The Software Marketer's Lead Generation Report
Practical tips, ideas, and techniques to help software and technology marketers maximize every precious marketing dollar.
The Power of the Next Step
June 2008
Good salespeople know that, to keep a sales cycle moving in the right direction, they should end every prospect meeting or phone call with an agreed-upon next step — preferably one that helps move the prospect closer to a sale.
Yet, surprisingly, this “next step” mentality is not as prevalent in B2B marketing. Besides the offer or call to action in an email campaign or direct mail piece, marketers sometimes fail to give prospects other options. For example, an invitation to place a call or send an email. Or an offer to download another informative document. Or a web page where they can go to learn more. Maybe
even some kind of quiz, poll, or conversion calculator.
In other words, a fallback position that, in the end, could be just as effective as the main call to action — or, in some cases, even *become* the call to action.
The Shocking Power of the “Next Step”
Probably the most startling example of the power of the next step, and why it’s so effective, is contained in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
In his book, Gladwell describes the fear experiments conducted by social psychologist Howard Leventhal in the 1960s. The results of this study are absolutely fascinating. And the implications for marketers are tremendous.
According to Gladwell, Leventhal wanted to see if he could persuade a group of college seniors at Yale University to get a tetanus shot. To do this, he divided the subjects into two groups and gave each a booklet describing the dangers of tetanus and the importance of inoculation. In the booklet, he also clearly stated that the university was offering f-r-ee tetanus shots at the campus health center.
But not all books were the same. Some students were given a “high fear” version, which described the disease very graphically. This version included pictures of tetanus victims having seizures and undergoing painful treatment involving catheters and nasal tubes.
The “low fear” booklet was much more subdued. It still described the disease and its risks, but used a much softer approach and included no pictures.
The Results
At first, the results were fairly predictable. When given a questionnaire after reading the booklet, all students appeared to know a great deal about the dangers of tetanus. Those who were given the “high fear” version were more likely to say they understood the importance of inoculation. Most even stated they were now planning on getting the shot.
But here’s where things get interesting. One month after the experiments, only 3% of all subjects (both “high fear” and “low fear”) had actually gone to the campus health center to get a tetanus shot.
Surprising? Leventhal thought so.
To dig deeper, he conducted the experiment once again with a new group of subjects. Except, this time, he made a very minor modification to BOTH sets of booklets. In this round, he added map of the campus to every booklet. The map showed university health center clearly circled and even a list of times when shots were being administered.
This seemingly minor changed had a tremendous impact on results. After reading the modified booklet, 28% of the new subjects got inoculated. Also surprising, just as many low-fear subjects as high-fear subjects got inoculated.
So, why did such a subtle modification to both sets of booklets — the addition of a campus map and health center hours, in essence, the “next step” — do the trick?
Make it Practical and Memorable
According to Gladwell: “The students needed to know how to fit the tetanus stuff into their lives; the addition of the map and the times when the shots were available shifted the booklet from an abstract lesson in medical risk, to a practical and personal piece of medical advice. And once the advice became practical and personal, it became memorable.”
The lesson for marketers: Don’t underestimate the power of even the simplest “next step” in any marketing piece — especially in documents where you might not normally do this, such as press releases, white papers or case studies.
Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Try to imagine what other relevant information he or she might find useful, practical and, if possible, memorable at this point in their buying cycle. Then, offer them some choices and see what happens.
You just might be surprised at the results.
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Book Review: Lead Generation for the Complex Sale
I recently read Brian Carroll’s book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale”>Lead
Generation for the Complex Sale. If you’re in B2B sales or marketing, and you deal in a complex sale, this is an absolute must-read.
As Carroll points out, the only way to put an end to the internal sales and marketing blame-game, and start producing results that drive revenue, is to take a more holistic approach to lead generation. An approach that starts with mutually defining (by both sales, marketing and other stakeholders) what makes a lead “sales-ready.”
Only then can a company develop and execute a truly effective, multi-modal approach to lead generation. And only then can a company start seeing exponentially better results without a commensurate increase in effort, complexity or budget.
No flaky theories, abstract ideas, or hard-to-grasp concepts in this book. It’s all meat — and written by a guy who eats his own medicine every day. Highly recommended.
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