Connecting Marketing Communications with Sales Efforts to Deliver Measurable Results
Vol. 8, Issue No. 3 | August 2007
Filling the Funnel:
Turn Suspects into Prospects
Part two of a seven part series
TsuluWerks serves growing and mature businesses by connecting sales and marketing to deliver measurable results. In part two of our seven part focus on the sales funnel, we continue our goal of helping mid-market businesses move more prospects to qualified customers. This issue, we look at turning suspects to prospects.
What's the difference between a suspect and a prospect? A suspect is aware of your brand. A prospect understands your brand and might have a need for it, if the timing is right. The traditional search for prospects has been through telemarketing, calling lists of suspects to see if they might be a prospect. For small and mid-market businesses, telemarketing is time consuming if performed in house and costly if hiring someone else to do it. If marketing is done properly, it is possible to get a volume of incoming inquiries that will keep your sales funnel flowing. So how do you avoid the cold calls and compel suspects to contact you first?
- Intrigue: Hook suspects and arouse their curiosity. If you followed our advice from part one of this series, most likely you have something unique that will grab the suspect's attention and turn him into a prospect. Microsoft masters intrigue. As the leaders in capitalizing on technology innovation, its new top-secret "Surface" technology promises to arouse curiosity, build buzz, and generate inquiries from businesses who want the best in computing and technology. Learn more about it at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/18928656.
- Urgency: Create a time-sensitive offer. This can be more than an arbitrary deadline. Market forces or individual client goals (i.e. the launch of a new customer product) can create urgency for your solution. If your offer makes the suspect realize that you've addressed a key concern that she might or might not have though of, she'll want to learn more. Angie's List does a great job of this, highlighting key services during different times of the year. Learn more about what home owners and consumers should be thinking about this month at www.angieslist.com.
- Relevance: Make the prospect say "Hey, that's me!" Your customers should be able to see themselves in the product and/or service that you offer. When your suspects connect, the first step of the sales relationship is built. Comcast Workplace does a great job of featuring the stories of local business people. Through customer stories and case studies in print and television advertising, small business owners can see entrepreneurs just like themselves who have benefited from Comcast's services.
- "Duh" Moments: Make them an offer they can't refuse. Sometimes, a deal is too good to pass up. We gave away passes to the Seattle Chamber trade show and had calls coming out of the woodwork. It also got some of those folks asking about our services, too. ING Direct started with a no-fee, no minimum consumer savings account with rate more than three times the competition. Other big banks had no choice but to jump on board. Now they have a no minimum, no fee checking product with up to 5.3% APY on all deposits and a business savings account with 5.00% APY. Oh yeah, and they offer $25 free for each friend you refer. Free money and a great APY — what's the chance that their site hits and phone inquiries are through the roof [exceptionally high according to my contact]? See some of their offers on their web site at http://home.ingdirect.com/about/about.asp?s=Advertising
To compel people to action takes offers that make them want to learn more. Keep in mind that learning more is not always a phone call. Email, web site visits, and requests for more information should also be tracked, measured, and followed-up on to generate qualified customers. If your marketing team crafts messages and offers that instill intrigue, urgency, relevance, and "Duh" moments, your prospects will fill your sales funnel without much initial intervention from you.
Note: Don't be tempted to leap over the prospect cultivation step and try to instantly turn a suspect into a customer — you'll simply destroy all trust, kill the customer relationship, and find yourself back at square one trying to re-establish your brand position. You've just kicked the relationship out of the sales funnel and into no-man's-land. We'll discuss appropriate next steps in our next issue.
How can TsuluWerks keep your sales funnel full?
First we listen to you. Then, as your Made-to-Order Marketing Team, we use Vision Beyond Looks to craft marketing strategies and communications that compel readers to action. If you're ready to stop the telemarketing push and reap the rewards of the incoming inquiries, call us at 206.782.4040. You can also email Tracy at tcorley@tsuluwerks.com.
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Events
Open House Celebration
Join us to celebrate our new home in downtown Seattle! Meet the TsuluWerks team and our neighbors, Moore Presentations.
- Friday, September 28, 2007, 3pm to 7pm
- 1511 Third Avenue, Suite 301, Seattle, WA 98101
Give us a call at 206-782-4040 or email us at to register.
Copyright © 2007 by Tracy A. Corley and TsuluWerks, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information, visit us online at www.tsuluwerks.com. Send comments to tsulunews@tsuluwerks.com.