M & A Rainmaker

following the blog post

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2010/12/19/driving-internet-leads-for-uk-smb-using-hubspot-inbound-marketing/

We decided that we needed to create some ” Call to actions ” on the website and that these might include the completion of the sign-up form

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This blog describes an effort to drive Internet leads for U.K. S.M.B. FutureLine using HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing process.

FutureLine ( http://www.futureline.net.uk/index.html ) is a U.K. based Hosted Voice solution being promoted to SMB’s and SMB resellers in conjunction with Cisco Systems. FutureLine addresses a particular demand from small SMB’s ( say 1-50 telephone users ) for a Cisco based hosted voice solution. The FutureLine solution allows small SMB’s to adopt Cisco solutions at a very low initial cost and then to upgrade seamlessly and inexpensively and grow as the business grows.

As a Hosted or SaaS ( Software as a Service ) solution it is believed to be best practise and important that the FutureLine website and FutureLine marketing messages be found by interested SMB buyers via Internet search.

It is believed that FutureLine’s target market will find FutureLine via Internet search to a very large degree and indeed the Internet Marketing efforts carried out so far bear this out as there have been a number of leads and indeed sales that came from Google searches.

I have been aware of HubSpot for some time ( see earlier blog posts on them ) and there are a number of interesting parallels here. For example:

• HubSpot’s founder, Brian Halligan, founded HubSpot when investing in and mentoring SMB’s. He realised that a different marketing approach was required to really drive sales.
• HubSpot has a dual focus on the SMB end user and the SMB reseller as with FutureLine.
• HubSpot has a very sales orientated approach which fits with the sales philosophy that we and FutureLine believe in. We all believe in tracking visits, leads and actual sales.

Those involved in this effort are already aware of some of the main principles of on Internet marketing e.g. the importance of relevant content, on and off page optimisation and good, powerful links.

We are also aware of the main components of the HubSpot solution e.g. website usage tracking, content management, SEO, CRM etc etc

We also have a network of experienced and potentially suitable contacts and resources, including website designers, SEO specialists, Social Media Marketing experts, CRM consultants, HubSpot qualified resource, Sales and Marketing specialists, P.R. Experts and Business Strategy and Business Value Creation specialists.

We decided that, in this instance, whilst it was obviously very important to generate leads for FutureLine it was also important to work through and prove the HubSpot process thoroughly.

It was decided that the first tasks included a thorough review of FutureLine’s target markets ( even though this has been done before ) which are broadly SMB end users and SMB ICT ( voice,data, PC/Server/Application ) resellers and a review of the message to each of these target markets.

It was also important to install HubSpot tracking and content management code on the FutureLine website so that we can gat a clear picture of the situation regarding visits, leads and sales , now and in the future.

Further posts will follow as we work through the effort.

I have been staying at The Glan Yr Afon Inn ( http://www.glanyrafoninn.co.uk/ ) over Easter and thought that I would do a periodic analysis of where our customers are coming from.

One of the challanges here is getting the staff to remember to get the customers to fill in the bit of the form, that we give people when they book in for rooms, which says ” Where did you hear about us ?? ”

It is something that you have to remember to do when you are busy doing other things and you have to remember to look at that specific part of the form and make sure that it is answered.

Sometimes you just have to remind the customer gently and help them to fill it in – not that it is complicated it’s just that they often skip it. ( Note to self – maybe put it at the top of the form and maybe add an incentive !! ).

So anyway, now to the results:

Approximately 30% of our room bookings are unknown for the reasons outlined above but I suspect that a lot of them are internet based bookings.

Approx. 30% definately come from the Internet.

Approx. 30% definately are Word of Mouth.

Approx. 10% are repeat customers.

We definately get the odd few people who see the roadsigns and come up ( or down ) the lane to find us. We also get a few bookings from The Good Pub Guide.

In short the efforts that we put into Internet Marketing and ensuring that people have a great experience when they visit The Glan pay off.

When I started LanSwitch ( which became Voyager ) in the early 90’s I set aside a bedroom for an office and on my desk I had a telephone, a fax machine and a laptop ( initially not connected to the Internet , later connected with a dial-up connection ) with Office and a Contact Manager application and a printer. Luxury, I thought because it was the same as I had at Fibernet and much better than I had at Memorex.

My target market was basically: Companies that had busy Local Area Networks; that were in either The Midlands ( where I lived ) or London ( where I could easily commute to and knew people ). So, I basically targeted a combination of London based Financials and other general companies in London and the Midlands. I think I bought the Computer Users Yearbook as my basic database. ( Actually a very comprehensive and detailed source of information ).

