by Chris Waszczak | May 15, 2018 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
There are right and wrong ways to go about marketing, and the pitfalls are many. A lot can be learned by seeing how not to manage your marketing. This original blog series weaves together an entertaining story that will help you navigate 21st-Century marketing with a view from “the dark side,” as “Screwtape” teaches his apprentice “Wormwood” via email how to sabotage your marketing. Enjoy…
PART NINE:
To: Wormwood
From: Screwtape
Subject: Freezing Out the Cold Call
My dear Wormwood,
Let us explore sales a moment in this missive, shall we? As you well know, Wormwood, most businesses cannot survive without sales. And while many of the “old school” sales techniques of the past are not as effective in the digital age, some still apply. Herein lies opportunity for you to sow dissonance and contradiction into the Patient’s sales plan.
Let’s focus in on the concept of the “cold call.” We have two opportunities here:
- Convince the Patient that cold calling is dead.
- If that does not succeed, inspire the Patient to make the cold call truly “cold.”
The truth is that cold calling is not dead; it has merely evolved. That is to say, that the concept of pursuing prospects you’ve not yet had contact with can still be effective, and even necessary, for many businesses.
The best way to freeze out cold calling is to put a stereotype of into the Patient’s mind. Evoke unwanted phone calls, SPAM emails and other annoying disruptive techniques. I call these the “wolf whistles” of the sales world. You see, it’s perfectly acceptable for a young man to take interest in a “beautiful stranger,” but approach is everything! A genuine and friendly introduction will be received much differently than a wolf whistle or a cheesy pickup line.
See where I’m going with this? If you can convince the Patient that cold calling means being “salesy” and intrusive, he of course is going to shy away from such an approach. Our goal is to get the Patient to dismiss cold calling as he would a polyester suit and white wingtip shoes.
But should he realize that a genuine interest in the prospect and an offering of value can and will gain prospects, our cause is seriously threatened (as is your frail good favor, which I remind you can be lost). If the Patient has the annoying insight to realize that cold calling can be warmly done, then we are in real trouble (and by “we,” I mean “you”).
One small chance remains: Convince the Patient that cold calling only applies to the telephone, when in fact, email, social media and other media provide opportunities superior to simply going down a telephone number list.
Lock this is a vault, but the simplest way to do cold calling boils down to a few key tactics:
- Define your value proposition for a particular audience.
- Make a list of companies that would benefit from that value proposition. Be specific as to size of company, geography, any other demographic details that will narrow the list to the most promising prospects.
- Prepare something of value to give to them. It may be a white paper, a free eBook, a free 30-day trial—there are many options.
- Make the first contact about a genuine interest in their business—in THEIR story—NOT selling or expounding the virtues of your product. Offer that “something of value,” no strings attached. It’s acceptable toward the end to ask if you can contact them again. After all, the young Romeo may ask for a phone number if his interest is reciprocated.
More on this later, but to drive home my point, just go back up to these four points and simply add the words “do not.” Now are you getting the picture? If the Patient annoyingly chooses to use cold calling, then assure he’s as annoying as possible to the prospect. Make sales a hunt based on numbers—that is, if I take enough shots at enough people, something is bound to hit. The alternative is to focus on quality of leads and genuineness of approach, and we don’t want that happening, now do we?
Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing 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 marketing and sales tactics 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
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | May 4, 2018 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
Facebook can be kind of an enigma sometimes. With the constant changing of algorhythms and rules, it can be difficult to keep up with what might work today, or what might not. As a small business owner, this can be almost impossible to have time to keep up with. How about we help you out a little? Here are a few tried and true ways to use Facebook to get more followers and increase your sales.
- Engage. You cannot sell anything until you engage your followers on their terms. Serve them interesting content that connects to their story, and they will engage with likes or comments. These days, if a fan isn’t engaging with a page on Facebook, the almighty seer will stop bringing your posts into their feed. So first rule is to always engage the interest of your target audience.
- Give stuff away. I know, you thought we were talking about making sales, right? Well, sometimes to earn trust with a potential customer, you may have to be the first to invest in the relationship—in fact, you should. Hold a contest and give away some of your product! Everyone loves free stuff, and this gives your patrons a chance to become raving fans, or your potential customers a way to try your product that they may have been putting off for a later date.
