canvas magazine | growing up | september 2014

EMPOWERING MARKETING

SERVICE PROVIDERS

SEPTEMBER 2014

Going beyond the business plan

Anatomy of a lead

4 data mining techniques you can use

GROWING UPYour step-by-step planfor organizational maturity

mohawkconnects.com

BIGGER, BETTER SWATCH- BOOKS. FALL 2014.

[ACTUAL SIZE]

CANVAS P1

P2

Editor’s Thoughts What a concept

P4

Best of CANVAS NotesPure platinum

P6

Marketing Insights

P12

Growing upYour step-by-step plan for organizational maturity

P18

Beyond the business plan 10 essential tips you won’t learn in business school

P24

What’s a lead?Why it’s a question worth asking today

PUBLISHER

mark potter

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

brandon clark

MARKETING MANAGER

brandy brewer

MANAGING EDITOR

michael j. pallerino

ART DIRECTOR

brent cashman

EDITORIAL BOARDchris petroGlobalSoft

tom moeDaily Printing

dean petrulakisRider Dickerson

david bennettBennett Graphics

tony narducciO’Neil Printing

CANVAS, Volume 6, Issue 7. Published bi-monthly, copyright 2014 CANVAS, All rights reserved, 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, GA 30097. Please note: The acceptance of advertising or products mentioned by contributing authors does not constitute endorsement by the publisher. Publisher cannot accept responsibility for the correctness of an opinion expressed by contributing authors.

SEPTEMBER 2014

It is critical that everyone on your team understands that both operational change and strategic change is equally important in order for your company to survive.

P2 CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2014

EDITOR’S THOUGHTS

What a concept

Michael J. Pallerino, Editor

Follow me @mpallerino

Robin Williams. Mention his name, and your mind seemingly drifts into a million memories. He made us laugh. He made us cry. And thanks to all the characters and catchphrases he threw at us in rapid succession

over his 40-plus years in the spotlight, he will never let us forget him.There are a lot of lessons here, especially when you’re talking about how to

take your brand and your message to the next level. If you want an idea of what your brand means to your customers, remember what Billy Crystal said about his iconic friend: “Robin Williams, what a concept.”

More than anything else (comedic genius, Academy Award-winning actor, an unparalleled improvisational performer), Robin Williams was unique. Whether you’re talking about Mork from Ork, Mrs. Doubtfire, Genie from Aladdin, and on and on, what stands out most is his uniqueness.

Does your brand stand out? Are your customers excitedly talking about your products and/or services or are they just putting you into that “same-old-same-old” category?

Not everything and everyone falls into the same category. They just don’t. If you think your customers – and all those who aren’t your customers yet – are falling all over themselves to get to you, well, you’re wrong. They aren’t – un-less you continue to show them.

Why not take Robin Williams’ approach? Why not be the wildest and craziest brand you can be and elicit the emotions that will stay with your customers for the long haul. Be the brand that continues to build on the products and ser-vices and people that gives your customers what they want, when they need it. Be the brand that is as unique and memorable as it is dependable – the one that people just cannot get enough of being around.

That is our mission at CANVAS – to be the content provider that leaves you wanting more. In this issue, our cover story, “Growing Up,” internationally rec-ognized change agent and speaker Tom Somodi breaks down his four-step plan for creating an organizational structure that works for change. In addition, New York Times bestselling authors Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey un-cover the 10 tips you might not have learned in business school.

As you read through this issue, we hope you will find insights that can help move your brand and your company to the next level.

What a concept.

Be the brand that is as

unique and memorable as

it is depend-able – the one

that people just cannot get

enough of being around.

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I received yet another invitation to join the Platinum level credit card club. Normally, I

discard promotional materials like these. But this time, I wanted to see exactly what

privileges they were offering for my investment. It made me think about all the sales-

people in our industry and what they’re affording their clients.

To be more specific, I wonder what would happen if we provided differentiated levels of

service at different levels of commitment.

Imagine if Printer X marketed a new program where its sales service changed based on the level of up-

front commitment by its clients. For example, at the Bronze level, its clients would receive an email from a

salesperson every month and a quarterly visit. There wouldn’t be much value added, but the client would

get his print job done on time and at a reasonable price. The quality would be fine and he would receive

an invoice with a “Thank You” stamped on it.

