This is soo random, but I am reading one of our employees blogs and she has the great post about dealing with admins. She had a bad day with the admins as you can tell….but anyway. I liked it.
I personally enjoyed this one:
Don’t get pissed at me because that communications degree from that 2 year you attended didnt get you that PR dream job in LA you wanted. Do me a favor and fake a smile and press *227 and transfer me, b’okay?
Anyway, good read click here for Erikakali
It brings up a good point: The ADMIN and her (rarely, but sometimes a “he”) power of the Inside Sales person’s checkbook. The best Inside Sales people turn admins or gatekeepers into their best friends. All in all, people help people they like…so win them over.
- Be polite:
- Always ask for the admin’s name and repeat it back to them when given the opportunity
- Have a clear-cut objective of what you want before calling
- Make sure you know exactly what information you are seeking (”I am going to find out who the Director of X is”)
- Ask pointed questions/don’t beat around the bush:
- “I am looking for the person in charge of X at company x”
- This may sound obvious: Get all the contact information of the people you are about to be transfered to
- Seriously, ask for title, direct dial, email before she transfers you…
Amendment #1; the first two blog posts are the hardest. Anyway, I want to continue to answer the question” Why the Funnelholic”. There is a major movement going on in Lead Generation/Marketing Optimization. Venture Capitalists are giving money to new startups coming up in this genre. I am not sure exactly what spurred this as I have been in this business for awhile now. There are many theories such as Google adwords which has given life to a new world of remote controlled lead generation and some fairly solid reporting tools to go with it. Adwords has made the position of lead generation hip once again.
Overall, many of us we have been around the world of lead generation are starting to get excited with some of the new tools at our disposal. Trade shows, print media, and to a large extent cold calling are still part of the repertorie but are fast showing the least ROI. Don’t get me wrong, you have to do it.
- Trade Shows — great for business development, channel development, and for major industry announcements. For lead generation, ask any sales rep — trade shows just don’t do it for leads.
- Print Media — Advertisements in off-line magazines will die off soon. I have talked to alot of marketing managers who say today they but off-line ads in just so their bosses can see them working. (In other words, he/she reads it not prospects) On the other hand, I talked to someone the other day who said their ad in Southwest Airlines Magazine was one of their highest converting lead types.
- Cold Calling — I am not against cold calling. I think there is a place for it, especially in strategic account selling and in sales with long sales cycles. It doesn’t scale as your only source of leads….it does get you pretty good quality leads if (a.) done right (both process and messaging) (b.) backed up by marketing via email blasts, webinar invites, activity tracking of the lead. Again, cold-calling cannot be the only source of leads.
The Funnelholic is extremely relevant as we enter a new era of “hotness”. Its very exciting for those of us in the unglamorous world of lead generation.
I think overall the first post is the hardest. Basically, my first 5-10 posts will all be add-ons to this one. By the way, as I answer the question, Why the Funnelholic? — I am learning this answer for myself as well. So now to the question: Why The Funnelholic?
- The Name Itself: The name may be controversial. The name actually stems from the fact that there were roughly 20 other names I wanted that were taken. Dejected, this name was offered to me and it made sense. I hope it is not offensive.
- The Content: My plan is to have the blog be an informative site for people in the business of getting leads to sales people. Mind you, this comes in many forms as you know: Marketing, Marketing Programs, Lead Generation, Inside Sales Teams, Mar-com, consultants, vendors, et all. I do forsee information regarding actually tele-selling making its way into the blog and I don’t plan to stop it. As a matter of fact, if the blog itself morphs into something completely different, I don’t mind that either. (see tone below)
- The Tone: I am in the business and I want the site to be as informative as possible. On the other hand, I want the tone to be my own — informal and fun.
- The Use of the English Language; Bad in all likelihood. If you want a well-written site you have come to the wrong place.
All in all, lets just see where this goes from here.