- Boost a post. There are many technical things you can do with Facebook to run ads and track all of the data. If you’re a small business owner, perhaps that’s not the best way. Your time is money, my friend, and we get that. So instead of trying to learn a ton of information about the technical ins and outs of Facebook ads, simply boost a post. It’s a great way to get eyes on a special you’re running or a new product offering. But remember, in this post, make sure to always refer back to rule number one: Engage.
- Use an app like Shopial to help you save time while getting more eyes on your product. Simply install the app (and how great that it also works on Instagram!) and it will:
- Import photos directly from your website product pages
- Create ads and optimize them for you
- Make a liaison from Facebook straight to your product pages
Bam! Time saved and more customers will be directed to your product pages for easier sales. (There are plenty of different apps out there, so do a little research and find out which will be the best fit for you first.)
There you have it, a few simple ways to help increase sales from Facebook. This requires some work and thought, but mostly your goal is to build connection, engagement, and trust with your customers. Remember to have fun!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing 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 marketing and sales tactics 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
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Apr 3, 2018 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
Imagine for a moment you send a pitch to a big client that you want to land. Unfortunately, as they read through it, they notice a handful of basic grammatical errors and their confidence begins to erode. Perhaps it is just enough uncertainty to make them pursue other options.
Don’t let this happen to you!
While we’ve talked in the past about the importance of using the appropriate tone that invites a reader into your content, grammar still sets the stage for good writing. Using bad grammar is like drinking fine wine out of a toilet. Clear punctuation and proper use of language are essential to clear, effective communication.
How can you be sure you’re writing well? Always enlist another set of skilled eyes to proofread your work. Someone who didn’t write the piece will be much quicker to notice a misspelling, missing or improper punctuation, poor word choices, repetitive words or ideas, and other writing quirks. Even the best writers have their Achilles (or is it Achilles’…or Achilles’s) heels.
Another way to be sure your grammar skills are up to snuff is to use the free version of Grammarly. Simply copy and paste your content into their site and you will get a fast and effective edit of your spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can also join their premium service for a small fee, if you’d like to receive extra bonuses.
There are dozens of other writing tools available on the Internet, take some time to look into the ones that will be most helpful to you. Don’t let bad writing be your downfall. Write well—your customers will notice.
Oh, yeah…one more tip: If you can’t write well or if grammar is the bane of your existence, hire a copywriter/editor. They’re worth they’re their weight in gold.
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing 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 marketing and sales tactics 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
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Mar 29, 2018 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
And Two Ways to Nix Mistakes Fast
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
You’re a good writer, congratulations! English degree? Even better—you’ll save many a grammar lover from a face palm anytime you post something online or send an email. Here’s where it’s hurting your sales: Your online audience isn’t likely there to read formal writing. If you truly want to connect with your leads and online audience, write conversationally. Throw out some of the classic rules and pretend the words you’re typing are words you’re speaking over a cup of coffee or that five o’ clock beer. Here are a few ways to help increase the conversational tone of your written pieces:
- Ask questions of your reader. You wouldn’t sit across from someone over a cup of coffee without getting to know him or her a little first. Prod at why they might be reading your blog or email in the first place and offer a solution. Step into their story a little and they’ll probably hang around just a little longer to hear what you’ve got to say.
- Talk to your reader. Instead of using “we” or “our” use “you” wherever appropriate. Don’t write to the thousands of people that visit your webpage or who open your email campaigns, write to just one of them. Your content will immediately be more personal and meaningful to those that read it.
- Avoid sounding too good. Don’t use bigger words than are necessary, break up bigger ideas and sentences into smaller ones, and feel free to break some rules to make ideas flow more easily.
- Don’t use industry jargon. Flee! Run for your life! Just tell your reader in simple terms what needs to be said without all of the high-level terms that are in your industry. It’s all about the reader understanding plainly what your product or service will do to help them.
- Add some personality, sweetheart. Honestly, there’s no need to hide behind that screen you’re reading this on. If you’re in sales, relationship is everything. It’s likely your reader will want to get to know you a little bit, too.
