Sales & Marketing Articles

7 Article Marketing Lessons I Learned from Being a Martial Arts Champion

Jenn Hass — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:59:00 GMT

By: Eric Gruber

How does my martial arts training directly relate to my success as an article marketing expert?

When I was seven, I was a scared, scrawny cry baby. Kids in the neighborhood stole my hat and I ran home crying! My younger brother, who was only four at the time, knocked on the bully’s’ door to get my hat back.

My parents enrolled me into Chirico’s School of Karate, where I learned steps that took me from NOTHING to a SELF-ASSURED 4th DEGREE BLACK BELT.

I also learned secrets on how to become a champion in the martial arts. I discovered that these same secrets helped me become a champion in all areas of my life.

So do you want to know what these life-changing, business-evolving secrets are?

7 Black Belt Secrets for Article Marketing Success

Secret #1: Watch who you hang around with

One of our black belts drives all the way from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to practice. That’s a 3-hour round trip.

Why?

The furious energy at Chirico’s School of Karate is undeniable as soon as you walk in the door. You're surrounded by a true grandmaster with more than 40 years of martial arts training and black belts who are determined to succeed.

Who are YOU hanging around? Where are your articles being associated? Are you just blasting articles out there? Or are you carefully selecting websites and ezines which your targeted audiences and prospects read? Remember, who you associate with will determine the level of success you can reach.

Secret #2: Consistency is the key for long-term success

When I don’t train consistently because of traveling or personal issues, I lose karate tournaments. If you want to achieve your business goals online, you have to consistently write and submit articles. You have to be in front of your audience on a regular basis. Otherwise you will lose sales to your competitors.

Secret #3: Ups and downs are part of the process

During my martial arts training, I learned that there is NO possible way that you can win every tournament. Yes, I can’t even tell you how many trophies, medals and plaques I have won throughout my more than 20 years of martial arts training. But, I also lost count of how many tournaments I lost in the very first round.

Not every article you write and submit online will be a success. You will have ups and downs with your article marketing efforts, but you have to keep writing consistently. It’s the only way you will win in the long term.

Secret #4: Hard work is part of the game

It took me ten years of blood, sweat and tears to get promoted to the rank of black belt. I learned that there are NO obstacles that I couldn’t beat if I consistently persevere.

How many of us secretly wish our success would be handed to us on a silver platter? Get real. There is work involved. The solution is to make the hard work FUN by doing what you love to do (sharing your expertise) and delegating what you don't (the mind boggling, manual article submission.)

Secret #5: Model others who are already successful

My instructor is a 10th degree black belt grandmaster. Yet, he doesn’t try to reinvent his own martial arts training programs from scratch. He adapts training techniques, forms and strategies that were created from the ancient masters who have proven their immense success.

When writing your articles, model article templates that work for others and then adapt it to your own writing style.

Secret #6: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

When we practice self-defense, we train for a variety of attacks from the front, sides and back. We do grappling and ground techniques. And, we even practice fighting against multiple attackers. So we’re ready for all situations.

Just like we want multiple fighting strategies, you want multiple streams of income that will help you fight the recession. You can easily turn your articles into products like special reports and eBooks.

Secret #7: Find a mentor or coach for faster results

I would not have been a state champion for two years in a row, if my instructor didn’t walk me through every step of the way. I know many entrepreneurs who have wasted thousands of dollars on marketing programs that got them nowhere. Don't make that mistake. Invest in someone to show you the way - the right way - the first time. (Not sure where to start? Join my Write Your Way to Profits Insiders Circle)

Follow these secrets, and you will reach article marketing success. You will be found online. And, you will get more prospects, publicity and profits

About the Author

Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for entrepreneurs who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, Eric is sharing the exact roadmap, broken into 5 easy-to-follow steps that thousands have used to launch and build their businesses online with articles. And, he's giving this knowledge for FREE, with his new e-Book at: http://www.BroadcastYourArticles.com/freebook

The Internet Sales Cycle Explained & How You Can Make It Work for You Just by Writing Articles

Editor — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:24:00 GMT

By: Eric Gruber

Most new online business owners think that Internet marketing is their magic pill to making more money.

I have news for you…It's not magic. It's a process.

But once you WORK that process, it CAN work like magic!

Here’s the Internet Sales Cycle Broken Down into 5 Simple Parts

1. Collect Leads

The absolute best way is to get leads online is to write unique, original articles that position you as the expert in your specific niche. And, it’s not that hard. All you have to write is a simple 500-word “how-to” or “top tips” article that will solve your prospect’s pain. Wonder what a “how-to article” is? You’re reading one!

Then, you want to submit your articles to the top websites, ezines and article directories that your targeted audience is reading. This way, you will be able to drive more website traffic and build your list.

2. Get Them into Your Sales Funnel – And Build Your List

Once you've written your article, you need a way to get prospects into your "sales funnel.” The best way to make this easy is to offer a special report, e-Book, e-course, checklist, audio, video or anything else your heart desires. You will not charge for the product. Your goal is to get names now, and make sales later. You will put this information at the end of your article in what we call the bio box.

In the bio box, you can promote your:

Website
Products
Services
Specific “call-to-action” that leads them to the special product you offer

For an example just read my bio box at the end of this article.

Most people make the mistake of trying to sell high-priced products and services in the bio box. Getting visitors on your list should be your number one objective! Why? Up to 99% of your first-time visitors will not buy from you. They'll take a quick look and then they’ll click away. If you did not capture their names and email addresses, you will have lost them forever.

3. Follow Up

Marketing studies have always shown that your prospects need to be exposed to your message at least 7 times before they'll take any action! That’s why you need to build and maintain relationships with your list.

This is where ezines, e-course and autoresponders work like a charm. They will follow up for you automatically. In fact, with the marketing and shopping cart system My Easy Online Store, you can schedule email messages up to two years away! It's like putting your marketing on autopilot, so you can just set it and forget it!

4. Close the Sale

Your ezine, e-courses, special reports and autoresponder messages should drive readers to what you have to offer. However, don’t forget to provide useful content and information. That's why they gave you their names and emails and that's why they'll stay on your list.

Here are two reasons why you shouldn’t make the mistake of trying to sell from the actual email:

1) You don't have the room in an email to fully explain what you're selling and demonstrate its value to the prospect
2) It can turn people off who aren't ready to buy yet. You'll instantly lose those prospects from your list.

The idea of the email is to get them excited about your offering and to get them to CLICK. Once they click, then they should be taken to a sales page that you set up specifically for that product or service you're promoting. It's THERE and ONLY THERE that the prospect will get the full scoop on how great your product, book or service is, why they need it, how much it costs and how to order.

5. Upsell, and Upsell Again

Here's the biggest mistake I made when I started to sell my first information product online, “The A to Z Article Marketing System.” It was the ONLY product! I didn’t even have a membership club in place. So once people bought my product, I had nothing else in my funnel to sell them. I had to work extra hard at finding new prospects all the time. It’s been said for ages: “It is easier to sell an existing client a new product than to find a new client.”

That's why you need to continue turning (churning has a bad connotation) out valuable new products and programs that your customers will eat up like crazy. You can simply create new products by recycling the articles you used to collect leads.

Now, you have it -- the Internet sales cycle broken down into five easy parts. Now, you should see the missing links in your own Internet sales cycle. Have patience, keep learning and don’t stop writing. You’ll begin fill in these gaps, and start to see the magic of article marketing work for you.

About the Author

Profitable Article Marketing Strategies: 5 Ways to Build Trust Online with Article Marketing

Editor — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:42:00 GMT

By Eric Gruber

Article marketing has many perks and benefits. We can communicate with people on a global scale. We can reach many targeted customers very easily. And we have the added bonus of showing our readers that we're experts in our niches. This builds customer confidence.

But one of the challenges of marketing our businesses online is figuring out how to reach through the cold, mechanical computer screen and make a real human connection. Remember, people want to do business with people they trust.

So, what can you do with your articles to establish trust online with people you may never see or meet in real life?

5 Ways to Build Trust & Win Customer Confidence with Article Marketing

Don’t stop writing.

