Seminar: Sales vs. Marketing, Making 1+1=3
Though sales and marketing have a long history of being at odds in many companies, they’re actually two very important sides of the same coin. Identifying the differences between sales and marketing, then finding ways to bridge the gap between them, can create a strong, consistent revenue stream that is greater than the sum of its parts – effectively making 1 + 1 = 3.
Sales Renewal CEO Keith Loris recently presented a seminar to a Vistage group outlining the differences between the two departments, including how those distinctions can be fused to augment each other. The long-term revenue generation focus of marketing keeps the short-term revenue generation pipeline of sales full, while successful sales’ rich data steers the marketing department’s targeting, tactics, and approaches. With clear communication and well-defined crossovers, sales and marketing departments join forces to become a powerful revenue generation machine.
Learn more from Mr Loris as he takes you through tactics, strategies, and case studies to renew YOUR company’s sales numbers through stronger sales-marketing collaboration.
Webinar: Crafting Products and Services to Reduce Time-to-First-Dollar
The Problem: Prospects Sit In Your Pipeline Too Long
Many service providers often have a single, all-inclusive service that’s presented as a binary choice: hire us for the whole service or don’t hire us. Because these services are typically important and consequential (e.g., wealth managers help save for retirement, lawyers defend against lawsuits, architects design bridges, …) prospects are typically in no rush to make a decision. They like kicking the tires to be sure you are the right guy or gal and your firm is the best choice for such an important decision.
The end result is prospects sit in your pipeline too long.
This is our recent webinar for USA 500 Clubs, a community for successful Trusted Advisers in which we share and elaborate on this post’s insights.
Targeting & Reaching Your Fastest Prospects
Of course, one of the primary goals of marketing is to move prospects through the sales pipeline as quickly as possible and a tried and true marketing strategy that does this is to define, target and reach your fastest prospects: those who most need you, when they most need you (aka, “lowest hanging fruit”).
Importantly, this focus on fastest prospects accelerates and improves the performance of all lead generation marketing tactics: advertising, email marketing, content marketing, networking, all of them perform better when targeting prospects at the precise moment they have the most critical need for your service.
For example, one of the fastest types of prospects for a wealth manager is middle class, middle-aged people who have just received an inheritance: they probably don’t have a current wealth manager, know much about investing and are highly motivated to put their new money to work for their retirement.
Employing Content Marketing and SEO tactics, you could (1) write a blog post titled “What to Do and Not Do with an Inheritance” (a subject that these prospects would probably be very interested in) and (2) work to have it rank well in search engines so that it’s easily findable and widely available.
Reevaluate Your Offerings
A more fundamental approach to reducing the time-to-first-dollar would be to take a fresh look at your services from a Product Marketing perspective (product marketers are responsible for designing, creating and managing profitable products and services):
Here are two proven product marketing strategies that minimize time-to-first-dollar for service businesses (and that product businesses use all the time):
New services for your fastest prospects: do your fastest prospects need different services than the ones you have now? If you developed new ones specifically for them, would they buy even faster, pay more, be more loyal, etc.?
Unbundle your all-inclusive service to make it easier to become your customer: can you unbundle your service to create simpler, more focused services so there’s less of a barrier to doing business with you? These new entry point services should be less expensive and consequential and should ideally provide a natural upgrade path to the rest of your services.
For example, the first thing a wealth manager typically does with a new client is to create a financial plan. What if instead of insisting they sign on for all your wealth management services in order to get a financial plan, you spun out a new standalone, financial planning service?
There will be more prospects for this new entry point service and they will move much faster through your pipeline because: financial planning can be marketed using traditional lead generation techniques like advertising and is a lot less risky than investment management (the most you can lose with a bad financial plan is its fee, unlike bad investments which can ruin lives).
Importantly, financial planning creates many opportunities for a wealth manager to show off their skills, intelligence and trustworthiness and creates a natural upgrade path. If they’ve been suitably impressed with the development of their financial plan, they will turn to you to implement the plan.
Takeaways
- Focus on targeting & reaching your “fastest” prospects: those who most need you when they most need you.
- Develop new services for your “fastest” prospects
- Unbundle your all-inclusive service to create tiered services with upgrade paths. The entry-point service should be less risky and require less commitment & dollars
Sales Renewal Can Help
Sales Renewal is working with all of our clients on refining their business and marketing strategies for the Covid era. Whether it’s shortening the “time-to-first-dollar”, implementing minimal contact sales and marketing programs, creating alternatives to traditional face-to-face marketing, or revamping communications to earn trust, contact us to learn what we can do for you.
