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The Trusted Advisor * Is able to effortlessly understand clients…their needs and requirements. * Always help clients see things from new perspectives. * Never forces the issue. * Doesn't panic or get over emotional. * Criticizes and corrects gently and almost lovingly. * Values relationships more than current issues. * Challenges client assumptions. * Acts like real people. * Are always honorable. * Remembers everything clients say even without notes. Derived from The Trusted Advisor, by David Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford; Free Press; 2001 Apollo specialized in working with professional services clients that thrive on their reputations as trusted advisors. Many of our clients utilize our Lead Generation for the Trusted Advisor campaigns to secure more of the right business from the right clients. Marketing yourself as a trusted advisor is different than what most people would consider traditional marketing or lead generation. It relies on educational themes and the willingness to trickle out some free consulting to demonstrate your value. Often this is not accomplished in the initial conversations with prospects but rather over time in an effective lead nurturing campaign that continuously drips on prospective clients the knowledge and value that you would bring to them if you were their trusted advisor. Apollo {Houston, TX - B2B Sales Leads, Marketing Campaign Development, e-marketing/eMarketing and Lead Generation Services} Apollo's central hub for up-to-date B2B marketing, lead generation and nurturing information and best practices: http://blog.apollosmg.com Apollo Sales & Marketing Group http://www.apollosmg.com

Well, to some it is an appointment with anyone on a target list. To others, it is an appointment with a target contact in a target company that meets pre-defined criteria in a standard scoring model like BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing). Some would say any inbound lead works. Another must have a qualifying conversation before considering something a "lead". The important thing is to not worry about what someone else calls a lead, define it for your organization. What is a qualified prospect? What are the demographic criteria? What are the key roles and responsibilities in a company that make a decision for your B2B solution? Does budget have to be allocated before you should engage? It's hard to sell something that is "nice to have" so what level of pain must be uncovered or quantified to call something a lead? It is critical to define these not only for your own organization, but also for any partner companies that are performing any marketing services, especially telemarketing services for you. If you can answer these questions for your company, you can define what you should work on in sales and what should be included in a lead nurturing campaign or discarded as not a fit. Apollo {Houston, TX - B2B Sales Leads, Marketing Campaign Development, e-marketing/eMarketing and Lead Generation Services} Apollo's central hub for up-to-date B2B marketing, lead generation and nurturing information and best practices: http://blog.apollosmg.com Apollo Sales & Marketing Group http://www.apollosmg.com

Ask for action!!! Want to get 10x more out of your marketing campaigns? Your eMarketing and email marketing? Your B2B lead generation? So many of the direct mail that goes out these days has a ton of information, maybe even a super marketing message that seems as though it should be a lead generation dynamo, but the call to action is merely the main phone number and their web address. No offer, no compelling reason to do something about it today, rather than tomorrow, next week or never. Please understand that this is not necessarily an easy undertaking. For professional services firms especially, most of your competitors can claim almost everything you can claim as a differentiator. The work that you put into creating a unique offer for your prospects can be a huge advantage in starting the conversation and winning the sale. If you take the time to put yourself in the shoes of your prospect thinking of what they would see as valuable and what they would want to take action on, something that they may not be able to get from just anywhere, you are on the right track. Then, if you can stretch even further and think of something so unique that any prospect has to sit up and take notice, you have a compelling offer - a no-brainer offer. Best of lead generation success in your marketing messaging.

In Apollo's Flight Plan (The B2B Marketing and Lead Generation Playbook for Small-to-Medium Businesses), we have a comprehensive set of best practices checklists. One of the quickest checklists you can use for a litmus test on your latest B2B marketing campaign focuses on just three things: * List quality * Offer * Call to action It really goes without saying that your list must be accurate for your campaign to be successful. It also needs to be properly surveyed, qualified and targeted to ensure results. Your offer must be something compelling for your audience. Also, it should easily relate to your unique value proposition so that your sales cycle is properly positioned for progress and success. Your call to action should be crystal clear and you should only offer your prospect one call to action. While more than one offer can make it difficult to truly measure the effectiveness of the campaign relative to alternative offers, it also can confuse the prospect enough to keep them from taking any action at all. Apollo {Houston, TX - B2B Sales Leads, Marketing Campaign Development, e-marketing/eMarketing and Lead Generation Services} If you are interested in more, visit their website. Apollo's central hub for up-to-date B2B marketing, lead generation and nurturing information and best practices: http://blog.apollosmg.com Apollo Sales & Marketing Group http://www.apollosmg.com

Have you been repeating the same sales and marketing strategies and activities each year hoping for a better result? Kinda like that movie Groundhog Day? Plug into Apollo's First 100 Days program and make this year different. Here's what business leaders said who responded in the last 30 days: "I called Apollo because we need to take it to the next level in 2011." "We're tired of what is not working. We need a system for lead generation." How did the first 100 days go last year? Looking for better this year? Plug into a proven, systematic approach ensuring that you get off to a quick and sustainable start. * Did you know that less than 33% of the SMB market has a written business development plan * Of that 33%, more than 50% admit that they do not track performance against the plan more than quarterly. Any surprise that the grand plans most companies start out with are rarely achieved? What should my first 100 days look like? Apollo's First 100 Days Program will help you achieve your best start ever. * Transition from working a dozen to a hundred opportunities. * We create a qualified community of ideal prospects and qualified buyers using direct marketing, eMarketing and Social Networking tactics. * Build/clean/augment your database with hundreds of qualified opportunities. * Gather essential qualification criteria for your top prospects. * Build at least 3 marketing assets that drive brand recognition and improve sales conversion. * Launch your nurturing communication strategy so that prospective buyers recognize your brand and value your services. * Get in front of decision makers and close business. …all within 100 days. If you want more out of 2011, let's have a conversation. Apollo's central hub for up-to-date B2B marketing, lead generation and nurturing information and best practices: http://blog.apollosmg.com