Wouldn’t it be great if every time you gave a sales presentation, wrote a letter, sent out your sales literature, or placed an ad you knew, with some certainty, that you could make your prospects take action and respond to your offer?
Well, to put it bluntly, it’s not that hard if you just apply the basics of marketing. Unfortunately, marketing is one of the least understood and possibly one of the least underused courses of action in business today.
Marketing has made and will continue to make the difference between the survival and extinction of a business today. Moving forward with the overwhelming speed of daily change in this rapidly changing and unpredictable marketplace with shorter product life cycles requires companies, small or large, to gain an advantage or lose market share to the competition.
Getting the edge today will mean refining your marketing with a holistic approach and sharp strategies that accelerate your business growth. The more I research and study how businesses stay alive and healthy, the more I believe and respect that strategic marketing is the precursor to optimizing our sales performance.
Think of it this way: Visualize an umbrella and label it “marketing” and “strategy.” Next, under the umbrella, see advertising, branding, public relations, etc. Label those items “selling” and “tactical processes.”
“Marketing,” — Strategy — is what favorably positions your company’s products or services in the customer’s mind and is intended to stimulate customer desire and demand to make a purchase.
“Sale” — tactical processes — are tools used to educate, inform, influence and persuade the customer to purchase actions.
Both marketing and selling must drive the customer to action. For example: Advertising is salesmanship in action. Radio, television, newspapers, direct mail (electronic or print), and magazines must be constructed in the same exacting way that a salesperson makes a pitch to a prospective client.
The same skills, habits, and attitudes that are required of a salesperson to influence customer action must be directly aligned with all of your various tactical processes.
For example, the successful salesperson must:
1. Develop and build a report
2. Understand customer needs
3. Emphasize tangible benefits
4. Cleverly move a customer toward a purchase
5. Keep the prospect “engaged” in the buying process
6. Strategically link a product or service to a customer’s most important needs and problems
7. Detail the product or service to motivate the customer’s purchase action
Every piece of advertising used in your marketing arsenal – newspaper ad, magazine ad, direct response mail, PR campaign – needs to make a complete and compelling case for your products and services in the same way a marketer would. in person.
1. Do your ads (metaphorically) speak to your customers? Do they create a report?
2. Are your brochures, letters, newsletters, advertisements, and public relations material believable and emotionally arouse people’s curiosity to learn more?
3. Is your marketing directed at potential customers who have a real need for your products and services, have the money, and are willing to spend it?
4. Do your marketing materials educate and emphasize all the tangible benefits to keep the potential customer engaged and motivated to make a purchase action?
Today is not the time to be shy about your marketing. People need a push to make decisions. They want and expect to be told how to go about getting their products and services.
Take an assessment of your strategic marketing and sales actions mentioned above and also see if you are:
1. Educate your customers about the unique benefits your products and services offer:
has). service guarantees
b). Technical or manufacturing support.
against). Guarantee
d). Sustainability and reliability
me). New product developments
F). Product updates and upgrades
gram). Delivery
2. Ask strategic questions to:
has). Linking products or services to customer needs.
b). Providing solutions to your problems
against). Manage customer relationships
d). Keep your customer and prospect involved in the buying process
3. Active listening for:
has). emotional triggers
b). Logic reasoning
4. Handling objections to:
has). Minimize worries
b). overcome the obstacles
5. Submit benefits that:
has). Motivate the loyalty and purchase action of your client
b). Advantage of your products and services over your competitors
Now is the time to get out all your marketing materials, ads, sales scripts, brochures, presentation materials, marketing channels and yes, check your attitudes, habits and skills – it’s time to be innovative, non-traditional and bold in your thought and business. efforts
