About Ira Michael Blonder

Ira Michael Blonder calls on over thirty five years of experience marketing, promoting & selling tangible and intangible products and services within his consulting practice. He has first hand experience with several very early stage businesses targeted to Fortune 100 customers. The common thread between these early stage efforts is that product and/or service offerings incorporated computer technology. He is an excellent choice for a CEO in need of a trusted advisor as products, promotion and sales are planned.

Maintaining a familiarity with marketplace perceptions of software technologies targeted to enterprise business must be Standard Operating Procedure

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

If your business has an offering in a complex market for enterprise business software like business intelligence (BI), it behooves you to maintain an ear to the ground to collect marketplace perceptions of your product category. In turn, your marketing communications should be tuned to conform to these marketplace perceptions. Of course, where the pervasive take is wrong (and you can substantiate why) then, of course, it makes total sense to take the voice of a marketplace leader and suggest a different path or conclusion. Nevertheless, you must have an accurate understanding of current marketplace perception of your industry, which ought to be reflected somewhere in your communications.

This call for attention to marketplace buzz or chatter may seem to be a no brainer, but if it is so obvious, then how would one explain the frequent hyperbole that characterizes some of the product benefit claims produced by entrants into this market? Here’s just a snip from an Oracle® Corporation website (http://www NULL.oracle NULL.com/webapps/dialogue/ns/dlgwelcome NULL.jsp?p_ext=Y&p_dlg_id=10541677&src=7328026&Act=11&sckw=WWMK11054269MPP001 NULL.GCM NULL.8344 NULL.280): “[a]n effective Business Intelligence strategy drives profitable growth and operational efficiency.” Of course the key operand here is “effective”, but the communications piece neither highlights the term, nor includes a caveat. We think this type of communications is rather ineffective. We think that the credibility of Oracle would have been enhanced had they opted to include the following caveat that, in fact, was included by Microsoft® Corporation in a white paper on the BI topic: “Businesses, in an effort to stay one step ahead, collect large amounts of data ranging from demographics, buyer behavior, and customer loyalty to financial and operational data. Unfortunately the data is useless for decision making, its intended purpose, without a way of organizing and displaying it as meaningful information”. In the Microsoft quote the writer at least states the pervasive marketplace perception that “the data is useless for decision making” and, thereby pays his due marketplace perception. (We do need to note that the Microsoft piece is not entirely free of hyperbole as the writer goes on to suggest that, with “a way of organizing and displaying [the data] as meaningful information” once may get to something useful “for decision making”, which is still a point of contention in the marketplace).

We think that marketing communications for enterprise business software products must support an effort to characterize an innovative tech business as something of a trusted business partner. Acknowledging prevalent marketplace perception is one method of magnetizing some of that trusted marketplace brand. We are keen on discussing opportunities to help innovative technology businesses better craft marketing communications to meet marketplace realities. Please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

Limitations on Cold Call Lead Generation Methods

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

We think it makes sense to thoroughly qualify prospects prior to proceeding on sales campaigns. The rationale here is that sales campaigns and, in fact, outbound telemarketing programs to develop sales leads may consume an inordinate of time and effort on opportunities that, once qualified, prove to be limited and even non existent. Therefore, better to get most of the qualification work done as soon as possible.

Our method for sales lead generation is to develop a prospect profile and qualifier questionnaire for each of our clients. Armed with these two critically important bits of information we can then explore a market for sales opportunities. Our first pass following an introductory telephone call (where we gain permission from a prospect to engage in a discussion about how a condition or product is used at his/her organization) is to schedule an exploratory call where the entire subject will be a discussion of the prospect’s organization. We do not endeavor to proceed into any presentation of our client’s product at this very early stage in a sales lead development process.

But we were surprised recently when we presented individuals at prospect financial services companies with our invitation to learn further about how xyz product is used. Our invitations were respectfully declined. Facts are that these financial services companies (which are all heavily regulated here in the United States) had limited the rights of these individuals to discuss company specific information with otherwise unknown contacts (meaning our telemarketers). Our team could present information, but the parties on the other end of the telephone line were largely constrained as regards the information they could share with us.

We think that restricting employees to only approved topics of discussion with unknown third parties will grow wider spread across enterprise businesses in the near future. For this reason we place a greater emphasis on the mapping phase of our lead development efforts. Through mapping we have an opportunity to unearth a trust worthy and familiar contact with whom we can engage without the level of restriction enforced over other conversations where our representatives are unknown entities. Often referred to as a “Yoda” or “bird dog” these familiar contacts have become that much more useful to our efforts to utilize direct marketing efforts to develop sales quality leads. Mapping calls still fall within the realm of cold calls, but the intent and process for these activities differs substantially from other types of cold calling activities.

