For telesales groups that target the SMB segment (Small, Medium Business), the dynamics are very different than in pursuing large mid-market or enterprise accounts.

In targeting the vast SMB market through lead generation, the challenge for telesales is to break into large numbers of accounts without the luxury of referrals or deep account insight.

The issue of minimal customer insight is problematic for both outbound cold calling and the telequalification of responders where limited profiling information exists. The issue is exacerbated by the demanding metrics set for telesales.

The recognition that the internet has enabled buyers to be in control of the buying process creates formidable challenges to telesales: how to be knowledgeable, consultative and bring value to the discussion.

For many organizations, the resources for telesales enablement may limited adding to the woes of telesales.

So what to do? How can you trade-off between efficiency and effectiveness?

Let’s start with an example of what not to do:

Hi Mr. Lesser, I am calling today after reviewing your website. Our solution is well-suited to your company. It will help you save at least 10% in costs…

The problem with this approach is that the sales rep is calling under false pretenses – hardly a way to build a rapport with a prospect. By their generic value proposition it becomes clear that the only thing customized about their pitch is the use of your name.

For fun, try this out: ask the telesales rep why he/she believes that their solution is a good fit to your company based on their review of your website.

In contrast, my suggested approach digs deeper but still allows you to work on a shoestring lead generation budget.

Segment your List & Segment your Messages
By segmenting your list based on criteria such as size of organization or preferably, industry/vertical market, you will be able to use the power of mass customization.

A message using industry vernacular to articulate how your solution addresses industry pain points can be an effective door opener.

Although not as effective, as communicating to account-specific pain points, it can build credibility and give you the ‘right’ to ask more detailed, account questions.

Fact-Find Low, Call High
A year ago, Paul McCord, sales trainer, consultant and author, blogged about how he prospected. Paul’s approach to sell his firm’s services was to call ‘low’ into an account to discover pain points and potentially generate an internal referral to a senior decision-maker.

Then, armed with account insight, Paul calls to the decision-maker with stellar results.

To economize, this approach can be well-adapted to high volume telesales by interviewing only one low level contact prior to approaching the senior decision-maker and limiting the number of call attempts.

Use Trigger Marketing
Just as consumers who move through life stages, the buying cycle for businesses can be triggered by milestone events such as changes in the executive suite, mergers & acquisitions, office relocations, the bankruptcy of the vendor of an installed solution etc.

Lists that track these triggers are broadly available and also with such tools such as InsideView.

Overlaying this data onto your database can flag accounts that then can be batched and targeted by telesales.

Telesales faces very different pressures than field sales. Some of the above approaches are used by field sales in a similar fashion but the approaches described here reflect the unique requirements of the world of telesales.

Photo credit: Balancing act by theDQT

You know – a humongous email broadcast – the digital equivalent of a large mail drop.

Otherwise known as Batch & Blast email, B2B marketers have viewed this type of email as best for retention marketing, rather than acquiring customers.

In the early days of email marketing, two powerful types of email were unavailable to B2B marketers:

But all that is changing as…

1) Multi-Function Email Suites dominate B2B email marketing.
2) Retention email marketing takes a back seat to acquisition marketing.
3) Marketing automation vendors are extending their applications.
4) The marketing automation and email vendors consolidate.

Multi-Function Email Suites dominate B2B email marketing
Although no one (except me, ahem) labels these applications ‘multi-function email suites’, I am using the term to describe multi-faceted marketing applications that include the functionality of the three types of email marketing that I have noted above: Batch & Blast, 1to1 Sales emails and Trigger emails. Of course, the functionality of these applications goes well beyond email marketing to include content management, web analytics, CRM integration etc.

When we surveyed 249 B2B marketers last year, we were surprised to find that marketing automation suites (or multi-function email suites) dominated the rankings of email applications.

Upshot: if you are not yet using or at least looking at these multi-function suites, you may be lagging the market.

Retention email marketing takes a back seat to acquisition marketing
With the widespread use of email filters and the need for recipients to opt-in to email communications, retention marketing has been the primary goal for email marketing.

1to1 Sales email and Trigger emails provide a level of personalization, immediacy and relevance that Batch & Blast emails cannot deliver allowing B2B marketers to target prospects, rather than just customers, with compelling emails.

The broad market acceptance of lead management and sales enablement applications is paving the way for the widespread use of 1to1 Sales emails and Trigger emails for lead generation, lead nurture and conversion.

Upshot: Marketers and sales reps now have robust email marketing tools available for lead generation.

