connect apr/may 2013

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publisher ’s letter

Over the years marketers have been given a very short leash. It is estimated that CMOs traditionally have an average tenure of 18 to 24 months. Many are either discarded or leave, because the pressure of providing good returns is too great. The organization wants

things to be perfect. They typically want everything neatly tied-up before marketing investments are made.

But things just are not perfect. In fact, they may never be perfect. And if we wait to get ev-erything right before moving forward, we’ll be waiting a long time. Success is rooted in clinging to market-based values and being truly immersed in our communities. Marketing has a lot of science in it, but the greatest marketers realize there is a significant amount of art involved as well.

The rules of hard work, diligence and practicality are yesterday’s news. And while those quali-ties are important, they are not scarce. Plenty of people work hard and put their time into the pro-cess. What is scarce and in demand now are people with passion, creativity and initiative. These are the new attributes of success – traits that often can be found in true marketers.

The beauty of these new rules is that they allow us to think fast on our feet. Being market based affords us the ability to adapt at a moment’s notice. In turn, it allows us to move forward, make decisions and not delay the process by waiting to have “our ducks in a row.” Our cover article, “Lesson from the Stage,” includes a fantastic interview with Tom Yorton of Second City. His insights into the art of improvisation demonstrate the attributes that are in high demand for all of us.

Our second feature, “Synced Sales,” discusses the marketing process, including marketing automation, sales calls, prospecting and more. The story takes an inside look at where the marketing process stands today.

We hope you enjoy this issue. We had to break free from some old rules to put it out. And while it may not be perfect, there is great passion, creativity and incredible initiative on every page.

Have a wonderful spring.

Gina M. Danner

Perfect Pain

Contents

“A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem” – Albert Einstein

Marketing has a lot of science in it, but the greatest marketers realize there is a significant amount of art involved as well.

3 Publisher’s Letter

4 The Inbox

6 Lessons from the Stage

10 Synced Sales

14 From Where I Sit

15 Before You Go

PublisherGina M. DannerManaging EditorsRosanne Kirn Chris LakinArt DirectionBrent Cashman • Creative Director Jaime Mack • Graphic Designer

Connect is published bimonthly by Mail Print8300 ne Underground Dr, Pillar 122Kansas City, Mo 64161copyright 2013 All rights reserved

For more information contact www.mailprint.com 866.938.3607

4

April/May 2013 • Connect by Mail Print

The Inbox

The percent of B2B marketers who say not producing enough content is the biggest challenge they face today, according to “2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America,” a report conducted by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs.

the tablets have it

It’s becoming a tablet kind of world. Global

market intelligence firm IDC has

raised its 2013 forecast for worldwide

tablet shipments to 172.4 million units. Among

the factors driving demand are more mobile screen sizes and lower price

points. By 2016, IDC predicts that shipments could reach 282.7 million units. In 2012, 122.3 million tablets were shipped worldwide. Innovative products from Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung continue to drive consumer demand, IDC reports.

The Average cost per acquisition when using direct mail.

Source: CMO Council, December 2012

The targeted direct mail response rate compared to email’s response rate of 0.12%.

Source: CMO Council, November 2012

The number of recipients that read postcards delivered to their mailbox.

Source: CMO Council, November 2012

The number of people that made a purchase off a company’s website after receiving a letter or catalog in the mail.

Source: USPS, 2012

Percent of consumers that say they are more likely to purchase based on direct mail advertisements, versus email. Especially when a coupon or discount is involved.

Source: Ask Your Target Market, March 2012

$51.40

4.4%

54%

12-15%

21%

5


The Inbox

The best content is a good story well told. That story can take place in any number of different formats, whether they are paid, owned, earned or shared. I think it’s a mistake to only associate content with earned and owned. The more we experiment with content creation and distribution, the more we see a fusing between paid and other distribution channels.

– Linda Boff, executive director, global digital marketing for GE, on how brands distinguish between content and advertising

She said it…

No matter how technologically superior all those newfangled ways to communicate out there today appear, email continues to be a viable tool. According to the “Marketing from Mars” report from ExactTarget, nearly seven in 10 consumers (69 percent) check their email before doing anything else online each day. The report also says about one in four marketers and one in three consumers think brands should invest more marketing time and resources into email. Facebook and Twitter fared less in that regard. Twenty-one percent of marketers and 22 percent of consumers point to Facebook for more marketing investment, while 12 percent of marketers and 5 percent of consumers put a higher priority on Twitter.

