Thanks to Scott Clark of BuzzMaven and the Lexington Advertising Club.

You can access the handout at:
Lead Generation Handout (PDF)

The slide show is online at:
http://www.slideshare.net/bdotson/lead-generation-on-the-web

and you can see it here:

The video is sliced into four parts and available in HD. All four parts are viewable here or at the Vimeo page.

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Part One

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Pt 1 of 4 from WebMedley on Vimeo.

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Part Two

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Pt 2 of 4 from WebMedley on Vimeo.

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Part Three

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Pt 3 of 4 from WebMedley on Vimeo.

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Part Four

Innovative Lead Generation on the Web – Pt 4 of 4 from WebMedley on Vimeo.

Part One: http://vimeo.com/4518096
Part Two: http://vimeo.com/4520287
Part Three: http://vimeo.com/4521943
Part Four: http://vimeo.com/4527695

The slides and videos (raw and unedited) are posted over on the new company site: http://tinyurl.com/kaps2009
and below…

There are lots of practical networking tips in the presentation. If you, or your organization would like me to give the presentation to your group, let me know.

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First, the video, then the slides…

Networking Presentation from WebMedley on Vimeo.

The video – a little dark, but audio is good and it’ll match to the slides.

There are a number of reasons to use Facebook for business.

Birthdays — people must list their birthdays in Facebook. A birthday is a great time to reach out to someone and say “Hi”

Status updates — want to know what people are doing at the moment? Lots of Facebook users fill in the “What are you doing now?” or “status” question. Sometimes these are funny — other times, they show a moment when someone may need your help. At minimum, you get a glimpse into their thinking and daily lives.

Photos — you can learn a lot about a person from his/her photos. A lot…maybe more than you want.

Groups — there are all kinds of groups on Facebook. I’m a member of the UK Basketball and Football groups. There are also business groups. You can network with others on Facebook (who’d have thunk it?!) and these groups are a great way to start.

Background checks — well, not the criminal kind. You can see someone’s history and who he/she knows by becoming a person’s “friend” on Facebook.

Integration with Outlook — There’s a neat software program called Fonebook. It compares your Outlook contacts with your Facebook friends. If it finds a match, the software copies each friend’s image and status (see above) into the appropriate Outlook contact record. I like this because my phone integrates with Outlook and grabs the picture. This prevents me from squinting at the caller ID when the phone rings.

Enjoy it. No one is too old for Facebook!

I’m reviewing Xobni and the LinkedIn toolbar — both are excellent for people who network for a living.

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Update after the event: The video from the event is online. I recorded another one if you’d like to get the highlights or see the screens a bit better than the CommerceLexington video.

Here’s what we discussed:

1. Establish a web site that functions as a traditional site and a blog. I prefer WordPress and a designer to make it look nice. The designer/developer will need guidance. Send the person a list of the sites you like and do not like. Send the person a list of pages you want to have (site map). Your goal is to give the person a list he or she can use when building the site. As they build, you can check items off on the list as “complete”.
2. While the site is being designed, write content for the About Me, Contact, and main pages in the site. This is not as easy as it may sound. If you do not write much and/or do not normally write about yourself, get started early.
3. Create a profile at LinkedIn. It’s free and very easy. Then, upload your contacts into the system. I bet you are amazed at how many people you already know are using the system. Networks are everything. Make sure you get the custom URL like mine: http://www.linkedin.com/in/billdotson. You can use this in your e-mail signature if you do not want to list your own site. I highly recommend the LinkedIn Toolbar for Outlook. It’s invaluable for keeping up with your contacts’ changes and reminding you of people you have not talked to in a while.
4. If you believe you will use Facebook, then set-up an account there. It operates like LinkedIn, but its much more social. LinkedIn is for staying in touch with business colleagues. If you hire anyone under the age of 30, get a Facebook account and become their friend (a process in Facebook). This will show you quite a bit about the person’s non-work lifestyle and could play a role in the hiring decision.
5. By the time you finish 3 and 4, your site should be ready. Before you tell your colleagues about it, make sure you have Google Analytics inserted in the code. It’ll let you know about your site traffic and how people find your site. Then, submit your site to Google. If you host someplace major like GoDaddy, then you’ll get Google’s Webmaster tools included in your account. This will help you and your designer/developer.
6. Make sure your web site has a way for people to subscribe to it. Use both RSS (through FeedBurner) and e-mail notifications (FeedBurner, too). This way, you can publish updates through your site, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
7. You’ll need a reliable e-mail address that’s accessible anywhere. I’m a fan of Google Apps Premier or hosted Microsoft Exchange. Both of these systems work with smartphones, provide the ability to share calendars, and check mail on the web or through Outlook. 
8. Set a schedule to publish to your site about once per week. The more you publish, the easier it gets. Make sure the content is something valuable to your audience. For example, I could care less about what your cat ate for dinner, but if you have a thought on leadership skills, I’m all ears.

You’ve done it. You have a site, online social media profiles, and a publishing schedule. From here, the path you take and tools you use online are really determined by the purpose for establishing your online presence. Let me know if you have questions or add them in the comments (below).

Jim Logan mentioned this in a recent post.

It got me to thinking.

