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 How Search Engine Marketing Can Improve the Sales Cycle—An Interview with Mike Cooch
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Professional services firms traditionally have done business by developing relationships and networking. While that's still an important part of how you develop business, more and more people are turning to the Internet to find and research service providers. And firms that know how to take advantage of the power of the Internet and search engine marketing definitely have a leg up on the competition. Mike Cooch, founder and CEO of Everon Technology Services, explains in this week's podcast. (Time: 15:51 | Aired: 02.10.10 | Download Episode 55: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Get Prospects to Notice You: What Every Marketing Campaign Must Have—An Interview with Drew Gerber |
You may not think it, but when you deal with your public—your prospects and clients—you're doing PR. You are developing relationships with them via traditional and social media. That's why it's important to include a PR strategy in your marketing campaign. Listen as Drew Gerber, CEO and founder of Publicity Results, discusses the types of media outlets professional services firms should reach out to, what's required for a good PR campaign, and the success firms can see as a result. (Time: 17:09 | Aired: 02.03.10 | Download Episode 54: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Want to Attract New Clients? Think Like a Publisher—An Interview with Joe Pulizzi |
If traditional marketing methods no longer get clients' attention, then it's time to consider content marketing. You want to think like a publisher and create compelling information that's educational, not sales-related. Listen as Joe Pulizzi, founder and chief content officer of Junta42 and co-author of Get Content Get Customers, explains what content marketing is, describes how to develop a content marketing strategy, talks about how to measure content marketing efforts, and gives an example of a firm that does content marketing right. (Time: 17:06 | Aired: 01.27.10 | Download Episode 53: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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The Number 1 Sales Mistake People Make—An Interview with Dan Seidman |
When selling professional services, you're bound to make a mistake at some point in your career. The biggest mistake, however, is selecting or going after poor prospects, says Dan Seidman, sales coach and author of Sales Autopsy. Listen as Dan talks about how to find the perfect client, explains the importance of the "dairy queen," and shares some sales horror stories. (Time: 16:34 | Aired: 01.20.10 | Download Episode 52: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Don't Let Bad Presentation Skills Cost You Clients—An Interview with Tim Wackel |
It doesn't matter if you're giving a keynote, talking in a meeting, proposing ideas to a client, or talking one-on-one with someone, you must have good presentation skills. Listen as Tim Wackel, founder and president of The Wackel Group, explains how good presentation skills help prospects and clients trust you, outlines the two-step process for giving good presentations, and reveals the worst thing he's seen happen as the result of a bad client presentation. (Time: 15:00 | Aired: 01.13.10 | Download Episode 51: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Firms Must Break Down Marketing and Business Development Silos—An Interview with Suzanne Lowe |
Professional services firms must break down marketing and business development silos if they want to be effective and productive. They must shift from doing a craft to running a business, and that requires making cultural and structural changes. Listen as Suzanne Lowe, author of The Integration Imperative: Erasing Marketing and Business Development Silos–Once and For All–in Professional Service Firms, explains what executives must do to break down barriers and grow their firms. (Time: 16:34 | Aired: 01.06.10 | Download Episode 50: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Internet Marketing Strategies Professional Services Must Adopt—An Interview with Brian Halligan |
Traditional outbound marketing methods are becoming less and less effective. Society is tired of being marketed to, and people are better at blocking such things as email and cold calls. So, what's a marketer to do? Pull people toward you with inbound marketing tactics, says Brian Halligan, co-author of Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs. Take advantage of the modern way in which people learn and shop. (Time: 17:27 | Aired: 12.09.09 | Download Episode 49: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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How to Become a Marketing Success on Twitter—An Interview with Sarah Milstein |
Demonstrating your thought leadership is one of the best marketing techniques for service professionals, and Twitter has quickly become one of the top platforms for doing so. It's a great way to do lightweight marketing, says Sarah Milstein, co-author of The Twitter Book, as well as to network with prospects and clients. Listen as Sarah reviews how to get started using Twitter, what you must do to get people following you, and the business benefit of using Twitter. (Time: 16:12 | Aired: 12.02.09 | Download Episode 48: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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How a CRM System Can Improve Your Sales Efforts—An Interview with David Taber |
You can throw a sale off track by starting an inappropriate conversation with a client. Prevent such conversations and make sure the right conversations happen by tracking contacts with clients and prospects in a CRM system. Listen as David Taber, author of Salesforce.com Secrets of Success: Best Practices for Growth and Profitability, explains the benefits of various CRM systems, how to implement such systems, and tricks to getting people to use the systems. (Time: 17:29 | Aired: 11.18.09 | Download Episode 47: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Embrace New Emarketing Strategies or Lose Sales—An Interview with Ardath Albee |