The Silver plan would cost a little more money. The client starts to get some serious attention from the

salesperson – and maybe even an occasional pastry. He’ll be on the direct mail list, and the salesperson

may even throw in some samples that may inspire some ideas. There might even be a Christmas card in

the offering. The Gold plan is a big deal. Management will

get to know the client, take him to a ball-

game and even designate a customer service

rep. Because he’s a big client, and a big

chunk of the company’s revenue, his price will

be higher than the others. But the service he

pays for is completely worth it.

Now, there is a final level, but it’s rarely attained. The Platinum program is the highest priced program

offered, but it comes with a level of attention that’s usually reserved for family and friends. This program

includes someone who understands the client’s every move. He can anticipate his needs before the cli-

ent can articulate them. He’s not defined by anything he makes. He’s consumed with the client and can

source just about anything he needs. The price usually is higher, but it doesn’t matter because the part-

nership is directly correlated to an increase in the client’s top and bottom lines. In fact, when the invoices

arrive, the client doesn’t think twice because the value transcends a check.

So, on your next set of calls, hit your clients up with this new program. Go ahead and ask them up front

what level of service they’d like. Make sure all your clients understand that once they commit, all the ben-

efits will kick in.

What? That won’t work? You don’t think you can roll out the cash, collect the dough, and then deliver?

I’m sensing you might think every client should receive the same kind of attention, and once you get to

know certain ones, you can go deeper. That would be like going up to someone you think is attractive,

and then promising that if she marries you all of her dreams will come true.

The facts are that we must deliver the Platinum level service up front and let our clients determine

if they want to enjoy the benefits. That’s when the rewards kick in.

Mark Pot terFollow me @markricepotter

Pure platinum

We must deliver the Platinum

level service up front and let our

clients determine if they want to

enjoy the benefits. That’s when

the rewards kick in.

Productivity Meet Profitability

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MARKETINSIGHTS A SNAPSHOT OF THE TRENDS DEFINING OUR INDUSTRY

Did you know?According to Social Media Examiner’s “2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report (SMMIR)” more than 60 percent of marketers use social media for less than 10 hours each week, while 34 percent report using it for less than one hour.

The amount, in billions, that advertisers worldwide will spend on paid media in 2014, according to recent research from eMarketer. The numbers also show that total media ad spending will increase 5.7 percent, more than doubling its growth rate of 2.6 percent from a year ago. On a country-to-country basis, the U.S. market is the faraway leader, with spending expected to eclipse $180 billion in 2014.

Taking a stance on an important issue and making a positive contribution are exactly what a brand should be doing in today’s world. People are happy with the idea of brands aligning themselves with a social issue – just as long as they are making a genuine positive contribution.”

– Kate Cox, a managing partner at communications firm Havas Media, on why some brands are creating more emotive, shareable content that champions social issues

What do your customers look for in a website? According to Limelight Net-works’ “State of the User Experience Re-port,” 52 percent of today’s consumers say high performance is the quality they value most. Other interesting insights show that 60 percent aren’t willing to wait more than five seconds for a webpage to load before becoming frustrated and leaving the site, with 37 percent of them buying a product from a competitor if a site is too slow. Most interesting is that 82 percent are likely to recommend a brand to a friend following a positive experience on a website.

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M. Lynn O’Donnell knows her way around the data world. As director of marketing for Four Rivers Software Systems, she’s responsible for demand generation, marketing communications and brand management. Here, she offers four ways you can start collecting data for you business today:

Get toknow them

No. 1 – Landing page reportsThese reports determine how many contacts viewed a landing page and, of that number, how many signed-up or completed the form. Data can be analyzed by individual landing pages or as an overall summary. Within each report, you can drill down to the contact level and view where the interest originated, and track the origin of their interest and lead score. Analyzing this data allows you to de-termine effective campaigns and track the inquiries through the nurturing cycle.

4 data mining techniquesyou can use

No. 3 – Drip reportsDrip campaigns can determine the number of contacts in the campaign, if they have been opened and if any links have been clicked from an email campaign. They help automate the nurturing process, allowing you to touch prospects without a significant amount of manual effort.

