5 Steps for Getting the Most Out of Sales & Marketing Data

by | Jul 18, 2012 | 2009, Marketing

Original post date March 6, 2009

Tell me if you’ve seen this movie before. After spending months debating about the right type of segmentation to do, you finally agree, do the research and…it never gets used. Or how about this one, you get a request from sales for information you’ve already sent to them…multiple times.

It’s a horror movie and it gets play out every day in organizations all across the country. Why is it that we want “data” but then we don’t end up using it?  Based on my experiences with clients, I believe it comes down to few common problems that are manageable, if known.

The top 5 problems I see:

    • Actionable Insight – as in the lack of it…it’s the #1 reason why data doesn’t get used. Far too often the Ph.D’s will put out data without having interpreting it for the intended audience which then sets up the next problem.
    • Language/Communication – call it taxonomy, communication style, whatever, data folks and everyone else (in particular, sales & marketing) speak different languages.
    • Overload & Timing – yes, analysis paralysis does exist but not the way you might think. If you’re in a data rich environment, you’ve probably experienced this. Just too much info flying around and as a result, it often gets ignored. It’s not that it causes people to not take action, as much as it is people taken action and ignoring the data. In other situations, especially involving marketers, it may be a matter of timing. They may be in too much of a hurry to get something out the door to wait on the data.
    • 60-70% Complete – critical pieces are sometimes missing so you can’t see the insight. The dots haven’t been connected. The person responsible for supplying the data doesn’t, and/or wouldn’t, see the connection.
    • Skill set – CMO’s when asked the top reasons (see the chart in the post below) for the need for new skills in their organizations mentioned; “greater segmentation of market” and “increase demands for analytics” in their top 5. The problem is that there aren’t many of them out there.

Why is this important now?  Because everything you do or want to do, or are thinking about doing, will have to be backed by data in this economic environment…you’ll need a rock solid reason for getting, or spending a budget.

Five things to do about it:

    • Apply the “So What” rule – yes, this rule is typically used to help define a feature from a benefit but it’s also effective at drawing out insight from raw data. If the data guys are presenting information that you don’t “get” ask them “so what?”…as in, what is this data suppose to tell me? And keep asking until you get to the “so what.”
    • Help connect the Dots – if the story is missing help supply/coach on how or where to connect the other pieces. If you’re the user know what you’re looking for and provide guidance on where to find it. As I mention above, researchers may not know or wouldn’t understand the connection. This also applies to coaching on communication. Help them understand the language you speak.
    • Chunk it up – sometimes there is just too much to take in and process. Chunk information into more digestible pieces. Take some time and think about what various groups can digest and how often…especially if you’re in a data rich environment.
    • Provide plenty of lead time and direction – don’t expect to get something insightful and/or useful if you don’t give adequate notice or direction. Getting a report on market share won’t tell you how to increase it, or why you’re losing it. Combining trended quarterly market share, key consideration drivers, and sales coverage will…but it takes time to collect. Know what you’re looking for and how to get it.
    • Hire an expert – as was mentioned above there is more demand than supply of talented people who can pull insight out of data and drive action from the insight. If you have to, partner with a vendor. It should also help with the timing/speed issue mentioned earlier. Additionally, they will have tools/approaches that help force out insight.

Data…leads to Insight…leads to Action…leads to Data…the cycle of life. It’s time to turn this horror movie into an action thriller.

Will Companies be able to Create a Trend?

by | Jul 18, 2012 | 2009, Marketing

Original post date February 5, 2009
What if you could create a trend that could make your product “THE” hot product? Think it’s impossible? Maybe now, but in less than two years it will happen.
I saw something a few weeks ago that gave me chills when I thought about the potential uses. The tool is…in a sense…the world’s largest and most sophisticated digital listening device. It was built to monitor chatter by those “not so friendly” folks that see the US as the “evil empire”. (Let’s just say that Homeland Security has got this one nailed.) Yes, other companies have similar tools but nothing reaches the size, scale and scope of this one (consider this, it has archived ALL the web pages in the ”www” for the last three years).
Anyway, we’re helping to develop a commercial use for the tool and I as was watching the demonstration, I couldn’t help but think about Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point. Many of the concepts he wrote about, I was now seeing play out in real life. This gigantic ear could easily determine who the “connectors” of the digital world are (in real time), “The Power of Context” as Malcom refers to it (in over 20 languages), and when something is going “viral”….all with very sophisticated algorithms and complex math.

It got me thinking, could it also determine how to create a trend? According to the team that developed the tool , it can’t yet because it doesn’t assess and/or integrate a number of important factors needed to understand the audience and what drives behavior. But if you combine the power of this tool (and other similar tools) and social networking…I believe that we are getting close.

A few days later a colleague sent me this post. Facebook is studying “sentiment” behavior. Right now it’s limited to things like how “nasty news is impacting stock” and when folks are “going out” but it can, and will evolve quickly. To this point, Zuckerberg has not really monetized his platform yet, unlike Murdoch with MySpace.

So could this be the “killer” app that drives Ad sales into Facebook? It’s too soon to tell at this point but it sure sounds good. With 222 million unique visitors sharing very personal information with most of it in the public domain this might be the next piece to fall. Throw in Twitter and marketers will soon have the ability to understand what’s “hot” or has the potential to be “hot”, who says it’s “hot”, why they’re saying it, where they like to buy “hot”, etc.So the question to marketers is…if you have the opportunity in the near future to make your product the “hottest” thing…could you? You currently have the ability to access massive amounts of consumer data today and that will grow dramatically over the next few years. What are you doing with it now and what might you do with this information in the future?
One thing is for certain, it will require new capabilities, vendors, and tools to interpret and draw out insight. Get ready now, it’s coming… and in this situation there will be a clear early mover advantage.For now, go back and re-read The Tipping Point (replace Hush Puppies with UGGs) and start dreaming about the possibilities, especially what it would take to make it happen. Think about this for a second: you could start a trend for a product that doesn’t exist…demand before supply…yea, that’s “HOT.”

