LEADership by Louis Foong - Latest Comments

Re: Inbound Vs. Outbound—An Ongoing Debate

SalesPortal — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:47:37 -0000

A good mix of inbound and outbound marketing is definitely a good idea. You never want to rely too heavily on one source for leads--it leaves your business vulnerable. The more avenues you have open the better.

Re: 10 Rules of Lead Generation

SalesPortal — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:59:46 -0000

"You have to take these leads by the hand and nurture them, educate them,
engage them to the point where they look to your organization as the
go-to source for the product or service their business needs"

Great point. You don't want to give a lead any reason to doubt their involvement with your brand. Walk them through the process step by step and build a real relationship.

Re: Cracking the Code for Channel Marketing

Louis Foong — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:21:05 -0000

Thank you Barbara, at the end of the
day common sense still rules the day.

Louis

Re: The Challenges that B2B Marketers Find the Most Difficult to Overcome

Louis Foong — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:06:05 -0000

Hi Barbara

Thank you for your feedback, you are right the answer is how one deals with the
issues.

Louis

Re: More Social Conversations, Not Social Broadcasts…Please

Louis Foong — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:05:24 -0000

Hi Dwayne

Just
because it is Social Media does not mean you forget the fundamentals, thank you
for your feedback

Louis

Re: Cracking the Code for Channel Marketing

Barbara Mckinney — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:45:35 -0000

Like your point here. Sometimes where too busy, preoccupied and hype formulating new strategies and adopting new medium because of what he hear and read from interne that sometimes yield to information overload and confusions. Yes, we need to abreast ourselves in the current happening in all aspects pertaining to business but let’s not forget to incorporate the basic principles. They are just the basic but an effective one.

Re: The Challenges that B2B Marketers Find the Most Difficult to Overcome

Barbara Mckinney — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:19:52 -0000

Thanks Louis for bringing this out. Being a B2B marketer is a hard task. Everyday is challengeable one. Full of pressures and stress to cope with quotas and task to be done plus the internal conflicts, misunderstanding between the sales and marketing department. Well, all companies are experiencing these. But let us not be occupied by these things. They’re just the ingredients towards the sweetest success of your company. What is important is how you accept and cope with these challenges.

Re: More Social Conversations, Not Social Broadcasts…Please

Dwayne McGuire — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:47:31 -0000

Agree to you. Sales cycle is not that an easy task. It won’t happen overnight. To be successful in this process you must build a strong foundation through constant communication (building relationship) so that you can easily hook your targeted prospect.

Re: The Rise of Inbound Marketing

Dwayne McGuire — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:38:08 -0000

Learned a lot here. I too myself prefer pull marketing. Yet, push marketing is another business investment that should be neglected because of its benefits that could bring to your business. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

If you build that credibility through inbound marketing it’s easy to gain more qualified leads. It’s just like confidently waiting for the big fish to come.

Re: B2B Sales Funnel Monitoring – Removing the Blocks

Louis Foong — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:34:20 -0000

Thank you for your note, one of the
biggest issue when discussing social media and conversion is people lumping b2b
and b2c conversion discussion together. They are 2 different animals

Re: B2B Sales Funnel Monitoring – Removing the Blocks

Julie Dawn Harris — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:42:59 -0000

Thanks for putting this on Louis. It’s quite timely. With the rise of social media some b2b marketers are so hyper with it. This post is a great reminder for all of us.

As one blog I’d just read written by Wendy Kenney , “starting a business can be very easy, but staying in business can be very difficult. You must fuel your business in order for it to keep going. Conversion is indeed a problem facing by most marketers because of the hindrances. With proper setting of goals and planning incorporated with the right tactics and medium, I’m sure that b2b marketers can surmount these blockages.

Re: Why Aren’t Your Sales People Following Up on Leads Provided by Marketing?

Gerrydee1 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:49:59 -0000

The universal lead definition changes from company to company and sometimes from
year to year within the same company. Revisit the definition often, and each
time you hire a new employee, make sure they understand it. Publish the
definition and integrate it into your organization’s language and culture. It
doesn’t matter what your company calls a lead as long as it is meaningful to the
sales force.
Recently read this from an outside source and it makes sense to me....

Re: Why Aren’t Your Sales People Following Up on Leads Provided by Marketing?

