How to Generate More Sales Leads with Targeted Promotions

It’s pretty simple. You need more sales. And, in order to get more sales, you need to put your unique solution in front of the right buyers and generate direct conversations. Without these direct conversations, you simply have a great solution without enough buyers.

Now that I have overstated the obvious, how do you go about putting your unique solution in front of the right contacts to generate more sales leads? In late 2009, there is an ever expanding number of marketing channels. However, when it comes to immediate sales leads, it’s hard to beat a targeted promotion for solid ROI (return on investment).

So, what is a targeted promotion? A targeted promotion is a compelling business offer that grabs your prospect's attention and screams “You need to contact me so that I can help you!” There are a few key elements outlined below that are needed to create a promotion that has an immediate impact on sales leads.

Because there are millions of web sites covering specific topics, we recommend contacting specific prospects directly with a unique promotion. Take for example the topic of “marketing”. There are over 508,000,000 pages on Google covering this subject and I could work very hard to create enough content to try and eventually reach the natural listings area or spend $5.00+ per click to reach a large audience. But, there is no guarantee that the right types of prospects will ever learn about my solution. This is why I recommend using a targeted direct promotion to reach the right buyers.

1. Unique Value Proposition – Highlight the value that your solution brings. Make sure you outline the major benefits the client will gain from your unique solution. This is an essential but often overlooked aspect of a successful promotion.

2. Target Audience – Identify the types of companies and specific types of individuals that stand to gain the most from your solution and provide the best opportunity for repeat business. I recommend using SIC or NAICS codes to generate a targeted company list. And, because most decisions are made by committee these days, it helps to put your solution in front of the major decision makers (e.g. Director of Marketing and VP of Sales).

3. Compelling Reason – Provide a compelling reason for your prospect to look at your unique solution. One example is to use a direct mail promotion that includes a low-cost “Free Gift Inside”. The vast majority of people will open a package that includes these 3 Magic Words and will take the time to understand your offer.

4. Time-Sensitive Offer – Promote a sense of urgency to take action using a time-sensitive offer. This can be in the form of a unique sales promotion, a scheduled teleconference, or a free strategy session for the first 20 respondents to name a few examples.

5. Show Credibility – Include content that shows you to be a qualified solution provider to these companies. Include specific experience and testimonials that provide credibility.

6. Free Online Collateral – Provide free collateral online that entices your prospects to contact you and share your unique solution with other interested parties. This can be in the form of a free newsletter, free tips, free audio CD, free recorded webinar, etc. In today’s world of social media, I also recommend placing links to your Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn profile to generate connections.

7. Follow Up on a Scheduled Basis – Not every buyer will be in a position to purchase your unique solution the first time it is presented. However, if you continue to provide valuable content to these individuals, you will continually build your prospect database and create a consistent and ever-expanding sales pipeline (rather than the typical peaks and valleys).

When you put your unique solution in front of the right buyers and explain the benefits of working with you, your inbound leads will skyrocket. Once you have established a solid customer base, testimonials and referrals can also be used to accelerate your sales growth even further. Your possibilities for revenue growth and success are endless when you are able to connect with the right buyers and provide value.

Wishing you all the best,

Andy Hedrick

Targeted Marketing Strategist
AE Promotions
andy.hedrick@aepromotions.com
http://www.aepromotions.com/
1.866.584.6249

http://www.Twitter.com/AndyHedrick
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http://www.linkedin.com/in/hedrickandy

Featured Client: Mercy Ships Brings Hope and Healing to Africa

They come by the thousands.  They are the forgotten poor…in need of medical aid, infrastructure, and hope that will set their life on a new course. 

    

To their aid, along comes a Mercy Ship carrying volunteers, a state-of-the-art hospital, diagnostic equipment, infrastructure improvements, and knowledge to be shared with the local villages of Africa.  Building on a mission that began over 30 years ago, Mercy Ships provides care and infrastructure to the world’s forgotten poor. Services and programs include:

• Surgical Procedures
• Medical Infrastructure
• Dental Procedures and Training
• Health and Nutrition Training
• Water and Sanitation Facilities
• Education
• Mercy Ministries
• Church Empowerment
• Agricultural Development
• Disaster Relief and Program Support

The Experience
To fully understand the Mercy Ships experience, you must first understand the experience of patients aboard and in Mercy Ships’ land-based missions. Every individual has a unique story to tell of their life, of their experience with Mercy Ships, and of the hope for a brighter future they now share. We encourage you to learn more about the Mercy Ships experience by learning about these stories of hope, about all the Mercy Ships missions and the history of the Mercy Ships fleet.

Get To Know Mercy Ships
Mercy Ships is a global charity that has operated hospital ships in developing nations since 1978. Mercy Ships brings hope and healing to the forgotten poor by mobilizing people and resources worldwide, and serving all people without regard for race, gender, or religion.


