JS Logan

An example of how not to market your expertise

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I think I've mentioned this before, if not, I should have long ago: If you don't already read Tim Berry's blog, I highly recommend it. It should be on your shortlist.

Tim published a post on his blog this morning you ought to read: One Way Not to Market Your Expertise.

What makes the post a must read is perspective -- Tim shares his reaction to an email he's twice received from a would-be management consultant. Tim highlights a few things from the email that work against the sending party: wrong addressee, lack of organizational knowledge, promises to fix problems he's unaware of, etc.

Another reason to read Tim's post is the email he's discussing is a formula followed by thousands of companies and consultants every day: identify a broad list of suspects, send them an email or letter promising success, and ask for a meeting. The bad thing is it sounds and seems professional when you send it. But reality is it rubs many, if not most, people the wrong way.

Email and direct mail are viable lead generation tactics, when you do the homework necessary to make them successful. When you skip the homework you end up with the email Tim received.

Again, give it a read and learn the lesson.

What do you think? Have you received a similar email or letter? What was your reaction?

Never give someone a quote

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

It's tempting, but don't do it. Under no circumstance should you ever give someone a quote.

I'm not saying you shouldn't quote your product or service. I'm saying you should never simply give a quote when asked for one.

You should present it.

When you give a quote, the emphasis in on price and cost -- both are commodities. This is the fast path to discussion on discounts, terms, and conditions. Quoting leads to comparison shopping and raises price in the hierarchy of buying decisions.

When you present a quote, you emphasis value -- positioning the price of your product or service in support of achieving or avoiding something worthy of spending money to own.

Presentation doesn't have to be elaborate. A simple statement or two may suffice for lesser strategic purchases. In other cases a page or two explaining how the offer you're making is well thought and intended to achieve something valued by your prospect is best.

The idea is the same in all cases -- make your price stand for something more than the simple cost of ownership.

What say you?

Do you present quotes or merely hand them over? Is presenting a quote worth the trouble --or-- is the whole thing overstated?

I'm looking for a BETA customer -- This may be a shared opportunity

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I'm looking for a company to work with. More specific, I'm looking for a BETA customer for a program I've developed to help sales teams retire near-term quota. The program has been used several times by individuals with excellent results. I'd now like to take the program to teams.

The ideal company I'm looking for sells products or services in a B2B complex sales environment of multiple buyers and buying influences. The company likely has difficulty telling it's story and often is frustrated by prospects that don't quite get it. The company I'm looking for believes in the things they offer, has a few customers, but can't get over the hump to reach the real success they expect and know is possible.

The program I've developed is designed to help sales teams reach more decision makers, shorten sales cycles, and increase close rations. The program is delivered remotely and involves individual and group exercises and activities. The program is designed to have an impact on near-term revenue.

There is a lot more to share on the program, but that's enough for now. Let me know if you're interest in being a BETA customer and we can discuss this program is greater detail.

BTW...I'll give the BEAT customer a deal and level of personal attention no other customer of this program will ever experience. While always concerned about customer success, I have a heightened interest in making the BETA customer a shining example of the power of this program.

Let me know if you're interested in learning more. This may be a shared opportunity.

Beyond discounts - Use pricing to spur demand for your products and services

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

BusinessWeek has a nice online article about pricing -- A New Pricing Plan to Lure 'Dormant' Customers. The key takeaway is you can and should use pricing to create new and more sales opportunities. It's a good article to read and consider.

Not all people are motivated or capable of buying the same way. Offering different buying options can spur otherwise dormant demand for your products or services.

Something to add to the article is while considering different price models -- rent, lease, own, layaway, share, terms, etc. -- your should also consider raising your price.

Yes, I said consider raising your price.

Price indicates value and quality. Especially with premium offers, if the price is too low, you can unwittingly chase demand away who believe your offer to be too good to be true or incapable of delivering the promised quality because it's too cheap.

The bottom-line is price is something that should be test like all other parts of your offer. Get creative. It's a great opportunity!

What do you think? Do you have any creative pricing examples to share? What pricing offers grab your attention?

Question of the Week -- 030210

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

With this post, I'm starting a feature of sort on this blog -- Question of the Week. The thought is to ask a question each week related to B2B complex sales and marketing that provokes the sharing of ideas and opinion.

Each week, I'll post a question here and on LinkedIn, leaving you the opportunity to answer that question until the following week, when I'll choose what I believe is the best answer and comment as to why I chose it. All answers will remain published for all to read and consider.

Here's this week's question:

Regarding B2B complex sales -- What do you believe is the greatest sales skill of them all? Why?

Feel free to leave an answer as a comment below or at LinkedIn. There's no right answer, just a reasoned opinion. Have fun!

