Marketing That's Measurable Blog :: Johnson Direct

In the recessionary economy which we all find ourselves in today, you’d think that most salespeople and businesses would be fine tuning their follow up skills with not only their existing clients but especially with their interested prospects.  Unfortunately, more often than not, this is not the case.  Regardless of the industry, product, service, big ticket item or small purchases, it’s stunning to me how little businesses follow up with prospects and even customers.  They’re missing a fortune because the follow up is rarely done or non-existent.

Here are some amazing statistics related to sales that should inspire you to crank up your follow up efforts within your business:

• 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
• 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
• 12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop
• Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts

Now here’s the case for following up with prospects:

• 2% of sales are made on the first contact
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact
• 5% of sales are made on the fourth contact
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelve contact

Ask yourself this question, how much do you follow up on referrals and prospects?  I’m certain most companies can improve on the number of contacts they make.  I’m a big believer in developing a formalized process to stay in touch with prospects that didn’t convert immediately but still have a high chance of converting down the road if you stay in touch with them.

I recommend you print off this blog post and highlight the statistics in yellow and place it near your work space as a constant visual that follow up is where the fortune is made.

To put my sales cap on, Johnson Direct and our team of professionals can assist in developing such a formalized follow up process!  There are many channels/tools to help you stand out, keep top of mind awareness and close more sales.  These tools include an e-zine or e-newletter, creating a series of touch base postcards, utilizing social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs and YouTube, and holding a special customer appreciation event.

Remember that for each month that goes by without some form of communication to existing customers and prospects, 10% of top-of-mind awareness for your company disappears.  People are buried with choices, media and aggressive competitive offers trying to lure them away from your business.  Developing a sound formalized follow up process will help you create what my friend Tony Rubleski calls “Mind Capture” and assist you in winning more business!

Rob Trecek
Director of Business Development
rob.trecek@johnsondirect.com

I recently was shopping for a research subscription and contacted a couple of industry leaders for a price quote. In both cases, membership levels and prices were not available in print or online. I had to provide my name and contact information and wait for a sales representative to contact me. A week later and I’ve only heard from one of the research providers. I’m sharing with you the shocking experience I had today with the more popular research company.

On January 15, I submitted my “urgent request” to hear from a new business developer via phone AND web/email. I waited six business days to before I received a phone call.

During this call, the rep asked some questions and explained the options. I expressed interest in the basic membership level and he offered to put me in touch with a senior-level rep who could talk to me about discounts and negotiated subscription rates. I was contacted by rep #2 later that same day. After hearing a typical sales pitch, and nothing I hadn’t heard from rep #1 that morning, I told him that I’m interested in the basic membership and ask him if there are discounts or variations of which I should be aware.

Rep #2 quickly announced that his company does not sell the basic membership without the mid-level membership (more than double the basic level price). Of course, I’m at a loss as to what the basic level membership is for, since the mid-level membership already includes the basic level benefits. I announced to rep #2 that I am surprised regarding this major discrepancy in membership options and frustrated by the fact that we had to wait a week to hear from a sales person that could provide pricing. Rep #2 chose not to explain my options further or to soften the blow. Instead, with an obligatory tone, he apologized for the misunderstanding and concluded the call immediately.

I sat for moment, mouth agape, bewildered by this brief sales call. It left me feeling bitter because at Johnson Direct, we fight very hard to retain our current clients and win new clients. Our philosophy is to go “above and beyond” whenever possible. Day in and day out, everything we do is aimed at supporting our clients AND prospects. After all, a prospect seeking a new marketing partner may not sign-on as a client today, BUT you never know when your paths may cross again in the future. Leaving them satisfied short-term may reap benefits long-term.

I can’t believe that a large, well-known company can afford to perform new business activities in this manner. If I’m treated like this before the contract is even signed, how can I expect my needs will be met responsively and respectfully as a paying customer?

Sound familiar? I hope not! But, if you’ve had an unfortunate experience in any way similar to this, share it with me!

Denise B. Hearden
eMarketing Director
denise.hearden@johnsondirect.com

We can all agree that when it comes to marketing, 2009 was the year of social media. A recent Marketing Profs article provided statistics showing a dramatic increase in the number of business utilizing social media to increase brand awareness and sell products last year. It seems a lot of companies decided to dive into social media because it’s the “in” thing, and forgot about their bottom line. Let’s face it, you can post, tag and tweet all you want, but if your efforts don’t produce results then you are out of luck when it comes time to justify your budget to the executives.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that communication is a two way street and social media is no different. Engaging your audience is perhaps the most important aspect to any social media campaign. People interested in your product or service don’t subscribe to your list, follow you or become your fan only because you ask them to. Just as we seek a return on investment for marketing dollars, our followers seek a return on their time invested.

