Posts tagged: strategy

Survey Results: What does success with Social Media look like?

Posted on May 15, 2012

by Bridget Warner

A couple of months ago, I circulated a survey across various social platforms, including LinkedIn and Twitter. The survey was a component of one of my MBA assignments which explored the relationship between business success and social media utilization. I promised to share the survey results through VA Partners’ blog, so without further ado, here is part one of the results.

  • A total of 51 complete responses were received from:
    • start-up/growing businesses 41%
    • established businesses 37%
    • non-profit organizations 14%
    • government 2%
    • other  organizational types 6%

Social is playing a critical role in the success of these organizations. When asked how social media fits into their company goals, the following was found:

  • 14% indicated that they would not be where they are without it
  •  51% responded that social plays a role in their success, but is part of a larger strategy
  • The top platforms used by responders’ organizations were:
    • Facebook (88%), Twitter (78%), LinkedIn (76%)

Findings on Social Media Strategy Implementation

While the sample group actively used social media channels, fewer had a strategy in place. Responders indicated that being more strategic and sticking to a strategy was the one thing they would like to be able to change about their organization’s social media efforts.

The following business objectives were the most commonly attached to social media use

  • Increased awareness and driving brand visibility
  • Engaging and communicating with customers
  • Increasing sales.

How effective is Social Media at achieving business objectives?

  • More than half of responders indicated that it was effective or exceeded their expectations
  • 20% of responders expectations were not met by social media
  • No one indicated that their initiatives had failed completely

How effective are companies at measuring Social Media’s impact?

  • Over 60% had not measured return on investment
  • Many found it difficult to measure return on investment as awareness and connections may not have brought direct benefits
  • Main challenge: linking the benefits of social media to the bottom line

Does your company have a social strategy in place? VA Partners has a proven track record for developing strategies for social media, and leveraging these channels to generate leads. Contact VA Partners to discuss the development of your organization’s social strategy.

Thank you to all of you who completed the survey, I appreciate you taking the time. And thank you to Mark from VA Partners for his support throughout my project; I appreciate having the opportunity to explore the ever changing world of social media.

Stay tuned for a blog post relaying part two of the survey results which relayshow respondents are using Facebook.

 

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As a sales & organizational leader, consider the goal alignment in your company

Posted on May 3, 2012

by Steve Gruber

It is important in any company to be sure goals in an organization are aligned and not conflicting.   From a customer perception, retention and even from a job profitability standpoint, having alignment across the organization can have a dramatic impact.   What organizations need to avoid are incompatible goals that drive division within a company and negatively affect customer satisfaction.

We have written a blog around the alignment of sales reps goals with organizational results. This blog focuses on the alignment of organization goals across departments and is based on a meeting I had for a client.  During the meeting, the prospect told me a story that really resonated with me from a sales leadership and organizational behaviour perspective and I felt that you may enjoy reading it as well.

The prospect was discussing how he was managing a project for his firm – a large, multi-million dollar infrastructure project.  All had been going well and construction milestones were being met until one day he got an urgent call from his site foreman saying there was no material left to complete the job.   Our contact suggested the site foreman contact the supplier and have some shipped immediately to the Project, at which point the foreman said he had already done so.  The foreman then went onto explain that the supplier said they had not been paid in over 60 days and given that, were no longer shipping any product to the Project.

The big problem here is that a work stoppage at a Project of this magnitude costs significant money in downtime and carrying costs as both men and large equipment sit idle.  This also then affects the ongoing development of the Project as all the subsequent trades are delayed.  These large projects, especially in competitive markets, are run on a tight profitability percentage so delays can easily impact the bottom line.    To top it off, the customer found out about the work stoppage and knowing how tight the timelines for the Project were not happy at all.

When our contact looked into the matter, it turned out that his firms Accounts Payable department was being incented to extend payables (what was interesting here is that the prospect had plenty of cash to pay the bill).   It doesn’t take much work to see the challenge here and how internal departmental goals are not in alignment.

The situation was quickly resolved and the Project continued. The matter was then discussed at the most senior level of the organization and changes were put in place to ensure Project profitability and customer satisfaction were lead goals and departmental goals had to support both of these two main objectives.   In this case, it is okay to have Payables goals, but be sure to understand the impact of such goals and how they could affect customer service and delivery.

