Creating a successful marketing
strategy, finding opportunities to sell products and services, and connecting
more effectively to current and prospective customers is a demanding job.
If you wonder if there are ways to
make your marketing efforts more efficient, ask yourself these questions:
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Do you have a complete view of your customers and have you
identified the best prospects based on this view?
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Is your customer information dispersed among e-mail
messages, documents and databases?
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Do you need sophisticated marketing materials, yet you can't
afford a professional printer?
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Do your sales representatives have a process for following
up on sales leads?
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The information that follows
highlights basic sales and marketing practises that can help you develop a
tactical marketing plan and sales process that works for your business.
A good marketing plan can shape
the way you connect to your existing customers and attract new ones. It can
also help you determine the types of customers you should target, how to
reach them and how to track the results so you learn what works to increase
business.
If you don't have a marketing
plan, creating one is not difficult. A successful marketing plan doesn't have
to be complex or lengthy, but should contain enough information to help you
establish, direct and coordinate your marketing efforts.
To help you through the process,
we've identified five steps to follow. These encompass information gathering
before you write your marketing plan, the drafting of the plan itself, and
updating the plan after you've created it. Along the way we use Margie's Travel,
a new 25-person travel service company, as an example.
Step 1: Position your product or
services
To start your plan, keep in mind the four "Ps" of marketing:
product, price, promotion and place. Your goal is to put the right product or
service in front of the right customers, at the right price and at the right
time and place. A good way to get started is to answer some basic questions
about your business. The following scenario for Step 1 is based on the
marketing plan used by Margie's Travel.
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Who are you selling to?
Margie's Travel provides personal travel services to busy working
professionals. Based on collected data, the typical clients are homeowners
between the ages of 35 and 55, with yearly incomes of more than US$100,000.
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What do those customers need?
The target market for Margie's Travel is affluent working couples with
children who want travel plans customised for a family. The company's goal
is to provide convenient, unique and relaxing travel experiences
appropriate to each family.
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What distinguishes your product or service from the
competition?
Margie's Travel has a competitive advantage in its ability to accommodate
families with children of all ages, from putting together fun and
entertaining travel packages to making special accommodation travel plans
with short or extended notice, flying domestically or internationally.
Margie's Travel also has the advantage of being a home-based business that
requires lower overhead and start-up costs than a traditional travel
service business.
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Are there marketing tactics that work best for your
business?
Research indicates that the most effective advertising tool for a service
like Margie's Travel is small display ads in local papers, such as a weekly
community newspaper with a paid subscription base of 5,000 to 40,000
readers. Margie's Travel also places ads in the local boating community
newsletter, and sends brochures to larger businesses.
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By answering these key questions
about your business, you can develop a solid foundation on which to build
your marketing plan.
Step 2: Ask for input from trusted
advisors
To ensure that you have a clear sense of your own business, it is a valuable
practise to gather information from those around you. Set up meetings with
trusted friends, staff, advisors and peers, and ask for their input on the
following:
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Who is your business selling to?
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What do your customers need?
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What distinguishes your products or services from the
competition?
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When and how often should you employ marketing efforts?
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Where should your company be one year from now?
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Getting feedback on these aspects
of your business can help you prepare your marketing strategy as well as
create targeted materials.
Step 3: Ask for input from
customers and prospective customers
To successfully market to customers, you need to learn how they react to your
product, pricing, brand or service — anything related to your business. Ask
several of your current and prospective customers what they think about your
business, products and services, potential to sell to them, and competitors.
You can ask them by e-mail, telephone or marketing postcards. Incentives,
such as discounts or samples, can encourage feedback.
Step 4: Draft your plan
Now that you have feedback and an outline, you can draft your marketing plan.
Start by summarising your market position and goals, and define what you
expect to accomplish in a specific time period.
A typical marketing plan might be
organised in the following way:
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Market Summary
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Competitive Landscape
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Product Comparison and Positioning
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Communication Strategies
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Launch Strategies
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Packaging and Fulfillment
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Success Metrics
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Marketing Schedule
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With a marketing plan in place,
you have a structure you can use to help keep your business on track.
Step 5: Track your results, update
your plan
Reviewing your plan every six months helps you determine whether it is
producing the results you need. You can easily track your progress with a
spreadsheet, where you can also calculate your marketing costs and compare
them with sales and other metrics.
You should also update your plan
regularly to respond to changing market conditions.
A sales process is a series of
customer-focused steps that your sales team can use to substantially build
your customer base, generate repeat business and increase revenue. Each step
consists of several key activities and has a predictable, measurable outcome.
If you wonder whether your small
business really needs a formal sales process, see if you answer
"yes" to any of the following questions:
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Have your customers become more demanding than they used to
be?
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Is it increasingly challenging for your business to attract
and retain customers?
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Does your sales force sometimes react sluggishly when
opportunities arise?
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Do your salespeople have trouble projecting a consistent,
professional image?
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Is your customer data out of date and dispersed in multiple
locations across the company?
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Having a well-defined sales
process can help your sales force identify and qualify leads, find more
opportunities for repeat business, negotiate and close more sales, and
establish a follow-up process after the sale to ensure customer satisfaction.
