getting past the gate keeper sales pick up lines the...

SPRING2013

SALES PICK UP LINES

GETTING PAST THE

GATE KEEPER

THE little THINGS THAT

WIN SALES

WWW.LEADMAGZ.COM

Designers Richard PettisErika Sanchez

Editors Giovanni SanguilyYessica Quinonez

Spring LETTER FROM EDITOR

Welcome to the spring edition of LeadGen Magazine. Our 2013 is off to a great start! Lead Magz is happy to announce... Touch or Click

THE LITTLE THINGS THAT WIN SALES

Getting a potential business partner or client to agree to a meeting is one thing... Touch or Click

HOW TO CREATE EFFECTIVE MARKETING DESIGNS

When marketing anything to potential or pre-existing customers, the key is to... Touch or Click

GETTING PAST THE GATE KEEPER

I find it interesting how sales people are surprised or let down when the “Gatekeeper”... Touch or Click

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contributing Writers Giovanni SanguilyDebbie Dragon

Rafael Sanguily

Issue

2013

FALLING IN LOVE WITH A VERTICAL

When vendors or a group of businesses offer services and develop... Touch or Click

MARKETING JEDI: NETWORK HEROES

This month’s Marketing Jedi is Jon Matero from Network Heroes because they... Touch or Click

THE BETTER BUSINESS BREAKFAST

As a managed service provider, you want as many people at your meeting as... Touch or Click

SALES PICK UP LINES

We’ve all seen and heard these lines (hopefully none of them actually used in “real life”) they are rarely... Touch or Click

Marketing JediAppointmentChannel JuiceEditor’s Letter

Welcome to the spring edition of LeadGen Magazine. Our 2013 is off to a great start! Lead Magz is happy

to announce we have successfully added innovative new services to our offering, which include: mobile responsive web design and animation style videos as a service. The response from the channel has been nothing short of amazing. We have brought on new clients from all over the world and have successfully helped them market their services, acquire new clients, and receive marketing dollars from their vendors. All of the credit goes to our service delivery team, that have worked tirelessly over the last several months to create this amazing new experience for I.T. Service Providers.

Creating LeadGen Spring - 2013 Now let’s jump to some of the behind the scenes action for LeadGen Spring. Springtime is the season of color, creativity, rebirth, and love. So, we wanted to create a theme that was full of abstract art and color. The design team had to be very creative to use these elements to create relevant images and a stylistic magazine layout. I think the results are amazing! LeadGen Spring is now the coolest looking magazine we have created to date. Keeping the elements of the spring season in mind, we put together content to help you

The Little ThingsVerticalsBetter BreakfastPick Up Lines

STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE


create effective marketing designs, capture the attention of new prospects, set more appointments, and win more sales. We know that summer is just around the corner and business typically slows down a bit during the vacation season. So, we want you to leverage these strategies to earn new business and generate more revenue this summer than you ever have before.

The Marketing Jedi’sThis is a brand new column that will be included in LeadGen Magazine going forward. We have had the privilege of working with several successful MSP’s and I.T. Service Providers and they have shared some really great marketing strategies and ideas that have resulted in millions of dollars in new sales. We want to share those ideas



and strategies with the rest of the channel so we will be interviewing these companies and featuring them in every issue of LeadGen Magazine. These are your peers using these same ideas today to win new sales, earn marketing dollars from their vendors, and launching into new verticals. We hope you enjoy these new columns.

Spring Season Must Do’sBefore the spring season comes to an end there are a few things that we recommend you do.1. Read LeadGen Spring! Because

it’s just AWESOME!2. Watch Iron Man 3 because we all

want to be Tony Stark 3. Sell Stuff! Lots of Stuff… because

to be like Tony Stark you need money… lots of money!



SalesPick Up Lines

By Lead Magz


“So did it hurt…? (Awkward pause) when you fell from Heaven…?”

We’ve all seen and heard these lines (hopefully none of them actually used in “real life”) they are rarely successful and usually lead to less than desirable results. Don’t be that guy/girl… These lines ruin your credibility which is the nexus of starting a productive conversation. That said, there is definitely an easier way to reduce the risk involved in starting a productive business conversation.

