Sales Funnels – What You Might Be Missing

April 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

salesfunnelThe Effective Detective was lounging back in his chair examining a funnel of the type used to possibly fill a car with oil, when I entered the room. I assumed that this was the topic of the day, and unable to conceive of anything else that might be a better topic, I played along.

“Planning on changing your oil sometime today sir?” I asked innocently.

“Eh? What? Oh Watson, don’t be silly. You know I would never risk damaging my car by attempting to change the oil myself. That is work – at least in my case – best left to professionals. Actually what an interesting segue to today’s topic. Which, as you might of guessed is about sales funnels.” The Detective replied.

“I had a feeling, sir. However, I am intrigued how changing the oil in your car is a segue into the topic of sales funnels,” I responded back, a little puzzled at this turn of the conversation.

“Not the process of changing the oil itself, Watson – please don’t pretend to be so dense – but rather the funnel itself. You see Watson, many of us were trained to look at the sales funnel as a metaphor, not a process. It merely represented how the number of prospects are reduced as they move through the sales cycle. You start off with a large number of prospects – a number that shrinks as information is provided and contacts made. That however misses the point of what is currently described as a funnel truly is,” as was customary, The Detective paused giving me an opportunity to interject, or to simply request he continue.

“I’m confused sir. How does it miss the point? What else is a funnel sales or otherwise?” I asked, knowing this would trigger the explanation The Detective was so obviously hoping to provide.

“Ah Watson, a modern sales funnel, one that would be used by marketers such as ourselves, is far more complex, perhaps even more elegant. In the past, this funnel represented advertising to some prospects to get them interested, calling them to gauge their interest, sending them sales literature – brochures and the like, calling them again to make a trial close, then finally going after the final close, so that a few clients would drop out the end of the funnel.

“Today’s sales funnel would be more like a fun house maze. If you take a certain action, you may go in a completely different direction. It is not a straight path. How you respond to your prospect is totally dependent on how they respond to you. Did they open that email? Did they watch that video? A real sales funnel has multiple paths to get to the final destination – a sale. The beauty of it all? The tools to do it are all there for us to make this happen!” The Detective finished with a flourish.

“Fascinating, sir! I don’t believe I have ever thought of it that way,” I responded quite pleased with the way this had ended.

“Quite, Watson,” The Detective said, ending today’s discussion.

 

Filed Under: list building, List Management, Marketing, sales, sales funnels, segmentation Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Relevance – The Key to engaging prospects and customers

March 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment

relevance_meter“What is relevant to you Watson,” The Effective Detective asked me before I could even sit down.

“Sir? I am not quite sure I understand the question,” I replied hoping to gain some time to get my wits about me.

“The question is quite simple Watson, what is there to understand or not? What is relevant to you?” The Detective responded doggedly.

“Relevant in what way Sir, my business, my life? I require clarification to answer such a question,” I came back started to get a tad irritated.

“Ah, thank you Watson, therein lies the problem. You are over thinking this; just as so many of our fellow marketers do. Always looking for the precise question to answer in their content. What is relevant to my prospect and customer base? Still looking for that silver bullet of brilliance that will convince them to follow you – or even better, buy from you. Of course there is no single answer to the question, because unless you live in a cave and the only thing that concerns you is survival, there are many things in life and business that are relevant to you,” The Detective took his traditional pause here and waited for me expectantly to respond.

“I understand how the question could be answered now sir, but I’m still unclear as how this can help our readers,” I blurted out, still dazed, and waited for the blistering rejoinder I felt sure to get.

“Watson, we must work on your tedious tendency toward denseness. My query was simply meant to make you see the true possibilities of content marketing. The plaintive cry of ‘I don’t know what to write’ that we hear so often, is because we don’t think this through. We know that unless people are truly interested in us as people, that making ourselves the focus of our ezines and posts won’t be accepted, but relevance to any person can span business and personal.

“Personal anecdotes, or outside events or information can sometimes be related to a business point, and sometimes they are just plain interesting. Remember that people love stories. Content does not continually need to be tips and tricks. Sometimes it can be a story that reinforces a previous lesson. Or maybe it can simply be entertaining.