If you offer innovative software products to financial businesses and are planning direct marketing activities, then you may want to speak with us. then please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

What is Lead Nurturing All About?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

Lead nurturing is certainly en vogue in early 2012. We aren’t sure that the methods advocated will deliver the promised results — sales from prospects who are slow to move or to even express a direct interest in enterprise software or services. Rather, we think it makes more sense to expend resources, when timing is right (we have in mind innovative tech firms marketing under the radar, for whom covert market contact may be the best solution at present) to establish marketplace prominence and to maintain this prominence over time.

At the root of our opinion is our conviction that marketplace contacts, the real folk that make up the “leads” in lead nurturing programs, aren’t “sales leads”. Rather, contact needs to be made with these individuals (chiefly parties who respond to newsletters, or even reach out with specific product questions, who, nevertheless, are still parties from prospects that are largely unknown and, therefore, very far removed from what may be fairly called a sales lead), specifically to accumulate as much information about their companies as we can in order to make a determination of whether or not this prospect meets a useful customer profile for our product or service.

Of course the question will inevitably arise as to what should be done with these types of contacts? We think it makes the most sense to participate in any information exchange that an individual may have requested. Further, it certainly makes sense to request permission to add an individual’s email address to an outbound email contact list. But we don’t think it makes sense to periodically call this type of contact to “keep [him or her] warm”. In fact we don’t detect a warm level of interest within this type of outreach from a contact.

Once resources have been expended on sensible marketing efforts to establish and maintain a prominent brand, then there is certainly nothing to be lost by running, periodically, coordinated campaigns of direct marketing outreach with a follow up telemarketing effort. However, the telemarketing effort should be strictly limited to a personal “thank you” for interest expressed in a company, along with an offer to field any questions or to elaborate on information that has been received. Going further brings us across the border into “pushy sales people” country where little, if any positive result can be realized.

We think approaching prospects with an opportunity to expound on how a product or a technology methodology is used within their enterprise is a far more productive exercise that can (and does) illuminate areas where needs may exist that prospects are looking to satisfy. If you resonate with our approach and care to further this discussion, then please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

Implement Sales Methods that are Appropriate for Targeted Markets to Ensure Success

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

Software Sales teams targeting enterprise businesses and other large groups of users in the public or not-for-profit sectors can spend months, even years (if funding is available) wandering in a desert of low productivity that results in few, if any sales. Sales does not exist within a vacuum. Every other program with which a business is engaged impacts upon the success of sales efforts, especially marketing. Nevertheless, where marketing is working fine, then the actual sales method plays a dominant role in the success or failure of selling efforts. If this method is wrong there will be few if any sales. End of story.

We could use the remainder of this blog post to beat up on methodology that we think does not work for enterprise software sales. There are lots of these methods on the market today. Nevertheless, focusing on negatives delivers little value to anyone, least of all our precious readers. Rather, we need to focus on what works for us, from which, hopefully, the reader may extrapolate some value. We think that the Complex Sale methodology formulated by Jeff Thull of the Prime Resource Group (http://www NULL.primeresource NULL.com) provides the best method that we know of to deliver successful selling efforts for the type of markets that we are after.

The specific feature of this method that we would like to focus on for the remainder of this post is the “discover” stage of engagement with potential sales prospects. What catches us about this stage is the opportunity it presents to sales — as well as to a prospect — to fairly determine whether or not it makes sense to pursue a particular prospect or not. In the world of enterprise software sales the days of “any prospect represents a sales opportunity” are long gone. Time is in precious short supply; therefore, it makes complete sense to objectively study an opportunity presented by a prospect to determine appropriateness before committing more resources. Further, compiling a portrait of a prospect business in detail (which is, after all, the result of successful completion of this “discover” stage) will provide specific areas of opportunity, as Jeff Thull is careful to point out in his book, “Mastering the Complex Sale” where one’s solution can significantly lower costs for a prospect and, thereby, be worth a prospect’s consideration.

