How to become sales centric - know who your buyers are!

"If only I could get in front of the right sort of people I would be a millionaire!" a good friend of mine said to me recently.

And he is right.

He has a good product, an excellent track record, and respect from his competitors, an excellent pricing model and a reputation for excellent delivery. So how come he is not a millionaire?

The simple answer is that his business is product centric, not client centric. He does of course know how to deliver excellent services, and can promote the products with associated benefits.

But that does not make it client centric.We have all heard the story of the “Killer Application” that would transform business processes. Well yes, there are a few examples where this did happen - but there are many more examples of killer apps that did not deliver the clients benefits despite their technical prowess. They failed because they did not answer the most basic of business questions that the paying client would ask – what’s in it for me?

To be client centric means building the business around the wants and needs of the clients, not the products. It means understanding exactly what they want, when they want it, where they want it and critically how much they are prepared to pay for it.

Client centric companies are agile, flexible, adaptable, and alert to change. They listen, ask questions, do research, conduct surveys, network and deepen their knowledge. They then do what most would not dare do – they give the knowledge away! They do this as a form of reward to those that gave the information in the first place. Nothing confidential or illegal but juicy insights or succinct summaries of where the industry is heading, what’s happening and who/what the key drivers are.

Client centric companies know that knowledge without insight is like and engine without fuel.

Where would you start in turning your business into a sales centric one? There are many ways but my experience suggests that the start point is in determining who the clients are – your target audience. There might be a bit of “heavy lifting” involved in having to think through exactly which segment you will serve best. But it is worth the doing.

Segment existing clients, think how your ideal client will be and so on until you can accurately describe them to your best friend or partner and they nod in agreement.

Once you know who they are, the next bit is to really get to know them. Invest time with them; add value at all opportunities until you are synonymous with the industry segment.

If you know who you are aiming your service at, the next stage is straightforward. Promote yourself to them in the best way that you can.

Marketing is described as telling people what you do over and over again. I agree but my version is – tell the RIGHT people what you do over and over again.

That’s my thoughts. What do you think?

You can call me on 07956 532963 for more information or to talk about your sucesses.

What to do when you lose a pitch

I was speaking to a creative agency recently that lost a big pitch. They were gutted as they felt that they were in with a good chance. The client explained why they were not selected and it did seem to reflect a realistic explanation of the agencies short comings.

The response to the loss by the agency team was a shrug of the shoulders and “never mind, we will do better next time”. This is not unrealistic but it is not the right way to react.

Before we move on to how they might have reacted differently let us summarise what we and they know so far. The client selected this agency to pitch so they knew of their ability and reputation. So getting on the pitch list was a positive step. They had the opportunity to stand in front of the client and pitch. This offered them an opportunity to size up the client, their likes and dislikes, how they think, what makes them tick and so on. Finally they had the gold dust – the deal making reason why one agency won the business.

If this was you and you had all of this information at your disposal you have the chance to do a number of things

• Make sure that if the selected agency fails to deliver, then you are willing to step into the gap at short notice having been already fully up to speed with the project
  

• Ask for other work that better suits you.
  

• Ask for a referral or a contact that they might follow up.
  

Lastly, why not be really cheeky and ask to do a repitch? The winning agency might have won but their offering might have just scraped the bar. The client might be hoping for better but for whatever reason they had to decide. Asking to one more repitch might just give you the opportunity to deliver that Perfect Pitch. If nothing else it shows determination and willingness to win the pitch.

Losing the pitch is not the end of the game, just another opportunity to demonstrate your true worth.

Remember - life's a pitch

Identifying your Target Market

Identifying your Target Market is much more difficult than you think.

This came from a contact recently. "We did everything right! We looked long and hard at our offering. We developed a brochure that clearly described it in plain English. We sent it out to the list of companies but nothing came as a result. So what did we do wrong?”

I thought long and hard over this cry for help as the brochure looked really good. Even the mailing list looked reasonable. But when I looked harder, it became clear to me that they had not really understood who they should be talking to. They had not clearly defined their target audience.