No. 4 – Lead scoreLead scoring system is based on your visitor’s activities. With each activity, the score increases and there are some activities that are collected that de-crease the score such as “unsubscrib-ing.” Collect the score and use it to determine the seriousness of a lead. The higher the score, the more likely the lead is closer to viewing a demon-stration and possible purchase.

No. 2 – External websitetracking reportsThese reports analyze the external sources driving traffic to a website. This generally is an overview, but does give information on whether viewers are coming directly to the site or from social media, search engines or other websites. Once you determine what’s driving your traffic, you can more ef-fectively use those sources.

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Bridging the great divideReport shows CMOs, CIOs working together

Whether or not the world of chief marketing officers (CMOs) and chief information officers (CIOs) will ever truly come together as one remains to be seen. But for now, according to the “CMI-CMO Alignment 2014” report from Accenture, the two groups are working more collaboratively than ever

before. For example, nearly 43 percent of CMOs and 50 percent of CIOs say their relationships have improved over the past year. Following are some

other key findings:

CMOs that say the technology development

process is too slow for the speed required for

digital marketing

CIOs that saymarketing requirements

and priorities change too often for them to

keep up

CIOs that say CMOs lack the vision to anticipate new digital channels

40%43% 25%

43%

CMOs that say their company’s IT team

don’t understand the urgency of integrating

new data sources into campaigns

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winning profi table relationships. At Konica Minolta, we power business velocity with some of

the fastest, high-performance products available anywhere. Then we shift your business

into high gear with training and education, market insights, access to industry experts and

innovative solutions for print and online.

We put your business exactly where you need it to be: The Winner’s Circle.

Power meets performance.

© 2014 KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS U.S.A., INC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. KONICA MINOLTA, the KONICA MINOLTA logo, bizhub, and Giving Shape to Ideas are registered trademarks or trademarks of KONICA MINOLTA, INC.

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STEPS TO ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY

Your step-by-step planfor organizational maturityBy Tom Somodi

GROWING UP

CANVAS P13

BY TOM SOMODI

A s the printing services industry continues to diversify, many, if not most industry observers would argue that the ability for an organization to change over time is

critical to its long-term survival. To this end, literature is full of theories, methodologies, recommendations and analysis on how an organization should be structured in order to maximize the likelihood of obtaining successful change.

Since more than half of all human

communication takes place nonverbally,

audiences judge you based on what

they hear and see.

It is said that organizations must be structured to

provide employee empowerment, lean operating

techniques and continuous improvement philoso-

phies as just a small sampling of examples. Yet, we

still hear about companies failing to obtain desired

change even though they possessed exemplary ef-

forts to support such structural recommendations.

The reality is that if you want to see advance-

ments in this arena, a major paradigm shift must

occur regarding the dynamics of change and or-

ganizational structure. The best place to begin this

shift is by leveraging the concepts found in Change

Science. Here are four steps you can follow to cre-

ate the change you want in your company:

Step 1 Develop & Communicate a Proper Perspective of Change in Your Company

One of the first things Change Science tells us

is that change is constantly and continuously oc-

curring around us. Therefore, it’s important for

everyone in your company to recognize this fact.

Every time a new customer order is received,

a product is produced or an invoice is gener-

ated, a change has occurred within your com-

pany. Therefore, your company continuously is

inundated with change. And, assuming that your

company has managed to survive, this change –

both expected and unexpected – on a whole has

been successful.


GROWING UP

So, Step 1 is for you to stop thinking of change

as strictly specific efforts and/or events, and rec-

ognize that you already are successfully dealing

with a continuous stream of change at every level

in your company.

Step 2 Develop a Company-Wide Understanding of Responsibility

So, how does your company manage all of this

continuously occurring change? The answer is sim-

ple: a delegation of responsibility. From the per-

son who pushes the button to start your printing

machines, to the person who enters the customer

order, and the manager that resolves a conflict, re-

sponsibility for the control of these various chang-

es has been delegated.