A formal sales process also helps
you understand each customer's business obstacles, match their needs to your
products and services, and deliver proof that your products can meet those
needs. With a strong sales process, you can more accurately assess the
revenue potential for a given customer. For example, you can view
consolidated information for all customers in your sales pipeline,
consistently position the unique value that your company delivers versus the
competition and create stronger relationships with customers and business
partners.
Five steps define the sales
process methodology: prospecting for customers, qualifying them, developing a
proposal, facilitating a decision and assuring repeat business. Each step
consists of several key activities with predictable, measurable outcomes.
The steps help sales professionals
succeed by:
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Focusing on critical business issues facing customers
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Developing potential value for customers to gain
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Creating a strong desire in the customer to buy products and
services supplied by your company
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Step 1: Prospecting
At this first stage of the sales process, the salesperson is generating
qualified leads, finding new opportunities among the existing customer base
and differentiating his or her company from the competition. Depending on the
type of business, prospecting can take many forms, including networking,
attending seminars and trade shows, sending marketing materials and making
cold calls.
The goal of this step is to
identify a qualified decision-maker, or an ally in the organisation who can
help you reach the decision-maker.
Step 2: Qualifying
At this stage of the process you and the customer are sizing each other up.
You are assessing the revenue potential and costs associated with a customer
opportunity to decide if it's worth pursuing, while the customer is assessing
whether your company can meet his or her business needs. In this stage, your
sales professionals must be adept at discovering the customer's true needs,
in detail. Then they must clearly articulate how your company's products or
services can uniquely meet their needs.
The goal of this step is to
convince the decision-maker to move ahead with an in-depth evaluation of your
solution.
Step 3: Proposal
At this stage of the process, the customer usually narrows the number of
companies under consideration. Small businesses must be prepared to respond
rapidly to potential leads.
When you reach this step, the
promises end and you must demonstrate to the decision-maker that your company
can deliver. You can create a mutually agreed upon product/service evaluation
plan that emphasises key steps to prove your capabilities and ensure a win
for both the customer and the salesperson.
The evaluation plan is an
important tool that many salespeople overlook. After a customer agrees to the
evaluation plan, the salesperson is in control of the sales process. This is
because the customer can only afford to go through the steps of an evaluation
plan with a single selling organisation because of the time, cost and
resources necessary to perform each step.
The goal of this step is to
demonstrate the value your business can provide the customer, through
successful completion of the evaluation plan. The customer then requests a
proposal from the salesperson.
Step 4: Decision
By now, you are so near to closing this deal that you're almost prepared to
celebrate. Unfortunately, plans and details can change. For example, one of
your salespeople may have conceded too much in the final negotiations, making
the deal unprofitable. Or conversely, the salesperson may have walked away
from a good sale when a low-cost giveaway might have closed it. Such is the
delicate and unstable nature of this step in the sales process.
The goal of this step is to
facilitate deals that are beneficial to both your company and the customer.
Step 5: Repeat business
This step is critical to a sales process. After a contract is signed or a
sales commission is paid out, the product or service must be delivered and
implemented as promised. A sales professional who is truly focused on
building a long-term, profitable business relationship will take ownership
and follow up with the customer to make sure that everything proceeds
smoothly. Satisfied customers are more likely to place new orders, and might
be willing to act as referrals for new clients.
Implement your Sales Process
A well-defined, measurable sales
process can make a big difference in your business. But change can sometimes
be difficult for people. The following can help:
Demonstrate management support. The business owner needs to take
ownership for implementing the sales process. As with any proposed change,
sales professionals will watch closely to see if a new process will be
enforced by the organisation. (Some businesses offer compensation to reward
employees who adopt the new sales process and succeed with it.) Above all,
business owners should ensure that everyone participates.
Make the sales process work for
your customers. Your
sales process should match your customer's buying process: small businesses
selling to medium or large companies; small businesses selling to other small
businesses; and small businesses selling to consumers. In general, more
complex sales usually result in a sales cycle that has more steps. You need
to adjust these models to meet the unique needs of your customers and your
own sales organisation.
Adopt a clearly defined approach. Implementing your new sales
process is not a one-step action; this integration should occur in stages.
To approach your implementation
more easily, follow these steps: research, implement, evaluate, refine and
provide ongoing management support.
Step 1: Research
Speak with customers and reflect on the process elements that have worked
well for your top salespeople.
Step 2: Implement
Document your customised sales process, tailor any forms or templates that
you want your salespeople to use, and offer compensation to encourage
adoption of the new sales process.
Step 3: Evaluate
Quantify what is or is not working with your sales process by getting
immediate feedback from your customers. For example, has customer
satisfaction increased as a result of your new sales process? Are customers
more willing to act as referrals? Are new leads being generated? Are you
generating repeat business?
Step 4: Refine
Your sales process needs to be a dynamic tool that changes to reflect the
customer buying process as well as the evolving personnel and culture of your
organisation. Look for trends and clues in your sales process metrics and
consider doing a periodic review of the process to improve it as needed.
Step 5: Provide ongoing support
Initially a sales process creates uncertainty and additional work, so
employees might watch management closely for signs of a loss of commitment to
the new process. The business owner and sales manager (often the same person)
must support and reinforce the process at every opportunity.
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Follow these six proven components
to a strategic sales plan, track your progress often and remember to make your
plan a living plan by reviewing it frequently and adjusting it according to
current market and competitive conditions.