Yeah, you’ve got mail

Yeah, you’ve got mail 65%

Percent of recipients that convert into customers of businesses that send out direct mail. Only one percent below email (66%).

Source: Exact Target, 2012 Channel Preference Survey

Projected direct mail spending in 2013. That’s a 2% increase from 2012.

$51.1 b i l l i o n


6

NameYour


7

“ Improvisation is the expression of the accumulated yearnings, dreams and wisdom of the soul.”

– Noted Violinist Yehudi Menuhin

T om Yorton admits to an epiphany. After 20 years in the corporate world as a senior marketing executive with the likes of 3COM, Sears and Ogilvy & Mather, he walked

through the doors of the famed The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago with his eyes wide open to the possibilities. And then it hit him – just how much business was like an act of improvisation.

It’s the kind of question Yorton, CEO of Second City Com-munications (SCC), gets often. Can the skills needed to make people laugh really translate into running a business? It’s a fair question – one that Yorton says surprises people when they realize two important lessons. Improvisation isn’t always about being funny, and humor is about finding the truth. To understand these concepts, it’s important to know SCC’s history.

Founded in 1959, the legendary The Second City comedy theater became the launching pad for what seems like everything and everyone we find funny: John Belushi, Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, Steven Carell, Stephen Colbert and Tina Fey, to name a few. The list seems endless. Yes, The Second City has its place card in history as a pioneer of improvisational comedy and an environment where actors work without scripts and feed off each other’s ideas and energy to cre-ate a think tank of comedic genius. That it came to be a force in the world of corporate training is something that makes sense, when you see how humor helps to reveal the truth in situations.

Yorton came aboard 11 years ago to help grow SCC, the business solutions arm of The Second City. Business people attending its shows started asking The Second City to perform at sales gatherings, annual meetings, etc. Invariably, it led to creating custom material for those events. “We found that our material not only could be used in the service of entertainment, but also to help convey messages within the business world,” Yorton says. “There is common ground between the two. In particular, the interpersonal communications and adaptive skills required in improvisation are similar to those in business.”

How Improvisation

Leads to Success

By Michael J. Pallerino


Lessons from the Stage

8During his tenure, Yorton and company

have worked with some 1,000 companies, ranging from nonprofit organizations to small companies and Fortune 500 giants. SCC’s in-delible mark can be found on everything from communications skills workshops for sales-people to custom video training for insurance claims reps, and comedic compliance programs that complement e-learning modules.

Finding your comedic grooveAt its core, good improvisation is all about lis-tening, reacting in the moment, creating and supporting the ideas of others, and innovat-ing as an ensemble (see sidebar, “8 ways to

improvise your way to success). And, while the end product sometimes can be funny, improv skills are not intrinsically about being funny. “Solid improv skills are present in supremely good communicators and team players,” Yorton says. “When those skills are brought to bear on stage, they are a powerful antidote to the fear, apprehension and mistrust that can lead to failure. These same skills can be developed in business people to help them become more ef-fective in their work, especially in their willing-ness to take responsible risks and to innovate.”

To bridge the worlds of improvisation and business, SCC developed an event and confer-ence component through which improv training and learning methodologies are used to help build skills for its corporate clients.

“We found that the skills our actors need to be successful on stage have a lot to do with the business world: listening, teamwork and collaboration, innovation and collaboration, risk taking, conflict resolution,” Yorton says. “These are all of the things professionals require to do what they do.”

The other parts of SCC’s business involve improvisation training for a corporate education context, video services and video productions.

SCC also found success in the world of con-tent marketing, where it is using improv to help create breakthrough content ideas by partnering with PR firms, ad agencies and client market-ing teams. One of the programs it created for Seattle’s Best Coffee is a 24-hour, live stream-ing improvised comedy show accessible via

No. 1: Seek Those ‘Yes, and …’ MomentsImprovisation is about affirma-tion, creation and mutual sup-port. Its training is built on the concept of what it calls “yes, and” moments. That’s when oth-er members of the group put an idea or proposition forward, the group affirms the proposition, and then additional information is added. This allows the team to reach its full potential before objections derail an idea.

No. 2: Follow Your FearsFear usually is an indication that something important is at stake. People feel fear because they care about an outcome. In im-prov, actors are taught to “lean into” conflict, not walk away from it. This practice likely re-veals something new.