It is important to recognize that the concept of

employee empowerment automatically exists as

soon as that individual is given responsibility for

managing and controlling the change that has

been assigned to him. What most often is lack-

ing is a top to bottom organizational recogni-

tion that not only is there a significant amount of

change continuously occurring in your company,

but through the assignment of responsibility, all of

your employees already are masters at managing

and executing change.

Step 3 Recognize & CommunicateTwo Broad Categories of Change within Your Company

Given that companies already are managing and

executing a continuous flow of change, why all the

discussion about how they struggle with change?

The answer is that organizations have allowed the

lines of responsibility between day-to-day opera-

tional change and strategic change to get blurred.

More important, the lines of responsibility not only

have become blurred, but it is common that the

interrelationship between operational change and

strategic change has become disconnected.

• Strategic change is in response to both inter-

nal opportunities for improvement and reac-

tion to external influences that can threaten

your company.

• Operational change focuses on the short-

term expected and unexpected change

that must be executed in support of the cus-

tomer. This is based upon strategic change

that has occurred within your company on a

historical basis.

It is critical that everyone on your team under-

stands that both operational change and strate-

gic change is equally important in order for your

company to survive. There must be an under-

standing and an acceptance by your employees

that operational change has to be continuously

executed to support the customer in the here and

now, while strategic change must be continuous-

ly executed in order for your company to survive

into the future.

Step 4 Adjust Organizational Responsibility to Clearly Support Operational & Strategic Change

Assuming your company is successful in Steps

1 through 3, it still can face challenges when ad-

dressing change if there is not a clear delineation of

responsibility for operational and strategic change

among your workforce. The following guidelines

will help:

It is critical that everyone on your team understands that both operational change and strategic change is equally important in order for your company to survive.

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GROWING UP

• Drive responsibility for day-to-day opera-

tional change as far down your company’s

pyramid as possible. Ideally, the more op-

erational change that can be executed and

controlled at the administrative and pro-

duction levels of your company, the better.

These are the people closest to the opera-

tional change, and generally have the great-

est ability to address opportunities and is-

sues that may arise.

• Clearly indicate (i.e., including through ap-

praisal and compensation arrangements)

that the primary responsibility over strategic

change is from the lowest management lev-

els, on up to the executive and board level.

There always will be operational change that

requires involvement at the higher levels of

management. Even a major customer con-

tract could easily require sign off by the CEO.

But it should be clear that the main respon-

sibility for management should be related to

the accomplishment of strategic change.

• There should be a clear understanding at the

ground operational level that it’s manage-

ment’s responsibility to make sure there’s

continuous strategic change occurring in

the company with an objective of long-term

improvement and survival. But it’s also im-

portant to make sure a communications

loop exists that supports the delineation of

responsibility. This includes communication

of the “why” and “what” behind strategic

change to those with a primary responsibil-

ity over operational change. It also includes

feedback to those responsible for strategic

change regarding the performance of stra-

tegic change initiatives and other opportuni-

ties for improvements that might exist.

By following these four steps, the formula as-

sociated with an organizational structure that will

greatly enhance the ability to support the change

required for growth and long-term survival is quite

simple. The real challenge is in executing the para-

digm shift that requires a clear understanding by

your organization that change already is being suc-

cessfully executed within your company, and a new

delineation of responsibility between strategic and

operational change is required.

Tom Somodi is a speaker and expert on change, applying his extensive domestic and international

business experience, including reorganizations, acquisitions, strategic change initiatives, and

taking a company public during the difficult 2011 financial markets. Somodi has held CEO, COO,

CFO and board level positions. His book, “The Science of Change: Basics Behind Why Change

Succeeds and Fails” also is available. For more information, visit www.changescienceinstitute.

com or email [email protected].

Allocation of focus betweenstrategic & operation change

StrategicChange (SC)

OperationalChange (OC)

Board ofDirectorsSC 100%OC 0%

ChiefExecutives

SC 90%OC 10%

VPsSC 85%OC 15%

DirectorsSC 75%OC 25%

ManagersSC 60%OC 40%

Admin &Production

SC 5%OC 95%

THEINDUSTRIAL

DEAD.AGE IS

“Selling in the Connection Age”Featured speakers

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Greg CottichiaCEO/President Malcovery Security

Chris HarroldVice President of Business

Development & Creative Director

Mark PotterCEO at Conduit, Inc.

