While I am travelling I thought that I would repost some of my old blogs that cover subjects that I have not touched on recently but ones that I feel strongly about.There have been a lot of postings and discussions over how best to improve a Sales Organizations performance. I personally have written many of them.
One thing that they all have in common is the need to have the right people in the right positions and the need for Leadership.
It all starts with Leadership because a true leader will posses all the qualities needed to do the things necessary to make a business successful. Because a true leader is always striving to hit that next level of success and surrounds himself with other leaders who have the same goals.
True leaders are the people who can leave the emotion out of the equation. All emotion stems from insecurity and has no place in running a business or in life in general for that matter. Insecurity gets in the way of truly clear thinking and objectiveness which are the benchmarks of a true Leader.
And this is where we hit the first wall to climb because in my relatively short tenure working for others I have not met many totally secure people who fit the true definition of a leader.
You can have all the systems in place that are designed for success but if you don’t have true leaders it won’t matter how well the system is designed it will not function properly.
One big reason that Businesses today lack the leadership needed to build a truly successful business is the lack of compensation. This for some reason lately has become a dirty word in some circles.
All this touchy feely talk about remembering someone’s birthday, giving extra time and pats on the back in lieu of compensation is just placating the powers that be. Anyone who talks like this is either doing it so as not to upset clients or have never been in the trenches in commission sales trying to make a living-or both.
All this is good stuff but if it isn’t backed up with proper pay for performance you will never attracted the true Leaders that can get the job done.
And other members of these circles are comprised Darryl, Darryl and Darryl (For those of you who remember) who are quarterly driven publicly owned companies that will do anything for a buck for Top Line and Bottom line growth. Doing more with less for the Bottom line and ethically questionable things to grow the Top Line. We have all seen it.
Unfortunately a lot of private companies have adopted the same kind of practices to their own peril which brings me to to “WHERE’S THE BEEFâ€
You can have all the proven systems in place that you want if you don’t pay for performance the true Leaders will find another home in the same or different Industry. Because the real talent in sales can perform anywhere.
For example, If you think about it and have studied or have been in the automotive industry long enough the forerunner of the 4 square, the track system, came along in the late seventies, early eighties.
This system owners thought the track system would give them the ability to hire any sales clerk off the street at lower compensation and get the same results as the real talent.
This didn’t last very long and I know because I was one of the salespeople who left when they lowered commissions. In retrospect, in the early eighties, I was making much more money as a Manager “then†than is being offered today. Add the rise in cost of living and you must question the motives.
Before I went back on my own in 2010 I was making more as a salesperson at one of the few companies that believe in "pay for performance"Â than most managers elsewhere without all the responsibility.
The Commission Sales Industry is a unique Industry in the fact that commissioned sales is one rung below being self-employed. There are a very limited number of truly talented professionals in management or sales who can make it happen consistently.
Give me a group of talented professionals with a pay plan that is going to draw them and I will take any system out there and make it seem like the best thing since sliced bread.
I recently wrote an article where I talked about compensation and even offered anyone interested in a "pay for performance" pay plan to e-mail me and I would gladly sent it to them.
I even gave an example of a Dealership who had this pay plan who consistently had the highest front and back end grosses in their region and district and were growing sales.
I received “0†requests.
You can argue all you want about systems and teamwork but in the end if you don’t get off that diet your on and put the “BEEF†on the menu to attract the real talent you are doomed to high turnover and mediocrity.
William Cosgrove
5 Things you need to know about the cost of not doing Website Maitntenance
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Regular website maintenance is non-negotiable and should be an ongoing affair. Over and above adding new pages, your website maintenance should also link to the performance of your website; it’s imperative that you continuously maintain your site to ensure it’s performing at its optimum.
The infographic below was created by Smartbear, a company that specialises in software testing. The infographic shows how small things like enhancing the page load speed can improve the revenue you can generate from your website.
1. Site loading speed is paramount
Do you know how long your site takes to load? You may have initially factored in loading times when your website was first designed, but through your regular website maintenance you could have changed something that adversely affects your loading speed, a huge factor in loss of visitors.