Louis Foong — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:00:09 -0000

Hi Gerrydee,

Thank you for your comment. Your point is a good
one as it demonstrates a need for a clearer definition of a lead. What you have
described is a list not a lead. Too many times listbrokers call their records "leads" and even end users use the word "leads" to describe records purchased. From
my perspective only a qualified prospect should be deemed a lead. Please read
my previous post as to what is a lead, it is universal across industry. We have not been
very good within the industry at not creating confusion as an inquiry is not a
lead and nor is a purchased list that is just a collection of records. Thank
you again for your comments and for reading.

Re: Why Aren’t Your Sales People Following Up on Leads Provided by Marketing?

Gerrydee1 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:26:40 -0000

Usually the leads that are purchased or generated are the same leads sold to many companies. Therefore, the contact is receiving too many calls. With caller ID today it is easy to be "weeded out". The best leads with the help of the Internet, which may take a little more time, are leads a sales rep can generate within organizations, education, and government by job title, department, and needs that best interest the contact. Sales reps have to prospect for leads. It is like digging for gold..not easy, but often the reward is great.

Re: Lessons from Facebook Addicts

Puneet — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:24:09 -0000

I have to be a Facebook addict! As a social media marketing coordinator, I have no choice but to be on it first thing and all day

Re: Avoid Meaningless Metrics – Monitor Quality Leads Instead

Louis Foong — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:57:42 -0000

Thanks for your comment. There must be some type of balance but unfortunately, the right balance isn't always achieved. I agree that it starts at the top with the leaders and organizational culture.

Re: Inbound Web Conversion

Louis Foong — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:56:42 -0000

Thanks for your comment Richard. How is your project going? I am always interested in real life experiences as you indicated.

Re: Effectiveness of Social Media Marketing for B2B – The Debate Rages On

Seeyinhowtue — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:17:32 -0000

50/50

Re: Avoid Meaningless Metrics – Monitor Quality Leads Instead

S.Raman — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:56:19 -0000

I agree with you Mr Foong. Eventually, it is not about quantity but quality. In a typical B2B setting, one should focus on the solutions and outcomes more as opposed to the data analysis of every event. One should not disregard quantitative analysis but it would be better if organisations focused more on their long term objectives rather than going back in time too much. Long termism should win over short termism. Bu tthen at the end of the day, it is all to do with the organisational culture and the leaders.

Re: Inbound Web Conversion

Rmccartney — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:24:07 -0000

Fascinating blog articles - many thanks for sharing.
We are starting what we call a web optimsation conversion project that covers many of the sentiments and points you cover in this article. I'll try and keep you posted on how it progresses since real life experiences should shine a lot of light on whether Inbound Web Conversion has a future.
Richard McCartney

Re: Can a small company think ‘big’ when it comes to B2B lead generation?

Princess Shane — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:43:21 -0000

Lead management continues to be a hot topic in the world of B2B marketing. Working with a Lead Management Software is certainly a terrific application to supply the company a great chance to move forward from a small one to a big one.

Re: When it comes to Effective Lead Generation…Less is More

Linc — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:14:20 -0000

I agree with Loui!!! Exactly right

Re: Social Media and B2B Lead Generation…A definite work in progress

Andrew Vance — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:54:18 -0000

Hi Louis,
Great blog and an interesting post on SM & B2B. I tend to find that social media as a B2B lead generation tool is a great qualifier in terms of lead quality (sales ready and hand-raiser). The whole point of the social media argument is that the prospect can approach us when ready not be forced into the sales process. Why? Because many B2B prospects, particularly IT decision-makers, will have completed much of their purchasing research process (hopefully with our content!) online before they decide to engage. As a result when we get a response over a social media platform it is invariably from a sales ready prospect.
Best Wishes, Andrew.

Re: A 10-Point Checklist for Achieving Marketing Leadership

George — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:31:05 -0000

"Do you always remember that technology is only a driver of change and not change itself?"

Technology and change is so all around us, we may need to be reminded of the above often.

Re: A “Do Not Bug” Registry for Social Media?

b2bspecialist — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 13:53:28 -0000

Activities create results as you know. Polling customers face to face can also be done online through a network of connections on Twitter. A list of followers is no different then a list of prospective customers that are being called through traditional telemarketing. No difference.

The question I would ask your clients is where are THEIR customers? How do they prefer to be communicated and promoted to. The good news is there are more ways to make connections then just calling people on the phone.