Our Trademark Plan The 3 Legged Stool Plan

 

This Is What We Are Up Against! Our Trademark Plan The 3 Legged Stool Plan Nothing works every time but somethings work better than others. Our method, the Larson way is the 3 Legged Stool method of marketing. I have been using the Stool or in some form of the 3 Legged Stool for over 47 years. Why? Because it works. The tools have changed but the basic idea has not. Hit people in three different ways using 3 different touch points and you are going to find a way that they respond to. The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. People will respond to your message if you touch them in the way they want you to. When I started out back in the 70's and 80's I would fax out all night long. It worked. I got into companies like Ram Golf and Doumak Marshmallows. Now that has evolved into email marketing. Don't laugh, email works. The right subject line, the right message, with the right product or service, at the right time and without a lot of fancy arm twisting and you have a new customer. Yes you many get a low conversion rate but it is inexpensive, flexable and if you remember the rule of 27: people see only 1 out of every 3 touch points you make to them and it takes 9 views on average to close a sale. You get the idea don't you. We add in some telemarketing to the people who opened the email and we are calling a warm lead not an icy cold one. We know they have seen your name, read a little about you and you are that much closer to a new customer. Then with the help from the USPS we send out some direct mail postcards. The mail box is empty and people love to get mail. We usually go with postcards but lumpy mail or a monthly newsletter works as well. In the 3 legged stool plan we weave these three elements, email, telemarketing, direct mail, in and out of each other and get the result we want at a very high ROI (Return On Investment). Telemarketing   Telemarketing campaigns are a proven and cost-effective method for selling products and services to a large target audience. Using Larson & Associates in a targeted campaign to a list of qualified prospects, and yes a telemarketing campaigns can increase sales, profits and customer satisfaction without increasing your staffing and training costs. Larson provides reliable and customizable programs designed to increase your profitability through Lead Generation, Lead Qualification, Telemarketing Sales, Appointment Setting, Up‐selling/Cross‐selling, Seminar / Event Registration, Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Customer Retention Programs. Telemarketing is an art. 7 to 15 seconds (Rock Tranel should appreciate that) is all you get to make a connection. 15 seconds to get permission to talk a few seconds more or "click". Email Marketing It is really essential that you use Email when you can. Email marketing has the highest impact on conversions for pretty much every marketing team. It nearly always results in high profit and double digit growth. Yes you need an email list but Larson & Associates knows how to make a list and not buy it from a list company. Direct Mail Marketing   Direct mail, junk mail (by its recipients), mailshot or admail (North America) letterbox drop or letterboxing (Australia) is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. The delivery of advertising mail is growing larger and is a key component to Lead Generation Marketing. So go on and send out those Post Cards, Newsletters, Enveloped mail. Fill the mail box and make someone happy. The Rest Of The Program Blog Marketing Blog Marketing is a content marketing strategy. The marketing strategy uses blogs to address potential customers directly and individually, thus achieving customer loyalty for your brand. Blogging uses viral marketing methods in which an interest group is built based on a blog about you and your company.   Social Media Marketing Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. This involves publishing great content on your social media profiles, listening to and engaging your followers, analyzing your results, and running social media advertisements. There are quite a few social platforms and when you find one put your company name address website phone number etcetera on it but unless you are ready to work it at 100% that is all you should do. Don't dabble on a social site.    LinkedIn Marketing LinkedIn is more focused on individuals than it is on companies. As such, it’s a wonderful tool to help you build meaningful connections with others in your industry, as well as prospective customers or job candidates. Those LinkedIn members often have something to teach us, and we can learn about them in the process. By building these connections, you can identify who might be a good fit to join your company’s team or who might find great success using your product or service. This approach can help you identify specific targets and give your recruiting or sales team a head start. LinkedIn is one of the three sites we here at Larson & Associates work and work hard.   Web & SEO Marketing SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It’s the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand, through non-paid (also known as "organic") search engine results. Despite the acronym, SEO is as much about people as it is about search engines themselves. It’s about understanding what people are searching for online, the answers they are seeking, the words they’re using, and the type of content they wish to consume. Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to connect to the people who are searching online for the solutions you offer. If knowing your audience’s intent is one side of the SEO coin, delivering it in a way search engine crawlers can find and understand is the other. In this guide, expect to learn how to do both. If you are using Larson & Associates for your SEO (thank you) it is being done for you already but do not let your SEO company tell you meta tags don't count any more. They do as well as key words. I can not begin to tell you how many $10 dollar websites (and a few $20,000 web sites),  I have put on 1st page of a Google search because I know how to work "search".  SEO is a game. Some of us just play it better than others.  Trade Show Marketing Tradeshows remain an important and effective means of reaching your key customers and finding new ones. Presenting your company, product or service at industry events. But if you think tradeshows only deliver great returns for specific types of business, you might be wrong. Tradeshows are a fantastic marketing tactic for any business to improve sales and build relationships. From industrial trade shows, to  association trade shows to wedding shows, it is an activity that can make an impact on your bottom line instantly. It does have a cost of perhaps $1000 for a Chamber of Commerce to the shows at McCormick place where $4,000 gets you a 10'x10' with a table, 2 chairs and a rug. Figure on a minimum of $10,000 or more at a major industry show but if done right, you will propel your company at a pace you can only dream of.   AND FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE TRADE Outsourced Or White Label Marketing Services   We offer to the trade services are offered to the Print and Graphic community on a "To The Trade" basis for you to offer this service to your clients with out the learning curve, knowledge need and finding qualified experience staff.  Can We Help You? Sure you can do this yourself. I totally understand and for those of you with the time to write content, flow it into a program like this one and be consistent and still have time for the follow-up, wonderful. Go for it. Have fun and enjoy! But for those who can't there's . . .   Larson & Associates We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294