Most business executives have an extremely good technical knowledge of their service. They know how it works, how it can be monetised and how to deliver it. The more adept can even turn this into a list of benefits that their clients enjoy.

But for many that is as far as it goes. They broadcast their messages and they then wonder why their marketing efforts stall or do not deliver that stream of new clients that should be buying from them.

I believe I now have the answer. They have not defined their target market!

Our goal at Credence-UK is to help businesses to grow so we asked ourselves this question. Why have they not completed this marketing task? Having asked a number of my clients and my contacts why they have not defined their target audience it transpires that they have never needed to!

The reason being that most small businesses grow through the Three R’s – repeats, referrals and recommendations so it is not always clear who they should be aiming their services at. New business came about in a haphazard way.

There is a very famous marketing saying that goes something like this– “50% of my marketing budget is wasted, but I don’t know which 50%”.

Assuming that most marketing collateral is an adequate reflection of the benefits of the service or product there can only be one other reason why the 50% is wasted.

My guess is that the 50% wastage occurs because it hits the wrong people.

Here is a very simple example. You cannot play the guitar and you have no wish to play the guitar. Would you respond to an advert for guitars? No, is the simple answer. OK, you might be on the look out for a friend, relative or colleague who is looking for one and that is where most marketing advice gets it wrong. They try to broadcast in the vague hope that you might make the connection between the guitar and the person you know has an interest. But in a business context you cannot afford to be that messy.

Marketing, like any other business discipline, must be efficient and effective. Every penny spent must be aimed at the audience most likely to buy.

After the Vision, the next hardest part in creating an effective marketing plan is clearly defining the target audience. My experience with helping agencies and businesses alike is that they just cannot nail down an accurate description of their target audience.

Sadly, there is no quick fix or snappy maxim to help us here. The best statement I can come up with to help is this – “the target market is that group of companies that has the greatest propensity to buy”. It can only be defined by a careful examination of all the relevant factors concerning your service offering such as - pricing strategy, delivery, geographical location, skill set, mind set, expertise. Much of this requires some deep thought on the SWOT analysis and a detailed insight into the external environmental impacting the business.

In military terms the expression is Ready, Aim, Fire.

All too often I hear this – Ready, Fire, Anything happen?

What is your experience?

Call me on 0117 9047874 if you need any help with this aspect of your business

The Big Idea versus the Slickest Sales Pitch

Winning a sales pitch is deeply rewarding. It is a form of "thank you" for all the effort that the team has put in. Everyone goes away with that warm glow of a job well done. And rightly so.

The team might even reflect on how the pitch went. How the clients reacted. How the process of crafting and delivering the pitch came together.

For pitching is like any other skill - it can be taught and it can be learned.

But there is one thing that cannot be taught or learned and that is how to come up with the original thought that forms the kernel of the Big Idea. It is the very essence of good pitching. Everything hangs off the Big Idea. It is what separates out the great from the good.

Experience has shown that great ideas win over slick pitches. Clients can spot great ideas; they know and have the insight to spot that spark of genius. It might need a bit of guidance to get it through the grey suits in the organisation but they are willing to push through the Big Idea.

Whilst we at Sales-Pitch would suggest that you work on the process and systems of delivering the very best pitch, we also know that the epicentre is that great idea. It is the idea that wins it; the rest just makes sure that it is nurtured to the point where the client believes in it.

What are your thoughts?

Always remember - life's a pitch!

Personality Profiling using DISC

A new client has asked me to deliver a series of workshops on DISC Personality Profiling. Having completed all the research and crafted all the material for it I thought that I would also blog about it as it is a seriously valuable tool for any organisation.

The acronym DISC stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance. These four personality traits were defined by an American psychologist called William Moulton Marston in 1928. He wrote about them in his book "Emotions of normal people" in his attempt to formulate a way of describing the emotional states of ordinary americans. He did not actually develop the DISC methodology as we know it today, that came form a close friend of his. Marston was a larger than life character - he also designed the first lie detector and intriguingly also came up with the idea of Wonder Woman!

