The basic selling process is simple and is as follows:
Get their attention, secure their interest, give them a convincing reason to buy, arouse their desire and then close them.
Marketing seems to be a difficult concept for many owners.
It is part art and part science. The Valley Economic Development Center in Van Nuys, California offers a program called the Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) to help business owners improve their business. Over twelve weeks, the participants cover strategic planning, competitive advantage, sales, finance, human resources, operations, leadership, and marketing.
If you asked the individuals that participate in the ETP why they are there, they will tell you that they need help marketing.
Yet, the two workshops on marketing (competitive advantage and marketing) are the workshops most often missed. It has nothing to do with the date, the time, or the location of the workshop.
It has everything to do with the subject matter.
The owners I speak with who are not happy with their business condition have told me in effect, “I already know that marketing stuff.”
My standard response is “If that is the case, why is your business in such lousy shape? Why are you here?”
This article can serve as either a refresher course, a wake up call, or validation for what you are already doing regarding marketing your business.
People
Marketing, like most disciplines, requires getting and going along with people. Make no mistake; every single person in an organization is in marketing. From the receptionist to the custodian, impressions are formed when someone representing the organization does something either well or not so well.
The bottom line: make sure that your people understand they are marketing the business. This occurs every single minute, every single day.
Problems
If your business does not solve problems, you are going to go out of business. People have needs, wants, desires, urges, and impulses that they want filled. That translates to you being a problem solver. The more problems you solve, the higher the need.
The bottom line: make sure that the problems your business solves are at the top of as many lists as possible. Your business will grow as a result.
Product
Your products and services have to solve problems and satisfy needs. What quality level will you offer? Is it your name or someone else’s? Will you guarantee what you deliver?
The bottom line: make sure your products solve problems and build equity (name recognition) in your business.
Positioning
How do you wish to appear and be perceived by your customers and your competitors? Are you a leader, or follower? Are you high priced, low priced or somewhere in between?
People equate pricing and quality with positioning. Think first class on an airliner. Now think economy. Which better fits your organization? Does each product also have that same positioning?
The bottom line: Position yourself before your competition positions you.
Promotion
This is how to get the word out about the business. What works well for your target market? Chances are, you are a follower, so see what the leaders are doing so that you can avoid the mistakes of wasting precious resources.
Testimonials are among the strongest of tools. Scientific research (“9 out of 10 doctors recommend…”) is a good selling weapon. Whatever claims you state, be sure that you can back them up.
The bottom line: Spend resources wisely when promoting your business. Money can disappear very quickly with no results to show for it.
Prospecting
If there is one part of selling that people hate, it is prospecting. The sales cycle begins by prospecting. Without taking this step, repeatedly, your business will die.
Prospecting brings new customers into the business as well as new money (Yes!). You should take the time to learn how to do it, and do it well.
The bottom line: If you fail to fill the gas tank, the engine will stop running. Prospecting equals putting gas into the tank for your business.
Place
This refers to how you will distribute your products and services to your customers. Will you do it directly, through wholesalers, through retailers, or use the Internet? How many locations will you have? What images will those trucks, delivery people, stores, bags display? If you are selling in more than one area, or in different channels of distribution, who will manage each channel?
The bottom line: Start out in one channel and do it exceedingly well before you move to another channel. Do not lose sight of the objectives of each channel, because cannibalization of sales can happen very quickly.
Price
I am a bit leery of telling people how they should price their products, because they know their industry better than I. But regardless of how you position your products, price every item so that it is profitable. If customers can “cherry pick,” (and they will) you will lose!
The bottom line: if you charge more than a competitor, have at least ten easy to understand reasons for doing so. People are usually suspicious of low prices.
Process
Marketing is a process, yet most people do not recognize it as such. The process is in effect from the time you start marketing, using whatever means you need to acquire customers.
To improve your marketing, you need to know what your process is, and how long it takes from the time you start the process, to the time money ends up in your bank account. That way you will not be discouraged when your efforts do not show immediate results.
Your business model should be set up so that you don’t just sell the customer once and never have a transaction again. Set up your business so you secure repeat business from the same customer.
The bottom line: learn the marketing process for your organization; create if it does not already exist.
Priority
No successful businessperson I have ever met got that way by putting marketing on the back burner. Marketing is, and should be, your highest priority. If you are in a slump or riding high, the only way to get what you want is to market.
The bottom line: Spend at least 40% of your time marketing and it will only be a matter of time before the results kick in.
These are good times; the second halves of most decades are. While individual segments such as mortgages, housing and manufacturing might be suffering at the moment, most industries are doing well and the prospect for the future is bright. This is particularly true for those industries operating in the B2B segment (Business 2 Business).
When things are going well, those at the top usually don’t have time to spend thinking about the aspects of the future that aren’t so pretty, because they are so busy trying to manage the growth and problems of the moment. Which makes it all that more important to create a plan to refer to when the local, regional or national economy slows down, or when a particular segment, whatever it might be, hits tough times.
A good plan begins not with a goal, but gaining an understanding of the facts. For every organization, that means developing an early warning system, or series of early warning detectors that give advanced symptoms of what is about to take place. These are leading indicators, and every company has unique ones. Leading indicators might include a slowing in the number of appointments that the sales force is able to secure. It could be a slowing of the number of proposals that the sales force is developing for presentation. It could be that repeat orders are slowing. It might be the number of web site inquiries or the number of telephone calls that are generated through advertising. Whatever the leading indicators are, they should be identified and monitored.