PICK UP LINES

While there are many comparisons that one could draw from sales and dating, there are three commonalities that particularly stand out;

1. Confidence is key to the initial introduction.

2. Timing is critical to mitigating the risk associated with asking for the first meeting.

3. Credibility and curiosity move people towards taking the next step.

Continue reading


Let’s face it; no one likes to be rejected, whether it’s in sales or in your personal life, which is where I think some people decide to actually use these silly lines. There is zero authenticity involved and it helps temper the risk of feeling rejection by placing the responsibility on the line and not the individual giving the line. Confidence is sexy, not just in dating but also in sales. Having confidence in yourself, your solution or product, and leveraging the

right timing is critical to insuring a successful introduction. You have to ask yourself, “what value do I provide my clients?”, “what value does your solution or product provide the client?”, and almost more importantly “when is the right time to approach them?” The answer to the first two questions will not only provide the confidence to know that you have something that your prospects would want to hear about but allow you to speak with conviction and passion, which

PICK UP LINES


definitely sets the right tone. Extreme confidence with poor timing though is a terrible combination. It’s like trying to ask someone out during a funeral, it doesn’t matter how confident you are, it’s just not the right time. This is similar to trying to approach a CPA during the peak of tax season with a new business proposition. It doesn’t matter how confident or valuable your solution is, it’s just not the right time. Wait a few weeks and approach them in the “off season” when they’ll be open to listening to some new ideas. Also, learn what days or specific times work best to approach the verticals you are going after. This not only shows that you understand their business, but that you are sensitive to their specific needs. Understanding when to approach your prospects and

how your solution or product specifically benefits them also helps craft very effective curiosity inducing questions. Whenever I think of how curiosity plays a role in sales, I remember the scene from “40 Year Old Virgin” where Steve Carrell’s character approaches

the pretty girl in the video store and does nothing but

rephrase everything she says back into

PICK UP LINES


PICK UP LINES

a question. It’s obvious the girl becomes increasingly curious and interested and eventually asks him out. This scene demonstrates a few cardinal rules that many sales professionals (and people looking for dates) should leverage; don’t give them every minute detail of

demonstrates poor timing which hurts your credibility. Next time you are introduced to someone who might be a potential prospect or client try using short curiosity inducing questions that leave the prospect interested but wanting more. Suppose your talking to a CPA at a mixer or social and the conversation turns to, “so what do you do?” and suppose you happen to sell cloud services or technology to CPAs, try

“Confidence is sexy, not just in dating but also in sales. Having confidence in yourself, your solution or product, and leveraging the right timing is critical to insuring a successful introduction.

what you offer all at once and don’t try to close the deal too early. I notice many sales people at the first sign of interest immediately try to tell the client everything about the product or solution they sell and how the prospect should buy it right now. This destroys the attraction associated with a little bit of mystery and curiosity. It sounds like you are desperate and definitely


PICK UP LINES

responding with something simple like “I help CPAs and Enrolled Agents leverage new advancements in cloud technology to improve their bottom lines”. Think of it like a movie preview, you just want to give them enough to see what comes next and that is in essence what you do for your clients and if you delivered that statement with confidence and conviction, it should produce a response from the prospect like “How do you do that?” or “What do you mean?” Instead of going right into specifics, or immediately trying to close a deal, you want to continue leveraging curiosity by giving them a little more information such as “Many CPAs I initially talk to are using really old technology or not really leveraging some of the new tools available to them, if you are interested maybe we can schedule a short visit after this and we can have a discovery consultation to see if you are up to speed on some of these new advancements”. Hopefully, if you’ve executed this correctly you will have a prospect that is curious and looking forward to your meeting.


I find it interesting how sales people are surprised or let down when the “Gatekeeper” of a

specific account they are trying to penetrate continues to turn them away. My initial response to when sales people I train tell me they can’t get past the gatekeeper is, “Well were you the Key Master?” (Sadly many of the younger sales people I train never get the obscure reference to the Ghostbusters movie). All Sales people should ask themselves, besides your commission, “why should the Gatekeeper let you speak to your desired contact?” The key to getting past the gatekeeper lies in building a relationship with them and making sure you are prepared.