No. 3: Plan Less and Discover MoreThe less you plan, the more you’ll discover; the more you plan, the less you’ll discover. Every or-ganization wants to be known as innovative and creative. Yet, most conditions that allow for in-novation and creativity seldomly are present. Standard routines and processes govern most daily work experiences. In improvisa-tion, the absence of a plan allows room for discovery.

8 ways to improvise your way to successSo, how do the worlds of improvisation and business compare? Tom Yorton, CEO of Second City Communications (SCC), shows you eight improvisation techniques that can help your business.

We found that the skills our actors need to be successful on stage have a lot to do with the business world: listening, teamwork and collaboration, innovation and collaboration, risk taking, conflict resolution.


9Facebook. SCC invited Seattle’s Best’s agency,

Creature Creative, and its public relations firm, Zeno

Group, to participate in SCC’s Creative Development

Workshop, where parties use improv to explore themes, ideas

and relationships. For Yorton, this process

helps reaffirm the epiphany he had 11 years ago. “We pretend

that everything is fully scripted. We pretend that we are in complete

control. But there are a million curves that get thrown at you every day in

business, and a million things that require you to be nimble, adap-tive, agile and to think on your feet. Improv assumes an ensemble. In

business, you’re always working with somebody. You’re improvising all the time; it’s just that you don’t think about it as such. If you can process this better,

you not only can function better as an individual, but also as a team, a department and an organization. Every business is an imperfect situation. We use the humor to get to the truth

by giving you tools you can use to navigate better. It’s all about creating a better connection.”

Calling all PR firms, ad agencies and client marketing teams. Second City Communications has a simple mes-sage for you: Life’s funny. Why isn’t your approach to content marketing?

No. 4: Start in the MiddleImprov actors know that a linear, orderly progres-sion makes for a boring scene. In business, people take great pains to lay things out in logical progres-sions. There is comfort in following the flow. But when there’s a crisis or need to innovate, success sometimes comes from taking leaps and making creative connections in the absence of perfect infor-mation and thoughtful preparation.

No. 5: ‘Bring a Brick, Not a Cathedral’Employees don’t like to feel small and insignificant. This causes them to hold back ideas and feedback. In improvisation, seemingly small contributions are important to the whole. If each ensemble member brings something, the collective energy is greater than one person carrying the load. When your con-tribution matters, you’re obligated to bring some-thing to the game.

No. 6: If One Idea Doesn’t Work, Try AnotherIn improvisation people move quickly. There’s little time to analyze or assess only time to listen and react. Consequently, ideas and inspiration come and go fluidly. Improv actors know that right and wrong usually is a false dichotomy; there are only possibilities and choices. Performers are rewarded by their willingness to support the ensemble and adapt on the fly to new ideas.

No. 7: Try Not to Top Someone ......at least until you’ve equaled him. Because busi-ness usually is a competitive endeavor, people al-ways are trying to one-up each other. This comes out of a fear of looking bad and falling behind in an internal competition. Someone else’s gain means your loss, which creates a stifling environment. In improvisation, the best way to “get fed” is to do some feeding of your own.

No. 8: Make Accidents WorkThe world has a tendency to throw curveballs. The key is how you respond to it. In improvisation, the axiom “make accidents work” describes much of its existence. There is no such thing as a preordained outcome in improvisation. It’s about living in the moment. Learn to embrace the possibilities that “accidents” offer.

In business, you’re always working with somebody. You’re improvising all the time; it’s just that you don’t think about it as such.


10


11

“The steps are the same as they were 50 years ago, but the envi-ronment you’re selling in is vastly different,” says Linda Bishop, sales expert, speaker and author.

But there’s good news: Through advances in mar-keting products, automat-ed tracking tools and just plain better communica-

tion between team members, an organization can improve on its pros-pecting and the overall efficiency of its sales cycles.

Marketing mattersPerhaps the biggest advantage today’s companies have is an increased scope of marketing tools. Variable data, automated systems and better ROI tracking help find qualified prospects quicker and begin the “dating” process of the sales cycle sooner. Marketing creates awareness, educates buyers prior to the sale about benefits and advantages and increases mindshare – so you are remembered. “All are required to get a serious shot at new business,” Bishop says.

First, the bad news: The sales cycle still

requires a lot of time and money. Speaker

and marketing and sales consultant M.

