Most businesses who use a website to attract new business need to improve their page ranking on the search engine [Google, Bing, Yahoo]. Increasing page result means more clicks, which means more potential customers finding their way to your website

The most economical way to improve your ranking is by using Search engine optimization [SEO] tools

SEO needs a bit of effort and “online” thinking to attract traffic. Check out my 10 basic tips to get started

1. Find out how does your web site rate

 It is very important to be able to analyse if your website content is readable by a person and will they be able to access the content without facing compatibility issues. From a technical point of view, the accessibility to a website is very critical i.e. can the search engine crawl the content of your site digitally?

So first step is to do a website review – A site audit will give you a Manual readability and technical accessibility rating. A starting point for your online optimization action plan.

2. Review the quality of your content

Design and place the right content with the right set of words [Keywords] with in your website – URLs, tittle, page description, and paragraph structure. Think like your prospective customer - what search term would they be using for finding information on the product or service you offer.

Be careful not to over crowd the page with same words, its frowned upon by the search engines and called keyword stuffing.

3. Content back links

Put out the word of you website by having other people writing and talking about your site and services and have the written content linked back to your web site.

Say for example my business Total Business Solution provides sales services and does  SEO Audits for businesses in New Zealand. See how I have used hyperlink on key words which link back to my website. Using such hyper linked text on other related websites will not only increase website traffic but also help your SEO ranking

You can sign up with local online directories to improve back links. Do not use back link farms and non-related sites links.

4. Create a sitemap

This is technical part of SEO – make a map of your main pages you want Google to index, it make it easier and faster for the search engine spider to find and search your site.

5. Avoid Flash

Flash is a nice piece of technology and makes you website look good, however it’s not good for your SEO. Things like frames, flash and Ajax are not recorded by the search engine spider and have a negative aspect for your SEO ranking. If you must use these tools then place the links below the fold.

6. Image descriptions

Search engine bots can only search content text and nothing else, which means a pages with nice images may look great design wise however would not help improve your SEO score. Add an ALT tag with keyword rich description about the image

7. Content

Ensure you keep updating you website content regularly – keep it fresh. This is important for improving traffic. Not only does it have the prospective customer coming back for more information but this also gives other websites and content managers reason to link to your quality content

8. Social Media

This is the silent star of the SEO building, it helps build your brand awareness as well as direct traffic to your site.  Critically it improves your online footprint to grow your network.

9. Share content

Share office activities like staff picnic photos and product launch information along with good quality information created by other websites which may be useful to your network. It helps build new content for repeat traffic, adding personality to your website

10. Create a frequently asked question page or an online support platform

Best way to explain this is, for example you’re a software developer and specialize in financial software called finpower for the loan market. Your perspective customer probably would like to know how much does it cost, or what sort of equipment [Laptop, server] they need to host the software. By answering questions you help your sales pipeline and make yourself an authority on the topic, giving reason for potential customers to come to your website, which in turn improves your ranking.

If you have any questions or what to use our SEO Audit services. Please contact Sanjiv at sanjiv@tbsservices.biz or visit our website www.tbsservices.biz

Industry: Professional Services

Headquarters: Auckland, New Zealand

Size: 5 employees

Sales solution: Multi-touch prospecting

Summary A local small professional service provider needed to increase sales revenue with a system which was in line with their cash flow.Campaign strategy deployed: Integrated data mining, social media, emailing, Highly specialized Tele-qualification, Tele-prospecting and networking.Target market: Target list of well scrutinized businesses with specified demographics and criteria were mined for the client. Prospects in specified 3 vertical markets.Email broadcast generated first wave of inquiries. Every single inquiry was followed up and qualified promptly and when qualified distributed to direct sales. Highly focused Tele-prospecting to the “non-respondents” followed to increase lead ratio and overall campaign ROI.ROI of dollars in the pipeline over 22 : 1

The Company Our client is a local IT service practice which provides on-demand IT solutions. More than 15 regional companies depend on their professional service for their front of the house systems to manage sales, customer service, and support operations. They were founded in 2006 and expanded their operation Auckland wide in 2010.

