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January WIT Lunch Bunch Rewind:
Strategies for Developing Quantifiable Marketing Programs
by
Augustina Howe
In business, numbers communicate success, but the ROI of marketing programs tends to be very difficult to measure. On January 22, Pamela Girardin, president and founder of Q2 Marketing, gave a dynamic presentation on how to develop quantifiable marketing programs.
Many factors contribute to the difficulty of measuring marketing ROI. Programs are established without measurement techniques. Business is often moving so fast that many companies are doing “reactive” marketing. Also, measuring the success of individual programs (instead of the big-picture marketing campaign) is often set as the goal.
How can companies quantify the impact of marketing programs and improve the quality of their programs? Girardin offered several recommendations.
Get to know your client well and take steps to nurture a strong relationship.
Surveys can reveal why customers purchase from your company. Shadowing a sales rep during sales calls and presentations can also help you learn more about your customers. Regular communications with your client will help establish a strong relationship. Clients are often interested in relevant industry news and learning about what other customers are doing to improve their operations.
Improve the management of sales data.
It’s wise to review information captured in your CRM solution and make sure that sales data are successfully stored. If data are spotty, offer training so that staff understand the importance of the data management. Closed-loop measurement is critical. Set up a meeting with sales representatives to coordinate a timeframe when new sales data need to be entered. If the sales staff isn’t able to enter the data, provide a resource to complete the task.
Take steps to integrate marketing with sales.
Work to build a strong relationship between sales and marketing, because they depend on each other for success. Carefully consider the quality of leads that you are passing to sales. Sales should handle only hot and warm leads. Marketing should own cold leads.
Regularly track important measurements.
These measurements include the following calculations:
a) company percent of market share, unit market share, and revenue market share;
b) lead-to-close ratio: close percentage = # of leads/ # of sales;
c) sales pipeline analysis.
Analyze your customer base.
Check for trends in company size, revenue, market, and marketing tactics. Track the number of inbound calls received annually and monthly. Web traffic analysis is also important: review the past 12 months of Web visits to check for seasonal trends. In addition to traffic fluctuations, check where dropout rates occur on your Web site, i.e., sections where visitors are leaving the site.
Develop a review process for evaluating the progress of marketing programs, which includes metrics and goals.
Conduct measurements mid-campaign. Make changes in a program if it isn’t performing well. Girardin mentioned that she changed the messaging of a program when she saw indications that the messaging wasn’t working well for the campaign.
Marketing campaigns can lead to big gains in revenue — the numbers that signify success. As an example, Girardin presented case studies that illustrated how particular marketing campaigns enabled technology companies to develop new brands which, in turn, increased revenues:
- Cheetah Technologies, a leading hardware provider for North American cable T.V. operators, sought to reposition itself as a software provider. The re-branding program consisted of a revised logo, messaging that focused on benefits, Web site, internal communications, collateral, advertising, and a tradeshow booth. With this program the company achieved $17 million in new sales. Previously it had made $2 to $3 million per year.
- Computer Patent Annuities, a global leader in renewal services for patents and trademarks, sought to position itself as a software provider in the North American market. The company lacked marketing materials. Its re-branding program, which included messaging, collateral materials, advertising, internal communications, Web site, user group, and direct mail, dramatically increased software sales. The company secured 82 of the top 100 patent law firms as clients. Other clients included 95 of Fortune’s “Top 200 Companies” and 55 of Business Week’s “100 Top Brands.”
Augustina Howe is a Web Writer/Strategist based in DC. |
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Letter from the President
Dear WIT Members:
Women in Technology (WIT) is nothing without its members, and we want ... to ensure that your membership needs are met. During the month of March all members (current and former) received an email providing a link to our 2008 Member Survey. The responses from this survey will help shape member benefits, future programs, and communications.
To show our appreciation for your time and feedback, we offered a special opportunity to enter a raffle for a free one-year renewal of membership to everyone who completed the survey.
This year’s survey was conducted by Market Connections, a full-service market research firm specializing in public sector and association research in the information technology market. We take the results of our surveys seriously; based on the results of our 2007 member satisfaction survey we undertook several new initiatives.
First we learned that WIT.Connect meeting topics are the main reason why someone attends a WIT.Connect event. Our Programs Committee strives to offer compelling, timely topics for Women in Technology. We welcome new members to the committee to help us shape these events and we encourage everyone’s feedback on potential topics. Event survey forms are always available at every WIT.Connect so that you can share your thoughts with us.
Secondly, we learned that more than 50% of members who responded to the survey have been with WIT less than two years. As new members, they found the New Member Orientation effective for learning more about the organization and the various committees and special interest groups (SIGs). We also learned that members who have joined SIGs and other committees feel more engaged with WIT and get more out of their membership. In response to this feedback, we changed the format of our New Member Orientation sessions to make them more interactive. Our goal is to help new members more easily identify SIGs or committees of interest to them, and to provide more time for individual networking.
And finally, not too surprising, we also found that the majority of our members, both recent and long-term, joined WIT for networking opportunities. Your WIT leadership team is committed to being accessible to you and ensuring that WIT provides comfortable networking opportunities at every event. In that spirit, we launched a new WIT ambassador program, a wonderful way to become more involved in the organization and help facilitate the networking process. In addition to our leadership team serving as “unofficial” ambassadors, any member can volunteer to be an ambassador and help welcome new members to the WIT network.