GETTING PAST THE GATE

KEEPERBy Lead Magz

APPOINTMENT SETTING


Before any successful sales engagement can begin, there are many important pieces of information that can be gathered before any client interaction takes place. The preparation phase is the first step in the seven step sales process and requires a client-centric mentality. Strategic preparation; when conducted properly, will allow the Sales Professional to gather the necessary information to conduct

a valuable Warm Up (Step 2 of the Seven Step Sales Process) and instill a sense of professionalism during the first client appointment and increase the chances of building customer rapport. There are numerous method-ologies in the area of strategic preparation. Keeping prospects’ challenges and issues in mind; instead of the solutions that the Sales Professional is interested in

APPOINTMENT SETTING


“selling, is the first paradigm shift that needs occur, and is the underlying foundation for successful strategic preparation. This shift in approach and mentality will set the stage for searching for valuable information that can be used to bond with prospects and connect proposed solutions to more specific pain points that they may find valuable. Examples of the tactical execution of Strategic Preparation by a Sales Professional include:

• Entering a Prospects’ name and company name into an Internet search engine and researching any recent news or social media affiliations found. This tactic will allow the Sales Professional to get a better understanding of what activities or organizations the

APPOINTMENT SETTING

The key to getting past the gatekeeper lies in building a relationship with them and making sure you are prepared.

Prospect and their organization may be involved in.

• Researching the Prospect Company’s Website. In the “About us” or “History” section of the


website there may be valuable information that could give clues about the core value system of the company. The Website may also provide information on multiple locations and the names of the Decision Maker(s).

• Researching the Prospect’s Vertical for any recent news or new or existing Regulatory or Compliance requirements. The Sales Professional should also research any specific line of business applications or business processes used by the Prospect to determine potential pain points that can be used for discussion to build a perception of competence in understanding the Prospect’s business. This strategy will open the door for The Sales Professional to ask more valuable questions later in the Qualifying Phase (Step 3 of the Seven Step Sales Process).

• Create a repository of the Prospect’s potential business

challenges (Issues) and at least 10 Implications for each of these issues on other areas of their business. This will allow the Sales Professional to ask deeper questions during the Qualifying Step of the Sales process and escalate the sense of urgency for the Prospect to make a buying decision by increasing the number of reasons a Prospect would want to move forward with the proposed solution.

• Strategic preparation is the first crucial step in developing distinction and separation between a typical Sales Person and an effective Sales Professional. This step will allow the Sales Professional to develop a Trusted Advisor relationship with Gatekeepers, Prospects, and Clients. While Strategic Preparation alone will not close a Prospect, it will provide the foundation for; and increase the chances of, conducting a successful sales engagement.

APPOINTMENT SETTING


APPOINTMENT SETTING


How to Create

Effective Marketing

DesignsBy Lead Magz


When marketing anything to potential or pre-existing customers, the key is to effectively communicate your intentions. Knowing

your audience is crucial. If you’re promoting a Justin Bieber concert coming up, your tactics will be slightly different than trying to sell tickets to a James Taylor show because you need to tailor your approach to your target market for the best results. Once you have your target group, there are other factors to consider.

Keep it Simple and Easy to Read the Call to ActionWhen typing for a website or email, or making flyers and posters, always use fonts that are large enough and clear to read. The call to action should be evident in your headline and larger than the rest of the other features on the page.

CHANNEL JUICE

Continue reading


Do not mix too many fonts, or writing styles. If you mix italics and bold it will become too confusing and take focus off the message. Keep your fonts readable, no wingdings. Use upper and lowercase typeface in your call to action. It is easier to read that way.

Check your grammar. Always use spellcheck and have it proofread by another person if possible. Nothing discredits your work like using “your” when you meant “you’re”. Use colors that contrast well with the background. On a website, using a bright color will bring

CHANNEL JUICE

“ Keeping a balance of cool and effective and staying tasteful is important as not to offend anyone.


attention to a purchase button against a white page. If creating a poster or flyer, play around with the colors before committing to a hue.