You can't submit one or two articles and then expect to be regarded as an expert in your niche. It is the accumulation of repeated positive experiences with you that makes a lasting impact. As you're doing your article marketing, you should regard each article as a way to grow your relationships with prospects and clients. Decide on an article submission schedule that you think you can consistently complete long term. Once a month is a good goal.

Show readers that you're worthy of trust.

To build trust online, you want to show authenticity. So, before you write one word, think how you want to come across as a person. The more you're willing to let your guard down and portray yourself as a real person, the more you'll be rewarded.

Connect with readers by showing them that you started out just like them.

Remember, most people buy on emotional impulses and not on logical, intellectual decisions. That’s why during my speeches to large Internet marketing conferences and in my articles, I explain how I couldn’t find a job and how I put my parents into debt as they tried helping me pay my bills. I explain how I even had to ask my grandparents for money. And I talk about the mistakes I made.

After the connection is made, then I show my audience how I’ve become an article marketing success. When you show readers that you started out just like them, you will build an instant connection and you will give them hope. This will make it a whole lot easier for them to buy your products or services.

Show your results.

You have to give readers a reason to believe your advice. So quantify your results as much as possible and proudly show them. For example, you can end our article like this way:

“By following my advice above, Marketing Expert Scott Glatstein went from just 8 links on Google to more than 2000 links in just one month. His website traffic quadrupled from year ago levels. After the second month of doing article submissions, his traffic increased another ten percent to set a new 5-year high water mark on web traffic.

Realize the huge impact recommendations bring.

When we write articles, we’re trying to make connections with people who we may never meet or talk to in person. It's natural for anyone looking at information on the Internet to think, "Hmmm, can I trust this?" This is why third party recommendations pack a punch, especially if you’re trying to promote a book, product or service.

For example, here’s a bio box we created for “America’s greatest sales and marketing executive” Chet Holmes…

Jay Levinson of Guerilla Marketing says, “Business Growth Expert, Chet Holmes has the best ideas you will ever hear on super-fast business growth. To learn his top four incredible concepts that will double your sales in the next twelve months, watch his live videos for free at: <Website address>. It will take only five minutes to learn.

Article Marketing Success You Can Experience and Enjoy If You Follow My Advice

By following my advice:

Distribution Industry Technology Expert Dani Kaplan had his best year of business in 27 years of business.
Lesley Mattos tripled her website traffic
Kevin Berchelmann, CEO of Triangle Performance acquired a new mid-5 figure client

That’s just a small sampling. Many more results can be found at my website at IWantMoreProspects.com. You, too, can experience these article marketing successes if you follow my article marketing system.

About the Author

Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for entrepreneurs who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, he’s revealing his top secrets to writing articles so you can boost your website traffic, get more leads and create multiple, profitable streams of income. Go to http://www.BroadcastYourArticles.com and let Eric teach you step-by-step, how to write your way to profits!

Sales Lessons Your Sales Team Should Learn from President Bill Clinton

Editor — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:12:00 GMT

By Nick Vaidya

No matter how much a person hates President Bill Clinton, no one can deny his incredible resilience and relentless push for success. In fact, I have a lot of admiration for Bill as an incorrigible salesman.

He is without doubt one of the greatest salesman of his time. He knows what matters and is able to focus on the vital few inputs that are responsible for his desired results.

Here are 5 Sales Lessons Your Sales Team Should Learn from President Bill Clinton…

Identify with your prospects! (Bubbafy):

One reason Bill gained success in North Carolina for his wife Hillary Clinton is because he can connect with the older white men from the working class and so called ‘Bubba” who in the past supported Ronald Reagan but are sympathetic of democratic economic policies.

Do your prospects identify with you?

Do you read up their trade journals and are familiar with their vernacular?

Most marketing and sales material is full of seller centric words and concepts. It is critical that we use concepts and language they the buyers consider their own. You need to Bubbafy yourself.
Get the Right Attitude! (Battitude)

Bill Clinton is known as a bad loser. No matter how bad the outlook was, he supported his wife's drive to push on with her presidential campaign. He told her repeatedly, “We’re not quitters”
At one time, Bill even said, “In the new economy, information, education, and motivation are everything.” Motivation is a pre-requisite to sales career success. Make Bill your role model of relentless resilience: Get your self some battitude.
Persisting With Your Prospect! (Billsistence):

In North Carolina, Bill Clinton targeted rural and suburban areas, running several hours late most of the day. You know why? Well, he was shaking hands with anyone who would. His explanation: "If you're not ready to vote for Hillary, then I'm going to keep talking".

In most first sales meeting situations, many sales professionals give up too quickly. They have this fear of being pushy. However, there is a fine line between being persistent and pushy. The trick is in asking the right questions.

How are you at Billsisting?
Get on the phone! (BoldCalling):

Sales is a numbers game if you have the right message. That’s why Bill Clinton told his wife’s campaign manager to double the number of his daily appearances.

"Look at this schedule -- you've got me down for four events," he said the week before Pennsylvania's primary, according to one operative. "Give me six, eight a day. Get me to the suburbs where I can make a difference."

If you are a sales person, how many cold calls do you make everyday. How many do think you can make? I think it’s time you start bold calling!
Plan Strategically & Execute Your Plan! (Billtack): T

The former President pushed his staff to arrange for more appearances for him. On his own daily message calls, advisers say, he implores: "We've got to take him on every time." At the Clintons' Washington, D.C., home recently, these people say, he reviewed possible TV spots and told ad makers to be more hard-hitting, faster and harsher.

What is your strategy for keeping in touch with prospects and associates? Are you able to constantly engage them? Do you occupy a share of their mind? Are you connecting with them every opportunity that you get? Are you Billtacking your prospects?

The One Area All Sales Professionals Need to Improve – Including Bill Clinton! Reduce BillSpeak

The one place Bill Clinton needs to improve and so do the rest of us sales professionals is…Dealing with cockiness about winging it. This is what I call BillSpeak

Most of us think that we have been doing things for a while so we know what to do automatically when encountering prospects. We do not. We cannot afford to make costly mistakes. These mistakes can be incredibly expensive. The Bosnia faux pas, where Bill and Hillary told different stories, is a prime example when Bill should simply have been quiet.

In all sales situations this is bound to happen if we are not prepared with who is going to talk - what, when, and how. Solid preparation before a sales presentation is critical. The team must know what is going to happen. All questions and answers must be rehearsed and all must know who is going to answer which question.

Do you have a checklist of potential questions and their answers for each member of the team with clarity as to who will answer which question?
Do you have index cards with talking points for each member of your team?

Bill Clinton does. Maggie Williams, Hillary campaign manager made sure that Bill reviewed the message of the week or the day and the question and answer index cards on a daily basis. It is hard to keep focused on the message, even for Bill. So remember do not BillSpeak.

Follow this advice and your sales team will get more sales guaranteed!

About the Author

Nick Vaidya offers thought leadership, marketing and sales consulting to both Fortune 500 companies and smaller businesses who want to increase their revenue growth. His team was solely responsible for the financial guidance, profitability, pricing, and product configuration for 40% of Dell's revenue! Now you can get Nick’s NEW & FREE BOOK, “Contract with Growth: The 80/20 Revenue Capture Program for Your Firm at: http://www.8020strategy.com

Leverage Marketing Lists Across Your Team

Mktg 123 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:33:00 GMT

Microsoft Dynamics CRM includes search features you can use to manage and filter accounts, contacts, and leads. Use these features to set up and share custom searches and lists that your whole team can use. Target your marketing efforts by setting up a list based on criteria you define and printing mailing labels to use for a targeted mailing. While you're at it, print a call-down sheet for your telesales group to use for follow-ups.

Note: This article was designed to work best with Microsoft Office 2003.

Create a useful marketing list
You may want to target a campaign at a subset of your accounts, contacts, and leads, such as accounts based in Chicago, or accounts with open opportunities worth more than $1,000. The easiest way to add members to a list in Microsoft Dynamics CRM is to create an empty list, and then use Advanced Find to add your members.