We have excellent recent experience dealing with enterprise markets for software products and services. We welcome opportunities to expand on discussions such as this one. Please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

I’m Pedaling Just as Fast as I can — Why it’s Tough to Hasten Enterprise Buyers in 2012

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

We have had some conversations with parties who have expressed confidence that enterprise business customers can be pushed forward to buy now (regardless of budgetary constraints) if, in fact, they can be convinced that they have, in fact, a burning need for a product or solution. The rationale is that there are always dollars that can be had within enterprise businesses. We respectfully disagree with this view. Here’s why:

We do not believe that enterprise customers who have to be convinced that they need something are, in fact, reliable customers. We are after customers for whom we can facilitate a purchase decision through a diagnostic process that opens a subject for discussion that, ultimately, the customer walks through to an inevitable conclusion in our favor. In this we agree entirely with Jeff Thull and his approach to The Complex Sale. Of course, if a buyer refuses to participate in the diagnostic process, or fails to move forward on an obvious conclusion, then we will walk away just as fast as any other sales team. Nevertheless, we strongly believe that the biggest pot lies at the end of a diagnostic rainbow with a customer who is 100% convinced that our product is precisely what the organization is after.
Budgets are budgets, take them or leave them. If dollars are not available today, they may be available, appropriately, at a right time within a budget year. It makes no sense to pressure a customer to move now if, in fact, the customer can be trusted to move forward at a later time. The key here, of course, is trust. We think the best way to develop this confidence in the customer is to proceed through an extensive diagnostic process while, at the same time, a mapping exercise is undertaken to ensure that our buyer is precisely the buyer we are after, meaning someone with the authority within the organization to push an order through the system and into our hands. In sum, we err on the side of respecting the budgetary boundaries within which buyers say that they must operate

We think further, that this whole discussion emanates from cash constraints. Why else quibble about the amount of time it takes buyers to move forward? After all, sales is responsible for managing a funnel. The funnel should be kept at an optimum level to feed the troops throughout the entire engagement, not just right now.

The best solution for cash flow, as we see it, in tough markets is to look to online content and, potentially, ecommerce solutions to augment feet on the street and ear to the phone selling efforts. We think that there is lots of action out there in the ecommerce space. We strive to ensure that our customers participate fully in that activity.

If you like our point of view and care to further a discussion, then please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

A Cohesive and Integrated Direct Marketing Strategy is an Imperative for all Planned Events

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

One of our client recently subscribed to our recommendation to coordinate email newsletter campaigns with telemarketing outreach. As we have recently written in this blog, we pieced together much of our strategy in this area from Ernan Roman’s “Integrated Direct Marketing” published by NTC. We regret that this useful book has gone out of print. We did manage to obtain a used copy through Amazon and expect that others can do the same. Bottom line: we highly recommend reading this book and implementing the pieces of the strategy that makes sense for one’s business.

Our client enjoys a very high open rate on his email newsletters. He distributes his copy through iContact (http://www NULL.icontact NULL.com). When we accessed the receipt data we were amazed at some of the corporate names in the list of recipients. Our amazement arose from the fact that our client had been largely unaware of the important enterprise prospects (and even customers) that receive each of his publications without fail but, nevertheless, remain lurking on the periphery of his business focus. Now, with an added telemarketing follow up within no more than 72 hours of an email open, we are able to add considerable value to his publication by contacting the most important prospects from the group. All contact information is added to our client’s CRM.

We are pleased to say that the ratio of engagement with these leads has been far greater than is the general rule for unsolicited telemarketing outreach programs; therefore, we can confirm the statistics that Ernan Ronan includes in his book, approximately an engagement rate of 15-20% as measured against all outbound calls placed. We carefully scripted our presentation to recipients around a simple “thank you” for their interest in our client’s offering and an offer to field any/all questions that they may have about our client’s market message.

The result has been a bonanza of information. Our contact staff has strictly adhered to a diagnostic approach to the remainder of each of these calls, peppering prospect engagement conversations with many questions which have facilitated collection of invaluable information on our client’s value proposition, market place perception of his products, and areas of enormous potential still untapped but readily accessible. With specific regard to the latter, we identified a government agency with well in excess of 100K staff members where our client’s penetration, to date, has amounted to no more than sales to 20 of these staff members. Thankfully, the 20 customers are quite influential at this government agency, which sheds a favorable light on the likelihood of our client penetrating further into this opportunity. The old story “your best customer is your customer” still holds true.

If you would like to hear further about this success story, then please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

Diagnostic Sales People are a Rare Breed Strong on Listening Analyzing and Facilitating

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

If our sales staff is to play the role of diagnostician with our prospects, then we need a team of individuals strong on listening and analyzing and short on oratory and, perhaps, group presentation skills. Further, these individuals should exhibit lots of patience and careful attention to detail. Finally, much like a psychologist, or a therapist who is adept at putting patients at ease, these individuals need to expertly facilitate conversation and information exchange with prospects.

