By Vincent Betancourt
November 17th, 2011
In the B2B world, we’re constantly looking for leads with B.A.N.T. — budget, authority, need and time. ‘Qualified leads’ are defined as at least warm leads, but B.A.N.T.- qualified leads typically are warmer than that; let’s call them hot leads.
Everyone has their own definition of B.A.N.T.-qualified leads, but here at Canyon we typically define these kind of leads as having a need for a product/service within one-six months, with 12 months being the outside edge of the longest sales cycle. Warm leads generally have some degree of interest in your product/services sometime in the near future, typically up to a year out.
When it comes to classifying leads, it’s important to clearly define your leads based upon their responses to your marketing and digital marketing efforts. It’s also important to have a mechanism in place to classify each kind of lead at the very beginning of the scoring process, so there is no confusion across the sales or marketing departments within your company.
But how do your drive more B.A.N.T.-qualified leads into your pipeline?
Canyon Communications sister company Loop Demand Gen, has that down to a science. Loop can help you to define, score and nurture your sales leads, delivering you B.A.N.T. qualified leads as an end result. And more B.A.N.T.-qualified leads equals more completed sales.
Contact us to learn how Canyon and Loop together can help you strategize your marketing/sales efforts, and to help you close more business.
By Vincent Betancourt
October 13th, 2010
Sales and marketing alignment is a hot topic these days and many companies are realizing the value of aligning their sales and marketing efforts to achieve a higher, integrated revenue pipeline.
Loop Demand Gen specializes in sales and marketing alignment, and yesterday, it held a Lunch and Learn with Arizona Technology Council. It was a great success! More than 45 local technology-industry experts attended this educational event.
Those who attended learned about bridging the gap between sales and marketing, and more specifically, defining a qualified sales lead. Many times sales and marketing departments have completely different views on what makes a good lead. It is important for both parties to understand lead scoring and B.A.N.T.- (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) qualified leads.
Attendees learned that developing a joint marketing and sales strategy around lead scoring and B.A.N.T. is just part of the battle—technology is the next piece of the puzzle. Technology helps with sales and marketing alignment. Loop was able to show a real-world example, using the latest technology tools, of how a company has the ability to capture leads, score opportunities, automate follow-up, track prospect activity online, and in the end, increase ROI and sales.
If you want to lunch while you learn about topics such as this, be sure to visit Arizona Technology Council for upcoming events.
By Jared Bodnar
September 30th, 2010
Is there a sales and marketing lovefest going on at your organization? Do your sales and marketing departments go together like ham and cheese or oil and water? Are you using the perfect combination of technology tools and strategies to find new customers?
If you answered no to any of these questions, please join our strategic partner, Loop Demand Gen, for a Lunch and Learn on Sales and Marketing Alignment presented in conjunction with the Arizona Technology Council on October 12th. Here’s why you should attend:
- You’ll learn about the best practices in sales and marketing alignment
- See why aligning technology tools and strategies are critically important for business growth
- Learn how to automate lead capture, opportunity scoring, e-mail follow-up and online prospect tracking
- Experience a live demonstration of marketing automation and CRM technology
Best of all, one lucky attendee who requests and downloads the ‘What is Demand Gen?’ white paper prior to the Lunch and Learn will win an iPod® Shuffle and have the opportunity to participate in the marketing automation technology demonstration.
Click here to find out more and to RSVP. We look forward to looping in with you.
By Jared Bodnar
September 1st, 2010
If you’ve ever heard me extolling the benefits of working with our strategic partner, Loop Demand Gen, or worked with me on a multi-touch marketing communications program, you’ve probably experienced me pulling out an 11X17 sheet of paper with a flowchart on it. You might be wondering why I create a flowchart or process flow for all of the campaigns I develop. Here are a few reasons why I’m addicted to flowcharts:
1) B2B marketing is complex: At Canyon, we only do Business-to-Business integrated marketing communications programs. That means we deal with long sales cycles, multiple decision-makers, many touch points, lead scoring, trigger-based marketing communications tactics, etc. It’s always good to show how everything works together on one page.
2) Nothing slips through the cracks: When you flowchart something, it’s easy to see where process breakdowns may happen and fill in those gaps.
3) I’m a visual person: I need visual stimulation all the time and I like pretty pictures. Therefore, I think a lot of people respond to this type of presentation instead of words on a PowerPoint slide or a written proposal (Bor-ing!).
Take a look at my sample Loop flowchart above (click on it to enlarge). Do you think it conveys a B2B demand generation process flow effectively? Do you make flowcharts for your business? What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever flowcharted out?
By Jared Bodnar
June 11th, 2010
As many B2B Fishbowl readers probably already know, I’m a big advocate of content marketing. Providing customers and prospects compelling, actionable, unbiased content that will help them do their jobs better is a surefire way to build credibility for your brand, position yourself as a thought leader and generate leads.
I think hosting webinars are an excellent way to use content marketing to accomplish your goals. Here’s why:
- Webinars are engaging: Rather than offering a static article to audiences that they have to read through on their own, webinars allow you to walk them through a concept or presentation while entertaining them.
- They’re interactive: Webinars allow you to request input and answer questions from your audience in real time, so you can provide them with customized information right on the spot.
- You can show and tell: If you need to demo a software application or other step-by-step process, webinars let you do so in a straightforward way.
- Your content can live on: Best of all, if your registrants miss the live webinar, you can archive the content for future viewing. This also allows prospects to share your webinar with others in their organization.
I recently hosted a series of webinars for Loop Demand Gen, which can be viewed at this link. Please take a look at these and let me know what you think in the comments section.
Are you taking advantage of webinars to educate your target audiences, or for training purposes? Why do you think webinars are ideal for B2B marketers?