Create a marketing list
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Marketing or Sales, and then click Marketing Lists.
2. On the Actions toolbar, click New.
3. In the Marketing List form, enter a name for your new list, and in the Member Type box, select Account, Contact, or
4. Lead, and then click Save.
5. Under Details, click Marketing List Members.
6. On the Actions toolbar, click Manage Members.
7. In the Manage Members dialog box, click Use Advanced Find to add members, and then click OK.
8. On the Find tab, click Select, and then select Address 1: City. Click Enter value, and type Chicago.
9. Click Select, and scroll down to the bottom section of the list, under the Related heading. This section shows all the related records.
10. Under Related, select Opportunities (Potential Customer).
11. Click Select, and then select Est. Revenue.
12. Change Equals to Is Greater Than, click Enter value, and then type 1,000.
13. Click Find.
14. Select the Add all the members returned by the search to the marketing list check box, and then click Add to Marketing List.
15. Click Save and Close.

Create labels for a mailing to your marketing list
You can export any list you’ve created in Microsoft Dynamics CRM to Microsoft Office Excel as a static worksheet, or as a dynamic PivotTable or worksheet. To make mailing labels, you export a list to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and then merge the Microsoft Dynamics CRM data into a label template in Microsoft Office Word. There are two ways you can export lists from Microsoft Dynamics CRM:

Create a view that includes all the address data and export it as a static worksheet. An exported static worksheet contains all the columns that were visible in the view at the time you exported it.
Export any view as a dynamic worksheet. When you export to a dynamic worksheet, you can choose the columns you want to export.

How to perform a mail merge using a dynamic worksheet
To perform a mail merge using a dynamic worksheet:

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Marketing or Sales, and then click Marketing Lists.
2. Open the marketing list you want to use for your mail merge.
3. On the Actions toolbar, click Mail Merge on List Members.
4. If you have other languages installed, you can select a language to filter the list of templates.
5. In the Select the mail merge type list, select Label.
6. Select if you want to start with a blank document or a template. If you select a template option, click the Lookup button to select a template. New mail merge templates are created in the Settings area.
7. Click Data Fields, select the address columns you need for mailing labels, clear the columns you don't need, and then click OK.
8. Click OK. Microsoft Dynamics CRM automatically opens a Microsoft Office Word document. In the File Download dialog box, click Open. This is not your mail merge document. This is an interim page. Follow the directions in the Word document, including clicking CRM.
9. In the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box, verify that the list is accurate, and then click OK.
10. To continue the mail merge, follow the instructions provided by the Mail Merge pane.
a. To add data fields (placeholders that insert text into an e-mail message or document automatically) to display more information, click More items. You can use up to 64 data fields.
b. In the document, add line breaks, spaces, punctuation and any other formatting required by your postal service.
c. In the Mail Merge task pane, under Replicate labels, click Update all labels.
d. Click Next: Preview your labels.
e. If you’re satisfied with the format of your labels, click Complete the merge.
f. Put label sheets in your printer, and then click Print.

For more information, see the Microsoft Office Word Help documentation.

11. When you have completed work on the mail merge document, close it, and then delete the interim mail merge document (Mail_Merge_nnnn.xml) and the associated text file (Mail_Merge_nnnn.txt) with the same name.

Warning: Mail merge may leave sensitive data on your computer.

The mail merge process creates two files in addition to your mail merge documents. These files are the data sources used by mail merge and contain Microsoft Dynamics CRM data, which may include sensitive customer data. You should delete these data source files after you complete the mail merge.
Both files have the same name: Mail_Merge[nnnn], where nnnn is a 4-character, randomly generated number. One file is a .doc file and the other is a .txt file. Unless you moved the files or saved them to another directory, these files are usually in a temporary files folder on your computer.

Refine your marketing list
Keeping your marketing list up to date ensures that the right leads are in the list so your salespeople can follow up effectively.

If you use Advanced Find to evaluate your marketing list, you can save the Advanced Find query as a custom view and share it with your salespeople so that they can use it as a call list. For example, you may want your salespeople to see the Business Phone and Company Name columns for leads.

Update marketing list members and create a custom view
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Marketing or Sales, and then click Marketing Lists.
2. Open a marketing list that contains accounts, leads, or contacts.
3. Under Details, click Marketing List Members.
4. On the Actions toolbar, click Manage Members.
5. In the Manage Members dialog box, click Use Advanced Find to evaluate members, and then click OK.
6. Add criteria to the query to expand or narrow the accounts, contacts, or leads you want to include in the list.
7. To change the columns and create the custom view, on the Find tab, click Edit Columns.
8. In the Edit Columns dialog box, under Common Tasks, click Add Columns.
9. In the Add Columns dialog box, select the columns you want to include in your view, and then click OK.
10. To adjust the width of each column so that your new columns are visible with less scrolling, select a field, click Change Properties, select the column width, and then click OK. Do this for each field you want to change.
11. To adjust the order of the columns, select a column and use the green arrows under Common Tasks to move it.
12. In the Edit Columns dialog box, click OK.
13. To save the query as a custom view, click Save As, specify a name for the view, and then click OK.
14. Click Find.
15. Select the Keep all the members returned by search in the marketing list check box, and then click Update Marketing List.
16. Click Save and Close.

Share the custom view with your team
Now that you've created your view, you can share it with your team.

1. On the Standard toolbar, click Advanced Find.
2. In the Advanced Find window, click the Saved Views tab, select the view you just created, and then on the More Actions menu, click Sharing.
3. Click Add User/Team, find the users and teams you want to share the view with, and then click OK twice.

After you make the custom view available to your team, it becomes available in the View list under My Views.

Campaigns from Start to Finish

Mktg 123 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:17:00 GMT

Marketing campaigns can span months, years, and dozens of tasks and activities. Here's one example of how a marketing team can use Microsoft Dynamics CRM to plan, run, and track its campaigns from start to finish.

A new product launches
Benjamin is the marketing manager for Adventure Works, a company that designs and manufactures a wide range of bicycles. Ben's company is launching a new, affordable bicycle – the AW1234 – targeted at urban and suburban commuters. To support the launch of this bike, Ben and his manager Julia want a comprehensive marketing campaign with collateral for mailings, print media advertising, and sponsorship of a local event. They also want to make sure they can keep track of everything in one place.

Plan for success
It's January, and the launch of the AW1234 bike is about six months away, at the beginning of summer. Well-rested from the holiday season, Ben begins identifying the planning tasks he and his team will need to perform in order to develop a successful marketing campaign.

Ben starts Microsoft Dynamics CRM and creates a new campaign. In the Marketing area of the application, he clicks Campaigns, and then he clicks New. Ben names his campaign and gives it a status of Proposed for now. With the bicycle's product launch scheduled to coincide with the beginning of summer, Ben sets the start date for the campaign to March 21 and the end date to September 21 – he wants the campaign to coincide with the peak outdoor season in his region.

Tip: For step-by-step instructions on the options available when you set up a basic campaign, first click New on the Actions toolbar in the Campaign area. Click Help on This Page on the Help menu. In the Help Pane, click Create or edit a campaign.

After saving the basic campaign, Ben can begin adding his planning tasks and campaign activities.

Planning tasks
Planning tasks are Microsoft Dynamics CRM tasks associated with a specific campaign. For the collateral, advertising, and events that are part of this campaign, Ben and Julia have identified the following planning tasks:

Identify collateral pieces to be created.
Identify advertising channels and supporting materials.
Contact media channels to reserve time or space for advertising.
Contact local charity to confirm annual sponsorship of 25-kilometer charity bike race.
Review and approve collateral and advertising.

Campaign activities
Campaign activities are similar to tasks, but include additional, campaign-specific information, such as budgets and vendor names. Ben has identified the following early campaign activities:

Create or refine target marketing lists.
Contact design agency to request creation of collateral pieces and advertising materials.

Ben will add additional campaign activities as he and his team mark these initial tasks and activities as completed in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. As he creates his tasks, Ben delegates some tasks by assigning them to other members of his organization. For example, he asks Adventure Works' PR representative to contact the charity, and Julia will approve the collateral pieces, as she requested.

For step-by-step instructions on creating new tasks, first click Planning Tasks in your campaign and click New. On the Help menu, click Help on This Page. In the Help Pane, click Create or edit an activity.

Tip: For step-by-step instructions on creating campaign activities, click Campaign Activities, click New, and then click Help on This Page on the Help menu. In the Help Pane, click Add a campaign activity to a campaign or campaign template.