The B2B buying process has changed, and that means your marketing and sales tactics must also change. No longer can you simply say you're the leading provider. Buyers want you to prove it. Listen as Ardath Albee, author of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale, explains why traditional sales prospecting and marketing methods no longer work and discusses tactics firms must use instead. (Time: 13:09 | Aired: 11.11.09 | Download Episode 46: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Acquire the Ideal Client, Not Just Any Client—An Interview with Randy Shattuck |
Acquiring new clients is a top priority among services firms, but you want to make sure you acquire ideal clients. Do not take every and any client no matter how difficult things for your firm might be, says Randy Shattuck, President of The Shattuck Group. Determine your ideal client and then decide the best marketing strategy to attract them. Firms that do so will see greater revenue and profits. (Time: 14:34 | Aired: 11.04.09 | Download Episode 45: Click and 'Save Target As')
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Stop Pitching Your Services and Facilitate the Buying Decision—An Interview with Sharon Drew Morgen |
Selling your services involves more than getting prospects to like what you have to offer. It also involves the buyer getting agreement from all internal parties and agreeing to change. To overcome this roadblock, Sharon Drew Morgen, author of the new book Dirty Little Secrets, says salespeople need to learn how to facilitate the buying decision. Do so and you can dramatically shorten the sales cycle. (Time: 16:45 | Aired: 10.28.09 | Download Episode 44: Click and 'Save Target As')
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Improve Your Value Proposition with Performance Benchmarking—An Interview with Paul Collins |
Professional services firms that have a strong unique value proposition (UVP) grow faster, produce higher margins, and sell at higher prices. One way to offer such a strong UVP is to include performance benchmarking, says Paul Collins, founder and managing partner of Equiteq LLP. Listen as Collins explains how a value proposition that includes performance benchmarking helps you stand out among competitors and leads to greater sales. (Time: 13:44| Aired: 10.21.09 | Download Episode 43: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Cold Calling: 7 Tips to Help You Get Meetings with Prospects—With Colleen Francis |
Cold calling—the phrase strikes fear in many sales professionals. It is challenging, but it isn't impossible. With these tips from Colleen Francis, Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions, you'll learn how to prepare for cold calls, as well as techniques to engage prospects and get them wanting to hear more. (Time: 13:09 | Aired: 10.14.09 | Download Episode 42: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Using Pictures to Solve Problems and Engage Clients—An Interview with Dan Roam |
You've all seen this: the moment someone picks up a pen to illustrate a point, the people around him pay attention. It doesn't matter if it's a one-on-one discussion or a presentation to a large group, those people are engaged. So, why not use pictures when talking to prospects and clients? Listen as Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin, explains how services professionals can use pictures to tackle problems and communicate solutions with clients. (Time: 22:17 | Aired: 10.07.09 | Download Episode 41: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Tap Into the Power of Social Media—An Interview with Dan Janal |
The Internet allowed businesses and professionals to bypass the traditional media to get publicity, and now social media allows them to go even further. A person can even become a thought leader overnight using social media, says Dan Janal, Founder and President of PR Leads Expert Resource Network. By using Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, and other forms of social media, you can build your credibility and have people, including journalists in traditional media, seek you out for your expertise. (Time: 11:56 | Aired: 09.30.09 | Download Episode 40: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Marketing Tactics that Grab People's Attention—An Interview with Jonathan Margolis and Patrick Garrigan |
Want people to notice your firm? Make sure your marketing not only informs but also provides a memorable experience. That's what the authors of Guerrilla Marketing for Dummies say. Jonathan Margolis and Patrick Garrigan, who also work at The Michael Alan Group, say you want to educate and entertain people. Do things that get you noticed—and get people talking. (Time: 11:17 | Aired: 09.23.09 | Download Episode 39: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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What Makes People Buy?—An Interview with Martin Lindstrom |
When people buy professional services, their purchasing decisions are made at an emotional level. Something in a firm's presentation or values strikes them on a subconscious level. That is why, says Martin Lindstrom, author of Buyology—Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, it's imperative that services firms not only present themselves well, but they also differentiate themselves from others in the field. (Time: 13:07 | Aired: 09.16.09 | Download Episode 38: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Speaking Engagements: How to Get Big-League Gigs—With Vickie Sullivan |
If you want to land big league speaking engagements, you need to step up your game. Listen as Vickie Sullivan, President of Sullivan Speaker Services, explains what should be included in a speaker's platform, how publishing a book can lead to engagements, and the pros and cons of speaking at trade shows. (Time: 10:38 | Aired: 09.09.09 | Download Episode 37: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Achieve Marketing Success with Social Media Networks—An Interview with Paul Gillin |
Social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook are excellent tools for marketing professional services, but it takes work to achieve success. Listen as Paul Gillin, writer, content marketing specialist, and author of the book Secrets of Social Media Marketing, advises beginners on how to get started using social media, explains some of the advanced things people are doing with social media, and discusses how you can incorporate social media marketing into your traditional marketing plan to create a symbiotic relationship between the two. (Time: 12:44 | Aired: 09.02.09 | Download Episode 36: Right Click and 'Save Target As')
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Use a Universal Lead Definition to Find Ideal Clients—An Interview with Brian Carroll |
Professional services firms need a strategy for marketing the firm and generating leads. They can't simply practice "random acts of marketing." If they have a Universal Lead Definition, says Brian Carroll, CEO of InTouch and author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, they can better identify companies they want as clients, certify when someone is ready to talk with a partner, nurture a dialogue with prospects, and build trust. (Time: 17:06 | Aired: 08.26.09 | Download Episode 35: Right click and 'Save Target As')
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Cold Calling Dos and Don'ts—With Colleen Francis |
To succeed at cold calling, you need to have a different mindset and you need to follow certain best practices. Think about it as new business development or opening a relationship, says Colleen Francis, Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions. Listen as Francis offers advice for leading successful conversations. (Time: 11:56 | Aired: 08.19.09 | Download Episode 34: Click and 'Save Target As')
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Don't Let Your Sales Proposal Turn into a Horror Story—With Michael McLaughlin |
Providing sales proposals for prospective clients can be challenging. You want to win the client, but it's often a lot of work with low chance of success. These tips from Michael McLaughlin, a Principal with MindShare Consulting, LLC and co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants, can ease the process—and help you get the client. (Time: 15:58 | Aired: 08.12.09 | Download Episode 33: Click and 'Save Target As')
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Best Practices for Making Cold Calls—With John Doerr |
If your referrals run dry, chances are you're going to have to turn to cold calling to bring in new business. That may seem daunting, and you might consider hiring an agency to make the calls for you, but it's better if you do it yourself. These tips from John Doerr will ease the cold-calling process and help you establish good practices that lead to sales. (Time: 12:54 | Aired: 08.05.09 | Download Episode 32: Click and 'Save Target As')
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The Reality of Selling Professional Services—An Interview with Michael McLaughlin |
Services professionals know everything they need to sell their services. It's how they organize that information and how they approach prospective clients that determine whether or not they make the sale. Michael McLaughlin, author of Winning the Professional Services Sale, talks about how services professionals can convert a sales lead into a paying client. (Time: 11:43 | Aired: 07.29.09 | Download Episode 31: Click and 'Save Target As')
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Become a World Wide Rave: How to Turn Your Marketing into Internet Sensations—An Interview with David Meerman Scott |
With more people turning to the Internet for information, you have a great opportunity to turn your marketing ideas into Internet sensations and create what David Meerman Scott calls World Wide Raves. It's all about creating good content that gets people blogging about it, Tweeting about it, and downloading it. Get people doing that, and you'll generate sales. (Time: 14:52 | Aired: 07.22.09 | Download Episode 30: Click and 'Save Target As')
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How to Save a Difficult Client Relationship—An Interview with Andrea Howe |
Chances are you've had difficult relationships with clients. Communication stops, and you don't get the results that you want. Before you throw in the towel, you should make every effort to resolve the problems and get the relationship back on track, says Andrea Howe, founder of BossaNova Consulting Group. (Time: 13:24 | Aired: 07.15.09 | Download Episode 29: Click and 'Save Target As')
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How to Expand Your Consulting Services into Global Markets - With Alan Weiss and Omar Khan |
Now is the perfect time to expand your consulting services into global markets. Alan Weiss and Omar Khan, famed consultants and authors of The Global Consultant: How to Make Seven Figures Across Borders, talk with Mike Schultz, President of Wellesley Hills Group and Publisher of RainToday.com, about how to get started working internationally. (Time: 14:54 | Aired: 07.08.09 | Download Episode 28: Click and 'Save Target As')
RainToday Members: Click here for exclusive access to the full-length teleseminar.
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Use Triggering Events to Improve Your Chance of Making the Sale - With Jill Konrath |
Changes to a prospect's internal or external business environment could be just the thing to get you in their door and gain their business. Jill Konrath explains the importance of tracking such triggering events and how to use them to engage prospects in conversation. (Time: 12:04 | Aired: 07.01.09 | Download Episode 27: Click and 'Save Target As')
RainToday Members: Click here for exclusive access to the full-length presentation and interview.
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Strategies that Stick: What it Takes for Firms to Embrace and Execute a Marketing Plan - With John Doerr |
Service firms oftentimes have no problem creating marketing plans. They have problems implementing them. John Doerr explains what it takes to get things done. (Time: 11:26 | Aired: 06.24.09 | Download Episode 26: Click and 'Save Target As') RainToday Members: Click here for exclusive access to the full-length interview.
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3 Keys to Forming Partnerships with Your Clients - With Andrew Sobel |
Every consultant wants to form solid business partnerships with their clients, but many things can get in the way. Andrew addresses some common challenges consultants face. (Time: 11:26 | Aired: 06.17.09 | Download Episode 25: Click and 'Save Target As')
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Tips for Creating a Social Media Marketing Strategy for Your Firm - With Dana VanDen Heuvel |
Many professional services firms see their competition winning new business with social media and they want to know, "How can I do the same?" Dana VanDen Heuvel provides some essential answers. (Time: 10:54 | Aired: 06.10.09 | Download Episode 24: Click and 'Save Target As')
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