Factors that influence the speed of your site include: your server, content on your site and widgets used on your site that are hosted by a third party. A massive 57% of people will leave a site within the first three seconds if the site is perceived to be too slow. Shockingly, most major retail sites take ten or more seconds to load – a whole seven seconds too long.
2. One second is a long time
Let’s look at what a mere one second added to your loading time will do:
- 11% fewer page views
- 16% decrease in customer satisfaction
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7% loss in conversion
In monetary terms, if you use Amazon as an example, a one second decrease would result in the loss of $1.6 billion annually. If you want to make sure you aren’t losing revenue due to slow page loading time, regular website maintenance based on page speed optimisation cannot be ignored.
3. More money is moving online
The research company Forrester recently predicted that by 2016, 9% off all global retail sales will be conducted online. Retailers spend a huge amount of money optimising the flow of their stores in malls, increasingly though if you want to secure business through your online engagement with customers, regular website maintenance is the first step in making their user experience as enjoyable as possible.4. Don’t ignore your conversion forms
Most people are familiar with the generic HTML contact form employed on numerous websites. These forms fulfil the important task of letting your audience make contact, enquire about your product or services or request a quote. While these forms are useful, they’re often also a source of irritation and therefore loss of revenue. These are the most common things that’ll put people off using your HTML contact form.Too many fields: Make filling in the form as quick and easy as possible by minimising the number of required fields.
Form validation is too strict: Don’t make people jump through hoops in order to make contact. Again, simplicity and ease of use is key.
The much hated re-typing of some obscure word or phrase: Find another way to ward off spam – this is probably one of the most annoying things encountered on the web today.
Making someone re-type information: Don’t put people off by making this a laborious task. If they’ve already entered certain information such as their address or shirt size, have a system in place that’ll automatically repeat it when necessary.
Regularly analysing and maintaining all of the forms on your site will keep your user’s experience pleasant. This goes a long way towards converting them into clients. Remember that these forms are the lifeline of your online business. The cost of not maintaining your online forms is potentially massive – even more so than your loading speed.
Website maintenance impacts your communication
A large portion of your communication will entail the building of landing pages for specific campaigns, competitions or a destination they’re directed to upon replying to one of your emails. If you don’t have a marketing automation system or an easy-to-use content management system (CMS) to do this for you, you’ll have to go through the costly exercise of hiring a designer and programmer every single time you need a new page.An automated marketing system will not only allow you to easily to maintain your website but should also do things such as automatically personalising each email you send, or personalising a website based on an individual’s preference
By Gareth Slaven
I write this article because I want to discuss the notion that bigger is better and bring up the idea that smaller can be beautiful and more often than not can produce much more effective results. I will be out of the country on a working vacation and wanted to leave you with thoughts on a subject I feel very strongly about.Â
I am also sharing these thoughts in hopes that it might encourage decision makers to remember what most likely made them successful and open their minds again and take a look at the same types of people they once were and may have forgotten.
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I talk to and meet so many incredibly talented innovative people who have the knowledge, talent and drive to do the best job because they are motivated more by the doing than the bottom line.
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 I know from my years of experience that one size fits all cookie cutter solutions are not the best answer. I do know that anyone who has had the acumen to make it happen by doing it themselves are the most creative and motivated resource you will find. Along with the creative, customer service from a smaller more nimble company is second to none and the ability to customize solutions to each individual’s needs by being able to take the time necessary to understand and address those needs.
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People who are self-challenged and who are simply driven to think out of the box to come up with creative solutions are the people who are going to make a difference. These are the people who really care about you because they know what it is like to run a business and not just sell a product or service.
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For almost 40 years I have subscribed to “small is beautiful†because it is the only way you can retain control- meaning being able to stay true to yourself, be able to focus on being creative and maintain the flexibility to serve your clients in the best ways possible.
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Is bigger really better? Think about it, share your thoughts or at the least remember what probably got to where you are today.