“My friend, coach, and mentor Ruth Sherman  critiques the presentations of various presidential candidates as the election comes near. The content is interesting and entertaining even though few if any of her clients like me are contemplating a presidential run.  However, some of the points she reviews can be related to speaking for business. She maintains relevance!” At this point the Detective stopped and gave me a sharp look, encouraging me to try and have an interesting rejoinder.

“So using not only pure information relevant to the business at hand, but also thinking of your content consumers as people and mixing in, for the lack of a better word, stuff, that might be simply interesting or entertaining can maintain relevance. with your list Sir, one’s content library would be infinite!” I responded, with a growing sense of excitement.

“Watson, one thing I do enjoy is your ability to condense my ramblings into one short and coherent statement. We must continue our discussions.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied not sure if I had just received a compliment or not, but decided that retreat is the better part of valor for the day.

 

Filed Under: content, list building Tagged With: , , ,

Funneling Your Leads Down The Drain

February 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment

sales_funnelI was still treading lightly after the bombshell dropped during our previous discussion, so I started out rather timidly, merely inquiring as to the manner of the this week’s inquiry. “Sir, are we looking to tear down another mainstay this week, or something perhaps a bit lighter?” Well, maybe not that timidly.

“Eh, what Watson? Are you still smarting from our last discussion? Stiff upper lip man, we need to be moving on. As for this week, we are merely correcting a grievous mistake some many in our field make when looking at the concept of sales funnels,” The Effective Detective replied with just a hint of annoyance at my tone.

“Sales funnels, sir? What possible mistake could there be in examining the concept of sales funnels?” I asked, a tad incredulous, but still on guard – The Detective had sprung more than a few surprises on me when it came to settled subjects before.

“Yes, Watson. Since you seemed so certain, perhaps you could illuminate me on the subject as you see it,” The Detective asked, obviously leading me down a path I was not sure I was interested in going, but as they say, in for a penny, in for a pound.

“Of course sir. The sales funnel illustrates the process by which a prospect becomes a customer – or not. It begins above the funnel itself with the market for your product or service. You entice prospects into the top of the funnel with your initial marketing efforts. Once they enter the funnel, they are moved along the sales cycle, with some dropping out and reentering the market, and other continuing down to the final close, at which point some will emerge from the funnel as clients.”

“Excellent Watson! Succinct and clear. And unfortunately, misguided,” The Detective replied to my explanation.

“I’m confused sir. I am correct, but I am wrong?” I was now totally confused.

“Not wrong Watson, your explanation is merely misguided. Your only endgame is making a sale or losing it. That is misguided. You need to start looking at all of the directions your funnel can take you. For example, why not have your funnel direct your prospects to a complimentary call with you? If you are selling a service that requires a lot of trust like consulting, you want your prospects to see your abilities and develop confidence that you can solve their problems. The point is Watson, funnels can be an amazing sales tool. However they don’t need to be the only way to get to the close,” The Detective finished with his customary half-smile.

“So a funnel could lead to another part of the sales cycle – even another funnel!” I exclaimed, suddenly getting the point.

“Now you see it Watson, shall we get back to work now?” The Detective answered, ending  today’s discussion.

Filed Under: list building, sales funnels Tagged With: , , , ,

Why I left Infusionsoft

February 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Why???I realized my jaw was hanging open in a most unbecoming way, so I shut it momentarily – long enough to gather my words together to verify what I thought I had just heard.

“Sir? Perhaps I misheard you. Can you repeat yourself?”

“Of course Watson, and for heaven’s sake shut your mouth, you look like a fish gasping for air,” The Effective Detective initially answered my question with his typical sarcasm before continuing on. “You did not mishear me Watson, I have dropped Infusionsoft in favor of one of the so-called lesser alternatives,” The Detective concluded, and waited patiently for my reply.

