The Funnelholic

This was another funnel sent to me by one of my friends. . This funnel was taken from the Sales2.0 blog, the poster is David Thompson, the CEO of a great up-and-coming marketing automation company Sales Genius. (who I owe a long post about) Anyway, the impetus for this funnel was a meeting David had with Geoffrey Moore of Crossing the Chasm fame.

Their goals was to show:

how many of the Web 2.0 technologies are driving a faster, higher volume, incredibly efficient (measurable!) customer acquisition process, from Google AdWords providing anonymous inquiries to a customer’s web site, to on-demand CRM systems making it easier to track pipeline progress, to real-time web site monitoring helping qualify customers faster and offer personalized service, to online communities of customers and sales people trading leads, and web conferencing making it easier for Sales people to “connect and close” with customers on the Web.

Here is the cliff notes to what we have here:

• Top of the funnel:

• “Anonymous Visitors” - SEO, search, etc
• “Named Visitors” — Online contact databases
• Qualify Named Prospects:
• Tools for your sales team/inside team to connect with and qualify customers
• Track/Manage
• SFA/CRM
• Close
• Companies like Echosign that have automated order forms
• Loyalty

Ok, now for my commentary:

1. I like it, whether I agree with it or not. Obviously this was built with the idea of being able to put their partners into a puzzle.
2. I could say: “where is so-and-so” but being what I know from #1 above….this isn’t about that.
3. This does not fully represent process (again this is ok) but anonymous visitors have a second step that should be part of a company’s automation funnel which is optimized landing pages, etc.
4. We need a place for DRIP/Nurture on there. Always hard in a funnel, but if we are talking about true Sales 2.0 than that part of the process HAS to be accounted for
5. For Named Visitors, I would include buying targeted registrations on the internet via whitepapers or other offers. This is also very much in the repertoire of the new-age sales and marketer.
6. So is metrics and reporting…that should probably run across the side of the pipeline next to the process arrow. (PS dont think you can use Salesforce.com for this)
7. Im still not feeling the EchoSign and Nsite part of the process.
8. All in all, I think this is a start and a good one at that. Of course, my company is not on here, but I am game with that…that will change. In the funnelholic.com, I am an editor not a shill.

Glossary: “C-Suite” — Defined on the funnelholic as any C-level executive but implies more than one. My buddy at SAP gave me this term and I have been using it ever since.

Assault refers to everyone’s continual quest to get into the C-Suite. It was brought up to me once again once I released my Optimize to Connect post…that alot of common techniques do not work when we are talking about C-level executives.

Let make one thing crystal clear: Getting into the C-Suite from mid-sized business and up is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.

• If you work at one of the tech giants (IBM, ORCL, SAP, MSFT, CISCO, etc), you SHOULD be dealing with the C-Suite and by virtue of who you work for, this is more realiistice
• C-level executives DO NOT DOWNLOAD whitepapers on the internet. They don’t.
• Per the above point, you may have to leverage a direct report to get to him and THAT IS OKAY
• This is especially true when you are at an emerging technology organization
• I know that the CFO signs off on technology, but he is not going to respond to a it infrastructure vendors “Save money, roi, etc” VITO letter
• Rolodex works here (too obvious) but if you can use it do it.

So, what to do? I don’t know how many times I have been asked to build a lead development organization to get meetings on the C-level or as an internet lead generation organization to develop C-level leads.

Funnelholic tips:

• Sales:
• Be-friend the admin. There is so much written about this, that I don’t need to do more. But this lady is tough as nails but is human and will help you somewhat.
• First of all, if you have a well-written email, ask her to print it and put it on her bosses’ chair
• Talk to her when things are not hectic, late in the day, and just be up-front on what you are trying to achieve
• Seriously, its ok, to talk to a direct report or the person in-charge of the area you are selling to (example: if you are selling supply chain, the person in charge of supply chain management is ok.
• Try calling before 9AM and after 5PM when the admin is gone and your contact is just sitting at their desk
• Using automation
• Tools like Eloqua, Genius.com, etc DO work here and they work great. The earlier point of getting c-level guys when their day of meetings is done can be executed using Connect Automation. Send them an email at 5:45 pm and when they open it and start cruising around — call them OR if you can’t reach them send them another email right then. This technique is one of the reasons for Connect Automation.
• One guy I spoke with sends 10 emails at 6PM and if he gets a hit. He calls first in hopes that he can reach the contact (gatekeeper gone). If that doesn’t work, he gets bold and sends an email.
• Using online Lead Generation services
• You won’t get C-level downloads from companies of any substantial size. That does not mean you should fire your online lead sources. Look it doesn’t take a dummy to know that if people from that company are researching what you are selling that you have a shot at getting to the top. Triangulate around your contact knowing what they are looking into and what their pains are and you can create targeted compelling messaging for your C-level target.