The Challenge The challenge was to show potential customers how to make the most out of IT services products, from off-the-shelf solution to advanced customization. Rather than rely only on static referral and networking our client wanted to adopt the go-to sales approach to deliver rich, relationship building sales effort. They wanted to reach customers every day, keeping prospects engaged with rich content experiences. The team needed to ramp up sales quickly, to deliver customised easy-to-use IT services, and do it cost-effectively.In addition, the team wanted to measure the sales effort success by tracking lead generation by method. The solution had to be flexible and one that could keep up with present needs of the market without burdening staff. Most importantly, there could not be any hidden costs.

Industry best practice

• Strengthen the sales effort by having the team doing more sales calling
• Hire a specialist sales person in the team to focus 24/7 on sales

The Solution

TBS pooled insights from traditional industry best practices and developed a task based sales model which focused on outcomes rather than on process, making business sales more of an expert team activity.

It made sense for a company to let us manage the hunting part of the sales cycle and in-house the account management of the customers. It helped the business to customize the offering to higher degree and save time and cost with information gatherers. With our multi touch prospecting model we mined existing database and approached new business verticals and territories. Being a small sized business outsourcing sales was a no-brainer, In addition to building relationship touches with over 600 new customers we converted prospects to warm leads who were presold to IT services.

Rather than stick to the typical, referral approach, taking it one step further, they used TBS sales services to inform potential customer about state-of-the-art customised IT solutions, saving hundreds of hours of meetings and cold calling.  On top of that, TBS analyzed how to make the lead generation more effective giving metrics of what works.

The Results

With 2500 new data, the IT business is just scratching the surface of the power of TBS.—deflecting over two months’ worth of sales time.

For our client, return on investment is measured not just in dollars but on customer success. They want people to engage fully with their services, understand the full breadth of their application, and use it right. TBS helps them build the kind of business awareness they seek.

Enquirers from the email

• 18% responses received
• From this 40 near-term sales opportunities were identified- which is a 6% conversion rate from inquiries to qualified opportunities
• Cost per qualified sales opportunity: approximately $100 (including cost of email)

Revenue Generated

• $150,000 in residual pipeline value
• Total program expenditure of $2500

ROI of dollars in the pipeline over 22 : 1

Benefits Summary 

• Moved quickly from static referral lead generation of 4  to 40.

• Easy learning curve with relevant market feedback in weeks, not months.Benefits for end users

• Customers access relevant IT information in record time and easily relate to the personalized presentations.

“Total Business Solution has done it again! Their Sales Services have    changed the dynamic of the industry.  Without a doubt, TBS is a very exciting new service which eliminates the excuses for small and medium businesses not finding new customers.Businesses, like mine,which want to grow but don’t employ an in-house specialist salesforce should be using it to find   new customers. I am blown away by the power,yet simplicity, of the multi touch prospecting model”

Chris Cattaway Global Achievements Learning Development & Consultancy |www.galdac.com

Additional information can be found at: http://www.tbsservices.biz

To contact TOTAL BUSINESS SOLUTION call 0800 33 77 88,

Request a call from a TBS specialist at http://www.tbsservices.biz/contact-us

Frequently asked question on sales in New Zealand

I want to target the SME market in New Zealand? How do I engage with my target market to capture the right clients?

The short answer is – Start with a sales and marketing – business plan in which you clearly identify your niche. Test your offering with a sample size and keep telling your story to an increasing market as often and practical as possible.

The long answer

1. Identify your clients buying process, clearly identifying the trigger events which converts them from the cold database to a warm prospect with a profile and a specific requirement, who is keen to purchase your product and services.
2. Select multiple marketing methods by which you can surround the client with information which offer the ideal value for his pain and how you’re the best solution for his needs. Remember people buy value not benefits or features.
3. Now identify a singular sales method and range of activities within it, that will get you in front of the decision maker or their influencer. Depending on your offering’s complexity, try to front up to a larger groups of potentials than individual contacts to present your value propositions.
4. Balance your communication to be regular comfortable “touches” which are acceptable to the prospect. Quickly shutting out aspects of sales which carry negative impressions.
5. Measure and monitor your interaction at every level so you can tune and assign resources depending on the impact you’re making with the target market. Last thing you need is to spend time connecting, but let your competition close the sale. Clearly identify the task champion who is responsible for the entire sales and marketing activity, otherwise you’re setting yourself for failure.

