Looking for Results in All the Wrong Places

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Apr 272011

Okay, so the title is a little negative sounding. But is came to me last night around 1:27 am while I was waiting to fall back to sleep. Some of my most lucid moments are those when I wake up in the middle of the night and everything around me is as quiet as can be.

What about this Looking for Results in All the Wrong Places though? Over the years I’ve noticed some truth to this axiom. Three thoughts came to mind as I pondered that thought last night. First, there are some organizations that think success is tied to activity. If people on the team are scurrying, success must not be far behind. How wrong of an assumption. The amount of activity has nothing to do with success. Surely actions must be taken to have success but just because people are in motion does not equal success. The right actions need to be taken at the right momrnt.

Second, numbers. There are those organizations that get excited when the number of website visitors increases…when the number of Twitter followers swells. But what is in a number? Not much. The real question about the increase in website visitors is are they taking some action (downloading a whitepaper, subscribing to the blog or watching a free webinar) to move the relationship to the next level? Visitors to the website are nice, but interested visitors that take action are even better.

Lastly, filling the sales funnel. There are companies that think filling the sales funnel to the brim is the goal. Perhaps stated more correctly the object is to fill the sales funnel with predisposed leads. Qualified, predisposed leads. Why would the a sales organization take pleasure in weeding through a bunch of contacts that really are not interested in the company’s products or services? Marketing has let them down. The leads dumped into the funnel need to have shown some interest in what the company has to offer.

So don’t get side tracked by activities that have nothing to show for themselves other than sweat, numbers that really mean very little, and leads that really are not leads to begin with.

Leveraging Webinars for Your Staff or Employees

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Apr 112011

Here’s a list of 22 ways to leverage webinars for your staff or employees.

1. Keep corporate messaging on track. Sometimes things get lost in translation. Use webinars to keep the company messaging on track.
2. Liven up your Frequently Asked Questions. FAQs can be tiresome to work your way through. Think of putting the Top Ten questions asked of support in a quarterly webinar.
3. Conduct monthly status meetings. Webinars provide the perfect avenue to have monthly or quarterly status meetings. Those not in attendance, can watch the on-demand copy of the meeting.
4. Announce new product or service releases. Quickly get the word out about new products or services by using webinars.
5. Discuss important business internals. Use webinars as a secure, convenient link when discussing confidential company business.
6. Offer management training sessions. Create management training webinars and help your employees advance.
7. Update remote employees without travelling. Travelling is no long as convenient or economical as it once was. Use webinars to update remote employees.
8. Reduce training costs. Setting time aside for education is difficult enough for any company to accomplish. Create training webinars and save time and money.
9. Offer continuous learning programs. Create on-demand webinars so employees can attend continuous learning classes at their own convenience.
10. Strategize opening a new sales territory. Use webinars to bring people together to strategize.
11. Announce new features and functions. Save company time and resources by creating webinars that showcase new features and functions of the company’s current offerings.
12. Deliver expanded press releases. Press releases are usually a few hundred words. Expand on what’s happen at the company by offering webinars when important events arise.
13. Inspire the troops. At times employees may feel disconnected or uninformed. Webinars bring people together for a common goal and boost communication.
14. Expose staff to new technologies. With the advent of everyone at the company wearing various hats, time is in short supply. A business can use webinars to help its employees take advantage of new technologies that could make their jobs easier or allow them to deliver a higher level of service to its customers.
15. Promote best practices. When time is short and people get busy best practices can be left on the side. Use webinars to keep best practices in view.
16. Streamline company communications. With the variety of communication channel available to businesses today, communication may continue to break down. Keep the company’s message consistent and timing with webinars.
17. Conduct companywide all hands meetings. Webinars provide a way for organizations to bring all of their employees together is an inexpensive, rapid manner.
18. Enable Human Resources (HR) to more easily provide new-hire and benefits orientations. Maximize HR resources and time by having them offer webinars to new hires.
19. Quickly update employees on policy/procedure changes. New policies and procedures can take time to trickle down to all the employees in a large organization. Use webinars to quickly communicate important changes.
20. Strengthen labor relations. Don’t let employees feel left out. Strengthen the relationship by offering webinars.
21. Present team building exercises. Webinars can be a great way to offer team building exercises to remote employees.
22. Conduct business reality checks. When employees are dispersed to different geographic locations.

Leave a comment and let us know if we left one out. Thanks.

Leveraging Webinars for Your Customers or Prospects

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Apr 042011

Here’s seventeen quick ways to leverage webinars for Your Customers or Prospects.

1. Update ryour clients and emote customers without travelling. Updating customers with webinars saves time and money while keeping key people in the office.
2. Reduce travel time, expenses and training costs. Training dollars are few in today’s businesses. Webinars reduce training costs.
3. Announce new features and functions remotely. Save company time and resources by creating webinars that showcase new features and functions of the company’s current offerings.
4. Upsell existing customers. Use webinars to introduce client to new services or products. Webinars are also a great nurturing tool.
5. Expose customers to new technologies. Be proactive in introducing your customers to new technologies that will help their business run more effectively or efficiently.
6. Promote Best Practices over the web. Reduce the number of e-mails and support calls by creating a webinar that goes over the best practices when using the company’s products.
7. Add a new dimension to case studies. Add depth to your case studies by creating webinars.
8. Recap marketing and sales meeting goals. Use on-demand webinars so marketing and sales people can stay informed of their goals.
9. Make new product announcements online. Get the word on the street quicker by using webinars to spread the message.
10. Shore up customer support by reviewing techniques, features and functions. Limit the calls made to support when new software functions and features are released by offering free webinars.
11. Offer software demos. Use a brief webinar to help prospects get started with the company’s software demo.
12. Expand your marketing reach. Webinars allow any size company to have a global reach overnight.
13. Generate leads by educating your target market. Create product or service webinars that discuss the pain points, remedies and benefits of your target audience.
14. Generate leads by nurturing your prospects. Move prospects along the sales funnel by offering a set of webinars that answer their questions and concerns.
15. Reach prospects is a wider geographic area. Use webinars to expand into new markets overnight.
16. Invite guest speakers to endorse your products or services. Share the webinar podium with experts that can vouch for your product or service.
17. Beef-up free trials. Not all people can work their way through free trials easily. Use webinars to introduce your software product and then ask them to signup for the free trial.

Leave a comment and let us know if we missed one. Thanks.