Marketing automation vendors are extending their applications
As vendors push to increase their scale, the competition is intensifying.

Recently, Genius launched a lead management application to complement their leading sales enablement solution. While Eloqua and Marketo have launched a broadside to Genius by moving into the sales enablement space from lead management.

For a terrific overview of this standoff, read Laura Ramos’ recent post on her blog. Laura is VP / Principal Analyst, Forrester Research.

Upshot: enhanced competition should provide more attractive options for buyers to buy full application suites.

The marketing automation and email vendors will consolidate
I asked Jon Miller, VP of Marketing, Marketo about how buyers will look at evaluating marketing applications:

Q: Will B2B sales or marketing teams stop buying one-dimensional email applications? i.e. Batch & Blast applications only

A: I definitely think this is true; people don’t have time or energy to cobble together piece part solutions.

As marketing automation vendors scramble to extend their applications into other types of email marketing, two analysts see the market consolidating.

In a webinar earlier this year, Alexander Drobik, Managing VP Gartner Research simply states:

In the current era of economic uncertainty and increasing IT productivity, users will congregate their IT software spend in megavendors and their ecosystems.

(For free access to the Gartner webinar slides, click here.)

David Raab, a consultant specializing in marketing technology and analysis, noted in a well-written review of Marketo Sales Insight, that the revenue opportunity on sales enablement tools will be very attractive to sales automation vendors (i.e. CRM vendors) and those vendors will ‘take the business for themselves’.

Upshot: B2B marketers may find standalone, Batch & Blast vendors to be a dying breed as robust sales & marketing automation suites dominate the market. Our research shows that of the Batch & Blast vendors, it was mostly the budget-friendly vendors, who held significant market share.

(Image copyright – Fox Media. The resemblance to the author is purely accidental.)

I spoke with Travis prior to his appearance on a panel discussing ‘Sales Lead Management 2.0′ at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Boston.

Network Solutions has expanded its offering beyond domain registration to online services in such areas as search marketing (SEM), ecommerce, website design and hosting with customers spending from $500 to $50,000 per month. Approximately 300 direct sales reps target small businesses across the US.

One of my questions to Travis concerned buyer dissatisfaction. According to a recent survey, a large issue for buyers are sales reps who make promises that are then broken when the prospect becomes a customer.

Travis admitted that Network Solutions is still working on aligning sales and service. Travis believes that buyer dissatisfaction with broken promises is a problem with most sales channels, especially those selling complex products.

At Network Solutions, a significant amount of training is conducted with sales reps on how to set customer expectations.

A wiki has been created with Salesforce.com, Network Solutions’ sales CRM system, that helps reps find answers to their questions. All collateral and training materials are posted to Salesforce.com including a one page cheat sheet with FAQ.

With Travis sitting in the middle of sales and service, he has found that he can cut through the ‘BS’ (note to reader: Travis is not referring to the balance sheet).

Network Solutions tracks all cancellations by reason and by solution. Travis’ team can quickly determine if training is the root cause of an issue.

Travis discussed with me some of the Sales 2.0 tools that have improved his team’s decision-making, lowered costs, enhanced customer value and allowed Travis to manage a widely-dispersed and mobile workforce:

For more on Travis’ panel at the Sales 2.0 Conference, tune in to this blog or my tweets at www.twitter.com/RobertLesser.

Today’s post is for the professional who is the program.

As an out-of-work B2B practioner, you may be looking for innovative ways to search for your next position. If you are the proverbial cobbler, you may have neglected the marketing of you.

The next generation of web applications (aka 2.0) should be very appealing to you (as it is to the resource-constrained B2B marketer): free or nearly free applications, easy and fast to get up and running and rich with interactivity and online tracking information.

Let’s step through a plan to get you that job:

Goal Setting
To help you manage the roller-coaster ride of a job search, it’s much easier if you can objectively look at the job search like a sales pipeline. For example, the more activity at the top of the funnel (e.g. applications and interviews with appropriate target companies) should lead to more offers.

By setting top of funnel goals it can help keep you focused even if the offers are not forthcoming. Talk to your peers and set reasonable goals for yourself. Celebrate the achievement of positive metrics.

CRM System
You will need a system to manage your job search metrics and to keep track of your progression with contacts.

A CRM or customer relationship management system will keep you organized and disciplined. An added bonus is that the use and configuration of a CRM system will give you the insight and experience of being a sales rep (where you are the product).

FREE CRM – Yes that’s right – the entry level version of Salesforce.com (Personal Edition) is free.

