Sales & Marketing Strategies: GPS For Your Business

Author: Valerie Dennis

Business owners have a lot to accomplish in a day, week, month or year. On most days, you may feel like you have all the symptoms of ADD because competing priorities don’t work on a schedule. So when the subject of sales and marketing comes up, it almost becomes a philosophical debate. How do justify the time and money for something that seems a bit intangible? Websites are great and sometimes really cool, but…will they make a sale? Sales and marketing efforts are not just about your website–that is a subset , a tactical element. You can have a really great product or service, but it is the strategies that will get it to market and build a sustainable sales pipeline. In other words, the best products and services don’t sell themselves—at least not for long. If they did, we wouldn’t have sales and marketing people—how dull would that be?

In a conversation recently with a prospective client, we were talking about how they invest in their client for the long-term—adding ongoing value and aiming for the sale after the sale. It is a good way to look at marketing and sales strategies, consider them critical investments. They are the roadmap for how you are going to grow—and keep growing. That’s worth time and money, right?

When might you need such help? Examples include: Before you enter a new market or start a company, if you want to validate a business concept, customer needs are evolving, introduce a new product or service, you need accelerated growth or greater differentiation, you want to find the next big thing, there’s an increase in competition and a loss in market share, or sales have stalled or declined.

What is interesting is that when we are the purchaser, we tend to weed out the “Me too” category. When we buy a car, running shoes, groceries, look for a doctor or day care, etc. we do our homework because there are a lot of options to choose from and places to buy. As the seller, we sometimes think our benefits are obvious. They might be—but there are lots of options to choose from and places to buy…and your prospective customer will do his homework. It starts with the basic premise if you aren’t easy to find or you didn’t find them, you’ve lost the prospective sale.

Naturally, we want the sales to keep rolling in and we want our customers to recognize our value. Some might say that their businesses are growing by referral. Perhaps for a lucky few that happens. But I would tell you that time and again businesses eventually need to rebuild the pipeline because referral business was only good for a while.

In the simplest analogy, sales and marketing strategies are like GPS—it will get you to the right place, unless you have a bad address and an ill-equipped vehicle. Here is what you want to know:

• you need an accurate address to get you to the right place, at the right time. (I.e. lead generation, sales prospecting, market research)
• your “hosts” need to know who you are and why they should talk to you—rather than your competition (I.e. brand, key messaging, differentiation, competitive analysis, product marketing)
• you need to know how many others are just like your current “host”, who might also buy from you (I.e. prospecting, channel development, sales pipeline)
• you need to know when to visit, what to say, how to say it and how to keep them talking to you (I.e. qualifying a prospect, sales strategy and process, marketing and communications)
• you want a reliable vehicle—does your car break down on the side of the road or is it shiny and new, with a navigation system? (I.e. brand, channel development, marketing strategy, sales)
• you need a map to give you turn by turn instruction–not directions like “take a left at the red barn, go past the cows–the spotted ones, not the brown ones…” (I.e. strategy, sales tools, marketing, messaging, customer relationship management)
• you need a guidebook to make your “trip” productive (I.e. sales methods and tools, marketing and messaging, customer relationship management)
• you want people to invite you back—or at least welcome your next visit–and they’ll only do that if you answer “what’s in it for me?” (I.e. sales pipeline, growth strategies, positioning, ROI)

Sales and marketing strategies help you get the right address (prospects), a working vehicle (message), the most effective route (channel)…and the sale. Sales is not a passive process. It requires discipline, strategy, planning and execution. If you put time and money into the quality of your products and services, why wouldn’t you put time and money into generating revenue?

From a lot of folks I hear “I don’t have time and I don’t like to sell” and when you drill down on that statement, they will also tell you they don’t know how to sell. That’s okay. Let’s face it, sales people are a distinct breed. But in this case it’s important find someone to help you overcome these challenges. The same goes for marketing.

I realize that it is difficult to invite someone into your business to help shape your strategies. It is a matter of trust, among other things. But business is dynamic, not static. Marketing and sales plans aren’t built once and kept for a lifetime. Market indices will affect your business, your competitors will reshape your customer’s preferences or needs, or product/service obsolescence will force the change. Stuff happens. But what I have found is that with the right people in the room (ideally people with practical experience who lived through the execution of their own ideas), who genuinely want the best for your business, you will find the answers you need and perhaps even some you didn’t think about. Sales and marketing is an investment, a critical one.

Technorati Tags: consultants,sales strategy,marketing strategy,sales,marketing,growth strategy,growth,consulting,brand,channel marketing,business development

Learning a new category?

