The Rise Of The Customer Review- Lee Hackett

We have all been aware of the rise in customer review websites, such as TripAdvisor or mouthshut.com whereby consumers can review pretty much any product they have bought or place they have visited – which in turn causes its own issues for marketers. However, I really like transparency of customer service this type of website provides and it got me thinking about the B2B arena and whether the same principals could be applied.

After all with the launch of our fully integrated sales, marketing and media services under the new ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’ umbrella, we are operating in a full service industry. The satisfaction of our customers really and truly matters, plus I personally wanted to take the concept of customer feedback much further than the typical case study that you see on most marketing agencies websites. After all customer satisfaction is our primary aim and our goal is to achieve 95% or more. To that end it is ingrained into the culture here at ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’, with each and every member of staff incentivised to achieve it.

In November we will be launching our brand new website www.yoursalesteamcloud.com and I bet you can guess what I am going to say. Yes, by January 2012 there will be an element whereby we will display all our customer reviews. We are asking our customers for feedback at three phases- the beginning, middle and end of a campaign.

Customers will not be able to post directly to our website but any visitors will be able to view all our customer satisfaction surveys. With aim of giving complete transparency there will be no editing and every single customer that provides feedback will be featured on our website and independently audited to ISO9001 accreditation. For confidentiality reasons, company names and contact details will not be provided but it will make our service only as good as its last review. The days of being able to pick and choose the testimonials and case studies, you show to customers are over.

Why are we doing it? Well we can’t tell our customers how they should be communicating with their existing and potential customers without practicing what we preach. We already have all the internal processes in place and have over 50 customer reviews from our existing clients. At the end of the day we all know the figures, it is far easier in time, effort and cold hard cash to retain customers than constantly seeking out new ones.

We hope to demonstrate that our customers and customer loyalty is central to everything we do at Your Sales Team Cloud. So how do you measure customer satisfaction or collate customer feedback, let me know by commenting below or tweet me @leehackett1.

VIRTUAL v REALITY- Sue Kinsella

When I was younger if someone mentioned the word “virtual” I would relate it to films, such as Star Trek, Lost in Space or The Matrix for example, it certainly was not something I would envisage would “exist” in my lifetime, but fast forward some 15 years (or so!!). Here we are living in a world where virtual is now part of everyday life, with many companies using services, such as virtual offices, virtual assistants, virtual callhandling and even virtual phone numbers.

With the economy at something of standstill many businesses are continuing to tighten their purse strings and are seeking alternative methods to drive efficiencies without compromising customer service or risking their reputation.

But what are the drivers behind virtual business services? Is it really here to stay and what seems to be the attraction?

Lower Overheads
Businesses that outsource part of their main functions, such as lead generation, market research, call answering services, no longer need to directly employ as many staff, meaning they can reduce the size of their office. In some cases a physical office is no longer required therefore reducing business overheads, such as salaries, office rental, furniture’s and utilities.

By setting up a virtual office businesses can create a regional or global presence without any of the expense usually associated with opening a new office.

Focused Workforce
Sales staff are costly to employ, outsourcing often gives businesses more value for money, as the people working for them are proactive, selling ALL of the time and cannot be distracted by other office duties which may arise such as administrative tasks, answering emails or dealing with incoming enquiries. Many outsourced companies also now only employee people educated to a higher level who have worked in many different industries and sectors, therefore possess the capacity to explore different target markets.

Virtual PA’s are also viewed as a god send to many business owners as they free up their time so they can concentrate on running the business. HR consultants take away some of the burden of an employer’s responsibility, ensuring that they stay on the right side of the law and do what they are legally required to protect their employees.

Quicker Expansion
Virtual offices can assist companies to quickly and cost effectively achieve a global presence without the high cost of physical office in all territories.

But is Virtual really here to stay? Some businesses owners may be sceptical about giving up control and handing aspects of their company to outside sources. But companies that undertake outsourced work tend to adhere to strict procedures, set agreed KPI’s for clients and implement quality control guidelines which can often improve customer service levels leading to increased sales for businesses.

I believe there should still be a balance between keeping your in-house department and outsourcing though, utilising the right outsourced company means they can work in harmony with each other.

People are still the core of any business after all “people do business with people”, though in order for any company to succeed it needs to establish ways to work smarter and by outsourcing functions a business can cost effectively achieve its growth plans, which I feel can only be a good thing for our economy. Personally I think virtual services have a great future part to play in all of this and may well be around longer than we are.

What are your thoughts? I’d be keen to hear from anyone who has considered or whom has used any of the above services please comment below or tweet me @suekinsella1.

THAT’S HOW SUE SEE’S IT

Winner’s Blog- Lee Hackett

I am sure the Liverpool fans amongst you remember the competition we ran last month, all those that completed our online survey were entered into a free prize draw to win corporate hospitality tickets to the first Liverpool home game of the season. The lucky winner was Andy Bebb from WPG Group who enjoyed a one all draw with Sunderland and here is a poem that he wrote to mark the occasion:

FIELDS OF ANFIELD ROAD (Lead Creators version)

Outside the Shankly Gates.

I heard Lead Creators call-ing.

Andy: Your tickets are on their way.

You’re gonna watch the Reds first game.

See King Kenny’s title-winning new team.

Then it’ll be glory around the Fields of Anfield Road.

Keep your eyes peeled for our next competition its coming soon ...

An Introduction to VEO- Jack Heskin-Taylor

I have talked about video production in one of my previous blogs and it is an interesting topic as while video is not a new marketing tactic but it is one where the technology is changing rapidly. Combined with the fact a corporate video can take so many different formats and techniques, it’s a great opportunity to drive new business in an innovative way. I have always been involved in 3D animation and producing videos but now that I am working with Lead Creators I have come to realise the marketing potential of corporate videos. For example, videos uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo can appear on your Google searches as long as the keyword you have searched for is present in the description. This is where SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can become relevant.