Power the Vision
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mercy Ships’ President Don Stephens to learn more about the history of the organization and upcoming endeavors.  In 2010, Mercy Ships embarks on a new mission to Togo, West Africa and the organization is ever looking to expand their impact and reach more people.

A new generator is needed to support this work and a simple donation helps to bring hope to many more through your generous giving. Would you increase productivity by 35% if given the chance?  Would you help 10,000 people instead of 7,000 if you could increase your capacity?   

Get Involved or Donate
Mercy Ships also has many volunteering opportunities, both long-term and short-term, in areas including health care, IT, administration, teaching, communications, stewards, in-deck support and engineering.  Anyone interested in bringing hope and healing to some of the world’s poorest inhabitants is welcome to apply as a volunteer or donate to this awesome mission. Thank you for your interest in serving!

Leave Your Comments
Have you been involved in supporting missions and received the many blessings and personal fulfillment that come from providing hope?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Unique Promotion - Nintendo Brings a Resort Feeling to New York City

People strolling the streets of Manhattan wearing flower leis is not a common sight. Unless of course they had just left the Wii Sports Resort event held in the middle of Times Square.

Nintendo has high hopes for its Wii Resort title. It feels that the game, which allows players to use its motion-sensitive control to play 12 games, including ping-pong, basketball and golf, can be a big seller throughout the holiday season.

To draw attention to the new title, it took over Military Island in the middle of Times Square. Here, passersby were treated to a mini-vacation. Based on the game's setting, Wuhu Island, event organizers set up a sandy beach, swimming pool and tropical lounge. People could also try their hand at the new game days before its July 26 launch. The event was promoted via public relations outreach and a billboard on the side of the Toys "R" Us building a few feet away.

Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford was on hand to mingle and try out the game. Top Frisbee and ping-pong players were also in attendance to compete against tourists and locals who stopped by. Each received a branded lei as a thank you for visiting Wuhu Island.

"Given the resort theme of Wii Sports Resort, we wanted to create an event that offered consumers a mini-vacation in the middle of the day," says Denise Kaigler, vice president of corporate affairs at Nintendo of America Inc. "Just as one might receive a lei upon arriving at a resort, we offered Wii Sports Resort-branded leis to consumer participants. This added to the festive nature of the event."

Read our newsletter to learn about other unique promotions and targeted marketing ideas.

Unique Promotion - Mott's Gets Its Pink On

Mott's applesauce set out this summer to prove that it

is "Pink to the Core." In support of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the brand launched the limited-edition Mott's Plus applesauce and Healthy Harvest applesauce, available through October.

In addition to pledging $300,000 to the organization, Mott's also became the national sponsor of the 2009 Race for the Cure Series, the world's largest series of 5K runs and walks that raise funds for and awareness about breast cancer and breast health. The race is run in more than 120 cities in five countries.

At the events, Mott's handed out branded, reusable black cloth tote bags, free product samples and a flyer with a coupon for $1 off a six-pack of applesauce. There was also an apple tree activity onsite where attendees filled out an apple cutout and hung it on the tree, thus pledging to be pink to the core. Susan G. Komen Race for The Cure, launched in 1982, has raised more than $1.3 billion to fight breast cancer.

To learn about other unique marketing campaigns or to discuss your goals, visit us at aepromotions.com.

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A sales pipeline - what's alfalfa got to do with it?

This is a very interesting story with many great points about building and managing a sales pipeline.  I hope you enjoy it too.

A sales pipeline - what's alfalfa got to do with it?
By Frank Donny, The Richardson Company

I learned about having a sales pipeline at a very early age. But I did not know it at the time. It was back in the 70’s on the family farm in Southern Wisconsin. You see, my dad grew and sold alfalfa (aka hay) for a living. He raised it on the family farm and sold it to large dairies and horse farms all across the Midwest and Southeast. Harvesting alfalfa was a very labor intensive process back in those days and I have a bad back to prove it. But so was his accounting process. He actually had this big ledger book. It was always open on his desk. He seemed to manage his entire business from this one book. I had no idea of its importance.

His list of clients and prospects were in the book. He posted all orders with full detail of purchase price, cost of goods, trucking, and profit margin. When demand was slow, he would page through the book and look for farmers to call. He would log the calls with a simple check mark next to the name. When he made a sale, it would go in a special section where he would track the order until it arrived at the client's farm. Does this process sound familiar? Folks, this simple log book was a CRM system.

My dad had a pipeline. Rudimentary to be sure, but he had one – to sell alfalfa. He knew what went in to the top of the pipeline, what got stuck, what leaked, what was discontinued, and what concluded in a sale. He had a full understanding of his bid-to-close ratio and his conversion rates. He focused on his pipeline daily, kept accurate records and used the information to forecast how much money he needed to raise to pay the bills and make a small profit.