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10 ESSENTIAL BUSINESS TIPS

There are a lot of different beliefs about

what it takes to be successful today.

Whatever your thoughts are, one

thing is for sure: There is much to learn from

those who have been there and done that.

By Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey

10 essential tips you won’t learn in business school

BEYOND THEBUSINESS PLAN

CANVAS P19

BY MICHAEL HOULIHAN & BONNIE HARVEY

Treat each customer on an individual

basis. Ask about their

experiences with your

product and listen to their

answers.


BEYOND THE BUSINESS PLAN

The truth is that entrepreneurs can be made. You don’t have to be born with that entrepreneurial gift, in fact, most success-ful businesspeople weren’t. It all comes down to foundational knowledge and hard work. And if you’re open minded and will-ing to listen to the voice of experience, you can learn the guid-ing principles that play a role in building successful businesses – and have a major advantage over many of your peers.

It’s all about putting yourself in another person’s shoes. We call this guiding principle “The Barefoot Spirit.” When you al-low this principle – not fear, greed or the way other people did things – to guide your decisions, you can increase sales, reduce overhead, gain new loyal customers and grow your brand. Here are 10 foundational habits that, along with a healthy work ethic, will help you to become successful as an entrepreneur:

Always ask yourself,“How would I like this?”When you start your own business, you quickly learn there’s no class, book, case study or industry standard that can give you a clear answer to that one big ques-

tion: Will this choice sustain and grow my business? So, put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Would you work for you? Would you extend credit to you? Would you like selling to you if you were a vendor? Asking yourself these questions offers an objective view of your business practices and how you might need to change to build a brand you’d be loyal to.

Pinpoint your strengths and weaknessesWe all tend to think we can do more than we actu-ally can. As a result, we’re overscheduled, overtired, over stimulated and overwhelmed. This tendency to be “over” causes us to blow our skill sets, capabili-

ties, and even our products and services out of pro-portion. Try working with a third party that knows you well. One of the keys to success is understanding what you have an abundance of and what you need more of. A trusted friend or mentor can help you make those distinctions. This person can help you determine how much time you have to commit to your venture and how much money you can safely spend, for example. He can keep you honest about what you do and don’t excel at, how you handle stress, and when you must del-egate tasks and call in help.

Always keep in mind why you’re in businessSet a clear picture on your values and goals. Ask yourself questions like: Why do I want to build this

business? How do I create a legacy or build brand value? What are my beliefs on how employees and

customers should be treated? Consider writing the answers to these questions down and reflecting on them from time to

One of the keys to success is understanding what you have an abundance of and what you need more of.

1

2

3

STAY IN TOUCH...Our CANVAS community is more robust than ever.

Don’t miss an issue

Update your information today!www.thecanvasmag.com

time. The reasons behind why you started your business in the first place will influence how you run it every day. It’s important to stay connected to your values and to make sure that time and momentum don’t move you too far away from them.

Become a leader in your own categoryThere was a time before terms like “social network,” “iPhone” and “Google it” were used. Create your own terms, define your own niches and be a leader in your own category. This will help you distinguish your com-

pany and lead it to success. Don’t be afraid to name your own tune. Don’t let initial resistance or skepticism stop you.

Always OVERdeliverMost consumers today are looking for products and ser-vices that provide good value for the price. If you want to gain your customers’ loyalty, offer them what they want and make sure they have consistently positive experienc-

es with your company.

Heart isn’t something you can learn from a book, class or seminar. …And when you tap into this wellspring, you’ll have grasped one of

the most valuable tools you can possess as a leader.

4

5


Don’t be afraid toask for helpEverybody needs a helping hand from time to time. Being honest regarding where you are

and what you need is the best policy. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice, guid-ance, and aid from mentors and other indus-try professionals.