Webinar: Considerations for Adapting Your Business and Marketing Strategies for the New Normal
The New Normal for Business and Marketing Strategies
As businesses around the country try to assess what’s next after the big Shut Down, many are realizing that it won’t be “business as usual”, not just because of the reopening guidelines imposed by the government, but because customers and clients may not feel comfortable reentering the same old economy and now have a brand new set of expectations around service delivery.
Major brands are highlighting their contactless, distanced ways of doing business, even if they’re not so different than they were before. Pizza Hut promises that once your pizza comes out of the oven, the only person who touches it is you; we hope that this was true pre-Covid as well, but conveying that sense of comfort is important these days.
Leading-edge service delivery models, such as purchasing a new car online, may have been targeting early adopters pre-Covid, but are suddenly becoming mainstream. Drive-by document signing is now an accepted way of closing a deal. Even voting by mail is gaining traction since people are wary of physically entering crowded places.
This is a webinar for USA 500 Clubs, a community for successful Trusted Advisers in which we share and elaborate on this post’s insights.
How Will You Adapt?
There is no doubt that the key to winning back customers in the new normal is trust. Trust that you, as a business, understand your customers’ concerns and are doing everything in your power to keep them safe.
While some businesses may need to address fundamental operational and human resource processes, much of adapting your business to the new normal revolves around messaging, positioning, and communication (such as the Pizza Hut example.) In other words, around marketing.
First, show your customers you are doing the right thing. Keep your premises (including parking lots, entrances, and lobbies) spotless and common spaces delineated for distancing. Provide PPE for all employees and ensure they wear it to show your organization is not cutting any safety corners. Enforce all scientific and medical recommendations for safety and physical distancing — not just because it’s the right thing to do but also to signal to employees, prospects and customers that you take their safety seriously.
And then, tell them. Build trust by making sure clients and customers know and understand you’re doing what you can to keep them safe. Messaging, positioning and signaling in the new normal should focus on health, safety, and well being.
Professional Service Firms
Professional service firms have particular challenges in this pandemic environment because of their historic reliance on face-to-face marketing tactics (e.g., networking, events, seminars) which desperately need to be updated for a minimal contact world.
Even more challenging is their tendency to have a single, all encompassing service that is critically important to their prospects, presented as a take-it-or-leave-it offer, which results in very long sales cycles (e.g., signing up for a wealth management service is a very consequential decision so prospects are very careful and take their time).
To shorten the time-to-first-dollar, we recommend “unbundling” services to create tiered offerings that build on each other and provide a natural upgrade path. More on this can be found in Crafting Products and Services to Reduce Time-to-First-Dollar.
Sales Renewal Can Help
Sales Renewal is working with all of our clients on refining their business and marketing strategies for the New Normal. Whether it’s shortening the “time-to-first-dollar”, implementing minimal contact sales and marketing programs, creating alternatives to traditional face-to-face marketing, or revamping communications to earn trust, contact us to learn what we can do for you.
Sales Renewal Teams Up with MassMEP for a 4-Part Marketing Workshop Series
Sales Renewal is pleased to present this MassMEP workshop series, which was developed to provide Massachusetts manufacturers with an overview of how to grow their top line sales by implementing effective marketing plans.
Topics to be discussed include; Cutting Through the Marketing Clutter, What Most Manufacturers Get Wrong About Marketing, The Power of Integrated Marketing, and Growing Revenue Before Selling Your Business.
Workshops are geared for manufacturers and are free, but registration is required and space is limited.
Marketing Workshop Series Details
Cutting Through the Marketing Clutter
The marketing essentials every business needs to grow their sales.
September 22, 2016, Time: 8:00am – 10:00am. Location: Taunton (TBD)
What Most Manufacturers Get Wrong About Marketing
Why integrated marketing is better and more cost effective than single tactic marketing.
October 6, 2016, 8:00am – 10:00am. Location: Taunton
The Power of Integrated Marketing
A multi-channel approach to leveraging your marketing assets for a better ROI.
October 20, 2016, 8:00am – 10:00am.Location: Taunton
Note: While October 6th and 20th seminars are stand-alone, participants will benefit most from attending both seminars.
Exit Planning Truth: Growing Revenue Before Selling Your Business is Critical
Learn how integrated marketing can help increase your odds of success and deliver a fantastic ROI.
November 11, 2016, 8:00am – 10:00am.Location: Taunton
If you are unable to attend, or would like Sales Renewal to work with your business or organization, please contact us here.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Sales Renewal is pleased to present this MassMEP workshop series, which was developed to provide Massachusetts manufacturers with an overview of how to grow their top line sales by implementing effective marketing plans.