An important early campaign activity is to create or refine the marketing lists that each piece of collateral and advertising will support. In the Marketing area, Ben clicks Marketing Lists, reviews the existing lists to see how they might be reused for this campaign, and concludes that no new lists are necessary – he'll just use his “All Retailers,” “All Local Customers – E-mail,” and “Repeat Customers” lists for now. (Ben knows he'll need to create a new list to manage follow-up responses to the campaign, but he can do that later, after the campaign has begun.)

Note: For an introduction to creating and refining good marketing lists, see Leverage marketing lists across your team.

Implement the plan
As Ben and his team complete each planning task and campaign activity, the campaign begins to take shape. Ben and Julia can use the Campaign Performance report to track the progress and completion status of tasks and activities in Ben's campaign. Later in the process, Ben can take advantage of additional information the report provides, including all the dates, targets, definitions, responses, and financial returns from the campaign.

After six weeks, Adventure Works has worked with the design agency to create a range of collateral and advertising items to support the campaign:

Brochures for retailers
Postcards for existing customers
Two-page ad for the free weekly newspaper available at bus stops
Branded water bottle labels for the charity bike race
Multi-purpose banners for conventions, the bike race, and other events
Booth design for events
Posters for “guerilla” urban marketing

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Ben adds each of these items as sales literature. In the Sales area, Ben clicks Sales Literature, and then clicks New. Ben can identify himself as the employee contact for the materials, and he can specify an expiration date to make sure the collateral isn't used after the end of the campaign.

Tip: For step-by-step instructions on creating sales literature, in the Sales Literature area, click Help on This Page on the Help menu.

Adventure Works has also partnered with a local charity to sponsor an annual 25-km bike race in the city. The event requires banners, a booth setup, and giveaway items such as co-branded bottled water, postcards, brochures, and a two-page newspaper ad in glossy poster form. After the event is over, Nancy, the sales manager for Adventure Works, and her sales team will follow up on the phone with people who signed up to receive more information.

The campaign heats up
Summer is just around the corner. With many of the planning tasks complete and some campaign activities well underway, Ben can begin creating and scheduling core campaign activities. Based on the work he's done so far, Ben wants to create the following campaign activities:

Send boxes of brochures to retailers using the “All Retailers” marketing list in a mail merge in Microsoft Office Word.
Send postcards announcing the new product to the “Repeat Customers” marketing list.
Send an e-mail blast about the 25-km charity bike race to all local customers.
Send the two-page ad to the newspaper.
Hire college students to plaster posters in high-traffic areas downtown.
Attend the charity bike race (with booth, banner, water bottles, posters, and other collateral).
Follow up by phone with leads generated at the event

Note: Campaign activities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM include a Type list you can use to distinguish between many of these activities. For example, Ben can categorize his brochure and postcard mailings as “Content Distribution” and telephone calls after the event as “Direct Follow-Up Contact.”

Ben can also create a Microsoft Office Excel worksheet of all the leads generated from the event and then import the list into Microsoft Dynamics CRM using the Import Data Wizard. To start the Import Data Wizard, on the Tools menu, click Import Data, and then follow the on-screen instructions.

Track progress and measure success
On the first day of summer, AW1234 bikes arrive in bicycle shops throughout the region. The campaign has been underway for three months already, and the salespeople say that interest is high. They've begun sending out follow-up communications to leads using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and some leads are being converted to accounts. The salespeople may be happy with how busy they are, but how are things really going? What tools do Ben and his team have to validate what's being said by the sales team?

Even though the launch is out of the way now, Ben has three more months of tasks and activities planned after the AW1234 hits the streets to track and manage the marketing campaign. For example, Ben and Julia need to crunch some numbers. In addition to the Campaign Performance report described earlier, at each stage of the campaign, Ben has other reports he can use to track progress and measure success:

The Campaign Activity Status report displays a summary for one campaign, including planned and actual time parameters, parent campaign details, and definition status.

The Campaign Comparison report identifies Adventure Works' most and least successful campaigns. The report compares two campaigns based on parameters such as cost effectiveness and number of responses.

Note: For step-by-step instructions on working with reports in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, in the Workplace area, click Reports, and then click Help on This Page on the Help menu.

Wrap it up
By September, the AW1234 launch campaign is winding down. Sales continue to be strong. With a successful campaign using Microsoft Dynamics CRM under his belt, Ben looks forward to the holiday season campaign with confidence.

Plain Language in Business

Jenn Hass — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:47:00 GMT

By Roy Jacobsen

I’ve always believed the maxim “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” But now I find myself telling you that there’s something simple you can do that will boost your bottom line. One fundamental, uncomplicated thing that will:

Streamline procedures and paperwork
Improve employee productivity and moral
Reduce training time
Boost customer satisfaction
Increase sales and improve your company’s position in the marketplace

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What is “it?”

“It” is using plain language. Plain language is a set of practices based on the idea that the audience—customers, business partners, or employees—should be able to understand a document the first time they read it. Think about all the documents your business produces: customer letters, employee manuals, financial disclosure documents, legal contracts and notices, or anything else, printed or electronic. All of them can be improved by following plain language guidelines.

The evidence is overwhelming: plain language can have a huge positive impact on business. Studies in businesses and government agencies have shown that plain language saves time and money, and it improves understanding. And most importantly, almost everybody prefers plain language.

Watch your Language!

Just think about the business communications you read or hear every day. This includes E-mail, presentations, whitepapers, reports, proposals, contracts, billing statements, license agreements—the list is endless. Was the message immediately clear? Or did you have to review it a few times, wading through the jargon, business-speak, and legalese, to figure out what they were trying to say? Did it have a warm, human, conversational tone? Or did it come across as something composed by the computer HAL 9000, from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey?

“Jargon, wordiness, and evasiveness are the active ingredients of modern business-speak,” according to the authors of Why Business People Speak Like Idiots. This is troubling because our ability to conduct business depends on our ability to communicate. Unclear, ineffective communication is to business what square wheels are to NASCAR.

Most people don’t use murky language deliberately. We usually fall into it because that’s what we see modeled all around us. “Everyone writes this way, so this must be how it’s done.”

Just because “everyone does it that way” doesn’t mean that you have to.

Benefits of Plain Language

Okay, plain language sounds good on the surface, but is it really that much better? Isn’t there a good reason for the traditional language of business? Well, there are many reasons why the traditional way of writing is the tradition. But “it works better” is not one of them. Researchers have recently started comparing plain language to traditional language, and in every case, plain language comes out the clear winner.

Many of the studies of the benefits of plain language examine it in one of two ways: the benefits to the company, or benefits to the reader. Let’s look at a few examples of each.

Both the United States Army and Navy have studied the effect of writing business memos in plain language, and both found that plain language is better. The Army found that people who receive memos written in plain language are twice as likely to comply with the memo on the day they receive it. The Navy found that plain language memos take 17% to 23% less time to read, with significantly greater comprehension. “Time is money” is a fundamental business axiom, and the Navy estimated that, if all memos were written in plain language, their yearly cost savings (in time saved) would range from $250 to $350 million.

The “Time = Money” equation shows up in other areas as well. In the early 90s, Federal Express (now known as FedEx) revised its operations manuals using plain language guidelines after finding that readers who used the old manuals took an average of five minutes to find information, and they found the correct information only 53% of the time. With the new manuals, the average search time was 3.6 minutes, with an 80% success rate. They estimated that this effort was worth $400,000 annually in time saved. And that doesn’t take into account the savings from employees getting the right answers the first time.

Here are more examples of plain language having a direct impact on a company’s bottom line:

In 1991, the Allan-Bradley Company (now a division of Rockwell Automation), rewrote their computer manuals in plain language. This reduced calls to their call center from more than 50 a day to less than two a month.
British Telecom revised their billing statements in 1997 and found that it reduced customer calls about phone bills by 25%. Furthermore, customers paid more promptly, improving cash flow and reducing collection costs.

Other studies have found similar savings, along with reduced error rates on business forms, improved retention for staff training, reduced paperwork, and increased efficiency. All of these will boost profit margins.

What about the audience? What benefits do they receive?

