How to Develop a Winning Sales Strategy for your Business
Your sales strategy is your plan to sell as much of your products or services to generate revenue for your business. It is not enough to just develop an excellent product, which of course is very important, but you need to decide how you can sell lots of it.
You need to understand that your marketing and sales strategy are very different.
Your strategy for marketing your product(s) or service(s) is all about creating awareness, visibility.
Your strategy for your sales is all about achieving your target figures for your product(s) or service(s).
The Steps in developing your Sales Strategy;
- Develop your USP Unique Selling Point
- Identify your target market
- Develop your pitch
- Firm your sales channel
- Approach the market in an organised way
- Identify your target customers and how you approach them
- Address the needs of these potential customers at every step in the process
- Find the right salespeople
- Use as Sales Proocess and fine tune it as you go
- Achieve your targeted sales and revenue
2 Sales Strategy Options
As a company or organisation you have a choice of strategies – inbound or outbound. You may of course adopt both types.
An Inbound sales strategy
Inbound involves attracting more visitors onto your website who already know some information about what your company does and your product(s) or services . Your strategy for inbound needs to be supported by your marketing team with the right content. For example Improving the website, using relevant blogs, building links and maximizing individual web pages with the use of SEO. When you do this effectively you attract prospects and give them information on your product(s) or service(s). Your salespeople engage the new potential customers and encourage them through the sales process. Very good salespeople are excellent at doing this.
An Outbound sales strategy
In contrast an outbound sales strategy allows you to target potential customers, let them know about the product(s), service(s), and achieve sales. This strategy is based on your knowledge and understanding of the potential customer. It is necessary to create a strategy where your salespeople are equipped with a description of their ideal new customer. This is supported by a lead generation strategy that enables you to generate quality leads for your salespeople.
Your salespeople then use traditional sales methods, cold calls, cold e mails and social media to get potential customers attention. Once interest is generated your salespeople use the right sales pitch to get the right deals. Once you have perfected your outbound technique it is easy to ramp up this sales approach.
The Role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in a Changed World in 2021
The role of the CMO is key in today’s challenging environment. The CMO’s role has always been challenging even prior to Covid-19 and its effects on global markets. On average CMOs are likely to last the least amount of time as a member of the senior management team. Yet, CEOs and boards are very demanding of them. A CMO is expected to be a customer champion, leader for the brand and driver of growth in the market. Nevertheless, less than 28% regularly participate at board meetings. High expectations are expected from CMOs, so, why not let them have more influence at the right level?
2021 is a great time for CMOs to rise to the challenge created by Covid-19. They can re-examine all aspects of their marketing and look at the way they do business and create new opportunities for growth. To do this effectively they need the support of their CEOs and their boards.
A CMO Also Needs to be:
A Champion for Customers
A leader that provides customers with exceptional experiences. Develop campaigns that build confidence in their businesses and deliver results.
Driver of Growth
A CMO needs to be the growth driver, increasing new and retaining existing customers.
An Innovator
Focused on developing customers with new IT solutions.
A Team Builder
Capable of hiring the right people.
A Chief Storyteller
Develop stories that convey the brand and all it represents for customers.
The Job of the CMO
The CMO needs to be adaptable. So he must be at one with the CEO and the board to understand what the company needs now. Today a CMO needs to draw on his/her experience and develop new ideas. A focus on innovation is key as well as market research to identify what customers want. As the saying goes “knowledge is power” and the CMO must become the person with the most knowledge in the organisation. He/she also needs to be a person that knows what is best to offer the customer.
Now is the time for CMOs to reach their finest hour.
Why Rebrand your business and when is the right time to do so?
Your brand is the total experiences your customers and potential customers have with your company.
A good brand communicates what your company does and how it does it. A good brand also establishes trust and credibility with your prospects and customers. And because a brand evolves over time, many companies, including some of the most successful ones, rebrand. Why?
We all need to embrace change. It is overall the only constant. Even when your brand is thriving, there is no guarantee that it will still be relevant or on top in a few years. Sometime to maintain the status quo a company simple needs to change or keep up to date.
And to help you to I’ll show you how you could apply this to your company.
Step 1
Determine why rebranding is necessary
Are you trying to appeal to a new set of customers? Has something gone wrong with your company that you are trying to change or move away from? This could be something as simple as losing sales to something a little more extreme like a corporate scandal or bankruptcy. Are you too similar to your competitor’s brands and want to do something to stand out from the crowd?