H. (Mac) McIntosh says a study conducted a

decade ago holds true today: It takes about five

calls to close one sale and $350 or more per

call in resources/man hours to make it happen.

And it still requires finding leads, convincing

them to meet, qualifying, getting and closing

the opportunity and convincing the customer

to buy again.

Why collaboration between marketing and sales is critical to today’s sales cycle

By Graham Garrison


Synced Sales

Marketing should play an integral role, especially at the beginning of the sales cycle. “The idea of using marketing to handle the ear-lier parts of the sales cycle – prospecting, nur-turing and qualifying steps – makes economic sense, because it frees up the salespeople to focus on being with prospects who are most likely to buy and do the demo, propose and close steps,” McIntosh says. “Those are where their one-on-one efforts are best invested.”

Replace a couple of those traditional sales calls with marketing activities, and you’ve saved hundreds of dollars and increased sales effi-ciency by 30 percent to 40 percent.

Marketing’s role is the macro side of the business – viewing clients as the herd. Pat Pallentino, director of the FSU Sales Institute at Florida State University, says you must ask what the herd behaviors are and the direction and overall size (value). “Sales” role is the mi-cro side of the business – the hunter who is armed with all of the marketing’s intelligence and can, in the most efficient way, single out and capture the biggest prize in the herd.”

McIntosh says increased success with marketing also has led companies to consider the cost involved with other tactics, such as cold calling. “In my opinion [cold calling] is pretty much dead. It’s one of the most costly lead generation tactics today in B2B. People use it because they have nothing in the pipe-line, and they can generate some results be-cause they are playing the numbers game. If you call enough people, you might find interest.

But the cost per lead is really high. McIn-tosh says what works better than cold calling

is integrated calling into a multi-touch sys-tem, meaning maybe you start with

email with a respond call back, or continue to email and use direct

mail. He recommends a follow-up call once a quarter to see if you can en-

gage and qualify the prospect. But email can be a double-edged

sword. “You have to be smart about how and when you send your emails,” McIntosh says.

“Sending useful, relevant content a couple times a month is better than emailing every day.”

The increase in emails has led to the re-surgence in a more traditional tool. “Use letters

12

Three things salespeople do right:• Convince a stranger to meet with you• Find a reason to go back after the

initial meeting• Close the sale – or find out why the

buyer won’t buy

Three things salespeople do wrong:• Spend too much time on low-value leads• Poor follow-up skills• Do a poor job of qualifying prospects

to find out if they truly are interested in buying what you offer

IT TAkES ThrEE…Linda Bishop, sales expert, speaker and author, spends her days supporting businesses nationwide on sales issues, including account acquisition, account penetration and top-down solution selling. Following are the three biggest things salespeople get right and wrong during the sales cycle.

“ Use letters as a way to introduce yourself. Buyers receive lots of emails. They don’t get many letters, so a letter stands out.”

– Linda Bishop, Sales Expert, Speaker and Author


13

as a way to introduce yourself,” Bishop says. “Buyers receive lots of emails. They don’t get many letters, so a letter stands out.”

CommunicationDuring the recent “Great Recession,” sales teams were desperate for any sales and, thus, loosened their criteria for what counted as a qualified lead. Improvements in the economy and prospecting, in general, have allowed them to be more selective in what counts as a sales-ready lead. McIntosh suggests sales and marketing teams create a framework that gets approval from management on standard quali-fications, but also allows room for flexibility.

Indeed, once a lead is generated and a prospect qualified, the hand-off shouldn’t be the end of communication between marketing and sales. Marketing should be able to use the company’s CRM system to see what’s working in generating leads.

“That’s sort of the closed-loop process of tracking and measuring activity,” McIntosh says. “Instead of bugging the sales folks for in-formation on every lead, if they’re using CRM to track their own activities as sales manage-ment is requiring it, they can often get that in-formation right out of the CRM without having to ask the sales team.”

Intangibles in motionEven with advances in technology and market-ing techniques, a successful sales cycle still re-quires the intuition of a sales rep.

On one hand: “People are busy, they’re not sitting by the phone waiting for your call,” McIntosh says. “You have to be intelligent and diligent about your follow up.”

On the other hand, Bishop says, it’s im-portant to recognize that if you’ve let too much time go by between calls, you’ll likely end up starting over.