I went through the process of identifying a target market and building a database of prospects and suspects many times over during my sales and business start-up career.

Typically now I will segment by horizontal ( size of company ), vertical ( type of company ) and geographical ( location ) and then various other factors eg structure of company, people within that company eg IT Managers etc etc.

Then a database can be purchased which is targeted and therefore typically lower cost than purchasing 1000’s of contacts many of which are not within your target market.

There are many database suppliers these days so it is possible to get some great offers on targeted data.

The equipment side has obviously come on in 17 years but not incredibly so – broadband and wi-fi; scanning software and fax software; CRM versus Contact Management; softphones ( eg Skype ) and video conferencing ( Skype, Webex etc ); standalone traditional and IP phones;printers. 

Where there has been enormous progress has been in Internet search and Social Network Marketing.

If you know what vertical you want to concentrate on eg Lawyers in Staffordshire you will find much of the information that you need online via Google or some other search engine.

With great timing ( !! ) I have just been reading this article about Linkedin

 http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/

that I picked up on Twitter ( posted by Jon Besag who is in sales at Linkedin 😉

This is well worth a read for many reasons. 

This article includes comments about in house and external recruiters using Linkedin to find the people that they/thier clients are looking for . There certainly are a lot of recruiters on Linkedin – in fact when I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is a Linkedin trainer he told me that there were about 68,000 people on Linkedin who called themselves recruiters ( I just did a Linkedin search for ” Recruiters ” and got about 48,000 ) and that there were probably about 100,000 because a lot of recruiters did not call themselves recruiters.

I used this fact recently to help a company that I am working with, who are selling multi job board posting software, to target recruiters. From a small, personalised ” mailshot ” to selected Linkedin recruiters we got a few very positive responses and made a proposal to one within a week and got an order from it.

Recruitment is an obvious thing to do on Linkedin but  as said in the article ” The obvious one is jobs, but it’s not just jobs. It’s also clients and services.”

For me the goal is to make a ” personalised ” approach to potential clients and ” personalisation ” requires research. The difference between what you can do now and what you could do 17 years ago is that you can gather far more information on people and companies before you make any approach whatsoever.

If you combine a targeted database with internet and social media search then you have a fantastic tool to help you personalise your ” intelligent ” marketing and sales approach.

If you are a member of eg Ecademy, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed,Skype or MSN then each of these have thier own search facilities – some more sophisticated than others.

Just today I was asking someone how they prospected on the Internet and they said Linkedin, Skype and MSN.

Using a combination of Internet search and Social/Business networks you can find out an awful lot about people and companies.

Some of you will have read this blog.

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2010/03/06/targeted-internet-promotion-using-testimonials/

and perhaps even earlier blogs on this subject.

What started as an idea using Ecademy.com Marketplace listings has become much more flexible and powerful.

We  have had some great input from branding, copywriting,  internet marketing and SEO specialists. ( Thank you )

So our TITs are now graphically powerful, branded, well written and search engine optimised.

You don’t have to be a member of Ecademy ( although we recommend that you do become a member ).

This was our first fully formed TIT

http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=list&lid=200364

here are 3 more TITs that are on Ces and Jays website where we plan to add more.

http://creativelyminded.co.uk/nick_tadd_tits.html

Although we started by looking at this from an Internet Marketing perspective ( How we make a really powerful testimonial or recommendation appear for certain searches ) we have also looked at it from a basic ” traditional marketing ” perspective.

You can start with a testimonial that is used to produce posters, flyers, brochure inserts etc and then migrate it onto the web later on.

Getting an Internet listing is great, getting a testimonial is great but getting a Targeted Internet Testimonial ( T.I.T. ) is even better !!!

Ok, so someone is Googling for more information about something or to find somewhere to buy something.

For example someone wants to find a real ale pub in Holywell area so they type in ” Real Ale pubs Holywell ” .

Back come the responses:

here

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=real+ale+pubs+in+holywell&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

One the first page ( hopefully ) of responses ( in the natural, unpaid for listings ) you see one which says ” Glan Yr Afon Inn real ale pub ”

So, not an advert ( they are in the Sponsored Listings ) or a website or a directory listing or a self-promotion but A TESTIMONIAL or RECOMMENDATION from someone.

This Testimonial or Recommendation is from Jonathan and Ces Loftus on a website called Ecademy.

Question: Is a Testimonial or Recommendation like this more powerful than an ordinary Google listing ?????