What Are Your Sales Numbers

 

No More Sales Slumps But You Need To Know Your Numbers! If you read though that last email I sent, No More Sales Slumps, you might have noticed the key was knowing your sales and marketing numbers. So what are your numbers.  Don't know? If you don’t know your numbers you will need a month to track them out, or at least week if you are in a rush to get started.   You need ___ Suspects (anyone in your lists that can or might buy from you) To get ___ Prospects  (anyone you have made some kind of contact with) To get ___ Leads (having direct interaction with) To get ___ Proposals (written proposal or estimate) To get ___ Sales (closed and paid for project) If this was me  I need 9501 to get 784 prospects Wit 784 prospects I get 42 leads With 42 leads I get 3 proposals With 3 proposals I get 1 sale Now I track everything from networking meetings to trade show walk-bys to social media views to phone calls and everything in between. If I can find a way to track it I do. I know I might have a lot of junk in my numbers but if they can fog a mirror they count. I learned a long time ago not to write anyone off. The key is to start tracking. If you reading this thank-you because you are 1 suspect or prospect or something to add to my numbers. I want you to advance to a proposal and a sale but win, loose or draw the numbers never lie. Now that you have YOUR numbers you can work the rest of this cost of sales analyst sheet.   The Sales Slump Planning Sheet will enable you to determine the average number of contacts per day you MUST make (or average) to achieve your goal for the next 12 months. Your name: _____________________________________________   Your average earnings per sale are? . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .             __________ How much money do you want to earn in the next 12 months?  __________ How many presentations do you make to gain a sale? . . . . .    __________ Divide your earnings per sale (1) by presentations per sale (3). This is your earnings per presentations . . . . . . . . . . . .             ___________ A) How many contacts do you make to gain a presentation?   ___________ B) Divide your earnings per presentation (4) by contacts per presentation (5A) This is your earnings per contact ___________   A) Divide your earnings goal for the next 12 months (2) by the number of      weeks you will work. This will give you your weekly earnings amount . ___________ B) Divide the result by 5 or 6 depending on te number of days you work.      This is your earnings goal per day.   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .     ___________ Divide earnings per day (6B) by earnings per contact (5B). This is your required contacts per day you need to achieve your earnings goal.   ____________ Now you have a good idea what you need to do to hit your goals, you know what a sale or lead costs you. Now maybe you can actually justify a service like mine. That is unless you like lead generation and cold calling, but what ever you do: Take Action Time is waiting so sit down and start tracking. One by one. If you have nothing to track get cooking. Go knock on some doors. Send out some e-mails. Work your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook social network and groups. Go to a trade show. Ask customers for referrals. Talk to any and everyone about what you do.   At Larson & Associates we are always ready to put forth that extra effort, to work hard and persevere in everything that we do for you. We can help you avoid the dreaded sales slumps, overcome marketing anxiety and map out new places to ‘dig’. When prospecting for gold or for sales, remember that your success is directly proportionate to your effort. If you do only the minimum, your payback will be minimal. The more you do, the more you get. It really is that simple.   And when you need help reaching out for sales, proposals, leads, prospects or suspects we will be here waiting for your call at 847-991-1294. Larson & Associates Making Good Business Great and Great Businesses Even Better