He never used any of those fancy words like bid-to-close, balance or conversion rates. If I called him right now and asked him what his late stage conversion rates are, he would ask me if I’ve been drinking. Business has certainly changed and become much more complex. I would say that the required nuts-n-bolts of managing a pipeline are the same today, as when I first experienced them in the 70’s. The moral of this story is get back to the basics. Take a look at how you manage your pipeline. Are you using a sound process? Are you collecting and keeping quality data for forecasting? Are you focused on the entire pipeline and looking for leakage and stagnant areas? Do you know your conversion rates down to the rep level? Are you coaching to the pipeline? These are just a few, but big areas, you should be focusing on.

This past June, my family and I visited the farm, as we do every year. During that visit, I took a minute to peek in my dad’s office. Guess what? There on his big desk was the ledger. Sound business fundamentals never go out of style.

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LinkedIn Poll:  Do you pay more attention to online ads or offers that arrive in the mail?

Weigh in on this topic and let us know what you think!  Comments are also welcome.

Know Your Differentiators

One of the most overlooked tools in the business development kit is the “differentiator”. A differentiator can come in the form of a unique solution to a problem, a special offer, or a value proposition that grabs your prospect’s attention.

It is important to identify your differentiators early in the process of promoting a product or service because buyers often choose a company based on these differentiators. It helps the prospect set apart solution offerings in their minds when making a decision. In fact, a differentiator can remain in the mind of your customers and prospects for years to come.

Successful companies make use of differentiators when creating effective marketing campaigns. It helps them set apart their particular offerings from competitors and highlight unique benefits. Take for example, a few of these differentiators from some industry leaders:

Subway – Eat Fresh (the implication is that competitors sell pre-made items that are not as fresh)

Wal-Mart – Save money. Live better. (use less money buying staple goods and more money doing what you like)

1-800-Pet-Meds – America’s Largest Pet Pharmacy (we have all the pet medications you will ever need)

Unless you’ve invented an item that has never been seen before, chances are you will have some competition. The message you deliver through your marketing and sales channels should focus on what makes your solution better and how clients will benefit.

How do you differentiate your products and services? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Interview and Sell More

Unless you have a client sitting in front of you under hypnosis and the check book is open, you have to identify where you can solve a problem before a deal is made.

This is where good interviewing skills can help . . . not browbeating or pushing someone over the cliff types of interviews but good listening and targeted questions that help to uncover opportunities. Through a good interview, you can identify goals and pain points and work to develop an appropriate solution. By uncovering challenges and helping clients with solutions, you will become a trusted advisor and clients will look to you for solutions as needs arise.

As an example, here are some of the key questions we ask when interviewing clients:

- What are your marketing goals right now and what
  are your biggest challenges?
- Who are you targeting?
- What specific products or services would you like
  to promote?
- What differentiators can we highlight?

By gaining an understanding of your prospects goals and challenges, you can develop a strategy that will bring about positive results. When you are able to uncover opportunities and develop solutions, you become a trusted partner that clients turn to in time of need.

You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people

Zig Ziglar summed it up best by saying "You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want." Put another way, your success depends on determining the particular needs of your stakeholders and helping to bring about the appropriate solutions.

Often, the trick is identifying what these needs (or pain points) are in the first place and those needs are not always framed with a singular purpose. For example, we recently worked with a client who needed to cut their marketing expenses while bringing in more sales leads. At first glance these goals seem a bit counterintuitive. However, by using the right targeted message and tools, you can reach customers in more cost-effective ways and generate more appointments for less money.

Developing the proper solution comes through effectively interviewing your stakeholders about their specific challenges and uncovering opportunities to help. Your possibilities for growth and success are endless when you identify needs and bring about solutions that help others succeed.

Web Traffic is Nice, Repeat Business Is Better

When it comes to marketing in the information age, many people talk about web traffic and look at web analytics excessively. While web traffic is nice, gaining lasting customers and generating repeat business is much better. Successful companies have products designed for a specific group of buyers. If the primary method of reaching these buyers is to cast a wide net hoping for the right contacts to arrive, the sales pipeline is doomed for failure. This is why targeted marketing is so important.

Experienced bass fishers don’t drive their boat to the middle of a lake and toss out a line hoping the biggest fish will happen to come their way. They research the areas where fish congregate, the bait that is most effective, and put their line into a position to take advantage. It is the same with effective promotions. While providing relevant content on a web site is important, reaching the right buyers and building relationships is much more critical.

Prior to signing on the dotted line, clients choose the company they believe will meet their needs the most effectively. If you proactively put your name in front of the right contacts, your chances of catching the big fish and having repeat business for years to come is much greater.

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