Integrated Sales & Marketing

Part 2 of the content from my recent lead generation workshop

Seminars are a great way to educate your prospect about your product, can be a great offer/action for your direct mail program, and are definitely productive venues for meeting prospects. They tend to work better for products and services that can be complex – B2B and B2C – like computer products and financial services, or products/services that can be demonstrated effectively and/or taught in groups –  gardening, wood working, cooking.

Typically, the goal of the seminar is to move the prospect along the sales cycle, and closer to trial or purchase.

I’m not going to go into the logistics of setting up a seminar. There are a lot of options, from setting up your own live seminar series, to webcasts, to offering your content to associations and the like. Run ii yourself, you have more control. Participate in someone else’s, you have less control, but less overall responsibility for logistics and audience as well.

What I really want to focus on is the content of the seminar.

People will not attend a seminar that is a thinly disguised product demonstration with little added value. If they are going to take the time to attend your seminar, whether IRL or virtually, the session has got to address a REAL problem they have and put your product in the context as part of the solution.

An example.  My business is marketing consulting. When I give seminars or speeches, it is imperative that I give the audience value it can use, whether or not they ever engage a marketing consultant. If all I did was talk about the problems, and then said, to solve this, you need my product… I’d have an unhappy audience and I wouldn’t be asked back.

It is perfectly fine to talk about what you do… as long as the workshop has independent value as well. So, when you start down the seminar route, look for the independent value to your audience FIRST, and then add your product or service to the program.

Lots of work lately, and little time to blog. Which I guess was fairly good timing on my part, given the problems Six Apart apparently has had the last week or so. If I had been trying to post, I would have been irritated. As it was I didn’t even know until I got the explanatory email last night.

Anyway, about 2 weeks ago, I gave a lead generation seminar at our local Chamber of Commerce, covering the tactics of direct mail, seminars and blogs. Reviewing my notes, the direct mail and seminar sections are new content that I haven’t covered to death in the blog already, so I’ve decided to post them in two parts. Here’s the direct mail section:

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In my opinion, direct mail is by far the most cost efficient marketing method for presenting an offer directly to the prospect. These days it can be direct snail mail or direct email – each has its place.  But you have to have an offer of some kind. A direct mail flyer sent out with information but no imperative rarely registers with a prospect. The offer doesn’t have to be time sensitive, but it helps. It also does NOT have to be a discount – it can be all sorts of things: free or reduced price education/training on a product, a premium, a white paper, added value to the product for a limited time. Etc.

It is a simple formula:
Present the problem… quickly.
Identify the solution… your product.
Make the offer
Deliver three solid benefits… WIIFM.
Call to action.

You close with the call to action, and you typically start with the problem. The order of the other elements varies, depending on the product, program, promotion etc. You use the order that stands the best chance of getting the prospect to take the action.

You can offer two choices of action, but preferably no more than that – too many choices is confusing for the recipient. Example: have sales person call and send more information. One is a strong call, the other is the back-up for milder interest and helps build your database for prospect nurturing and conversion.

The form of your direct mail package is very important. You should do the highest quality package your budget can stand. If you can justify the standard (and most successful) package of 1-2 page letter in a #10 envelope, with an included informational brochure or flyer, response card and lift note (the last chance message) by all means do it. But if you can’t do it well, ratchet back your piece so you can deliver a high quality package. A well written letter with a strong call to action on good quality paper will get you a lot farther than 3 xeroxed pages or a cheaply printed brochure. Yes, the package is important, but the marketing is in the MESSAGE not in the paper stock and color inks.

A word about that call to action – define success metrics in advance and clearly communicate expectations to the sales force regarding the next step. Don’t let a disconnect develop between the promise made in the marketing piece, and the sales process.

A few final points;
– Mail with a first class stamp is more likely to get opened that mail using franking or bulk rate
– Lists are better with odd numbers than even. 3,5,7. The top 3 reasons to…. The 5 things to do for X… 7 ways to improve network security…
– Self mailers can be effective, although they are rarely my first choice. They work best when the audience already knows it has the problem you solve. Can also be a good choice for customer upsell promotions.