Hire people you like, then help them blossomDon’t hire somebody solely on technical skill set. You can teach that. Instead, hire people

with foundational qualities you can build on: integrity, enthusiasm,

a willingness to learn, a sense of humor and a sincere interest in your business, to name a few. Provide your team with a verbal run-down of what is required of them – the chal-lenges and your expectations, etc. Create an environment where your trusted team mem-bers can feel free to grow, take risks and make mistakes. Employees who aren’t supported and who are afraid of doing something wrong will never live up to their full potentials. Find out what your employees excel at, and then redesign their jobs to fit those skills. Don’t put the square peg in the round hole. Build a square hole.

Have heartHeart isn’t something you can learn from a book, class or seminar. It’s not a skill you can

master. It’s something you must find within yourself. And when you

tap into this wellspring, you’ll have grasped one of the most valuable tools you can pos-sess as a leader. Heart is having a sense of humor in the face of hardship and not taking yourself too seriously. It is about being true to your core values. It is helping your community improve itself, thereby giving others a social reason to buy your product. Heart is what makes you feel good about what you do.

BEYOND THE BUSINESS PLAN

Know the difference between customer service and complaint resolution

Today, customer service depart-ments should be called “complaint

resolution” departments. Instead of handling complaints formulaically and trying to sweep them under the rug, give real and timely feed-back about what you offer. Treat each cus-tomer on an individual basis. Ask about their experiences with your product and listen to their answers. Share these insights with your team. Don’t rest until your customers have something good to say about your company.

Meet deadlines (and when you can’t, call)It goes without saying that you should do everything in your

power to meet a deadline. But sometimes, deadlines can be try-

ing. When that’s the case, let your client know. Explain what the holdup is, extend your sin-cere apologies and explain how you’re going to make things right. Don’t let them call you.

Bestselling New York Times authors Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey wrote “The Barefoot Spirit:

How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand” to chronicle their experiences

with building the popular Barefoot Wine brand. Today, they share their experiences as consultants,

authors, speakers, mentors and workshop leaders.

6

7

8

9

10

Easily

digestible

inspirestories that will

your sales team

Pay it Forward

Are your sales meetings going stale? Spice them up with the candidly insightful "Egrets, Hockey Sticks, and Roller Skates" by Mark Potter. This book is dedicated to inspiring a new mindset for the marketing services industry. You will you be inspired, but you will also be giving back to the print industry. All proceeds go directly to the Electronic Document Scholarship Foundation which helps support eager student leaders that are looking to make this industry even brighter.

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BUSINESSINSIGHTS ANATOMY OF A LEAD • GREG COTICCHIA

What’s a lead?Why it’s a question worth asking today

Somewhere around 2004, after spending close to 20 years in marketing and various other executive sales leadership posi-tions, I used to hold a standard weekly sales call. During one

call, one of my salespeople asked, “What’s a lead?”

While I took the question at face value, I was somewhat shocked that a sales rep of almost equal experience would ask such a question. Interesting-ly, as we have moved into an age of marketing au-tomation and a more quantitative set of measures for marketing communications, she was right.

“What’s a lead” actually is a great question. To-day, it’s wise to clearly define the answer so that you can move “top of the funnel” activities effec-tively through to sales. Leads have a long history in B2B marketing. According to recent surveys, the biggest challenge B2B marketers face in regards to lead generation is generating high-quality leads.

Traditionally, when I look at the three primary categories of marketing communication spends, I place these in three big buckets – awareness (PR, speaking events, bogging, online ads, some aspects of social media, etc.) sales support (data sheets, brochures, case studies, ROI calculators, etc.) and lead generation (telemarketing, direct mail, email, events, inbound calls, search – both SEO and PPC – and webinars/seminars).

As B2B marketing has changed, the last cate-gory has become more important. In some orga-nizations, these activities were left up to the sales organizations. They sometimes were referred to as “field marketing,” since they were considered “beneath” the corporate marketing organization that was more “creative” and “strategic.” Those days are gone. Driving sales and reducing barri-ers to transactions is key.

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OK, so what is a lead?An issue with defining our question has to

do with the traditional roles (and friction) be-tween sales and marketing. Marketing always exclaims: “We generated tons of leads,” as if to declare success by volume. At the other end, salespeople often proclaim the opposite: “All of these leads are crap.”

