lessons from the trenches selling and marketing best practices terry hedden

Lessons from the Trenches:Managed Services Sales & Marketing Best Practices

GFI Max ConferenceSeptember 8, 2014

Terry HeddenCEO of Marketopia

& Cloud Guru

Don’t Get a Hand Cramp….. Contact me for the

Presentation!

•Clarifying Sales vs Marketing•Key Components of a Successful

Campaign•Role of Frequency & Repetition•Understanding Campaign Components•Developing Your Sales Team• Following a Process That Instills Trust• Improving Your Sales Message

Agenda

• Too Often Firms Rely on Sales to Do Marketing….

Implement Marketing Best Practices

• Website

• SEO & SEM

• Social Media

• Newsletters and E-mail

• Demand Generation Events

• Direct Mail

• PR

Components of a Successful Campaign

• One event, one time is a waste of money!

• 10% Lead Close Ratio Requires 10 leads for each close!

• Repeated messages thru multiple mediums multiply results of each alone.

• Consistent Marketing is key to long-term results. • The Big Boys don’t start and stop marketing for a

good reason!

• Diligence & Commitment are the Keys to Success

• Everything, Every Month, Ever Better

Which and When?

SEO & SEM

• Post regularly, but don’t overdo it

• Timing is key• Different audiences view posts

at different times

• Have variety• If your only message is about

the services you offer, people will quickly become bored

• Measure ROI on Your Time

Social Media

• Make sure that the message you are sending is something people want to hear, not just what you want to say

• Have a catchy subject line• This is your audience’s first impression

• The subject line must convince them to continue reading – No different than a newspaper headline

• Branding – You need to make it very obvious who is sending the message• The “sent from” section of the e-mail

• The graphics and logos within the message

Newsletters & Email Blasts

• Have variety in your events. People will not come to the same event repeatedly. Location, Topic, etc.• Conference Speaking Engagements

• Webinars

• Lunch and Learns

• Chamber of Commerce sessions

• Use Co-Marketing Where You Can…

• Appointment Setting

Demand Generation Events

• Email vs Direct Mail – Which Works Best for You?

•Direct Mail has worked for decades!

•Postcards often float

…where they need to go

• Letters can be ‘personal’ & get read

• FedEx & Priority Mail Get Noticed

Direct Mail

•Develop relationships with the local business journals, Newspapers, Networking Organizations, Chambers• Major events, (Mergers, Executive Hires, New

Practice Areas) should be announced through Press Releases

• Use social media to reinforce the message with links to the Press release

• Article Subject Matter Expert

Public Relations

The Hard Part of Marketing

• Focus on Net New Clients

• Complex, enterprise type requirements

• IT focused sales

• Lower cost, higher volume based opportunities

• Focused on initial qualifications

• Critical in hybrid model to understand complex deals must be field based

• Responsible for securing recurring revenue streams

• Can be separate individual or part of sales team responsibility

Developing Your Sales Team

• Provides Deep Expertise on Managed/Cloud Technologies

• Skilled in Identifying Issues with Current IT Solution

• Expertise in Establishing Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt when Justified

• Technical Compliment to the Sales Executive

Developing Your Sales Team

Selling to Business Owners

New Comp Plans

Pre-packaged offerings

Consultative Approach

True Cost of IT Support

Cost of Downtime

Revised Sales Process

Cross sell & Up sell

Focus on Prevention

Customer Education

Web centric buyers ?

Understanding The Value of Managed Services

Implementation

Sales Executive Solution Engineer Acct Manager

Solution Presentation

Sales Executive Solution Engineer

Proposal Development

Sales Executive Solution Engineer

Technology Survey

Sales Executive Solution Engineer

Business Survey

Sales Executive

Following a Process That Instills Trust

What we

Know

What Others

Perceive

What We Do

What We Say

What We

Think

Knowledge = Confidence = Sales

Improving Your Sales Message

• Retail, healthcare, education,

hospitality, etc.

– Products

– Competitors

– Challenges

– Strategic positions within

the industry

– Industry terminology

(churn, rework, etc.)

• Knowledge of the operations

of an organization

– Financial

• Cost of an Employee

• Revenue vs. profit

• Annual report

– Workflow through

departments

– Understands the business

value of IT

Vertical Knowledge Business Acumen

Are you the Trusted Advisor to your customers?

Improving Your Sales Message

• A strong proposal improves confidence and conveys professionalism and capability.

• Quotes

• Used for ‘Quick and Dirty’ Conveyance of Item and Price

• Best for Low Margin Sales

• Proposals

• Remind them why they should choose your business

• Convey Solution Description….in English

• Convey Project Tasks…Show You Know What to Do

• Present Solution Components & Issues They Address

• Dress to Impress

Not All Communication is VerbalImproving Your Sales Message

Terry Heddenterry.hedden@marketopia.com

(727) 742-4464

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This photo is for placement only

Drop me an email or LinkedIn message for the slides or to attend a free Cloud Marketing Plan Best Practice Seminar in September!

For More Information…