If you have been selling for awhile, you would probably agree that selling is the act of aligning your “solution” with another’s “problem”. This is easier said that done and the path to a sale, can be fraught with traps and blind alleys – equating to wasted time. The more you can learn about a prospective company in advance of your pitch, the easier you can determine if there is favorable alignment. Sales people that seek opportunities without a sales strategy are prone to wasting valuable time. So you are always seeking ways you can efficiently connect with potential customers.

We live in an age of abundant information. I remember my elementary education when “comprehension” was as important as “reading speed”. Likewise consuming content is necessary but using that information in a meaningful way can be the difference between sales success or sales mediocrity.

Sales leaders have the aptitude to not only fish where the fish are, but know where to find hungry fish. In other words, there are suspects and then there are prospects. Prospects are the ones that fit that special profile, that display compatibility with your organization and services/products. How can you tell which are a likely fit? One way is to determine how they engage with their customers. Social Media can provide a good deal of insight about a prospect. Are they active online, do they engage their customers, is there web site intriguing? It is likely that companies that place value on engaging with customers also value fresh ideas and innovation – seeking partnerships that support their mission.

Understanding Social Media is a “must have” to today’s sales professional. Knowing where to look and what to look for provides those clues that tell the sales pro which suspects can quickly become prospects – leading to increased sales. Solid research is essential to sales success and using social media can turn a cold call into a warm call.

So invest some time with Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Linkedin – and fill your pipeline with opportunities that you can effectively align with. More tips to follow in future posts.

A combined 26% of online consumers visit the Facebook page of a retailer/consumer product company once a month or more.  This is an important statistics to remind companies that posting on Facebook regularly can increase awareness and sales.

A company Facebook Page must be compelling, visually stimulating, and have real-time engagement.  It is all about the fans, not about your company. The audience on Facebook is expressive, loyal, and active and also has a big influence on brands.

Final note: know your audience and have a Facebook strategy in order to build relationships, which will help increase brand recognition and sales.

Here is a good example of how Envano helped a Brand succeed on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/Millerwelders

Moms control an estimated 80% of all household spending, or $1.7 trillion a year, and companies must understand how women’s shopping behaviors change when they have children.

Some key stats on Mom’s Smartphone usage:

- Nearly 60 percent of moms have smartphones, and 62 percent of moms access the Web through a mobile device on a regular basis—up from 22 percent just two years ago.

- Moms spend an average of 6.1 hours a day using their smartphones, compared with 2.5 hours for moms who have dumbphones, er, regular phones.

- Moms are checking weather, playing games, connecting through social media sites, listening to music, shopping, and accessing health information on their phones with greater frequency than the general population does.

To target moms, marketers need to have a strategy that is centered around their busy lifestyle.  Traditional marketing is not as effective as it has been in the past.  Moms are social, mobile & connected.

Here is a example of how Envano made “Mom’s life easier”:

If you don’t currently have Microsoft Tag Reader, click here to download the app for your phone.

The Best of NAMA Awards are sponsored by the National Agri-Marketing Association. NAMA is the nation’s largest professional association for marketing and agribusiness professionals. Winning entries in 2010 were selected from among 1,199 entries that qualified for the national awards. The entire list of winners can be found at NAMA’s website. http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/winners.htm

David Sauter, President & CEO of Envano commented, “We are honored to share these prestigious awards with e1evation. Together we implemented a social media eco-system strategy that highlights our client’s thought-leader status in the market.” Sauter added, “We focused on low cost, flexible and fast to implement social media channels with fresh content that educates, informs and entertains our client’s global audience.”

Envano is a unique blend of people with marketing savvy, technology intelligence, and creative design expertise at the forefront of interactive marketing. Envano was created in 2001 to fill an internet marketing service void in the area. It is a privately held company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The company has grown and expanded its service market to geographic locations within the United States including Wisconsin, Illinois, Atlanta, North Carolina, Ohio, and New York as well as clients with International reach and markets.