This is essentially a follow up to previous posts describing the massive conversion uplifts we see from customers who have Lead Development teams.

Lead Development teams are described as inside sales groups that are devoted solely to following up on and qualifying inquiries for the sales teams.

Creating this process is your first step. Look, you want your sales guys closing deals and growing business. The game of getting people on the phone is tedious and time-consuming. Marketers beware: If you are sending your inquiries directly to field reps they are NOT getting the attention they deserve. The prospects are busy, they do not spend all day waiting by the phone for vendors to call. If you are selling to IT –just check out your IT guy as he runs around all day putting out fires. Tracking people down is a MAJOR part of the sales battle. And connecting is the thing, our job is to get our top sales guys on the phone or in person with the RIGHT people.

Funny “connecting” side note: My buddy used to sell freight shipping. His trick to get people to talk to them was to go onsite and ask the receptionist if he could use the conference room to make a call. He would then go in there and call the President of the company and say: “Hi, this is ______, I am in Conference A hoping to talk to you” . Amazing.

Well as marketing automation continues to pick up steam, what I call Connect Automation has arisen. Now, the vendors don’t call it that, but I do…because at its rawest level, I want my lead development team or if you insist, the sales people, on the phone with people not leaving voicemails, talking to receptionists and dialing.

So, here are some tips from the land of Connect Automation:

1. Autodialer 2.0: Connect and Sell — these guys have a call center and proprietary technology where they will reach out get to your contact through admins, etc and then when you have a connect, patch you through. What a great call. Plant your guy there for an hour and get some connects going.

2. Email as a tool to Connect 2.0: Sales Genius — They basically let you plant a “bug” in an email you send which when someone clicks on a link in your email, alerts the sales guy. An example, you send an email to a guy you are trying to reach that has a link to your site or to some compelling materials. The minute he clicks, your guys know as it send info to his “Genius Tracker”. Voila, you have a guy currently at his desk looking at your collateral. Time to call and better odds of both connecting and connecting with something to talk about.

3. Email and chat as tool to Connect 3.0: Eloqua — A lot bigger with alot more options. Sales genius on steroids. Sales Genius lets people click to chat, but in Eloqua when a guy you emailed hits the website, you can pop a chat at him. Another CONNECT. Great call.

In sum:

Step 1: Get yourself a Lead Development Team

Step 2: ARM THEM.

Here is what you will get:

1. Higher lead conversion rates

2. Better lead quality data

3. Happy sales guys.

4. Happy marketing guys.

5. Happy CEO.

MYTH:: If you will build it, you will connect.

If you believe me, do it right. You must thoughtful about everything: messaging (vms and live connects), emails, autodialers if appropriate, CRM process.

One of the sales 2.0 technologies available today is what i call “Connect Automation”. The vendors don’t call themselves that, but I do. As marketing automation continues to pick up steam, we will see more and more of these types of applications hit the market. Today there are a few that standout:

1 Genius.com:

As you’ve seen in earlier posts, I believe that internet marketing has made us marketers “sexy” again. Ultimately, I plan the Funnelholic to be on the forefront of automation and technologies. However, its is certainly worth a couple blogs to find who is still using Goldmine, Telemagic, or ACT anymore. I’d just like to know why and how. This isn’t to “rip” these systems as both Goldmine and ACT had ease-of-use for the sales reps that Salesforce.com has not matched. I just want to know if the decision is deliberate, is it a legacy system, or what…

I may add to this post…but right now, this is a spur of the moment post.