This zero sum game can produce a losing process with little or no accountability, frustra-tion and no results. As a result, roles such as VP of sales and marketing are created to reduce friction, and to create singular ownership and accountability. This is a mistake. And it’s not enough. There are better ways to create coop-eration and effectiveness.

So, what can you do? First, you need some context about the changing buyers’ landscape and some definitions. Today’s prospects are much more informed about you and your com-petitor’s products and services. They have identified their own needs. They have started to design their own solutions. And they have done all of this before they talk to you.

According to a study by CEB, buyers now are 57 percent of the way toward a buying deci-sion when they are contacted by a salesperson.

Salespeople have no control in this situation, unless they figure out how to add value to the decision-making process. Identifying key buy-ing criteria such as Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe, what IBM labels (BANT), isn’t good enough anymore.

As a result, leads are no longer just leads. By using BANT, we could create a system where we could associate some status of “hot,” “warm” or “cold” to the leads. BANT still has a use, but it must be used differently in light of today’s buyers’ journey. Today’s buyers are learning more online before they reach out in a buying process.

One major reason is that by the time a lead is fully “BANT-qualified,” it’s probably too late. Your odds of concluding a sale on your terms are greatly diminished because your competi-tor probably has established a favored position.

What companies are doing today essentially is breaking down BANT along the buyer’s jour-ney so they can capture their prospect’s inter-est and stay involved with him as he moves through the process. Here’s how it looks today:

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL):This lead has achieved a certain score based

on a predetermined set of criteria and is ready to be handed off to sales. This is essentially dis-covering if there is a “need” and what level of “authority” a prospect has. The lead might be regarded as someone in the right sort of role at the right sort of company, plus shows some behavior (clicking in an email and downloading a whitepaper, etc.) that indicates he’s ready to be engaged by sales.

Sales Accepted Leads (SAL):Leads accepted by sales for follow up actions.

This is essential for alignment between sales and marketing.

BUSINESSINSIGHTS ANATOMY OF A LEAD

The biggest challenge B2B marketers face in

regards tolead generation

is generatinghigh-quality leads.

CANVAS P27

Sales Qualified Leads (SQL):Leads that convert into opportunities – either

wins or losses. This is where sales also seeks to

learn “Budget” and “Timeframe.”

For example, a MQL might be regarded as

someone in the right sort of role at the right sort

of company, plus show some behavior (clicking

within an email to download a whitepaper, etc.)

that indicates he’s ready for sales.

A SAL is where the sales team contacts an MQL,

and decides that this lead should work. The lead

may go through budget and readiness qualifying

to determine if it is a SQL that should be worked

to a closed/won revenue opportunity.

In this case, it’s important to define what’s

not a marketing qualified lead. Some compa-

nies look only for role fit, company fit, and some

interest indicators. Determining available bud-

get or whether a decision to purchase has been

made are sales lead questions.

It also is important to score the leads in each

step. You measure a lead’s effectiveness by as-

signing a numeric score based on a predefined

set of rules, taking the subjectivity like hot, warm

or cold out of qualitative rankings. Quantitative

lead definitions also reduce the friction between

sales and marketing.

You first may have to guess what the criteria

is or what the right “number” is associated. The

process will improve as you complete more sales

cycles and review the leads associated with the

wins and losses.

Here’s an example: Let’s assume your rev-

enue target calls for incremental new revenue

of $10 million, and that your average deal size

is $25,000. This would translate into 400 new

deals required to meet your revenue target.

Let’s further assume that your sales reps can

close one out of every four well-qualified leads.

To close 400 deals you must meet your revenue

objective of $10 million for the year. You’ll need

1,600 SQLs.

So what’s a lead? The answer is much more

complicated than it ever was. If answered cor-

rectly, it also will be more useful to your business,

your salespeople and your company’s revenue.

Greg Coticchia is an award-winning technology executive with more than 25 years experience in

high-tech products and services. Recently, as CEO and co-founder of eBillingHub, he grew the

company from inception to establishing it in a leading market position that led to its sale to Thomson

Reuters. He currently teaches both business-to-business marketing and entrepreneurial leadership

at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business.

The biggest challenge B2B marketers face in regards tolead generation is generatinghigh-quality leads.

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canvas magazine | growing up | september 2014

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