After you apply these principles, read your piece out loud to yourself and you’ll see it comes across quite pleasant. This will also help address any sticky spots that the reader may find difficult to understand. Watch and see: changing to a friendly tone will help increase your reader engagement.
Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing 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 marketing and sales tactics 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
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Aug 2, 2017 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
A.I.…A.I.…A.I., has anyone heard this acronym recently? Anyone, anyone? (LOL!) Yep, there certainly isn’t a lack of conversation and enthusiasm when it comes to the new “outer space” of A.I. and Virtual Reality. Like most business professionals, we appreciate new technology when it adds to the productivity and profitability equation, without miring us in extra useless activities.
I’m sure you can relate, but I sat in on a A.I. sales support Webinar last week, and for 45 minutes the presenter droned on about the features (not really benefits) of how their A.I. product could serve a sales professional. OMG, talk about being stuck in the weeds! The presentation could have been twenty minutes instead of an hour. The presenter used very eclectic terms, and seemed to think his product was some sort of “magic bullet,” rather than a helpful sales tool.
Early on in my career, I used to succumb to the ether in the room regarding new technology products. In time, I stepped back to take a second look and ask the question, “is this REALLY going to serve us and our bottom line?” Eight times out of ten, the answer was no. It all seems great at first glance, but we don’t need any more distractions in the sales cycle from what should be a simple, pragmatic process. I’m not trying to diminish those who enjoy a sophisticated sales cycle, but more often than not, a tenured sales team will pull away the minute they see added sales steps that waste their time.
Here’s the key takeaway: People buy from people they like, not robotic transaction-driven sales professionals, which is why at “The Pond” we always keep relationships #1 in mind.
What are we really doing in this life if we take the whole human relational factor out of sales? Yes, we love and use A.I. here at SalesFish, but we also recognize it’s a tool, not a magic bullet. The magic bullet is the people in our not-so-ordinary day-to-day work life who drive us crazy, but at the same time make us laugh—the people who are here to offer kind and encouraging words. Without that human interaction, life is empty.
Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing 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 marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.
SalesFish Net of Sales Services:
- Outsourced Sales
- 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
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Jul 20, 2017 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
The corporate landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade, including perspectives on what “best business practices” really means to an organization.
In 2017, we are operating in a business ecosystem that is considerably different than that of just six years ago. Companies have become much more agile with the adoption and progression of cloud-based technologies. If you were relying upon a LAN, WAN or telecom system based on some sort of legacy system, poof, those days are gone forever.
Every productivity tool that a world-class sales professional would need to be successful in their job today is now readily available through a variety of cloud-based applications. This means sales availability and connectivity are real-time…anywhere…at any time.
This accessibility also plays a significant role in the recruitment of talent. Accessing and utilizing talent is not limited to a specific geographical location. Progressive organizations are flourishing by casting a wide net and not limiting their operation to the confines of “brick and mortar” facilities. This is all made possible through major advances in sales tools and technologies.
These technology advances are also causing companies to change their paradigm on expanding outsourcing sales activities for various “touch points” in their sales cycle. And in some cases, even considering outsourcing the whole sales cycle.
At SalesFish, we embrace the fact that companies are in business to increase profits, and in some cases, stock valuation. This drives our unapologetic insistence on a strategic approach to maximizing your internal resources as well as efficient and productive outsourcing. For us, the end game is always lowering the operational cost necessary to produce sales.
Reducing costs is one of the more attractive advantages of outsourcing the sales function. We receive dozens of calls from senior executives every week looking at the concept of outsourcing sales because they’re frustrated with trying to maintain a performance-driven sales force. Our encouragement to them is that if they can’t maintain a performance driven sales culture, then that’s a green light to seriously consider outsourcing some portion of their sales process.
The only caveat we would add is: DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE! There are dozens of sub-par, smile-and-dial telesales organizations that are willing to take your credit card over the phone while promising you the world. The problem is that often they are more interested in your credit card number than they are in fulfilling their promises. Remember, sales is the lifeblood of your company’s success, so don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. The best value is always going to be a partner that is committed to performance and delivering results…
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing 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 marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.
SalesFish Net of Sales Services:
- Outsourced Sales
- 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
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