SEO is a technique which helps search engines find and rank your site higher than the millions of other sites in response to a particular search query. This therefore helps drive more traffic to your

When a possible client searches for your business, seeing a video at the top of the Google feed can automatically grab their attention. Producing a video on your business can be a very easy way to explain how you’re business works and the benefits of your products and services. In turn this can help to generate more opportunities for your business as you have the potential to grab the attention of time poor individuals who would not read large paragraphs of information on your website. For example please take a look at our website and video – www.leadcreators.co.uk

Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to create a new marketing term ‘VEO’ (Video Engine Optimisation).

I would be keen to hear from anyone who is currently successfully using VEO and equally if you have any questions please post below or tweet me @JackHeskin

Jack Heskin-Taylor.

Lead Creators Plus IVE Global Equals...- Lee Hackett

Introducing ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’, a merger of specialist business development company, Lead Creators and technical marketing agency, IVE Global to form a unique agency that fully integrates every aspect of sales and marketing. This enhanced offering allows us to provide our customers with an unrivalled suite of services; all managed internally by our proprietary software and dedicated ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’ staff.

What I believe to be the true difference though is that ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’ adopts a horizontal approach to service delivery, so our fully integrated sales and marketing offering is tailored according to business type and maturity. This type of approach I think will signal the end of a ‘one size fits all’ philosophy that currently exists in traditional sales and marketing channels.

It is already widely accepted that the way you market a product in the early adopter phase is very different to when it reaches maturity. So we’ve taken the essence of this and applied it to the business cycle – developing distinct service offerings that are designed to address sales and marketing requirements at different stages. Services will be categorised by start-up, home-based, SMEs, international and corporate.

In simple terms it means that ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’ can be whatever you need it to be. Fully outsource every aspect of your sales and marketing function, use as a short term business booster or just plug your resource gaps by tapping into our expertise and highly skilled teams. Covering every aspect of the sales and marketing operation, ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’ gives you access to the following specialist departments:

• Sales team outbound and inbound support
• Web marketing including video production
• PR
• Design
• Market research and data

Keep an eye out for the brand new website that will be launched in the coming weeks but in the meantime please do let me know your thoughts on our new approach or tweet me @leehackett1.

Feed Your Performance at Work- Andrew Mullings

I love to take a healthy approach to eating during the working day and as standard there is always fresh fruit and water available at all times in the office here, but recently I have been investigating what foods can help to improve your performance at work? Below are some of my key findings:

I recommend as a snack throughout the working day:

Almonds - this little nut can help boost your brainpower and stabilise your moods, highly recommended for energetic juniors just starting out on the employment ladder.

Walnuts - are full of omega 3 fatty acids which help you think more clearly and keep you focused

Boiled eggs - the choline in egg yolks improves memory and learning. In fact new research has shown that choline can improve damaged brain cells caused by alcohol exposure

Low fat yoghurt –is a great wake up call for your mind and contains calcium, vitamin B2 and iodine. Yogurt is also a good source of zinc, potassium, and protein all fantastic recovery vitamins
Or perhaps you would prefer something to sprinkle over your salad:

Sunflower seeds –are popular way to beat fatigue and power-packed with healthy fats, proteins, fibres, minerals, vitamin E, and phytochemicals - all important to the nutritional quality of your diet and of fundamental importance to human health. My sources also inform me that most seeds - pumpkin seeds,sunflower seeds, and flaxseeds may also improve your sex life ;-).

For the impending winter months why not try the following as part of a stew available at cafes across the country, or even try making a stew at home to take into work?

Red cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts and cauliflower -not only improves brain function these vegetables can actually make you smarter and they also guard against cancer development
Daily I would recommend:

Water -nothing beats H2O the healthiest drink on the planet,it speeds up your metabolism, makes you feel fuller and keeps you hydrated
Finally, after work at least twice a week, I would recommend:

Fish -the omega 3 fatty acids in fish are supposed to help improve your brain function over the long term, but ensure this is in the form of fresh fish and not battered in your local chip shop

Hopefully you will benefit from the above information and like me look to improve your diet to aid all aspects of your life. For more information on healthy eating during the working day please feel free to tweet me @andrewmullings.

And The Survey Says ... - Lee Hackett

At Lead Creators I do pride all our members of staff on constantly asking questions and looking for areas of improvement in order to achieve ultimate client satisfaction. From time to time though we like to get the business community at large involved and we did just that with our ‘customer requirement survey’ and I thought I would share some of the results with you.

Interestingly when asked how do you currently create leads/market your business, the majority of respondents (72.7% to be precise) preferred to utilise good old fashioned networking which just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how much we use social media nothing beats meeting people face-to-face. In joint second came e-marketing and advertising (both 51.5%), another more traditional marketing method and one that is often slated for not achieving ROI. These were closely followed by PR and social media (48.5%) and the least popular method was online sponsored links with just 16%.

Now our sample may be a tiny bit biased, as our head office is in Liverpool, but of those questioned just under half (48.7%) were looking to target businesses based in the North West – great news for the local economy. But even better news was that over half (66.3%) of businesses that completed the survey were looking to develop new business overseas. Let’s just hope that these businesses find the right support to ensure their endeavours are successful.

Moving into future marketing activities, we asked people what channels they thought were crucial for creating leads within their business and once again networking came out top with 51.7% of respondents using it. While our survey seems to suggest that direct mail may be a thing of the past as only 4.8% said that they thought it was crucial for generating leads.

Finally, something that speaks volumes of the power of social media platforms, like Twitter and LinkedIn is the fact that 67% of our respondents heard about the survey on social media. So if you are not already get yourself on social media, the business community is waiting to hear from you.

