I can’t get off the linkedin.com tip…sorry. So, what I have done is create a linkedin group, Friends of the Funnelholic. Click here to sign up. I hope to use it as a way to reach out to friends and other fans of B2B lead generation.
Ill update everyone as I continue to build not only the membership base but when I figure out what to do with it. (:
I hope to bring more data as I gather slides from trip to the Warrilow Summit. One session really hit me. It was a panel of SMB owners and the topic was “How to sell to the SMB”. It was 9-10 folks so not 100’s, but they said something that really hit me:
1. They rely heavily on their admins. Most of them said, pushing their admin away to get to them was a mistake. The admin runs their lives, does the purchasing research, and schedules the sales guys they like. Message: Embrace the admin
2. They do the majority of their research online and at night.
3. They have no time for incompetent sales guys. Sound obvious? Not really, the economics of selling to the SMB typically means the high-end sales guys end up selling big systems to enterprise accounts. TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE FOLKS
Just some tidbits, with more to come
I haven’t ranted much about the fall of trade shows, but as an online lead generation wonk you can imagine how I feel about them. (Lets just say as shows dwindle in size and scope, I nod knowingly.)
Now, I have found a conference I can sink my teeth into. I just got back from the Warrilow Summit at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The conference is focused on helping vendors market to and sell to the SMB market. Its no secret that every company and their mom is trying to crack two markets: International and SMB. Sound crazy? Its true, the enterprise is OUT. You should have seen the companies there: IBM, Cisco, Dell, you name it. Anyway, so the Summit was intended to bring in marketing/sales folks hoping to crack the SMB nut. It succeeded.
Here are my trade show rules of today:
1. Trade shows need to be maniacally focused and targeted to be valuable. Warrilow had the right people mixed with the right vendors
2. Trade shows need to keep people moving, this show did
3. Trade shows need to throw amazing parties at Pure Nightclub, they did.
4. Helpful employees who are actually employees of Warrilow
5. A charismatic and respected host of the entire event.
Net, net…I wholly recommend the show to anyone focused on the SMB market. Warrilow. I will certainly go again.
Well, as a blogger, you need to love yourself…but I didn’t love myself enough to publicize my own webinar. HA. I am speaking today at 10AM PST with Leo Manson from Microsoft. The goal is to give marketers the ability to kick start an effective lead generation platform leveraging their current CRM system. Check me out. PS if you cant make it today, Ill send an archived version.
I’d love to hear feedback as I refine my outward messaging.