William Cosgrove
Pinterest is small in comparison to the top social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn etc, but is turning in some impressive results when it comes to engaging and converting customers.
In this info graphic you will find not only some impressive statistics but also some helpful hints as to how to make your presence more effective on this site.
William Cosgrove
All aboard or not?
William Cosgrove
The 34m Americans planning to buy a vehicle in the next six months are twice as likely to be swayed by auto-focused digital marketing as the population at large according to new research.A study from the from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Prosper Insights –Digital Influence on Auto Intenders, based on intelligence from the Media Behaviors & Influence Study which polls some 19,000 respondents once a year – found that 21% of automotive shoppers were influenced by relevant digital ads compared to 12% of the general population.Â
Nor did the effect stop at that category as 71% of this group were also more likely to be influenced by digital advertising across multiple retail categories as the average consumer.
Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics and Measurement, IAB, noted that automotive had consistently been a top sector when it came to interactive advertising spending in the US.
"In particular, there seems to be tremendous mobile and digital video opportunity that auto marketers should be optimising along with other digital and legacy media," she added, pointing in particular to the need to leverage the always-on nature of digital media.Â
The study also showed that a majority of vehicle buyers regularly embarked upon online searches for automobiles (86%) and they are twice as likely as the average person to be influenced by sponsored search ads (20% vs. 10%).
In addition to digital, all forms of media influenced the automotive path to purchase, said the IAB, so emphasising the importance of a solid media mix in order to effectively reach prospective vehicle buyers.
"These findings underscore the fact that automotive brands, as well as marketers in related areas like car insurance and vehicle maintenance, would be remiss in not including digital in their media strategy," said Pam Goodfellow, Consumer Insights Director, Prosper Insights.
Several digital lifestyle differences were apparent between auto buyers and the typical adult. For example, automotive intenders were more likely to own a smartphone (75% vs. 54%) or a tablet (42% vs. 33%).Â
They were also heavier digital video streamers, both online (69% vs. 56%) and on mobile devices (52% vs. 35%). Consequently they were more likely to regularly watch digital video commercials before streaming video programming (66% vs. 53%).
And in general, auto-intenders were more likely to regularly research all kinds of products online before buying (58% vs. 42%).Â
Data sourced from IAB; additional content by Warc staff
More than Half of Social Media Ads Spending will go to Native In-stream Ads
Tags:One of the most effective ads in social media right now are native-social ads, ads that are incorporated within the social stream, like the ads that appear in Facebook’s News Feed.
In fact, native ads are gettings lots of shares and clicks and, in next to no time at all, it is expected that more than fifty percent of the social media ad spending will focus on native ads. A study conducted by BI Intelligence shows that among all social media sites, the ones that will find natural ads most valuable are the ones that focus on photo sharing, like Pinterest, Snapchat and Instagram.
These three photo-sharing social media sites are indeed benefiting from their native ad strategies. Snapchat’s Stories, or snaps that last for a day, is not yet an advertising unit, but brands will soon be using it as a native marketing tool. Instagram already has a native ad unit, while Pinterest has Promoted Pins, or paid placements from selected retailers and businesses that would appear within Pinterest’s category feeds and search results.
Native in-stream ads are the most successful type of ads in social media sites,, and will continue to find success according to a study. (Image: thalo-mag (CC) via Flickr)
The reason why photo-sharing social media sites benefit a lot from native ads is because photos are the most commonly shared form of media in the Internet.
How the Social Media report was conducted
The BI Intelligence report was conducted through interviews with experts in native advertising, comprising of specialists in social media analytics, social media networking investors, and chief advertising buyers.
It investigated the major advertisers and brands, making comparisons regarding their use of native ads and identifying their level of commitment with regards to using these types of ads. In addition, it also gives details as to why research firms were generally wrong in their estimation of the impact of native social ads.
The best native advertising formats were explored, like those of Facebook, and the researchers tried to determine how effectual native ads are on each social networking site. Native ads are so effective that, according to Jan Rezab, chief executive of Socialbakers, a social media analytics firm, “in the future, all advertising on social media will be native in-stream ads. The right rail and banners will disappear altogether.â€
Why are Native Ads Effective?