Here are a few benefits of the DISC profile methodology:

- Fast, accurate and cost effective
- Takes only 7-8 minutes
- Eliminates the need for guesswork
- Enables more effective people management
- Received a Certification of Registration from the British Psychological Society

I will write up more about DISC and what is stands for in a series of blogs over the next few days.

You can find out more by going to www.thomasinternational.net

Sales Presentations: 3 Steps to Put the Customer First- By Susan Trivers

I saw this blog and it made so much sense I thought I would post it in full here.

If you would like to link through to Susan's Blogsite The Great Speaking Coach then click here.

This is what Susan wrote: "You've been invited to deliver a presentation to a desirable customer. You and your team immediately go to your slide software and begin writing the presentation. You start with your corporate overview, continue with a lengthy description of your products or services and conclude with a summary of features and benefits.

What's wrong with this picture? For the customer, it's boring. There's nothing in it that is about them. Think about the presentation from the customer's perspective and do this instead:

1) Your opening tells a story about how your product or service solved a problem very similar to the one they are facing. Don't know their problem? Then find out before you write the first word on a slide.

* They don't care about your corporation until they know you care about them.

2) Everything you say about your products and services is in the context of their needs--often called their 'pain' or 'hot buttons.'

* It's better to delve deeply into your solution to one specific pain than to be broad and general.

3) When you've reached the end of your presentation, paint a picture of their future that includes the successful use of your product or service. As soon as you say 'summary' or "in closing" they stop listening.

* Helping them imagine their life after buying from makes them think "yes, I want that."

Great insights here. The key is to put the client first.

Making Your Website Convert Better

I was sent this newsletter by Jayne Reddyhof of Adword Advisor. I liked it so much I asked her permission to blog it and she kindly agreed so here it is!

The key point for me was this - do the work for them!

If you want to contact Jayne her email address is jayne@adwordadviser.com

Give Them What They Want

According to experts, only one out of every hundred visitors to your website converts to a sale. Sounds like bad news, but look at it this way: if you increase your conversion rate by only 1 percent (which doesn't sound much does it?) you will double your sales!

How do you do it? Your customers' watchwords are, "don't make me think" and "don't make me do any work – do it all for me"! So what does this mean for your website design?

Some key tips:

Make sure your visitors know what you do, the instant they land on your website. Don't make them have to guess; tell them right up front with a benefits-laden headline.

Help them find what they are looking for. Don't send them to your home page, or a link deep within your site, and expect them to do all the work. They were nice enough to click on your search ad - return the favour with a landing page that speaks directly to their interests and needs.

Be specific: the more relevant and specific your website is to your visitor, the more they'll buy from you. If they want to buy a toaster and they land on your homepage, which forces them to navigate around before they get to the right section, they'll give up. Either get people straight onto a relevant landing page, or simply have more, smaller, websites that are specific and relevant. You're better off with lots of smaller websites - one of which would be just about toasters and sandwich makers for example - than trying to be Argos!

Sell on emotion, NOT logic: people don't buy the sausage - they buy the sizzle! We are an emotional species and make 80% of our decisions about something on an emotional level. We then back up the decision with logic. So appeal to people's emotions via your website. Remember Apple's "Think different" marketing campaign; most people aren't buying just a computer when they buy an Apple, they are buying into a whole concept.

Your customers only want to know "what's in it for me?" If your website details how your grandfather set up the stationery business in a coal cellar, and that now you have 5 branches, you're wasting a selling opportunity. If it offers useful advice - "How to save 50% on your printer ink supplies...", then you'll score.

Keeping relationships alive during bad times

When times get tough, and for some times could not be tougher, one of the pieces of received wisdom that I hear all too frequently is to look after existing clients. This generally elicits a chorus of “Hear, hear”. Rightfully so as we all know that we need to look after existing clients. For most however that chorus is about all they will be heard contributing to building the client relationship.