Keep it Cool and CleanIt is important to keep in touch with what is current. MTV is a far cry from what it used to be in the early years, now offering less music and more sex and alcohol consumption. This is not always favorable for a marketing campaign. Keeping a

balance of cool and effective and staying tasteful is important as not to offend anyone. If you are using Mike, “The Situation” from “Jersey Shore” to sell your clothing line, keep the images classy. Dress him in your clothes, but be sure he is not half-naked, guzzling a beer, surrounded by women in a nightclub. Use his image to stay current, but keep it G-rated and you’ll have better results. Additionally, keep your headlines clean. Don’t use

CHANNEL JUICE


anything too provocative that might scare away a potential buyer.

MetaphorsUsing metaphors is a great way to attach meaning to a product or service. This reaches the emotional side of a consumer with the goal of them being generous with their spending. Connecting “Leave it to Beaver” with a new SUV family sedan can reach the heart of the parents that remember the TV show for its wholesome family values. This could cause them to buy the vehicle because of the positive association with families, now that they have their own.

Don’t Overdo ItGarbling up your message with too much verbiage can cause disinterest in the customer and create confusion. In the age of the Internet attention spans are rapidly decreasing. Get your point across in as few words as possible.

Mobile CompatibilityWith the advent of smartphones and tablets, consumers have even more

opportunity to receive your message. One out of every five emails was read on a mobile device in 2011. If using emails, be sure they are compatible with an assortment of mobile units. People may not remember to read it later on a desktop unit and later simply delete it. Keep the font large enough to be read, at least 15pt. People of all ages are using mobile devices, including baby boomers with bifocals. Don’t deter any potential customers by frustrating them with tiny print. Like the font size, be sure you have a large enough purchase button when offering a product. It should be clearly labeled. “Click here to buy” is a good call to action and all links should be large enough to be activated with a thumb easily, avoiding hitting any other links. Keeping with mobile compatibility can be the difference between you and a competitor in this increasingly tech savvy market.

CHANNEL JUICE


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Falling in love with a Vertical

By Lead Magz


When vendors or a group of businesses offer services and develop products targeted to a specific industry, they are part of a vertical

market. An example is a software company that only develops products for accountants. Horizontal markets in contrast offer a broader spectrum of goods and services and might offer software in many more areas of business. In a competitive economy, it can be beneficial to specialize in a vertical market.

When specializing in a vertical market, you are able to whittle down your client base and focus on specifics. You may want to target the market of accounting software only in the business world, or become even more specific than that. By concentrating on one area it is your way of standing out in the field. Your business is able to pigeonhole and target particular markets without much competition and successful specialization is likely to grow in the given market.

VERTICALS


Building CredibilityIn increasingly aggressive economical times, focusing on a vertical market can build your credibility alone. The validity of your abilities is recognized by having the knowledge of vertical market challenges and stakes involved with being so specific. Clients will recognize and respect this, and it can be one way of standing out. Credibility is often built upon by peers in the industry. As you gain more experience in the market, the more you are can be billed as an

expert enhancing your reputation even further. Having a more personal relationship with your client enables you to receive feedback and grow, and use them as an additional reference. Gaining their positive testimonies can enhance credibility.

Better Marketing ResultsBy specializing in an area, such as accounting software, your organization has the chance to show that you have a greater understanding of what the client needs. Instead of speaking IT software jargon, you can talk to the client about their specific demands, such as a tax software. The deeper you can go, such as how very specifically a tax program can address precise problems at crunch time in April, you have more to sell yourself with. Being vertical there is more opportunity to research and spend time on a subject. The main selling point of the vertical market is being able to communicate more effectively with the customer to gain a better understanding of their needs than

VERTICALS

“By cornering a vertical market, your company becomes a hot commodity. You have in depth knowledge of the clients’ needs, are therefore experts in the field. Along with it come references and most important, less competition...


a larger company with many other involvements. Being a smaller entity gives you total control over all facets of the marketing process.

Higher Earning PotentialBy cornering a vertical market, your company becomes a hot commodity. You have in depth knowledge of the clients’ needs, are therefore experts in the field. Along with it come references and most

important, less competition. When you are the organization everyone goes to for the tax software, you will be obviously making money. Expenses will be saved with less overhead. A large company has the need for bigger divisions to cover more general areas. Your company can have one expert in that area, reducing the need for a larger payroll and the costs that go along with a bigger division.