Success in social media can easily be achieved by engaging your audience. Take a look at the 5 tips below and incorporate them into your social media strategy to produce measurable results.

1. Keep an eye on your public profiles- Read comments, messages and questions posted on your profile to see what your audience wants to tell you directly
2. Use social media monitoring tools- Utilize some of the many monitoring tools available to see what your audience is telling others about your brand
3. Respond to questions and comments- When someone asks you a question, respond… and do it quickly!  Depending on the network you are using, low retention rates are something to keep in mind. Social media adds a whole new meaning to “real-time” information and if a potential customer wants to know something they want it now.
4. Utilize surveys or polls- Customers want to know that their opinions matter. Spice things up a bit and change your tone by asking them what they think. Running a successful survey will improve participation and lead to a positive view of your brand.
5. Run promotions specific to your social network- What better way to add value than providing your audience with special discounts just for listening? Be sure to track sources if linking to a landing page so you can fulfill your promise.

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com

Today’s BizTimes Milwaukee had an interesting story on a local non-profit leveraging social media networks to push it’s annual donation drive to younger donors.  The article, “Use Social Media to Build Your Tribe”, reports that the campaign was successful, bringing in $12,460 of new donations.  While the quantitative results of the campaign were positive, some organizations may look at the “small” number and think it’s not enough to cover the investment of time and resources.  Those companies are wrong…

Social media isn’t just about quantity.  It’s about starting the dialog with your audience.  My strong belief is that the true measure of ROI in social media isn’t quantitative in nature, its qualitative.  Engagement may very well be an overused, ill-defined buzzword, but the truth is that the number of followers you have, links you post or dollars you earn mean little unless you develop an ongoing relationship with those that show interest in your brand.  Conversing with your audience and providing useful, relevant information so it can be shared with others will benefit you more in the long run.

Fortunately, the United Way of Greater Milwaukee got it right.  The spokeswoman for the organization didn’t define success as the number of dollars raised, but said “the relationships we managed to build will be worth exponentially more in the future”.  Bravo!

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com

How will marketing shape up in 2010?  Grant Johnson’s predictions were published in The Big Fat Marketing Blog this morning and we invite you to take a look.

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com

Image courtesy of Twine

Over the course of the past few months, I’ve been getting asked about all the “weird” stuff I post to Facebook.  I know what you’re thinking, but no, I haven’t been using the web’s most popular social networking site to announce my quest to determine the speed of darkness.  Instead, I’ve been using URL shortening services like ow.ly and bit.ly to post content to Twitter and automatically update my other networks.  URL shorteners assign a shorter address to a website and redirect to another destination page, adding analytics along the way.

Like many other results-minded social media professionals, I use the shortening services to track clicks and mask Google analytics tags to gauge user engagement.  If you want to measure results of your marketing campaigns then these services are a necessity, but one may wonder if they are beneficial when the everyday social network user says “what the heck is that?!” every time you use them.

As if to answer this question and solve the problem once and for all, Facebook and Google announced last week the limited release of fb.me and goo.gl, respectively.  Not to be outdone, YouTube announced yesterday the development of YouTu.be, a URL service specific to videos uploaded to the world’s most popular video sharing site.  Each of the three services now pose a significant threat to bit.ly, arguably the most popular external shortening service, because of their strong user community and household brand recognition. The promotion of a service by a popular icon creates an awareness that cannot be matched by even the largest marketing campaign.  Remember Ashton Kutcher challenging CNN on getting to 1 million followers on Twitter?  You can ask around, but I doubt you will find anyone that disagrees with the notion that Ashton Kutcher played a role in Twitter’s 2009 popularity boom.

Mainstream use of URL shorteners will help online marketers by providing credibility to their online identities and positively impact the results of their campaigns.  If these services see mainstream use and users know what they are, then they will begin trusting links and make our content, products and services easier to market.  Widespread use of social networks focusing on short form communication is bringing forth innovative new ways to increase leads, sales and customer engagement in an era where fewer people are clicking on display ads.  Embracing these trends will not only help you stay afloat in a down economy, but also help you stay on top of the competition.

When all is said and done, will the popularity of Facebook, Google and YouTube make URL shorteners mainstream in 2010?  Only time will tell, but my guess is absolute.ly!

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com