Any comments on our findings, please do let me know by leaving a comment below or tweet me @leehackett1

Getting British Businesses Online- Sue Kinsella

Later this month Google will be hosting a range of events in Liverpool to help get SME’s online and educate them on the importance of having a website. With the instability in our economy and businesses struggling to survive this is a great opportunity to hopefully gain some useful advice from one of the kings of the internet.

Doing business online is a cost effective way for companies to increase their sales revenue. But surely there is more to it than just having a website, don’t people have to find your website first and if so how do you improve the visibility of your website so it appears at the top of the search engine’s list amongst the billions that are on the World Wide Web?

Here are some suggestions which may help to drive traffic to your website:-

• Ensure there is enough information on your website to cover all your products and services
• Improve your Search Engine Optimization i.e. include some keywords which relate to your product or service
• Try adding some backlinks onto your website, in simple terms this is adding a link to your website from another website
• Investigate pay per click options

I am positive the advice on offer by Google will be invaluable and may include many hints and tips on how to set up your website. However, there are other ways of operating online such as joining social media websites, participating in webinars, viral marketing, joining forums, creating web apps to showcase your business as well as online video applications. But whatever avenue you undertake you always need to consider that the money and time you spend on these projects need to deliver a positive ROI.

You should also ask yourself is it really something you can implement yourself effectively, or do you think it’simportant to have the right support networks with the relevant specialist expertise that can help with implementation in the correct manner or is this simply just another added expense?

That’s how Sue see’s it!!

Get Ready To Start Doing Business In 3D- Lee Hackett

One of the things I like the most about spending time in our Florida office (apart from the sunshine of course) is that there is always a buzz about new technology. Invariably it is the case that trends from America make their way across the pond and to our fair shores, so I tend to soak up as much information as I can. I love being ahead of curve where technology is concerned!

With the first 3D mobile hitting the market in the US recently, this visit has been all about 3D video which is incredibly encouraging considering I have recently dedicated a lot of time to researching how we can cost effectively bring 3D video to SMEs.

Is it just another fad I hear you say, especially with the sales of 3D TVs not meeting expectations? Personally, I believe the 3D mobile and 3D tablet market will be the driving force behind 3D video – HTC Evo the next 3D mobile hits the UK in September and if the rumours are true the iPhone 5 will feature the ability to shoot 3D video.

In short these new devices will make 3D mobile much more accessible. Already I am excited about the possibilities for SMEs to bring to life their new products or machinery in 3D mobile and the ability to give a client a 3D tablet guided tour of manufacturing facilities, B2B conferences with the use 3D video could suddenly become far more animated too. And the potential for a well executed and creative 3D video to go viral is unlimited. Don’t worry though we won’t all be walking around with the not so flattering 3D glasses on as the technology evolves they won’t even be needed.

As I mentioned earlier we are working hard to create some specialist 3D video services that are designed to deliver cutting edge techniques including 3D mobile and 3D tablet but at a price that is accessible to SMEs. So the possibility of supporting your sales efforts with a brand new attention grabbing marketing technique is within touching distance – watch this space. In the meantime what do you think to 3D mobile technology, have you seen any creative uses of 3D video by businesses, I’d love to hear from you so post a comment below or tweet me @leehackett1.

Time to Take Control- Siddanth Shetty

According to a survey 78% of businesses are planning to spend more time on social media in 2011 than they did in 2010¹. To me this represents a surge in businesses recognising the potential of social media for helping them to achieve certain objectives online. Another interesting change is that the emphasis on personal interaction via social media has resulted in employers encouraging staff to be more hands-on and actively contribute.

This is a complete turnaround from the attitude of employers when social media first burst onto the scene with many dismissing its use as a waste of time. With this rapid expansion of social media activity comes the issue of companies’ losing control of their corporate image. The key is to not only possess the knowledge of social media but have the ability to apply it to the company’s benefit. This can only be done effectively through official policies and management. Worryingly a recent survey suggested that around 39% of UK workers said there was no policy in place within their firms regarding management of social media and another 24% were simply unaware whether a policy existed or not².

Without official social media guidelines in place companies could incur:

• Reputation damage
• Breaches of confidentiality
• Time wasting and procrastination
• Distortion of the corporate image
• Liability to employees and other third parties

By allowing employees to use their own individual discretion when networking on social media, you are totally reliant on a person’s own abilities to communicate and interpret your intentions. The information communicated, if not carefully selected and managed, could not only send conflicting messages but also seriously damage your company’s image. A lesson learnt the hard way by Ketchum when it’s PR executive, on his way to giving a digital presentation to FedEx in Memphis, candidly tweeted on his arrival in the city “True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say I would die if I had to live here!”. Unfortunately for him FedEx employees got hold of his tweet and notified higher management at both of the companies³. Needless to say it didn’t end well either for him or his company; which demonstrates the importance of a social media policy.

When creating a social media policy from scratch you should include:

• Clearly communicated aims and objectives for its use
• Indicate which platforms are to be used e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook
• Provide concise guidelines on what is and what isn’t acceptable behavior including easy to follow examples
• Show examples of what is considered confidential information within the organisation
• Specify the consequences of a breach of the policy
• Ensure synergies between the social media guidelines and other relevant policies, such as HR or contracts of employment
• Finally, setup a monitoring system, to manage data protection issues and to ensure the correct use of all social media platforms

Writing a social media policy can be tricky, so if you have any questions please post them below or tweet me @SiddanthS.

Growth Via Sales Team Outsourcing- Lee Hackett

Not a new concept, sales team outsourcing is a strategy that can help start-up and smaller businesses reach ambitions for growth quicker and more cost effectively. After all sales are the lifeblood of every business and effectively increasing your sales revenue can provide a solid foundation from which you can achieve wider business objectives.

