Maybe it was lost because today is Friday and “everyone” takes it a little easier on Friday.
Perhaps your sales professional wasn’t fully equipped with the right tools to frame the unique selling proposition properly – and get the sale!
It could be that your company could be targeting the wrong market, or the wrong customers.
Perhaps your sales force is not receiving the proper market intelligence to be at the right place, at the right time.
Regardless of the reason, you owe it to yourself to become engaged with your company’s clients and prospects – firsthand.
I’ve written about the importance of going out into the field, in my personal blog.
Each trip I made with a territory manager was critical to our overall success. It allowed me to find out what was happening and identify what we could do, as an organization to earn more business.
In the course of many of my visits, I was able to work with customers to generate publicity for their company – including media stories.
Many of my visits took place on a beautiful day like today.
What are you waiting for? Why not strap on your helmet and see what is going on?
You may just learn why the last sale was lost, while helping to secure the next one.
A few years ago, I listened in to a Ziglar Webcast, given by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Zig Ziglar has often referred to Rabbi Lapin as “America’s Rabbi.” After listening to the webinar, I could understand Ziglar’s enthusiasm.
Afterwards, I purchased two copies of Rabbi Lapin’s book, Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money. I kept one for myself and gave the other to a respected business colleague. I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the book lately, so maybe it’s time for me to read it again.
During the past few months, I’ve kept thinking about a popular misconception mentioned in first chapter of the book. The misconception is as follows:
“Charity is Good; Business is Selfish.”
Without even going into the current political climate, I think many have lost sight of how jobs are created and businesses grow.
In the past few months alone, I have taken care of the needs of clients, by sometimes depending on other companies, as partners.
The promotional brochures and counter cards I created for a client were not printed in my garage!
I identified sources I could trust, had them print the pieces and provided the finished marketing collateral to my clients.
My clients won. Other businesses won. I won.
That is how businesses grow and how people provide for their families.
While I’ve created several websites for clients over the past few years, there are sometimes cases when the client’s needs surpass exactly what I can provide – either due to time constraints, or a higher technical specification that what I am able to typically provide. Again, I identify a source I can trust and together we take care of the client.
My clients win. Other businesses win. I win.
Again, that is how businesses grow and how people provide for their families.
Business is not selfish. Business provides for the needs of families.
In turn, I have partnered with other companies many times, to bring them business.
And while charity is good, we are never in a position to provide to charities without the resources provided by businesses.
This past week we were reminded of the fact that everyone now operates on an equal playing field, when it comes to spreading a message, promoting an idea, or launching a startup.
I watched two videos, which helped to drive the point home – again.
Like many of you, I came across the KONY 2012 video, produced by Invisible Children. The 29 minute video has been watched more than 74 million times, as the time of this post.
In my opinion, the video was very powerful, yet a little ambiguous as to a direct course of action. If the goal was to raise money, I think the goal will come up a little short – although $5 million was raised in the first 48 hours of the video release.
However, if the goal is truly to make Joseph Kony a household word, the objective seems to be well on the way. I showed the video to my children, and they in turn made sure to show it to my neighbor the following day. My daughter seemed to know about KONY 2012 already, since a group of her friends were talking about it during lunch.
The video is an impactful element of an integrated strategy, designed to let the world know about the atrocities committed by a third world thug. No question, he must be stopped.
And then there is the The Dollar Shave Club video, watched more than 2.9 million times. I came across this video on the Mashable site, watched it a handful of times – and laughed each time!
The video is very clever and makes me want The Dollar Shave Club to do well – very well! What a memorable way to promote something that truly is a disposable commodity – razors!
So what are you waiting for?
We live in an era where a “Radio” broadcast isn’t truly on the radio – you can find it on the form of a podcast, on iTunes. We watch “TV” interviews uploaded to YouTube, or Vimeo – not from on our televisions.
Creative people are attracting business, by utilizing a wide variety of marketing platforms. Thought leaders are out there, promoting their ideas and increasing business via blog posts, white papers and other inbound marketing mechanisms.
The playing field is level – the very same platforms are available for you and your message, as well as for your competition.
So would your video message go viral to the extent of the two I’ve mentioned?
Probably not.
Most videos won’t come close, which is what makes the KONY 2012 and The Dollar Shave Club efforts even more significant.
It isn’t necessary for you to be nearly as noteworthy, on a global scale.
It is necessary for you to become part of the discussion.
Using the current platforms at your disposal allows for you to make your message available to prospects and clients 24/7 – even when you are not available to deliver it.
When done right, you will see the results!
Develop your plan, implement it, and measure the results.
This morning I began working to identify a new web hosting provider for a client’s website. While I’ve been updating the site for the past several months, the content is currently contained on the previous marketing partner’s server account.
If the transfer goes well, I am planning to transfer several sites I currently have on my server account.
Some developer friends of mine recommended web hosting providers in the past, so I went back to my list and did some research online.
After visiting some of the sites, I kept coming across providers without phone support. Try as I might, I wasn’t able to find phone numbers for a few of the companies.
Since one of the web hosting providers was spoken of very highly, I took the time to send a message via email.
My message read, as follows:
I would like to speak with a PERSON about transferring several websites I am currently hosting with xxx. Could someone please call me – 770-378-1510.
Jeff Wolfe
Here is the response I received two hours later:
Hi Jeff
I am sorry unfortunately we do not currently have phone support for sales at this time. But we would be happy to assist you with any questions you may have about our hosting services via email. Please let us know and we can further assist you. Thank you for your understanding, have a great day!
Thanks,
xxx
I checked the company name off my list and continued my research.
This incident led me to a very important question we should all be asking ourselves:
Are we truly communicating with customers and prospects in the way that works best for them, or in a way that is more convenient for us?
Whether you work for a large company, or a startup, the time may be right for you to take a good hard look at how you communicate with your customers.
Take the time to learn how your customers and prospects prefer to communicate with you and your company.
More importantly, take the time to measure how many sales may be lost, during the course of handling business as usual.
“The candidate I support can’t possibly win, so I’m going with ___ instead.”
I’ve heard this sentiment too many times to count – maybe even more so in this election cycle.
More importantly, I’ve heard this sentiment applied to various other areas of life.
How often do we hear the following, or something close to it?:
“My idea may not work, so I’ll walk away.”
“I simply don’t have enough capital to get this venture off the ground, so I’ll stop thinking about it.”
“I’m not sure how to market my idea, so I’ll just sit tight and do nothing.”
The list goes on and on…
And yet, we enjoy hearing the inspirational stories time and again, of people who bucked the trend and “went against the odds.”
Did they really accomplish the improbable, or did they stop talking themselves out of the possible?
So what do you have to lose?
The time to vote YES, for getting started may be right now for you! The time for casting aside negative thoughts and putting ideas into action is right now!
While you’re standing in line to cast your vote on Super Tuesday, why not just put a little more though into that idea that “will never work?”
Maybe the time to change the improbable scenario into the quite possible is right now.
FlexMarketing Solutions prides itself on focusing first on creating a solid integrated marketing strategy, in partnership with our clients. We then follow-up on the strategy by implementing a series of tactics, delivering solid results.
We place a high priority on the strategic side of marketing, because you deserve the very best – not just a bunch of “disjointed tactics.”
FlexMarketing Solutions is in the business of providing results!
Maybe it was lost because today is Friday and “everyone” takes it a little easier on Friday.