End Sales Slumps

 

End Sales Slumps Starting Now! We all have slumps: Those times when you just can’t quite find or maintain your rhythm.  No matter how good you are or how long you have been in sales, sooner or later you're going to hit a sales slump.     That time when you can’t seem to close the sale despite your best effort.  When each call or conversation that you do get seems that much harder than it ever was before.  The pressure is on, the volume is down and you just can’t get that deal to click. Understanding that we can influence this cycle, spot problems, change behaviors and avoid repeating mistakes that lead to slumps in sales is key. Wouldn’t it be nice to know when a slump was about to happen?  Larson & Associates we usually don’t like to brag, but we have a secret where we can successfully predict when a sales slump is going to happen, well, nearly 95% of the time that is. After all, no one is perfect, right? So do you want to know our secret to avoiding sales slumps? It really is quite simple, it all comes down to: Prospecting. Yes prospecting. Sales prospecting is one of the most important aspects of an organization, let alone a sales process. All companies (startups especially) have to fill their pipeline with good leads in order to acquire customers. Helping you understand prospecting and what it means for your sales is a big part of how our secret can work for you, the other thing you need to know is predicting when the slump will happen. The crystal ball to that answer is identifying the length of your sales cycle, is it 1 day, 1 week, 1 month 1 year?    Once you pinpoint that then you are in the driver’s seat. Knowing this will not only help you predict when you are heading for a slump but also how long you can expect it will take to get out of it. Sales slumps have a way of self-perpetuating, with the lack of sales eroding our confidence and expectations of positive results, which in turn makes it even more difficult to return to the good form we have lost along the way.  In sales the natural reaction is to fight off the pressure and panic with a quick fix, by ‘digging’ for more sales. Digging in places where you know the sales were, looking for that next pot of gold. This is what went wrong in the first place, stop ‘digging’ where the sales were, trying to work that same ‘claim’ endlessly and move on to new ground.  If there is a trick to prospecting it’s doing the work to make it ‘work’. The only real way is to get back out there and start making the calls,   working the leads. Initiating conversations with cold f2f sales calls and going to the events where your prospects will be, these are still the ‘nuts and bolts’ that hold the process together. Opportunity is out there, your job is to find it, through prospecting. At Larson & Associates we can fill in the potholes and help you be where you need to be, as your guide and as your partner in success. We can work with you to avoid mistakes and plan for the future.  So when you find yourself in a slump take a deep breath, a real, fill your lungs and hold it for a second, deep breath, acknowledge that you are in one and get rid of all that emotional baggage. Make the commitment and set aside a daily time for prospecting. Invest your time, energy and emotion into actions that you can control. Sales success is a process, do the basics and the rest will follow. Prospecting is less about luck and more about effort, hard work and perseverance, searching for that new ‘strike’ and being ready to move onto the next. So go on now. Sit down and pick up the phone. Go knock on some doors. Send out some e-mails. Work your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook social network and groups. Start asking for referrals. Talk to any and everyone about what you do.  At Larson & Associates we are always ready to put forth that extra effort, to work hard and persevere in everything that we do for you. We can help you avoid the dreaded sales slumps, overcome marketing anxiety and map out new places to ‘dig’. When prospecting for gold or for sales, remember that your success is directly proportionate to your effort. If you do only the minimum, your payback will be minimal. The more you do, the more you get. It really is that simple. Larson & Associates Making Good Business Great and Great Businesses Even Better

How Many Clicks Does It Take

Just How Many ‘Clicks’ & Views Does It Take To Get In?

