A friend once told me something that I've practiced every since. He said, "It's all in the delivery". For instance, if you said something really nasty (not that I would) to a dog but said it in a very sweet voice, the dog would, most likely, not realize what it was you were actually saying. While this might not be the best example, it does illustrate the impact of delivery.
When you are asked to give a presentation on Inbound Marketing to a prospect (or even an existing client) your delivery can be the difference between closing the deal or losing it. Don't fall victim to the mistake of using a generic approach for every pitch you make. Each prospect is different and so your delivery should be also. One client might be very interested in cost effectiveness while the other is more interested in how they will be able to track progress over time.
We have put together a list of 4 different approaches to hopefully help you with your presentations. We've found that these cover a large portion of the types of prospects we encounter and have been very effective in helping them to "get" inbound marketing.
1. Compare Inbound Marketing and Outbound Marketing
This approach has been very effective when speaking with people that come from a traditional marketing background. While it certainly can be challenging to convince them that giving things away for free is a strong strategy, once they understand the philosophy behind it they are much more likely to climb onboard. One pitfall to avoid is to be sure not to alienate them by inferring that outbound marketing is dead, because it most definitely is not. While you're explaining the benefits of inbound marketing be sure to reiterate that a successful marketing campaign requires a delicate balance of both disciplines. Some points to focus on when taking this approach are:
How consumers purchasing behaviors have changed
How becoming a trusted advisor can translate into sales
How inbound marketing inherently creates a more targeted audience
2. Present Statistical Data To The Numbers People
You will most likely come across a prospect that pays very close attention to the numbers. Not a problem. Simply give them what they need. Describe to them how Hubspot (or whichever software you use) tracks and segments all activity on their site, their social networks, their email marketing campaigns and any other areas that are being used in an inbound marketing strategy. Provide examples of the daily, weekly and monthly reporting you plan to deliver. Show how simple it is to compare data from month to month. There is a TON of data you can give them so find the ones you feel are most pertinent to the prospect and showcase those. Time is limited.
3. Provide Cost Analyis and Case Studies
This is likely one approach that will need to find it's way into every presentation. Not sure I know of a single company that's not concerned with the bottom line. Inbound marketing has plenty of case studies scattered throughout the web that provide statistics on costs associated with it. You can start by sending them to the Hubspot Case Studies list. This may sound obvious but be certain to get some statistics from your prospect prior to your presentation so you can do some analysis and projections for them during the meeting. Showing how inbound marketing can reduce lead costs is huge. Focus on the fact that the traffic generated by and inbound strategy (content, calls to action and lead nurturing) will generally have a higher percentage of qualified leads. Also, the sales team will be more efficient by the fact that they will be reaching out to leads that have proven to be strong by their actions on the website.
4. Demonstrate Hubspot's Software
Seeing this stuff in action is a really strong move in my opinion. I've had the experience of giving a prospect a demo of Hubspot's software and not only did he agree to a contract before I was finished, but when we were done he said, "This thing sells itself!". While I've heard varied opinions on how much of the software you should show a prospect during a demo, I'm a big advocate of transparency. Our approach is that the more we show in terms of it's capability, the bigger the "wow" factor has been. The risk you take by showing too much pales in comparison to the effect this robust software has on new eyes.
Please keep in mind that you have to do your homework. You should have used your prospects goals and benchmarks to demonstrate how their business will benefit from using inbound marketing strategies. All of the above information is well and good in theory but until they see how their business will improve that's all it is.. theory.
If we were forced to sum all of this up we'd say... Read the room!. Know enough about your prospect to understand the best approach for your presentation. Go with the strong points that will both get and keep their attention.
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