April 25: Juliana Lukasik Director CEO of @largefilms on Mentoring

April 24th, 2013

Sparking debate and fostering the next generation of professional women through advocacy, mentorship and business moxie is what Juliana Lukasik can bring to your next conference. You’ll want her unique perspective as a expert in high-profile, international product launches and a leader for the cause of promoting women in media. We wanted to hear more from her on the topic of mentoring and relate it to the sales and marketing industries.

When SLMA Radio cohost, Susan Finch first heard Juliana speak, it was on a panel honoring the 20 Women of Influence in Oregon. It was sponsored by the Portland Business Journal. Mentoring professionals, especially women, is Juliana's passion.

The Sales Lead Management Association is always talking about lead nurturing, lead management and sales skills training. It is our responsibility to dedicate as little as 3% of our time to mentoring professionals and students to help them become the leaders we want to face in sales, as peers. How else will they learn best practices if not from those who go before them? Tune in to hear Juliana and Susan speak about the importance of mentoring in all industries.

A bit about Juliana Lukasik:

Juliana has been in the film business for over 20 years. She is in the minority three percent of women commercial directors. She graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelors of Arts in Broadcast Communications. In 1999, she purchased Signature Films and changed the name to @Large Films. In addition to day-to-day management of the company and business development, Juliana has produced and directed projects that have won Emmy, Addy and Telly awards. As a child, Juliana was told by her father that there wasn't anything she couldn't do. She believed this to her core. She is also the President of the CEIC (Central Eastside Industrial Council). Along with her love of advertising, Juliana is currently in pre-production on a project about one of her favorite subjects, pet adoption.

Follow her: @julianalukasik View her LinkedIn profile.

Listen Now:

Standard Podcasts [00:51:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (Loading)

Posted in Sales Skills Training, Sales Lead Management, Lead Nurturing, Women and Business, Mentoring | Comments |

March 21: Smackdown McDade vs. Obermayer Do Salespeople Need More Leads?

March 16th, 2013

McDade contends that salespeople need fewer leads. Obermayer contends that without sufficient leads companies die. In this classic battle of opinions, McDade of PointClear pushes the edge in arguing that salespeople can get by on fewer leads that are qualified. Obermayer CEO of the SLMA says that is a pipe dream and a recipe for disaster. Maybe they are both right, or one is very wrong. Listen and find out.

In THIS corner: Dan McDade

McDade founded PointClear in 1997 with the mission to be the first and best company providing prospect development services to B2B companies with complex sales processes. He has been instrumental in developing the innovative strategies that drive revenue for PointClear clients nationwide.

In addition to serving as president and CEO of PointClear, Dan is the author of The Truth About Leads, an insightful book that sheds light on the little-known secrets that help focus B2B lead-generation efforts, align sales and marketing organizations and drive revenue. The book was published in January 2011.

Prior to starting PointClear, Dan served as president of UST, The Business Marketing Group, a high-tech B2B marketing services firm. The company, serving leading technology companies including Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, Oracle and SAP, grew over 500% during his tenure. From 1989 to 1991, Dan was an independent consultant providing direct marketing, telemarketing and new business development consulting services. Clients included Sears, Exxon, Rodale Press, R.J. Reynolds, and The Ritz-Carlton. Dan also served as vice president of marketing with Jackson & Perkins in Medford, Ore.

Dan is chairman of the board of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Education Collaborative, an organization promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in Georgia’s middle and high schools. He is a member of TAG, and also serves on the boards of TechAmerica Southeast (formerly AEA); the Business & Technology Alliance, a TAG society; and TAG Marketing. The Sales Lead Management Association named Dan one of the 50 most influential people in sales lead management in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Dan is also the author of ViewPoint | The Truth About Lead Generation, a blog exploring issues related to B2B sales, marketing and lead generation. Dan speaks regularly at industry events, both on and offline and writes for publications such as BtoB Magazine, Chief Marketer, Target Marketing Magazine, Sales and Marketing Management Magazine and MarketingProfs.

And in THIS corner: James W. Obermayer

Obermayer is an author (four books) and speaker on subjects of sales lead management, sales enablement and marketing ROI. He is the founder and of the world-wide 6200 member Sales Lead Management Association, which also has a Linkedin Group of 2973 members. The SLMA is the sponsor of the yearly Sales Lead Management Week, the annual contest for the 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management, and the nomination and naming of the 20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management. The SLMA also hosts the weekly c-level interview program; SLMA Radio.

