Dan McDade
When Bad Things Happen to Good Leads – Part 1
There will be a ton of ink (and cyber ink) dedicated to lead nurturing this year. Most of it will be about using marketing automation to nurture leads. In and of itself, marketing automation is not a bad thing. More accurately, it’s a good...
Why Social Media Doesn’t Work [PowerViews LIVE Highlights]
On February 3, 2015, I had the pleasure of having leading marketing expert Jamie Turner on PowerViews LIVE to talk about “Why Social Media Doesn’t Work.” Right off the bat you may be thinking, “Social media doesn’t work? It’s everywhere!” This is true. Marketing...
Factoring Psychographics into the Buying Process [PowerViews LIVE Highlights]
On January 8, 2015, I had the privilege of hosting Paul Gillin on my PowerViews LIVE show. In the session, Paul encourages marketing executives to truly get to know their buyers by uncovering their emotional triggers and creating compelling content based on psychograhic personas....
Pipeline Priorities: Don’t Leave Potential Customers Flapping in the Wind
You’re a sales person. On Tuesday morning, 45 sales "leads" come your way through a variety of sources. Terrific! In due time, you figure out that three of them are real opportunities and want to take the next step in learning about your services, twelve...
Digital Relevance: Developing Marketing Content and Strategies that Drive Results
Ardath Albee’s new book Digital Relevance: Developing Marketing Content and Strategies that Drive Results was published by Palgrave Macmillan (January 6, 2015). I was privileged to review an advanced copy this past October and absolutely loved it. I will break up this review into three sections: What…
Sales Thinks The Leads Are Weak – Well Are They? 12 Power Opinions (Pt...
The leads are weak? You’re weak! If you have never seen the movie/play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” do yourself a favor and watch it. Alec Baldwin rips into the late Jack Lemmon for commenting, “the leads are weak,” with a classic Baldwin-esque tongue-lashing: “The leads are...
Sales Thinks The Leads Are Weak – Well Are They? 12 Power Opinions (Pt...
The leads are weak? You’re weak! If you have never seen the movie/play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” do yourself a favor and watch it. Alec Baldwin rips into the late Jack Lemmon for commenting, “the leads are weak,” with a classic Baldwin-esque tongue-lashing: “The leads are...
Sales Thinks The Leads Are Weak – Well Are They? 12 Power Opinions (Pt...
The leads are weak? You’re weak! If you have never seen the movie/play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” do yourself a favor and watch it. Alec Baldwin rips into the late Jack Lemmon for commenting, “the leads are weak,” with a classic Baldwin-esque tongue-lashing: “The leads are...
Inbound Leads: To Pre-qualify, or Not To Pre-qualify? 15 Expert Views, Part 3:
Is it necessary to pre-qualify inbound leads? That’s the overarching question I recently presented to a panel of industry experts. Over the course of this three part series, you’ll hear from 15 leading voices in the world of sales, marketing and lead generation, as...
It’s All About the People: A Review of “Never Be Closing”
If you haven’t already noticed, I like to read quite a bit. Quite a lot, I should say. Recently, someone recommended a book co-written by Tim Hurson and Tim Dunne called, Never Be Closing: How to Sell Better Without Screwing Your Clients, Your Colleagues,...
Inbound Leads: To Pre-qualify, or Not To Pre-qualify? 15 Expert Views, Part 2:
Is it necessary to pre-qualify inbound leads? That’s the overarching question I recently presented to a panel of industry experts. Over the course of this three part series, you’ll hear from 15 leading voices in the world of B2B sales, marketing and lead generation,...
Out With the Sales Rep, In With the Sales Guide: A Review of Duct...
Recently I read Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer—Sell Like a Superstar, by John Jantsch, and was impressed with both the quantity AND quality of new information it contained. No doubt ViewPoint readers will find it worth the read. On the dust cover,...
Inbound Leads: To Pre-qualify, or Not To Pre-qualify? 15 Expert Views, Part 1:
Is it necessary to pre-qualify inbound leads? That’s the overarching question I recently presented to a panel of industry experts. Over the course of this three part series, you’ll hear from 15 leading voices in the world of B2B sales, marketing and lead generation,...
5 Sales & Marketing Thought Leaders Weigh In on Inbound Marketing
In January I wrote the blog: How to Diagnose if Inbounditis is Killing Your Sales Pipeline, which was published by DemandGen Report. In the article I assert: "A healthy, driven inbound marketing department is great, but over-reliance on inbound marketing (what I call 'inbounditis') negatively...
PowerViews with James Obermayer: Sales Managers To Blame For Lost Leads
My longtime friend and colleague James Obermayer has strong feelings about who is responsible for lost leads among salespeople. Jim, who is principal of a California-based sales and marketing consulting firm Sales Leakage Consulting, lays the blame squarely at the feet of sales managers,...
PowerViews with Chris Tratar: Execs Need to Support ‘Sales-First’ Culture
Everyone in sales recognizes that there is an unfortunate gap between marketing automation and customer relationship management (CRM). When 80 percent of marketing-qualified leads fail to convert into sales-qualified leads, it’s time for the industry to reconfigure its thinking. This is a topic I...
PowerViews with Joanne Black: No Such Thing As “Warm Calling”
Cold calling has long been a staple of sales, but knowing just a little bit about a prospect is actually not much better. There is no such thing as “warm calling,” says my latest guest on PowerViews, Joanne Black. You’re either cold or you’re...
How to Ensure Your Sales Appointments Aren’t Just Appearances
In “Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons”, Kurt Vonnegut describes “granfalloons” as proud but meaningless associations of human beings. Isn’t this the case with marketing and sales in many companies today? If someone agrees to see your sales representative, don’t they have to be more qualified than...
PowerViews with Ruth Stevens: The Science (not the art) of Marketing
The amount of data available to marketers today can be overwhelming. Sifting through the information to siphon out the promising leads is less of an art than it is a science, said my latest guest on PowerViews, Ruth Stevens, who is an expert in...
How to Diagnose if Inbounditis is Killing Your Sales Pipeline
A healthy, driven inbound marketing department is great, but over-reliance on inbound marketing (what I like to call "inbounditis") negatively affects the revenue backbone of any company. In fact, it makes the whole sales pipeline sick. The 3 major symptoms of inbounditis are: 1) deal...