It should be clear, then, that the personality type for sales diagnosticians is far removed from the alpha male or female who takes over a room and bullies a prospect over a finish line to a sale. Of course, both types of sales people — diagnostic and hard sell — share a proclivity for making money, but the way each one goes about getting to the goal is, in fact, radically different.

We like to refer to true diagnostic sales personnel as individuals who have a skill for “playing chess with people.” The worst example of this type of personality will be less than forthcoming, prone to lying. Further, the low end of the employable spectrum for these personalities will exhibit an ability to manipulate others in a self serving manner. On the other hand, the high end of the spectrum on this personality type can produce extraordinary results when armed with well thought out products and prospects that fit a buyer’s profile. In fact, the high end of this spectrum can be trusted to finish the qualification job if the lead development team has not done its job completely.

To an extent this personality type is introverted. Introversion works to be benefit of a facilitation process as this personality type will certainly be responsive to the need to allow prospects the stage to share as much information as they see fit on specific topics.

Nevertheless, when selecting hires, it is recommended to look for a hint of extroversion and leadership. After all, once the diagnostic has been completed, the sales person will have to modulate into a different role, one where he or she can truly lead the prospect forward towards an inevitable decision that should be completely crafted around the product at hand and no other. The best examples of this personality type will have the composure to exercise these skills with care and subtlety.

We have ample experience identifying and recruiting team members for clients based upon targeted types of personality. If you are looking to hire diagnostic sales staff for a complex product, then we would be most interested in speaking with you. Please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

On the Need for Enterprise Sales Staff to Play the Role of Diagnosticians

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

In 2012 it is essential that sales planning for IT products and services targeted to enterprise businesses and other large organizations in the public and not-for-profit sectors allocate as much time as required for the compilation of a comprehensive diagnostic report on any/all prospects. As we have written elsewhere in this blog, purchase decisions are now generally much more complicated than heretofore; therefore lots of information needs to be accumulated on each aspect of how a purchase decision might be framed by a typical customer for a specific product or service, or integrated solution. This diagnostic process (we credit Jeff Thull, author of “Mastering the Complex Sale” for coining this phrase) provides sales with an opportunity to facilitate prospect movement along a path towards identifying needs (now commonly referred to as “pain points”).

We characterize many of the prospects with whom we have engaged over the last 2-3 years as “dysfunctional” decision-makers. Dislodging dysfunction is far from an easy task; nevertheless, we have obtained very good results through a thorough analysis of prospects, requirements, etc. By walking prospects through this information fact finding mission we’ve managed to help them clarify what they really need to do about all of the factors that influence a purchase, from budgets, to targeted areas for cost savings, to business units, etc. In the best of cases this process has produced sales. In the worst of cases this process has helped us to manage our time and move along to better opportunities. Regardless of outcome, we can say that this diagnostic process is the optimum way to engage with the type of enterprise prospects for the products and solutions that we have represented.

The complement to this type of purchase decision-making is an entirely online process where prospects identify what they are after, research possible solutions and simply approach vendors for pricing and availability. Typically this type of engagement — simply shopping price and timing a purchase — is characteristic of a commodity purchase; but we have seen this type of purchase occur, this year, with regard to complex intangible solution. The best method of fostering this type of sale is to optimize web sites with Search Engines for the most helpful set of keywords possible. Social media certainly may play a role in prospect decisions for these products, but the subject of how to leverage social media, effectively, to nurture sales, is still in flux.

We are most interested in hearing from innovative tech companies looking to improve sales team performance.

IMB Enterprises, Inc. is most interested in opportunities to work with IT innovators who wish to approach market opportunities with an effective sales strategy. Please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

Connect IT Systems to Business KPIs to Begin to Understand how Purchase Decisions Arise at Enterprise Business Prospects

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

Enterprise businesses, large organizations in the public and/or not-for-profit sectors make use of key performance indicators (KPIs), scorecards and data dashboards to, as Dr. Michael Hammer noted in his 2007 article, “The 7 Deadly Sins of Performance Measurement and How to Avoid Them” (http://hbr NULL.org/product/7-deadly-sins-of-performance-measurement-and-how-t/an/SMR241-PDF-ENG?N=4294958507&Ntt=+&Nao=5700), to “[design] and [use] metrics to track and improve operating performance.” Oh, if it were only so easy! Dr. Hammer noted in his article that ” . . . there is a widespread consensus that [KPIs, balanced scorecards, data dashboards, etc] measure too much, or too little, or the wrong things, and that, in any event, they don’t use their metrics effectively.” Nevertheless, analyzing operational performance with these tools is a rich area of interest for nearly all businesses and organizations in this class. After all, the search for a means of deriving accurate and useful metrics on business performance that will support predictive modeling is as close as one can likely get to identifying a “search for the holy grail” like endeavor for these prospects. Therefore, top product marketers will keep ears and eyes open when prospects share information about these endeavors.

