Five Steps That Will Help You Increase Revenue From NEW Customers Without Adding More Sales People
Jan 21, 2015
Five Steps That Will Help You Increase Revenue From NEW Customers
Without Adding
More Sales People
Contents
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.5564
Introduction 1
1. Help Buyers Discover What They Are Trying to Find
4
2. Help Buyers Get the Information They Are Seeking
12
3. Help Buyers See What Others Are Saying
14
4. Help Buyers Experience It BeforeThey Purchase
17
Summary 20
FREE Offer 21
About The ROM Group 22
Research has shown that on average 2 percent of leadsare sales-ready. And as it turns out, the remaining 98
percent, that are not ready to buy today, will actuallybuy within the next 12 months. So how can you cultivatethose leads to keep them active and moving towardssales ready in the most efficient manner? Cold salescalls? Telemarketing? Social media? Search marketing?Advertising?
The most sustainable and effective solution is to becomebuyer centric: giving the buyers what they are seeking--not pushing what you want to sell.
For business owners on a tight budget, looking toincrease the percent of new leads that close, this eBookwill present 5 actionable steps that will dramatically
increase:
• Sales from new customers by 20 percent• Web site visits and engagement by 100 percent+• The number of registered leads by 100 percent+
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.5564
The most sustainable
and effective
solution is to
become buyer
centric: giving the
buyers what they
are seeking-- not
pushing what you
want to sell.
1
INTRODUCTION: How to Capture
Revenue that Slips Through the Cracks
To become buyer centric, business owners need to first
understand and accept how buyers choose a productor service. Every buyer, before deciding to buy, goesthrough a series of steps called the Purchase DecisionProcess. It consists of five stages:
1. Discovery: buyers realize they have a problem and begin
seeking someone or something to help them solve their problem.
2. Information: buyers are actively finding information that answers
their questions, solves their problems or shows them how to
accomplish a task.
3. Endorsement: buyers read and see what their peers are saying
about a product or service.
4. Proof/Demo: buyers want to make sure the solution
accomplishes what they need it to do.
5. Conversion: buyers want to purchase the product or service in a
way that is easy for them.
Buyers want to go through this process without beingforced to have a live interface with a sales person.
The following pages will describe how you can make iteasy for buyers to do that.
Your Path to Increased Sales
is Buyer Centric
Discovery
Information
Endorsement
Proof/ Demo
Conversion
© 2010 The ROM Group LLC www.theromgroup.com
Purchase Decision
Process
Buyers want to walk through this process without
being forced to have a live interface with a sales
person.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55642
Five Steps You Can
Implement to Ignite Sales
Follow these 5 steps and you will see dramatic improvement in sales revenue from new customers.
1. Help buyers discover what they are trying to find
2. Help buyers get the information they are seeking
3. Help buyers see what others are saying
4. Help buyers experience the solution before they purchase
5. Help buyers buy the way they want
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55643
During the first step of the Purchase Decision Process,buyers are seeking a solution to their problem. In order to
be found, business owners must build a marketing planthat leverages these two mediums:
• The Web
• Buyer location
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55644
1. Help Buyers Discover What They Are
Trying to Find
How to Optimize Your Web
VisibilityResearch reveals that more than 80 percent of buyerssearch online to research their purchase beforecontacting the seller. You increase your Web visibility by:
• Generating a library of deep, authentic content, published in a variety of formats
• Leveraging social media tools
• Using content sharing sites
• Keeping an updated blog
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55645
Generate a library of
deep, authentic
content, published
in a variety of
formats.
Today’s SEO is Driven by
Authentic ContentGenerate a Library of Deep, Authentic Content
While conducting a search on the same topic, you anda peer are more than likely to use very unique searchphrases. Your buyers are no different than you, but there
may be thousands of them, all with their own thousandsof individual search phrases-- making SEO virtuallyimpossible. These phrases are called longtail searchphrases. The only way to get found in the myriad ofsearch phrases is to publish relevant, granular content.
Google relies on Web site content for the most relevantmatch between the search phrase and your Web site'scontent. This is why sites like Wikipedia and YouTubeshow up frequently on the first page when buyers aresearching.
Google relies on
Web site content for
the most relevant
match between the
search phrase and
your Web site's
content.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55646
Social Media Gets the Most
Weight from GoogleLeverage Social Media Tools
Much has been said about leveraging social media tosell. But the real value of social media is its power to
increase Web visibility. According to Nielson Online,nearly 20 percent of people on social media use socialnetworks as their core navigation tool. They search forvaluable content within social networks, which directsthem to a Web site.