The take home here from a sales and organizational leadership perspective is that goal setting, meeting customer needs and delivering on expectations must be a top priority in a company.  All other goals need to be in alignment with that objective.   Goals that help one department but hinder another’s ability to deliver do not make sense and can do harm to both the client relationship and the bottom line.    Be sure at a senior level to look hard internally to ensure all aspects of the organization are working toward the same goal.

If we can help you with sales leadership and goal alignment, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

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Are You Utilizing Social Media for Sales Prospecting and Lead Generation?

Posted on November 29, 2011

by Stephanie Goodman

One question often asked by many C-level executives and those in the corporate world is “How do I know Social Media is working for my company?” The answer is simple: you have to execute a strategy and then measure that strategy. If you’re still unsure about the value in social media for marketing and sales, take a look at how many of your prospects, clients and competitors are on social media and then re-evaluate your reservations. Two weeks ago I sat in on a webinar from HubSpot that explained how leads are generated through social media. For those who are still unclear about how sales have anything to do with social media, I suggest you take a look at the important arguments I took from the webinar.

Social Media is NOT a buzz word

First and foremost, we must remember that social media is not a buzz word (or term). Although many sceptics still exist, social media is here to stay. How do we know? It’s impact on marketing, business, PR, customer service and basic customer service has expanded so rapidly that people do not use social media as the “last resort” to communicate with others, rather, social media has made its way to top of mind for many businesses.

What is a lead?

A lead is essentially a proxy for sales. Leads are those that show interest in your service/product/company or are people who you have a connection with and believe will have an interest in your service/product/company. A lead is the first step to a sale. By using social media, leads are being generated in a different way than they were with traditional marketing. Lead generation is now about the transaction of information. A company is sharing information that will hopefully entice a prospect enough that they respond to it; prospects can respond by Re-Tweeting, sharing your information or commenting on it. One thing to keep in mind is that you cannot predict how people are going to find you. What you need to focus on is giving them plenty of ways to find you. In saying this, social media marketing is not linear nor should companies treat it this way.

How do I turn a lead into a sale?

Measure, measure, measure. Use a social media monitoring tool to track who is looking at your information, how long they are staying and what they are saying (if they are saying anything at all) about it. Here is an example:

If your company posts whitepapers on their website, share it – via social media – with others. Take a look at your Google Analytics and see who is coming into your website and what they are looking at. The next thing you need to do is start researching. Research the company, their service, goals, employees, etc. and match them with the services you provide to see if you may be able to help them. You already have an introduction to the conversation with them: I saw you downloaded/shared our whitepaper…

The ultimate goal is to get people to your website; the more content you create, the greater your chance of website visits. Are you still on the fence about the quality of leads through social media? Think about it this way, the prospect that clicked on your link or shared your information is already interested in what you do and can provide. Once the interest is there, the hard part is over.

For more information on how Social Media can help enhance your Sales efforts, take a look at our Sales Prospecting with Social Media and feel free to send any further questions you may have.

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Start-ups! Sell Early, Sell More Often

Posted on November 15, 2011

by Steve Gruber

There have been many papers and articles written about the importance of R&D, continued product development and the role of constant innovation within a company; however, without top-line revenues, all those R&D efforts are in vain.

We have seen and been involved in a number of start-ups that built a product, and rather than pushing hard to sell and market the product they have chosen instead to put sales and marketing efforts on the back burner while they continue to put the majority of focus and limited cash flow into further developing or in some cases “perfecting” the product.  The latter rarely ever happens because even the best products continue to get better over time.   One analogy to live by is that if you are not slightly embarrassed by your first product, you have not sold it soon enough.

The number of companies that have spent time burning their start-up investment, whether self-funded, angel or VC, on R&D and then with 6 months of cash left decide they need to start generating revenue is very, very long.  Don’t be one of these firms.   Revenue generation should be more than just a thought, it should be integrated into the entire lifecycle of your R&D efforts – you should always be selling.  In some cases, this may mean searching for pilot project opportunities or networking to seed the market or simply doing some work on social media to create a buzz.   Then assume over the initial 12 to 18 months sales revenues will be limited, so give yourself enough time to get ramped up.  No matter which way you cut and slice it, and even if you are really lucky, it will take 12 to 18 months to see the results of a sustained sales and marketing efforts, particularly around B2B products.  Buying cycles are long; decision makers leave, corporate priorities change and in the midst of this, you still need to keep pounding away with the game plan of building a big enough sales funnel that you don’t care who closes, someone will due to sheer numbers.  We are huge believers that sales is a process and a science much more than it is an art.