We are living in a very ‘noisy’ time. Crowded markets vie for our limited attention, each crying louder and longer. We are being constantly bombarded by sounds and images that promote ideas, products, and beliefs.

This constant disharmony makes it increasingly difficult to focus on any one thing. To weigh choices, make informed decisions and to choose. Each day as we make our way up the ladder we are surrounded by the frenzied, howling masses scrabbling for our last dollar or last bit of attention. We learn, whether by choice or necessity, to tune the bulk of these distractions out, to not hear the clamoring and the crying, we minimize our attention and move on. If this is a result of self-preservation, a product of our environment, how can you reach your client? How do you make the sale? How do you ‘touch’ the customer so that they remember you and your product?

We’re all busy people. We all know what it takes; Emails, texts, post, social media – these and other combinations all working to get our attention.

What you may not know is that research has shown that it takes, on average, seven instances of receiving a marketing ‘touch’ before you remember a company’s product or service. So, it not only ‘makes sense’ to ensure that you put together an integrated marketing campaign, it is an essential aspect of being remembered.

When it comes to lead generation, whether you’re targeting new business or maintaining current clients, you need to be creative with your marketing. According to Dan Cadieux from 360 Leads  there are many ways to perform Lead Generation but there are 4 Key Principles that apply to all Lead Generation Activities, they are:

• Find your target audience~ determine what group you want to attract with your lead generation activities.

• Communication is key in any relationship- do not just tell them what you are selling/offering. Tell them a relatable story that demonstrates why they NEED YOU. Your message must be loud, you have to be heard over all the “noise”.

• Data collection is vital for a successful lead generation. Collecting data is part 1, then all your activities must incorporate the collection of prospect data.  Once these steps are done then, it is then possible to go move to the next stage.
• The final key is to nurture the leads. This is the most crucial stage, this where leads are converted into customers.  You have the leads, now don’t just treat as a feather in your cap, build relationships so they are no longer leads but are now clients.

As an entrepreneur or business owner, you already know that it costs more to bring a new client in then it does to keep an old one. Why then after your investment of time and resources to generate new business would you risk the loss of those clients because you haven’t kept them engaged? Because you haven’t nurtured your leads? As an award-winning marketing agency Larson & Associates understands the importance of developing effective strategies to do this and we stand ready to share this knowledge with you.

Research has shown that businesses can expect an ROI of $38 for every $1 spent on email marketing, 

There are literally hundreds of examples of different marketing strategies that you can choose from to target customers, move your Find your target audience~ determine what group you want to attract with your lead generation activities.

• Communication is key in any relationship- do not just tell them what you are selling/offering. Tell them a relatable story that demonstrates why they NEED YOU. Your message must be loud, you have to be heard over all the “noise”.

• Data collection is vital for a successful lead generation. Collecting data is part 1, then all your activities must incorporate the collection of prospect data.  Once these steps are done then, it is then possible to go move to the next stage.

• The final key is to nurture the leads. This is the most crucial stage, this where leads are converted into customers.  You have the leads, now don’t just treat as a feather in your cap, build relationships so they are no longer leads but are now clients.

Email These don’t have to be long and drawn out, just short and effectively direct and to the point telling the reader what they need to know and how it can benefit them. That’s what successful email marketing is all about.

• In a business so much is done via email but often times email is not used to just keep in touch.

• Email has replaced pen and paper, use it to write personal notes to prospects.

• A company should use the email addresses of prospects it has collected to provide them with valuable information, newsletters, whitepapers, etc.

• Automated email software can also improve the nurturing process if used properly

Whether in a series or a single carefully crafted email about your offer, product or service, it’s vital that the email gets noticed before they have a chance to hit ‘delete’.

Larson & Associates development and design team provides the specific direction and content your business needs to get noticed. We work with you to develop strategies that make the difference!  

Direct Mail If you’re looking for a way to get yourself noticed and get your ‘foot’ in the door then direct mail quite literally opens those doors. This time-tested tool of client-based communication is still a stand-out in today’s technology-driven world.

Many times, the humble DM is the only ‘touch’ opportunity you get to make, so make it count! Creating an engaging copy with a ‘hook’ is the key to catching your customer’s eye when your DM campaign hits their mailbox. Once again, making the message relevant to your clients and their needs is what is important. Larson & Associates team of creatives is ready to suggest ideas that will give your product or service the ‘hook’ you need to stand out.

Data from HubSpot shows us that businesses that blog around 16 times or more per month get 3.5 times more traffic and 4.5 times more leads than businesses that blog less than 4 times a month.

Social The word Nurture means “to care for and encourage the growth and development of someone”. Nurturing in a business context is “encouraging a prospect to develop into a customer”. Prospects will be encouraged to become customers if they have a need that you demonstrate you can fill.

You can do that by further demonstrating your expertise and putting yourself in your prospects shoes, showing you understand their needs.

• On social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter you have to Nurture & develop a relationship

• Comment on and Like the LinkedIn posts of your prospects

• On Twitter re-tweet your prospects tweets, show that you care about them

• They will then watch you and give you a chance to further demonstrate your expertise

At Larson & Associates, we take the time to understand you and your needs. We help you develop the strategies that keep you and your customers satisfied. We help you implement the plans that make the difference.

Telemarketing With the right approach and the right team, telemarketing is maybe the most effective way to connect with your clients, as well as generate new leads in any marketing campaign.

One approach is to just call your customer base using it as a ‘Customer Courtesy call’ strategy. This has the advantage of keeping your name on the clients ‘radar’ and provides updates about current products and promotions. It also allows you to explore potential needs and circumvent nascent problems. Additionally, this ‘one-on-one’ time provides opportunities to discover more about your clients – who they are, what they want and what makes them ‘tick’. This also a great technique when integrated into your existing program, a follow-up call may be used as a part of the email and/or direct mail strategy.

• Don’t forget what you carry around in your pocket, a phone

• Most people use their phones for everything except talking on it

• Pick up the phone and keep in touch with prospects, nurture the relationship

• Companies might need a reason to call,

• Do a survey: a customer satisfaction survey for customers

• For prospects do a research-based survey finding out their challenges in relation to your industry or product

• Share the findings with them, it’s a way of showing you understand their needs

• Make appointments for your sales reps, have a company call your prospects and try to set up appointments for your sales reps to meet with them.

At Larson & Associates, we take steps to understand your business and your needs. We can provide the logistics and the information, keeping you in contact with your current and future clients. 

Fact is every time you touch a prospect, every channel you use, when you send out and interconnect and entwine your message the odds of engagement and success increase and when think you’re done, make one more follow up phone call to your list.

So, how many clicks does it take? short answer, all of them. Like your business, it is an ongoing challenge that when done right grows, grows exponentially with your business. You are limited only by your imagination when it comes to finding ways to overcome the obstacles to your success. There are no magic formulas or secret codes that can guarantee success in marketing or in business. There are tried and true methods, paths taken and lessons learned by others who blazed the trails ahead of you, we here at Larson & Associates want to be your guides through this noisy and frenetic wilderness. We have the tools and the technology to lead you in the right direction, to succeed. Let the journey begin!

What is in store for 2015

Marketers received a healthy portion of companies' budgets in 2014, and that might be increasing in 2015. According to the "Presentation for CMO Survey 2015: Eye on the Buyer” report by research firm Gartner, companies spent, on average, 10.2% of their annual revenue on marketing activities in 2014. And now half of the companies that were surveyed plan to increase their spending in 2015, which translates out to a budget increase of 10.4%.

But there is devil is in the details.  Bigger companies are getting bigger budgets. As an example, companies with revenues of $5 billion or more anticipate using 11% of their money to marketing, while companies with revenues between $500 million and $1 billion ONLY plan to allocate 9.2%. 46% of respondents plan on spending less than 9% of their revenue on marketing and 30% intend to allocate more than 13%, and 24% plan to use some percentage in between. Now I know most of you if not all are not this size or even close but it does not hurt to pay attention to where the Big Boys are playing and what they are playing with.