A successful run through the sales cycle de-pends on individual talent, coupled with mastery of skills. “Some people can get the first meeting, but are weak at closing,” Bishop says. “Other salespeople struggle to get first meetings, but find it easy to get an opportunity once they’re in the door. There is no single answer because people are selling, and everyone is unique.”

rEPEAT, AND DO AGAINA repeatable process is essential to selling success, says Pat Pallentino, director, FSU Sales Institute, Florida State University. “Not a robotic set of steps, but a flow where content can be tailored to the needs of the client.” Pallentino says the elements are:

1. Industry, customer and product knowledge2. Setting valid objectives, both overall strategically and tactical, for each interaction3. A total commitment to planning every interaction4. After execution, debrief toward the goal of continual improvement.

“Sales’ role is the micro side of the business – the hunter who is armed with all of the marketing’s intelligence and can, in the most

efficient way, single out and capture the biggest prize in the herd.”

– Pat Pallentino, FSU Sales Institute

14


14Q&A

I literally sit in a small part of this big space we call marketing. My focus is on personal branding – helping people (or small businesses) get clear on their purpose, differentiators, goals and brand attributes, among other things. Once their message is clear, we show them how to market online.

I think we’re “newed” out. It’s time to go back to the basics, which is very refreshing. It’s like a balloon when you’re blowing air into it – it can only take so much, and then, POP. You have to get another one and start all over again.

The basics are simple: It’s about having a strong, authentic message and communicating that clearly.

There are lots of new toys for us marketers. Social media. Apps. Analytics tools. There are new ones on the market nearly daily, while the others continue to evolve. Keeping up with ev-erything becomes very challenging.

Identify a few cutting-edge news sourc-es and a few innovators in your field, and follow them. Look for people who practice what they preach and those who work in your particular specialty.

Be authentic. Just being you is your biggest differentiator.

I wish I could make my mind stop, but it’s so hard. If I’m working with a client to figure out a name, a tagline or creative idea, my mind continues to churn long after the lights are out.

I love the “Got Milk” campaign. It’s time-less and coined a phrase that people often use in new ways on a day-to-day basis. Every time I hear “Got anything” I think “Got Milk.”

Creativity is the key marketing ingredi-ent. Our audiences’ attention spans are get-ting shorter and shorter, so campaigns must be creative in unique ways. The more creative a campaign is, the easier it is for people to notice.

Every marketer must be curious and have an open mind; they go hand in hand. Those traits keep marketers fresh and on the cutting edge.

Mobile marketing is an uncharted territory. I think there is much to learn and, therefore, much to execute on. Because we are over stim-ulated and over communicated with, we have to use mobile to market effectively in a non-disruptive, non-intrusive way.

brandiD’s Rachel Gogos on going back to the basics

From Where I sit

rachel Gogos was doing the whole “personal branding” thing long before it became an industry buzzword.

Along with stops at the United Nations, The Wall Street Journal and DowJones.com, the serial entrepreneur

founded several companies, including brandiD in Pittsburgh. Today, Gogos finds great fulfillment in helping

her customers clarify their purpose through three of her brands: brandiD (which provides digital marketing for indi-

viduals and small companies); iDentityShoppe.com (a D-I-Y option for those who need a web presence on a limited

budget); and MyPath101.com (a soon-to-be-launched membership site for college students that will provide the

aforementioned services). We recently sat down with her to discuss what today’s marketers are facing.

If I’m working with a client to figure out a name, a tagline or creative idea, my mind continues

to churn long after the lights are out.

15


Before You Go

What’s driving consumers to buy?A look at what directs today’s purchasing decisions

According to WSL/Strategic Retail’s “How America Shops: Buzz to Buy 3.0,” we are influenced by our friends and family, the manufacturer/retail websites we visit, and traditional media,

including print. Here’s a look at how the whole list shakes out.

42%

55%

26% 69%

32%

32%

Friends and family (word of mouth)

Manufacturer/retailer websites

Traditional media (print, TV)

Sales associates

Emails from manufacturers and retailers

Social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest)

merg•er [mur-jer]nounany combination of two or more business enterprises into a single enterprise.

Mail Print, Graphic Services, and L & L Manufacturing have merged.

Our goal is simple: To create an exceptional printing and marketing organization to help our clients drive revenue and control costs.

Same great people • Expanded equipment offering • More opportunities for you We are using this opportunity for evolution and growth to create a truly exceptional organization. Be sure to watch for more about our merger and how your organization can benefit from our expansion.

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connect apr/may 2013

Documents

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