Ultimately, your success will hinge on you generating revenue, so don’t get stuck in the R&D rut, get your product to a point that it works and can be sold and then start doing just that – selling it!   Once you get some traction and clients, work to continue to better it.

If you read this and the situation sounds familiar and you need some sales and marketing horsepower to help, call us.  We would love the opportunity to discuss how we may be able to help.

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Marketing is not only about projects, it is about Project Management

Posted on November 10, 2011

by Stephanie Goodman

Marketing not only takes strategy, time and dedication, it also requires a Project Manager. Marketig is often broken down into various projects: SEO project, E-Mail Newsletter project and Social Media project. From personal experience in marketing at VA Partners I can say that it was only a matter of time until I took on the role of Project Manager (PM). Many people will attend PM course, certification or post-secondary program, but for me, it was all about practice makes perfect; I also took the advice of other PM’s to enhance my best practices. Listed below are tips I have put together from experience in order to help a PM enhance their job performance.

What to know about Project Management before starting your first project:

Become aware of how you present yourselves to others. You want to make sure your team will trust you and respect you and the same goes for the client. As a PM, you do not want to come off as the type of person that is unapproachable; on the other end, you do not want to be someone who is perceived as too easy going, giving off the impression that you are perhaps “too flexible.”

Prioritization is essential

A Project Manager may come into a situation where they are receiving complaints from a client, demands from a Sales Representative who sold the project and problems from their team all at the same time. It is essential to prioritize as a PM. Decide which issue needs immediate attention (perhaps look at which issue will cause further problems if not dealt with first) and schedule remaining tasks accordingly. Always keep in mind that everyone is working towards the same goal.

Organization: Every project acts like a machine with many moving parts; there is the internal team and the team working externally with the client. In order to stay on top of assigned tasks and deadlines, a PM must be able to prioritize not only themselves, but their team. One of the following ways a PM can stay organized is with a Workbook Schedule.

Workbook Schedule: At the beginning of the project, set up a calendar from Day #1 of a project to the due date. Visit the day the project is due and begin scheduling your tasks, going backwards. By scheduling your due dates and tasks at the day the project is due and moving backwards, you run less risk of scheduling time inefficiently.

Stay Focused: Staying focused on the end result is the key to ensuring the tasks leading up to it are completed efficiently. As a PM, you must ensure that you do not allow for distractions or interruptions that do not add any value to the project. Utilizing the Workbook Schedule will also help to keep you focused on the end result.

Flexible: Although you want to keep your project on time and bypass interruptions, as a PM you also want to ensure that you are flexible for any possible changes. The client, Sales Rep. or a member of your team might bring up a change to the plan or foresee a problem in the project. Going into a project with an open mind and the assumption that plans may take a different turn will help to keep your project moving efficiently.

Stay connected with the departments in your company

A PM not only works with their peers in their department, but will also work with – and at times rely on – their peers in other departments of the company, such as: Finance, HR, Marketing and Sales. If you work for a small company you more than likely have talked to and gotten to know those in each department. If you work for a larger company or corporation, you may have never met the Manager of Human Resources, as an example. Keep in mind that you do not want to burn any bridges. Keep lines of communication open with everyone and present yourself in a professional manner regardless of your relationship with your peers; you may be relying on these people in order to meet your deadlines.

Keep your tools up to date

Many times, companies get so caught up in providing their customers what they want, that they tend to neglect their own company. As a PM it is important that you are given the most effective tools in order to complete your job. Putting a Project Management Database in place (and a CRM tool) are essential to keeping your team on track. Using a Project Management Database (such as BaseCamp) that also allows the client to see your day-to-day work and deadlines, will keep lines of communication open and keep everyone on the same page; giving your client access to the project details will make tasks like weekly meetings more efficient.

If you are having problems putting together a project strategy or are looking for answers to questions about project management, feel free to reach out and we’d be happy to help.

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