The importance of target customer profiles and personas

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Any of you who have followed my writing or have worked with me know I'm a huge believer in profiling target audiences. Even though B2B sales is about one business selling to another, it's people who make a business and make business decisions. As such, it's people who receive, react or ignore our marketing messages. So, it's people we communicate with and to.

People are people. And the more we know about the person we're telling our stories and offering calls to action to, the better our odds of connecting and engaging the people who make and influence decisions.

This homework -- profiling our target audience -- is critical to sales success. Yes, even in B2B complex sales.

Once you understand what makes your target audience tick -- their wants, needs, desires, biases, influences, authority, limitations, fears, etc. -- you speak to them in terms they best understand. That's how you're noticed and heard.

The worldview you construct by profiling your customer becomes the lens through which you target prospects.

I don't believe profiling customers is a secret of sales success. Rather it's a skill successful marketers and salespeople master -- sometimes unconsciously. We should all work to master the this critical marketing and sales skill.

Savvy B2B Marketing has two nice posts on this subject I suggest you read: the importance of establishing buyer personas and how to use personas to shape your message using tools such as white papers.

What do you think?

Do you see the value of profiling target customers? Or is establishing a buyer persona a waste of time? Why?

The making of Plan B

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I was reminded this afternoon about the importance of plans -- business plans, marketing plans, and revenue plans flashed across my mind. Each are critical to a business's success. And each are living documents -- that's the part that hit my memory button.

The memory is working for a company years ago that fancied itself a technology juggernaut. We had some really cool ware, but floundered and eventually failed. There are many contributing reasons to the failure, but the shining event was failure to continually adjust to market and customer needs -- almost blindly, the company marched forward on a business, product development, and marketing plan quarter-after-quarter, year-after-year. The problem was as things changed around us, the plan remained the same.

Technologies came and went, hype turned to reality, and customer needs varied from the original idea of the founders to the evolved world of those of us who inherited the plan. We ended up selling products and services to a customer base and market that had greatly changed. Revenue shrank and things were never the same.

The problem wasn't the people who originated the idea -- their plan was pretty solid. The problem was those of us who failed to routinely validate it. This happens frequently in businesses. I've seen it a lot.

It's easier in sales -- revenue plans are routinely reviewed, measured, and adjusted to create a desired result. The same should be done to all other plans in business. Don't keep following a plan just because it's there -- test the assumptions, measure progress, and make adjustments as necessary.

Here's the post that jogged my memory -- it's a good example of how to use a business plan from people who know them well. Read the post, think about your business, and then challenge the plans you have in a constructive way.

What do you think? Do you regularly review the plans within your business? Which elements of your plan should be reviewed more often?

Monday, March 1st

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Monday, March 1st -- the start of a new week and month. An opportunity.

There's nothing special about today or the date, other than it's psychologically a nice place to begin something new. It's a good place to drive a stake into the ground and begin something -- a place to look back to measure progress.

Ask yourself a few questions

Beginning today, what can I do differently to create a more meaningful outcome a month from now?
What have I been putting off that I should do this month?
What do I want to accomplish over the next 30 days?

Now, simply act. Today's a great day to start something new.

Always -- A word I never use casually

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Beginning March 1st, I have one opening in my coaching program. If you're not familiar with it, here's where you can learn more.

There are several things I believe interesting about my coaching program -- the biggest thing is the ROI is always great. Notice I said always.

I don't use that word casually.

Before I wrote this post I reviewed the work I've done with every coaching client since the first time I offered the service to date. Based on feedback, in every single case there's been a positive outcome worth more than the price paid for the service.

That's rare.

Future results, especially when stated against unknowns, are impossible to guarantee, but my coaching service is as close to a guaranteed return as any service I've ever delivered, seen or heard of.

If you'd like to see if the coaching program I offer can help you, all you have to do is send me a message and request a conversation. The discussion comes without obligation and if nothing more serves as a sanity check as to the possibility of working together. Of course, the conversation is free. And it's truly no-hassle. If there's nothing to gain working together, we merely thank each other for the conversation and wish each other well.

The next step is yours. Cheers!

Does cold calling make you appear desperate?

Jim Logan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I read a article on the evils of cold calling -- the author was giving advice not to cold call as a lead generation tactic because "nothing says I'm desperate for work more than cold calling."

Huh?

For the purpose of this post, it doesn't matter if you like or dislike cold calling. What matters is your opinion.

For my part, I don't beleive cold calling makes you appear any more desperate than posting multiple times on your blog a week, mailing a stack of postcards, updating twitter throughout the day or any other myriad of marketing and sales activities.

If you want to look desperate offer a discount month-after-month, announce every sale or reduce prices without reason.

But call someone on the phone you've never met to discuss a business proposition? Hardy desperate.

What do you think?