It would be an option to have it come from anyone ( who is registered on Ecademy ). So, a business contact could register and provide a T.I.T. for someone. A friend could do it. A family member could do it. Certainly another Ecademy member could do it. It could also be any local businessperson, politician or celebrity. It could be a National or Global Celebrity.

Look here

http://creativelyminded.co.uk/nick_tadd_tits.html

for a series of TITs done about Nick Tadd’s Social Media Training Day by other people.

( So …. they don’t have to be on Ecademy either – they can be on any platform that supports html code !! )

To make this come up on Google you have to know what that person wants to be found for and you have to think about the competitiveness of those words or phrase.

Ecademy is a very powerful website ( to Google ) with lots of great, changing, content, inbound links and keywords and phrases.

Still some words and phrases will be very hard to rank for. ( Obviously not the ones that I have used ).

You can add pictures, graphics and video ( even more examples like this will follow ).

You can get the words done by a copywriting expert. You can enlist the services of an SEO specialist for the ultimate in targetting.

When you do your T.I.T. it can be copied instantly to blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc so this will provide more coverage of your T.I.T.

You can also turn your T.I.T. into a pdf and make posters, leaflets, flyers etc etc

Yes, this is a serious promotional tool in your armoury.

Who benefits ?????

– The potential customer

– The person/company recommended

– The recommender get exposure

– Ecademy gets exposure

a win/win/win/win situation.

What do you think ?????

Please let me know so that I can add in your thoughts and views to my own deliberations.

Get your own TIT !!

I have long been aware of the power of a Marketplace advert both inside Ecademy.com and outside Ecademy.com ( on the Internet ).

Because Ecademy.com is such a powerful platform ( to Google ) much of the content posted there is picked up by Google and displayed for relevant searches. Testimonials and Marketplace promotions are amongst the things that are seen on Google and other seach engines.

You cannot guarantee to get ranked high on Google for selected words and phrases because it depends on how competitive the terms are. However, for reasonably competitive terms you stand a good chance of getting ranked high.

If you go here

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&rlz=1R2SKPB_enGB362&q=cisco+webex+dorset&meta=&aq=&oq=cisco+webex+dorset&fp=4ea42b1d61769dbd

you will see that ( at the time of writing ) via Ecademy and other platforms we dominate the search for people searching for Cisco Webex in Dorset.

I can give you lots of examples of achieving a significant Internet presence for selected terms via Ecademy.

My posts, like this one, tend to be rather text based. It was when I saw the work of Ces and Jay Loftus in particular that I thought that a graphically rich, visually powerful, Internet Testimonial or Recommendation could be produced that would rank high on Google.

On Saturday Ces and Jay launched a Targeted Internet Testimonial for The Glan Yr Afon Inn. Now it would be easy to make it rank for ” The Glan Yr Afon Inn ” so we wanted it to rank for something like ” Real Ale Pubs Holywell “.

At the time of writing this, if you do this search here

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&rlz=1R2SKPB_enGB362&q=real+ale+pubs+holywell&meta=&aq=f&oq=real+ale+pubs+holywell&fp=a73fa2ac306dd28e

This Ecademy Marketplace advert here

http://ca.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=list&lid=200364

is at the top of the Google search.

When you click on the Google result you get a lovely, graphical, Internet recommendation.

However, we have NOT yet even SEO’d this Marketplace advert !!!!

We can produce a Marketplace based Targeted Internet Testimonial for anybody about anybody and there’s more…….

Once we have produced this Testimonial we can transfer it to many different places and formats:

It can go on your blog or website..

It can be made into a pdf..

It can be emailed to your customer base ..

It can be printed for use as a poster, flyer or brochure insert ..

and these are just some of the uses of this Testimonial.

We believe that it is much more powerful for a Recommendation or Testimonial to come up as the result of a Google search than a Directory listing, or some random landing page on your website …..

But let us know what you think because we are still developing our idea …

Perhaps you should consider having an Inbound ( Internet ) Marketing Assessment

as I did yesterday if you are a website owner.

However, if you don’t believe that effort put into ensuring that your website is found, designed for qualified traffic and able to convert leads is worthwhile then maybe you should not bother !!

It’s one of those situations where the early adopters and open minded people only need apply.

Hubspot ( who provide the Inbound Internet Marketing Assessment ) say that in 2009 2 million people visited thier website which generated 160,000 sales leads which converted into 1,000 customers.

Visitors, leads,customers. That’s what we are after really isn’t it ??