Some of the studies I already cited showed improved comprehension; the readers got the intended message the first time around. The Navy study, for example, found that readers understood the plain language memos better than those written in traditional “bureaucratic” language. Other studies have found this as well. For example, the Veterans Administration tested some of their form letters. Only 44% of the veterans who received the traditional versions understood them. When they rewrote them in plain language, that number rose to 89%. In addition, the average reading time went from eight minutes to six.

Researchers who have studied this have found that readers overwhelmingly prefer plain language. When the Ford Motor Company tested a plain language version of the owner’s manual for the Taurus, 85% of the respondents preferred it to the other version.

The preference for plain language carries over into specialized documents, such as financial disclosure documents and legal documents. For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission tested a plain language “profile prospectus” against the traditional model. Experienced investors overwhelmingly preferred the plain language version.

Joseph Kimble, a professor of legal writing at Thomas Cooley Law School in Michigan, and the author of Lifting the Fog of Legalese: Essays on Plain Language, has found that judges and attorneys prefer plain language to traditional “legalese.” Kimble points out legal language infiltrates business documents, such as contracts, licensing agreements, billing statements, and so on, even though it really isn’t necessary. “You can bet that many of those are influenced by the legal department, who won’t let this stuff get out to the public unless it’s written in legalese. And it just doesn’t have to be.” Plain language does the job more effectively.

Plain language doesn’t just help your company and your audience. It can help you in several ways as well.

First, trying to write clearly helps you think more clearly. Brian Fugere, one of the authors of Why Business People Speak Like Idiots, and a partner at Deloitte Consulting, says, “Clear language forces you to think harder about what you’re saying. A lot of what we see is the result of people not really getting clear in their own heads what they’re trying to say.” (I have found this to be true for my own writing. If my words are murky, it’s usually because I’m not sure exactly what I’m trying to say.)

It also gives you a wider audience. Fugere says, “If you start experimenting with clear language, you find that people pay attention.” He cited his own experiences as a consultant. The studies I already mentioned support that contention. People are more likely to read, and understand, messages delivered in plain language.

Studies have also shown that people who use plain language are viewed more positively. Most people think “straight talkers” are more likable, friendly, energetic, inspiring, and enthusiastic.

And the most important benefit comes back to the bottom line: People are more likely to take action when you use plain language. Plain language gets results.

Plain Language Principles

Plain language isn’t a set of rules or a list of words to use or not use. It’s a set of principles for writing to convey our ideas clearly, accurately, and economically.

Start with your readers’ needs in mind. Tell them what they need to know, using the words they use, but don’t bog them down in extraneous details.
Use familiar words—ones that are simple, direct, and human. Call a shovel a shovel, not a human-powered excavation implement. This doesn’t mean you can’t use specialized language or jargon. If there is a clear and well-known term that best expresses your idea, and your audience knows that term, then go ahead and use it.
Express actions with verbs; don’t convert them into abstract nouns. Don’t utilize things, and for pity’s sake, don’t write about their utilization; use them. William Zinsser, in On Writing Well, advises us to “…remember that readers identify with people, not with abstractions like ‘profitability’ or with Latinate nouns like ‘utilization’ and ‘implementation,’ or with inert constructions in which nobody can be visualized doing something: ‘pre-feasibility studies are in the paperwork stage.’”
Use active voice more. Write sentences that describe actors performing actions (rather than states of being). “A foolproof method for roadrunners to be captured by hungry coyotes has been developed by Acme researchers” is passive. “Acme researchers have developed a foolproof method for hungry coyotes to capture roadrunners” is active.
Relentlessly cut unnecessary words. At this point in time is just a long-winded way of saying now or currently, and there are hundreds of other bits of baggage cluttering business communication. Not only do they waste your audience’s time, they sap your message of its power. It took only 270 words to deliver one of the most powerful speeches in American history: Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Don’t be afraid to use personal pronouns. Address your reader as “you,” especially if you’re writing instructions. A sentence like “The completed form must be submitted before the application can be processed” doesn’t say who is supposed to do what. “You must complete the form and submit it to us before we can process your application” is clear and direct.
Simplify. Break long, complex sentences into shorter, simpler ones. Aim for more short paragraphs than long ones. This doesn’t mean that you have to write in a “See *** run” style. It means you should be sure you’re not trying to cram too many ideas into a single sentence or paragraph.
Give your document a logical structure, and make that structure visible. Divide things into short sections, with lots of headings (and subheadings, if necessary). Put an executive summary, purpose statement, or table of contents at the beginning. People will often skim a document for its key points before reading it, so make them stand out.

These ideas will get you off to a good start. There are also tools that can help. For example, if you struggle with business buzzwords, you can install Bullfighter, a free tool for Microsoft® Office Word 2003 and PowerPoint® 2003. It scans your document for offending words and offers plain language alternatives. It also calculates a readability score for your document, using the method invented by the late Dr. Rudolph Flesch, a pioneer in readability research. You can download Bullfighter from www.fightthebull.com.

(Full disclosure time: I scanned an early draft of this article with Bullfighter. My document’s “Bull Index” was 98—not quite bull-free because I had one instance of utilize—with a Flesch Readability score of 52. Bullfighter said that my writing is “mostly clear, with some unnecessarily long words and sentences. You get to the point, although with an occasional detour. Most educated readers will navigate the text with no difficulty. Longer words and sentences appear occasionally.”)

Plain language doesn’t have the cachet of the latest business fad being promoted by someone trying to push his book up the business bestseller list. But it does have reams of evidence that prove its worth to your company, your customers, and to you. And it doesn’t take an army of high-priced consultants to apply to your business, either. All it takes is the will to spend some time and effort, and the willingness to learn how to use words well.

About the Author

Roy Jacobsen is a freelance writer and editor with more than 20 years experience in a variety of fields, including a 13 year career with Microsoft Business Solutions. He’s also a contributing editor for The Editorial Eye, a resource for writers, editors, designers, project managers, communications specialists, “and everyone else who cares about contemporary publishing practices.” Roy’s weblog, Writing, Clear and Simple, is at http://rmjacobsen.squarespace.com/.

Is Reaching for the Moon Possible Anymore?

lhallen — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:21:00 GMT

Developing a High Performing Workforce of the Future
By Pam McGee

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Remember when it was revolutionary to wear jeans to work? Remember when it was innovative to have a flexible work schedule so you could go to your son’s baseball games? Remember when it was extremely left-wing when employees were put in charge of their own schedules? Remember when it was completely irrational to have an employee work from home? Remember when it was almost impossible to allow employees to see company financial information because it was normally only shared with top management? Remember when it was a big thing to have a virtual team? Those are questions that shaped yesterday’s workforce. To remain competitive, there is a new set of questions to answer.

The questions of tomorrow are partially influenced by the fact that for the first time in 100 years, there are four generations in the workforce. With an aging population leaving a gap in leadership, succession planning is epidemic in nature. There is more software driving decisions, connecting people, and changing the way work is done. The latest estimate is that there is 10 times the software in the workforce than even two years ago. Facebook (www.facebook.com) has become a common social networking expectation for some. There is an ever present drive to go global for everyone, not just the big corporations. Individuals can go global because of the flattening of the world. The growing new American population needs to find work and have their skill set developed. There are more women in the workforce than men. So as the complexity continues to build, how does a business owner create a workforce that is inspired, engaged, and highly productive? Is it even possible? Can you reach for the moon on this one?

Companies everywhere are adjusting to the new work environment. For example, the city of New York has developed a generations training program to help create awareness among it employees on the differences and similarities of fellow employees in the workforce. One company invited employees’ parents to its new employee orientation. The reason was that the 18 to 24-year-olds have a larger dependence on their parents than preceding generations. This generation also lives at home longer, so there may be another incentive for parents to be ultra involved in their job search. Another company utilized Facebook as its primary means of connecting virtual employees. The added benefit is that they had access to non-employees listed on individuals’ Facebook sites. Their pool of knowledge just expanded without the burden of payroll.

In addition to these examples, here are a few suggestions that business owners can consider as they pave the way for their future to engage and inspire their workforce:

Appreciate Similarities and Differences With the Four Generations
Recent research by The Robertson Company and pMcGee & Co. found that all generations predominately shared the same top five desires for their workplace; however, they had a different order of priority. Appreciating each other requires a paradigm shift and expectation that not everyone should work the way we do. “Shoulding” others should stop in the workplace.