There are several reasons why experts are so optimistic about native ads. In fact, according to Jed Williams, author of a forecast by BIA/Kelsey, forty percent of the 11 billion dollars on social ad spending by 2017 will go to native social ads.
Also, as previously mentioned, social media sites that are primarily focused on sharing photos benefit the most because photos are the most shared media online. In fact, a study shows that 43 percent of Internet users around the world have shared a photo in the past month. Online photo sharing enjoyed a boost with the advent of smart phones, as these devices, along with photo-sharing apps, have practically made sharing pictures online just a few clicks away.
One reason for the effectiveness of native in-streams is the way they look, feel and operate, and how these three perform so smoothly across desktop computers and mobile devices. This is exactly what brands are looking for because they want to deliver ads that work across all kinds of devices.
Promoted Tweets, a twitter native ad which has was already operating since 2010, is evidence that native social ads really work. As proof, Twitter is showing, more than any other social networking site that digital and television ad spending can work in close association. LinkedIn is now creating huge investments to come up with its own native ads strategy and Pinterest is also just beginning to use native in-stream ads with Promoted Pins.
By Aaron Elliott
Founder, Socialbarrel.com
For maybe the first time in history, there is a surplus of technology and strategy to help advance both sales and marketing of a business, while at the same time a lack of resources and understanding to utilize it to its fullest capacity.That’s not to say that marketers are less educated or qualified, it’s just that they have become over specialized and often don’t pull back to see the larger picture. This gap between tools available and execution presents an opportunity for those that understand the entire ecosystem.
Marketing technologists (those that understand how it all fits together) will become invaluable as businesses adopt customer relationship management solutions, email service providers, content management systems, and big data. Closing the loop on marketing ROI becomes both easier and more complicated at the same time.
Take this common example, a company exec or CMO attends an industry event and buys in to the latest marketing craze. They hear buzzwords like mobile marketing, SEO, retargeting, inbound marketing, or social media engagement. They come back, tell their senior leaders and their team; everyone gets on board. They say, “Okay, go!â€
The CMO’s team will likely look back and say, “So, how are we going to do this?â€
Start off with just one of the many components of a successful marketing campaign. How do we send a simple email? Do they use ExactTarget, MailChimp, Contactology, Responsys, Vertical Response, Constant Contact or a dozen others. Say they choose one (or likely had one already), where does the data come from? If it’s any type of intelligent or dynamic campaign, a CRM such as SalesForce, Oracle, Zoho, Sugar, or a dozen others are needed. How easy is it to sync them “out of the box†and pass data back and forth? How does the CRM connect to the company’s sales data? Is it possible to flag the contacts and showcase which ones are more engaged?
Say, that’s vetted and connected. They now have contacts in the Email Tool and want to do triggered emails based on their web behavior, i.e. shopping cart abandonment. How does the Analytics provide that information? Can you get it from Google Analytics or Web Trends? Probably not. Or do you need a more advanced tool like Core Metrics or MyBuys that serves up emails based on web behavior? Now they’re getting closer but is there a better way? How much is that going to cost? What about the user’s over digital footprint and does it go back into the CRM to tell the sales staff?
These types of requirements are now getting into the Marketing Automation world and are likely beyond the scope of the initial project to just send emails. Do they go with a top-of-the-line tool like Eloqua, or Marketo? Who’s going to set that up and what are the requirements? Scratch that, what the heck is marketing automation and what can it do? Maybe a simpler mid-size tool like Hubspot of Act-on is a better fit, but does it meet all the requirements? What are the requiremens? What if they have distributed sending model such as on behalf of resellers or a B2B2B model? Do the tools handle multiple lists of multiple companies and different permissions for all? Who’s going to architect that out? They finally choose one of these and initial email tool now becomes obsolete and gets scrapped. Then they have to re-figure out how this connects to the CRM, which requires an entire new tag that goes on the website to get visitor data.
