Everyone likes to share their expertise and knowledge with others. Your consulting team has a depth of knowledge that brings value to your customers every day -- but usually only one at a time. How can you tap into all that knowledge, take it to a larger audience and build business?
The Right Motivation
Your consultants are probably rewarded for maximizing billable time. If you want them to contribute to the business development effort, you have to offer motivation without penalty. It is surprising how often this seemingly obvious point gets missed. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on February 08, 20121 comments
A picture is worth...well, you know the rest. Pictures and graphics really can help you explain more in fewer words. When you think about the complexity of the technology solutions and systems that you are selling, it becomes even more important to consider ways to illustrate your message. The point of adding a graphic to any document should be to simplify the concept to help the reader "get it."
When you are trying to explain a concept or feature, think about how you might turn that into a graphic to make your point. There are plenty of tools at your disposal to create clarifying illustrations for your Web site, blogs and marketing literature. Here are some examples:
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Posted by Barb Levisay on February 02, 20120 comments
While there are currently only 14 Microsoft stores open around the country, the company plans to open 75 over the next couple of years. If you are lucky enough to have one in your backyard, it's the perfect place to hold a client event with style.
Cloudy with a Chance of Sales in Atlanta
Located in Woodstock, Ga., just north of Atlanta, RoseBud Technologies has held five events since the Atlanta Microsoft retail store opened in May 2011. While all the events were successful, according to Greg Wartes, director of marketing for RoseBud, the Nov. 9 event was over the top. Co-hosted by Microsoft, November's cloud services-focused event attracted over 200 registrations with approximately 150 attending. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 26, 20120 comments
The Dynamics marketing team recently launched the much-anticipated "U.S. Microsoft Dynamics Marketing Services Bureau" (MSB). The site, located on the Dynamics partner portal PartnerSource, is a unique listing of marketing services delivered by Microsoft-approved vendors. The variety and depth of services -- as well as the accompanying 46-page MSB Guide -- is impressive.
Strategy to Execution
Thirteen vendors with experience servicing the Dynamics partner community offer up everything from strategy session to sales leads. The MSB Web site is divided into three sections, including:
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Posted by Barb Levisay on January 23, 20121 comments
E-mail remains at the top of the list for effectiveness for business-to-business marketers with high return on investment. According to a 2011 Forrester Research report, promotional e-mails are getting a better reception from consumers than they were in the past. But even with these star qualities, your e-mail can't do the job alone.
Here are four pointers to keep in mind to make the most of your promotional e-mails: More
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 12, 20120 comments
Your monthly newsletter is humming along, but you want to run a special campaign to feature a new service. What are the necessary pieces that you need to assemble to build an effective marketing campaign?
1. The Target
Probably the most overlooked (but most important) step in the process of planning a marketing campaign is defining your audience. Who do you want to appeal to? The more narrowly you can define the person -- remember you are talking to a person, not a company -- who will benefit from your service, the better results you will get. From industry to role to age, define who you want to reach and why they need your services. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 04, 20120 comments
When was the last time that you visited your Web site and read the copy? How about your Pinpoint listing? However you want to look at it -- end of the old year, beginning of the new -- now is the right time to sit in your prospect's seat and visit your online presence.
First Impressions Are Hard To Overcome
No matter what kind of marketing you are doing, from networking to e-mail newsletters, your Web site content should be fresh. When you make a connection with an interested prospect, the first thing he is going to do is check your Web site. If you have outdated events, references to old software versions or dated stock photos, it is not going to make a good first impression. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on December 21, 20110 comments
Building connections with your community through presentations to business and professional groups is not a new idea, but it's still a good one. There is no better way to position yourself as an expert in the eyes of your prospects than to show them how you can improve their business. Combine that with a partnership with the sponsor organization, like the Chamber of Commerce, and you have a powerful combination.
Microsoft's Community Connections Program
The Microsoft SMB team has made some adjustments to the Microsoft Community Connections (MCC) program -- which we've written about before -- to make it easier for partners and organizations to engage. The program helps partners connect with local professional organizations and deliver educational presentations. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on December 15, 20110 comments
Business opportunities often appear from the most unexpected places. As the new year approaches, it's a great time to step back and look at the business that you've won over the past year. Identify the common problems that you solved for customers to identify market opportunities that you could build on in the coming year.
While Brenda Luper was working for Franklin Computer Services in Ohio, she noted that customer relationships were often built or strengthened when Franklin supported business moves. Office moves stress the business and people, requiring a unique set of IT services. The project management skills of IT service providers are well-suited to smoothing the process and limiting transition issues. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on December 08, 20110 comments
Marketing usually slows down during the holiday season, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep talking to your clients. The holidays can present unique opportunities to build relationships with customers and give back to the community. Here are four ideas to get you started:
- Include Customers in Holiday Giving
In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of companies replacing the expense of holiday cards with a donation to charity. Those companies e-mail their customers a holiday message and tell them about the donation. Great start -- but how about taking it one step further and engaging with your customers? More
Posted by Barb Levisay on November 28, 20110 comments