As you can see, the feedback we received from the 2007 survey was extremely important to us and we took action. Our goal is to respond the same way to feedback we receive from the 2008 survey. When the results are in, rest assured that WIT will provide members with a brief summary of results and overview of next steps for the organization.
We look forward to your help in making WIT the organization we all want it to be!
Best Regards,
Charlotte Pelliccia
WIT President |
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Call for Contributors
We’re looking for people to write concise 150- to
200-word summaries that capture the essence of WIT SIG
events for the WIT Connect Rewind Column. Share the good
news and get the byline.
Please contact Le-Marie Vanessa Joan Thompson for details and deadline
dates. |
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It’s Not A Glass Ceiling, It’s A Sticky Floor
by
Rebecca Shambaugh
As a leadership development coach for nearly 20 years, and CEO of a leadership development consulting firm, I have seen (and felt) the impact of the glass ceiling. But there is another phenomenon holding women back that is even more pervasive—the “sticky floors, which are self-limiting beliefs, behaviors, and assumptions.
Knowing which sticky floors are holding us back—and then owning them—allows us to remove some of the biggest obstacles in our path to the executive suite.
The Seven Sticky Floors
1. Achieving Work/Life Balance
Achieving work/life balance starts with self-awareness. Know your key values, priorities, and goals. Be willing to ask for help, leveraging your resources instead of doing everything on your own. Have a plan, commit to goals, and establish boundaries, then convey those boundaries to others around you.
2. Staying In Once Place Too Long
Staying too long in one position can brand you as an expert in one area, causing people to disregard you for opportunities outside your perceived area of expertise. Map out a plan for the next three to five years and share that plan with others who need to know and /or can support you in getting there. Buttress that support with relevant experiences, training, and the right mentoring and coaching.
3. Rejecting Perfectionism in favor of Excellence
Perfectionism is always placing the same high standard for performance on everything. But it’s better to identify the most critical tasks are and put your energy there. Let your team do the more task-related activities. Learn when a job has been done “well enough”— and move on.
4. Building Strategic Relationships
Women tend to build relationships that are personal, not strategic. To build strategic relationships, start with a goal and then identify people who can help you achieve it. Build relationships across your organization as well as outside your company. A strong, diverse network will open up stronger, more diverse opportunities.
5. Developing Political Savvy
Political savvy is having the right “intelligence” about your organization. Learn the best mechanisms for getting information about what’s happening so you can bring value to situations.
Political savvy is also having situational awareness—knowing how people respond to situations and how decisions are made. Information is a powerful tool. Learn to gather it. Learn to use it.
6. Making Your Words Count
Making your words count is not only about what you say but also how you say it. Share only the details that matter. Present relevant facts and information so your message resonates with your audience. Act confident, balance emotion with logic, time your contribution, and have good information to back up your perspective.
7. Asking for What You Want
Often, the only thing that holds us back from getting what we want is not asking for it. Have the right information when making a request. Make it a win-win by creating a bridge between “their” concerns and your interests. Don’t be surprised or take it personally if you get turned down the first time. “No” doesn’t mean “no” forever. Part of asking for something is based on timing and other priorities, as well as how you ask. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Rebecca Shambaugh is president and CEO of SHAMBAUGH. |
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Members on the Move
WIT member Brenda Blisk, CFP®, has been selected as a guest columnist by the Washington Business Journal. Blisk is one of 12 guest columnists selected for 2008. A 22-year veteran of the financial services industry, she is CEO of The Blisk Financial Group, which she founded in 1987. Blisk and her team manage $240 million in assets with clients in 20 states.
Lynne Brodie recently launched her own business, Carnelian Coaching, LLC. Carnelian Coaching facilitates human excellence by supporting people in discovering and maximizing their professional and personal potential. Programs are delivered to corporations, executive leadership, small business, and individuals. For more information, call (703.723.5188) or visit Brodie’s website (www.carneliancoaching.com).
New WIT member Cynthia Haggard also recently launched her own business—Clarifying Concepts (www.clarifyingconcepts.com)—which provides grant writing, speechwriting, technical writing, and public and regulatory affairs writing services for the Washington DC metro area medical field. You can visit her blog at http://clarifying.wordpress.com.
Dede Haskins joined NewVison Health, Inc. (fka InTouch Systems) August 2007 as its CEO and president. NewVision Health provides a point-of-care patient console that offers access to information about a patient’s disease, illness, injury, or surgery. The console also allows access to entertainment options (movies, Internet access, audio books, etc.) to improve the quality of the patient's hospital stay.
Ellen Quinn received the 2008 Korenman award, sponsored by T. Rowe Price, on March 25th at the MDWIT: Women: Leading the Future of Technology Forum. The award honors individuals who have demonstrated leadership in increasing diversity in the information technology or a related field. For more information about the event, please see http://www.mdwit.org/techforum_agenda.html.
Toni Townes-Whitley has been promoted from Unisys Federal Systems to Vice-President and General Manager of Unisys Global Industries' (GI) North American region. In this position, she and her team will be responsible for driving the GI P&L of the regions—across all industries—for orders, revenue, and profit goals and for sales and delivery.
Congratulations to Ann-Marie Triolo on her promotion and relocation to San Antonio, effective April 1, where she becomes Associate Director – Corporate Strategy, ATT. In her new role, Triolo will be conducting research and analysis on ATT priorities that could include Mobility, Consumer, Media and Entertainment, Business, and International. |
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