Lead Generation Made Easy

I'm doing a set of three live webcasts for BNET about using online conferencing (aka webinars, online meetings, webcasts, etc., etc.) to speed the sales cycle. You've got to register for them, but they're free. The first webcast is "Increasing Leads with Web Conferencing"and it's about how to quickly and efficiently pre-qualify sales leads. The webcast isThursday, April 24, at 4:00pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific or 8:00pm Greenwich.

(Full Disclosure: The webcast is a paid gig. CNET is paying me to appear and the series is sponsored by Adobe. However, anyone who reads this blog knows that I'm no vendor shill. I'm going to give you guys the straight scoop on where the technology really works and where it's a waste of time.)

I'm basing the webcasts on my own experience and on a ton of research on the subject that I've done over the past few years, including numerous interviews with sales professionals who love the technology (and a few who absolutely loath it.)

Just so you know where I stand, it's my opinion that there are many situations in the sales cycle where web conferencing is actually superior to face-to-face meetings, when it comes to moving a sale towards closing. But it ain't no cure for lousy sales skills, that's for sure.

Frankly, web conferencing vendors have done a wretched job of explaining how their products can be used as real-life solutions in sales situations. Taking their cues from the CRM crowd, most vendors have been marketing this stuff as a way to travel costs. Industry-wide, the main marketing message has been "we're almost as good as a real meeting -- and lots cheaper." Man, that's lame.

I must say, though, that the sponsors of the webcast, Adobe, have done a much better job of marketing than most of the other vendors. In fact, they've been talking about how to use online conferencing in sales environments from back in the day when that Adobe division was named Macromedia. So they're pretty forward looking. More importantly, they're brave enough to draw upon my, ahem..., wisdom when it comes to applying this stuff in real life.

Anyway, it should be an interesting series and I hope to see some of my friends from this blog at the event. To register, click on the button below: