Matt Heinz
How to remember more of your brilliant ideas
Mind like water, memory like a sieve. At least five times in the past week, I've had an idea while driving. Thanks to Dial2Do (and hands-free Bluetooth if you're reading this, highway patrol), I quickly leave myself a message. When I eventually check my email...
Five ways to get around the RFP process
If you're selling to big companies or the government, requests for proposal (RFPs) may feel like a fact of life. And in some cases, there may be little you can do to avoid a mandated process. But in nearly every one of these organizations,...
Ten marketing lessons from DemandCon
Two packed days of great content, sharing, networking and learning just wrapped up in San Francisco at the first DemandCon. Impressive quality of people and thinking here focused on B2B demand generation, marketing automation and sales funnel improvement. You know a good conference when...
How do you treat your past customers?
Are your past customers out of sight and out of mind? Doesn't really matter why they left, those customers are still assets for your business. They can come back, refer others, influence others' decisions. Your internal champion could take another job (or start another business)...
Why the trade show wasn’t worth it
Exactly one week ago, the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Trade Show ended. We had a booth, and I was actually impressed with the quality of attendees. Some great conversations with potential clients, partners, etc. Already a measurable impact on awareness and sales pipeline for...
The most innovative marketers in baseball (and what you can learn from them)
The minor leagues have always been a breeding ground for innovative, out-of-the-box ideas to drive attention and ticket sales. And many major league teams and owners over the years have become (in)famous for their marketing stunts. But in today's game, the Cleveland Indians may be...
Great example of “show vs tell” marketing
Let's say you're at a trade show. You sell balloons. More specifically, you sell things made out of balloons. You could bring brochures with descriptions of how you work. You could bring pictures, too. Better yet, bring a binder of pictures, organized by event. Show…
Small business marketing starts with these four steps
Those who manage small businesses (entrepreneurs, Realtors, financial consultants, etc.) don't have a lot of time for marketing. They have less time for marketing that's off the mark, inconsistent with their goals, or ineffective at driving results. And yet, too many small businesses start their...
Six ways to get more business without directly asking for it
Nobody likes to ask for business. As sellers, we want prospects to come to us, to already understand the need, and to just sign the paperwork and get started. Not gonna happen, not most of the time anyway. If we want to grow sales, we...
How to keep your startup from acting like a big company
The kind of big-company behavior we all hate – bureaucracy, slow decision-making, politics, stifled innovation – doesn't just happen at big companies. It creeps into new businesses as well, with just a handful of people. If you don't actively watch for it, proactively keep...
Why SLAs between sales & marketing are important (and why they’re not)
I'm a huge fan of alignment between sales & marketing organizations. In many companies, this relationship is made official with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between the two groups. A passionate debate has evolved at Focus.com on whether SLAs are helpful or a distraction to driving...
What your channel partners want (in addition to sales)
Whether you drive the majority of your revenue from channel partners, or simply count on a loose partner network to drive referrals, we can all stand to have better relationships with those who also have access to your current and potential customers. Most often, we...
Two quick ways to increase referrals
Most people don't ask for referrals often enough. Some ask way too often. The trick to getting more referrals isn't frequency. It's knowing when and how to ask. Ask at the right timeIf you ask for a referral all the time - at the bottom…
Six ways to get your sales reps back above quota
In any given month, nearly every sales organization has someone under quota. Sales is a difficult job, and even the best reps have bad months or quarters. But if you have a rep in a prolonged slump, here are six things you can do...
Eight best practices for PowerPoint sales presentations
Most sales presentations today - whether they're done via Web or in person - involve a set of PowerPoint or Keynote slides. Most of these presentations (and you've probably seen many of them) are pretty awful. Critics blame PowerPoint. But if the presentation is...
Six alternatives to Webinars for lead generation
When's the last time you went an entire workday without being offered a free Webinar? They're clearly the lead generation offer of choice right now, and mostly for good reason. A Webinar is a great tool to share information in a dynamic way, it's...
Six customer-centric selling reminders
Whether you hear it or not, your prospective customers are giving you feedback every day. Here are six lessons they're teaching us (and worth the reminder every once in a while to keep ourselves honest). Your prospects are extremely busy. They don't return your phone…
The six elements of a perfect sales meeting
Do you dread the weekly sales team meeting? Feel like it's wasting your time? If so, somebody's not doing it right. Reviewing a pipeline report may not be your idea of fun, but effective sales meetings are well-planned, well-executed, and full of information highly relevant...
10 ways to improve your Klout score
Who can you trust online? When it comes to Twitter, that question can be answered with Klout, an independent service that takes into account a number of account factors to determine which Twitter users are most authentic, most influential and most worth following. The specific...
How to pick the right social channels for you
The volume of social media channels available to engage with is exhausting. And they keep coming. As an individual or a business, there's no way you can keep up with them all. And the good news is, you don't have to. Take a step back,…