Should Leads be Inbound, Outbound or Both? Unified Demand Generation

In this post I interview Mike Damphouse, CEO of Green Leads, who is widely considered to be an expert on demand generation and appointment setting. In this interview Mike shares his thoughts on how inbound marketing will change the B2B sales profession, how sales reps can sell more effectively, and he sheds some light on exactly what unfied demand generation is.

Chad: Can you tell me about the evolving discipline of inbound marketing and how this well effect the sales profession in the future?

Mike: Inbound marketing has been around for a long time in the form of bingo cards, 800 number ad response, etc. But it wasn’t until recently that hand raisers got scientifically acquired through techniques such as SEO, blogging and the like. What does it mean to sales people today? Same as with the movie Glenngary Glen Ross. “I talked to Mitch and Murray, the leads are coming”. Inbound leads are ultimately the The Über List for sales people. A list from Mitch and Murray, but all comprised of people that raised their hands.

Chad: You’ve coined the term Unified Demand Gen — how does combining the best of inbound and outbound marketing strategies create more opportunities for sales organizations?

Mike: It really is about starting the conversation with a prospect. Once that conversation is taking place, the selling begins. Unified Demand Gen is about leveraging inbound marketing practices and outbound marketing to initiate this conversation. A database full of web leads is useless until the sales rep picks up the phone or that first introductory meeting takes place.

Chad: At Green Leads, you track many data points with your surveys on B2B lead generation – can you share some of the most interesting trends you are seeing?

Mike: I think the most active discussion we’ve had is regarding initial sales appointments – should they be by phone or face to face? We’ve surveyed C/VP level decision makers and the trend is that they are more receptive to taking that first appointment by phone. On the other hand, tracking some actual pipeline data, the second meeting (which should be the only goal of a first meeting) done face to face as opposed to by phone, doubled the conversion to pipeline. So think first meeting – phone. Second meeting – face to face.

Chad: I believe that sales reps need to become better marketers to succeed in the years ahead – what are some things that sales reps can do to be better marketers and differentiate themselves from the competition?

Mike: Think about a sales rep. Each one is the president of their own business. They make the decisions and ultimately, us marketers or their inside sales team, we are just vendors to that sales rep. They should treat the function of lead gen as if they over saw the demand generation function. Make marketing accountable. Make outsourced lead gen vendors accountable.

Chad: How can sales reps use social media, SEO, and other inbound marketing strategies to exceed their quota and make some serious money? What would you do right now if you were a sales rep?

Mike: Learn a bit about social media marketing. Two immediate take aways: At the very least, publish a slideshare presentation on LinkedIn. Then on a weekly basis, update your LinkedIn profile with something relevant. And connect to everyone you can. Don’t be paranoid about your competitors farming your linkedin profiles. Unless they get your updates or are connected to you, they don’t see them anyway.

Chad: What are some of your favorite blogs and why do you read them?

Mike: Besides yours? I love the Funnelholic’s blog. Craig has some spot on advice and a west-coast presentation style. I read Trish Bertuzzi’s Inside Sales Experts blog. On the pure marketing side, I devour all the content produced by Hubspot, and the scientific approach of Eloqua’s Steve Woods.

Chad: We all know about social media – do you believe sales reps can take advantage of the new social media platforms to create more awareness and sell more to their customers and prospects? Why or Why not?

Mike: As I said above, learn what you can. But don’t get dragged into the quagmire of participating in everything. A single sales rep cannot single handedly master twitter, facebook and every other network based tool out there. Pick and choose. LinkedIn is such an obvious and simple way to start. Master that first.

Chad: What are some of the things you see marketing and sales organizations doing that are succeeding? What isn’t working?

Mike: Unify and integrate everything demand gen oriented. If you can increase your inbound leads, source great lists, then take action on both – be it nurturing, active outbound campaigns, appointment setting – setup that first conversation. Marketing and sales should have unified goals and each live up to it.

Chad: How can readers connect with you and learn more?

Mike: Best place to find me is on the Smashmouth Marketing blog. All my follow and contact information is there

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Mike is the consummate sales and marketing executive, leading both the growth of Green Leads and the techniques and practices behind Green Leads’ demand generation success. Mike brings over 20 years of senior management experience from a series of high technology and b2b marketing firms. During the past 6 years Mike has developed a new brand of demand gen that leverages both technology, the human asset, and social media. After sharing these ideas with other leading demand gen companies, Mike decided to form Green Leads, where he can complement these practices with a higher sense of quality and accountability to the company, its people, its clients, and its community.

Related posts:

1. Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing – Is There Really a Difference?
2. Demand Generation Gone Wrong: A Real World Example
3. Inbound Marketing, Outbound Marketing and Sales – Are You Herding Cattle or Cats?
4. The Best Time to Call Your Prospects
5. Thoughts on Sales 2.0 from Lee Levitt