What a Girl Scout Can Teach Us About Selling

by | Jul 18, 2012 | 2009, Sales

Original post date January 12, 2009

Last week I had the pleasure…to my surprise…of hearing my 6th grader work the phone selling Girl Scout cookies. She’s been a Girl Scout for a number of years and has achieved “Cookie Diva” (Cookie VIP this year) status numerous times by selling more than 150 boxes of cookies. Although I had helped her over the years by selling some cookies at work, I never actually got to hear her sales pitch, until last night.Sure, it’s hard to resist a Girl Scout selling cookies, but as a sales and marketing consultant for the last 12 years, I was struck by how well a simple, honest approach to selling worked. It was an interesting and enlightening 30 minutes.

Here are some of things I heard:

  • Niceties/Pleasantries – started every conversation with “happy new year”, and talked about their holiday, children, etc. She invested the time in catching up with them even though she had limited time to make calls between homework and bedtime. She didn’t jump to “getting the order.” It made me think about how often I rush through this important step because of time constraints, pressure on revenues, and/or proposals. If customers think that the only time you call them is when you want something…this certainly confirms it.
  • Customer Knowledge – no sophisticated databases, profiling or scripts. She did her homework by knowing what they ordered last year, what girls were no longer Girl Scouts, etc. which made it easy for customers to place orders because she knew them well.
  • Attitude – sometimes people consider sales as a “dirty job” and/or that we may be they are inconveniencing/imposing on someone by pitching them…like a stalker (maybe that’s just me). Could this stem from the fact that perhaps we don’t believe in our product or the value it can deliver to our customers. Listening to my daughter, I heard her talk about how good some of the cookies are and know how much they and/or their children love them, how she likes to put the “Thin Mints” in the freezer because she likes to eat them cold or dunk the “Do-Si-Dos” in a glass of milk before bed. Having seen boxes of GS cookies disappear from our shelves, I can attest to how much she loves her product.She’s not imposing on others, even though she caught some folks at dinner, she’s turning others on to a great product that she loves. What a difference that makes…
  • Product Knowledge – not only did she know all the cookies, including the new and classics, but also how many where in a box and how they were packaged. The best part was describing how to consume them…see above. I can’t tell you how many marketers I’ve worked over the years that don’t know the products their companies sell. I’m convinced that this lack of product knowledge is the leading reason why sales organizations dismiss or don’t respect marketing/marketers. Want to improve sales and marketing integration, train your marketers on products and see what happens.
  • Reference/Customer Testimonies – when her personal testimonials weren’t getting the job done she started to talk about others in the family and/or someone they knew. It made me think, do customers really care to hear reps experience with their own products? Maybe not, but do they listen to how convincingly or passionately they’ll testify…you bet! Customer testimonies are always the best –the more relevant the situation the better, but they also judge reps consciously or unconsciously on how well reps make their case (see the bullet above).
  • Handling Objections & the True Decision Maker – she went after a new customer who told her that they usually buy from a girl in the neighborhood. She then asked for the lady of the house recognizing the dad/husband was not the real decision maker (home schooled on this trick). She got an order but not the full order…the girl in the neighborhood will still get hers…but it will be a couple of boxes short.How often do our reps stop at “no” or get stuck dealing with the first contact vs the real decision maker? We all know that we’ll have to work harder to get the order than in the past, maybe we don’t go for the home runs as often, and settle for few singles instead.
  • Incentives – simple and straight forward, no complicated % or calculations…sell this much…get this. A compensations consultant’s dream, straight forward and easy to implement. On the order sheet, it lists the prize the girls receive based on their sales. As she reached certain level (25 boxes, 50 boxes, etc) she would tell us what prize she was won and what she was going for next. But the big one, the President Club, the one that screams “I’m the Diva” was the Cookie VIP patch.Good old fashion recognition for a job well done that lasts all year. Oh, how we’ve complicated incentives plans over the years. The search for the ultimate motivator has many times led us down the wrong path. Is it time to simplify, not sure, but I would bet it’s worth investigating.
  • Connecting it to Social Causes – this is the primary fundraising vehicle for the Girl Scouts and people know it. Can you write off the $3.50 per box as a donation? No, but you do feel good about placing you order, sure. We’re all so socially aware nowadays, are there opportunities to connect your products to the “greater good?” You may have seen the latest ads from IBM and how they’re products and services can help companies “go green.” It’s time to add this to the value proposition…or at least consider it.

Yes, I know that many of us have much more complicated sales processes and products/services, but how much of that is self inflicted? At the end of the day, don’t all customers want the same thing…a good product or service that satisfies a need/want representing good value acquired through a pleasant experience?

During this difficult economic environment, listening to my daughter was a good reminder of how well having a good product, knowing your customers and believing in the value that you’re providing can work. Is it time to simplify our products, value proposition, how we compensate our reps? It may depend on the company, the situation, the market…but I would bet it wouldn’t hurt.

At the end of the night, ten phone calls, 10 closes and over 70 boxes of cookies sold in the matter of 30 minutes (pleasantries, product description, and an order every 3 minutes). Not bad for a junior telemarketer with no training. The GS’s will sell over 200 million boxes of cookies over the next month…more than any cookie manufacturer will sell in the entire year.

Does simple work…for some, extremely well. The question is, can it work for you?