So as a small business owner or start-up entrepreneur should you consider not ever employing a sales force and outsourcing it completely?

First consider your reasons for doing this – in my opinion there are three core reasons why companies outsource, these are:

• Reduce costs
• Insufficient in-house capabilities
• Improve an existing service

However, sales team outsourcing is different as it is focussed on driving revenue; usually the decision to outsource is driven by the need to profitably propel revenue growth. And who wouldn’t want to do that right?

Your company will also greatly benefit from reduced overheads, such as no employee salaries, benefits, recruitment fees or physical office space. But frequently one of the main advantages that cannot be represented numerically is outsourcing can allow your business to expand its sales capability to penetrate new markets quickly and efficiently, thus creating a competitive edge.

There is simply too much information on effectively utilising sales team outsourcing but I hope that it has whetted your appetite enough to want to find out more. You may be interested to receive a copy of our whitepaper titled: ‘The Definitive Guide To Sales Team Outsourcing’. It’s designed to be an informative and practical guide, giving an outline of why a business would need to outsource its sales function along with advantages, while offering a methodology necessary to negate any disadvantages. It also provides a useful guide to best practice when procuring an outsourcing partner. Simply send an email to info@leadcreators.co.uk and we will send you a personal copy.

I would be interesting to hear from anyone at the stage of considering outsourcing their sales team or anyone that currently does it, so please leave your comments or questions below. Alternatively tweet me @leehackett1.

DO WE NEGLECT OUR PAST TO PRESERVE OUR FUTURE?- Sue Kinsella

The city of Liverpool has been in the press this month for various reasons, from the opening of the Museum of the Liverpool - the first and largest national museum built in the UK for more than a century - to the celebration of 100 years of the Liver Building, the first skyscraper to be built in the UK.

Both of these iconic buildings are situated right on our waterfront and form part of Liverpool’s heritage . But the news that has sent shockwaves across the city and created talking points on many social media sites is the debate on whether Liverpool may lose its “UNESCO World Heritage” status if the plans to develop the Enterprise Zone, known as Mersey Water scheme (based on the waterfront) goes ahead.

The Mersey Water Scheme is set to create 25,000 new jobs in the city and bring with it a vast amount of international investment. Something the UKTI is encouraging as it has created partnerships with local businesses to deliver a range of programmes helping promote our city along with the rest of the UK. At the beginning of the year the Liverpool Embassy was launched in London to showcase what is great about our city and Liverpool was the only UK city to attend the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. In February 2011 Liverpool Vision were presented with a special China Recognition Award 2011 for its work at the World Expo, surprisingly during the Shanghai Expo in 2010 the most popular song, sung by over 17,000 people, was “Hey Jude” by the Beatles.
But does Liverpool have the X-Factor and do we really need the World Heritage status to stay on the map? Is Liverpool’s history and heritage really that important and is it possible to retain the level of tourism that the city currently enjoys without it? Well here are a few facts about our city and what makes us unique:-

• We’ve one of the oldest football clubs in the world: Liverpool Football Club
• It’s the 6th most visited city in the UK for international visitors
• Home to the only free port in the UK
• It’s home to the Beatles and the Matthew Street festival which attracts over 33,000 visitors each year
• Liverpool is one of the only cities with two cathedrals
• The Albert Dock has the largest group of Grade I listed buildings in the UK
• Liverpool is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe
• The arch located at the gateway to China Town is also the largest, multiple-span arch of its kind outside of China

A final decision on whether Liverpool retains its “World Heritage” status will not be made till October, but the debate still continues. Do we really need this status to keep us firmly on the map or should we be focusing on developing our future so we can create another chapter in history? That’s how Sue see’s it!

A New Plus 1 For Social Media?- Lee Hackett

Incorporating social media into your online activity is a big trend right now, so it comes as no surprise that Google is once again trying its hand at getting social. If you have not already heard of Google Plus 1 then I am sure you will have seen these icons next to your search results:

So what is Plus 1: in Google’s own words by clicking on Plus 1 you are telling your friends and family that this is something you should check out. This video explains in more detail http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OAyUNI3_V2c

What does it mean for you as a small business owner? Well although no one is predicting any immediate changes to Google’s algorithm, from an SEO point of view you may need to start worrying about how Plus 1 could affect your rankings. This could mean that a website with loads of great links falls further down the search results as it doesn’t have enough Plus 1’s.

One of the major drawbacks for me is that Google assumes you will look at the contents of a page and then go back to the search results page to click on the Plus 1. Not too sure that will catch on – I certainly wouldn’t be compelled to do it unless I thought something was outstanding but then I would probably share it via one of my other social media networks, like Twitter or LinkedIn.

A great idea in principal and one that I am all for as SEO needs more almost human elements but just not sure how successful it will be – people need gratification and interaction that’s the beauty of social media. Tell me what you think, post your comments below or tweet me @leehackett1.

Business Growth Via Video- Jack Heskin- Taylor

Video production is a fantastic way to explain your business to all types of audiences; it gives people of all learning types i.e. Activist, Reflector, Theorist and Pragmatic the chance to really understand your businesses products or services. It provides a perfect opportunity to express the benefits of using your business and can help other people and businesses identify what products or services they really require.

Video production can portray your business in an interesting and professional way. Using professional graphics and bespoke design your personalised video can be unique and created to focus on your specific target markets and business sectors. Overall video production can help to promote your business, generate leads and increase sales. All of which provide solid foundations for growing a business and creating new opportunities in your marketplace.
@jackheskin

Five Reasons Why A Business Needs A Robust Sales Pipeline- Lee Hackett

I spend a lot of my business life speaking with the owners and sales directors of SMEs and am still astounded by how many do not have a formal sales pipeline in place. Many may feel that it is sufficient to keep all this type of information in their own head or that it is a waste of their precious time putting together a formalised sales pipeline.
There can be no doubt it is a time consuming exercise, but one that I believe is very worthwhile and if utilised correctly can form the backbone of a company’s growth. At this point you are probably thinking: “you would say that given the industry that you work in”. So in a bid to change your mind, here are my top five reasons why your business needs a robust sales pipeline:

1. Most importantly a solid sales pipeline protects against peaks and troughs in sales revenue. By providing an overview of all potential sales and opportunities it gives a clear picture of quiet and busy periods. Done far enough in advance you can put in place strategies to combat any potential troughs.