James Obermayer is the principal of Sales Leakage Consulting, Inc., an Orange County, CA., marketing and sales interim management consulting firm. His career has been equally divided between sales and marketing positions. He has also been Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a B2B direct marketing agency. He has served as VP, Worldwide Sales at an enterprise software company, an internet services company, Senior Vice President for two industry-leading inquiry management firms and Vice President of Marketing for a medical device manufacturer. In addition, he has written more than 95 articles on sales and marketing management. He is a frequent speaker for corporations and also national and regional conferences.

Listen Now:

Standard Podcasts [00:53:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (Loading)

Posted in Lead Generation, Current and Past Shows, Lead Nurturing, Lead Scoring | Comments |

March 14: Be in the Right Place at the Right Time with Prospects

March 11th, 2013

Susan Finch will interview The Vanella Group, Inc. CEO & Founder, Mari Anne Vanella about topics including “Filling in the White Space Between Conversations.” How can you recognize opportunities for a low touch dialog that is effective without pushing for a meeting or conversation the prospect isn’t ready for.

Mari Anne Vanella has over 25 years of sales and business management experience. Mari Anne’s firm, The Vanella Group, Inc. has served the B2B technology community with teleservices-based lead generation services for 13 years. Her clients list includes Hitachi, SAP, and many others. Mari Anne is an accomplished speaker, author, and thought leader in the sales and marketing domain. Her blog, Insights into Cold Calling, features content for today’s enterprise sales teams and has thousands of readers. She has spoken at Dreamforce both in 2011 and 2012, recently was featured in the 2013 WBO Sales Bootcamp as a speaker, and does a lot of work to further educate and modernize the approach companies take to long term pipeline development. Her book “42 Rules to Cold Calling Executives” has been a bestseller on Amazon for several years.

Mari Anne has been named to the 20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management 2011, 2012 and has been nominated in 2013 - winners yet to be announced.

Listen Now:

Standard Podcasts [00:46:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (Loading)

Posted in CRM and Related, Sales Skills Training, Lead Nurturing, Networking, Women and Business, Remote Relationships | Comments |

January 10: Why you need interactive proposals and cost for doing it!

January 7th, 2013

SLMA host Jim Obermayer interveiws Isaac Pellerin of TinderBox. Isaac will discuss why proposal creation is easier than ever before, why it should be software as a service and the cost involved in starting up and using proposal software.

Isaac Pellerin is the Revenue Marketer at TinderBox, a Software as a Service that makes it easy to create, manage, and track interactive proposals. He loves a good story and enjoys working to enhance the way companies engage with their prospects and customers. He believes that marketing and sales are at their best when they have shared goals and metrics.

About TinderBox: TinderBox is an Indianapolis based software-as-a-service that helps you get to yes faster with a smarter, simpler, and more efficient proposal and marketing communications process—one that builds lasting business partnerships. Founded in 2009, TinderBox has become the choice for sales and marketing organizations such as Angie's List, Gannett, and Accenture Life Sciences to create compelling proposals that get to "yes".

Listen Now:

Standard Podcasts [00:50:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (Loading)

Posted in Inquiry Management, Current and Past Shows, Lead Nurturing, Lead Scoring | Comments |

Research on Lead Scoring, all prospects are not created equal!

November 14th, 2012

SLMA Radio Host Jim Obermayer interviews two executives, David Nachman and Jorge Jeffry from Leads360 on two of their most recent research reports “The Ultimate Contact Strategy, How best to use phone and email for contact conversion and success!” and “Lead Scoring 101 Leverageing Lead Quality Insight to Improve Conversion and Enrollment. ” We will tackle the highlights of each study in our 45 minute program.

About Leads 360:

Leads360 is a market leading provider of cloud-based lead management and sales automation solutions solutions proven to deliver smarter, more efficient sales processes for improved conversion rates. With unmatched expertise, drawn from a dedication to helping more than 5,000 clients automate and improve their lead distribution, response and conversion processes, Leads360 has become the platform of choice for organizations focused on improving customer acquisition and business performance. Leads360 is a privately held company, recently recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in North America by Deloitte. Please visit www.Leads360.com for more information.

David Nachman, EVP - Marketing, Product & Business Development

Leads360, Inc.

