Archive for the ‘Business Development’ Category
Filling The Sales Funnel
Tags: brand position, Branding, CRM, Marketing, sales funnel, volunteer
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Marketing, Strategic Marketing Plan on March 8th, 2009
A prospect that I was meeting with recently was lamenting that his sales funnel is suffering from serious constriction issues. “My team is sending out the direct mail, making calls and responding to RFPs, just like everyone else. We don’t seem to be able to differentiate ourselves,” he said.
Brand differentiation is exactly what gives people permission to buy your services or goods with confidence. Aristotle said we are what we do. It’s no different for business.
Southwest Airlines is selling freedom and Walt Disney imagination.
According to Roy Spencer Jr., author of the recently published book It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For, the success of these businesses is rooted in their clearly articulated purpose.
Does your business have a unique purpose or service? Or as Spencer asks, “would your customers mind if you ceased to exist?” What ever that uniqueness is, it better be clearly articulated in your new business presentations.
In the short term what can we do to fill the sales funnel and create a personal point of differentiation? I offer this simple suggestion that helps you, your customers and gives something to those organizations that need you the most. Volunteer.
Volunteering with organizations puts you in touch with a new network of influencers. Volunteering is the original form of social media. It has been around long before LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking activities.
What volunteering does for you and your business is it creates a unique point of differentiation. It positions you in a totally different light. It is marketing 101. People buy from people, people they know. How many employees are in your organization, 2? 200? 2000? Imagine the networking potential if you started a workplace volunteer program. An article in the Minneapolis Business Journal on how to get a volunteer program started in your business is a great first step. Then fold your newfound network of contacts into your CRM program.
Aristotle was right. We are what we do. If we actively work to make our community better, it makes us better. It enriches us, our employees, our brands and quite likely our bottom line.
Boosting the Bottom Line Through Retention
Tags: business, cognitve elaboration, Higher Education, mentoring, Non-Profit, retention
Posted in Business Development, Communication, Higher Education, Internal Communication, Non-Profit on March 1st, 2009
A New York Times article raised an interesting question. Is the GOP losing a generation?
Americans identifying themselves as Democrats outnumber those who say they are Republicans by 10 percentage points, the largest gap in party identification in 24 years.
I wrote shortly after Obama’s election that he had garnered a 66% share of the 18-29 demographic or about 16 million people. Brand loyalty is created as a result of cognitive elaboration (thinking about it) by an individual. Since 16 million young voters assigned a positive attribute to Obama and ultimately the Democratic Party, chances are good the large majority will live a life loyal to the democratic brand. It is a fundamental principle of positioning.
The challenge before us as communication practitioners is not only gaining market share but also retaining those that are loyal to our brand. Higher education needs to retain the students enrolled. Nonprofit must retain core individuals who are active with time or money. Business must retain clients and key employees.
Higher Education
A top down approach to staff and faculty mentoring of students creates a family environment and identifies potential problems before they arise. International or minority students are an extremely high at risk demographic. Faculty and upper classman who reach out to the new students, prior to arrival, are sure to create a bond. It is this sense of inclusiveness that will tie the student to the university well beyond their four years.
Non-Profit
Shifting money from salaries to other priorities sends managers into a never-ending downward spiral of dealing with frequent turnover. An alternative approach is paying more to gain stability, maturity, and the skill sets to sustain long-term initiatives. Retaining those grass roots organizers and donors will be enhanced as the time manager spent on training and retraining staff can now be devoted to personally strengthening key relationships.
Business
Engaging your new clients is very much like higher education. Your account executive should be communicating with the client between projects and not just during the projects. Personal client engagement by senior executives creates an environment of partnership instead of a vendor status.
Employee retention may not be an issue today, however there is a way to thwart key staff turnover when the economy heats up again. Authentic engagement, mentoring and training by senior management today will pay dividends in the future.
None of us can afford to lose a generation of students, customers or employees. How we manage our human relations with stakeholders will ensure that we don’t fall into a chasm of disconnect and disinterested.
