Invisible Sale, The
How to Build a Digitally Powered Marketing and Sales System to Better Prospect, Qualify and Close Leads
Published on 3. October 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-7897-5135-5 (ISBN)
Description
Build a High-Impact, Low-Hassle Digital Sales Prospecting System That Works!
Hate cold calling? Stop doing it! Build a supercharged, highly automated digital sales prospecting system that attracts more qualified leads, shortens sales cycles, and increases conversion rates-painlessly! In The Invisible Sale, Tom Martin reveals techniques he's used to drive consistent double-digit growth through good times and bad, with no cold calling. Martin's simple, repeatable process helps you laser-target all your marketing activities, sales messages, and sales calls based on what your prospects are actually telling you. Martin boils complex ideas down to simple, straightforward language...real-life case studies...easy-to-understand templates...and actionable solutions!
* Discover the "invisible funnel," where self-educated buyers are making decisions before you know they exist
* Leverage Funnel Optimized website design to identify your prospects' key challenges before you ever speak to them
* Integrate social media, content, and email to optimize the entire prospecting process
* Make every sales call count with behaviorally targeted email prospecting
* Leverage Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to efficiently "prospect at scale"
* Use the science of propinquity to choose "outposts," strategize social networking, and drive offline campaigns
* Save money by rightsizing production quality to each marketing requirement
* Rapidly create keyword-rich text content, and use it widely to promote self-qualification
* Create webinars and tutorials more easily and painlessly than you ever thought possible
* Choose low-cost devices, apps, software, and accessories for quickly creating high-quality DIY media content
* Learn how to apply Aikido Selling Techniques to close self-educated buyers
Hate cold calling? Stop doing it! Build a supercharged, highly automated digital sales prospecting system that attracts more qualified leads, shortens sales cycles, and increases conversion rates-painlessly! In The Invisible Sale, Tom Martin reveals techniques he's used to drive consistent double-digit growth through good times and bad, with no cold calling. Martin's simple, repeatable process helps you laser-target all your marketing activities, sales messages, and sales calls based on what your prospects are actually telling you. Martin boils complex ideas down to simple, straightforward language...real-life case studies...easy-to-understand templates...and actionable solutions!
* Discover the "invisible funnel," where self-educated buyers are making decisions before you know they exist
* Leverage Funnel Optimized website design to identify your prospects' key challenges before you ever speak to them
* Integrate social media, content, and email to optimize the entire prospecting process
* Make every sales call count with behaviorally targeted email prospecting
* Leverage Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to efficiently "prospect at scale"
* Use the science of propinquity to choose "outposts," strategize social networking, and drive offline campaigns
* Save money by rightsizing production quality to each marketing requirement
* Rapidly create keyword-rich text content, and use it widely to promote self-qualification
* Create webinars and tutorials more easily and painlessly than you ever thought possible
* Choose low-cost devices, apps, software, and accessories for quickly creating high-quality DIY media content
* Learn how to apply Aikido Selling Techniques to close self-educated buyers
More details
Person
Tom Martin has spent more than half of his career selling advertising agencies' professional services. His innovative business development programs have generated tens of millions of dollars in new client billings, including an impressive 35% growth rate over four years for Peter Mayer Advertising of New Orleans. As founder of Converse Digital, he has built a debt-free digital agency with a 25% year-over-year growth rate, without a single cold call or competitive pitch presentation. His painless approach to new business prospecting has resulted in a successful speaking career, an ongoing writing position with Advertising Age as a contributor to the "Small Agency Diary," and numerous guest-posting roles with influential digital- and social media-focused blogs.
Tom lives in New Orleans with his wife and four children.
Tom lives in New Orleans with his wife and four children.