David Nachman is an experienced and successful technology industry executive, having spent the majority of his career developing and executing effective growth strategies, both as a senior executive and as an advisor. Prior to Leads360, Mr. Nachman was an Operating Partner at Marlin Equity Partners, a $1 billion private equity firm. Previously, he served as CEO of Phoenix Energy Technologies and was one of the early senior executives at HireRight, Inc., where he was responsible for Marketing, Product Management, Business Development and Strategy. Earlier in his career, Mr. Nachman spent six years as a consultant at McKinsey and Company, and worked as an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and Kidder, Peabody & Company.

Jorge Jeffery - Senior Manager, Strategic Intelligence

Leads360, Inc.

Jorge Jeffery joined Leads360 in 2011 as Senior Manager, Strategic Intelligence. Mr. Jeffery has been instrumental in mining data from the more than 40 million leads managed through Leads360. Insights gleaned help establish best practices for Leads360 client schools that want to drive smarter and more efficient recruiting and enrollment processes.

Listen Now:

Standard Podcasts [00:52:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (Loading)

Posted in Current and Past Shows, Lead Nurturing, Lead Scoring | Comments |

Cooking Up Great Sales Leads: Top 10 Ingredients

October 15th, 2012

SLMA Radio host Jim Obermayer interviews Al Davidson, founder and president of Strategic Sales and Marketing, Inc. Al has, has been nominated by the Sales Lead Management Association as one of the 50 Most Influential leaders in the industry. Davidson is also the group owner of Linkedin’s Manage Your Leads which has 5393 members.

Every delicious meal begins with a good recipe: without all the ingredients, working in the right order, sequence and in just the right quantities, your dish just doesn’t come out right. Just like cooking in the kitchen, “cooking up” great sales leads requires a list of key ingredients and a consistent process to achieve a successful result.

Great chefs know how to add an intangible touch to a dish that is all their own. In the same way, sales lead generation experts know how to draw upon the special nuances and human touch of furthering a conversation, identifying a prospect’s needs, and building relationships.

Just like preparing a great meal requires a long process of washing, prepping, chopping, seasoning and cooking, B2B lead generation is a long-term process of building relationships, maximizing opportunities and learning as you go along. With these 10 ingredients, your lead generation and appointment setting calls will be more likely to achieve success.

About Al Davidson

Al Davidson is the President and owner of Strategic Sales & Marketing (SSM), which he founded in 1989. Under Al's direction SSM has designed and implemented new business development plans and programs for thousands of B2B companies nationwide. Since their inception SSM's calling center has completed over 50 million new business sales presentations to high level decision makers and generated over 7 million sales leads. As a result, SSM has developed major account development expertise in the high technology, manufacturing and business service sectors.

In addition Al Davidson has 25 years experience in business-to-business (B2B) direct marketing, new business development consulting, sales force management, lead management, sales training, and B2B web marketing. SSM also powers the Connecticut Technology Council’s Lead Generation Resource Center (LGRC). The mission of the LGRC is to provide advisory services to CTC members in the following areas; identifying new business opportunities; searching out and qualifying customer prospects and business partners; design, production and implementation of marketing programs and strategies.

About SSM - Strategic Sales & Marketing, Inc. Major Account Lead Generation Since 1989

SSM's sales lead generation services are targeted to those clients whose primary focus is selling "complex" B2B products and or services. These types of sales are typically "non commodity" items and may also have one or more of the following characteristics; Decision makers that are typically at the Owner, Director, VP or C level of contact. Sales that require multiple sales calls (typically over a period of months) to close. Selling situations where the prospect may be asked to make a large purchase. Typically our clients are utilizing a "solution sell process" and therefore require leads where prospects have a challenge, problem or issue that needs to be resolved.

Posted in Uncategorized, Sales Lead Management, Lead Nurturing | Comments |

March 8: Dan Rogers CEO of SmartLead

March 5th, 2012

SLMA Radio interviews Dan Rogers of SmartLead. Will Crist the host will ask about Dan to explain:

What do you mean when you make the claim you offer software with a service?
What is personalized software capability?
Please describe what you mean by “complex lead distribution.”
Account management and customer service are an issue with the big CRM companies, why is SmartLead different?
Can you define sales lead nurturing SmartLead style?

Dan Rogers drives the company’s vision. With more than 22 years of executive experience, Dan’s leadership expertise includes international assignments. In New Zealand, he was a charter member of the CLEAR Communications management team. In Ireland, Dan served as the Director of General Operations at East Telecom. And in the Netherlands, he worked for Versatel Telecommunications. Prior to joining SmartLead, he also served as Vice President of Customer Solutions for APAC Customer Services and Vice President of Customer Services at Telecom USA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Dan is also a member of the Sales Lead Management Association’s Advisory Board. Dan’s state appointments include the Iowa Capital Investment Board and the Iowa Emergency Response Commission. He holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of Iowa.