Author: Julie Abraham

This blog post is about how you go about getting to know a new product category and managing new brands.  I’m currently learning all I can about the Premium and Luxury Faucet category.  Here are some of the steps I’m undertaking to master a new category:

1. Determine what market research is available – Whether it is syndicated or otherwise, seek out any research that has been conducted for your company and your category.  Read it and make notes of opportunities and threats because this will become part of your “story” or your rationale for your roadmap going forward.
2. Analyze sales reports – Understand your brand in terms of top selling and worst selling SKUs and sub-categories.  This will help you determine where you can build and potentially expand and will also help you understand potential cost savings from SKU rationalization. 
3. Brand framework – You will want to understand the existing foundation for your brand.  What is your brand positioning?  Or what is it supposed to be, even if you’re not delivering on it yet.  Who is your target customer/market?  What is your product portfolio missing?  What are the opportunities in the category (as you found in number 1 above)?  What are your strengths and weaknesses?  This is the beginning of your SWOT analysis.  Be sure to read all of the latest press releases too.
4. Competitive analysis – Once you understand your brand framework, you will want to understand how you are different from your competition.  This includes your brand positioning, target market, product portfolio, distribution channels, and pricing.  This information will help you complete a SWOT analysis.  Undertaking a competitive pricing analysis is one of the quickest, best projects you can perform to really understand your competition.  Visit all of your competitor’s websites and determine what they do well and their weaknesses.  Read their press releases.  Create a Google alert for your brand, your competition, and your category.
5. Talk to other employees – Gain an understanding on what they think about your brand, your company, and your category.  You are collecting data so you can determine your objectives and deliver results to your company.
6. Conduct customer visits in the field with your sales associates – This is one of the best ways to understand your category, your products and your competition.  Be ready with lots of questions for the sales associates and your customers.  You need to be open and receptive to whatever you hear.  Remember this is all about getting a benchmark on metrics.  You’re wanting to find out what your brand/company does well and can do better.  Find out what makes them recommend products.  Is is the quality of the products or the level of customer service they get from manufacturers?  Or something else?

These are all of the things I am undertaking right now.  I’m excited to learn about a new category and new product lines.  Please comment on this blog and tell me what you would differently or in addition to what I’ve listed here?

Social Media Madness

Author: DeVerges Jones

The emergence of social media networks has caused the world of marketing to shift much of its attention to these vehicles as keys to success in developing brands. I don’t necessarily agree and believe that we need to take step back. Good marketing is first and foremost developed by having well defined and specific objectives and a strategic platform that is well thought out. With the advent of the Internet many marketers said “We can change our strategy and or web site everyday if we choose.” This is a classic example of mis-guided thinking! This short-term nano reactionary thinking does not circumvent the need for a strategic and thoughtful approach to reaching consumers and customers.

Keep in mind that Twitter, Facebook, My Space are all tactical media vehicles that can be used to develop a program to communicate to consumers. They are not strategies – they are tactical programs just like the Internet, radio, print or network TV.

Many companies don’t have a strong and intimate understanding of their users but they will gravitate to the hype associated with digital media. Any advertising effort that is not well grounded in a fundamental understanding of consumer wants is not going to drive sales and profits over the long-term.

Social media will like other mediums evolve overtime and take its place as a formidable tool for marketers. It is not the end all – more over it is a part of a vast array of tools that marketers have at their disposal.

Let’s get back to doing more strategic thinking and stop employing knee jerk reactions to the next social media product that hits the market. Let’s evaluate the true role within the overall marketing mix that social media can play and how it can cohesively react with other forms of communication.

 

Technorati Tags: social media,twitter,facebook,myspace,marketing,marketing strategy,strategic marketing,business

Brand Rehab

Author: De Verges Jones

As we have seen over the last few years many celebrities have gone into rehab for a host of reasons. In many instances abuse and self inflicted problems have been a big problem. These issues are serious and I do not want to minimize the impacts that these things have had on major stars, athletes, politicians etc. However, some of these symptoms and consequential problems have happened to brands. This type of neglect and various forms of abuse have caused many a brand to fall into a dismal free fall.

Companies that have successful brands can sometimes neglect them and inflict pain: cost cutting, reducing advertising budgets, poor merchandising, too much focus on distribution only programs, lack of understand the customer or consumer, eliminating product development, limited to no review of the business and the industry in relation to the brand. With these types of abuses a brand can erode in a manner that requires rehabilitation.

My background has been grounded in consumer packaged goods, strategic planning and advertising. I have seen many brands come and go in my day and believe that there has been a transformation of the interpretation of what a brand is and how it is to be nurtured. I believe it is critical to “get back to basics.” The following are the steps that I feel are needed to avoid brand rehabilitation.

1. Identify clearly the problems and opportunities that your brand faces from both an internal and external (marketplace) standpoint. Then prioritize what is most critical. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Peter Drucker one of the greatest management thinkers ever suggests that “it is critical to focus on opportunities rather than problems.” Also, some of the most serious problems may have opportunities hidden in them.
2. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water! Avoid trying to reinvent your brand without clinically evaluating its current merits. The inherent strength of your brand is what gained the success that you enjoy. However, if a major overall is needed make sure that you clearly understand its ramifications on your brands strategic framework and connection to the user.
3. Fight for budgets that you need especially in recessionary times to nurture the development of your brand. If challenged to reduce your budget make sure all other departments or divisions contribute and suggest that their cost cutting should be used to fuel marketing support.
4. Don’t wait for your brand to have a heart attack! If there is a severe competitive threat, a product performance weakness, poor sales execution overtime etc. serve these up to your management in as serious a manner as possible.

Brand development has never been more critical than it is today. Don’t let anything get in the way of insuring that your brand avoids going into rehab. Be a brand champion!

Technorati Tags: Brand,Marketing,Brand Management,Business