The document provides tips for finding, influencing, and converting more prospects into customers. It recommends engaging prospects early through content published across various channels like blogs and social media. The content should focus on understanding prospects' needs and problems. Sales and marketing should work together with a customer-centric approach, treating initial contacts as interviews to understand customer priorities and aligning solutions accordingly. An effective pipeline manages leads at different stages through targeted automated content to move prospects along while differentiating the business and without direct selling.

1. How to Find , Influence & Convert More Prospects Into Customers Matt Heinz Principal, Heinz Marketing LLC [email_address] @heinzmarketing

2. Last Slide First Find & engage prospects “upstream” before they are active buyers Understand your customer, product & objective before executing Publish your own content to attract prospects Practice customer-centric selling every day Sales & marketing is too important to leave to salespeople and marketers

3. Prospect Engagement Funnel Active Sales Cycle Channels: CRM, 1:1 Goal: Sell New Customer Drip Marketing Channels: Email Newsletters, CRM System Goal: Drive Active Prospects Network / Open Community Channels: Twitter, Facebook, Blog, LinkedIn Goal: Drive Registration Network-exclusive access to content Value-added special offers Discovery events White papers, top ten tips, etc. Testimonials, Success Stories Profile-Specific Messages New product/service offers Referral & Tell-a-Friend Offers Network / Community Invites New Opportunity Alerts 1:1 with Existing Customer In-Market Events Next Step Accelerator Ideas Customer Targets (based on persona profiles)

4. Your customers

5. Marketing Plan in 5 Questions What/who are your targets? What do they care about? What outcome are they seeking? Where do you find them? What or who influences them? How do they want to engage and (eventually) buy?

6. Listening

7. What do customers care about?

8. The buying progression Solution Problem/Pain Objective/Outcome

9. 5 tips for better customer-centric sales Use “you” instead of “I” Treat the first sales call like an interview Align yourself with existing customer priorities Respect their time Let your current customer sell for you

10. Prospect Engagement Funnel Active Sales Cycle Channels: CRM, 1:1 Goal: Sell New Customer Drip Marketing Channels: Email Newsletters, CRM System Goal: Drive Active Prospects Network / Open Community Channels: Twitter, Facebook, Blog, LinkedIn Goal: Drive Registration Network-exclusive access to content Value-added special offers Discovery events White papers, top ten tips, etc. Testimonials, Success Stories Profile-Specific Messages New product/service offers Referral & Tell-a-Friend Offers Network / Community Invites New Opportunity Alerts 1:1 with Existing Customer In-Market Events Next Step Accelerator Ideas Customer Targets (based on persona profiles)

11. Three types of content Proactive Reactive Participatory

12. Planning content Theme 1 Week 1 Theme 2 Theme 3 Theme 4 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

13. “ Reactive proactive”

14. Gist as your dashboard

15. Participation Best Practices Share Don’t sell Be a trusted advisor Don’t sell Connect, recommend, refer Don’t sell

16. Why do you need this? Needs/Qualification Goal: Secure Presentation Presentation Goal: Establish decision date, send proposal Proposal Goal: BUY Approach Goal: Accelerate urgency, timeline to purchase Open/Attempted Goal: Get prospect on the phone Actively Working Goal: Qualify prospect as 30-60 day opportunity LEADS OPPORTUNITIES Lead becomes Active Opportunity

17. Why do you need a pipeline? Most leads aren’t sales ready You can’t focus on everything The right message at the right time Maximum sales, minimum work

18. How to approach your pipeline It’s a pipeline (but your prospects shouldn’t know that) Differentiate from your competitors DO NOT SELL Automate as much as you can

19. Keys to effective pipeline execution Use a lead management system Clearly define lead & opportunity stages Focus on great content Make it easy for prospects to self-select and move forward

20. Last Slide Last Find & engage prospects “upstream” before they are active buyers Understand your customer, product & objective before executing Publish your own content to attract prospects Practice customer-centric selling every day Sales & marketing is too important to leave to salespeople and marketers

21. Questions?