Now that the infrastructure is almost built, it’s time to consider content. How does the content get created and what specific offer or message will resonate with the audience? How is the audience defined? From the CRM would be best but it’s likely that data needs to be cleaned and segmented. Once you have your audience, it’s time to publish the content across all channels. It should probably go up on their website. This means they need a content management system such as WordPress, SharePoint, Joomla, or Drupal. What are the call-to-actions? How do those actions get back into the CRM and Marketing Automation system? Which one do they post into? How do they trigger a welcome email? And how do they optimize the landing page for better conversions? Does the CRM or Marketing Automation tool host landing pages? Didn’t think of that. Or do they use a tool like Unbounce or WuFoo? Does it post to into the CRM “out of the box?â€
Once the infrastructure is in place, the content needs to be optimized to the search engine. Does the site architecture support the content generation plan so that they’ll get traffic over time? How are they tracking your ranking? Do they use a tool like RavenTools, SEOMOz, or AuthorityRank? Does the Marketing Automation tool provide any insight?
Then it’s necessary to consider mobile. If they chose a CMS or ESP, does it support responsive themes? Should they create a mobile site and now they are managing two different sites? Do they use a tool like BMobilize or DudaMobile? How are the emails optimized to mobile? Did they know every email client renders it differently and is about 10 years behind the HTML standards of web browsers? How do they test it, something like Litmus to see how it renders? Do they want to measure the deliverability, how about a tool like ReturnPath?
The point is, there are a large number of options and many moving pieces that need to work together seamlessly in order build and launch an effective targeted digital marketing campaign. Because of this, there is an opportunity for those that understand the whole picture. Marketing technologies will become invaluable as companies move into digital relationships with their prospects and customers.
They’ll be able to come in, ask many questions, identify the company goals and then say something like, “You need the infrastructure SalesForce CRM, HubSpot Marketing Automation, WordPress CMS, Google Analytics, and Unbounce. You can obtain contacts from Data.com. You can generate content with WriterAccess. You can launch campaigns with AdRoll, Google AdWords, Authority Rank, OutBrain.â€
More importantly, the marketing technologist could facilitate the setup, configuration, and execution on this type of solution.
By Cody Ward
As the car becomes a connected Internet device, the titans of the tech sector are battling for control of the wheel.
The war is shaping up a lot like the computer sector, with Google, Apple and Microsoft and others fighting to be in control of the vehicle's "operating system" to deliver apps, navigation and other services.
Some of those battles were played out this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which included a record nine auto manufacturers and scores of equipment makers, including software and related tech companies.
"People want consumer apps in their cars, they want to connect to their smartphones, they want to connect to the cloud," says Grant Courville, director of product management at QNX, which makes the on-board systems used on tens of millions of cars.
But the battlefield is wide open because "there's no clear dominant app ecosystem in automotive," Courville told AFP from the CES floor.
At CES, Canadian-based QNX unveiled a partnership with Qualcomm to support the chipmaker's new automotive platform, which connects to smartphones and offers apps for maps, speech recognition, geolocation, and vehicle analytics.
At the same time, Google unveiled a partnership with General Motors, Audi, Honda and Hyundai in a new partnership to bring the Android mobile system to vehicles in a new Open Automotive Alliance.
The moves come with Microsoft in a longstanding partnership with Ford, and Apple widely expected to expand its system for connecting the iPhone with automotive electronics systems.
"Carmakers are conflicted," said Tim Tang, an analyst with IDC attending the Las Vegas expo.
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Tang said a key question for automakers is whether the cars should have a dedicated connection or use the smartphone.
"If it is a smartphone model, it's easy to get traction quickly, you don't need to design the system five years in advance. But if it is built into the car you have some advantages. If the car is stolen, for example, you can shut it off."
The General Motors division Chevrolet said this week it would deploy fourth generation (4G) Internet connections on several models to help motorists who want to stay connected with the growing number of apps for automobiles.
But compatibility issues in the nascent "infotainment" technology can mean some systems deliver apps from Android or Android but not both.