Create a Respectful Work Environment
From the same research, the number one workforce expectation was to be respected. Focus groups were conducted to dig deeper into what “being respected” meant. Believing that most people don’t intentionally go to work with the motive of being disrespectful, the research indicated that disrespect came from having a double standard, having prejudices against each other, not respecting and valuing opinions from all age groups, and requiring people too great a workload. An example of having a double standard was when a manager told younger new employees that they had to earn respect, but then didn’t send the same message to older new employees. An example of prejudices is best seen when viewing popular media about the younger generation. They have them plagued as the “lazy” generation. They appear to be all pierced and “Ipod’d.” It is also a deep-seated prejudice that the “older” generation is non-technical. They are seen in pictures with their clipboards, outdated cell phones, and leather-bound date planners. Neither situation is entirely true. Prejudices run deep and wide. The most exasperated layer of disrespect is creating a work environment where everyone continually does “more with less.”

Redefine Team
Another key aspect of the workforce research was that different generations have different perceptions about team. The baby boomer era used teams as their social network. They invented the company softball team; they enjoyed company retreats. The majority of their social life came from their work life. The younger generation defines teams by the projects they work on. They connect with many teams based on their situation. One individual, when asked what she thought of her team, replied, “Which one? I am on 21 different teams.” They want teams to be a tool to get work done more quickly so they can move on to their next thing. Teams and team building need to take on a different focus and dimension.

Rethink Work Schedule
One of the most challenging aspects in the workforce is there are two huge groups of employees demanding a less than traditional schedule. This is beyond flexible scheduling – that was an assumption similar to an employee having a phone and a computer. The scheduling challenge is figuring out a more results-based culture that focused less on who was where, when and how much office time, client time, or E-mail time an employee had. For example, there may be an opportunity to tap into the almost retired work group. They may demand a work schedule that is “six months on and six months off.” A business owner may be saying, “That will never work with my business.” Remember, there were also some preliminary predictions that virtual teams would never work.

Engage and Inspire
There was a constant expectation from all ages to be included, engaged, and inspired. There was some unconventional thinking that businesses need to reverse. The thinking went like this – “when times are tough, companies dump employees (aka layoff, downsize).” In reverse thinking, employees have adopted that same thought pattern – “when times are tough, I dump you.” Creating an engaging and inspiring work environment does not have to be difficult, lofty, or programmatic. It’s about the little things a company does. Do they trust their employees or run them through the policy mill? Do they include them in discussions about the big picture of the company? Do they give them the tools to win in their job? Do they support them when they fail? Do they encourage personal fulfillment even if it doesn’t directly relate to the job?

Conduct Company Surveys
Staying on top of the workforce climate takes diligence, open mindedness, and follow through. Most companies wouldn’t dream of NOT surveying their customers. The same philosophy holds true about surveying your employees. There may be a belief that you have an open door policy and your employees talk to you. That is wonderful in the anecdotal sense. But there is some greater level of learning that occurs when a company routinely assesses their employees for what is working and what is not. The systemic approach allows the business to notice trends and patterns. It also creates a more objective approach to solving company problems. It certainly avoids the “squeaky wheel” syndrome.

Although the way has yet to be fully paved, there are a number of things you can do today to enhance your company’s ability to attract and retain the best employees. We are overworked, underfed, and “on” 24/7. Yet done correctly, you can expect more, maximize productivity, and improve loyalty in your workplace across all generations.

About the Author

Pam McGee has been speaking publicly and consulting for over 15 years. She has delivered speeches, executive coaching and business consulting in over 22 countries for companies ranging in size from 10 people to 100's. Through her engaging and authentic discussions, she challenges her audiences to new thought processes, business trends, and people impact opportunities. Pam is a Business Consultant and principle of McGee & Co. that helps businesses with strategic planning, change management, leadership development and creating innovative environments. Pam is a member of the faculty at Minnesota State University - Moorhead where she teaches project management and leadership skills. Prior to forming her consulting firm, she worked for Microsoft in leadership development roles, business management roles, and organizational consulting roles. In her eight years at Microsoft, she was consistently praised for her ability to coach senior managers on a variety of business topics ranging from business and industry trends to personal leadership. Through these challenging times, Pam's main goal was always to keep these leaders working toward being great leaders and strategic thinkers. Most recently, she worked with the Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Marketing in the role of Business Manager. This role involved working side-by-side to manage the business management processes, global marketing activities, and all forms of communication for the Vice President. Prior to Pam's time at Microsoft, she assisted in the operation of - a trucking firm and a restaurant venture - as well worked for a Fortune 100 company as a sales manager. Pam has also been an Assistant Professor for the North Dakota University System. She lives in Fargo, ND with her husband, Scott and their two children, Isaac and Erika. Pam Mcgee Leadership Consultant

You’re Going to Have Fun or ELSE!

lhallen — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:05:00 GMT

Natural ways to create a positive culture
By Tracy Faleide

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I used to be a lifeguard, which in my opinion, is the greatest job in the world. Where else could I get paid to get a tan, be in excellent shape from hours of lap-swimming, and twirl a whistle chain with my toes? Another great perk was I became invisible the moment I climbed into the lifeguard chair. I always knew which 13-year-old girl had a crush on which 13-year-old boy. I also got to observe parenting techniques while on watch in the baby pool. One cloudy, chilly day, the high school football coach brought his youngest son to swim. The kid was so cold his lips were blue. His father was determined they get their money’s worth. Exasperated, he barked “you’re going to get in that pool and have fun or ELSE!” I’ll never forget the look on that poor kid’s face as he stood in the water shivering.

Years later, I found myself sympathizing with that kid again as I waited in line for my turn to be blind-folded and spun around until I nearly puked. You guessed it—I was at a team-building event, wishing I were anywhere else. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not altogether denouncing the use of experiential learning devices or fun and games to encourage team-building. There are times and places where these activities are useful and effective. I’m simply suggesting there are many other natural, painless, and nearly free ways of supporting your culture-enhancement goals.

First, think about what you need. What’s the feel in your organization? Are people frazzled and stressed? Do people see each other frequently, or is everyone mostly on the road? Be sure to check in with a variety of team members to confirm your assessment. Leaders often project their feelings onto their teams and assume that if they’re stressed, everyone is. This can lead to situations like a team of people finding themselves on a bus to a ropes course not knowing if they’re being rewarded or punished.

In my experience, the simplest, most effective device for encouraging people to relax, connect, and share ideas is to make it easy for them to hang out and talk in a comfortable environment. Do you have an open area in your office where people can naturally congregate? Do you encourage impromptu discussions about current events or new ideas? Sometimes we get so caught up in being busy that we miss opportunities right in front of our faces. Allowing some breathing room for camaraderie and idea sharing sparks curiosity and creativity, and it bolsters both fun and productivity.

Another effective way to relieve stress and create a positive vibe is implementing silly cues to mark certain events or milestones. For example, when the Great Plains product development team was working crazy hours to release Dynamics, we used a stuffed animal (I think it was a Holstein cow) to indicate a code build was happening. A cow bell would ring out, and whoever was managing the build would put the stuffed cow on his/her monitor or sometimes his/her head. We’d all run around and cheer, even at three in the morning. When I was on the web site team, an E-mail that played a lick from “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats signaled a new site was being compiled, and we deserved a break from testing for a few moments. On the Customer and Partner Experience team, we balanced the amount of bad news we heard by “ringing the bell” every time we heard something positive, just like a bar staff does when they get a good tip. (After lifeguarding, I landed the second best job in the world—bartending!)

The bottom line is you don’t need to lie on the floor with your head on your neighbor’s stomach to have fun at work. (If you haven’t had to suffer through this one, count yourself lucky. All I remember is my stomach rumbling loudly over some questionable Chinese food at lunch, and it was quite embarrassing!) Encouraging comfortable, thought-provoking conversation and silly stress relievers will go a long way toward creating a positive environment within your team. It’ll also help you stay tuned to the mood of your organization. There will be times when you need some “structured fun,” maybe to boost your innovation or problem-solving skills or help a new team gel. Starting with a group who is already comfortable hanging out, having fun, and working hard together puts you ahead of the game. And it helps you avoid inadvertently causing fear and loathing of blindfolds amongst your team. Now, start having fun, or I’m coming to find you!

