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How To Use The Prospect Scorecard iPhone App

Prospect Scorecard iPhone App

A Simple & Easy Way to Track Prospects

The Prospect Scorecard provides a simple and easy system to qualify, track and rank their best prospects. Salespeople or any business person trying to close business, often refer to prospects in vague terms such as: new, warm, hot, cold, likely, qualified, etc. These terms do little to better understand a sales pipeline or convey likelihood of purchase to other members of the team. The Prospect Scorecard resolves this issue, simply, quickly and easily. How do you use the Prospect Scorecard iPhone App?

On your iPhone or iPod Touch, create a list of the ideal attributes for your top prospects. This might include business type, revenues, location, employees, type of workforce, etc. These attributes are called your Prospect Score.

Prospects: On your smart phone or iPod Touch, create a list of the ideal attributes for your top prospects. This might include business type, revenues, location, employees, type of workforce, etc. These attributes are called your Prospect Score.

Demographic Information: Click on the + button and add the demographic information about each of your best prospects.

Prospect Scores: Click on the Scores button to check off each attribute to determine if your prospect is an in profile prospect. For example, if you have 10 attributes and your Prospect Score is an 9, you have an excellent, in profile prospect. The attributes can be edited and customized for your business.

Quality Score: The Quality Score is an acronym you can create for your business to better qualify if your prospect is likely to buy. Let’s say your acronym is BUD which stands for Budget, Urgency and Decision Maker. If you have all three of these criteria, you have a high quality prospect. If the prospect has a high Prospect Score and a high Quality Score, you have an in profile prospect which is very likely to buy.

The App makes it easy to retrieve, sort, add, delete and rank your prospects, changing the way you manage and quantify your pipeline.  For more information on the Prospect Scorecard  go to Prospect Scorecard for iPhone. For information on web selling tips, go to Sell More & Work Less. For Web Marketing best practices go to StartUpSelling for Insurance Agency Marketing or JurisMarketing for Law Firm Web Marketing.

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Sell More & Work Less Excerpt – Jumpstarting Your Pipeline

Description: C:\Users\Alan\Desktop\Sell More & Work Less\image icon 3 Globe.jpgReal-World Scenario (Excerpt from Sell More & Work Less)

About ten years ago, I helped a company develop their virtual sales and marketing strategy. Its solution, let’s describe it as a client behavioral research solution, was new to the market and required an evangelical sale. The businesses targeted for this new solution had to be convinced to take a leap of faith and try a new method to analyze their customer behavior. In addition, this method was a completely Web-based, SaaS solution. Evangelical sales are common with technology companies seeking to sell a breakthrough product (e.g., eMarketing solutions, MP3 downloads, cloud computing, electronic reading devices, and even DVRs). The first step in the process was to identify the target market and build a suspect list, just as I mentioned above. The CEO had an insurance background and landed a few insurance company clients. We decided this would be the first niche market to target. How did we build a comprehensive virtual suspect list? We utilized several top 100 industry lists and imported them into a simple Microsoft database. We searched for on-line insurance company listings and added them to our virtual suspect list. Then, we called every one of these insurance organizations (there were about 300 initially targeted). These targeted cold calls resulted in up-to-date contact information, key executives, titles, direct phone numbers, and emails. These were often gathered by offering the suspects an opportunity to attend an informational Web seminar. Within a few short months, the database was quite comprehensive, and the suspect list began to yield a compelling prospect list. Utilizing my Prospect Scorecard system and qualifying acronym, we were able to identify possible buyers, convince these buyers to review the solution in a Web seminar or one-to-one web meeting, and then move them to the qualification phase. Out of the 300 initial suspects targeted, we were able to convince over 150 to review the solution in our first year of sales efforts, and about 20 percent of them purchased within that same year. An impressive result for a self-funded, emerging operation selling 99 percent virtually, without travel or face-to-face meetings and the costs and inefficiencies associated with that model. Today, many years after we helped this client create a target suspect list, they continue to dominate their niche.  

For more information on web marketing go to StartMarketingTech, StartUpSelling or JurisMarketing.

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Cloud Computing Up and Big Box Stores Down

eTail vs Retail

eTail vs Retail

Two interesting, albeit expected news reports came across my browser today. The first was about Cloud Computing, with a recent Microsoft study showing a significant increased in paid cloud computing services expected for small and midsize businesses over the next five years. As reported on PR NewsWire, “The research conducted by Edge Strategies includes survey responses from IT decision-makers or influencers at more than 3,000 SMBs in 13 countries.” We’re talking about doubling and tripling of paid cloud services here, an obvious trend even for those who are still unsure about the cloud.

