Pipeline Building, Measuring,

Improving Your Odds

September 12, 2012Sam Patrick, President

Glad To Meet You

• 25+ years in sales and marketing

• Ad Agency, corporate marketing backgrounds

• Launched PM&C in 2004

• Consumer goods, technology, financial services,

retail, professional services, hospitality

• DowBrands, Publix, Wachovia, Datastream, Denny’s

• Biased to building brands, unbiased as to how

• Help our clients accelerate their profitable growth

How do I build a pipeline of

selling opportunities?

Getting Started

STEP ONE: Your databaseIf you don’t have a database, you can’t go to STEP TWO.

electronic file for contact names and histories: target

companies, referral sources, past customers, etc.

enables control of communications delivery

tracks marketing and sales results

drives your:

- communications

- appointment-setting

- sales and marketing initiatives

Getting Started

Brand Awareness

Marketing builds the brand at the front end… sales resources build relationships, close deals.

The Buying Cycle

Spark Interest

Create Desire2Buy

Motivate $ Action

TIME

Familiarity > receptivity, trust, preference

Information of value, ideas that match needs

Tailored solutions

Reasons to buy now

Marketing tools, programs

Sales resources, programs

Reach vs. Cost vs. Customer Interaction

Marketing Channels

PERSONAL INTERACTION

# O

F P

RO

SP

EC

TS

RE

AC

HE

D

PRAdvertising

Direct Mail/Email

Newsletters/Lit.

Telemktg/Awareness

Telemktg/Apptmt.

Events/Seminars

Sales calls

PR <.03

Adv. <.25

Dir. Mail <$2

Newsl./Lit. $3-4

Telem/Aware. $30-50

Tele/Appt. $100-200

Events $150-250

Sls call $3-500

Develop Awareness

Putting It All Together

Spark Interest

Create Desire

Motivate $ Action

Marketing tools, programs Sales pros, plan, strategy

Brand familiarity

Useful info, get appointments

Follow-up & persistence

Reasons to buy now

Advertising

PR

Newsletters

Email/Mail

Website

Mail & Call

Webcasts

Events/Shows

Seminars

“Network”

Qualify opports.

Set apptments.

Nurture key

relationships

Sales strategy

Proposals

Scope needs

Power close

Marketing Pros Sales ProsDevelop _____________ Add, remove ___________

Execute _____________ Call to ________________

Create ______________ Build _________________

Maintain _____________ Visit __________________

Develop _____________ Provide ________________

Orchestrate __________ Follow up ______________

Coordinate ___________ Close _________________

Marketing vs. Sales

Who does what?

Marketing programs do not…

… create _______________________________

… replace _______________________________

… serve as a replacement for _______________

… always lead to _________________________

What Does Marketing NOT Do?

What are some useful

pipeline metrics

that I should know and use?

Metrics & Measurement

Cold Calling – Not so easy…

On average, it takes _________ attempts to

reach _________ prospects.

It takes __________ targets to

conduct _________ conversations.

Cold Calling

Cold Calling – more benchmarks

It takes __________ conversations to

set _________ appointments.

1000 100 56 10

When you get there, you’d better have a meaningful offer that addresses a need and present your value proposition in a

powerful way!

Cold Calling

Measuring Your Marketing

What are some other

Marketing program or Partner/Agency metrics?

Marketing ProgramsSome metrics you might consider include:

Response Rates Cost per contact

Qualified leads Cost per appointment

Ad inquiries PR inquiries

Trade show contacts/leads Proposal opportunities

Email/DM response rates Database growth

Website traffic (qualified) Proposal win rate

Webinar participation Media/industry interest

Brand awareness Search engine position

Marketing Program Metrics

Evaluative metrics to consider include:

Marketing expenses to budget

Marketing investment versus new revenue generated

New client acquisition – pace, investment required

Proactive ideas to advance your business needs

Responsiveness to requests

Industry and customer insights (value-added)

Investment level versus industry norms

Business growth and progress

Marketing Agency Metrics

Achieving Success

What % of new customers

are typically won

after 3 sales calls?

Do you know…

_____% of sales are made on the 1st contact

_____% of sales are made on the 2nd contact

_____% of sales are made on the 3rd contact

_____% of sales are made on the 4th contact

_____% of sales are made on the 5th – 12th contact

Achieving Success

Improving Your Odds

How do I improve my odds of success?

Lessons learned…

1. Be prepared.

2. Never walk alone.

3. Listen as you work.

4. Targets don’t care.

5. It don’t hurt to know Joe.

6. Weed, seed, fertilize.

7. Honor the process.

Making the Pieces Fit

1. Be prepared.• Research, networking, LinkedIn profile

• D&B, customer database check

• Website review, competitor check, recent news

2. Never walk alone.• Team selling

• Peer insights

• Relationships in common

Lessons Learned

3. Listen as you work.• Talk less and ask more questions

• Ferret our personal and business information

• Record details; don’t rush to fill conversation gaps

4. Targets don’t care.• Their issues, not our qualifications

• Unhide the hidden agenda

• What gets you in may not be what you sell

Lessons Learned

5. It don’t hurt to know Joe.• Demonstrate a mutual acquaintance

• Let ‘em know you know their competitor

• Leverage your referral network for intros

• Find the hidden Cubs fan inside

6. Weed, seed, fertilize.• Listen 80/20

• Bring questions and take good notes

• Thank you’s still work wonders

Lessons Learned

7. Honor the process.• Do it right, don’t just do it

• Record everything

• Scour for news on your prospects

• Build your database – add, delete, enhance

It’s A Numbers Game

Expect to interface with a prospect 3-6 times before you get a sale

• Improve your odds with clean target lists

• Close more with timely, benefit-rich offers

• Glean more opportunities with improved listening

• Do the little things well and the big things will follow suit

• Be consistently persistent

Lessons Learned

Questions or Comments?

Thank you.

Sam Patrick

Patrick Marketing & Communications, Inc.

sam@patrickmkt.com - www.patrickmkt.com

In Closing