How Your Customers can be your Best Salespeople

All the marketing data we have points to the reality that most people buy what their friends or acquaintances recommend. That’s why online stores find it so helpful to have consumers write reviews on their products and why sites like Yelp are so popular. The same concept applies for B2B companies, too.

Case in point: today I decided to research some of the companies that provide detailed Social Media Measurement services for companies who are running campaigns using Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media platforms. I did a Google search, and discovered that there aren’t a lot of players out there. I knew that if I inquired directly to any of them, I would get a salesperson who needed to make a sale. I respect that, but I need to know that I am getting the best choice for my clients.

So, after I signed up for a demo with one company, I decided to find out how actual businesses were liking the services they offered. I did what any self respecting Social Media professional does…I tweeted about it! I asked if anyone is using a Social Media Measurement service and if so, how did they like it?

Guess what? I got a lot of responses. I asked a lot of questions, and I was able to identify the one service that seems right for me. Only one of the responses was from a salesperson, the rest were clients. The company’s clients were actually doing the selling for them.

How can you make this happen for your company?

• Treat your customers better than you want to be treated.
• Under-promise and over-deliver.
• Monitor what people are saying about your company.
• Engage your customers whenever you can (this doesn’t mean sending them an email blast every day!)
• Never assume their business, always earn it.

This is a lesson learned…there are conversations going on about your company that you don’t ever know about. Do your best to make sure they are positive!

Posted in Sales, Social Media, Twitter | 1 Comment »

October 19th, 2009

The Sales Process begins at “Hello”

Who answers the phone when someone calls your business? Do you have an automated attendant or do you have a “live” person handing calls? If yours is like most businesses these days, you probably use an  automated attendant. An auto attendant can certainly save money on payroll, but do you know how it’s affecting your bottom line?

I have always paid a lot of attention to how my service clients’ incoming calls are handled. After all, if I have set up an advertising campaign for them I want to be sure that every lead that is generated from that campaign are accounted for. I’m lucky because I when I set up Pay Per Click campaigns, I include with a free service that enables my clients to see what incoming leads are generated and listen to a recording of each call.

Recently, I performed a very unscientific experiment to see I could discern a connection between how incoming calls are handled and overall conversions. I discovered that auto attendants get significantly more hang-ups than when a live person picks up the phone. In addition, I discovered that most auto attendant systems seem to have at least one, if not all, of the following issues:

• Too many rings before extension pick up (the most hang-ups here)
• Long delays connecting to extensions (leads to customer frustration)
• Confusing employee directories (totally frustrating)
• Outdated information in the recording (such as services provided)
• The sales department is the last option in the extension list (should be the first!)

Try phoning your own company as if you are a first time caller. What’s your experience? If it’s less than stellar, do something about it fast. Now’s not the time to let any incoming leads go.

Remember, the sales process begins at “Hello” and it’s the first step in to getting to “Yes!”

Tags: Incoming Leads, pay per click, Sales

Posted in Local Business, Paid Search, Sales | 2 Comments »

October 6th, 2009