The chart to the right shows that the number of site
referrals from social networks is greater than the numberof referrals from search engines.
Both Google and Bing have recognized the trend. Theyhave incorporated social media feed content fromFacebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn into search results andalgorithms.
The number of site referrals from social networks
is greater than the number of referrals from
search engines.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55647
Share Your Content Across
the WebUse Content Sharing Sites
In addition to social media sites, content sharing sites arealso given a lot of weight by search engines. Sites suchas:
• YouTube, for videos• Flickr, for photos• Slide Share, for presentations
Do a quick search on how to weld, and a series of videos
are ranked high on the results page.
Keep an Updated Blog
Search engines pay more attention to a frequentlyupdated blog than to Web pages. While a Web site is avery important piece of content, using that content on
your blog will further drive your Web visibility.
Videos rank high on search engine results pages.
Search engines pay more attention to a frequently updated blog than to Web pages.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55648
How to Leverage Location
VisibilityLocation visibility is all about being where the buyers are:where they spend time and where they go forinformation. Simple research on the front-end of amarketing plan will show you where your buyers
congregate. Use this information to allocate marketingdollars effectively.
Tradeshows
One of the best location visibility opportunities for B2Bcompanies are tradeshows. Tradeshows are an excellent
place to capture leads. In order to capture these leads,you need to promote several high-value content piecesthat will encourage visitors to register to receive them.
Capture leads at tradeshows.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.55649
Trade Associations Offer A
Critical Gateway to Buyers
Trade Associations
Trade associations are hungry to provide their memberseducational content. They are willing to work with
vendors who are committed to providing purely that--not promotional, sales content.
Trade Associations can open the door for you and yourcompany to thousands of buyers. Now be aware, manyof these organizations are hungry for revenue; they maywant you to pay for sponsorships or other promotions in
order to participate. You need to judge the value foryourself.
Trade associations can open the door for you and your company to thousands of buyers.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556410
Share Your Expertise,
Authority with EveryoneWebinars
Along with providing highly valuable content, not salesmaterial, gaining a highly visible partner is key to a
successful webinar. Many large companies strive topromote content, therefore you can access theircustomer base via a co-sponsored webinar.
Speaking Events
Where there is an audience of prospective buyers,
present high-value content and capture leads.
Gaining a highly visible partner is the key to a successful webinar.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556411
The second phase buyers enter into during the PurchaseDecision Process is Information. As discussed earlier, in this
stage, buyers are seeking information about solutionsavailable. No matter how good your product or service isat solving a particular problem, if you don't have thecontent online to back it up, buyers will leave you andgo to someone who does have the information they areseeking.
As mentioned in step No.1, Help Buyers Discover WhatThey Are Trying to Find, you need to pack your Web sitewith deep, authentic content in multiple formats. But thiscontent should not contain promotional product-centricmessaging. Buyers are looking for content that helpsthem with one or more of three things:
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556412
1. Answers to their
questions
2. Solutions to their
problems
3. "How-to's" that show
them how to
accomplish a task
2. Help Buyers Get the Information
They Are Seeking
Use Multiple Content
Formats
Here are a few formats you can use to get your content
library started:
• eBooks
• Web casts
• Videos
• White papers
• Case studies
• Product Demonstrations
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556413
Step 3 represents the Endorsement stage of the PurchaseDecision Process. In this stage, buyers are seeking to seewhat their peers are saying about a product or service.
Prior to this stage, buyers will seek information until theyfeel comfortable they understand everything they needto know. They will then seek endorsement to gain theconfidence that others who have experienced aproduct or service have been satisfied.
To create content that provides this endorsement piece,
have a customer answer these two questions about yourproduct or service:
1. How did the product or service solve your problem?2. Was this company the best choice?
Buyers will seek
endorsement to gain
the confidence that
others who have
experienced a
product or service
have been satisfied.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556414
3. Help Buyers See What Others Are
Saying
Use Testimonials and Case
StudiesVideo Testimonials
One of the many ways to provide endorsement contentis through testimonials. And in the Web world, video is
king. So, video testimonials are very strong and highlyauthentic. Authenticity is key-- no actors, no glitzyproduction values.
