Insights Inspired by “The Conversion Code” (Ch. 1)

At least for most of the clients we work with, it’s not just “need more leads?” (the title of this chapter). It goes well beyond that, because leads are life (at least the life of the business).

Smith claims that people buy because they trust you or your business, and that on the web, great design builds trust. He then gives three sources for his assertion. I think the jury is out on whether great design builds trust specifically, but I’ll agree that clean, effective design conveys a sense of quality, professionalism, and competence. Assuming potential customers want (or even demand) quality, professionalism, and competence from the companies they buy from (and it’s fair to say they do), sure, design can increase a prospect’s trust in your company’s ability to deliver quality products and services.

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Insights Inspired by “The Conversion Code” (Introduction)

Following are reactions, insights, commentary, and notes from the Introduction of Chris Smith’s The Conversion Code. To quickly access the other blog posts with my notes from other portions of the book, search our blog using the tag ConversionCode.

After extolling his virtues, Smith writes:

“I truly believe marketing automation is greatly overrated and is being used too frequently as a crutch. Technology and software have become an excuse not to do the real work of picking up the phone and talking to people about what you sell and whether it is right for them. If you want to make more money by closing online leads, you have to pick up the … phone.”

Smith’s comment echoes that of Jeb Blount in Fanatical Prospecting where Blount also touts the need for phone-based sales in addition to social, email, and other forms of digital marketing. All those things are important. They can generate marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and tee up an easier close, but usually you’re going to need to talk with someone to secure the sale—especially in business to business (B2B).

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Cloud modernization simplified: selling the Azure cloud with just four simple words

The landscape of modern business has become increasingly digitized and data-centric—and it only continues to advance by the day. This raises the stakes for companies to operate on more complex, agile computing environments, making it essential for organizations to modernize their infrastructures in order to stay competitive in this evolving landscape. With the unprecedented demand for businesses to obtain, store, and secure their data, the traditional on-premises infrastructure is quickly becoming a thing of the past, requiring a more modern, scalable, and flexible infrastructure like the Microsoft Azure cloud provides.

By now, most organizations realize the need for modernization, yet many still feel overwhelmed by the cloud, what it takes to get there, and which one to choose. When people are already overwhelmed or confused by options and information, giving them even more to ingest likely won’t help them make a decision. By instead focusing in on just a few key concepts and benefits of the Azure cloud, you can help simplify the decision for your customers.

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