They Ask You Answer A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today′s Digital Consumer

TURN CUSTOMERS INTO EVANGELISTS TO DRIVE SALES AND GROWTH

They Ask, You Answer explains a simple approach to inbound marketing with an exceptional track record across many industries. How can a single approach to selling be so versatile? Simple it′s all about the customer. All potential customers need answers along their way to making a purchase, and They Ask, You Answer shows you how to become the oracle in your industry.

Before Marcus Sheridan founded The Sales Lion to coach and consult on world–class communication strategies, he turned around a pool installation company on the edge of collapse during the 2008 financial crisis using the methodology described in this book. He understood his customers′ problems and took the brave step to openly talk about them on his company′s website. Whether you′re a one–man sales team (like Marcus was) or managing a department, this resource gives you all the practical techniques and proven advice you need to develop a profitable inbound marketing strategy based on quality content. Along the way, examples and revealing case studies show you how companies are benefitting from these techniques. Without a marketing degree or computer expertise, you can immediately attract high–quality prospects into your internet sales funnel by:

• Replacing outdated hacks like keyword stuffing and link building with genuine content that will be useful along the buyer′s journey
• Getting buy–in from your organization and inspiring in–house experts to produce authoritative content
• Raising your company′s digital profile and enabling delighted customers to tell others about their experience

Foreword ix

PART I A Very Different Way of Looking at Business, Marketing, and Trust 1

Chapter 1 The Fall 3

Chapter 2 A Massive Buying Shift and the Blur between Sales and Marketing 9

Chapter 3 This Book Won t Work for You If . . . 13

Chapter 4 The Discovery of They Ask, You Answer 17

Chapter 5 They Ask, You Answer Defined 21

Chapter 6 Brainstorming the Questions You Are Asked Every Day 23

Chapter 7 The Ostrich Marketing Strategy 27

Chapter 8 The CarMax Effect 29

Chapter 9 The Discovery of the Big 5 37

Chapter 10 Content Subject 1 Pricing and Costs: Why We Must Talk about Money 39

Chapter 11 How One Article about Money Generated More Than $3,000,000 in Sales 43

Chapter 12 Case Study 1: High–End B2B Technology Company Generates More Than $8,000,000 in Additional Revenue 51

Chapter 13 Content Subject 2: Problems: How to Turn Weaknesses into Strengths 59

Chapter 14 Addressing the Elephant in the Room 61

Chapter 15 How Talking about Our Problems Generated More Than $500,000 in Revenue 63

Chapter 16 Case Study 2: An Equipment Financing Company Becomes a Digital David and Conquers the Industry Goliaths 65

Chapter 17 Content Subject 3: Versus and Comparisons 73

Chapter 18 The Critical Need for Unbiased Content 77

Chapter 19 Content Subjects 4 and 5: Reviews and Best in Class 81

Chapter 20 Using Reviews to Establish Yourself as an Expert 85

Chapter 21 The Impact of Discussing the Competition 89

Chapter 22 Case Study 3: Small Retail Appliance Store Dominates Online and Makes Millions 93

Chapter 23 The Competition 101

Chapter 24 How They Ask, You Answer Saved River Pools and Spas 107

PART II The Impact of They Ask, You Answer on Sales Teams 111

Chapter 25 How Great Content Is a Total Game–Changer for Sales Teams 113

Chapter 26 A Dramatic Discovery 117

Chapter 27 Assignment Selling 121

Chapter 28 How One Remarkable Couple Changed My Perspective on the Power of Content to Sell 127

Chapter 29 Content Never Sleeps 131

Chapter 30 Using Assignment Selling to Avoid Common Sales Pitfalls 135

Chapter 31 Using Assignment Selling to Determine Compatibility 139

Chapter 32 Case Study 4: How a Start–Up Company in the Health Care Space Became the Thought Leaders of an Entirely New Industry 143

PART III Implementation and Making It a Culture 151

Chapter 33 The Power of Insourcing and Using Your Team to Create Incredible Content 153

Chapter 34 How Block Imaging Embraced a Culture of Insourcing 157

Chapter 35 Starting Off They Ask, You Answer with a Bang: Company Workshops 161

Chapter 36 The Content Manager Qualities, Hiring, and More 167

Chapter 37 On the Importance of Tools: Measuring Return on Investment, the Power of HubSpot, and More 175

PART IV Your Questions Answered 183

Chapter 38 How Do I Find More Time to Make This Work within My Organization? 185

Chapter 39 Just How Important Is Video to Inbound and Content Marketing? How Does It Relate to They Ask, You Answer? 191

Chapter 40 How Long Will It Take They Ask, You Answer to Work? 197

Chapter 41 Is Content Marketing and They Ask, You Answer Just a Fad? 203

Chapter 42 How Can I Keep My Team Engaged in the Content Production Process? 205

Chapter 43 I ve Been Told If We re Not Adding Anything New to the Conversation, Then We Shouldn t Be Talking about It 211

Chapter 44 A Revolutionary Marketing Strategy 215

Index 219