When it comes to online document sharing there are many options. The two most popular are Scribd and Slideshare. Scribed allows users to view, print, download and upload documents in a variety of formats including PDF and MS Word. It has an embeddable PDF format which makes it easy to place files into webpages or blogs. It also has a text-to-speech feature where files can be converted to MP3 for play-back purposes.

Slideshare bills itself as the “business media site” for document sharing. As with Scribd, users may view, print, download and upload documents and easily embed them into webpages via Slideshare widgets. Slideshare’s audio feature allows users to synch audio with slideshows.

Both sites are easy to use with robust functionality. Which should you use?

Since Scribd is driven by the Google system, ads cannot be blocked. Currently there is no paid version to eliminate ads but rumor has it that one is on the way.

Slideshare’s paid versions allow users to block ads. Skinned versions cost from $36 to $249 per month and include unlimited uploads, analytics, “buzz” tracking and varying number of leads. The plans differ most with the level of control over the channel.

But monthly traffic is where the biggest difference lies between Scribd and Slideshare. In July 2010, the unique monthly traffic for each was:

Scribd.com – 4,346,540

Slideshare.net – 1,745,535

So, while more control can be achieved with Slideshare, Scribd certainly appeals to a larger audience. Do you know where your audience is? Envano can help you figure that out.

A few weeks back, I got some work done on my car at a local dealership. In all honesty, I took my car to this particular dealership, because I’m the Mayor of it on Foursquare. Even if I just needed an inspection, why not also use this as another check-in to continue securing my mayorship, right? So why is this important?

There was something very interesting about the bill that I received at the end of my service. Well, not the bill itself, but a postcard that had been stapled to the bill. A very simple postcard – a logo of the dealership, a picture of a VW Jetta, and a message from the Service Manager: “Thanks for your business. If you have a few minutes, please visit any of the sites below and leave a comment or review about us”. Then there was a list of some shortened URLs that led directly to the dealership’s profile on various review sites like Yelp and Google Places.

There’s no reason for you to not being doing this with your customers.

Read more at: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6540/3-Steps-to-Turn-Happy-Customers-into-Cheerleaders.aspx#ixzz0zdbVKD1X

Have you heard? Social Media is important for your brand. Monitoring your efforts and Responding is an extremely important piece of the puzzle. If you ignore your Social Media efforts, you’ll miss great opportunities to interact & win!

Unless you literally run your business with your ears plugged and your eyes covered, you are aware of the importance of social media and its impact on both brand and bottom line. However, while social media is the topic du jour in mainstream news, on blogs, in books, at conferences and at your local Starbucks, we may still underestimate its overall promise and potential.

The socialization of business is comparable to the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland or the red pill in the Matrix. If ignorance is bliss, awareness is awakening. Where there’s insight, there’s opportunity – but with opportunity, there’s also a cost. In this case, that cost is financed through learning, change, adaptation and innovation.

Social media is deceptive. It appears easy, free and yours to own simply for the price of admission and engagement. If this post were to live up to an alternate headline, say the “5 Easy Steps to Managing Your Brand Online,” the list might look a bit like this:

1. Monitor and listen to conversations related to your brand and competitors

Read more!

Source: Brian Solis

Of special note,
75% say they go online to get store/product/price information before – or during – in-store shopping.

51% say an online review has impacted their purchase decision.

“Consumers are tuning in to online conversations to make informed buying decisions and. . . interact with retailers,” said Stacy Janiak, U.S. Vice Chairman of Deloitte. “These platforms offer retailers a measurable and low-cost entry to reach consumers.”

Mobile devices continue to make inroads. Over 30% surveyed said they shopped on a website or compared product prices while on their mobile device.

The marketing landscape is changing rapidly. How do your clients connect with your brand? More importantly, how strong is that connection? Helping clients connect with their customers – where they are – is Envano’s strength. Contact us today!

Source:  MediaPost  http://bit.ly/cHLK7k