Prioritize Strategies: Sales & Marketing

Business owners who are concerned about their sales and marketing capabilities could begin to see improvement by breaking down the term sales as it relates to marketing, into manageable elements. You end up with a checklist that can be reviewed in order to prioritize areas needing improvement

1) MARKETS: How much do you really know about your current markets or future market? Why do your customers buy from you? What could you offer that would attract more non-customers? How can you sell to more of the profitable customers? If you add features or services, will people pay more for them or will they attract more customers? Are there bulk, institutional, industrial, or corporate markets beyond normal retail that you are ignoring?

2) COMPETITION: Who are they and why are they after you? What is the overall market trend and how are you holding up in terms of market share and profit position? How do you really rank against competitors? What substitutes are there to your products and how much of a threat are they?

3) DISTRIBUTION: How can you get your products/services out to new outlets profitably? Are there unbranded opportunities? Can you bundle in your products with someone else's?

4) SUPPLY CHAIN: Are you at the mercy of wholesalers for your raw materials or product components? How can you manage suppliers and gain more buying power over them? Can you simplify your products and reduce your supply needs? Can you buy in bulk and store them somewhere in a cost effective manner? Can you buy some things pre-fabricated cheaper than doing it yourself (or vice versa)?

5) POSITIONING: Where do your products/services fall in relation to the total market? Is this truly the position you want? Are you "all things to all people," or should you move more toward a high-end position (charging a premium for a differentiated service), or a low-cost position (undercutting others' prices but at a profit, due to high efficiency)? If you are truly "in the middle," you should examine how well you're doing regularly (with the help of a good accounting system).

6) PROMOTION: Feel invisible? How can you change this? What promotion tools make the most sense to promote your products yet are consistent with the marketing image you want to project? How do you know if they pay off? Are you promoting on the Internet effectively?

7) PRICING: What is your pricing strategy? Does variable pricing make sense for different markets, perishable products, or time-based sales processes, or various customer types? Are you charging for everything you do?

8) SERVICE DELIVERY: How well and how consistently are you delivering/producing your products/services? What people problems must be addressed? Do you really train people in their overall role and mission, not just the mechanics of their job? How do you know your customer service is satisfactory? How can you use disservice situations to build customer loyalty?

9) FINANCING: What is your capital structure? That is, what are the proportions of cash, bank borrowing, other borrowing, invested funds, and net income to your operation? Do you produce an annual financial report and a monthly cash report? Are there other sources of capital you should look at? Are there cheaper sources for say, bank loans?

10) STRATEGY: How can you build customer loyalty? How can you increase sales to existing customers (more frequent use or buys, selling a broader product line to them) or new customers (existing and new products)? How can you penetrate into new areas profitably? What new substitute products are successful at Wal-Mart or other outlets that you have sniffed at as not being part of your traditional business? What costs can be removed without affecting the value equation?

11) MANAGEMENT: What risks exist today and which are on the horizon? What is the likelihood and impact of each? How can you reduce both? Are there alliances that make sense? Are there trade groups you should be in? Are there natural ties that no one is exploiting-- like a video store letting people order a video with a choice of pizza from the next-door pizza shop for a specific time? Or letting customers return their videos to a local Starbucks they stop at in the morning?

12) INFORMATION: What information is your accounting system giving you about profitable lines, costs, and margins? If "none," why not fix it and start making better decisions? What advice can you get from a trade group or local retail association?

If you concentrate on those areas which are most pertinent to your business structure and needs, it can only lead to a more focused resource management scheme. Stay consistent and maintain sight of your goals and just how close the business is towards meeting them. This model will naturally fall into a prized routine that can only spell SUCCESS! See you next time.

Plan a Winning Strategy

The key to effective sales planning is thinking and preparation. One of the keys to successful selling is having a written game plan. I won't say this is easy because it's not.

Because it's not easy to do it's easy to avoid doing - and that's huge mistake.

If you're ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work, let's begin.

Who are your existing customers? Prioritize these customers two ways. First prioritize your customer list based on sales revenue. Then prioritize your customer list based on sales potential.

Who are your prospects? Prioritize your list of prospects based on sales potential.

Develop a sales call plan based on anticipated sales call frequency. Determine how many times a year you want to visit your best customers. Determine how many times a year you want to visit your second-tier, or medium-size customers. Then determine how many times a year you want to visit your small-size customers.

Do the same thing for your sales prospects. Determine how many times a year you want to visit your large sales prospects, medium-size and smaller sales prospects.

Once you've completed this exercise you can begin to map out a sales call plan based on geography and sales potential. More on those specific topics to follow. Until then remember success equals sustained hard work and failure is just a tool to get there.

Winning the Customer Loyalty Battle

Knowledge is the key weapon to effective customer satisfaction. Know what your customers want, making sure your staff is well trained to provide the services offered. A great start towards successfully meeting customer expectations.

After that, service & product providers need to be well equipped with answers. For example, the multitude of vendors selling airline tickets and the frequent lack of communication leaves ground employees at a loss when trying to answer consumer questions. It is your responsibility to arm employees with knowledge so they can provide clear, helpful answers. If a client calls and your business consistently has the most helpful and appropriate answers you will win their trust and loyalty.

The key to good customer service, in any industry, is not winning a battle but winning the war, especially in a competitive business environment. For a business involved in sales, typically what is at stake when it comes to customer relations is time spent for services provided. Therefore, service providers need to determine how much time they can afford in the course of a month or year to expend for the sake of maintaining ongoing relationships. After all, service-oriented business (more than any industry) must follow the 80-20 business principle, whereby 80 percent of their business must come. You might not please everyone, but the clients that actually pay the bills will be in the loop consistently.

Give your customers a constant, active feedback process. Either online or via a rep, they should be able to, in an instant contact your company about any issues good or bad. Then make the return response as quickly as possible. Again this lets the customer know you care about their opinion and you are in a position to change and or augment a process to quell their worries. You can also communicate to them through newsletters, or regular blog posts. It's all about keeping in touch and making them feel your focus in on them and their satisfaction.

In summary product awareness, business particulars, expert sales staff, communication, and the efficient use of CRM will bring a bond that could carry your company through sale after sale from a customer that is truly satisfied you have a superior product or service and you’re willing to back it up.