Experience of dealing with creative agencies suggests that the message about building relationships with existing clients is somehow being corrupted as they frequently do the opposite of what has been suggested. Rather than make contact to establish a stronger working relationship, the typical response is to begin a process of getting in new business via new contacts. Various methods are tried such as Word of Mouth, networking, cold calling and Direct Marketing. All are good at generating contacts and all have general support. The problem is that they are being considered out of context.

When times are good, clients are willing to take risks, open up new channels, try new agencies, and experiment with radical approaches. We have all experienced it. Clients calling in to say that they are willing to hear that sales pitch, give you a piece of work to see if the chemistry is right, open up new avenues to market.

When the road starts to get a bit rocky however, the average client moves from proactive to reactive. They move from venturesome to risk averse. And understandably so if the cost of the investment is high and the risk of failure is also high. Any attempt to persuade them to try new things or move agencies will be seen by them as counter intuitive given their mindset. At worst it could signal the end of the relationship.

In times of shortage or when times are tough the answer must be to work even harder on existing relationships. Even if they do not generate revenue today, it will in the future.

You have to be prepared to adapt to tough times. Profits will ease; turnover will be down, but only for a season. When the tough economic climate eases, those agencies that have built deeper and stronger relationships will see the fruit of their labours.

So call that client, carry out client satisfaction surveys, invite them out for meals, invite them over to meet the team, go and pay a visit and ask to be introduced to their team. Have a think about what you could be doing to help them and then make that call.

Don't fix what isn't broken

Miles Templeman, The Director General of the Institute of Directors made a very telling comment recently at the Annual Convention. Tucked away in all the various bits of spin, soundbites and home spun philosophy was an excellent quote that made attending the Convention memorable.

Miles said this - "Don't repair the bits that aren't broken". A simple statement but one that resonated with me for the rest of the day.

The reason why it resonated is that in all my years of consultancy it had not occurred to me to separate out the bits that worked and the bits that did not. I typically would have looked at the whole and sought solutions that included the fixed and the broken. How much easier to separate out the two parts and then focus on the broken bits.

Just occasionally you come across what appears to be a soundbite but on reflection turns out to be a paradigm shift in ones approach. This was an epiphany for me.

The moral of this tale - you are never to old to learn

Lovemarks - good theory or snake oil?

Kevin Roberts, Global Chief Executive of Saatchi and Saatchi, speaking at the IoD Annual Convention outlined his agencies' approach to marketing based on the concept of Lovemarks.

It is based on a traditional two by two matrix with the axis labelled Respect and Love as shown in the image.

Anything in the lower left hand quadrant is simply a commodity with no respect and no love. The top left is where most brands belong. They have respect but little love. Fads are in the lower right hand quadrant. They are loved but not respected. Lovemarks in the top right quadrant have both respect and are loved.

The key according to Roberts is to engage your client's emotions. The Return on Investment argument is replaced with Return on Involvement. Move from irreplaceable to irresistible to overcome the Weapons of Mass Distraction.

All heady stuff that had most of us marketeers salivating. BUT, is it the new marketing paradigm that Roberts believes it is?

Entertaining it most certainly is and Kevin argues it with the ferocity of an All Black. But I can't help but think that it is not a paradigm shift but the traditional marketing ideas repackaged.

After all doesn't every marketeer start with the idea that their products are perceived by the client in such a way as to generate loyalty? Don't we all start with the intention of building the relationship with clients in such a way that they are delighted and as such become irresistible?

So I believe it is not so much in the theory that it works but in the implementation. Getting the product or service packaged in such a way that it helps clients to remain loyal.

Roberts has successfully argued that Lovemarks is the best game in town but in my book it is simply a way to package sound marketing theory in a way that makes it inaccessible to most and as such a premium based service. Which is not bad marketing when you think about it!!

The importance of "outcomes"

I recently completed a sales pitch and am waiting to hear if I was successful. That is a bit beside the point of this blog but I wanted to share it with you.

One thing kept going through my mind - what are the outcomes?

Traditionally we are all told to use the FAB methodology - Features, Advantages and Benefits.

For most products this seems entirely logical and intuitive, which might explains its almost universal appeal.

