What’s so different in Fortune "Best Companies to Work For?"

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 27, 2010

(This post originally ran on 1/13/2006. ) And if you enjoy Fearless Competitor, we also hope you’ll visit the B2B Sales Lounge, the blog we also write on behalf of the Find New Customers client, OneSource.

This story is based on an intrepid Fortune reporter who actually worked at four of these and what he learned. One of his most important points is that most of the things that make the difference actually cost nothing. Two, the stock prices of the four he worked for trounced the market.

Here are some of the differences:
1) Employee are treated like adults with their own minds. At FedEx, a driver chooses his own route and if it is cold, he or she is given gloves. At the Four Seasons, employees are given a great deal of latitude in servicing customers. They want their employees relaxed and comfortable.

2) Ideas are championed, even from the lowest level employee. At the Four Seasons, employees were continually asked what they think. Contrast this with a large business intelligence firm I worked for. When I presented a great business idea to a senior exec, he said “I could not agree more. I’ve been advocating that for years.” My unspoken thought: If you are an SVP and cannot get your idea considered, what can a peon like me expect? Soon after, this SVP was fired.

3) Be creative. At Hot Topic, a retailer, employees are reimbursed for attending rock concerts, provided they provide feedback on what attendees were wearing.

What shocks the reporter is how so many companies are unable to do the simple, inexpensive things that make employees happy.

This is not rocket-science, folks. You too can do it. As Jim Collins states so well in Good to Great, the Great CEO’s were a combination of confidence and humility.

What do you think? We love comments and people who share.

Jeff Ogden is President of Find New Customers “Lead Generation Made Simple” Check out the online show every Friday at 11am ET, “Laugh and Learn with the Fearless Competitor.” Find New Customers is a lead generation company in New York.

Find New Customers helps companies like yours (with 50 to 5,000 employees and complex products) deliver low cost lead generation developing and implementing marketing lead generation programs to improve the way you find and acquire high quality sales leads using best practices in b2b lead generation. Quality leads matter. In fact, a recent study found that sales teams with fewer, high quality sales leads closed more than sales teams with more leads of dubious quality.

To contact the B2B lead generation experts at Find New Customers, please use the form below.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

2011 Digital Marketing Trends

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 27, 2010

Love the hard data in emarketer.com content. Here’s a great Slideshare from them on key trends in 2001. 2 Key Take-Aways:

Social media and mobile are huge.
Buyers are migrating.

Some really good insights in here.

What do you think? We love comments and people who share.

Jeff Ogden (@fearlesscomp) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. He presented at the 140 Social Media Conference on Long Island on May 26th and appearing on Sales Lead Management Radio tomorrow.

Find New Customers helps companies (with between 150 and 5,000 employees who sell complex products to businesses) to implement world-class lead generation programs. As companies struggle to create quality sales opportunities, they turn to lead generation companies like Find New Customers.

Things are looking up…kinda

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 26, 2010

It was suggested that on Sunday posts, we go personal. “Write something about what you are doing for the business instead of what the business does” Good idea. Here you go.

With this post, I want to reflect on this year almost gone.

I’m SO thankful for my business supporters, my allies and, most importantly, my wife and kids. Jill Konrath has been a superb mentor and sounding board. Marketo, for whom I wrote a white paper - are the fastest payers on Earth. And clients like Aprimo and OneSource are invaluable. Thank God. But most importantly, my wife, Kathy, and our three boys, Matt, Kevin and Tim, have stood by me continuously.

These folks have stuck with me through some very lean months. Oftentimes, its hard to pay the bills.

If there is one lesson I have learned it is this

Never give up and never surrender

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. –Thomas Edison

Even when it seems nothing is going right, stay the course. One day an investment you made months ago will pay off. (You never know when.)

That just happened to me. I became a Focus marketing expert. Lots of comments added, sharing great content and even hosted an event. Did not see one dime. Invest, invest, invest with no return.

Then one day I see an interesting job in Linkedin from Gerson Lehrman Group in New York City. I reach out. Almost instantly I get a reply. Turns out the hiring manager, Alex, came from Focus. He knows me by reputation.

Okay, what happens next? I meet with Alex and we’re like old friends. He explains what their needs are. Alex says he could go down the job route, but he cannot afford to pay me what I’m worth. But he’d be happy to use my consulting services.

I send Alex a link to the How We Help page on our website - another massive investment in time. (This page has been updated and refined hundreds of times.) I talked to him. Alex says he got my email, checked out the web page and is working to get funding approved.

Can it really be that simple? Look at a web page, go to your boss, ask for money, then buy the services?

Gulp! It’s working!

What do you think?

Happy New Year!

P.S. We also lost a dear friend over the holidays. John was my best friend in my years at the University of Notre Dame. Only 49, he succumbed to cancer, leaving behind a wife and two boys, aged 17 and 21. God bless that family. And God bless you.

Merry Christmas from Find New Customers!

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 24, 2010

Happy Holidays from our family to yours in this special edition of Laugh and Learn. From our friends at Cisco, kids talk to Santa.

4 BtoB Marketing Action Items for 2011 (via )

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 23, 2010

Great holiday reading for Btob marketing and sales leaders.

Fortunately, the economy seems to be improving, despite the recent unemployment rise. Thank God. It's about time. I hope we leave the recession in the rear view mirror and you have a great 2011. And we at Find New Customers want to help you make 2011 a great year! In order to turn that goal into a reality, we have 4 specific recommendations on what B2B marketers should do today to prepare for 2011. The holidays are a great time for 2011 planning. … Read More

via

Consolidation in marketing software continues - Teradata acquires Aprimo

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 22, 2010

For Release on December 22, 2010

Teradata to Acquire Aprimo

Strategic move joins leaders in data warehousing and analytics and integrated marketing management to help corporations drive growth and profitable business engagements

Aprimo is a client of Find New Customers, the b2b lead generation company. And I wish the best to my many friends at Aprimo.