So where is all this extra money going? One work: DIGITAL! According to the report, 51% of these companies plan to increase their digital marketing budget in 2015. The average boost will be 17%. That increase will give digital a significant hunk of the overall marketing budget. More so when we considering that companies used about 25% of their marketing budgets on digital in 2014.

For some marketers budget allocation is a tough one to crack because not all companies have separate digital marketing budgets. Sixty-eight percent of companies do, according to the report. But marketers waffle on what a digital marketing budget encompasses. Thirty-two percent of respondents consider digital a single line item of the overall marketing budget, while 36% itemize each digital activity. In addition, 23% have incorporated digital marketing into each function of the marketing budget and 8% have done none of the above.

Larson Notes & Satire:  I hate to say it (no I don’t) but if you don’t keep your spending on the traditional ways of marketing you’re going to be really lost. Digital is not a stand alone marketing channel. Well maybe to some but to most of you out there, you need the support of email, web site, content, direct mail, trade show and of course TELEMARKETING. And now with our new service offering of INBOUND call answering and ACT social media software we at putting more of what you need  together for you.

For the answer to your sales and lead generation problems call Larson & Associates at 847-991-1294 or email me at howard@larsonassociates.ws .  One call is all it takes.

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

Lead Generation Just Doing What’s Right Social Version

I hope to encourage you to get serious about going out and finding new sales leads. Socially, we can talk about traditional ways another time.

There really is no magic formula. Well there is a formula and I am in the middle of writing a book but NOTHING is 100% in the area of lead generation so get use to it.

1. It is a game of small bites. You need to lots of things right. You need to find, nurture and coddle every lead until they tell you to go away of become a client.

2. You will get very tired of your message before anyone else does. You will I can almost guarantee that you will get very tired of your message you are putting out before most of your target market even know you are saying anything. There is a desire to change your message but don’t! Stay on course and send the same message out over and over and over again and again.

3. Your prospect can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist or who you are. No one cares how fast you are, how cheap you are, how good you are. If the prospect has never heard of you they won’t really care. Keep your attention on this plain and simple truth, Make becoming know your first objective.

4. Pretend you’re a search algorithm. Yes pretend you’re Google. It really makes no difference what your business does or what it makes. The question is what do people type in to find you. What are the words or word strings. Be the search.

5. You need to be as social engaged as you possibly can. It is really not an option anymore. LinkedIn, Facebook, twitter. Those are the big 3 for starters then there is a plethora or others such as MerchantCircle , Storeboard, tsu.co, Solaborate, Scoop.it, APSense and Referral Key just to name a few.

6. You don’t need to go in big leaps. Some sites are easy, some take time. Take the time to work the sites to make them work for you. Go slow, go steady and you will get there.


Larson Notes & Satire:  This is the online side of lead gen but don’t forget to think about off line lead generation. Things like teleprospecting, direct mail (might want to throw in email marketing in here) trade shows, and the like. It’s not all online and you can get a good bang for your buck using traditional marketing channels. Or if you don’t or can’t find the time call Larson & Associates at 847-991-1294 or email me at howard@larsonassociates.ws .  One call and we work to hand over those leads to you to finish the job.

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

Cold Calling Builds Long Term Relationships

Even with the push of Social Media and Online Marketing, cold calling is and still remains the best way to go out and make contact with potential clients. It is the only proactive way to start a two way conversation with a prospect. Using every other way you need to sit back and hope the prospect actually picks up the phone, emails or sends back a business reply card. Do you have that kind of time? Now these are all great ways to marketing but if you add in a cold call follow-up in your marketing play your results will be 10% to 22% better.

In case you need more of an incentive to using the phone or picking it up and calling us here at Larson & Associates to do it for you, here are 5 successful ways to mix in cold calling into your sales and marketing attack.