For services it is not quite so valuable. What are the benefits of employing a coach, a mentor, a consultant, a creative agency, a PR agency? These do not fit readily into the FAB concept.

For services the key must be to establish clear and definable outcomes. An x% increase in profits, traffic, interviews. Or a y% improvements in client satisfaction, employee satisfaction and so on.

Without outcomes the engagement wins will be difficult to quantify. So start at the end - what is it that you want to achieve? You will be surprised how it gets clients to engage in the consultancy process.

How to get through the credit crunch - keep the focus

I will start by admitting that I do not understand the losses made by the banks as a result of the sub prime lending in the US. In the Daily Telegraph it stated that the losses to the British banking system of more than £20billion are equivalent to 3% of our GDP. The US expect to lose £72billion, Japan £5billion and Europe will lose £61.6billion.

These are huge figures. But as I say I don't really understand how they made such a hash of it. It would appear that there are humungous numbers of payment defaulters in the US.

Moving on however is the impact it will have on our economy. The DT Business section highlights a downturn in M&A activity as a direct consequence of the credit squeeze. Banks no longer have the money to fund them or if they do it will be at very high interest rates.

So what does the creative agency do to get through this turmoil? Are there any benefits that can be gleaned from this situation? The answer is a most emphatic yes - we will all have to become leaner and fitter!

I believe that the answer is to go back to basics.

• Build a strong reputation - become famous for something
• Deliver value laden services or products - exceed client s expectations
• Build long and strong relationships - people work with people they like, know and trust
• Manage the cash - do everything that is legal, decent, honest and truthful to manage cash
• Look after the talent - Good ones go, the poor ones stay. Make sure you give them no reason to move
• Promote yourself as widely and as effectively as possible - internet marketing affords cost effective new ways to get in front of new clients
• Be innovative - what got you there wont keep you there so be on the alert for new ideas
• Get the processes right - efficiency means using the scarce resources where they generate the best returns
• Watch the profit line - winning on price is the fools way to grow. Keep the margins high!
• Enjoy yourself - get some harmony back into your life!

Simple stuff but hard to implement. Done well they will ensure you get through the crisis.

See you on the other side!

Persistance versus Persecution!

"Life is difficult" according to the opening line to the book "The Road Less Travelled" by Scott Peck

But is is not the only thing that is difficult

Selling is difficult.

And one of the most difficult things to balance is the need to make contact with the client without appearing to stalk them.

It is a fine line to tread. Too many calls and emails and the client will think that they are being stalked and will eventually kick you out, not for any rational reason to do with your offer or the sale but because they cannot stand the bombardment of emails and telephone calls.

However, leaving them alone and not communicating with them will almost certainly mean that they drift off to other projects or worse still to your competitors.

The secret is to keep in contact by offering relevant information. Keep them posted with updates, news items, feedback. The headline in the communication could be - "I saw this and thought of you" as it summarises what you might tell them.

Sales Pitch - you present to real people not automatons

Buyers are people! Never forget that! Even if they try their hardest not to behave like a real person, behind the façade is a human being with all the frailties that you and I possess.

Buyers are people! Buyers have their careers to think of as well as their company’s long term goals. A bad decision can negatively impact a career, hence the motto “No one ever got fired for buying IBM”. Think about the buyer as a colleague rather than the enemy or the barrier to entry.

Buyers are people! Buyers are looking to minimise the risks. The service they are looking to buy has certain risks attached to it. By taking the time to minimise the risks the agency stands a better chance of being awarded the contract.

Buyers are people! A sales pitch, tender or a beauty parade is a form of mask worn by commercial buyers to hide behind. Find ways to get behind the mask to interact with the people. Always remember that people buy from people that they know, like and trust.

When you enter into a sales pitch remember that one of the goals is to reduce the risk to the buyer as a person as well as in their role. Get to know them and you are well on the way to success.

If you want to know more, call me on 07956 532963 or link to the website www.credence-uk.com

or go to my Squidoo lens for more information

After the sales pitch - the debrief

It is essential that you follow up after a sales pitch even if you have won.