About the Author

Tracy Faleide has twenty years of experience in communications, project and team management, strategy development and planning process, team-building, performance and career coaching and results-based execution. She is a novelist, freelance writer, professional coach and business consultant. Common threads across these focus areas include finding and telling stories of courage through transition, helping establish confidence of purpose and seeing things differently. Prior to going out on her own, she held several team and strategy leadership roles at Great Plains Software and Microsoft. In her most recent positions at Microsoft, she was responsible for Business Solutions' strategy development and planning processes and for setting and delivering on worldwide customer and partner experience and satisfaction strategies. Tracy has a B.S. degree in Mass Communications and Public Relations from Minnesota State University Moorhead. She and her husband, Dan, live in and lovingly renovate two old homes-one a 1907 four-square in Fargo, North Dakota; and the other a cottage on Lake Lizzie near Pelican Rapids, Minnesota.

Best Practice ROI Marketing

Editor — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:05:00 GMT

By Mark Jeffery

A Microsoft and Kellogg School of Management collaboration

The business value of marketing is inherently challenging to capture. This article discusses best practices for return on investment (ROI) marketing and how to design marketing campaigns for measurement.

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half", said John Wanamaker (1838-1922). Marketing managers still struggle to quantify the return on investment (ROI) of marketing a century after the famous quote. Compounding the challenge, today consumers have a plethora of entertainment options with the rise of the internet, blogs, video games, podcasts, hundreds of cable channels plus on-demand programming, and digital video recorders (DVRs). This media fragmentation spells the demise of the 30-second TV ad, and dilutes the impact of traditional marketing. Mike Sands, chief operating officer of Orbitz and former chief marketing officer said, "I know half my marketing budget is wasted but today I know which half [the TV advertising]." For Orbitz, the value of online advertising is directly quantifiable.

Many senior executives today are frustrated that marketing does not have a better handle on value. As one marketing executive said, "Each week I go to a gun fight [the senior executive leadership meeting]. I'm tired of carrying only a knife."

Marketers sometimes like to argue that marketing is a creative endeavor that defies measurement. Yet high performing marketing organizations are differentiated today, not just by the creative teams, but by a culture of measurement. That is, they design all marketing campaigns to be measured. Following are three keys these organizations use to unlock marketing ROI:

(1) DEFINE THE RIGHT METRICS
The marketing behavioral impact model is an old idea—design marketing campaigns to take customers through the stages of awareness, evaluation, trial, and loyalty. Different metrics for measurement can be defined for each stage. Trial is the easiest: marketing in this category, such as coupons or discount promotions, is intended to promote short-term sales. Sales revenue is a natural metric. Since the time lag is often relatively short, and coupons can be tagged with an identifier, there is often a direct correlation for trial marketing campaigns and sales.

Loyalty is a little more challenging, since it requires a firm to know who their customers are. However, if the customers are known, repeated purchases can be quantified. The important metric for loyalty is churn—how many customers choose not to continue doing business with your firm in a year.

Firms with a direct channel to their customers have an advantage, such as Dell or Amazon, and retailers or banks. Firms with indirect channels have to be more creative in obtaining direct customer data. Microsoft for example sells the vast majority of software indirectly. To better understand their mid-market customers Microsoft established a Web portal with tools to help mid-market firms manage software licenses. Capturing these data enables Microsoft to gain significant insight into the software owned by individual mid-market firms. Through the portal they can quantify sales revenues at the firm level, customer churn, and take rates to marketing offers.

More difficult to quantify are evaluation campaigns. Such marketing might include white papers, or advertisements listing product benefits and features. Financial metrics are now not appropriate but one can still define metrics; product downloads or white paper requests are two examples.

Finally, awareness, or brand marketing, is well known to be the most difficult to quantify. Since there can be a long delay between customers viewing a branding advertisement and a purchase, the linkage to revenues becomes nebulous. One typically defines metrics like CPM (cost per thousand) or attendees at events. A key metric, however, is customer satisfaction since this is a leading indicator of future revenues.

The first step in quantifying ROI for marketing is to understand where a marketing campaign fits in the spectrum of awareness, evaluation, trial, and loyalty. Then define appropriate metrics. Beware though; defining too many metrics can lead to data paralysis. The best practice is to define approximately five to ten key metrics for each campaign.

(2) PUT THE RETURN INTO ROI
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a 'Killer App.' for marketing ROI? The good news is that there is—it's called Microsoft Excel. For trial and loyalty campaigns the return can often be quantified with hard dollars. The approach is conceptually straight forward: (1) Understand the base case, what will happen if you do not do the new campaign, (2) figure out the total costs of the campaign, (3) determine the upside revenue generated as a result of the campaign, and then (4) calculate the incremental cash flows, the net cash generated as a result of the campaign. The financial return on investment (ROI), net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR) can be calculated once the incremental cash flows are known.

Firms selling indirectly do not need to know who actually buys the product to do this calculation. Rather, they can measure the change in sales through channel partners as a result of the campaign.

Look out for a common pitfall of financial ROI analysis, however. The assumptions used to define the new revenue generated as a result of the campaign are critical to any model. The best practice is to use conservative assumptions, based where possible on market research. At the executive level, conservative assumption make the ROI analysis more believable.

A best practice approach to probing the importance of assumptions is to do sensitivity analysis. With the Table Function in Excel it is easy to vary parameters in a model and see the best and worst case. This range of possible outcomes gives insight into the risk of the project—if the best and worst cases are very different this suggests the campaign has a lot of risk.

Campaigns at the awareness and evaluation stages do not fit the financial ROI model, but one can still define a base case for important metrics such as customer satisfaction prior to a campaign. Management must then weigh the anticipated change in the metrics as a result of the campaign, and decide if this change is worth the cost

(3) DESIGN FOR MEASUREMENT
Fail fast and often. Rather than creating big bang campaigns, high performing marketing organizations are continually experimenting. They build flexibility into the campaigns and design small experiments to test concepts.
For example, Harrah's Entertainment, the world's largest gaming company, designed an experiment to test existing offers. The sample consisted of frequent slot players in Jackson, Mississippi. The control group received the regular $125 package: free room, two steak meals, and $30 of free chips at the casino. This resulted in the usual response in subsequent months. A test group was given a new offer: $60 of free casino chips. The gaming activity was higher than the control group for the test group in the subsequent months-this experiment demonstrated that less was indeed more.
Similar experiments can be designed to probe effectiveness of awareness and evaluation campaigns. Control and test focus groups can be used to look for changes of qualitative metrics such as customer satisfaction and intent to purchase.

WHAT'S NEXT? TAKE THE SCORE CARD CHALLENGE
Marketing measurement is a creative endeavor. A simple but effective exercise prior to each campaign launch is to have a campaign team create a score card and think through how the metrics will be measured. This exercise can takes just a few hours, but the results can have significant impact on campaign performance. Defining metrics up front and thinking through how they will be measured is the key to best practice ROI marketing. The team activity also helps build a marketing measurement culture.

About the Author

Mark Jeffery is an Associate Professor of Technology at the Kellogg School of Management and in the Kellogg Center for Research in Technology and Innovation.

Keep Your Head Above Water With a Marketing “Buddy System”

Editor — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:38:00 GMT

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By Cheryl Strege

Remember the “buddy system”? As a kid going to summer camp or the local swimming pool, you were often reminded not to swim alone. Before you could go into the water, you had to have a “buddy” to ensure that you didn’t lose your way, or end up in the deep water all alone.

I had the opportunity to interview three marketing pros from Microsoft Dynamics™ Partner organizations: Anya Ciecierski, marketing manager at CAL Business Solutions Inc., Judy Van Der Linden, HR director/marketing manager at InterDyn Artis, and Natalie Majerko, director of marketing at Olsen Thielen Technologies. They told me about their own personal buddy system, a best practices marketing group consisting of thirteen members.

Cheryl Strege (CS): Tell me about your marketing group. What’s it called and who is in it?

Anya Ciecierski (AC): We call it the BBC Marketing Group (very original!) since we all met at The Partner Event - BBC last year (2006). We started out with eight members, and now we have 13. (We added new members from The Partner Event - BBC this year.)