1st. Clearly define your criteria. Get your program put together and aimed towards where you want to go. No brainer but how many times does it not happen. Sit down in a meeting with all your sales and marketing people and determine the base criteria for what is a qualified lead.

2nd Set an agenda to guide you through the steps to start a real conversation. A call without a direction is the path to a failed call. I am not saying use a script but know where you want to go to in the call.

3rd Be relevant to the person you are calling. Ask yourself these two questions. 1) What is the reason for the call? And 2) Is it relevant to THIS prospect? Don’t waste their time. Don’t waste your time.

4th Create a voice mail strategy. I believe in voice mail so much that if I take a project and the client says to NOT leave a voice mail, I might just not take the project. It is almost doomed to failure. A voice mail is a way to send out a mini advertisement right into the prospects ear. With a relative message you will warm up the prospect for your next try at speaking to them. And yes sometimes they call back and if they do 1 of 2 things are happening. Then need what you got or they are calling you to tell you to go away and don’t call back. Either way you win. In the first one you are one step further down the sales process. The other you can take them off your prospect list and you don’t have to waste your time on them anymore.

5th Integration of multimedia and multichannel marketing. Keep in mind the 3 legged stool. 3 channels work best. Cold calling can and will benefit from the use of multimedia, content marketing, social media marketing, direct mail and/or email marketing. You may go the Whitepaper and webinar route as well. It is about exposure and follow-up. You don’t follow up, don’t bother doing it.


Larson Notes & Satire:  Cold calling follow up is just the natural progression of the sales process.  Every product or service has a cycle and a natural progression.  A good well placed cold call only shortens the sales cycle because you get in and out quickly.  The key is to get in and get out without making the prospect angry. The fact that most of you reading this are B2B and the telephone is a natural way to do business it only makes sense to use it. Or if you don’t or can’t find the time or nerve to call prospects call Larson & Associates at 847-991-1294. One call and we back the rest of those scary cold calls and hand over those leads to you to finish the job.

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

10 Judgments In Digital Marketing

Companies across the country are desperately trying to get their right and left brains working as they lay out ways to work the confusing ways of Digital Marketing. As we work through the maze of paths to follow I would present 10 incorrect assessments that I feel are present.

Judgment 1: Digital technology changes too fast to keep up.  That is a yes and no. You do need to be working they channels but it is not changing as much or as fast as you might think. What is changing is the way consumers are accessing it. PC, Laptop. I-phone text, THAT is what is all over the place.

Judgment 2. There is this “new” thing called big data. Don’t get all stressed out buy this term Big Data. Big Data is nothing new, just the new scary buzz word running around the industry to scare everyone all off. It has really been around forever. You just need to understand your market segments and what questions and answers do you need to know and have answers too? This is what most businesses need rather than “Big Data”. Unless your company can process thousands or leads there is nothing to think about here. What you really need is Little Data targeted.

Judgment  3:  Our brand has a one-to-one digital strategy to engage customers when, where and how they prefer.  Ya, ya, ya, everyone says this but nobody dies this or can. The closest chance you have is a call center marketing attack. Any communication you have in any other channel is rule-based, and not completely personal. So don’t think digital strategy think engagement strategy.

Judgment 4: Our brand needs a mobile app.  Mobile is a channel, not a strategy. Only an app that has an impact is one that serves a need. In other words apps that impact are ones that serve a specific need.  Or the app must be developed the way new products and services are.

Judgment 5: Our brand has to have a facebook page. Most do but does yours? I’m thinking that Preparation H and Condoms are not the kind of products to communicate about their brands and be engaging on Facebook, I think. At least I hate to think about the client engagement on those products.

Judgment  6: You need a microsite for your campaign. You don’t need a micro-site for anything. You can put your special content on a page on your existing web site. Maybe yes and maybe no. A purl has it place but you might take a look at Linked Local Network:  http://www.linkedlocalnetwork.com/linked-local-web/ . This is money well spent. For less than the price of a cup of coffee you will see a double digits in your alexa score getting better in the 1st week.

Judgment  7: Our digital manager doesn’t know code. After I say so what I will tell you if you’re a large enough company someone should know code but more important is that you understand the value and how long things take. Then you won’t get cheated.

