Sales

You are currently browsing the archive for the Sales category.

Marketing Campaigns

October 26, 2009 in Marketing Campaigns, Marketing Plan and Budget, Sales, Traditional Marketing | No comments

Marketers can use a wide range of media to communicate with the market. In many B2B companies, a sales team is the primary method for reaching out to the market. Salespeople call prospects and customers, but they can only do so much in a day. Marketing campaigns can dramatically increase your reach.

A marketing campaign is a series of touches with your market to communicate a key message. The key word is “series” since it usually takes multiple touches for your audience to recognize your message and respond.
Marketing campaigns can include many different media:
•Email, search, banners and other online marketing
•Publicity
•Direct mail
•Publicity
•Telemarketing
•Trade shows and events
•Print, radio and other “traditional” media

1. DETERMINE BUSINESS GOALS
The first step is to look at your business goals. What do you need to accomplish? Identify all of the business goals that will need marketing support. You may need campaigns to generate and nurture prospects, sell direct or through a channel, or market to existing customers.

2. SELECT CAMPAIGN MEDIA

For each goal you checked, move to that section to learn about the different media options available and how you can use them. Evaluate ideas and options: traditional sales activities, internet marketing, telemarketing, direct mail, email, publicity and more.

2.1. OBJECTIVE: GENERATE NEW LEADS

Here are the media that are most appropriate for lead generation campaigns – use those that you believe are appropriate for you.

Cold Calling
Outbound Calling
Online Advertising
Email Campaigns
Organic Search
Paid Search
Webinars
Viral Campaigns
Tradeshows or events
Seminars
Press Releases
Speaking Engagements
Blogs
Sales Letters or Post Cards
Print Ads
Yellow Pages
Radio
Outdoor advertising

In upcoming posts we will cover the following steps in building a marketing campaign.

QUALIFYING LEADS
NURTURING EXISTING LEADS
DIRECT SALES
CROSS-SELL OR UP-SELL TO YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMERS
NURTURING CUSTOMERS
GENERATING REFERRALS

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Tags: , ,

Don’t Stop Marketing In A Slow Economy

October 7, 2009 in Marketing Campaigns, Marketing Plan and Budget, Sales, Traditional Marketing | No comments

When the economy slows so should your marketing, right? WRONG! If you think that cutting back on your marketing dollars and riding out the slow economy is the thing to do then think again. Now is the time that you should boost your marketing efforts in order to keep the sales coming in.

It’s just common sense, when running up a hill do you cut back on your breathing? No, your lungs need to expand further and more frequently to get more oxygen into your body. Marketing may be the only thing that keeps your business alive in a slow economy.

When fewer people are buying products and paying for services then you have to increase your market share in order to maintain your revenue stream. In fact you can gain market share buy doing the opposite of what many business owners are doing.

However, be smart about what you are doing and make sure your marketing budget is being utilized as efficiently as possible. Here are some ideas.

Hopefully you have been diligent and you have tracked the return on investment (ROI) for the marketing campaigns that you have run in the past. Do you know how much revenue your yellow page ad has generated in the last year? How about mailers, web advertising, email campaigns, print advertising, etc… If you have not been tracking these things then I suggest you start right away. Once you know how your marketing efforts have paid off in the past take the most profitable two or three and put your marketing dollars into those areas.

You can make your marketing dollars even more efficient by only marketing to a targeted audience. Do some research and determine who your buyers really are and keep your marketing dollars targeted directly at them.

In times like these rather than worry about a broad image campaign for your company that will do little for short term results I would suggest creating high quality attractive materials that will enhance the image of your company, this includes your website, emails, brochures, business cards etc… and use them to enhance your image in your targeted campaigns. 

Do you have a customer database? If so then this should be one of your main areas of concentration. Most products and services are not once in a lifetime purchases, so your existing consumers who have already purchased from you are likely to purchase again as long as your product or service met their needs. Use this database extensively in all of your marketing efforts. If you do not have a customer database then start building one now for future use.

Try to be different; what is your Value Proposition? If you are a business with lots of competition (most businesses are) then why would a consumer choose you over another business providing the same product or service? What do you bring to the table that the others don’t? (Great customer service doesn’t count in today’s market, it’s just expected) Your Value Proposition can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Think about how you can be better than everyone else and sell that to your customer.

PR is a great (and inexpensive) way to generate interest in your company. Be willing to share your knowledge and expertise with the general public or those in your industry. Make yourself known to the media and offer subject matter that may be of interest to their readers. Offer to speak at meeting and conferences, offer seminars and workshops and invite the local media to attend, share success stories and be available for interviews.

Networking is a low cost way to get in front of live bodies that you can actually talk with and share what you do. I have had countless opportunities arise simply from introducing myself and what I do. Be willing to listen to others and consider how you can help them as well, nobody likes an attention hog. There are many ways to network in your community, for example: Chamber of Commerce, associations, networking groups, social events, etc…

The bottom line is this, your businesses bottom line may depend on you to take action and evaluate what you are doing now with your marketing dollars and make the changes necessary now to secure your company’s financial future. However DON’T cut back on your marketing budget, it may be the difference between keeping the doors open or shutting them for good.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

More on Sales

August 10, 2009 in Sales | No comments

How to Handle Sticker Shock

You know you have a hot prospect.  You’ve established the need, presented your value proposition, and she wants your product or service.

And then BOOM, she’s gone like a cat up a tree. 

What happened?  Sticker shock.

Like coaxing a cat, overcoming sticker shock requires finesse.  You’re going to have to be convincing so your prospect comes back to the table.  Remember, a cat doesn’t come down until it wants to. 

What to do?  At the first sign of distress, ask why. You’ll probably hear one of three reasons:

1)  Value.

Understand & acknowledge these concerns – it’s a normal step in the sales process.  You need to help your prosect see the value, to taste it.  But if you’re not getting anywhere, what can you do next?

 2)  The takeaway.

I was once selling a $30,000 server to a small business CEO.  He recoiled when he heard the price — as much as he needed the hardware, he said “I’ve never spent that much for anything in my business.”  Well, of course he does, but his landlord doesn’t ask for two years’ rent upfront and his employees are all paid every two weeks.  He laughed when I brought up this fact and we worked out a lease deal that was more attractive for both of us.

3)  Stay true to your value proposition.

Of course it’s wise to prevent the shock in the first place.  Get price out on the table early — you’ll weed out the companies who truly just can’t afford it.  I like to compare the price of my product to another purchase they’re likely to have made, then ask how they came to the decision to make that purchase.  That information helps me involve the right people and make sure we’re on the same page as we move through the sales process.

But remember:  Listen to the market.

  If every cat on the block is in the trees, you probably have a bigger issue.  Your company may need to look at your competitive positioning strategy, your brand, your messages, even the sales skills of your team … and your price.  Market feedback is powerful.  Listen carefully or the cats will never come home.  If you’re in business to be the low-cost provider, then you need to be the low-cost provider — discounts and deals are your life.  But if your value proposition is product leadership or customer intimacy, you need to focus on that value and stand behind it.  If she absolutely must keep the price under a certain ceiling, what’s in your proposal that she can live without?  Restructure the deal accordingly.

2)  Pull out the calculator.  Cash upfront may be painful — can she afford to lease or set up a fair payment plan?  Your prospect may not agree with you on the value you provide.

2)  Competition.  If she’s shopping your competitors, you have to convince her of the incremental value you provide.

3)  Cash.  If she doesn’t have a budget line item for your product/service or has used it all up, you have extra work to do.  Small companies have a particularly difficult time — there are fewer accounts to move around or money may literally come from the owner’s pocket.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!