Since 1981, companies have relied on SmartLead’s customized lead management systems and best practices to smoothly and seamlessly manage leads from the moment the leads are generated, through qualification, ranking, nurturing and distribution to sales people or channel partners.

About SmartLead

SmartLead is the only full-service lead management company with:

Dedicated account managers to advise clients on best practices and implement their programs
Web-based lead management, sales force automation systems
Insightful analytics system
In-house marketing services: contact center, direct mail, email, printing, web hosting, and fulfillment/warehouse.

Large companies with complex sales or dealer distribution systems rely on SmartLead to simplify the Herculean task of managing thousands of leads from multiple sources. SmartLead smoothly and seamlessly manages the lead process from the moment the leads are generated until the leads are qualified and distributed to sales people or channel partners.

Listen Now:

Standard Podcasts [00:44:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (Loading)

Posted in CRM and Related, Lead Nurturing | Comments |

Feb 23: Focus on Funnel Management with Paul Mosenson and Frank Donny

February 20th, 2012

Interviews will be with Paul Mosenson President of NuSpark Marketing and Frank Donny, President of Marseli.

The focus will be on sales funnel management.

Paul handles top-to-middle of the funnel and Frank handles mid-to-bottom. They have aligned marketing and sales functions to increase the sales at their clients by managing the sales funnel.

Some of the questions Will Crist the host will ask:

1. Explain the concept of funnel optimization? 2. What are the keys to obtaining, converting, and nurturing quality leads via the funnel? 3. What is your approach to pipeline management? 4. How do you approach lead nurturing? 5. You mention the Power of 5s in your material regarding pipeline metrics, how does that work? 6. What are the goals of your Salesforece.com app that measures pipeline? 7. Terms such as lead Generation, Demand Generation, and Inbound Marketing seem similar, what are the differences?

Paul Mosenson of NuSpark Paul Mosenson Founder and President, NuSpark Marketing

Paul is a seasoned marketing vet of 25 years. Experienced in b2b marketing as well as consumer marketing. As Media Director at a full-service ad agency, Paul managed large media and marketing budgets. In addition to his comprehensive media experience, he is also adept at social media and offers his services for training, implementation, and measurement. Further, he is an expert on analytics and media measurement.

For more than 20 years, Paul has been building strategic, comprehensive multi-media marketing campaigns that get results. He possesses a unique expertise in traditional, interactive, and social media. In the last few years, Paul has become a national thought leader on lead generation and content marketing. His vast and versatile marketing experience spans the fields of healthcare, financial services, business-to-business, economic development, technology, retail, state-funded programs, automotive, and tourism.

NuSpark Marketing is the firm Paul founded in early 2010. We give your marketing a “new spark” by implementing a new approach to lead management. Lead management is the process of putting together sound strategies that generate quality website visitors that convert into leads via engaging websites and landing pages, and then convert into sales via lead nurturing platforms called marketing automation.

Frank Donny of Marseli Frank Donny - President and Chief of Marseli

Frank's remarkable 25-year career of driving marketing and sales operations divisions within Fortune 500 and start-up organizations is highlighted by his passion for business development and empowering others to succeed.

Frank is a recognized thought leader in the areas of sales performance, demand generation, pipeline management and sales and marketing integration. He has been a featured guest speaker on Selling Power TV (www.sellingpower.com), WRMR Revenue Marketing Radio and is the author of Sales and Marketing Integration- How You Can Increase the Close Rates of Your Early-Stage Pipeline Opportunities and Your CRM or Your Salespeople? Understanding CRM Performance Beyond Just Features and Functionality.

Prior to founding Marseli, Frank served as SVP of Demand Generation for Richardson, a global leader in sales performance improvement. Frank contributed to the areas of product management, lead generation, pipeline management, sales operations and further supports the alignment of Richardson’s Sales and Marketing departments. In addition, Frank provided senior-level counsel to Richardson clients who required pipeline and territory management strategy, sales/marketing integration and sales process improvement services.

Frank has a BS in Marketing from Marquette University and an MBA from Western Illinois. He hails from the great State of Wisconsin and is proud to be called a Cheesehead.

Listen Now: