Use Marketing Effectiveness to Increase Sales!

Transcription

1 Get In the Door Use Marketing Effectiveness to Increase Sales!! Dawn Garcia - February 21,

2 What Happened?! Whether new to business marketing, or new to a company or role, one of the first business challenges owners and team members experience is how to grow awareness of products or services in the market. A company may have fabulous items, but if people don t know about them, the company will fail. This white paper offers some highly effective tactics to help organizations learn how to market goods and services, in order to advance sales and revenues.! First, let s differentiate marketing from advertising. Advertising is a means of product or service promotion; marketing is a strategy to build awareness of products or services, often targeted to a region, and using a mix involving product, price, place, and promotion.! Getting Started! Marketing begins with an understanding of the targeting, segmentation, and positioning. Targeting refers to the individuals that are the best customers of the specific products or product line for a company. Targeting is based upon historical sales data, as well as customer feedback, usually gleaned through outreach by leadership, sales or marketing resources. Analysis of this data is very useful in predicting future sales volumes and trends.! Segmentation refers to the natural divisions and clusters of customer groups based upon some common characteristics or behaviors. For example, an outdoor kayaking business might have a segment that is the adventure seekers as well as a busy retired segment. The adventure seekers might be a younger age, and might be more inclined to purchase tickets and equipment online. Meanwhile, the busy retired segment might sign up more for the calm water kayaking trips, and rent equipment on site. The differences in the segment s behavior will guide the marketing focus and choice of promotional items.! 2

3 Positioning is the last of the key differentiators within a marketing strategy, and this refers to where the products are considered within the realm of comparable products in the market. For example, Walmart is considered a low cost choice of a big box store, whereas Target has a more upscale market, as well as a different product line, and a bit higher prices in some items. Consumers expect this as they make choices to purchase in one store or another. Where a company positions it s products is driven by the mission, vision and values of the company, reflected in the line of products offered, where they are placed, priced, and promoted. For example, offering a higher cost skin cream only in a natural products store may support the higher price, based upon appeal to the customers that are seeking a high quality, organic product; a higher price may imply a higher value.! Getting The Word Out!! There are many ways to market new products and services, and the choices need to fit the product or service type, and the needs and interests of the customers. Essentially, the first step to maximizing your market awareness is to understand the needs and interests of customers who have already purchased. As shown below, this generally involves evaluating sales by product data or product line (related items), to determine where there are patterns.! 3

4 ! From the sales data and trends, organizations can usually determine some market segments who have purchased previously, and have experienced value in the process. Past sales are the best predictor of future sales in stable markets. If the market is stable, targeting the identified market segments is the most effective approach. If the market is unstable, predicting the impact to market behavior is required first.!! To clarify target markets, identify as much information about the specific market segments as possible, considering age, demographic data, income, education, marital status, employment status, and so forth. As specific profiles are established, reflecting the target segments begins to align potential buyers into that profile. For business-to-business (B2B) sales, these will often include a variety of different sized businesses within an industry. For business-to-consumer (B2C) sales, these will often be based upon personal characteristics that can be identified by regional marketing searches.! Target Segments!! Once the target segments have been identified (usually three to five), specific customers or customer profiles can be established. This strengthens the targeted marketing strategy. For example, in the kayaking business, perhaps there is a company that produces kayaks, and needs to have a place for their testers to evaluate new models, and to get customer feedback. This segment may involve three different companies, all of which may be B2B buyers of the kayaking company s services. Targeting those companies requires a good understanding of who the potential buyers would be, and how to gain access to those individuals to generate a sales conversation. Likewise in B2C, the adventure seekers might be a segment that reads Kayaking Today, and SeaTimes, creating a great opportunity to advertise in these magazines for an adventure experience package.!! Prospecting Target Segments!! Once the prospect organization is identified, who should be approached? Often this information can be gleaned from an organization s website. One can also call the organization, and ask to speak to the person responsible for X. Generally, unless the name of the prospect is known, a direct call ends with a voic or an administrative assistant taking a message. If you get a name though, next time may be more successful. By far, the most success in making connections with a prospective customer is through direct referrals or introductions from referral connections, brand advocates, or satisfied existing customers. Data driven prospecting can help to identify the person(s) or business to focus upon.! 4