Judgment  8:  We can’t ignore this new digital thing. You can’t? You really cannot be everywhere nor should you be. Better to be using 3 social media sites at close to 100% than 20 at 5% each. It is all about viability, not the numbers. Need help see our Social Media Marketing plans. We get you on the map.

Judgment  9: We can measure this digital thing or can we? The understanding of what can and what cannot be measured is limited to understanding the data. Things like followers beyond friends and family, better yet how many shares are you getting off your postings. Find what is important and measure it.

Judgment  10: We don’t understand this digital thing. Stop treating digital as some kind of special thing. It’s not, it’s only just another tool in your bag of tricks. Identify the experience you want your customers have and the experience you want to deliver to them and the value that that will deliver to your business. Then determine how best to execute that total experience in social and digital platforms.


Larson Notes & Satire:  Need insight and direction for your social media marketing? Take a look at Linked Local Network:  http://www.linkedlocalnetwork.com/linked-local-web/

Through this tool we have a system that through the power of the group, because as a landing page that is a page within a page you have other’s puling raw leads in your direction. Really it’s true. Companies that are using a Sig Page are seeing 30% to 40% more web activity on their existing web sites. And we have seen those companies web sites getting a 14.7% lowering (the lower the score the better) in their Alexa rankings!

No data?
No followers?
No direction?
No plan?
Then come to us. We ask the questions to get your marketing in key and harmonious.

We offer a 5 step digital social review.
Step 1: Domain Review
Step 2: Website Review
Step 3: Google Review
Step 4: Social Review
Step 5: Content Review

If you need more online activity we have answers.

If you need a Landing Page for your web site, consider one of our Signature Pages that will bring your company's web site not just more hits but good solid sales leads. Companies that are using a Sig Page are seeing 30% to 40% more web activity on their existing web sites. Call us 847-794-8710 or 847-991-1294. I'll get you set up. And it even works on those $10 and $15 a month sites.

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

Areas of Marketing Growth For 2014

So what is everyone thinking of doing for 2014 in the way of marketing? In samples we have seen and collected we have found:

Marketing Spending Will Grow
45% of all companies expect to be increasing their Marketing budget
30% of all companies are increasing their spending on what is called “Big Data” technologies and
21% of all companies will be increasing spending on Big Data analytic services
 5.3% is the projected growth of global advertising spending
There will be over $135 Billion spent in 2014 on new digital marketing and
72% of those Marketers who use PayPerCick are planning to increase their budget (before you go down that path look at Linked Local Networks Signature Landing Pages http://www.linkedlocalnetwork.com/linked-local-web  for $1.00 a day you can see your page rise almost daily in organic searches 18% in 3 weeks)
$531 Billion is the expected growth in global advertising spending
$110 Billion is the expected digital media growth
 2.9% overall growth in U.S. advertising spending.
46% growth in subscription of programs, books, electronics, etc)
158% increase in click-through rates for email that start with a social media shaping button
29% growth in content marketing
19% growth in e-commerce retail sales from mobile
12% worldwide growth of smartphones
18% worldwide growth of tablets.

Larson Notes & Satire:  Need insight and direction for your social media marketing? Take a look at Linked Local Network:  http://www.linkedlocalnetwork.com/linked-local-web/

Through this tool we have a system that through the power of the group, because as a landing page that is a page within a page you have other’s puling raw leads in your direction. Really it’s true. Companies that are using a Sig Page are seeing 30% to 40% more web activity on their existing web sites. And we have seen those companies web sites getting a 22.1% lowering (the lower the score the better) in their Alexa rankings!

Call us 847-794-8710 or 847-991-1294. I'll get you set up. And it even works on those $10 and $15 a month sites.


No data?
No followers?
No direction?
No plan?
Then come to us. We ask the questions to get your marketing in key and harmonious.

We offer a 5 step digital social review.
Step 1: Domain Review
Step 2: Website Review
Step 3: Google Review
Step 4: Social Review
Step 5: Content Review

If you need more online activity we have answers.

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.