Email Marketing
Some email marketing systems allow 1to1 emails, where an individual can send a trackable email to a prospect.

In Job Search 2.0, a trackable email will allow you to find out how many times the email has been opened.

This intelligence is invaluable as it indicates that your recipient has forwarded your email or resume to colleagues.

$99 per year – The Salesforce.com Group Edition provides trackable email.


SEO
Search engine optimization is ranked #1 by B2B marketers for generating quality leads.

Your application of SEO to your job search is similarly important.

For example, should you upload your resume to a job board or directly to an employer, keywords in your resume will drive traffic to you and in turn, will help rank your resume higher (Shall we call this JB – SEO or Job Board – Search Engine Optimization?)

For a B2B marketer, it can be challenging to determine what keywords the target audience is using to search.

Not so on job boards – you can easily tap into current job postings by employers to assess keywords.



FREE Keyword Tool - Interested in visualizing the keywords in multiple job ads? I used a free tag cloud tool Wordle to create the tag cloud (to the left) by combining the copy from three job ads on Monster.


List Procurement
The next generation of online lists favors the job searcher. No longer do you need to pay a hefty premium for minimum order sizes.

Now many lists do not require either a subscription or a minimum order. Take a look at lists such as: Jigsaw, NetProspex, SalesGenie, Zapdata and ZoomInfo.. For a recent study on online data sources, click here.

Social Networks
And of course, social networks like LinkedIn provide free contacts. However the records do not include contact information and the number of available contacts depends on the size of your network.

One of the key benefits of 2.0 tools is to track online behavior.

Did you know that in LinkedIn you can find out who is viewing your LinkedIn profile?
On the sidebar of your profile, you will find this handy widget.

With LinkedIn, you can inform your network of your job search status, ask questions of your network and the LinkedIn community and ask your network for introductions.

Blogs
As a job seeker, you are severely constrained by the amount of space on a resume.

A personal blog is a much more expressive medium to expand upon your capabilities and in a much more personable tone than a resume.

It’s also a great way to demonstrate your written communication skills – essential for the marketing profession.

Video
If you a good public speaker looking to standout from the crowd, a video biography may be the tool for you.

Of all the social media tools available to marketers, blogs and video are ranked most highly by B2B marketers for lead generation.

$299 & up – Create a video biography with Market Yourself Smarter

Further Assistance
If I can be of any assistance in your job search (my focus is B2B marketing), please feel free to contact me at: robert (at) OnDemandInsideSales (dot) com

If you are a marketer that would like to help out your peer group, please leave a comment.

Additional Reading
Job Search 2.0 by Rachel Happe, The Social Organization Blog
Career Toolbox: 100+ Places to Find Jobs by Sean P. Aune, Mashable
30+ Websites to Visit When You’re Laid Off by Ben Parr, Mashable
7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media by Dan Schawbel, Personal Branding Blog
Job Searching 2.0: Looking for Work ‘New School’ by Monica Hamburg, Me Like the Interweb Blog

The first day I sat at a table with Garth Moulton, VP of Community /Co-Founder at Jigsaw and blogger. Last fall, I had met Garth in Chicago when I spoke at a Chicago Association of Direct Marketing conference sponsored by Jigsaw. Garth and I spoke for a few minutes on best practices in using Jigsaw.

During the reception it was great to catch-up with two Forrester analysts who I had not spoken to in a while: I last met Laura Ramos, VP, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research and blogger when I presented at the MarketingProfs‘ B2B Summit 2008 in Boston and Scott Santucci, Senior Analyst at Forrester in San Francisco where I spoke at a MarketingSherpa B2B Summit a few years back (Laura and Scott posed for this photo that I took).

Laura noted to me some of the obstacles that large businesses face in adopting social media. I pointed out that social media were especially well suited to small business. Although small businesses are passionate, Laura has found that resources at small business often become constrained in meeting the demands of content creation.

Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer, Selling to Big Companies, author and blogger confided in me some of the challenges that she faces in expanding her sales training organization in this downturn.

AnnekeSeley, Founder & CEO of Phone Works, author and blogger was very receptive in discussing with me alternative inside sales models in a Sales 2.0 world. Anneke (see photo on left) was one of the standout speakers on a panel later that day.

Jim Dickie, Partner at CSO Insights gave a stellar presentation at the conference. Although hardly participating at the same level, I offered up to Jim our learning through our LeadGen Tools Research. The photo below

was taken of Jim (left) with Gerhard Gschwandtner, Founder and CEO, Personal Selling Power and host of the conference.