Content
Introduction 1
SECTION 1: SELLING THE PREMISE 7
Chapter 1 The Tweet That Changed My World 9
The Tweet That Started It All 10
Your Web Presence Precedes You 13
My Whole World Changed with a Single Tweet...or Did It? 14
Chapter 2 Living Inside the Database 17
Database Selling Versus Data-Based Selling 18
Sales Inefficiencies 19
Traditional Prospecting Works 21
You Don't Know What You Don't Know 23
Forgetting the Funnel 25
Chapter 3 The Self-Educating Buyer 31
The Four Key Trends Driving This Shift 32
B2C Buyers by the Numbers 35
B2B Buyers by the Numbers 36
The Online Opportunity 38
Now You See Me-Now You Don't 40
Chapter 4 The Little Camera Store That Could 43
Who Is Adorama? 44
Adorama's Content Marketing Machine 45
AdoramaTV 46
Scaling AdoramaTV 47
Building Relationships with Content 49
Adorama's Advertising 51
How Adorama Wins the Invisible Sale 51
Success Metrics 55
Brian's Advice for You 57
SECTION 2: CAPTURING THE INVISIBLE SALE 59
Helping to Create Sales 59
The Social Sales Force 60
The Power of Proximity 60
The Painless Prospecting Platform 61
Making Every Call Count 61
Social Prospecting 62
Chapter 5 Selling Versus Helping 63
Helping Creates Buying Signals 64
Buyers Want Answers 64
Buyers Know What They Want but Not What They Need 65
You Have To Give Before You Get 66
Helping Is Easier Than Selling 67
People Trust Experts 69
Help Buyers Realize They Need You 71
The World Needs Helpful Content 72
Chapter 6 Social Agents 75
Social Agents Are Your Social Sales Force 76
Power Agents 78
Agents Want to Help 78
What Makes a Great Agent? 80
Which Is More Important-Agents or Prospects? 80
Chapter 7 Propinquity 83
Marketing Propinquity 85
Psychological Propinquity 86
Propinquity Is the New TOMA 88
From TOMA to TOMP 89
Propinquity in Practice 89
Hurdles to Achieving Propinquity 91
The Propinquity Solution 91
Chapter 8 Creating Your Painless Prospecting Platform 93
Creating Your Home Base 95
Designing a Funnel-Optimized Home Base96
Defining the Obvious Propinquity Points 100
Defining the Not-So-Obvious Propinquity Points 100
Step 1: Social Listening 101
Step 2: Geographic Social Listening 103
Step 3: Using Primary Research 104
Step 4: Classifying Your Propinquity Points 105
Closed Versus Open Outposts 106
Manning Your Embassies 108
Developing Your Propinquity Map 109
Creating a Breadcrumb Strategy 111
Chapter 9 Making Every Call Count 113
Behavioral Segmentation Email Programs 114
Why Behavioral Email Works 115
Behavioral Email: A Case Study 115
Behavioral Email: The First Step Solution 118
Behavioral Prospecting 119
The Role of Funnel-Optimized Websites in Behavioral Prospecting 121
Advent Global's Behavioral Profiling Program 123
Chapter 10 Social Selling 127
Social Selling Is About Seduction 128
How Can You Be More Seductive? 129
Hearing Your Prospect Online 130
Defining Your Social Selling Approach 131
Developing Your Corporate Social Brand 132
Social Warning 134
Social Rules of Engagement 135
Creating a Sense of Attachment 137
Six Ways to Get Started in Social Selling 140
SECTION 3: CREATING YOUR CONTENT 143
Creating Right-Sized Content 144
Content Creation Types 144
A Disciplined Content Creation Framework 146
Chapter 11 Creating Video 149
Let the Equipment Do the Work 150
Focus on Storytelling 151
Video Creates Relationships 153
Creating Better Video 153
Cameras for Video Creation 155
Desktop Video Editing 157
A DIY Video Blog Case Study 158
Mobile Video-Creation Apps 159
Mobile Video-Editing Apps160
Chapter 12 Creating Photography 163
The Modern Visual Palette Research 167
How to Shoot Better Photographs 169
