Getting your sales and marketing strategy right is the starting point for all your activities.
It's your strategy that sets your overall direction and helps to makes everything else clear. It typically defines your mission and goals; your expert niche or positioning; your customer groups; how and why you're unique and different from your competitors. For some firms, company culture and values are a vital part of their strategy.
Not every firm has sales or marketing skills in house. Especially small businesses. They are often specialists or experts in their own field. They are usually heads down, busy looking after their own clients.
But all of my clients do want to build their business. They'd like to become better known in their industry. They want more customers. Customers that are profitable and a pleasure to work with. Customers that pay the bills on time because they've found their perfect supplier. A well-planned sales and marketing strategy gets you there.
You may have a marketing executive or business development resource in your team already. They may be a brand-new hire, or an experienced hand, familiar with the company and its services. Or you might be thinking about recruiting someone junior. Someone to develop and take on your firm's sales and marketing.
Whichever situation you're in, a B2B sales and marketing mentor like me can help. I can kick-start your sales and marketing strategy and run a particular project. Or help guide and advise your internal resources on a light touch, ongoing basis.
Converting cold prospects into clients can be the hardest part of the B2B sales cycle. In contrast – NOT many people who are responsible for bringing in new business struggle with converting referrals into clients. A brief word on referrals. (Bear with.) Referrals are the hottest prospects you will ever have. They’ve come pre-warmed by your network. And if you’re…
Read moreThis is going to be my shortest article ever. (Phew!) When you have been to a B2B event – with marketing or sales in mind – it can be a success, a failure, or (most commonly) somewhere in-between. However you choose to measure its success. But there is one thing you can do which I think matters more than everything….
Read moreThe other day I rang a tree surgeon company to find the the price to cut back three trees looming over the front of our house. (Don’t worry, this does lead somewhere). His reply was quick, and with a sigh. “I can’t do that till at least the end of March. I’m short of staff and really very busy” “Oh, well.” I…
Read moreLet’s get one thing straight. This isn’t an 'instant fix, double your list and swell your pipeline in a day' kind of guide. Such things are a myth however persuasive the copy. Nor is it a whizzy new marketing gimmick that will have you digging deep for expensive software. This is useful stuff.
Find out moreYou know already how important marketing is. But knowing when to start, where to start and what you should be doing is a job in itself. Marketing jargon and a myriad of options all promising fantastic results only muddies the waters.
Find out moreSo, you’ve reviewed your 'How to get new business plan' and come up short. Or perhaps you haven’t even got that far and actually, you just want a look at someone else’s business development plan to get you started? Some inspiration and ideas to get you going?
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