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The “Complex Sale” in Financial Services By Scott Mills, APR For most companies that sell technology, solutions and related services to the financial industry the selling process is dramatically more complex and require a longer sales cycle than most business segments. Financial institutions are regulated and buying decisions are typically based on what is perceived as “safe.” So what is a “complex sale?” It is usually one that: • Impacts multiple departments, divisions or business units, • Involves a committee or input from multiple people, • Buyers seek multiple options, • Once sold, will be used for more than one year, and • Addresses a strategic need or solves a mission-critical issue. According to Jeanne Capachin, Research Director, Corporate Banking at Financial Insights, “Vendors don’t have to be large to be influential in the financial industry. They do, however, have be credible and show a good balance sheet.” Getting to “Safe” Status Making a complex sale in financial serv...

Special post from my father and founder of William Mills Agency HOW TO MAXIMIZE TRADE SHOW PARTICIPATION By Bill Mills, Jr., Chairman, William Mills Agency WHERE THERE IS TRADE, THERE IS A TRADE SHOW! Every day of the year, thousands of trade shows are being conducted in Holiday Inns, giant exposition halls, fancy resorts and just about anywhere with a meeting hall. The cost of exhibiting often represents as much as 25% to 100% of a company’s “marketing budget.” It also represents a significant hidden expense in time and effort preparing for the convention and follow up. Is participation a good investment? Can you quantify the results? Could the investment have been better spent in additional business advertising or the hiring of one or more sales persons? There is no pat answer, because each industry is different and each vendor of products or services has unique marketing problems. Generally speaking, however, there is an obvious conclusion that can be reached...If trade show pa...

Some companies do a great job in using materials and results garnered from their public relations programs for other marketing purposes. Since the William Mills Agency works with more than 65 companies across North America, we are in a position to see how our clients “repurpose” the work we do for them to enhance their marketing efforts. PR professionals provide ideas on how their work can be used to improve communications with constituents, such as customers, prospects, employees and investors. This article provides 33 ideas for how you can leverage your investment in a public relations program to improve your tradeshow marketing, direct marketing, company website, executive/company positioning, employee communications, customer communications, investor relations and sales materials. Trade Show • Use press releases for “room drops” – attendee outreach on important days of a trade show; • Place enlargements of articles to augment booth signage – on easels or on the booth walls; • Di...

The following is a summary from the 2005 Bankers As Buyers study, prepared by Scott Mills, APR and President of William Mills Agency. The piece is a collection of research, opinions and articles about what bankers will buy in 2005. To view the entire study visit www.williammills.com. Spending Outlook Financial institutions will increase their technology spending in 2005, most analysts agree, though the amount of growth is somewhat in dispute. While no one predicts a large jump in expenditures like the eight percent annual growth of the late 1990s, increases from a couple of percentage points to the mid-single digits over 2004’s numbers will likely be necessary for financial institutions to continue to battle the increasing fraud issue, meet growing compliance needs, maximize efficiencies across the enterprise and meet the demands of the changing payments system. “TowerGroup sees fundamental shifts in the way financial institutions will manage their estimated $362 billion in IT invest...

Why Total Online Presence (TOP) Influences Opinion by Scott Mills, APR Sophisticated prospective buyers, the kind of customers you want, research and gather information before making major decisions. In a business-to-business environment, prospects are likely to get information from trade magazines and newspapers; industry conferences, meetings and teleconferences; associations; business associates; sales presentations and the Web. A poll released in December by Harris Interactive shows that 38 percent of adults use the Web to get information about products and services and 23 percent search for the name of a business associate or colleague prior to meeting them. Logically, companies strive to create a great website that is easy to find. Ideally, prospects can find you easily by using Google, get what they need to assist their decision process, and leave with the impression that your firm can deliver on the need they are seeking to fill. Unless you work for IBM or the major TV networks...