It’s All About YouTube
Tags: Communication, Search Engines, Web Search, YouTube
Posted in Business Development, Communication, YouTube on January 19th, 2009
My wife has been knitting me a pair of winter socks for the last couple of days. The other night she threw her needles down in disgust and left the room. She came back with a glass of wine and the laptop. She went directly to YouTube, pulled up an instructional knitting video and proceeded on with her project.
Mind you, she did not Google her query, she went straight to YouTube.
Then there is the case of nine year-old Tyler Kennedy featured in an article in the New York Times. Faced with writing a school report on an Australian animal, Tyler began where many students begin these days: by searching the Internet. But Tyler didn’t use Google or Yahoo. He searched for information about the platypus on YouTube.
What I find interesting is that despite the age difference between my wife and Tyler, they both bypassed traditional search engines to fulfill their information needs. Quietly, yet right before our eyes, YouTube has changed the search engine playing field.
According to comScore.com, YouTube, which is owned by Google, has supplanted Yahoo as the No. 2 search engine behind Google. In November 2008, Americans conducted nearly 2.8 billion searches on YouTube, about 200 million more than on Yahoo.
Today’s researchers seek information that is delivered with a greater degree of interactivity. Although this is not an entirely new phenomenon. Early in my career, I worked as a producer and art director in broadcast television. The key selling point my colleagues used when selling air time was, why would you want a static medium like newspapers when you can have sight, sound and motion?
The ease of delivering streaming video through sites such as YouTube, means a transformational shift in information searches. Obviously text only results will not be replaced. Many topics are far to complicated to be explained by a short form video.
The growth of YouTube is actually a benefit in our brand building efforts. A primary rule of effective communication is predicated on messaging delivered in multiple layers.
Video has long been a powerful tool used to educate, inform and call to action. Present day use of YouTube is used in viral marketing campaigns for a wide variety of brands and causes. As we prepare for the inauguration of our 44th president this week, would anyone argue the effectiveness of YouTube video in the presidential race?
What my wife and Tyler are telling us is that virtually every technology engaged generation is searching for information differently. It also tells us that as contemporary marketers, we better have a strategy in mind for delivering our message beyond the static vehicle of text only – lest we become the dying dinosaur of home delivered newspapers.
Innovation in a Recession
Tags: Innovation, recession
Posted in Business Development, Innovation on December 1st, 2008
Like everyone else, my wife and I were having a discussion about the state of the economy. We noticed that much of the conversation we hear, in the media and elsewhere, is fear based. Fear is something we both abhor so we decided to take a different approach to our particular position.
We are taking a hard look at our lives and using this time to become more innovative in how we live. The economy is changing, the goliath’s of industry have been humbled, and we thought, there is great opportunity if we just listen to what the market is telling us.
It may sound odd that we wouldn’t hunker down until the economy turns around before undertaking additional risk. But we think this is the pivotal time for us to be innovative. Perhaps it is the tipping point.
Northwestern University Kellog School of Management Professor Andrew Razeghi opined this about innovation in a recession. (Read the full article here.)
On October 24, 1929, panic selling began on Wall Street. By October 29, margin calls wiped out thousands of accounts. The Great Depression was in full swing. Between 1929 and 1933, 15,000 banks failed, unemployment reached 25%, corporate profits plunged to less than zero, and GNP fell 45%. In spite of the hazy forecast, many of America’s most successful innovators navigated this period of time not through cost cutting, but through innovation.
First up: Henry R. Luce. In February 1930, four short months after the stock market crash, Luce launched an audacious, irreverent, and vibrantly-colored arsenal of human interest stories in the form of new media product called Fortune Magazine. Not only did he have the gall to launch a new product in the shadow of the Great Depression, he launched an expensive magazine.
By 1937, the magazine netted a half-million dollars on its circulation of 460,000. By the end of the decade, Fortune had become required reading on Wall Street. Why did it work?