The second step is to set a goal that focuses the organization to address the situation. Lincoln did not first say that his goal was to preserve the union; before he did that he gained an understanding of the facts not only through personal observation but by sending men he trusted to be his eyes and ears and to report back to him with the unvarnished facts so that he could set a goal.
The goal has to short, simple and easily understood by everyone in the organization. A good example might be “retain every client.”
In the movie “Remember the Titans” the defensive coach calls the team to the sideline and tells his players that the opposition is not to gain “another yard.” This is short, simple, easily communicated and most importantly, understood. The goal will vary according to the situation, but a rallying call has to be established by the leader.
Next, take an inventory of what is available now to deal with the problem, and what might be available in the near future. Add to this inventory a candid list of dangers and weaknesses.
Another way to phrase this step is to perform a SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats) analysis. A SWOT analysis is an all purpose, all powerful tool that many at the top could use more often. It is also an excellent vehicle for educating others about a given situation.
The fourth step is to “turn old business into new business.” What are the possibilities for going to clients and partnering with them to create a stronger alliance for the future, so that both parties can benefit in the long run? For example, when tough times hit the airline industry, GE, a manufacturer of airplane engines, began partnering with airframe manufacturers and the airlines themselves.
Fifth, create something tangible to provide to clients. A strong and visible symbol will be long remembered; Lincoln approved the continued construction of the US Capitol in Washington DC during the midst of the Civil War because he said “If people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on.” A visit of a top executive to see clients is a tangible sign, as is a walk through the factory floor.
Finally, break ranks and be bold. Far too many organizations face an uncertain future by hunkering down, doing what they have always done, and hoping that a difficult economy or tough times will just do away.
In a perfect world, creativity in organizations would be at every level. Unfortunately, those at the top have the most invested in a successful future and so the burden of being bold and doing what has never been done before must come from.
The leader is ultimately responsible for having a plan when things go from good to not-so-good. What’s yours?
Many business owners say that they want to increase revenues and profits, but are they really ready? Growing a business is much more than making a wish; it requires a serious commitment as well as staying power. Resources need to be allocated to fund the increase in expenditures that growing a concern requires.
Here are some thoughts that should be considered before a decision is made to increase the sales and client base of any organization.
To grow requires a change in mindset to an external focus. Basic business systems have to be in place and working well. Many businesses can never shift from an internal focus to an external one because the systems are not sufficient to support more clients, production, or delivery than the current level.
Using an analogy of a garden hose, once the decision is made to put more volume through the hose, the leaks better be plugged, and the radius of the hose needs to be sufficient to handle the increased load. Unless this is done, there is going to be a considerable amount of frustration generated. Picture a hose with the faucet opened as far as it can go, with kinks and leaks showering water where it isn’t wanted, and at the end of the hose less than a desired amount of water is being dispatched.
This means that the brakes on growth have to be removed. Leading indicators of success should be identified and a monitoring system in place. This might mean sales calls made, responses to advertising, and so forth.
The organization’s business model needs to support the growth. In some companies, this might mean changing from what is “usual and customary” to something dramatically different. For example, a company that is used to doing work for clients, invoicing them and waiting for payment of 60, 90, or 120 days might change to enforcing a policy of requiring clients to provide a sizable deposit before starting any work.
To that end, before the switch is turned on to grow, the ideal client has to be identified. Unless this crucial step is taken, resources could be wasted as the company may do business with any prospect. The problem is that just any prospect may not be able to afford the company’s product or services, may not be credit worthy, and may over commit to purchases it does not need or cannot handle.
Part of growing is an understanding and acceptance of the best methods for marketing for new clients. Without a plan based on research, it simply becomes guesswork, which can be costly to implement, with no guarantee of a positive return on investment on the expenditure.
Specific goals need to be set at critical juncture points in the marketing process. It isn’t enough to say “We need more clients. We need more revenue.” SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and time-bound) goals need to be established and monitored.
Having a system of accountability is important, if for no other reason than to keep the marketing program on a path of success. At any point the progress can be measured to the action and resources expended, providing clues as to what is working and more importantly, what hasn’t and isn’t.
Last, does the organization have the right people in place to execute the marketing and sales programs that will result in growth? Too often it is assumed that someone who was previously successful in another role or in another industry or segment can make the leap without problems or hiccups.
Only the leader make the decision if a business can support an expansion. Chances are, if the decision is made to grow, changes will have to be made. Are you, as the leader, ready for that?
Invest 5 Hours
BtSEO explains marketing
Joe Girard’s book “How to Sell Yourself” is a must have and a must read for anyone working in or for an organization.
One chapter of the book focuses on going “the extra mile” and what a tremendous difference it can make in your life and in the lives of those around you.
Here are ten rules for achieving success.
Rule One: If you are in sales, make one extra prospecting call each day. Or two.
Rule Two: Work a little longer at the office or shop than you need to. Or, come in a little earlier.
Rule Three: Do something useful around the office or your house without being asked.
Rule Four: Give a little gift to someone special even though there is no occasion for it.
Rule Five: Give a gift to someone not-so-special; it may make them feel special for the first time.
Rule Six: Go out of your way to help someone; just be there when he or she needs you the most.
Rule Seven: Pay a compliment to someone each day.
Rule Eight: Take a load off of someone’s back instead of putting it on someone’s back.
Rule Nine: If you are a student, put in a little more time with the books. If you are a business professional, try opening a book and reading about something you don’t know about. You might learn something.
Rule Ten: Do something for someone, or some cause, without expecting any pay for it.
Try these for a week and see if the condition of your business doesn’t change. Chances are, it will.