2. Which leads nicely into my second point, a sales pipeline also allows for financial planning based on hard facts. If it is kept up to date (and believe me this is no mean feat in itself) you will have data on the amount and value of potential opportunities in your marketplace, so you can plan your business’ finances accordingly.

3. On the subject of planning, a sales pipeline can provide focus for your marketing activity. For instance, is there a particular market within your pipeline where there are lots of opportunities that could be the focus of your next marketing campaign? Or are there potential quiet periods that you can put together a marketing plan to combat? You get my point.

4. It also allows you to effectively plan your resources. Staffing levels can be difficult to get right in a small business, so knowing when potential orders could land and their value will help with this.

5. Finally, as I mentioned earlier a sales pipeline can help you achieve a business growth strategy and potentially even ensure that you meet growth targets.

Hopefully that has given you some food for thought. I would be interested to hear from people who are still not convinced and their reasons why, so please leave your comments below or tweet me @leehackett1

The Networking Click- Andrew Mullings

I decided to explore networking in further detail and talk a little bit about the problems I have experienced. Now networking is a very valuable tool to any business and the ability to sell yourself face-to-face to potential customers can build strong relationships that lead to orders or potential recommendation of your products or services.

But from my experience of attending networking events as a Lead Creators’ employee and in previous employment roles, I experienced a number of obstacles with networking as a whole.

The first obstacle I came across was that events hosted by a networking company their goal is obvious; they would like you to become a member and pay a yearly / monthly fee to attend exclusive events. But obviously it is always important to attend a few events to ensure they are relevant for your business, especially if your target customers are hard to come by. I also always ask the question to the hosts prior to attending, “so who’s attending the event in my target sector?” but I found I was never given a definitive answer from any of the networking companies I dealt with and an attendees list was only normally only available on the day.

The second negative I found with networking events was what I call “the networking click”. Now for me networking is strictly business; it’s not a social event whereby I would attend to drink vast amounts of alcohol and mingle with the woman with the best legs and really let myself go. I am attending the event on behalf of my employer or in your instance you may be representing your own business, so I would ensure at all times I represented my employer as best I could. Due to my professional approach I found that some networking events where not right for me I was not looking for an event where the same people attend week after week to meet socially. Instead I was looking for events that my target customers would attend and every time I attended I had the opportunity to meet new and interesting people with a view of meeting people who had a need for our products or services either now or in the future.

So how can we overcome these obstacles to ensure networking is used to meet potential customers?

 Plan your networking calendar well in advance
 Research all events you feel are relevant for you and your business
 Ask the host of the event plenty of questions:

o Who’s attending the event in my target sector?
o How many businesses will be there?
o What type of event is it? I.e. sit down lunch, breakfast, mingle, or speed networking
o Will there be guest speakers?
o What is the topic of discussion?

 Set up meetings in advance via email, or call to ensure you do not miss the opportunity to meet with a potential customer
 Dress accordingly and make the most of all potential opportunities at the event – and don’t forget your business cards!

If you require further information on Lead Creators’ Networking Support service please feel free to contact me – andrewmullings@leadcreators.co.uk.
@andrewmullings

Liverpool City Region: A Zone Of Opportunity?- Lee Hackett

As a Liverpool lad born and bred, it pleased me to read the report from thebusinessdesk.com on Liverpool City Region talking about the opportunities for regeneration in Merseyside being unrivalled in the North West.

To read a full copy of the report go to: http://ow.ly/5NvW3

While it is great to read so much optimism for our region, job creation, inward investment and employment opportunities, instead of all the doom and gloom we have gotten used to reading in the media, there is one thing that concerns me greatly. Where is the support going to come from for all this private sector growth?
Yes, public sector schemes like the approval of Mersey Waters as an Enterprise Zone is certainly going to help attract new businesses to the region, but how are these new businesses going to access practical day-to-day support that is required to thrive?

It is my experience that start-up businesses and SMEs experiencing rapid growth need assistance tailored specifically to their needs at the time. And with regional Business Links disappearing, to be replaced by a website and phone line it certainly isn’t going to be from the public sector.

Therefore, I am keen to know where any local businesses are currently turning for support, please post your comments below or tweet me @leehackett1

Maintaining A Local Flavour- Sue Kinsella

Having heard in the news last week that long established retailer, TJ Hughes has gone into administration it filled me with a degree of sadness. The store has been established on London Road, in the outskirts of Liverpool city centre for nearly 100 years and forms a firm part of the heritage of the city. Over the years I have witnessed the face of the store change though and not always for the best. TJ Hughes has transformed from a store which had a certain Liverpool ‘welcoming charm’ to a generic chain of shops with no character, a commonplace occurrence across the UK in many sectors, I am afraid to say. This has made me think in general about how businesses are losing their personal touch, which is resulting in consumers losing their sense of loyalty in trading with businesses on a local level.

A theme that is happening across the country as more businesses move out of our cities’ traditional districts to the fringes and even specialist out-of-town business and retail parks. Unfortunately this is leaving some parts of our cities like ghost towns, which in turn is also weakening the business relationships within regions. On a positive note though, it is creating pockets of new innovative and specialist business hubs, like Liverpool Science Park, Daresbury Science Park and MediaCity, Manchester.