Have you added a new element to your company or have you moved away from the services that you used to provide? Is your brand merely old fashioned and could do with a little TLC? Once you have figured out which of these is the reason for your rebrand, it will be much easier to come up with a plan to make the changes.
Step 2
Make a Plan
All things work best if there is a plan involved. All companies work differently, but all successful rebrands should come with a roadmap outlining how best to achieve the goals. It is best if you can create a timeline outlining how best to achieve the goals. It is best if you can create a timeline outlining when you want exceptional milestones accomplished, and include project costs so that you are not left with any nasty suprises.
Rebranding can take the form of a simple tweak, like changing the colour of your logo design, to improving what the company stands for as a whole, so projected costs and timelines can vary significantly country by country.
Step 3
Keep it Simple
One of the worst things that you can do is confuse your customer base, both old and new. People tend to be set in their ways, so if something they are used to suddenly changes in their perception, it can be a confusing time.
Therefore, it is vital that your customers can see and understand what it is that you can now do for them, even if that means reiterating what you have always done.
If you have added services or products into your company, then make sure that this is obvious, while on the other hand if you no longer provide a particular service, then this should also be stated. The ideal situation would be if you could describe your brand to someone in less than 10 seconds.
Communication is vital, therefore if people cannot tell what it exactly is that you can do for them, then they are going to go and look elsewhere –Brand loyalty and promise often is difficult.
Step 4
Customer Feedback & Research
One of the worst things that you can do is confuse your customer base, both old and new. People tend to be set in their ways, so if something they are used to suddenly changes in their perception, it can be a confusing time.
Therefore, it is vital that your customers can see and understand what it is that you can now do for them, even if that means reiterating what you have always done.
If you have added services or products into your company, then make sure that this is obvious, while on the other hand if you no longer provide a particular service, then this should also be stated. The ideal situation would be if you could describe your brand to someone in less than 10 seconds.
Communication is vital, therefore if people cannot tell what it exactly is that you can do for them, then they are going to go and look elsewhere –Brand loyalty and promise often is difficult.
How a Marketing Strategy Can Grow your Business
Fergal Maher MBS (Hons) Marketing, Dip in Strategic Marketing, FMIIGrad,
What is Marketing Strategy?
There are many definitions by countless authors but I like to keep it simple, it is a plan. It is your company’s plan to achieve specific marketing objectives. Start with your market. What is your market? Where is it located? What is the size of the market? What is the current state of the market?
Where is your company positioned in the market?
Are you a market leader, new entrant, smaller niche player, number 2 or 3?
How aware is the market of your company or brand?
Marketing is all about awareness. How well known is your company\brand? How can you increase awareness of your brand? What do you want them to know and say about your brand?
Develop your company’s brand /USP
There are a number of steps.
1. Understand
Start with a question. Who is your potential customer? Have you information on these potential customers? What motivates them to buy? Is the market giving them what they need now? Are they looking for something different, faster service, knowledge, experience something you can give. Discuss this with your current customers and your own people internally. You would be surprised what you would learn.
2. We are the best, leaders because……
As a company what are you excellent at? You know your competition and you can list these easily and what they offer. On a scale of 1-10 how do you compare to the top 5 services you provide. Show where you are better.
3. Is there a gap?
You can see what others are not doing so offer your solution. Look ahead see what is coming and what you can offer now over your competition.
4. Trial and modify
Don’t be afraid to go into the market and talk to customers. Do simple calls to customers and get the right feedback.
Find out what makes you different and don’t be shy about telling people why you are so good at what you do
Marketing Budget
How much should it be?
There are no exact rules but you should spend around 5 percent of your total sales revenue on marketing to maintain your current position. If you are trying to grow or increase the market share you should budget a higher percentage—usually around 10%, 15% percent.
5. Put a Dashboard in place
Set objectives and dates and display these on a dashboard. Put it in a prominent place. This will give you the focus you require. Make sure it is easy to update and review. Tie these efforts to your overall marketing objectives.
6. Monitor and check your progress on your Dashboard
From experience, this should be undertaken weekly with your team. Set corrective action if dates begin to slip.
7. Be flexible – adapt
See what is working from your marketing effort and what is not. If something is not working change it. Sometimes all it needs are small changes to make a difference.
8. Communicate
Tell people regularly what is working and what is a success. This is a key to keep everything on track, builds confidence and achieves significant momentum. Build-in small rewards to encourage your team and acknowledge achievement.