But in a bigger sense, it’s interesting to see what is happening here. Here are my two cents. And here is what Eloqua’s CEO, Joe Payne had to say in

Q&A: Six Vital Answers from Eloqua CEO Joe Payne About the Aprimo Acquisition

Point solutions are disappearing. Integrated solutions are the future.

Case in point, Salesforce.com acquired Jigsaw, so Salesforce.com customers can enjoy self-cleaning data.

Teradata acquires Aprimo as they do related things in Fortune 500 accounts. Teradata provides database and analytics while Aprimo provides marketing capabilities for those same clients.

Business Objects, Hyperion, Cognos, Brio, etc. - point solutions are going the way of the dodo bird, I think. It will be interesting to watch Marketo, Silverpop, Eloqua, Manticore and the others. I think you’ll hear a lot more merger announcements in early 2011.

What do you think of today’s announcement? What do you think the future holds in this space?

Focus Roundtable on B2B Lead Generation

What do you think? We love comments and people who share.

Find New Customers helps companies like yours (with 50 to 5,000 employees and complex products) implement lead generation programs to improve the way you find and acquire high quality sales leads using best practices in online lead generation. Quality leads matter. In fact, a recent study found that sales teams with fewer, high quality sales leads closed more than sales teams with more leads of dubious quality.

If you wish to do sales lead generation online, contact the B2B lead generation experts at Find New Customers using the form below.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

7 Keys to Successful Lead Nurturing

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 22, 2010

Looking to improve revenue in 2011? Embrace Lead Nurturing.

According to noted lead generation expert, Brian Carroll, as many as 9 out of 10 visitors to your website are not ready to buy now. This means you need to find a way to stay in touch with that 9 and build trust – so that when they’re ready to buy, they buy from you.

The process of keeping in touch with prospective buyers by sharing valuable information till they’re ready to buy is called “Lead Nurturing.”

Should you do Lead Nurturing?

Here are some salient facts from experts:

Sales lead expert, Mac McIntosh, found that six months after inquiring, 23% of the surveyed subjects had bought the product or service, from the promoter or from a competitor. An additional 67% indicated that they still intended to buy but they were not ready.
According to Forrester Research, companies that excel at lead nurturing are able to generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead.
According to CSO Insights, companies that excel at lead nurturing have 9% more sales reps make quota, and enjoy a 10% shorter ramp up time for new reps.
According to DemandGen Report, nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20 percent increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads.

Today’s marketers must synchronize their marketing throughout the buying process, providing potential buyers with high quality content that is contextually relevant. As Inside the Mind of the B2B Buyer showed, buyers look for content throughout the buying cycle.

It’s clear that lead nurturing makes economic sense, but most B2B sellers have no idea how to set up a lead nurturing program. So our goal here is to share actionable information.

What are the 7 Keys to a Successful Lead Nurturing Program?

1. Lead nurturing starts with research

Figure out who your ideal buyers are and research what makes them tick. What are their problems? Where do they go for information? How do they like to consume information? The better you know them, the better you can communicate with them. For more information, please check out Buyer Personas.

2. Develop a content map

We have a sample on the Free Tools page at Find New Customers, but you want to map your content across the buying process. Your goal is to help them move through the buying process.

3. Create missing content

Your content map will undoubtedly have holes. Create content to fill those holes.

4. Walk the buyer on a journey from Problem to Solution.

Your content should walk them on a journey – from the problems of today to the solutions of tomorrow. With your insights, you should understand their problems and your products and services should be the solution at some point.

5. Use Catch Factors® (credit: Ardath Albee of MarketingInteractions) to get their attention.

Make sure each piece of content can identify one or more Catch Factors

Urgency (Why do they need it?)
Impact (What will result?)
Effort (How hard will it be?)
Reputation (Can I trust you?) and
Intent (Why should I buy from you?)

include a Call to Action (What you want them to do.) and a Cliff Hanger® (Ardath Albee)

– think of the TV show 24 and coming attractions. That’s a cliff hanger. You want to grab their interest and keep it.

6. Space out your communication

between 2 and 4 weeks is generally best. It’s ideal if you can ask the prospect for his or her own preferred pace.

7. Launch your program, measure the results and refine your program.

Lead nurturing should be a continuous journey, and not a task.

Are you gently nurturing leads today?

We love comments. We love Twitter followers. And we love our Facebook fans.

If you wish to do sales lead generation online, contact the B2B lead generation experts at Find New Customers using the form below or follow @fearlesscomp on Twitter.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Fearless Lead Generation from the Fearless Competitor: Jeff Ogden - by the Funnelholic (via )

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 21, 2010

The classic and popular white paper on B2B lead generation is here.

I did this thought leadership interview on business to business lead generation with Craig Rosenberg of Focus.com early last year, but it was such a good interview with one of the top experts in lead generation, I wish to share it here. This sales lead generation white paper is a classic, having been downloaded by thousands since this interview first ran. It really shows the power of remarkable content in the area of lead generation sales. And I … Read More

via

4 BtoB Marketing Action Items for 2011 (via )

Posted by Jeff Ogden on December 21, 2010

As businesses quiet down for the holidays, this great blog article shares some key things they can do to get ready for improved fiscal results in 2011.

Fortunately, the economy seems to be improving, despite the recent unemployment rise. Thank God. It’s about time. I hope we leave the recession in the rear view mirror and you have a great 2011. And we at Find New Customers want to help you make 2011 a great year! In order to turn that goal into a reality, we have 4 specific recommendations on what B2B marketers should do today to prepare for 2011. The holidays are a great time for 2011 planning. … Read More

via