That said, there is a well known saying “people do business with people” and it is my philosophy that a balance needs to be struck between maintaining and building working relationships with the resources available on your doorstep together with those businesses further afield and even internationally. Virtual social networks have played a pivotal role in enabling the interaction and trading of diverse companies all over the world, but I think they also have a distinct role in enabling us to continue to source business locally too.

In today’s fast paced society it has become all too easy to Google a particular requirement and gain quotes from the first three results with the location of the company making no difference. But for me it’s different, I like the people in my city and as a patriotic Liverpudlian I welcome the opportunity of working with others like myself. After all, meeting people face-to-face allows you to bring a personal touch to business, so I utilise social networking to do just that; find local businesses. And here are my three top tips:

• Twitter: actively search, follow and engage with people and companies in your locality, so for me its Liverpool

• LinkedIn: search, join and participate with Groups and discussions within your region. For example, I often use Business Link North West Group to engage with local businesses

• Wecando.biz: a great place to find new customers as it is specifically geared towards finding businesses with a requirement in your locality.

What we need most is positive role models in business to show the next generation how to maintain a balance of local businesses, as well as those further afield ensuring there is a piece of the pie for everyone.
And that’s how Sue see’s it!

Dislodging Incumbent Suppliers- Lee Hackett

A necessary evil in many business sectors and one that even the most experienced sales person can shy away from: incumbent suppliers. In my opinion it is one of the reasons I went into business – winning new business – but then I do love a challenge.

Having spent over 14 years in the construction products industry where dislodging incumbent suppliers is the lifeblood of the business, I have developed a number of strategies and tactics that have proved to be very successful. But before I share some of these with you, there can be no getting away from the fact that this is a challenging strategy to employ but it is often the only way to increase market share. And it is my view that if a potential customer has a history of repeated spend on a particular product or service, then that’s the type of business I want.
Let’s get to it, in brief here are my top three tactics for effectively dislodging an incumbent supplier:

1. Research: a common sense place to start, but one that needs to be given the necessary time and attention. Research the incumbent, the potential customer, the market place and don’t forget key competitors, as they will probably be competing for the business too.

2. Price to win: again common sense I hear you cry, but lowering the margin on the first few sales allows you a way in to an opening dialogue with the customer.

3. Create a challenge: my personal favourite, ask the potential client to challenge you. Don’t ask the client to give you the easy sales, tell them that whenever they are in a tight spot to give you a call. It could be that you can help them with tight deadlines or sourcing a specialist product – whatever, just make sure they know you are the person to go to.

If this post has proved useful to you, then you could be interested in receiving a copy of the whitepaper I recently commissioned titled: “Strategies For Dislodging An Incumbent Supplier” that gives much more depth of discussion to the topic. Simply send an email to info@leadcreators.co.uk and we will send you a personal copy.

It would be interesting to hear of any other tactics that sales teams employ successfully, so please leave your comments or questions below. Alternatively tweet me @leehackett1.

Extracting Humour from News Headlines- Andrew Mullings

Social media is one of the newest forms of marketing and in some cases the most effective, due to its audience reach. Half a billion people use social media and it is the most popular internet activity. Therefore, in today’s competitive business climate I think is very naive for businesses to ignore social media.
But how can you turn social into business without being too serious or boring? My top tip is that businesses should constantly keep an eye out for news stories that get people talking and seek to light heartedly engage with the stories whilst promoting a business.
Everyone enjoys a good natter on social media, its human nature, and the Ryan Giggs scandal is a good example. In May 2011 the story broke on Twitter that Ryan Giggs slapped a super injunction on the media to prevent journalists from revealing details of his private life. It sent social media traffic through the roof, trending worldwide with Facebook traffic reaching 26.8 million users in the UK. How can you take advantage of that kind of traffic?

Here are some examples of messages we have recently posted that tie in with trending news topics to promote Lead Creators’ services:

• Looking for a way to keep your information private unlike Ryan Giggs, Lead Creators offers clients bespoke CRM system that keeps all information safe and accessible online at all times with a username and passcode – in relation to the Ryan Giggs Scandal
• Lead Creators serves ace for new Joinery client from Tadworth securing key jobs to price on first day of campaign – in relation to Wimbledon 2011
• Festival atmosphere at Lead Creators following installation of new telecoms system to improve efficiently and call rate – in relation to the 2011 festival season Glastonbury, V Festival
• Ensure you receive a positive ROI on your transfers this season by outsourcing your sales and marketing requirements to Lead Creators – in relation to the football transfer market
• Sole Trader - worried about missing opportunities whilst on family holiday, Lead Creators offers mini outsourced sales campaigns to ensure your business keeps ticking over – in relation to the summer holidays

I am interested to find out innovative ways that other companies are using the current news topics to get across business messages, so feel free to post your comments and tips below. Or tweet me @andrewmullings.

We’ve moved to Liverpool Science Park

To facilitate our exciting growth plans we are pleased to announce that Lead Creators has this month moved to offices at Liverpool Science Park. Relocating from our current office at Liverpool’s Exchange Flags, the new 1,800 sq ft office will be home to our first SalesHub. A phrase that will become common place at Lead Creators, the SalesHub is a unique concept that will be rolled out across the UK over the next 12 months. Essentially it is an open plan creative space that will be the central point of contact for all clients that has been specifically designed so they feel comfortable visiting us regularly.

Commenting on our move Liverpool Science Park, CEO, Chris Musson, said: “Lead Creators is an excellent addition to the rapidly growing community of knowledge-based companies here on the Park and we are delighted they have chosen Liverpool Science Park as their new home. Their focus on developing markets for technology based companies makes them an excellent fit with the other co-located businesses and we wish them every success with their exciting growth plans.”