The 8 steps above are not a full checklist of things to do but it does give you an outline of what is essential. If you follow these steps you will be well on your way.
Here are five marketing steps you can take to communicate with your customers and potential customers in 2019
By Fergal Maher MBS (Hons) Marketing, Dip in Strategic Marketing, FMII Grad
Step 1
Understand your customer, potential customer.
Start with research. Use telephone, field (one to one interviews or customer focus groups). What you are looking for are patterns of customer behaviour. What a customer likes, what they buy. This will help you develop the right message to tell your target audience. Why? These consumer insights are crucial for helping you put together highly targeted marketing messages that your customers can truly relate to, not just now, but for well into the future.
Step 2
Create your Unique Selling Points (USP).
Marketing today is challenging. Consumers are communicated within so many different ways, not just television, radio and print but through text, email, and social media. When consumers are constantly being pitched different products and services you need to be different. This is called a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Step 3
Sharpen Your Brand Look and Feel
Traditional marketing is what companies have been using for years, print, radio, TV, cinema, billboards etc. Today, SMS, blogs, ezines, and websites are used more. The key to the success of building your brand is to have consistent messages across the various media. All too often, businesses try to get too many messages out, sometimes in one communication. You also need to be consistent. You need to give a clear simple message whether it is a text, email, blog in print or on television.
Step 4
Carefully Choose Your Marketing Communications Mix
Select the right media. See what media your customers like and how they buy. For example, younger generations are on social media, phones, and apps. You can use these media as your central starting point. All industries are different so the marketing approach needs to be different. The skill as a marketer is coming up with the right approach and maximizing the marketing budget.
Step 5
Measure your Marketing Communications’ Effectiveness
Once you have decided on your promotional mix for your integrated marketing communications plan, you also need to put in place a means to measure it. Today emails can be measured for effectiveness. You can easily see how good your social media is. As a result, you can quickly see how good your marketing is and if you need to adjust or change it.
Benefits of Hiring a Marketing Consultant for your Business
1. Gives an outside perspective
An outside perspective means looking at the market and not just your current customers. This approach will put your business back in focus. A very good marketing consultant sees things clearly, the big picture, without being affected by the internal issues that very often weigh current people down.
2. Has a specialist skill set
Marketing consultants always have a general background and knowledge of how to handle a variety of different needs, but most have a specialized skill set to offer. For example, you’ll find consultants who specialize in Marketing Strategy. When you work with a skilled consultant she\he can quickly target a specific area without wasting time, money or resources.
3. It is a short-term commitment that works
Many Managing Directors or Chief Executives find themselves in a dilemma between hiring a new full-time marketing employee or bringing on a consultant. The biggest benefit of doing the latter is that a consultant is short-term. You can use their services for a period of time — perhaps to help with a seasonal campaign — or for a longer period, 1 to 2 years, to achieve significant growth. This saves money and prevents over-hiring.
4. It saves time
Hiring a consultant is quick and easy. This allows you to spend less time focusing on logistics and more time taking action. As a result, you can address problems much faster and prevent small issues from becoming massive problems that will eventually require additional resources that you don’t have.
5. Evades office politics
Sometimes, when companies are working on a challenging problem or a controversial project, it can be hard to make decisions or take action without becoming emotional. A good Marketing Consultant cuts through this and is totally unbiased. Sometimes there are so many personal factors in play that nothing ever gets done. People are too worried about job security, future positions, relationships and other factors that they become paralyzed. A highly experienced marketing consultant doesn’t have to worry about any of these things and can get to work with minimal interference.
6. Increases accountability
It’s easy for business owners and CEOs to lose focus and veer off track. This is typically the result of a lack of accountability. When an individual finds himself/herself in a position of power, accountability dissipates and the ability to act autonomously often clouds judgment and decision making. When a Marketing Consultant is hired, accountability suddenly re-enters the picture. She\he will establish meetings, set goals and provide objectives that have to be satisfied by certain checkpoints. This is good for everyone involved.
Finding the right fit
At the end of the day, hiring a Marketing Consultant is all about finding the right fit. You need to account for their area of expertise, budget, time frame, and other important aspects like location, current workload and more. One particularly important issue to consider is the fee. Be realistic about how much you can spend but remember you can dig a deeper hole for your company by hiring the wrong person.
Once you determine that you need a Marketing Consultant, immediately focus on details like these. The right fit will make all the difference in the world.