VERTICALS


By Lead Magz That Win Sales

The Little Things


Getting a potential business partner or client to agree to a meeting is one thing -

turning that connection into sales is something else entirely. Try these subtle strategies to boost your sales. You could find that a few simple tips significantly improve your business’s performance.

Tip #1: Make Your Appointment ProfessionalSome deals get made in sleazy bars, but you’re not that type of business professional. You need strategies that let your clients and partners know that you appreciate their time and you take them seriously. Using confirmation postcards and emails shows that you are on top of the meeting. You’re not letting anything go to chance. You have taken control, and you want to know what you can expect. That level of organization can make people have more confidence in you.Imagine the opposite: you set up a meeting, but you never check in with people, and then you don’t show

up because you figure they aren’t interested. Meanwhile, your client is waiting in an office somewhere. Every second that ticks by makes him think less of you. Would you buy merchandise from someone who left you sitting alone in an office for 20 minutes? Don’t give the impression that you’re unorganized. Use appointment confirmations to remind people that you expect them and to show that the meeting is still happening.

Tip #2: Use Marketing Collateral to “Wow” Your ClientBad business meetings usually start off with someone saying “hey, I have a really great idea. Let me tell you some more about it!” The problem with this is that no one wants to listen to someone talk about his or her ideas. They want numbers. They want charts and facts and product data sheets that show them how the idea becomes a successful business venture. Luckily, none of this is difficult to

THE LITTLE THINGS


do. Just give yourself a couple of days to prepare for the presentation. Remember: most people learn visually. If you want to sell your idea to someone then you need to use visuals so they fully understand your plan. Also, please don’t go to the meeting with a loose idea. You need an actual plan that includes data sheets, sales projects, and cost projections. Real business professionals need to see those things. Without them, they’ll walk away.

Tip #3: Never Leave Them Empty-handedWhen you’re pitching an idea, it’s your meeting. That means you take care of any expenses, including drinks and meals if you discuss business over a meal.Perhaps more important than picking up the tab, though, is leaving the potential client or partner with something special. Not an elaborate gift but a small token of your appreciation. This person has taken time out of his or her schedule to

THE LITTLE THINGS


meet with you, so you should honor them with a gift. Ideally, you will choose a gift related to your business concept. If you plan to sell a new toy, then leave them with a prototype. If you plan to open a new restaurant, leave them with a card that guarantees a free meal. It shows appreciation and that can go a long way when someone has to choose between business pitches from you and 100 other people.

THE LITTLE THINGS


Network HeroesBy Lead Magz

Marketing Jedi:


This month’s Marketing Jedi is Jon Matero from Network Heroes because they really

stand out for their creative marketing in the world of MSPs. Network Heroes came to Lead Magz with a unique idea for using an animated superhero dog theme in order to differentiate themselves from the competition. They invested quite a bit of money to make their marketing different and it’s working for them. In the year since they started using the animated superhero dog marketing, their growth rate has been greater than 50%. Jon Matero, president of Network Heroes, stated “We average one new client per month, and our client retention rate is excellent as we’ve only lost one client since we started – we just weren’t a good fit for each other. Two clients that said they were going to leave us ended up coming back after a few months.” Network Heroes made the MSP Mentor Top 100 list of companies with 10 employees or less in their second full year in the business (coming in at number 92). We sat down with Network Heroes’ president Jon Matero to find

MARKETING JEDI


out how they came up with this unique and successful marketing theme:

Tell me about the name ‘Network Heroes’… how did you come up with that?When Alex and I were brainstorming on a name for our new company, one thing that I recalled was how we were always being told “You guys are my heroes!” Whether it was a new client or an existing one, the comment would come up often after we fixed their computer issues. So it was something that when we thought about it, it just seemed to work.

How did you come up with the idea of the mascot?The mascot kind of just hit me one day. I was working on marketing materials and really wanted to come up with a way to differentiate ourselves from other IT companies. I realized that with our name we had an advantage. We didn’t need to come up with a clever play on words like I had been trying to do. We needed a mascot and representative of the Hero brand.