Fortune worked for the very same reason that all great new products work: it made a uniquely relevant contribution to its customers’ lives (period).
In 1933, Kraft launched its iconic salad dressing/sandwich spread Miracle Whip – again, not in spite of the Depression, but because of it. Although Kraft had an existing mayonnaise business, its sales had slipped as a result of the economic conditions. Launched at the Century of Progress Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, this new miracle mayonnaise spread had instant appeal to Depression-weary consumers who had grown tired of the boring taste of vegetables, salads, and sandwiches. Not only was Miracle Whip a one-of-a-kind new product, it was relevant.
In 2003, when the Dow was at historical lows over a 10-year period, Apple continued to invest. When asked why he hadn’t reduced research and development spending when others in the industry had experienced a slow down, Steve Jobs recalls, “What has happened in technology over the last few years has been about the downturn, not the future of technology. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of [customers], they would continue to open their wallets. And that’s what we’ve done. We’ve been turning out more new products than ever before.
Razeghi offers these seven suggestions for innovation in a recession
- Listen to the market. It’s quieter when it’s less crowded. Unmet needs abound.
- Invest in your customers. Now they need you most. Loyalty hangs in the balance.
- Rather than reduce price, offer more value to your customers and demand greater value from vendors.
- Increase communication with your customers.
- Move longer-term projects forward not back. Now is the time to grab market share.
- In recession, not all costs are created equal. Maintain or increase investment in “good costs”; prune “bad costs”; use judgment on “it depends costs”.
- If you don’t have the money, at least spend the time thinking about innovation.
During difficult economic times, market needs are more exposed than they are during an economic boom when the market is saturated with everyone’s “great idea” – many of which are chasing needs that have already been satisfied. The great mistake many organizations make during turbulent times is that they quit listening to the market. They pull back on research and development precisely at the moment when the market is speaking most loudly. Listen to the market. It’s speaking to you.
Getting Focused in a Down Economy
Tags: Leadership, marketing budget, marketing focus, sales team, Vision
Posted in Business Development, Leadership, Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Strategic Marketing Plan on November 3rd, 2008
I’m tired of all the negative news about the economy. We can wallow in self-pity or point fingers. The bottom line is negative energy is detrimental to your health and that of your company.
If your business is off 50%, that means 50% of the market is still buying. Focus on that segment while staying top of mind with those that are in a holding pattern. That means marketing and the business development team have to retool themselves.
It Starts With You
When the waters are choppy, everyone is looking to see that you have a strategic vision. Let them know that you’ve navigated these waters before. Let everyone know the challenges ahead and then remind them that they are the very people that can get it done. Be encouraging, consistent and communicative.
Sales Team
Narrow your focus to broaden your opportunity. The marketing budget and team needs to focus on opportunities that you have at least a 50% chance of winning. Look at how presidential candidates allocate their budget. If they have no chance in a given state, they cut their losses and move on.
RFP
What’s better for the company, spending three days on an RFP for a prospect that you haven’t developed a relationship? Or spending three days networking at events, writing white papers and seeking referrals from clients?
Andrew Sobel, an author and leading authority on client relationships offer these 8 tips for avoiding premature proposals.
- You are certain this is the right client and issue for you and your firm.
- You have a thorough understanding of the issues you are being asked to address, and also a clear sense of the business goals or needs which are influencing them.
- You and the client have agreed on the specific objectives of the work and the outcomes that are sought.
- You understand the client’s buying process.
- You have spoken to or met with the economic buyer.
- You understand what is most important to the prospect/client, in other words, what particular value they are seeking.
- You have discussed the essential elements of your proposal with the prospect/client
- You have an agreement to discuss the proposal with the prospect/client after you submit it.
Marketing
Set aside those projects that aren’t going to deliver measurable results over the next 12 months. Flexible and nimble marketers will turn up a much better base of prospects.
Comb the trades, blogs, and books for relevant articles about your target industries.
Share your knowledge. There is a tremendous body of evidence that proves the value of being a thought leader.
Make a concerted effort to communicate with your current and past customers. When was the last time you communicated with a client who did business with you 3-5 years ago?
Messaging must be on target. Are you communicating what you can do for the prospect? It’s great that you have vertical experience. What the prospect wants to know is what pain did you solve and is it relevant to their issues?
These are challenging times. This is a time that leadership, mentoring and consistent internal communication can help keep you moving forward. Perhaps, most importantly, it is time to get focused. Apple’s Steve Jobs had this to say about focus. “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
Relationship Selling in a Down Economy
Tags: brand affinity, facebook, leveraging, linkedin, referral, releationship marketing, twitter
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Customer Service, Relationship Marketing on October 27th, 2008
When the economy slows, where do many companies begin slashing budgets and people? Marketing, the primary vehicle companies use to generate growth. Please explain that logic to me? I know that cutting marketing is partially a result of fear. However, once fear permeates the senior level, it becomes a virus that will spread and negatively impact employee performance and company profits.
Bad economic times are a catalyst for the laws of natural selection to play out. Are you going to eat or be eaten? Most of us prefer to stay higher up on the food chain. It’s easy to point a finger at poor business development planning or, failure to get the marketing plan out of your head and on to paper. If you’re in either category, recognize it and move forward.
It’s time to get strategic.
Let’s assume that you have won and kept the business because it was based on trust, knowledge and respect. Now, how do you leverage that trust, knowledge and respect differentiator to markets that don’t know your brand?
Leveraging Your Existing Customer Relationships
Have you sat down with your customers and asked them to think about industry peers that might be a good fit for you? People enjoy recommending quality partners. Ask them about trends within their industries. What are the hot topics at their industry conferences? Besides picking up leads, you also become a more informed partner.
Leveraging Your Employee’s Relationships
LinkedIn. Facebook. MySpace. Twitter. Need I say more? Personal relationships are the key in business development. Educate, encourage and teach your employees to use the power of their social networks to develop introductions into new markets and companies.
Spreading the Word
You’ve built the business through the cultivation of authentic relationships. The challenge is replicating that strategy into new markets.
Public relations is a key component. Developing thought leadership papers, webinars, and writing for various trade publications are the first steps in establishing prospect trust. And without trust, you have no shot at a relationship. Here’s an example from Mike Schultz, a service-marketing consultant.
A company sales developer sets up a meeting for Dave with Joyce, the vice president of operations at a large commercial shipping company. After introductions, here’s how the meeting went:
Joyce: Nice to have you here. Over the last several years it’s been great getting to know about you and your firm as a result of being included in your communication program. I’ve read your white paper on emerging supply chain management technologies as well as listened to you deliver webinars on strategies for global sourcing in my industry.
For one reason or another, some of the events either didn’t work with my schedule or they didn’t fit into what was on my plate at the time. But I’ve been getting the event invitations and brochures in the mail along with the research briefs you send out. So I’ve followed along.
Dealing with supply chain technology is now in the middle of my plate. So when your marketing department sent me the email to view your on-demand presentation on your capabilities in this area, I put it on my to-do list to call your firm. Of course, your team called me first so I was more than happy to set up this conversation. I’m ready to dive in with you to see how you might help.
That exchange is carried out regularly as a result of executing a disciplined approach to marketing and business development. Because Joyce received the company’s regular multi-channel communication, she:
- Knew about the company.
- Already had assigned the knowledge and respect to the brand (2/3′s of your brand differentiator).
- Could likely articulate how the company helped people like her solve problems.
- Remembered the company during her elusive time of need and planned to call.
- Felt an affinity and preference for the company before ever interacting with an individual from the company personally due to the education she received from the company’s marketing efforts.
Client referrals, employee social networks and consistent end user focused communication are key drivers in building brand awareness in new markets and categories. If customers have already assigned the respect and knowledge attributes to your brand, then all that is left is for you to build trust. And that, as Humphrey Bogart said in the closing scene of Casablanca, “Is the beginning of a beautiful relationship”.
