Hasta La Creative!

There seems to be a consensus that referrals are the best form of leads. They close faster, buy more and stay longer. In fact, great sales people have been good at generating referrals for what seems like forever.

Until recently, large corporations have struggled to figure out how to scale the success of individual sales reps to systematically and proactively drive large volumes of referrals. But that is all changing as technology is now coming to market that can help large brands automate the best practices of sales reps and institutionalize the process of generating referrals from customers, employees and other people who influence the buying decision.
Good technology systems typically are designed to automate manual best practices. Let’s take a look at key functions that great sales people all tend to have in common:

1. They build referral channels. The majority of salespeople are excellent networkers. Whether meeting people via the local rotary club, the area chamber of commerce or at the local pub, great salespeople can be very good at telling everyone about what they do – their friends, family, customers, other employees and even strangers. Great salespeople also know that the more people who know what they do, the better the chance of that specific network spreading the word.

2. They ask their channel for referrals. Most great reps never leave a meeting, business or personal, without asking for a referral – and they are skilled at handling it with a gentle approach. One of the most staggering statistics that I have recently heard is that between 70 percent and 80 percent of all people are willing to refer leads if asked, yet less than 15 percent of individuals and companies ask for them. The great ones ask, and they ask often.

3. They motivate the channel. Compensation is a great motivator (just ask the majority of the 17 million commissioned sales reps in the U.S.) and many of the great ones build professional referrals networks where they compensate people and companies for leads referred to them that can eventually lead to business. There are both monetary and non-monetary ways to incent people to do things that actually work.

4. They nurture the channel. They always thank their network for referrals, they compensate their network in a timely fashion for referrals and they keep them in the loop.

The good technology solutions should help replicate and facilitate those processes to “institutionalize” and scale the process of driving referrals. These solutions must:

– Make it easy to enroll customers, employees and influencers into the referral program. The idea is to build a referral community.
– Provide them with the tools to make it easy to refer.
– Track and manage all the workflows so you can measure results.
– Automate the process of thanking and nurturing these channels for their contributions so they continue to perform.

While the marketplace is changing at a pace that is liable to cause even the top salespeople to question their sales strategy, there is one thing that will not change. Networking will always be #1 for driving quality leads that must be nurtured, thanked and motivated.

The only real difference today, is that these steps can be completed at a faster, more efficient pace, generating exponentially more leads and closed deals – and enabling the best salespeople to be even better.

This article was written by Dick Beedon, CEO of Amplifinity.

Cette maison de vacances a été conçue par le cabinet et studio d’architecture GLUCK. Le but était de garder l’empreinte de l’arbre afin de ne pas perturber le site. Une architecture ancrée dans la nature offrant une superbe vue sur le lac et sur les montagnes au loin. Le tout est à découvrir ci-dessous en images.

Jamie Lindsay, managing director of Amscreen, launches a new trading product, prepares for AWE and faces the equally daunting prospects of Lord Sugar’s board grilling and a dental appointment.

To mark its silver jubilee, Empire magazine’s current editor, Mark Dinning, invited its previous eight editors to discuss the stars and star ratings, the covers and cock-ups that have formed part of the magazine’s history.

This weekend, Wing (once again: not that Wing) created a new campaign for the Havana Film Festival, taking place April 3-11 in New York.

Wing’s goal for the campaign was to “show that the films developed at the Havana Film Festival showcase authentic stories and characters — so much so that its storylines stick and resonate with audiences beyond the time spent in the theatre.” To accomplish, they created a pair of television spots in both 30 and 15 second formats, in addition to full-length versions on Havana Film Festival’s website. These spots attempt to show the staying power of the Havana Film Festival’s movies, showing a couple of individuals projecting stories from the films they saw onto people in their day to day life. For example, a hairdresser doles out sympathy (and extra highlights) for her customer, because, she says, “I know the nightmare you are living.”

The second spot, “Office,” gives a similar treatment to the work environment. The results are a bit over the top, as the premise spills perhaps a bit too far into the absurd. It appears the spots reference real films in the festival, though, leaving viewers to wonder how the story ends, which is a nice touch. Both versions of each TV spot will air in the tri-state area in both English and Spanish until the end of the festival on April 11th. You can watch the full-length version of “Beauty Parlor” above, and stick around for “Office,” along with credits, after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

There’s a top-10 list for just about anything. Personal health. Tax returns. The greatest events in history. Favorite bands. Reasons why the other political party stinks.

As a communicator, I’m particularly interested in the prevalence of top-10 lists in the marketing world. I can’t pick up a book or attend a conference that doesn’t present the most thorny and complex issues distilled into a how-to checklist. It’s assumed that if a Big Idea can’t be expressed in a list of actionable little ideas, it’s not worth knowing. There are how-to lists on how to write how-to lists.

Marketers have always struggled for credibility and a voice within their organizations and at their clients’ organizations. We compete these days with technologists for control of the basic tools of our craft. Yet we busy ourselves with telling one another how to reduce our strategic aspirations into neat little daily calendar entries. And then we bemoan the fact that we’re treated like tacticians by those around us.

Continue reading at AdAge.com