Reference and Education Facts and Tips

Facts and Tips on Reference and Education

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Business Environment Threatens Cold Calling Effectiveness

August 14th, 2008 · No Comments

by Valerie Schlitt, President of VSA, Inc.

But four specific steps can turn disastrous campaigns into successes. Despite frustrations, B2B cold calling is alive and well and continues to fill companies’ sales pipelines. Professionals at the highest levels of their careers employ this prospecting activity to augment sales made through warm referrals and introductions. But for many salespeople, telephone canvassing has posed challenges that have driven them to stop cold calling altogether. Here’s why: a. Only 5% to 30% of prospects are at their desks and answer their phones. b. Most calling lists do not contain the decision-makers’ correct names. c. Voicemail is universal and blocks most calls. d. Roughly 30% of a cold caller’s time is spent navigating phone systems and company directories.

How, then, do successful cold callers make sales this way? Here are four critical activities to make cold calling worth the time, aggravation and investment: a. Make absolutely sure you have the very best list you can obtain. Your calling list accounts for 70% of the success of your campaign. Today, successful calling campaigns require a targeted, accurate list. There is an entire cottage industry of Internet researchers who create custom lists - at rates of $60 to $150 per hour - using proprietary databases and other techniques. The rates are well worth the investment if your campaign relies on reaching prospects with specific criteria that cannot be found on generic mailing lists. For instance, a global technology firm wanted to target prospects who owned specific hardware. It paid an outside company to identify these prospects and create a qualified list. As a result, the technology firm implemented a focused and effective calling campaign.

b. Develop a compelling voice message and call multiple times. Most sales training imbues people with the practice of never leaving voice messages because they are a waste of time and money. It is absolutely false that no one will return a cold call. Recipients in greatest need of your product or service will return persuasive voice messages. More importantly, every voice message serves as a “touch.” Advertising experts say it takes six to 30 “touches” such as print ads, TV ads, phone calls, or letters for a prospect to take action. If an individual is not ready to respond now, he or she may respond to another “touch” in a month or two. Each voice message is a new touch. Three companies - a major national marketing firm, a 60-year-old national fund management company, and an up-start regional advertising firm targeting Fortune 100 companies - can attest to the benefits of repeat calling. Each reported gaining some of their most valuable prospects after the third or fourth phone message.

c. Create a B2B cold calling department or hire an outsourced calling team. A top-tier sales person could be on the phone for five hours before getting a single qualified lead. This is a waste talent ant time. You don’t need a top tier salesperson to make calls. Callers need to know two things and only two things: what problems your products or service solve for prospects, and what makes your firm unique. You can hire an entire team of callers with no experience in your industry to canvass prospects via the phone and hunt down hot leads. Your team of cold callers must be conversational, work without a script and sound alert for every call. Leave the technical and pricing details to the high priced salesperson.

d. Create campaigns that intersperse mailings and calls. Mail prospects before and during your cold calling campaign, especially if your product or service is: 1, Visual, such as advertising or promotional products. 2. Complex, such as a technology or pharmaceuticals. 3. A mature product in a saturated market such as printing or collections.

If the mailing piece is memorable, it will create a warmer reception for the cold caller and enhance opportunities for success.

In today’s environment, planning and creative thinking result in cold calling success - and help sales professionals fill pipelines during times when referrals fall short.

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Strategic Marketing: A Little Education Goes a Long Way

August 13th, 2008 · No Comments

by Fabian Toulouse

Establishing and maintaining a big share of any market today is difficult. With more and more competition out there and more and more new products flooding the market all the time, along with new technologies that are emerging, executives and managers must always stay on top of the game or be sunk. Older, veteran leaders cannot afford to pause and rest on their past successes, and the younger generation must jump in with both feet, prepared to be aggressive.

A little education can go a long way towards making you a skilled leader. Even though you may hold a degree in business from Duke, you can still be left in the dust unless you keep up with innovative technology, innovative practices, and evolving consumer needs. The courses at the Caltech Industrial Relations Center are created to teach you skills to take back and apply on the job, skills that should be used on a permanent basis, not just for a one-time project.

Among their many offerings are courses on effectively working with people without exacerbating hostility, aligning all of the divisions within your company to integrate new ideas and function efficiently with united goals in mind, implementing state of the art technology, marketing in China and India, creating alliances with other companies, and the strategic marketing of technology products.

Strategic marketing is a very useful three day course covering three main topics: creating of a sound product strategy, identifying places for growth, and beating the competition. You will learn ways to analyze and gauge your customer base and invent solutions for different segments of the market. You will see how finding influential opinion leaders in the market can help you win it, and you will acquire the tools to maneuver competitively to build a market leadership position.

Anything you can learn to get a competitive edge in today’s market is wise. Learning how to compete in high value markets can give your company the boost you have been striving for, and strategic marketing can make that occur.

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Washington State Public Records - Access to Files You Need

August 13th, 2008 · No Comments

by Patrick Robinson

Is the acquisition of washington state public records of utmost importance to you? Will obtaining this information change your decision on something? Do you want to know the details of some government projects that are currently ongoing in your area? If you have some queries related to this, then you don’t need to worry anymore. The washington state public records you need are available to you.

The Freedom of Information Act advocates the American’s right to request for public documents maintained and kept by the government. Every American can request copies of any public record he may desire. The department in charge of the documents is legally bound to release these documents to the person requesting them.

This is not without its red tape though. Some information can be legally omitted in the interest of national security. Several pages of the said document may be censored or blackened in order keep the information obscure to the public. This is probably the most serious reason why they don’t fully disclose everything about certain documents they possess.

You may be curious as to what type of information you can acquire when you exercise your right to view such public materials. You can gain access to many different data related to many different subjects. This information may relate to the local government in the area, the various businesses operating or the individual residents themselves.

Do you want to have washington state public records ready at your fingertips because you’re the owner of a small business? If so, you may want these records for a little background check on the current candidates for a job position you are offering. Now how else could you make an informed decision on a crucial matter?

You may want to obtain the information you want for the improvement of your business, or you may want it for personal and social reasons. Whatever your motives, you still need washington state public records and you want to get them in accordance to legal procedures.

Don’t forget then that the person who holds the information is the person with the most power. If you are about to make a decision that could potentially change your life, you need to know everything there is about the matter; such is the importance of information. You can never be too safe about important things.

If you’re living in the state of Washington and want to get your hands on washington state public records, then head on over to my site for further details.

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