Mazda this week at CES announced a partnership with the US software firm OpenCar to launch a new standards-based app system that allows the on-board screen to act as a browser and use a wide range of applications on the Internet.
Paul Boyes, head of telematics and standards for Seattle-based OpenCar, said carmakers using the system would have more control of the apps, being able to choose those deemed safe for the road, and be able to draw from the full Internet, not just Android or Apple.
"With us, the carmakers are tied to a browser, not a company," he told AFP. "If you have Apple or Android, you are married to their system."
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"In the US market, infotainment and connectivity is becoming a major decision-making factor for car buying," Okano said. "It is also growing in other markets."
QNX's Courville said his firm, a unit of BlackBerry, is benefitting from the growth in new technologies, because it can deliver the overall platform which can interact with Android, Apple, and others.
"You need that battle-hardened system," he said. "We're the market leader in infotainment."
Even if carmakers want to use a system like Android, they still need to integrate into the car a system designed for smartphones and tablets.
"There's no automotive version of Android," he said, adding that QNX is a partner with Apple as well for automotive.
"We provide a framework and platform for automotive that is reliable and secure."
By Rob Lever
Explore further: Google partners with automakers for on-board Android
As a marketer, you carefully craft pieces of content for the web. You research your target audience, include what’s trending, topical keywords and a distribution plan across your social networks and web properties. You’ve even found the optimal time of day to post for each.
But when you click “Publishâ€â€¦nothing happens.
Native advertising, otherwise known as paid media in the format of news content nestled among other similar stories, has risen as one of the more effective ways to reach consumers in 2014. Though not new, certain questions arise: are consumers really clicking on native advertising vs. traditional advertisements or organic posts on the web? Do they actually trust these ads and are they worth your money? The answer may surprise you.
According to a study done by David Franklyn, law professor at the University of San Francisco, when it comes to what people recognize about labels, people often just skip over them. Respondents to his study “didn’t remember seeing ‘sponsored by’ posts when asked to read a web page and the majority (over 50 percent) also didn’t know what the word ‘sponsored’ actually meant.â€
These results augment more preliminary findings from the study which stated that sometimes people don’t understand what the word â€ad†means, and even with disclosure, as much as 35 percent of people when asked to identify the type of content they were viewing, said that it was not an ad.
What this study sheds light on is that we do not have a homogenous group of consumers in terms of knowledge and expectations. People struggle with differentiating paid from unpaid ads. The bottom line? Context matters more than labels.
Furthermore, in terms of wanting to know whether a piece of content was paid media or not, out of the 10,000 surveyed, only 40 percent of consumers wanted more clear and conspicuous differentiation between paid and unpaid content. Sixty percent stated that they don’t care. Said Franklyn, “a growing number of consumers don’t care, and enjoy it. They enjoy the hyper-stimulation that marketers do the work to do – they just want to sift through and enjoy it like People Magazine.â€
Other than consumers just plain not caring, why do native ads work so well? According to Jamie Cole, creative director at Red Barn Media Group, in research covering audience reception to native advertising, the material that appeared the least commercial was rated as most credible by readers, and attitude toward the brand and purchase intent increased towards content that mirrored and appeared as news content.
But don’t confuse the word “mirror†with “trick.†According to Dan Greenberg, the CEO of Sharethrough, â€it’s not about tricking people, it’s about delivering content that has value. We believe in the power of meaningful content.†(Besides, tricking people couldland you in hot water.)
Preliminary data from a study his company conducted showed that the language used to disclose native ads has an impact on whether or not a consumer perceives a story as being paid for by a brand. “Disclosure language impacts perception. The words ‘sponsored’ vs. ‘featured’ vs. ‘promoted’ vs. ‘advertisement’ vs. ‘placed by’ vs. ‘in partnership’ vs. ‘suggested’ vs. ‘around the web’ all have different perceptions. Context has a major impact on perception.â€
Do you trust native advertising or other paid media content? Why or why not?
BYÂ STACEY MILLER
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Information adapted from the FTC’s Workshop on Native Advertising.
Image: Pardot (Creative Commons)