In our next review, I will talk about sales methods which are most effective in New Zealand – What are different ways to generate new leads in New Zealand?

Sanjiv Deva is the General Manger of Total Business Solution, You can find out more about him and their sales services at www.tbsservices. 

Everyone says  “Build it and they will come”. Has that worked for you? I think its partly true but it does need a bit of a push…

The methods I have talked about in this article are the ones I have either used or have seen being used effectively in New Zealand . The basic challenge for you as a Sales & Marketing Manager is always to continuously identify additional channels that will help to find new markets, and monitize unexplored niches. The methods I have listed below are going to help you do that.

High impact

1. Past clients – Keep in touch with existing customers as they are always a great place to start. Use a basic CRM system which can be part of your accounting or quoting process. Check it monthly, follow up and identify non performing accounts. Remember your existing customers have already bought into your product and services and are most likely to use you again. I often see large companies forgetting to go back to their customers once the service/product is delivered, and automatically assume that the prospect will come back to them for the next purchase cycle. A change in budget or the decision maker might see you overlooked for the opportunity.
2. Build a partnership referral system – This is one of the most underused processes in sales & marketing development. Good partnership referral system is worth its weight in gold. Not all incentives are monetary; I have found that good relationships, common sense and business ethics help deliver good results.
3. Personal Network – most of us start this with a bang. One should continuously explore new options within active demographic regions. Always try to grow into your trade related networks that have branches in different cities.
4. Public seminars and webinars – A great tool to interact with potential customers without the pressure of closing the sale at the location. Most participants are looking to socialize in an informal atmosphere which helps in building relationships
5. Paid speakers – Gives you the opportunity to promote yourself as a brand and become an information/content champion. A good speaker is always sought after by companies and associations, giving you the opportunity to present your view point directly to a large group of potential customers in one room. Word of caution don’t overdo self-promotion as it may back fire.
6. VC relationships – money follows money, there is always someone looking for new skills and services and VC are a great controller of recommendations.

Low impact

1. Unsolicited phone call – Cold call is a great chance to capture and talk directly to the final user, but done badly can have negative repercussion to your brand and offer.  Do get your database in order before you start the calling process. Your expectation of the target market may be different to what the actual sales cycle will deliver. Always test your message and the sales closing process to avoid confusion at the customer services level.
2. Email campaign –A low cost opportunity to put your offering to a large consumer base. It has a marginal open and click rate, though an awesome tool to build brand awareness. Your  campaign needs to be well designed and spread over a period of time, customized to individual taste
3. Advertising – A real good method for over the line brand building. it’s a topic which needs its own section
4. Trade show – Very market and product specific tool. Do extensive market research and identify purchase cycle of your vertical/niche. Reconfirm the customer traffic to the particular trade show you’re planning to attend. Phone a few potential customers to see if they attend such shows. Having a stand in the wrong trade show could turn out to be an expensive exercise with little to no returns for you.

Slow uptake – Long term impact 

1. Well placed article – This gives you time to build and argue your view point and expertise
2. Be on the board of different companies – high value influence
3. Frequent press quote – As an influencer, your perspective is a case to change trends and advice users of habit expectations. If done well, you will generate a substantial sound bite into your target market.
4. High profile dinners and events – Birds of the same feather flock together. Your prospect will know you from the company you keep. Additionally you will be the first to know the future trends likely to affect the market
5. Publish white papers and research – As a content and subject matter expert your advice and suggestions are sought after by many and will help in influencing them to align your services for consumption.

High uptake – slower direct impact

1. Groups and associations – Very time consuming in finding the right set of members.  It sometimes takes too much personal commitment and not as much return on investment as you would expect.
2. Strong website and presence – great brand value , strong method when used as a sales platform for the prospect to purchase your product and service directly
3. Online tools – Search words, back links – Low cost , time consuming acquisition method which are helping the small business stand up against the might of the big business. Use this to create as much disruptive marketing as possible, but always keep an eye on the clock and wallet in terms of time and dollar spend for each converted lead.