ONETARY
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ROFILE
ROFILE
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In the
In the
ONETARY
Telephony
nials – from customers and successful agents. Craft a
customer profile AND a partner profile.
The funnel in sales has flipped. Instead of everything
being outbound in marketing, it is now inbound. Content
marketing is the new lead generation ingredient. That
means stories are in, in a big way.
If you are going to spam their email, do so with
something quick and eye catching like a short video
(recorded on your smartphone) about the last deal, an
excited partner or a happy customer. Give tips on how to
bundle your service into a complete solution.
With all of the platforms – Face-
book, email, LinkedIn, blogs, Snap-
chat, Instagram and others – it isn’t
like you can’t pick one social media
network and “own” it. You could. And
it would be more fun than what you
are doing now.
Many channel managers tell me
that they like to go with their part-
ners on sales calls. Tape segments
of one: a day in the lifestyle. Post it
to Instagram: wins and losses. Have
fun with it. It will help. Not immedi-
ately, but it will work. Good content
is the scarce resource. Good cont nt
is what is in demand.
Good stories are in demand (cat
photos too). Talking about your prod-
uct, your features, your company to
a prospect is asking to get the door
slammed in your face.
Why are Infographics in demand?
They visually tell a story. Most stud-
ies I have seen have a summary
infographic. We live in a sound bite
world. You capture attention in 100
characters or less.
Think about billboards. Unless you
are stuck in traffic, you are driving by
at 30 mph. That message has to hit
you fast. Look at your emails. Do they
look like a billboard? Would you send
them to your grandmother?
Where does sales start? Oh, right,
with making friends. Would you text
that stuff you write to your friends?
It is a new era. It is the time of the
flipped funnel. We live in a connection
economy that lends itself to sharing
good stories. Create a couple of good
stories and share them. When these
stories resonate with prospects they
will become friends, partners and sell
your stuff.
In the words of Susan Sontag, “Do
stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting
for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss
on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all
about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects
you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.”
Peter Radizeski, President of RAD-INFO INC, started
as a VAR, then became an agent. He now writes about the
channel and the telecom space while consulting to service
providers and occasionally still selling some circuits.
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May - June 2016
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Channel
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