“I don’t understand sir, haven’t you yourself said that Infusionsoft is one of the most powerful tools available for the types of processes we design and implement?” I asked, hoping that my mouth had ceased opening and closing spasmodically.

“I have indeed Watson. And I stand by that. Don’t misunderstand Watson, I am not leading a rebellion against high-powered software that admittedly costs a pretty penny. If someone is using Infusionsoft to its potential, and truly benefitting from it, by all means stay with it!” The Detective answered.

“Then why would we switch, sir? I admit I am finding this quite confusing,” I mumbled.

“Watson, while I must admit it was a hard decision, when I analyzed our own lead attraction and sales funnel system, I felt that Infusionsoft could be a bit of overkill. I will also confess to some consternation over them working towards becoming “Swiss Army Knife software” – doing lots of things, all of them competently, but none of them excellently.  But lastly and most importantly, our clients, Watson. Are many of them best served by that particular software package? I think not,” once again The Detective paused to allow me to interject a comment.

“But aren’t there features that are critical to implementing our system sir?” I asked, finally regaining my composure.

“There are, but features can be duplicated either by human processes, or outside intervention via our own software solutions. We can tie into these supposed lesser systems, and I think that most of them hardly deserve that title. It is simply a matter of working out the processes and designing both a manual solution, and then a software solution. The result will be a cost-effective way to implement the proper processes in one’s business without driving one crazy,” The Detective concluded.

“We will be discussing these processes in this space of course?” I queried.

“Watson, do you have even a shadow of a doubt that we will be discussing this extensively?” The Detective asked, looking incredulous.

“Of course not sir, but you have already dropped one bomb on me today…”

“Hush Watson, we have work to do and word to spread,” The Detective smiled, ending our conversation for the day.

Filed Under: Change, List Management, Marketing, software, technology, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

We don’t need no stinking autoresponders

January 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Public Relations Meaning News Media Press Communication“Sir, are you up for a little Q and A today?” I enquired of The Effective Detective to launch this episode of our weekly talks.

“What? Eh Watson? I suppose so… not as much chance to lecture of course,” replied The Detective with a slight smile on his face.

“Perhaps the answer to every question does not require a lecture sir,” I answered, then continuing on before The Detective could offer a rejoinder, “the question is simple sir, what is an autoresponder, and why do you make them sound so important?”

“Watson, the direct answer is quite simple: an autoresponder is simply a process where a set of emails are sent out to a member of your list that the autoresponder is assigned to. The timing of the emails can be set by you so that there are certain intervals of time before the next email is sent out. The emails are the same for each member of your list who receives the autoresponder emails. That much is fairly simple. Where it gets interesting, is why they are so important,” The Detective paused in his characteristic way. Sometimes I believe he is just winding up in those pauses.

“Please continue sir,” I provided an opening without opening a can of worms by making a comment or perhaps sending the conversation in another direction.

“Quite, Watson. As I was saying, autoresponders are important, although you can work a list without them. They are important in that they give you a chance to respond consistently to every single prospect that comes into your funnel. Their introduction to you can be your best stuff. If they are simply thrust into the world of your e-zines or other content, they may hit something that doesn’t immediately interest them. Or perhaps, perish the thought, you might have a bad day, and simply not be on the top of your game with your content. Whatever the reason, you could start out on the wrong foot with a new potential client. Autoresponder content can be tailored to the promised message. Perhaps it is a multiple part video course. The page that attracted your prospect enticed them with that content. They get what they expect to get, and you gain credibility,” The Detective stopped again. This time, looking at me like he expected more than a perfunctory response.

“It would seem to me sir that is also less work for you. Once the content is done, it is done – well perhaps except for some tweaking here and there. Freeing you up for both your other business responsibilities and more content.”

“I think you have the concept Watson. There are some email services out there that offer you a free version or level. Unfortunately, if autoresponders are one of the features they deny you for free, you are better off spending a little money with them to get the autoresponders. Those first few weeks after they subscribe are critical in getting your prospects to follow you. Best to bring your A game and start the relationship off right,” The Detective concluded.

