Tracking CRM suppliers

The sales machines for CRM software is truly amazing in its complexity. After filling out a lengthy form in Word and emailing it to Goldmine, ten days later I get this reply:

In case you don't have this information already, you can contact our local partner XX at 555-1212. They can assist you with any questions etc.

So why did I fill out the survey form? Wouldn't it be better to forward the form to the local partner and have them contact me?

After three emails with the CRM consultant in New Jersey asking me to call him (and not bother with the form he originally sent), I did. We had a good conversation...he got answers he wanted, I did as well. Turns out he is following up from an inquiry two years ago by one of our field sales people.

Thanks Jim

I had known about TinyURL, having seen others use it, but I never thought about using it to solve a problem with a link that is too long in my website. Seems the example they use is a MapQuest link, too!

TinyURL.com - where tiny is better!

Enter a long URL to make tiny:

MapQuest is much better

Straight-forward linking instructions, no pop-ups! The linking instructions help you strip out other server commands out of the link you would normally see in your browser.

They, and everyone else except maps-on-us, show our location down the street, but at least I can get people to our small industrial drive.

Every company needs a map to their offices, right?

Wanted to post about Jakob Nielsen's complaint about URLs being longer than 75 characters. I was going to tell my tale about having to hunt for a web-based map that I need to link to so people can find our company. Let me start there. When upgrading the site, I wanted to ensure the map link was up-to-date (I think it was wrong due to server changes by the mapping service). But the new URL wouldn't be accepted by FrontPage because it was over 255 characters! I haven't tried that link in Dreamweaver, but I may have to.

My elegant solution was to link to another mapping service MapsOnUs, which had a short URL for the map page I generated. But in checking this morning, I find that the URL includes a user code, that it won't let everyone use. My cookie for this user code must have expired because now I found that I get dumped on a generic "enter address here" form. Crap!

As I study their poor website, I find that as a business, I have to subscribe to fancy mapping services starting at 2K a year, or pretend that I am a non-commercial site, in which I can link to their site. No middle ground.

And the MapsOnUs site really sucks, too. The "business svcs" link on their home page drops you to a PDF file. Their linking instructions are long and complicated. And to top it all off their "contact us" page gives text directions to their offices, but no link to a map!

Top Ten Web-Design Mistakes of 2002 (Alertbox Dec. 2002)

Please read the whole list, but here is my pet peeve. I'll address #9 in another post.

7. Infrequently Asked Questions in FAQ
Too many websites have FAQs that list questions the company wished users would ask. No good. FAQs have a simplistic information design that does not scale well. They must be reserved for frequently asked questions, since that's the only thing that makes a FAQ a useful website feature. Infrequently asked questions undermine users' trust in the website and damage their understanding of its navigation.

A nice quiet afternoon and then...

I hear a rumor that Thomas Register is dropping their rates by almost two-thirds. This after I signed at the higher rate. I suspect that these rates are being offered only to use to buy position in TR's web listings and not for actual print space. That would make sense, otherwise they would be at risk for a major backlash.

Until I hear more...Merry Christmas.

I finally got something out of my brain that has been there every time I listen to NPR. Why don't they offer premium services on the web for their paying members? See my comments here:
Rick E Bruner's Executive Summary blog"

Rick's original idea about NPR on MP3s.

New B2B angle

I think I'm going to have fun analyzing the marketing of the CRM software sellers. I had inquired about SalesLogix the other day, to which a company rep promised me literature and a contact from a specialist. No call or literature yet, but I got an email from one of their software consultants. The email is another form, similar to one I got from Goldmine. The disappointing thing is that it doesn't really introduce themselves.

So, I want to know more and go to their website. From the website I learn they also sell Goldmine. But I can't find out where they are located! Even on their training sign-up page there is no indication of a location. Don't people want to make sure the consultant is somewhat local? I do. Are they trying to avoid the issue? Probably. Am I going to pursue their company, not likely.

So what does one do? Google them! Now I know they are from NJ. And I found a nice article by their President that would be a welcome addition to a rather useless website.
Majestic Consulting Group

A moving blog!

The B2blog has found its new home. Now I just need to get Googled!

The answer

Just got this email:

Thank you for your interest in our award-winning CRM software GoldMine and FrontOffice. You recently accessed our web site. Could you please take a few minutes to complete the attached form so I know what you are looking for in a support application? Please save the document before sending it back to me. Thank you.

And I get a one page form to fill out about my needs. The game begins.

What happens next?

I thought I would start my CRM project for next year by requesting information from Goldmine. There are two problems with that.

1. There are three ways to buy the software...through a retailer, through a "partner"/consultant, or dealing directly with the company. I can accept that they have multiple channels, but it does slow me down. What does someone who doesn't want a call from a salesperson do? What does someone who DOES want a call from a salesperson do? Leading to my second problem...

In order to find out who my local "partner" would be, I had to register at the site with complete contact information. After registration they list the dealer's info & website, plus information on the direct person at the company. But, know that I've registered, are these people going to be alerted to my inquiry, or am I supposed to call them??? They didn't offer to send a brochure or a demo CD after I registered, either. For experts in sales management, I'm already dissappointed with them. I'll wait and see if anybody contacts me.

Great article on Google. Two observations: 1. Google being privately owned is one of its strengths. 2. Google's search results would actually benefit if they weren't the only game in town, as people would find less benefit manipulating the search results.