Why the dog?Well, at first I thought of creating a human type character. But then I recalled how I had been told that people respond to dogs in marketing and so I considered using a dog instead. I toyed with both ideas for a while but when I thought of the dog being imaged after my own dog, Dozer, that is when I knew

TO VIEW NETWORK HEROES MAGAZINE

MARKETING JEDI

http://digital.leadmagz.com/publications/network-heroes/magazine/index.html




what I wanted to do. I contacted a few graphic artists and discussed my idea with them and sent them pictures of Dozer. I was so excited when I got my first sketch back. He had been cartooned!

How has this helped you market your business?Now that we have a mascot we have a spokesman. We have a way to showcase our brand and our services. Communication to our desired clientele became easier with postcards, letters, and our website. Working with Lead Magz is proof. Giovanni and his team have created a unique piece of marketing materials based on our theme and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the job they’ve done.

So have you received any feedback yet?Oh, yes. Our existing clients love the magazine and have given us

a lot of great feedback. Some have already asked us about new services since reading about them in our Lead Magz magazine. I’m really looking forward to hearing what our prospects think, too. They will see our services laid out in a

manner that others are not doing. Now we don’t’ seem like any other IT company that

tries to leverage themselves in with new clients. Not

only do we have a theme unlike any other IT firm that I’ve seen but we can now provide them with a digital publication that I’m sure they have never

seen anyone else use before. I truly believe that our theme, mascot, and now our Lead Magz

magazine have given us an advantage over our completion. We’re not the stereotypical IT company that comes off either stiff

or geeky. We’re fun, yet professional, and we want to be their Network Heroes!

MARKETING JEDI


BUSINESS BREAKFAST


Better Business BreakfastBy Lead Magz

How many times has someone cancelled a lunch meeting on you because they got caught up with another client or a crisis at work? This is one of the major reasons that lunch meetings don’t work. If you really want to make an impression, get the client’s full attention, and create a better relationship, then it’s time for you to consider breakfast meetings.

BUSINESS BREAKFAST

Breakfast Meetings Have Better AttendanceAs a managed service provider, you want as many people at your meeting as possible. This is your chance to win them over with your expertise and excellent customer service. If you wait until lunch, people will get distracted by other things in their busy lives. That makes it harder

for you to find new clients, which makes it harder for you to grow your managed service business. When you have your presentation in the morning, though, a lot of the attendees will come straight from home. They haven’t even gone to the office yet to find out what kind of distractions could grab them for the rest of the day.


Make Your Meeting the Perfect LengthYou obviously need to supply a few breakfast items for your meeting. That includes coffee, bagels, and maybe some donuts. Don’t rush people. Let them catch up with each other and enjoy their breakfasts before you start telling them about facts and figures that could revolutionize their businesses. Ideally, your event will last about two hours. This is plenty of time for people to get comfortable, have something to eat, hear your presentation, and ask questions. Anything longer than that is going to bore your potential clients. You don’t want that!

Make the Perfect PresentationThe people attending your presentation already know sales pitches when they hear them. They’re not random people off the street. They own and manage their own businesses. This makes it important for you to keep your sales pitch at a minimum.

Instead, focus on education. Your presentation should include information such as:

• How much money clients can save by choosing a managed service provider instead of hiring a part-time or full-time IT tech

• How your business can use cloud services to update software immediately and the benefits it offers

• How you can reduce their software expenses with cloud technology

BUSINESS BREAKFAST

This is your chance to win them over with your expertise and excellent customer service.

“


When they have the information right in front of them, they’re likely to realize that your business could work well for them. That’s a huge step towards making them your clients.

Use the Event to Plan for the FutureThis business breakfast is not the end of your client search. Use it as an opportunity to learn new things

that will make your next event even better. You should also use it to make connections with people who might become clients one day. Take pictures and ask attendees to fill out surveys. This will give you insight into how well your presentation worked. It will also give you Web and pamphlet content that you can use to attract more people to your next business breakfast.

BUSINESS BREAKFAST

For more on marketing training, resources and information, please our website at www.leadmagz.com

getting past the gate keeper sales pick up lines the...

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