) and all 50 United States.

Most companies have every intention of being successful, continually growing and even more so they want to be GREAT companies. At the same time, a majority of organizations fail to adequately budget for training. What you say?  Yes, training.

Our belief is that if companies spend more monies on internal training activities such as team building, sales and service training, culture transformation etc., they’ll see a tenfold return on their investments.

How quickly seasoned professionals forget that their people are their brand! Your people carry the personality, attitude, confidence, message and relationship for your company.

Marketing strategies and persona are good things but having your people “live” out those same strategies and persona prior to external events is even more critical.

We all know professional athletes spend a relentless amount of time training.  And that’s because they want to be the very best at what they do to make it to the “Big Game.” Should a business professional be any different?

May we suggest that if you don’t already have an internal training program you adopt one that best fits your company’s needs and goals.

Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales strategies.  We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and Telemarketing services to your specific needs.

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

• B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
• On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
• B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
• Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
• Online Presentations and Webinars
• Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
• Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
• Pre and Post-Event Calls
• Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales agency serving Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle) and all 50 United States.

Lauren Carlson of Softwareadvice.com shares with us her favorite apps on mobile devices for salespeople in any industry.  Ms. Carlson lists the best apps that aid salespeople such as field agents staying in touch with the office, organizing business cards, collaborating documents and building presentations all with their mobile devices.

Not only do the apps help with sales, they also assist with tracking daily expenses, travel, checking sales performance data and general CRM.

Read about these great apps here to help improve your sales performance.

Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and B2B Inside Sales strategies.  We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our B2B Telesales, B2B Telemarketing and Telemarketing services to your specific needs.

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

• B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
• On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
• B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
• Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
• Online Presentations and Webinars
• Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
• Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
• Pre and Post-Event Calls
• Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales

Welcome to the ultimate B2B Marketing Agency serving San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle) as the most strategically biased Marketing and Web Design Agency.  We gladly serve California and all 50 United States.

This blog post comes to us from Jason Cliff of Smart Business Media (951-808-7378):

Internet advertising as we know it is changing rapidly. Just a few years ago Google pay per click was all the rage and we could reach new customers for around $1.00 per click.

As more and more people entered this market the key word costs escalated to an average of $5.00 to $7.00 per click.  Clicks do not necessarily convert into sales so it become possible to spend $50.00 or more to turn a click into a new customer.

For most products this was not a profitable proposition. Everyone retreated back to the marketing that they were familiar with: Direct Mail, E-mail, Newspapers, and possibly radio and television.  As pay per click or PPC became all the rage and prices skyrocketed, SEO (search engine marketing) became the rage and, if done properly, continued to pay unparalleled dividends.

It takes a very sophisticated approach to master SEO. Unfortunately, the marketplace has been flooded with every Tom, Dick, and Harry promising the world for $300 per month.  Unless Tom, Dick and Harry are committed to going bankrupt, it is impossible to provide the level of service, technology, and skill to maintain your top placement for $300.

You have probably been turned off of SEO because of all the empty promises that you received.  The fact is that you get what you pay for (this never seems to change, and I am sure that you can apply this fact to your industry).  It takes a significant amount of skill, research, dedication, and elbow grease to get you to the top and keep you at the top. But when you look at the costs to achieve this, 9 out of 10 times you will find a significant ROI for being at the top of the search engine food chain. Your phone should ring off the hook.

As the economy continued to dip and Social Marketing grew in relevance, Facebook became the place to put your ads.  We were personally seeing clicks as low as $.50 and impressions as low as $.60 per 1000.  And it was quality traffic.

Now that Tom, Dick and Harry agency has found out about this, they flooded the market with ridiculous per click budgets and driven the cost out of a positive ROI. My point is that the internet has proven to be a spectacular place to reach new customers if you catch a trend at the beginning of a wave, but as soon as it goes main stream the costs skyrocket and it becomes a battle to make these campaigns positive.

Then you get these offshore digital agencies and one-man-shops working out of their garages that have no idea what is involved in creating long term profits for their customers destroying the market.  We have seen this happen with the last 3 major trends in digital marketing and we want you to be aware of what is happening in the marketplace.

If you are looking for a way to increase your sales, increase your ROI, and increase your market share you need to investigate the company that you are doing business with.  If you are going to trust the growth of your company to another company it is worth doing a little research and finding out their success rate.

A good marketing company is going to advise you of the most current trends and use every dollar of your budget effectively.  It is impossible to achieve an optimized campaign using only one channel.  The best marketing companies are going to use a mix of channels: direct mail, email, ppc, seo, social, mobile, etc. to find the mix that delivers you the most qualified customers.

If you are working with someone who can only provide one piece of the puzzle just be aware that there are 5 other channels that have customers that are not being reached. Nothing can replace skill, and integrity.

When you work with us you are working with a company that takes it personally to achieve success.  We do not have 100 clients behind you paying $100 per month. We have a few clients and do everything possible to make them successful.

Stay tuned! We at SalesFish Brand Marketing &  Sales, Marketing Agency, Advertising Agency, Interactive Agency, Digital Marketing Agency, Web Design Agency, B2B Telemarketing, B2B Tele-Sales and B2B Insides Sales thank you for joining us in the commitment to unwavering strategic marketing and sales.

Fish around our site and “Improve your Net”

www.salesfish.com

Welcome to the ultimate B2B marketing agency serving San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle) as the most strategically biased Marketing and Web Design Agency.  We gladly serve California and all 50 United States.

The world has gone Facebook, Twitter and Social Media insane.  Here at SalesFish we’re reminded of the .com days when online panacea was at its all time high and even worse was online best business practices. 

At the time our agency often used the adage from the classic movie Field of Dreams, which had an ongoing whisper that simply voiced “build it” and they will come. 

The question is do we have a plan for building “IT” or did we just decide to build “IT” because our “business neighbor” is doing “IT.”  Our comment is another famous cliché:  don’t be a follower, be a leader.

Yes, social media can be a VERY powerful business tool, and not just for marketing purposes, but in everyday life.  At the same time the question we have to ask ourselves as B2B Marketers, is social media the right tool to communicate to a particular target audience?  And will it bring additional brand awareness that will ultimately end up in sales and profitability?  If not then it’s a total distraction and waste of your time.  As in all distractions to your business and bottom line, we say “Just Say No.”

Stay tuned! We at SalesFish Brand Marketing &  Sales, Marketing Agency, Advertising Agency, Interactive Agency, Digital Marketing Agency, Web Design Agency, B2B Telemarketing, B2B Tele-Sales and B2B Insides Sales thank you for joining us in the commitment to unwavering strategic marketing and sales.

Fish around our site and “Improve your Net”

www.salesfish.com