Winning or losing is simply an outcome of a complicated decision making process that you want to understand in its entirety. By having a debrief it allows you to get inside the heads of the prospective client and understand more about what is driving them and their decision making process

Here are a few questions to consider:

• What did you like/dislike about our written submission?
• What did you like/dislike about our presentation
• What did you like/dislike about the way we handled the entire pitch?
  
• Do you think that we understand your business and the problems you are facing?
• What were the key factors in deciding who you would use?
  
• Who else was pitching and why did you select them to pitch?
• Having completed the pitching process, is there any other way that you might have considered doing it?
• Would you consider asking us to pitch for other projects?
• If yes, what projects are forthcoming?

There are more but the point that I am trying to make is that you carry out a formal debrief.

Done well it will build up the relationship with the prospective client and may even open doors for more projects.

Feel their pain - how to improve your sales pitch

When constructing your sales pitch it is vital that you prioritise the information you will present.

The most important and therefore the highest ranked is - what is the client looking for. What is their problem, their pain, their barrier to success. Be really diligent and use your experience and business acumen to discern what they want. Yes, they might want increased visibility for a new product in a new market. But why? What is the driver for that. What is pushing them to introduce a new product? Find out all you can

The least important pieces of information are your credentials. Assume they know enough about you by being asked to be in sales pitching process. Don't waste time telling people all about your past, they can find that out by themselves.

Be the Pitch Doctor and ease the clients pain! Do you recall the song " A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"? Be the agency with the best bedside manner

Pitching bloopers

Credence is compiling a list of pitching bloopers such as these below. If you can add to it please let me know. They will be published so hide the details if needed

Cheeky!

A colleague of mine had successfully completed the pitch and was being entertained by our Middle Eastern hosts in Dubai. Half way through the meal he passed wind thinking it was a local custom. The head of the Jordanian delegation remarked "You might be thinking that you are engaging in a local custom. You are not. That is the sole preserve of children and animals.

Cheers!

After a significant pitch to a Japanese delegation, the MD turned to the Chairman of the Japanese conglomerate and offered the following toast "To Pearl Harbour!"

Tangled wires

At a pitch by Pratt and Whitney, the first speaker tripped over the microphone cable, knocked over the lectern, cut his hand on a shard of glass and tore his jacket on the upturned lectern. When his partner walked on to the stage a witty little wag said very loudly "Ah! Mr. Whitney I presume?"

Any more??

please email me on bloopers@Credence-uk.com

Perfect Pitching - rehearse it first

For many of us the idea of pitching is against all we stand for. For us the beauty parade should be a thing of the past. It is old fashioned, costly, time consuming and judging by feedback from clients it is not foolproof.

Ideally you should not be pitching for new work. If you get involved with the tendering process and or build a relationship with the prospective client there should be no reason to pitch. They should trust you to deliver the goods.

However, we do not live in a perfect world and culturally here in the UK we are all asked to pitch.

Here are the top 5 tips that will help you to maximise the chances of winning the pitch:

1. Understand what the client really wants. Delve in deeper. Ask the awkward questions. Challenge their thinking
2. Find out if you have a realistic chance of winning the pitch or are you making up the numbers. They will not answer a direct question but they might tell you who is the current incumbent, how long they have been in place and the quality of the relationship which might in turn tell you how likely you are to win it.
3. Make absolutely sure you know the budget. If they are not prepared to divulge it then walk away.
   
4. Get to know who the various people are in the decision making process. For instance who is the sponsor, the budget holder, the user, the gate keeper. They all need to be bought on board
5. Do a full dress rehearsal. Preferably in front of an independent but knowledgeable expert
   

We are willing to act as that independent expert. We will come along and see the full dress rehearsal after reading through the client brief.

Call me on 07956 532963

Don't turn strategy into a tragedy!

Strategy is taking a long term view of the organisation and ensuring that it is able to cope with the changes that are predicted impact on the organisation. To some extent strategy is the management process of future proofing the organisation.

