Joe Ellis

on April 29, 2008

category: direct marketing

Business Development Director

How to know you're really, really good at marketing.

My five year old grandson just joined a baseball team for the first time. Two weeks ago their first practice session was held.

To get to know one another, the coach asked each player to tell the team a little about themselves. He asked for their name, the school they attend, and whether or not they had played baseball before.

One six year old youngster announced his name and his school. He said he’d never played baseball before, “But, I’m really, really good”, he proudly proclaimed.

Intrigued, his coach asked how he knew he was so good if he had never played on a team before.

The future major leaguer quickly explained, “My Dad and I play baseball all the time. And, every time we play he tells me I’m really, really good!”

Good for the dad for encouraging his son! And, good for the young lad for believing him! The kid’ll probably play a better game of ball because of it.

I’ve told that story so many times because it kind of warms the soul. So cute!

Earlier this week I was talking with a team of direct marketing professionals. They manage a lead generation program to support their outside sales team. They told me the new program they created had done extremely well, so they probably will continue executing it the same way.

I congratulated them on their success. Trying to understand their situation a little more, I probed for key performance metrics achieved in the program – response rates, cost per lead, the conversion of lead to sale rate, cost per sale, etc.

They responded, “You must track things differently than we do. We don’t have that kind of information.”

For some reason I was reminded of the little baseball player. In the absence of proof of his abilities, he simply believed his dad. There’s something wonderful about that.

In the absence of proper tracking and measurement, the marketing professionals were convinced of their success as well. They believed one another’s opinions, feelings and congratulations. I think there’s something tragic about that.

One thing I love about direct response marketing is that you can know how a program performed. Beyond opinion. No feelings involved. Know. Good tracking and measurement can pinpoint what went well, and what needs more attention. I’ll watch and believe the numbers!

 

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Joe Ellis

on February 20, 2008

category: lead generation

Business Development Director

The subway virtuoso.

He stood in the midst of the very busy L'Enfant Plaza station of the Washington, D.C. Metrorail system. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with a Washington Nationals baseball cap on his head, he played his violin for nearly an hour. His empty instrument case lay open on the floor silently begging donations from those who passed by.

The location was chosen carefully, targeting the government workers, financial forecasters, policy analysts, and other professionals who pass through the station every work day. Mostly an above-average income crowd, they are often thought to enjoy classical music brilliantly played.

And he masterfully played some of the world's greatest classical music. His repertoire –some of the most difficult-to-master pieces — flowed from a priceless violin handcrafted by Antonio Stradivari in 1713. Clearly this was no ordinary street musician. This was Joshua Bell, the world-renowned violinist who regularly thrills and captivates audiences around the world.

Just three days earlier Bell had played to a packed house at the Boston Symphony Hall where most paid over $100 per ticket. Two weeks later he performed before a North Bethesda, MD standing-room-only crowd that was in awe and hushed silence, bedazzled by the deft blending of sound and movement.

Yet during this unceremonious concert performed in the rail system of D.C., he and his music were barely noticed.

An experiment conducted by The Washington Post wanted to know how many passersby would recognize beauty and genius and stop to acknowledge it. So, here was Bell, "one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made," wrote staff writer Gene Weingarten, but few recognized their encounter with musical greatness.

Of nearly a thousand people who walked by Bell, only seven paused for at least a minute to listen to his masterful presentation. Only 27 individuals showed their brief appreciation by dropping money in his violin case. A total of $32 and some change for a man whose talents can command $1,000 a minute.

Many of the commuters would undoubtedly have recognized Bell had they taken a few seconds to actually look his way. But, only one out of the crowd of a thousand recognized the world renowned virtuoso. She described it as "the most astonishing thing I've ever seen. Joshua Bell was standing there playing at rush hour and people were not stopping, not even looking".

The L'Enfant Plaza commuters did not recognize Bell because they were not seeking or paying attention. They were too busy going through the motions, head down, hell-bent on a timely execution of their daily travel ritual. As a result they missed what could have been the most memorable moment in a lifetime of commuting.

Like those commuters, many of us become so caught up in what we are doing in our own little world that we fail to recognize multiple opportunities that may pass us by. Schedules are tight; workloads full. Budgets are constantly reduced, but performance expectations remain high. We feel we must pay strict attention to what we are doing. We can't afford to be "distracted" — or can we?

The old saw, "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll get more of what you've got" may speak volumes here. As professionals we can become so entrenched in the processes, structures and routines of our current situation that we don't even notice that better opportunities may be available.

Maybe we should look for those positive "interruptions" more often. I'll just bet most of us are passing up some "encounters with greatness" because were busily on our way down the all-too-familiar road of the "same 'ol, same 'ol."

Who knows what we might see if we took just a moment to look in a different direction. Trust me: There is always a "Joshua Bell" in your pathway vying for your attention. Look. Listen. It might be just what you are looking for.
 

Comments:

2/20/2008 at 9:25 p.m.
The Joshua Bell of BDM
Perhaps, Mr. Ellis, you are the Joshua Bell of blogging. And therefore, I just had my positive "distraction" from the everyday grind of proofreading by reading this well-written piece. Thanks for the encounter with greatness (time will tell, my friend. Time will tell).
>>PJ, Bellevue WA

Joe Ellis

on September 27, 2007

category: lead generation

Business Development Director

Gotta love the leads

In my experience, nothing causes marketers more sleepless nights than running a campaign that the sales team hates. You’d almost rather get no response at all than listen to unhappy sales executives complain about lead quality day after day.

If that’s your fear, I have an idea for you. Consider holding back leads from your sales team. Not all of them, of course! Just the ones that will cause the furrowed brows and shaking heads.

I’m talking about investing in a lead qualification system. It doesn’t have to be fancy . . . just accurate. It could be handled with a few (very few!) questions in a web response capture page – or with outbound telemarketing. You create rules for lead quality. Then you can pass on only the leads that are ready to buy. I know one marketing director who doesn’t even tell the sales team where the leads have come from.

I have another idea for the remaining leads: You’ve got to love them! After all, they showed an interest in what you have to offer. The only problem is that something’s keeping them from buying right now. Maybe the timing is off, the price seems out of their budget or they’re just not ready to engage.

Show them you love them with a lead nurture program. Talk to them. Educate them. Engage them in a dialog. But don’t make too much work for yourself. Use mail and email. Get a telemarketing service to do a little survey for you.

I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s work. But it’s all under the control of the marketing department, so you have the opportunity to make a success out of any campaign, even one the sales team hates.
 

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