Our project checklists and internal plans are all for the final result. But, its easy for people to get stuck in the tasks. “Did task X get finished on time? Check. How about task Y?”

We all need to keep in mind the tasks while never losing site of the purpose for completing them.

Make sure you ask your prospect what he/she has already seen or knows prior to starting a presentation.

You may be interested in these resources when considering the management of your sales teams:

1. Jigsaw.com — a free or pay web database of executives at companies nationwide. I recommend this to all businesses with sales people.
2. LinkedIn.com — a “six degrees of separation” free service. It’s like Jigsaw, but with over 11 million members. If you sign-up, add me (bdotson@gmail.com) and when I accept, you’ll see who my connections are. Make the most of it by uploading your contacts, too.
3. Two thoughts on employee compensation: The first on general comp and the second on professional services sales team compensation. The second article has some thoughts you may wish to use when compensating your sales team.
4. Jott.com — a free service that helps me make it through the day with all the crazy ideas I get and need sent to my inbox.
5. Landslide.com — not CRM and not SFA — better. Its the web “sales workstyle management”. They have a demo on the site and its a great system. Plus, the monthly fee covers a sales assistant for each salesperson in your firm. If you use this system it will force you to develop a sales process. My contact there is Dave Hurlbrink, VP Business Development, daveh@landslide.com , 610-779-2301.
6. My sample sales template and video walkthrough. This is a link to information about the proposal template (in MS Word) and a short 10 min. video walkthrough explaining it.

First, let’s look at this question: “Should everyone in the company be eligible for a commission?” Yes. Everyone working at the company has an interest in its continued operation. People may not always think of the company and its well being, but once a person has a taste of the red meat of commission, a new desire is known. You could use a commission as one element in a strategy to convert people from thinking “I have a job” to “I’m building a career at this company”.

The sales team should happily give up a portion of its commission to the person who helps bring in new revenue.

Next, let’s look at the make-up of those involved in a sale and how they might be commissioned. Typically, a professional services firm will have various “levels” of consultants and no true “all I do is sales” people. Everyone is supposed to bring in business, but its the senior partners who are really in charge of this process along with other management responsibilities. These senior execs do not often handle the technical work performed though. We now have a situation where the following can occur:

1. Mr. Big lands an account while golfing with some club buddies
2. Mr. Next in Line scopes the work and performs the grunt work involved in contracting the account
3. Messrs. Just Hired and Just Got My Visa actually perform the work contracted.

So here are four people who should get some form of commission. These people also require administrative support and I believe everyone should get a piece of the contract if his part is successfully executed.

Here is what I’d like to see in a new project, new client deal:

These are examples related to a firm that has recurring business and does not desire to grow like a weed. The commissions are designed to give everyone a piece of a contract.

The thinking behind this plan is that Mr. Big is going to continue to look for deals, Mr. Next in Line wants Mr Big’s cash comp and will learn the ropes of contracting prior to promotion, and Messrs Just will try their darndest to make it a profitable project. Administrative support should seek to provide as much assistance possible and keep the number of their staff low so the commission is split with fewer people.

If this was not new project, new client, but rather new project, existing client then I would make sure to compensate the person who brought that client in to the firm originally, too, even if he is no longer servicing the client. Why? Because everyone should benefit from thinking about new sales. The commission should only be about 1-3% if he is no longer working with the client.

Next, what factors really affect the achievement of new revenue? Is it the number of appointments? Is it referrals from existing clients? Make sure to factor this into your compensation (not commission) plan. If its number of new appointments, then reward the person who is setting the most new appointments.

Next, what type of business do you want people to focus on? New sales, repeat sales, sales of things, sales of services, local sales, sales in an industry vertical, etc… Make sure you grant greater commission on the types you want and make it clear why. I met a guy who actually paid less on larger deals. Um, yeah, let’s keep the deal size small…

Next, do you need “pure hunters” — those people who only bring in new leads and close business deals? This is a sticky subject with some firms. The reason why is because they often make the most money and other staff perceive them as not working as hard since they are out of the office a great deal. This is a results-only position. Effort does not matter. I like the idea myself, but it is very difficult to do in a professional services firm where relationship building is critical. If you can do it, your company will reap the benefits of a successful hunter and rich client relationships.

(For those of you interested in the hunter’s perspective this video is a funny take on selling activities.)

Other factors to consider with commissions:

Do you pay a pure sales person full commission if a project he sold turns out to be a money-losing deal?

How long do you pay a commission? For the life of the account or for a finite time period?

Do you pay commission when a contract is signed or after the project is complete and profitable?

What do you do when a client is late in paying an invoice?

Brief Commission Examples

Small Company interested in attracting new clients

pay sales more for new clients; pay support for retaining business

Direct sales software firm interested in its stock price

pay higher commissions on sales of new licenses and support plans, but lower on professional services (this increases revenue without increasing cost)

Small professional services firm (10-50 people)

pay great commissions for new clients

Large professional services firm (over 100 people, but not a behemoth)

pay great commissions on recurring business with existing clients and new projects with new clients

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the idea in this post. If you are interested, I can dissect a real sales compensation plan for a small It services firm to give you an example of the pure hunter compensation.