In fact, IT innovators targeting this class of prospect will do well to study a related comment made by Ms. Carole J. Haney, Process Owner – Process Management and Process Performance, The Boeing Company, Integrated Defense Systems, Rotorcraft Division, Mesa, Arizona, that is included in the MIT Sloan Review Article on Dr. Hammer’s research on this topic. Ms. Haney notes that her group “took an evolutionary step toward a process point of view by implementing ‘shared metrics’ across [their] value stream. Customers are now involved as part of the process team when creating process definition; a process team that comprises cross functions, including the customer, is more readily postured for success.” As we have written elsewhere in this blog, the slow pace of complex sales may be attributable to a dysfunctional decision-making process that is, nevertheless, a real factor for customers. By participating alongside customers within a process of determining needs and solutions (to cure this dysfunction) IT innovators, who can afford the time the process may take, will substantially differentiated their value for the market from their competitors. In fact, and as noted by Jeff Thull in his book “Mastering the Complex Sale,” the final product may be entirely unique and solely available from the IT innovator who spent this time with the prospect.

Analyzing KPIs, balanced scorecards, etc is equally valuable for the indicators that will, in all likelihood, be forthcoming on operations afflicted by “pain points,” as well as business operations that are “bleeding” cash. Of course, these indicators promise very rich returns for relevant products and/or services.

IMB Enterprises, Inc. is interested in opportunities to work with IT innovators who wish to approach market opportunities to collect the type of high level/very high value information characteristic of KPIs, etc. Please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

How to Skillfully Follow Up Direct Marketing Communications with a Telephone Call

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Ira Michael Blonder

eMail messages sent to lots of recipients at the same time are synonymous with direct marketing communications. We think most of the guidelines for how to implement printed and mailed direct marketing communications hold true for bulk email message campaigns. The difference is that we think much higher numbers of targeted recipients must be reached in order to drive any level of useful response.

Ernan Roman in his book “Integrated Direct Marketing” published by NTC in 1995 contends that an Integrated Direct Marketing (IDM campaign) can deliver anywhere from a 5 to 18% total response rate through the inclusion of a “carefully timed follow up phone call” (p59 of the text). Of course, for direct marketers used to a typical 1/10th of a percent response rate from bulk email messaging, these types of numbers are earth shaking and quite encouraging. The question that invariably arises is how to skillfully coordinate an outbound unsolicited telephone call within a day or two of sending an unsolicited email message. Obviously it benefits neither your business, nor the recipient to intrude in an unwanted manner.

The solution, per Mr. Roman (to which we entirely concur) is to carefully frame the telephone call around a sincere interest to collect any questions that the recipient may have about the information sent. The method of framing the telephone call carefully is to thoroughly script the planned discussion so as to transform an unexpected telephone call into, at best, a helpful contact and, at worst, simply a friendly contact that a recipient can opt to ignore.

The intended outcome of the telephone call, of course, is to stimulate the recipient to engage further with your business in a dialogue specifically focused on the points made in your email message. Therefore, care ought to be taken to carefully construct the email message into the principal communications vehicle for this engagement with the prospect. Any topic targeted for your message and a follow up telephone call has to be implicitly included in the text of your email message. Having your telemarketing effort inject any additional content into the discussion can end up undermining the opportunity to engage with recipients; better to keep the telephone calls carefully scripted around the topics created by the email message.

A carefully orchestrated campaign, as we have sketched out here, will result in good opportunities to nurture conversations along. Some of these conversations will emerge as sales leads. Therefore, the best team to handle the telemarketing effort is your sales team.

If you are contemplating a campaign like the one that we have sketched out here, we’d like to hear about it.

Please contact Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion. You may also email Mike at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.

Marketing, Promotion & Sales Consulting for Business

IMB Enterprises, Inc., Huntington, NY 11746 +1 (631) 673-2929, imblonder@imbenterprises.com

Author Archives: Ira Michael Blonder