One of the problems that some companies have at the moment is that they don’t actually believe that a website can deliver real leads and customers.

Now, I am the first to say that not everyone is on the Internet and therefore influenced by it and certainly not all of those people are avid social networkers so you have to keep your traditional marketing, word of mouth marketing and database marketing going however you also have to fully embrace the fact that websites DO provide leads and customers IF they are designed correctly and promoted using blogs and social media.

You can find Hubspot here

http://www.hubspot.com/

and you can get an Inbound Marketing Assessment by clicking on the button that you will see there.

This blog is about targeted, researched cold calling. It is looked at from the perspective of an ICT reseller to the SMB market.

This is what I call the sniper rifle approach rather than the shotgun approach.

It is about targeting the types of company that you can ( easily and effectively ) provide solutions for. Actually, you are looking for prospects where your strengths and experience help you to outshine or get an edge over the competition.  

This requires at least 2 things:

1.       That you understand the prospect as far as possible both initially (  even before you have spoken to them ) and after you have met with them.

2.       That you understand the strengths and weaknesses of the solutions that you are selling.

So, this might lead, for example ( if you were a ICT reseller ) to you looking for companies with an  inbound and outbound calling requirement  ( say small sales departments or small customer support departments ) because you have good CRM to telephony integration. Or it might lead to you avoiding other prospects with say, warehouses,  because you don’t have cordless phone facilities
(    eg DECT )

What are your target markets and how do you describe them??

There are a number of ways to describe your target markets:

Horizontal size

You may be aiming at “ SMB “ but what does this really mean ??? 1- 10, 10 – 50, 50 – 100, 100 – 250, 250 + ???  ( A 10 person company is very different to a 250 person company )

Geography

You may only be interested in a particular geography or it may  be practical and efficient to deal only with a particular geography.  

Verticals

Where have you got references/case studies/testimonials ?? ( In other words so that when you talk to prospects you can say that you have worked with that type of firm and provided them with effective solutions ).

If you segment your existing database by customer/prospect and by industry you can see where your strengths lie at the moment.

You may have eg legal firms and accountants appearing to come to top of the pile of your preferred verticals. Are there any more verticals you should focus on ??

Structure

By structure I mean are they single site or multi-site ?? What departments do they have ? sales ? admin ? customer support ? manufacturing ? financial ? This is going to tell you eg if they have or need a WAN and also whether they are likely to need things like CRM/Telephony Integration or cordless phones etc etc

Financial Strength

Some companies are more profitable and cash generative than others. They can afford to spend more on ICT systems.

Growth Rate 

Some companies are small but rapidly growing and if so they need flexible, expandable systems and keep coming back for more.

Mindset

Some companies are forward thinking in terms of their use of ICT and some are not. ( If they have a good Internet presence this may e an indication of thier attitude to Information Technology.

Cisco’s classification

Interestingly Cisco recently proposed   a classification of “Elite “ users, “ Open to suggestion “ users and “ Basic “ users.

Your best customers

Another way of identifying your target market is to say “ Well we want more customers like …. one of our existing customers “ and we could describe them as being … ( use the above classifications ).

What I am suggesting  is that you get to the point where you can say  – these are our top targets. You can  then develop supporting collateral to help sell to those target markets. By analysing your existing database of customers and perhaps getting testimonials and case studies from and about some of them you will be able to build on a strong foundation.

You can then either acquire data for these targets ( N.B. Once you know who your targets are you need only buy data for those particular prospects – this saves a lot of money )  or  apply the internet search approach outlined below.

Lets say that you decide to target lawyers in Dorset

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=lawyers+in+dorset&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

We Google them and we have a sort through.

Which ones are tiny, small, medium size ??

Do they have multiple offices ( ie they have a WAN and a LAN ) ??

Which ones have a good internet presence ??  ( ie they are high tech ?? )

Is there any news about any of them ??

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=lawyers+in+the+news+in+dorset&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

eg they are expanding,growing etc etc

we can usually get the partners names or a contact.

Maybe we can get an idea of numbers of staff ??

What can we predict about them ??

We can then make a warmish cold call ???? (or we could do a ” targeted mailer ” and then follow up ?? ) 

So you don’t really need lists of data to get started. 

If I Google myself it’s mainly the social network entries that come to the top – LinkedIn, Facebook etc etc

Someone sent me this link today

http://viralso.com/linkedin.html

to people who reckon that they can SEO your LinkedIn profile page so that you come to the top of Google. ( Of course we all know that there are no guarantees on this front !! ).

I just thought that it was interesting and a sign of the times !!