Selecting Lenses 171
Lighting 172
Building the Ultimate Photography Kit 174
Photo-Editing Software 175
Mobile Photo Apps 176
Chapter 13 Creating Audio 179
Marketing at the Speed of Sound 180
The Benefits of Podcasting 182
Different Types of Podcasts 183
Syndicated Podcasts 184
Traditional Podcasts 185
The Secrets of Podcasting Success 186
Prospecting with Podcasts 187
Getting Started: Equipment and Software 188
Creating a Mobile Recording Studio 190
Chapter 14 Creating Text-Based Content 193
Talking Versus Typing 194
Write Your Content 1,000 Words at a Time 196
Using Interviews to Create Text 197
A Disciplined Writing Process 198
Using Content Templates 200
Pushing Through Writer's Block 202
Text Content Options and Tips 203
eBooks 203
White Papers 204
Blog Posts 204
Chapter 15 Creating Live and Recorded Webinars and Product Tutorials 207
Five Keys to Successful Webinars 208
How to Record Your Webinar 211
How to Record Webinar Audio Using a Smartphone 212
Option 1 212
Option 2 213
Option 3 213
How to Convert Your Recordings to MP3 214
How to Synchronize the Audio and Slides for Your Webinar 214
Creating Great Product Demonstration Videos 217
Planning Product Demos 218
Chapter 16 Cornerstones and Cobblestones: The Content Creation Framework 219
Cornerstones and Cobblestones Explained 220
Repurposing Content 221
The Cornerstone and Cobblestone Framework 222
Repurposing Content: The Importance of Ecosystem Thinking 224
The Art and Science of Guest Posting 226
The IVS Case Study 230
SECTION 4: CLOSING THE DEAL 233
Chapter 17 Closing the Deal 235
How to Blow the Invisible Close 236
The Invisible Process Versus the Traditional Sales Process 236
The Online-Only Close 238
The Offline Close 241
The Blended Close 242
Aikido Selling 244
Conclusion 247
Index 249
SECTION 1: SELLING THE PREMISE 7
Chapter 1 The Tweet That Changed My World 9
The Tweet That Started It All 10
Your Web Presence Precedes You 13
My Whole World Changed with a Single Tweet...or Did It? 14
Chapter 2 Living Inside the Database 17
Database Selling Versus Data-Based Selling 18
Sales Inefficiencies 19
Traditional Prospecting Works 21
You Don't Know What You Don't Know 23
Forgetting the Funnel 25
Chapter 3 The Self-Educating Buyer 31
The Four Key Trends Driving This Shift 32
B2C Buyers by the Numbers 35
B2B Buyers by the Numbers 36
The Online Opportunity 38
Now You See Me-Now You Don't 40
Chapter 4 The Little Camera Store That Could 43
Who Is Adorama? 44
Adorama's Content Marketing Machine 45
AdoramaTV 46
Scaling AdoramaTV 47
Building Relationships with Content 49
Adorama's Advertising 51
How Adorama Wins the Invisible Sale 51
Success Metrics 55
Brian's Advice for You 57
SECTION 2: CAPTURING THE INVISIBLE SALE 59
Helping to Create Sales 59
The Social Sales Force 60
The Power of Proximity 60
The Painless Prospecting Platform 61
Making Every Call Count 61
Social Prospecting 62
Chapter 5 Selling Versus Helping 63
Helping Creates Buying Signals 64
Buyers Want Answers 64
Buyers Know What They Want but Not What They Need 65
You Have To Give Before You Get 66
Helping Is Easier Than Selling 67
People Trust Experts 69
Help Buyers Realize They Need You 71
The World Needs Helpful Content 72
Chapter 6 Social Agents 75
Social Agents Are Your Social Sales Force 76
Power Agents 78
Agents Want to Help 78
What Makes a Great Agent? 80
Which Is More Important-Agents or Prospects? 80
Chapter 7 Propinquity 83
Marketing Propinquity 85
Psychological Propinquity 86
Propinquity Is the New TOMA 88
From TOMA to TOMP 89
Propinquity in Practice 89