Topics to be discussed include; Cutting Through the Marketing Clutter, What Most Manufacturers Get Wrong About Marketing, The Power of Integrated Marketing, and Growing Revenue Before Selling Your Business.
Workshops are geared for manufacturers and are free, but registration is required and space is limited. Continue reading for program and registration information.
Liquid Capital Breakfast to Feature Presentation by Sales Renewal
Liquid Capital Associates is organizing a breakfast on Wednesday, April 27, during which Sales Renewal will provide participants with an overview of the marketing essentials every business needs to increase sales in 2016. The presentation cuts through the noise and offers an unbiased approach every business can use to quickly start growing their leads. Participants are introduced to the essential marketing programs all businesses need – SEO, content marketing, email marketing, local promotion, and more – and will learn how to create and deploy a big-picture plan that pulls these different programs together. Smaller firms might find these marketing essentials sufficient for their business, while larger firms will be able to use these essentials as a solid foundation upon which to build (or as a checklist to see if they’ve missed something essential).
The breakfast takes place at the Brae Burn Country Club, 326 Fuller Street, Newton, MA, starting at 7:30am. Please register in advance via Eventbrite.
Sales Renewal to Present Marketing Essentials to Middlesex West Chamber Members
Sales Renewal is pleased to be participating in Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce’s Business Education Seminar series on Friday, April 15. The presentation, Cutting through the Marketing Clutter, offers an unbiased approach every business can use to quickly start growing their leads. No matter where you turn, you’re bombarded by messages about the latest bandwagon you must jump on and absolute must-dos for marketing your business. Worse, every vendor you ask will try to convince you that their product or service is your salvation.
Participants are introduced to the essential marketing programs all businesses need and will learn how to create and deploy a big-picture plan that pulls these different programs together. Firms of all sizes will benefit from this program and be on their way to a solid marketing foundation.
This seminar is sponsored by Workers’ Credit Union and hosted by Acton Toyota of Littleton, 221 Great Road, Littleton. Members are $15; Guests are $25. All are invited to attend. Beverages available, bring your lunch.
How to Recognize Good Leads at Trade Shows and Exhibitions
Exhibitions are all about collecting leads and converting prospects. Recognizing leads on trade shows & fairs is essential – find good leads on exhibitions!
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Visitor vs lead – important to be able to differentiate.
Read Original Article
Business Toolkit Series: Cutting Through the Marketing Clutter
Sales Renewal is thrilled to be presenting the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce‘s first Toolkit Series program of 2016. The presentation, Cutting through the Marketing Clutter, cuts through the noise and offers an unbiased approach every business can use to quickly start growing their leads. No matter where you turn, you’re bombarded by messages about the latest bandwagon you must jump on and absolute must-dos for marketing your business. Worse, every vendor you ask will try to convince you that their product or service is your salvation.
Participants are introduced to the essential marketing programs all businesses need and will learn how to create and deploy a big-picture plan that pulls these different programs together. Firms of all sizes will benefit from this program and be on their way to a solid marketing foundation.
A light breakfast will be provided. Parking is available at area meters. The closest parking lot is located one block away on Green Street (behind the post office & YMCA). Advance registration is required, and no walk-ins will be admitted, so if interested, register here.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Sales Renewal is thrilled to be presenting the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce‘s first Toolkit Series program of 2016. The presentation, Cutting through the Marketing Clutter, cuts through the noise and offers an unbiased approach every business can use to quickly start growing their leads. No matter where you turn, you’re bombarded by messages about the latest bandwagon you must jump on and absolute must-dos for marketing your business. Worse, every vendor you ask will try to convince you that their product or service is your salvation.
How to Pick the Best Booth Location at Exhibitions
Your stall location has a very strong impact on your ability to drive traffic to your booth and collect exhibition leads. Pick it carefully!
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Not all trade shows and exhibitions offer the opportunity to select your location, but if you are provided that option, these are some good tips.
Read Original Article
How to Grow, and NOT, Grow Sales: SalesMemes 56 Face-to-Face Power
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Like a good pair of black leather shoes, trade shows are not going out of style. We know that in our increasingly digital world, the power of face-to-face marketing can be overlooked, but given trade shows’ benefits for many businesses we think that’s a mistake. Our recent guest post, Recognizing the Role of Trade Shows in a Successful Marketing Program, was written for those testing the trade show waters as well as companies looking for better outcomes and ROI.
Visit http://www.SalesMemes.com every Friday to see the latest SalesMemes: the best and worst ideas to increase sales. See more #GoodMarketerGrace, and her colleagues #SmugMarketerSam, #BadExecutionBob, #GoodExecutionErica, #HucksterHank and #TrustworthyTom.