In a somewhat related matter Best Buy announced it will close 50 big-box stores and cut 400 jobs in corporate and support areas. Best Buy will continue to roll out smaller, Best Buy Mobile stores. Best Buy big box stores have been hit hard by the likes of Amazon, with shoppers researching products in their stores, then buying elsewhere based on price and availability. I blogged about this on June 9, 2010 (BestBuy vs Amazon) when I tried to buy an new stereo receiver but was unable to purchase a model with the features needed at Best Buy, ultimately buying it from Amazon.

The casualty list of retailers is getting longer with the likes of Circuity City, Computer City, Linens ‘n Things’ and Borders, and recent challenges for department stores including Sears (A Company Problem or Industry Issue). Best Buy is working hard to reinvent themselves, something that malls and shopping centers may need to work on simultaneously with growing eTail trends and continued challenges for many retailers. No wonder there are so many shoe and sneaker retailers in the malls these days – one size does not fit all in that business. We’ll have to see if Amazon and other eTailers can fill those shoes when it comes to online sales.

For more information on web marketing go to StartMarketingTech, StartUpSelling or JurisMarketing.

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What does your perfect client look like?

What does your perfect client look like? Create a Prospect Scorecard to quantify your approach to prospecting and pipeline building. Some of the attributes of your ideal client might include revenue, growth rate, client type (business or consumer) and market niche. For example, are you targeting companies between $5 million and $10 million in revenue? Are your best prospects fast-growing firms like those found on the Inc. 500 list? Are you selling to consumers? If you’re selling to consumers, are they high net worth prospects, middle income, younger or older? Are your prospects in a specific niche market such as banking, insurance, biotech, plumbing, consulting, education, etc.? Create a Prospect Scorecard with your ideal attributes and a customized qualification abbreviation to help you determine if you are selling to an in-profile prospect.

The Prospect Scorecard offers salespeople and businesses a simple and easy way to qualify, track and rank their best prospects. Salespeople, sales managers, entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, insurance agents, realtors and other business people often refer to prospects in vague terms such as: new, warm, hot, cold, likely, qualified, etc. These terms do little to better understand a sales pipeline or convey likelihood of purchase to other members of the team. The Prospect Scorecard resolves this issue, simply, quickly and easily for any salesperson or business.

http://prospectscorecard.com/ and for more details, the web selling tips book http://sellmoreandworkless.com/

 

 

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Online Ad Spending Now Eclipsing Print Ads

It was recently reported that online ad spending will eclipse print ad spending for the first time in U.S. history. This year, industry experts are projecting that marketers will spend more on online advertising than on advertising in print magazines and newspapers. According to some analysts, online ad revenue will increase to approximately $39 billion in sales this year, while print ads will fall to about $34 billion.

This news is not unexpected, it’s been a tough decade for newspapers and magazines, and a stellar one for Google and the likes thereof. Proctor and Gamble (P&G), an ad spending behemoth, recently announced that they were continuing their shift toward online campaigns and away from print media. Their CEO stated, “In the digital space, with things like Facebook and Google and others, we find that the return on investment of the advertising, when properly designed, when the big idea is there, can be much more efficient.”

What does all of this mean to small and medium size businesses? When thinking of your overall marketing strategy, think in terms of your online opportunities including your website, on page SEO, off page SEO, PPC and social media marketing. Online marketing opportunities should be preeminent in your overall marketing strategy, while old school print media and brick and mortar event marketing should be carefully scrutinized for declining ROI.

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Sears – A Company Problem Or An Industry Issue

Brick & Mortar vs. Virtual

Reuters recently reported that Sears will close as many as 120 of its Kmart and Sears department stores after holiday sales slumped, and Sears shares slid (say that three times fast) more than 27 percent. Sales have declined every year since the merger of the two chains in 2005. Sears faces significant challenges from rivals such as Wal-Mart and Amazon.com Inc, though the latter is indicative of an industry paradigm shift, namely e-Tail versus retail.

Some Big Box stores will likely survive the brick and mortar winds of change which are blowing in their direction. Though many major players such as Borders, Circuit City, Linens ‘n Things’ (and even smaller scale entities such as Blockbuster) were unable to weather the storm. Over the last couple of years, I’ve written several articles on this theme, including:

One need not be clairvoyant to see this paradigm shift in action. Stop in on any given big box store or “department store” in your local mall. Can you count the number of customers on one hand? Are they buying anything? There are some exceptions to this, though the question remains, how many big box stores can survive the onslaught of the more cost effective e-Tail model? The subtle irony here is that Sears might have been closer to a competitive model in 1893 when they introduced the Sears Catalog than they are today.