Judy Van Der Linden (JV): At the event, we saw the advantage of networking with other marketing professionals to help grow our own respective organizations. I believe the group was also formed from marketing professionals who have a true passion for their profession. Our group reminds me of a quote: “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” I believe this is exactly what we have done and will only continue to move forward in nurturing our relationship with one another. Our members, in order of joining the group, are:

Anya Ciecierski from CAL Business Solutions (Connecticut - VAR)
Lisa Steinhart from vSync (Ohio - ISV)
Judy Van Der Linden from InterDyn Artis (North Carolina - VAR)
Jodi Powers from InterDyn Socius (Ohio - VAR)
Julie Stankey from InterDyn Socius (Ohio - VAR)
Michael Camp from Synergy Business Solutions (Oregon - VAR)
Julie Miller from Pinnacle (Indiana - VAR)
Natalie Majerko from Olsen Thielen Technologies (Minnesota - VAR)
Amanda Gentile from RockySoft Corporation (Colorado - ISV)
Ann Haucke from The Resource Group (Washington - VAR)
Angela Spitz from Accolade Publications (Florida - ISV)
Charles Bucholz from Diamond Municipal Solutions (North Dakota - ISV)
Alejandro Barajas from Tensoft, Inc. (California - ISV)

CS: What inspired you to form the group?

AC: For me, the best part about attending The Partner Event - BBC is that I learn so much from other marketers and their experiences. Lisa Steinhart (from vSync) and I had the idea that we would like to continue sharing ideas, and when we attended the one day marketing workshop (after the event last year), there were a few people who spoke up the most and contributed their ideas. We approached those people and asked them if they wanted to continue sharing throughout the year in an informal group. I am extremely impressed with all of us that we’ve been able to keep it going consistently, and it’s getting stronger than ever. Often, ideas like this sound good at the time, but tend to fizzle out.

JV: Anya approached me at The Partner Event – BBC 2006 after our Marketing Professional Community workshop. As an introvert, it was out of my comfort zone to strike up conversation out of the blue, but it is very rewarding to share ideas that will help other Partners succeed as well as refine marketing campaigns for greater ROI. Everyone brings a unique expertise that incorporates their personality and professionalism to the group.

Natalie Majerko (NM): I was very happy to have the opportunity to network with these established marketing professionals. In our industry, it is not uncommon for our organizations to have multiple consultants or sales people to bounce ideas off of and lean on for support. When they’re approaching an implementation or a challenging sale, they can collaborate with their peers. When it comes to marketing, we may only have one person representing a Partner organization. This group allows me to fill that void and collaborate with others to ensure I stay on the top of my game while marketing my company’s products and services.

CS: What are the objectives of the BBC marketing group?

AC: To share our experiences and our ideas; recommend vendors, share campaign ideas, and so on.

CS: And the benefits?

JV: One benefit is knowing that you always have someone available to give you feedback and ask questions. More importantly, we’ve developed friendships within the group that lend professional and personal support when needed.

AC: It is great to get feedback on questions I throw out to the group. Someone always seems to have a good answer. We have monthly calls where we share specific ideas and present scenarios or issues and then learn how the other members handle them. We also have a Microsoft SharePoint® site where we can upload campaign templates, contact information for vendors, and so on. This way we all have access to the files and samples at any time.

NM: I agree with Judy and Anya – this is such a valuable asset. You can learn where others made mistakes and prevent repeating them. This allows you to feel free to share ideas and experiences because this is not a competition. We could pay a large annual membership to a national marketing association, but it would be more general marketing advice. With this group we can relate to our specific industry's marketing needs and not get lost in a national association of members. You cannot put a price tag on the value this group adds to our professional development.

CS: What are the top things you’ve personally gained from your membership in this group?

AC: Asking the group for ideas and templates so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. While planning our customer event this summer, I waited until the last minute to design an event evaluation form. I asked the group, and got several of them back right away. All I had to do was personalize it a bit, and I was done! It saved me a lot of time.

It sounds silly, but at The Partner Event - BBC this year, I really felt like I was part of a “cool gang.” Like back in high school, wondering who you will sit with at lunch. Our group planned a lunch together and looked for each other during the sessions. It is nice to have friends to look forward to seeing at these kinds of large events.
There is nobody else on my marketing team except me, and my boss does not have time to play the “brainstorming” game with me. Often I just need someone to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with. Hearing what others are doing often triggers ideas in my mind.

JV: Number one for me is their friendship and knowing I have their support whenever I may call upon them. Also, by holding a regularly scheduled conference call, I am held accountable for action items discussed from a previous call - the group keeps me focused. Finally, sharing campaigns and knowing that you can use the same campaign or messaging that is working for someone else is golden.

CS: How often do you meet? In the ideal meeting, what happens?

AC: We meet on the phone the third Wednesday of each month. It started out more informal, since it was a smaller group, and we would all just talk and share ideas and discuss current campaigns. Now it is more formal, and we have a “host” for each meeting and a theme. This month Lisa Steinhart gave us a great presentation on how to prepare print jobs and save money working with designers and printers. I shared a lumpy (three-dimensional) direct mail campaign with the group, and I know at least one member is going to copy it for her area, which saves her a lot of work!

JV: With our diverse group, we will vastly gain value by our host process as each individual brings a unique expertise to the group. Next month Angela will discuss telemarketing since she has worked in the telemarketing arena. The month I host I will present on how I prepare Existing Client and New Sales marketing reports for our executive team (pulled from Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM).
NM: There can be administrative challenges to leading a group like this. I too, like the opportunity to share the load. This way, it doesn't take away from our first responsibility to our existing firm, and we can share our expertise in our hosted call.

AC: Of course, some members are more active than others. Not everyone is able to attend each call. Right now we seem to have a good mix of VARs and ISVs.

CS: What’s your advice to other Partners who want to form similar groups? Is this hard to do? You mentioned finding people who were outside your target market. How would Partners do that?

AC: Attend The Partner Event - BBC or Microsoft events, and approach people who ask good questions or share good ideas in sessions that you attend. Usually you know who works in your area. Of course you want everyone to be free to share, so you have to be careful not to have any members who compete with each other. Ask about their geography and vertical markets.

JV: I agree with Anya, and I would suggest as your group grows in numbers, be more selective in letting new members join your team.

NM: You also don't want to get so big that you get lost in the shuffle. There can be disadvantages to being too big, too. Smaller groups are easier to manage.

CS: As marketing professionals, what’s your advice to others on achieving marketing excellence?

NM: Marketing will always be a work in progress. Keep it simple; understand your firm's strengths and what differentiates you from others in the market. Also, integrate your customer evidence into your marketing initiatives. Your customers’ experiences should be consistent with your marketing messages. Finally, your prospect list will either kill the campaign or allow you to find amazing success. Don't put all of your time, money, and energy in the marketing piece if you have not invested properly in a list.

JV: Set goals for your marketing team. Determine your main focus and ask yourself – will it help our team meet our main focus? InterDyn Artis’ marketing team’s main focus is “to generate qualified opportunities for new sales and existing clients.” If someone asks me to coordinate an activity, I ask myself “Will it generate opportunities for sales?” If yes, it is high on my priority list. Also, don’t get caught up on reinventing marketing campaigns – if it works, don’t fix it.

AC: Nurture, nurture, nurture! Don’t ever give up on a lead. Don’t get too caught up in the creative side of it. If you don’t have a lot of time, just get it out the door! Keep learning! From others, from The Partner Event – BBC, from books – anywhere you can get great ideas.

The buddy system was developed to ensure that everyone in the pool would swim, not sink. These marketing professionals have found a way to come together in the “marketing pool,” and they’re swimming beautifully! Use their tips to develop your own buddy system, and don’t forget about the resources of the Microsoft Dynamics Marketing Professional Community. If you’re not already a member, now is the time to jump in the water with the others!

For more information about the Microsoft Dynamics Marketing Professional Community, visit https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/communities/marketing/

About the Author

Cheryl Strege leads a team of experienced Virtual Marketing Directors at The Partner Channel. She has been named one of the top 20 Partner Marketing Advisors by Microsoft, and can swim just enough to stay out of trouble in the water. Cheryl can be reached at 605-574-9432 or cheryl@thepartnerchannel.com.