“You sound like you speak from experience, sir” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“A story for another day Watson.”

Filed Under: General, list building, List Management, Marketing, software Tagged With: , , ,

The Power of Your List

December 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Composite image of blonde businesswoman standing with hands on hipsI noticed that The Effective Detective looked particularly contemplative, and more out of curiosity than concern, I asked about it. “Sir, you look very thoughtful. Is there a particular insight you are considering?”

“Eh? Oh Watson, sorry. A particular insight yes, but interestingly it is coming from a discussion I had today that taken at face value, could have been considered quite depressing. A friend and colleague was feeling rather cynical today. The trajectory of their business life was not quite what they had hoped for. In particular they have found themselves rebuilding once again,” The Detective began.

“That does sound rather depressing sir,” I agreed.

“Yet from that dreary beginning came a rather illuminating insight Watson. You see, they had started reaching out to connections, and even at this time of the year, when most people are not thinking much about business, had arranged some meetings to discuss some new opportunities,” The Detective continued.

“During the holiday season and so close to the end of the year sir? That is quite surprising,” I interjected.

“Quite so Watson, but the true insight comes from the phrase reaching out to connections. There is an old quote attributed to Andrew Carnegie, I am not sure of the exact wording but the basic idea is that even if everything is taken from you, if you still have a list of contacts, you can rebuild it all. My colleague down in the dumps as they might be, is leveraging their contacts to rebuild. How easy it is for us to forget the power of our lists, be it a contact list build through years of networking, to a list built through patiently speaking to people, and advertising. If you nurture that list, what you can create from it, no matter what has happened in the past can be astounding. The two keys of course are building and nurturing. It does one no good to sit and wait for people to realize our genius. We must go out and proclaim it to the world, and build a tribe. But then we must nurture that tribe, feed it if you will. Those who are willing to do that, reap amazing rewards,” The Detective concluded.

“Sir, I must admit, I have nothing to add to that,” I replied, surprising the Detective and myself for admitting it.

“Well then Watson, let us pour ourselves drinks, and salute the holiday season, and in particular the new year!” The Detective exclaimed as he smiled at me.

“Happy New Year sir!”

Filed Under: content, failure, list building, List Management, Marketing, Networking Tagged With: , ,

Sometimes You Just Have to Say Goodbye

December 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

ADIOS Rubber Stamp over a white background.“Are you all right sir?” I asked The Effective Detective, alarmed not only by the lack of the smell of coffee permeating the area, but also by the smell that had replaced it: lemon and honey.

“Right as rain Watson,” responded The Detective, just before a spasm of coughs overwhelmed him. “That is if rain occasionally feels simply awful. No matter, the show must go on and all that rot.”

“Quite right sir, just what is the show that is going on today?” I responded not wishing the conversation get bogged down in various disease symptoms.

“End of the year work, Watson, in particular cleaning up lists,” the Detective answered.

“What is the nature of said cleaning sir?” knowing the answer to the question might be somewhat obvious, but the type of lead in the Detective enjoyed.

“Simply put Watson, realizing the reality that we in some way failed to engage a portion of the people who were at one time interested in what we had to say, and removing them from our various lists.  However, rather than just removing them, I have chosen a slightly less aggressive tactic. We will give them one or two chances to restate their interest, but if they choose to ignore these missives as well, then come the first of the year we will follow what seems .”

“What if our messages have just been going to their SPAM folders sir? Won’t this one follow?” I asked intrigued yet worried there would be one more task to do just at the end of an already busy holiday session.

“Ah Watson I am so pleased that your deductions are becoming are and more astute,” answered  the Detective almost challenging me to respond with some sarcasm in return, but I chose to hold my tongue. “We will send our message as plain text rather than HTML. Plain text is hardly perfect but spammers use it less, because they cannot hide their insidious links behind an innocuous hyperlink label so SPAM filters are more likely to pass us through. Of course if they had marked our correspondence as SPAM at some point, well, nothing can be done about that.”

“So what will the content of this message be?” I asked, my fear of more work overcome by my curiosity.