5 Prospecting for new customers or clients in the B2B realm, has a couple of options:! Networking - get introduced to the person from a network connection or referral! Cold calls - making an unsolicited call to a targeted company representative! Using Leverage - a top-down tactic that uses organizational roles to support contacts! Customer referral - a current/former customer makes a warm referral!! Avid networkers experience approximately 70-90% of their new business from warm referrals, that is, people in their business or personal networks who recommend the company, or who know the person, and recommend the business based upon that relationship. In order to achieve high referral levels though, the experience must be exceptional and consistent. The products must meet or exceed expectations, and the service must stand out among the competition. While this is a high bar, it is the best way to grow business quickly and successfully! No other method of business marketing is as effective as networking; nothing. To be maximized, networking activities should spread into new groups of potential customers regularly, to build new relationships, as well as strengthen existing ones.!! Customer referrals are very similar to warm referrals, though are based upon product reviews and experience. In 2016, most purchasers of online products view product reviews prior to purchase, and many individuals make purchase decisions based upon this feedback. If customers have an exceptional experience, this makes a great opportunity to recognize the customer, and get them further engaged, promoting future purchases and referrals. Promotional activities can build customer engagement and advocacy, by offering free or discounted deals, contests, and generally building customer relationships in some way. B2B customer referrals may be especially valuable, as these are even more trusted given the monetary value of most business purchases. A written thank you for business referrals is one way to express gratitude, and potentially build subsequent referrals.!! Using leverage to gain access to key business decision makers, in order to promote product or service awareness, is another tactic that may be successful in some situations. The method involves a simultaneous letter sent to members of the senior leadership team and the President/CEO. The sender states in the letter that they will be contacting these individuals by a certain date, to request a brief opportunity to speak to them about the product or service. All of the recipients are named in the letter, intentionally. This helps the sender to identify who is the responsible decision-maker for the product or service, based upon who routes it to whom. While leaders would likely not take a meeting to learn about the product or service if directly approached, they might act differently if their boss is aware, and expecting them to explore the option. This method works well in larger organizations where it may not be clear 5

6 who would be responsible for a certain department or work process. A diagram of the Circle of Leverage system, by Michael Boylan, from The Power to Get In, is noted in Appendix A.!! Lastly, cold calls can be used when none of the other methods have been effective or available. Generally, cold calls are the least effective method, as trust has not yet been established through a relationship, so the sales experience is in the moment, where price may be the only advantage over the competition. This is rarely the desired position to build product or service awareness, and should generally be used as a last resort.!! In the Door!!! Once the marketer gets in the door of the prospect, there are several key behaviors to advance potential sales. First, present a professional image and manner, that is courteous, helpful, and authentic. If there are questions raised about products or services, provide accurate, reliable information. Provide a concise and meaningful summary of the product or services available only once the prospect has identified interest. The lead should have already been qualified before getting in the door, so finances should not be the focus of the conversation. Rather, service, value, and benefit to the customer s strategy and operations should be the marketer s focus. When executed well, an effective presentation should take about 20 minutes or less, while providing time for questions and closure.!! After the conversation, follow-up makes the difference in whether or not the sale occurs. Generally, best practice is to follow-up within 48 hours of the meeting; beyond that, time and distractions reduce the potential benefit. A note card to express appreciation for the meeting is a welcome courtesy and best practice.!! If the outcome of the meeting is no answer, or delays, that is not uncommon, especially for high-cost items. Major equipment purchases usually have to be evaluated by several groups in the organization, from a product/service quality, integration, and ROI perspective. At each follow-up, ask for the timeframe when the product/service will be reviewed next; ask if there is any other information or assistance needed; and offer to follow-up shortly afterwards. Perform the follow-up exactly as promised. Each successful follow-up brings a sale closer to reality, based upon a statistical analysis of B2B sales, where it commonly takes as many as eight or nine interactions before a sale is supported. Smaller ticket items tend to proceed faster in the sales cycle, as there are usually fewer people in the buying process.!! If you have found this article valuable, please share it with other business owners! Our mission is to help every business achieve their best level of success. If we can assist you or someone in your network, please extend a warm referral to dawn@pursuit-excellence.com.! 6

7 ! Circle of Leverage System! Appendix A! The Power to Get In, Michael Boylan, 2011!! Note names and titles of each role in an organization; send a letter to each, then follow-up. Leverage #1! Leverage #2 Leverage #3 Prospect! Buyer! Leverage #5 Leverage #4 You 7