If your business continues to have a brick and mortar mentality, analyze what aspects of your business can leverage the web to improve efficiency and optimize profits. For more information on going virtual read: Your Virtual Success or Sell More & Work Less.

 

 

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Sell More & Work Less Now Available on Kindle – Web Selling Techniques Everyone Should Use

Sell More & Work Less is now available on Kindle.  This web selling tips book focuses on a 4-Phase Sales Process which helps business professionals quickly learn and apply many new web sales tips and techniques to improve their sales effectiveness. Simply said, allowing them to sell more and work less. The 4-Phase Virtual Sales Process facilitates the transition to a web centric sales model offering greater profit potential, improved methods of selling and the more flexible business and personal lifestyle this affords. Readers can replicate the 4-Phase Virtual Sales Process to create their own tailored sales process using the techniques explained in this web selling tips and techniques book.  I was fortunate to be assisted by three “in the trenches” coauthors, Mike Lauducci, John Scranton and Andrew Blume in the writing of this web selling tips book.

Sell More & Work Less is now available on Amazon, both in paperback and the Kindle version http://www.amazon.com/Sell-More-Work-Less-ebook/dp/B0072O3KUO/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328183749&sr=1-1-spell.

For B2B Web Marketing go to www.StartMarketingTech. For Insurance Agency Marketing go to www.StartUpSelling.com.

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Filling the Sales Funnel with the Four Step Marketing Plan – Webinar

Expert panel will review the Four Step Marketing Plan and discuss the critical elements required for a successful strategy in 2012. Case studies of several organizations leveraging this integrated approach will be analyzed. The Four Step Marketing Plan helps organization gain access to in-profile prospects and provide sales team with qualified opportunities. Topics include:

  • Building your prospect database and email list
  • Reaching your target market through email marketing
  • Leveraging warm calls for quality appointments
  • Expanding reach through Social Media Marketing

Title:      Filling the Sales Funnel with the Four Step Marketing Plan

Date:     Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Time:     1:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/616170737

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

For more information, please visit: www.startmarketingtech.com

For our new book, please visit: Sell More & Work Less

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Updated Top 20 Website Tips For an Effective Website

Here is an updated Top 20 Website Tips to ensure your website is effective and up to date:

The Top 10 website elements that your organization should review when designing your website:

  1. Header, logo and value proposition
  2. Navigation (keep it simple)
  3. Page title, meta description, keywords (on page SEO)
  4. Unique design, color and theme & content balance
  5. Graphics, video, blog
  6. Download speed
  7. Quality inbound links, no-follow outbound links
  8. Call to Action!
  9. Analytics
  10. Conversion rate

The Top 10 Watch Out tips include:

  1. Beware of templates that make your site look the same as other sites
  2. Out of date content
  3. Out of date images and photographs
  4. Comingling of Personal Lines and Commercial Lines
  5. Vague or non-existent Call To Actions on each page
  6. Too many Calls To Action on a given web page
  7. Browser incompatibility
  8. Large graphics or Flash video with limited content
  9. Broken links
  10. Using design elements and features that make your site look the same as other sites

Once the Top 20 is fully reviewed, take the time to review your analytics, be it free Google analytics or a fee for service solution. What is your bounce rate? What are your top ten blogs? Are there certain traffic spikes attributable to web marketing initiative such as eMarketing and webinars? Learn the nuances of your site, monitor, measure and leverage your website as one of the truly important tools in your marketing efforts.

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Browser Wars – Google Chrome On The Rise

Google Chrome Gaining

Google Chrome Gaining Momentum

As reported by Nathan Ingraham on The Verge, Google’s Chrome has show market gains across desktops over the past year, primarily at the expense of IE and FireFox. Internet Explorer is still the dominant player, though one must take note of Chrome’s 84 percent year-over-year growth rate. As an anecdotal observation, I can say that several of my colleagues have commented on Chrome’s speed and simplicity, though this blogger is still using Firefox, in part because of inertia, and also because of the many plugins I use with Mozilla. What does this mean from a B2B marketing perspective? Though there are many nuances to consider, website browser compatibility across the big four browsers, including IE, Firefox, Safari and Chrome, is surely a must.

For More Information on B2B Marketing go to: http://www.startmarketingtech.com/.

To learn about web sales and marketing best practices go to: http://SellMoreandWorkLess.com.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/2/2676388/chrome-internet-explore-firefox-marketshare-2011-statcounter-net-applications

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