“Merely that we have noticed that they had not opened any messages for at least  6 months, and that if they wish to stay on our list to click the provided link, and if they do not, just do nothing, they will be removed at the beginning of the new year,”  The Detective replied succinctly, then laid back in his chair, my signal to come up with some rejoinder or issue.

“Sir, won’t we be cutting out list size down unnecessarily? Won’t we be decreasing our chances of some positive action to a future offer?” I offered.

“Bah, Watson. If they haven’t been reading anything we have sent for the past 6 months, do you actually believe their eyes will burst open and they will see the light suddenly because of some amazing offer we are sending out? Highly unlikely. More likely, they will tire of seeing our emails at some point, and rather than reading and taking positive action, they will mark as SPAM. Removing them seems to be a far better option.”

“So actually sir, we will have smaller more responsive lists, rather than larger lists that may appeal to our egos but with no real benefit, and possible bad effects vis-a-vis SPAM reports and such!” I exclaimed.

“Quite so Watson, now back to work, or perhaps back to bed for me.”

Filed Under: list building, List Management, Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Beware of Gurus Bearing Gifts

December 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

experts_thumb“Sir, you look even more lost in thought than usual,” I ventured, starting off the weekly conversation between myself and The Effective Detective.

The Detective turned to me slowly, and glared balefully at me before replying, “Watson, have I told you recently that your powers of sarcasm seem to be increasing weekly?”

“Perhaps, sir,” I answered.

“No matter Watson, you are correct, I am thinking about a situation recently, and I am still amazed that I needed to catch myself to avoid making an investment that would not have paid off for me,” the Detective recovered.

“Sir?”

“On a recent webinar on list building, Watson. I was so engaged by the gentleman’s content, I found myself totally prepared to invest in his program,” The Detective paused, always a signal to me to jump in with some witticism or sarcastic remark.

“There is a problem with investing in a program that you find well presented sir?”

“No Watson, there is a problem with investing in a program that while well presented is absolutely useless to our efforts at this point in time. This program, no matter how good, does not fit our current marketing efforts, and would most likely ended up as shelfware, or Google Drive ware, for all the use we would have gotten out of it. We business people love our gurus Watson. We slavishly follow them, hanging on their every word and investing in their programs as long as the budget allows. The problem is, we do not think about how this or any other program offered may fit into our strategic plan. We simply know this person is smart and successful, the very image of a ‘guru’ so to speak, and because of our ‘knowledge’ of this, we are blindly willing to follow.”

“What can be done for this – what sounds like a universal – affliction sir?” I asked, now genuinely curious.

“The answer is simple Watson, simply keep your head on. Remember what your strategy is, and evaluate every tool against your goals, and the path you have chosen to follow to reach said goals. It is easy, whilst we are in the early stages of our business or new business area, to become frustrated and begin flailing around looking for that silver bullet…”

“The silver bullet does seem to be a recurring theme, sir,” I interjected.

“Indeed, Watson. Only because it is so prevalent in so many business people’s minds. We dearly desire to be told the path to success, unfortunately, there are as many paths as there are business people following them. There truly is no right or wrong way to success, there is only your own way. The trick is to find coaches and aides that come close to your way as possible, because they can help you avoid at least some of the pitfalls that lay along your path.” The Detective finished, and looked satisfied that we had taken this subject to its logical conclusion.

“So we are free to discuss another subject sir?” I inquired carefully.

“Indeed, Watson, but we shall save that for another week,” The Detective answered, and turned back to his computer.

 

Filed Under: list building, Marketing, passions, Vulnerabilities and Weaknesses Tagged With: , ,

Why are you limiting your audience?

December 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Oops Word on Big Red Button Correct Mistake“Sir, were we away for a while?” I asked, kicking off the latest conversation between myself and The Effective Detective.

The Detective paused for several seconds before responding, “Yes, Watson, as a matter of fact yes we were.”

“Was there a reason?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

“Not a particularly good one Watson.” He paused before continuing, “I suppose you won’t be satisfied until I expound on this?” he ended with a sigh.