Hurdles to Achieving Propinquity 91
The Propinquity Solution 91
Chapter 8 Creating Your Painless Prospecting Platform 93
Creating Your Home Base 95
Designing a Funnel-Optimized Home Base96
Defining the Obvious Propinquity Points 100
Defining the Not-So-Obvious Propinquity Points 100
Step 1: Social Listening 101
Step 2: Geographic Social Listening 103
Step 3: Using Primary Research 104
Step 4: Classifying Your Propinquity Points 105
Closed Versus Open Outposts 106
Manning Your Embassies 108
Developing Your Propinquity Map 109
Creating a Breadcrumb Strategy 111
Chapter 9 Making Every Call Count 113
Behavioral Segmentation Email Programs 114
Why Behavioral Email Works 115
Behavioral Email: A Case Study 115
Behavioral Email: The First Step Solution 118
Behavioral Prospecting 119
The Role of Funnel-Optimized Websites in Behavioral Prospecting 121
Advent Global's Behavioral Profiling Program 123
Chapter 10 Social Selling 127
Social Selling Is About Seduction 128
How Can You Be More Seductive? 129
Hearing Your Prospect Online 130
Defining Your Social Selling Approach 131
Developing Your Corporate Social Brand 132
Social Warning 134
Social Rules of Engagement 135
Creating a Sense of Attachment 137
Six Ways to Get Started in Social Selling 140
SECTION 3: CREATING YOUR CONTENT 143
Creating Right-Sized Content 144
Content Creation Types 144
A Disciplined Content Creation Framework 146
Chapter 11 Creating Video 149
Let the Equipment Do the Work 150
Focus on Storytelling 151
Video Creates Relationships 153
Creating Better Video 153
Cameras for Video Creation 155
Desktop Video Editing 157
A DIY Video Blog Case Study 158
Mobile Video-Creation Apps 159
Mobile Video-Editing Apps160
Chapter 12 Creating Photography 163
The Modern Visual Palette Research 167
How to Shoot Better Photographs 169
Selecting Lenses 171
Lighting 172
Building the Ultimate Photography Kit 174
Photo-Editing Software 175
Mobile Photo Apps 176
Chapter 13 Creating Audio 179
Marketing at the Speed of Sound 180
The Benefits of Podcasting 182
Different Types of Podcasts 183
Syndicated Podcasts 184
Traditional Podcasts 185
The Secrets of Podcasting Success 186
Prospecting with Podcasts 187
Getting Started: Equipment and Software 188
Creating a Mobile Recording Studio 190
Chapter 14 Creating Text-Based Content 193
Talking Versus Typing 194
Write Your Content 1,000 Words at a Time 196
Using Interviews to Create Text 197
A Disciplined Writing Process 198
Using Content Templates 200
Pushing Through Writer's Block 202
Text Content Options and Tips 203
eBooks 203
White Papers 204
Blog Posts 204
Chapter 15 Creating Live and Recorded Webinars and Product Tutorials 207
Five Keys to Successful Webinars 208
How to Record Your Webinar 211
How to Record Webinar Audio Using a Smartphone 212
Option 1 212
Option 2 213
Option 3 213
How to Convert Your Recordings to MP3 214
How to Synchronize the Audio and Slides for Your Webinar 214
Creating Great Product Demonstration Videos 217
Planning Product Demos 218
Chapter 16 Cornerstones and Cobblestones: The Content Creation Framework 219
Cornerstones and Cobblestones Explained 220
Repurposing Content 221
The Cornerstone and Cobblestone Framework 222
Repurposing Content: The Importance of Ecosystem Thinking 224
The Art and Science of Guest Posting 226
The IVS Case Study 230
SECTION 4: CLOSING THE DEAL 233
Chapter 17 Closing the Deal 235
How to Blow the Invisible Close 236
The Invisible Process Versus the Traditional Sales Process 236
The Online-Only Close 238
The Offline Close 241
The Blended Close 242
Aikido Selling 244
Conclusion 247
Index 249