Wired 11.01: Google vs. Evil

Version 1.1 of Google Monitor works. Ah, I can spy on everyone now!
Google Monitor - free web promotion software

TR part 2

Part of the problem with TR's EZ search sites is that they are cross-pollinating, i.e. they link to each other. Unfortunately, this generates multiple instances of EZ sites under one search. Seven different EZ sites populate the first 32 results for the “screw machine products” search I discussed on Friday. To the user this is polluting the search results, plus bumping out at least six other deserving sites.

But how to fix the problem? Google's desire is to run a completely automated website. They undoubtedly feel that links are the hardest to manipulate and the most meaningful. But apparently that is changing. I think over time, they will adjust for such problems. One needs to watch search results over a long-term, like a stock, not over the day-to-day results.

One can register their dissatisfaction at the link at the bottom of the page, but one can only wonder what happens with those.

While checking links for the previous post, I just found out that Google Monitor that I recommended has been disabled by Google, as far as I can tell. Another reason to use a real tool like WebPosition Gold.

Thomas Register rears its head again

While it is not a secret that Thomas Register has been copying IndustrialQuickSearch with "EZ" listing sites, but now they are starting to show up in search results on some terms. Let's make this a case study...its a slow Friday anyway, isn't it?

Search for screw machine products on Google and you will find the seventh result to be an EZ site. This page has a Google PageRank of 0. That's -zero-. What it does have is 16 text links to "screw machine products", each for a different type or category. Review the article I posted yesterday, After PageRank..., to understand that the author considers link text the second most important factor for a page's ranking.

This isn't the first page I've seen with good rankings in Google that would considered to be spamming. Case in point is this site: www.lre.com. Go there and check out the home page before it redirects to the real home page. That page is so loaded with hidden words and links it isn't funny. I just reported to Google via their "dissatisfied with results" link at the bottom of the page. We'll see what happens.

Here is another good article on an SEO trick. I'll have to make this site one of my frequent haunts. PromotionData.com - AllTheWeb can help your Google ranking

After PageRank...

This article says you've got to consider link text in order to benefit in Google. Time to go tweak the website!

Top Two Google Ranking Factors

Say you saw it here first!
Froogle

Alphabet Soup?

This site just got blogged at Strategic Public Relations. If you go there you will see a critique against the use of acronyms. He's right, and I'll have to make sure that "B2B" is spelled out somewhere. But, by the same token, the people I am targeting this blog at should understand this language. Well, perhaps some are so steeped in what they are doing that they don't differentiate their kind of marketing as B2B.

I think we all adjust our conversations to our audience, we just need to make sure our websites do the same.

Another good blog

I'm fixing up the site a little bit before I move it. Meanwhile, check out my blog-roll link to MarketingFix, which is a multi-person blog summarizing news about tech-based marketing.

Who is stupid?

Who is more gullible for scam-quality weight loss products? The consumer who buys it or the media and retailers who sell it? Doesn't anyone stop and ask questions? Or do they just take your money?

Wal-mart, the champion of kid-friendly video games as Paul Harvey tells us, was selling this "Body Solutions" junk. Its been on the market for three years, and now the FTC is finally suing them. From a B2B perspective, the question is when do you tell your customer 'no' on moral grounds?
CBSFTC: Body Solutions Not The Solution

A good read

This article is a good review of "search marketing" for B2B sites.

SearchDay - Search Engine Marketing Boosts ROI for B2B Sites - 6 November 2002
A sample: "The difference between B2C and B2B search marketing is the research," says Ben Lloyd, Account Supervisor for Young and Roehr Group, a B2B marketing communications company. "You have to weed out the consumer searches."

That's us, "I don't know"

Measuring Marketing: Why Doesn’t Everyone Do It?

A good question. For small timers like me, the answer is its not worth it. Well some of the time it is, but then it can be inconclusive, if best. I track activity on our website most closely, but the article even condemns that as simple-minded. Of course saying that we go with our gut sounds simple-minded, but we are in a small-enough organization to be directly connected to the pulse of the customer and the marketing and the web to sense connections that real marketers can only get from tracking numbers.

A lesson in marketing

It's the customer, stupid!

Basic point, your products need to benefit your customer by saving them money or making them money. The root issue is that Moore's Law may be true, but there is no parallel law for need of computing power. Read this for a story about what went wrong with the telecom industry

Fun is out; functional's in
When it comes to R&D, cool doesn't cut it anymore. Here's a surprise: Customers count

A recommendation

I just finished reading this book for one of my last classes. A good story, with a business angle. I liked it because everything about Mars and Hershey is different. The notable fact from the book is that the second M in M&Ms stands for Murrie, who was one of the sons of the President of Hershey. Forrest Mars used him to gain access to supply and distribution contacts.
The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars

B2blog news

Just a post about what's going on with this blog. First more traffic! Thanks to FutureQuest discussion board and Snyeryder.

In December I will be moving this blog to a new server with my own URL, www.b2blog.com, so be prepared. The trick will be in keeping in the search engines and keeping my PageRank of 5 when I move the site.

I get my MBA this month, so this account will close. I'm going to make a new template, first. I'm going to see if I can't create a mission statement that better focuses this blog. I really want to cover all the issues of the small time b2b marketer, but the tech stuff is the most interesting. But I don't just want to be another tech blogger, either. Feedback?