I just got back from the Eloqua Experience show in San Francisco and it was a great show for ReadyTalk. We showcased our integration into Eloqua that helps marketers streamline their webinar processes and increase conversion rates for their sales team. There was a lot of buzz around our booth and great interest our integration since it solves a large pain point for marketers who run webinars.

The attendance at my session also reinforced our perception that marketers are very interested in solving this pain. While it was the last session of the show, the room was packed and there were a lot of questions during my presentation and also quite a few people who came up to me after the session to ask very detailed questions. I was very impressed with their engagement and knowledge of both Eloqua and the webinar process.

While we did not win a Markie Award in the category of Sales Impact it was an honor to be a finalist and to sit up front during the awards ceremony. Joe Payne, the CEO of Eloqua, hosted the event and is very dynamic and entertaining speaker.

I would like to thank Eloqua for such a great event and I am looking forward to next years already!

As web conferencing technology becomes more sophisticated and companies become more adept at delivering high value content, a new trend has emerged in hosted webinars. Companies are now asking the questions “Why can’t we charge for this information?” — after all, the hosting companies frequently pay for expert speakers, spend a lot of time on production value and promotion.

Working for a web conferencing company, I see daily the amount of effort and time it takes for us to host our webinar series. Booking speakers, building registration pages, dry runs, practice sessions, content building are only some of the tasks involved.

Admittedly, this is a paradigm shift in the industry where free webinars are the norm. The jump into paid webinars should be a well thought out move taking into account your audience and the value you are offering.

On March 30, we are having a webinar entitled Turn Your Webinars into a Revenue Generator. The webinar is at no charge and will feature 2 speakers who currently charge for their webinars and are very successful. They will tell you how they do it, the lessons they learned and what it takes to be successful.

Join us on March 30 at 2pm EST for this complimentary event.

As the senior demand generation manager at ReadyTalk, Mike helps manage and execute ReadyTalk’s demand generation programs, which include email, online advertising, telemarketing and tradeshows. He also oversees ReadyTalk’s lead management process and marketing funnel by using Eloqua and Salesforce.com to automate ReadyTalk’s nurturing programs and lead follow-up.

In the spirit of Telework week, each person in our department was able to work from home for a day. My day was Wednesday – a good day by any stretch. It is nice working for a company that values work-life balance. Plus, it does not hurt that the web and audio conferencing software we develop is designed to assist remote employees work collaboratively with other employees.

There are certainly some great advantages to working from home but as I discovered some disadvantages as well. I came up with a short list (mostly tongue and cheek):

Advantages:

• Not having to run out the door in the freezing cold weather and scrape your car
• Having time to eat breakfast
• Quiet space to work in without man interruptions
• You get to work in your pj’s with crazy hair
• Have a great web conferencing product to assist me with my work

Disadvantages:

• No one to talk too if your kids don’t bother you
• Have to make your own coffee
• No free bagels
• My home office is cold and dark
• No office doggies to play with

During the next three months, we will be featuring a series of webinars to showcase three use cases for webinars – demand generation, online training and ecommerce.

Webinars are an extremely versatile tool. By their very nature, they are a engaging medium that provides an immersive and interactive experience for the participants. The experience, when combined with the technology behind the scenes, allows webinar hosts to learn a great deal about their participants. This information can be used to optimize online training programs, generate qualified leads for your sales team or increase revenue through a paid webinar program.

On February 23 at 2 p.m. EST, we are featuring a panel of speakers that are responsible for managing their organizations’ online training programs. You will learn about the impact their online training program has had upon their organization as well as tips on how to structure and administer your own online training program.

On March 26 at 2 p.m. EST, join us for a discussion of using webinars for ecommerce and two speakers, Mary O’Brien from PPCSummit and Larry Sterne from SIPA, who are successful at generating revenue from their webinar program. Mary O’Brien took her physical event and moved it online successfully, while Larry has been successful making money in a very tight industry that has been hit hard by the economy.

Demand generation is the featured topic on April 23 at 2 p.m. EST, with demand generation specialists from Rally Software and Newsgator. They will share their tips on how to structure a successful demand generation webinar program as well as the critical features you need to be successful.

Register for one of these events or all of them. Learn more about the different uses for webinars so you can start your own series or optimize your current one.

As the senior demand generation manager at ReadyTalk, Mike helps manage and execute ReadyTalk’s demand generation programs, which include email, online advertising, telemarketing and tradeshows. He also oversees ReadyTalk’s lead management process and marketing funnel by using Eloqua and Salesforce.com to automate ReadyTalk’s nurturing programs and lead follow-up.

This post is the third and final post in a series on Creating a Service Level Agreement between Marketing and Sales.

Previously in this series, I discussed the creation of an SLA that contains a definition of a marketing qualified lead (MQL) and a process for level of effort. In the final post on this topic, I wanted to show you how you bring this all together with reporting and what Brian Carrol refers to as Closed Loop Feedback.

As with any process change, proper tracking and reporting will let you know what needs improvement and what is not working. In the case of MQLs and level of effort, we have implemented a MQL dashboard at ReadyTalk, which tracks how many MQLs are accepted by sales, how many are won/lost and the average deal size. The most important of these is the MQL conversion rates in these areas. If a large percentage of MQLs are being rejected by sales, the MQL definition needs to be revisited and tweaked. Similarly, if a large percentage of MQLs are being accepted but the opportunity is not created, the MQL definition needs to be revisited. This is especially true in our model since all accepted MQLs should be made into working opportunities.

While the dashboard gives you a quantitative measure of how your new process is performing, the closed loop feedback system gives you a qualitative look at each lead. Brian defines this system on his blog. We have instituted weekly gatherings of pertinent parties for this closed loop feedback process. Each lead that has made it to MQL status is discussed. With direct feedback from the sales representative who owns the lead, we are able to fine-tune the process.

Any process change should be accompanied by metrics that can be used to judge the success of the new process. The MQL dashboard and closed loop feedback system are tools we use at ReadyTalk to help our sales team with more qualified leads. What are some of the processes you use? Did I miss anything?