Case Studies
Another tool to fulfill your buyers' endorsement needs are
case studies. Write case studies that describe how yousolved a customer's problem. The lesson here is details,details and more details. Buyers want the unvarnishedstory, not the dressed-up story. If there were problems,call them out. Buyers expect problems, and they want toknow how you handle them.
In the Web world, video is king.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556415
Use Review Forums and
Social MediaOpen Review Forums
Open review forums often scare sellers. Many will arguethat reviewers on these forums are the same type of
people who habitually write hate letters to the editor.There is no question that the Web world is filled with a lotof very scary people. But buyers are intelligent and willrecognize garbage when they see it. They will alsorecognize fluff when they see it.
In today's marketing world, you are naked, whether
you're willing to accept it or not. It's better to face thegood and the bad-- so you can work on the bad.
Social Media
Finally, social media is turning into a valuable resourcefor endorsement. Buyers trust these conversations to gain
insight into authentic experiences. As with open reviewforums, there will be people out there slamming a lot ofpeople and companies. These people don't retain manyfollowers and are mostly just making a lot of noise; buyerscan determine an authentic review from a slanted one.
In today’s marketing world, you are naked, whether you are willing to accept it or not.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556416
In the fourth stage of the Purchase Decision Process,buyers want proof the product will actually do what theyneed it to do. You can do this by allowing buyers to
experience the product or service before they purchase.
Product Demonstrations
Again, video is huge. Show off the product from thebuyers point of view– not what you want to sell.
Free Trial or Low-Risk Offer
Free trials put the product or service directly into thebuyer’s hands– getting their feet wet. For professionalservice firms that can’t offer a tangible product, freetrials my be difficult to provide to buyers. Low-risk offerscan fill the gap. As an example, an architecture firm can
offer a free or lower-cost planning session.
Buyers want proof the product will actually do what they need it to do.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556417
4. Help Buyers Experience It Before
They Purchase
5. Give Buyers Multiple Ways to Buy
Multiple Purchase Options
Buyers want multiple purchase options. John Deere's Web
site illustrates how to do this. Not too long ago, a majorbrand manufacturer, like John Deere, had a dealernetwork that they protected. Then they forced the buyerto buy from a specific dealer, whether the buyer liked thedealer or not. Today, that has changed.
Now a buyer can choose to buy online, from a dealer or
even from a big-box retailer like Home Depot or Lowe's.This approach is very buyer centric.
Buyers want multiple purchase options.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556418
Give Buyers Access to
Subject Matter ExpertsSubject Matter Expert
Even in this stage, the buyer wants it their way and smartsellers will give it to them. Here, the buyer doesn't want to
talk to a sales person, because buyers think the role of asales person is to persuade them to buy something theydon't want or need.
Buyers want to talk to a product expert or subject matterexpert. They don't want to talk to the guy in shiny shoes;they want to talk to the guy that actually does the work.
The buyer may have some final questions that need tobe answered; the subject matter expert is the onlyperson who can provide them the direct answers theyneed.
Buyers don't want to
talk to the guy in
shiny shoes; they
want to talk to the
guy that actually
does the work.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556419
In this eBook, you learned why it is so difficult to
increase your revenue from new customers. When nearly 98 percent of new leads buy 12 months or more from the time they become a lead and shy away from talking to sales people, you need a
plan to stay in front of those buyers, to help guide them through the Purchase Decision Process. Here is how:
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556420
1. Help buyers discover
what they are looking to
find
2. Help buyers get the
information they are
seeking
3. Help buyers see what
others are saying
4. Help buyers
experience it before
they purchase
5. Help buyers buy the
way they want
SUMMARY: How to Become Buyer Centric
to Close More Sales From NEW Customers
FREE Offer
Get something for FREE and discover what it’s like to work with The ROM Group.
Offers may include a FREE customer survey, eBook, white paper, testimonial video, and more.
Contact Richard M. Pedersen, Jr. to learn more.
www.theromgroup.com 920.964.556421
When You Need Top-Line
Growth, The ROM Group
Delivers The ROM Group provides buyer centric lead generationand lead nurturing programs for B2B companies. ROM’s
approach delivers dramatic increases in top-linerevenue by integrating proprietary buyer research,online lead generation, lead-profiling phone calls, leadnurturing, and lead conversion services into a single,simple-to-use solution. At each stage in the life of a lead,ROM (return-on-marketing) measures the key metricsthat senior managers need to clearly understand the
effectiveness and ROI of their programs.
www.theromgroup.com
920-964-5564
22