What’s The Best Way To Create Entrepreneurs?- Lee Hackett

Via entrepreneurial apprenticeship schemes apparently according to a recent survey by Coutts and an article on thebusinessdesk.com. While I would wholeheartedly agree that we need to start with the younger generation and better integration of entrepreneurialism into our education system from secondary schools through to universities, I still believe there is a job to be done to support entrepreneurs and smaller businesses now.

With the impending closure of Business Link are there any clear avenues for practical support for regional businesses? I suspect not and that has been one of the key drivers behind Lead Creators to deliver flexible and cost effective services like sales pipeline management and ‘Your Sales Team Cloud’ that help to improve the bottom line and bolster overall business growth. By creating opportunities in any given marketplace and delivering results, we can effectively plug into any existing operation regardless of the size to scale up business development in a short space of time and ensure the business goes from strength to strength.

It is this type of accessible and practical support that I think will prove the key to the success of budding entrepreneurs. I would be interested to know what other people’s thoughts are on this subject too, so please leave your comments below

WILL THE LIVERPOOL EMBASSY ACHEIVED ITS GOALS?- Sue Kinsella

In January the Liverpool Embassy was launched the aim of the Liverpool Embassy was to attract investment from outside the city following the success of the city’s participation at World Expo in Shanghai.

This is a wonderful opportunity for Liverpool to showcase what a great city and prospects it has to offer outside investors, not only is it the fastest growing economy outside London it also has one of the biggest Freeport zone in the UK, which opens the flood gates for SMEs to enter into international markets and explore new avenues of trading, but you know that there are many perceived risks associated with trading internationally such as having local knowledge of the areas, language barriers and knowing what to do if and when things go wrong. Which is why Lead Creators have partnered up with UKTI to create Accelerated Market Entry Programme (AMEP) and Accelerated International Market Entry Programme (AIMEP) to focus on greatly reducing the risks to SMEs when entering new and international markets or even exploring investing in this great city.

Furthermore with businesses now having the flexibility to be located virtually in any place the world with services such as Virtual Offices Virtual P.A’s etc it much easier to establish yourself in any city without having to actually be there. We’re so excited by this were even launching a Sales Cloud Team in May as there is now such a high demand for this service both here in Liverpool as well as internationally. All of this only can only add to the “dangling carrot” and attractiveness of why investors should seek to bring business to our city.

The Embassy has the backing of local businesses from all sizes within Liverpool and only time will tell if the funds and efforts invested into the Liverpool Embassy prove to be fruitful and the city seeks the investment it needs.

Social Media – “Research also found that few knew why they were doing it?”- Andrew Mullings

I recently read an article in the Financial Times regards ‘The fickle value of friendship’ on social media platforms I found the article particularly interesting being a huge social media fan, there was some great points , statistics and a statements I picked up on that I found surprising considering the article was referring to a number of high profile brands.

Statement 1: A survey of members of the World Federation of Advertisers, a grouping of multinational brands, by Millward Brown found that 96 per cent were spending more of their budgets managing Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and other social media, racing to accrue fans, re-tweets and that elusive but ubiquitous quality: engagement.

However, the research also found that few knew why they were doing it – half were “unsure” of the returns they were getting from their efforts, while more than a quarter found the payback was “just average or poor”.

“Research also found that few knew why they were doing it?” I find it extremely surprising that multinational brands would not have a social media strategy? At Lead Creators we would always undertake market research on a campaign before we even started, we would always ensure we positioned ourselves correctly within the market before we undertook any campaign and lastly we would have a detailed strategy in place before we begun, I find it hard to believe some multinational brands would not work in the same way. We also would not employ costly staff to manage a social media campaign or any campaign that we were unsure on the returns and if the returns were difficult to measure.

It is important to have a social media presence but to spend high volumes of capital on social media without a strategy is a disaster waiting to a happen. My favourite multi national brand to date has very little presence on social media – Apple, need I say more.

Statement 2: The real value of social media comes not when it is run in isolation by a crack team of super geeks but when it forms part of a larger strategy, with broader goals than just fans and consumer engagement.

I totally agree social media is best used when it compliments your marketing strategy, to drive traffic towards a new press release, a positive news article that refers to your company, to market new and current products and services or to promote viral and video marketing campaigns.

In my opinion the best 3 ways to use social media for your business are:

1. To compliment your current marketing strategy.
2. To engage fans (Starbucks are the kings here).
3. To generate enquiries / leads.

So what can businesses in the construction industry take from this when using social media? Carry out necessary research, put a detailed strategy in place and keep costs under control.

If money was no object then I’m sure we would all love our own Gatorade Mission Control but will this really give us a positive ROI, when we start employing costly staff and high tech equipment?

Source: Financial Times - http://on.ft.com/dOP2tO

The Stigma Attached To Telemarketing: A B2B approach, the difference between telesales and pipeline management?- Chris Parker

When you think of telemarketing or telesales, you automatically paint a picture of a call centre, miles away, with employees aggressively and randomly calling you at an inappropriate time, trying to get you to buy some dodgy double glazing or make you switch your electrical supplier. You would be right in thinking this to a certain extent, however there are various different forms of telemarketing and there is also a massive underlining difference between telemarketing and pipeline management.
Theodore Gage once quoted “as far as the mails concerned, the garbage can is only an arm’s length away……..Mail is pretty inoffensive. But the phone-especially if certain companies use persistent operators-can be a real and unavoidable nuisance”. This just adds to the renowned stigma attached to telemarketing and many working professionals question the effectiveness of telemarketing and the negative implications. It could be argued that telemarketing can be intrusive, be un-ethical, effect company image and represent a “discontinuity with the status quo of advertising”.

