Today, Ken, Watson, and I (Roger) headed to Wilson Muir Bank in St. Matthews bright and early to give our first official Zing Presentation to a small group of business owners from around Louisville. We discussed the impact personalized marketing has on increasing revenue; sales and marketing alignment; standing out amongst the massive amounts of marketing clutter; “The Hourglass Precept” and how that came about along with automated marketing campaigns. A tad bit of time was dedicated to our partnership with Infusion and how various automated marketing campaigns can provide a consistent experience for the customer and eliminate unnecessary phone calls a sales rep has to make to warm up leads.
In attendance were:
- Todd Smith, Formwood Industries
- Joe Leist, Fulfillment Concepts (who has been an integral part of our development thus far as a partner)
- Ellen Shaikun, Opia Properties
- Dan Crutcher, Louisville Magazine
- Stacey Griffin Hallahan, Louisville Magazine
- John Robert Curtin, Connected Learning
- Barker Price, American Commercial Barge Lines
It dawned on me during the presentation how our organization has really evolved over the last year or so when we began flirting with the idea of partnering on something together. It made me very proud to have gone through the experience with Ken and Watson even though there have been some bumps in the road, but what worthwhile venture doesn’t experience that?
When we began, we thought we were going to be more of a lead and awareness generation type of outfit, then we came to realize that we were getting deeper into the sales funnel which ultimately led us to focusing on helping clients increase revenue by capitalizing on the entire sales “hourglass” instead of just the top part of it (the traditional sales funnel). The bottom half of the hourglass focuses on repeat purchases, building customer loyalty and creating ambassadors for your brand. Worthwhile stuff indeed.
Some of the things to come out of the dialogue amongst the group was that the focus on the bottom half of the hourglass is a good place to focus to help our clients increase sales. That seemed to be a consensus although each attendee had different perspectives on what they heard.
Todd Smith of Formwood, who happens to be the king of great metaphors, stated that the key for him when considering any initiative is “return on time” or ROT for short. We’re planning to use that term more in the future as it really captures the essence of automated marketing. One of the initial metaphors Todd shared with us the first time we all met was that he was trying to keep his organization from “swinging at pitches in the dirt.” That’s well stated, and it summarizes what a lot of organizations go through as they grow. Too many wasted swings at bad pitches that can’t be hit with a boat oar. Anyway, Todd is always great to talk to because there will usually be a nifty takeaway that is applicable across a wide array of situations.
Overall, I thought this was a very good introduction of Zing to the local business public and something we can definitely build upon. As of this post, we’re tentatively planning to have our next presentation on April 15, but that may be delayed one week due to vacation plans and event coordination considerations. Check the blog for more details as one of us will post something when there are more details ironed out. I hope you can join us for one of our next outings.
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