“Sorry sir, but no, I won’t.”

“You are nothing if not persistent Watson. Very well. Once I decided to include video in the weekly e-zine, I essentially doubled my work. There were my discussions with you, and writing a video script, which is not quite as simple as others might think. Plus I had to actually record the videos which created complications as well. At some point – I don’t remember exactly when – I decided I needed to back away from something, and my discussions with you were chosen to get the proverbial axe.” The Detective paused, inviting me to jump in.

“What changed that we are back with our discussions sir?” I asked, more curious than hurt that I had been ignored for a while.

“Ahh Watson, you have your fans! I was often asked why I wasn’t publishing our talks anymore. It seems that more than a few people enjoy reading over watching video,” he answered. “Not only that, sometimes it just isn’t possible or appropriate to watch a video. In the end I realized I was cutting off a percentage of my audience, just so I could create content the way I wanted to. A classic example of not listening to your audience!”

“Are you admitting to a mistake sir?” I pushed.

“Watson, I believe we have more important issues to discuss, can we move on please?” The Detective shot back, perhaps a bit too quickly.

I smiled. “Always good to recognize the error in your ways sir. I for one am glad to be back, and we can leave it at that.”

“Thank you Watson. It is good to be back. Shall we get back to work?”

“With pleasure sir.”

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?

August 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

satdish“Sir, is there a hard and fast rule for how often one should send out content?” I asked The Effective Detective.

“Watson, you of all people should know by now that there is only one hard and fast rule: there are no hard and fast rules; certainly when it comes to marketing,” answered The Detective.

“My apologies sir, so any frequency will do?” I asked in return, certain that the absurdity of  my question would be answered with a devastatingly sarcastic response.

The Detective raised an eyebrow and gave me a look intended to wilt flowers. I braced myself, but then he smiled, and responded in a surprisingly mild manner.

“Clever, Watson. Let us actually examine the question you have raised. The question of how often you should send out content is a real concern for many marketers. Sadly, I have noticed an unfortunate tendency on the part of some to fall into an age-old trap: trying to please everyone,” The Detective paused briefly, long enough for me to interject with another question.

“I am confused sir, what does the frequency of contact with one’s list have to do with pleasing everyone?”

“Ah, Watson, now that is a more appropriate question for someone of your intellect and experience,” he replied. I sat back, realizing the sarcastic response had just been delayed. At this point I figured that retreat was the better part of valor and shut my mouth and listened to his response.

“The frequency of contact is a balancing act: too infrequent, people forget you, and either unsubscribe or simply ignore your emails. Too frequent, people are annoyed with you, and unsubscribe, and even worse, may report you as spam.

“We are all afraid of being labeled spammers so we err on the side of less frequent. Nothing wrong with that decision, per se, but then some of us make that fatal mistake: we try to please everyone, so we opt for the lowest possible reasonable frequency – often once a month, and end up pleasing no one,” The Detective paused here, waiting for my response, but I stubbornly remained silent.

“This is directly related to our belief that bigger is always better, so we take anyone on our list instead of aiming at our true market, which would welcome our emails,” The Detective paused again, and raised his eyebrow. I realized he would not stop until I asked a question so I relented and obliged.

“So there is no hard and fast number, but is there a range?” I asked.

“Bravo Watson, you have hit the nail on the head! If you are truly developing a high quality list, touching them much less than once a week is not advisable, once every other week if you are truly paranoid. Remember, not everyone opens every email! If you send out only once a month and someone misses one or two, they may perceive that they haven’t heard from you in months! You may want to include an offer once a month or so, and depending on the offer, you could include it in your regular email, or send a separate, in which case you would send two in one week.

“Here is the truly interesting point Watson. The real trick is not so much frequency, it is the content. If you cannot keep your content interesting and fresh, then any frequency won’t be right,” The Detective concluded. “Let’s move on then, shall we?”

“As you wish sir.”

Filed Under: content, list building, Marketing Tagged With: , , ,
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