Telemarketing as a concept is fairly broad and is diverse, although, it can be broken down into three categories; Conventional Tele-marketing, Automated Tele-marketing and Tele-marketing with a disguised message. So in contrast to these different forms, the definition of pipeline management is much more specific. Pipeline management is, in basic terms, the assessment of all your potential opportunities/leads for the balance of quantity and quality. The best metaphor which was used to me in explaining pipeline management is that companies who do not use pipeline management is similar to riding a rollercoaster; exciting and exhilarating at first but in the long term exhausting and ineffective.

Additionally, another clear difference between telemarketing and pipeline management is that it is tactical and approached in a more strategic way. From conducting market research and then positioning the business, a relevant strategy can be put in place for managing a pipeline, where by specific organisations are targeted and the requirement for a product/service is evaluated through budget, authority, need and time. Once the lead has been established it can then be placed into a CRM where a pipeline can build over time and a relationship can evolve, in the end filtering your leads down to the qualified prospects where sales can be completed and customers can me made. A longer a process than first thought!

Telemarketing can, in essence, be used in the process of pipeline management and in an opposing argument isn’t really as bad as it sounds. There a countless benefits to telemarketing but in my opinion the core advantage is that a phone call is a lot more personal than an email or advertisement. If you compare most forms of advertising to telemarketing it is more cost efficient, it is more flexible and is far easier to measure. As well as offering a degree of time compression, in Kenneth Schneider’s journal (Telemarketing as a promotional tool) it features a head to head study with direct mail and shows that telemarketing is 2.5 to 7 times more effective. So in conclusion when you next think of telemarketing don’t judge and think more so of pipeline management.

The Twitter Experiment – Can twitter generate enquiries for businesses in construction sector?- Andrew Mullings

I was tasked with creating a twitter page for Lead Creators and a number of our clients to generate enquiries for the construction sector. I created the twitter profiles relativity easily, for my Lead Creators profile I took a simple picture of myself in business wear and using a free app Adobe Photoshop Express on my iphone4 I edited the photo and then included company logo in the background.

On twitter you can also customize the background so I did a little bit a research and found the dimensions for a twitter background were 1280×1024 pixels. I found a suitable background added the company logo and a tweeting bird with a hard hat on to represent the construction sector which I wanted to target.

After lots of reading of articles which gave advice on how best to use twitter for your business, I began to target businesses following some of the UK’s biggest main contractors. Carillion, Morgan Sindall, Galliford Try, Amey UK, Shanska UK, Mitie, Bovis Lend Lease and Willmott Dixon. I was now following 2,000 businesses in the construction sector it was time consuming adding the businesses but it was only way I could ensure I was targeting the correct customers. The maximum following you can follow on twitter is 2,000 but when you reach close to 2,000 followers twitter will automatically increase your maximum limit and allow you to follow more. My next step was to start tweeting and to keep my profile busy to attract attention.

Now twitter was originally designed to answer the question – what are you doing? My plan was to steer away from this question and tweet our services, clients services and a contact number every time and use hashtags to make key words instantly searchable e.g. @Leadcreators – Intelligent and efficient marketing for the #construction industry – 0844 822 3936. I mixed that up by retweeting some relevant news articles the odd personal tweet once in a while and links to our company website – www.leadcreators.co.uk.

• Retweeting – What is a retweet? Under every tweet there is a retweet icon by pressing the retweet icon the tweet is retweeted to your entire follower instantly giving the tweet a wider audience.

• #Hashtags – So what is a hashtag? By placing a # in front of a word the tweet becomes instantly searchable though the word that has been #tagged. If you click on a #tagged word it will instantly shows every tweet where someone has #tagged the chosen word.

I used the same technics for my clients as I did for the Lead Creators profile and over the space of a couple of weeks my followers began to grow and my target market started to listen and interact with my tweets. I went from 0 – 250 followers reletivly quickly but then it stalled so I carried out further research using a popular market research tool called google and found that if deleted businesses I was following who weren’t following me back I could create space to add new businesses who may be interested in my tweets. I used this techninque a few times until my followers increased to over 1000. By this time a number of businesses had contacted me who where interested in our services and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.

So can twitter generate enquiries for businesses in construction sector? – Yes.

@andrewmullings; @leadcreators

Budget comments- Lee Hackett

The key think for me from today’s budget announcement are the creation of 21 new enterprise zones instead of just 10. Enterprise zones are good news for start-up businesses; however, for me the concept needs to be well executed to avoid the pitfalls of previous schemes that just resulted in jobs being moved around rather than new job creation. I think a true enterprise zone needs to be able to provide tangible support in order for long term growth and enterprise to develop. It is worth the Government looking to America where enterprise zones are hugely successful due to the fact that control remains with the local town hall, particularly in California where new businesses can take advantage of a combination of support and incentives not just tax breaks.

Helping Manufacturers Reach New Markets- Lee Hackett

According to new figures released last week by the Forum of Private Business, many smaller manufacturers are struggling to get their products to market. More than one quarter of business owners surveyed stated that overcoming difficulties in reaching new markets was the top priority.

In my experience I have found this to be the case that smaller manufacturers view the export market with a degree of trepidation. There needs to be more support and clarity for manufacturers, so they have access to the knowledge of where to start and know realistically how much budget and time needs to be allocated to develop international markets.

I believe there are some fantastic opportunities for manufacturers of all sizes to penetrate emerging markets, so here is a list of the considerations that need to be taken onboard:

1. Do your research to ensure there is a market for your products
2. Make best use of government bodies, such as the UKTI, to help you research the market
3. Understand that sales will not be instant; it takes time to build a sales pipeline. View new international markets as a long term objective
4. Send time considering your company’s positioning in the market and accept that sometimes marketing literature needs to be adapted for the local market
5. Don’t sign a distribution agreement with the first person you meet, keep your options open
6. Create and develop as many channels to market as possible during the early days. This will allow you to develop a deeper understanding of the local market.