But where to start? The strategy development tools are well known such as conducting a SWOT analysis, reviewing the external environment using the acronyms such as PEST or SLEPT, competition review are all valid and must be carried out.

However, the true staring point for a strategic review must be an objective audit of the organisations current capabilities. In our experience this is the responsibility of the CEO, MD or senior partner. The most senior individual must conduct a thorough review of the current abilities of the firm to cope with the current issues. After all, a sick company today is unlikely to be miraculously healed by some future event.

To help those individuals that are not so conversant with strategic reviews, we developed a very powerful and proven management tool called the DiagNoStickTM Process that ramps up the profits and consequently increase the value of the business.

Knowing precisely where your business is operating effectively strategically and where it is under performing is essential if you are looking to grow your business.

The benefit to you is that you have absolute clarity. No more prevaricating as to what to do next. Imagine the feeling that comes from having real clarity on what to do and knowing exactly what needs to be done and when.

"I have to admit I was sceptical, as I get offers like that all the time, but as you said in the original communication I had nothing to lose, and how right you were." Fraser J. Hay, CEO, The Results Academy

I would like to share it with you for FREE, and share some of the benefits other organisations have found working with me to develop their growth or exit strategy and how it has significantly improved their performance and enhanced their profits.

To find out just how valuable it really is you need to complete the DiagNoStickTM Workbook.

Email me on diagnostic@credence-uk.com for a FREE copy on diagnostic@credence-uk.com. Complete it and send it back to me. I can then prove to you first hand and for FREE just how powerful the DiagNoStickTM Analysis is and how it can and will help you in the short, medium and long term.

Don't turn strategy into a tragedy - get the FREE DiagNoStickTM today

Rob Hook

Link here to our website - Credence-UK

P.S. I have to warn you, my schedule is getting a bit hectic as more and more people recognise the power and value of the DiagNoStickTM Analysis Process. So, If you would like to increase the value and improve the profitability of your business then give me a call on my mobile 07956 532963 to chat about experiencing the DiagNoStickTM Analysis Process for FREE. After all, you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. My number again is 07956 532963.

Climbing out of a dive (2)

In the previous blog I outlined the mistakes some business managers make when they try to implement a new business campaign.

Here I set out how to make the changes that will ensure that you pull out of the dive or ensure that you don't get into one if the following guidelines are followed:

1. Using Michael Gerber's famous quote – make sure you work on and in the business. Don’t spend all your time delivering your material or enhancing it. Get out there and press the flesh. Always remember that people buy from people. If you are the owner or MD, make it an objective to meet 5 new people a week. Not just at networking events but at social events, at school events, not just business functions.

2. Don’t wait for that one contract to come in that will save the company. Get out there and push as if it was never going to come in. Sell, promote, engage, put out offers. Do anything to pull in that extra sale. It will enhance morale and add valuable cash to the business.

3. Watch cash like a hawk. As soon as an invoice becomes due take immediate action. Don’t dither, it will have a much bigger impact down the line if nothing is done. Keep firmly in the front of your mind that a business is there to make a profit. Once that begins to drop then you are likely to be heading for an even worse cash crisis.

4. Tell everyone what is happening in a positive upbeat way. Most importantly tell them what you are doing and why. Involve them in the discussions, ask what their suggestions are. You may be surprised that they will suggest things that you might have thought were sacred cows to the team and untouchable.

5. Do what you did when you started the company and it was in the growth phase. In virtually every instance it was the management team that went out to sell and promote the company. They may not have enjoyed it but they realised that they were in effect the company and were therefore the best advocates of its capabilities. Once this stops the vicious cycle of sales drop off begins.

6. Don’t waste time on non promotional activity. There are very few companies that can actually benefit from enhancing online reputation and you are unlikely to be the one. The anecdotal stories about making millions from SEO are typical of the urban myths that keep the SEO pot boiling.

7. Be realistic. Sales are based on relationships and they take time to develop. People buy from people and in most instances from people they know, trust and like. In addition most buying is done on a cyclical basis. Not only that but contracts are usually in place for Business to Business (B2B) transactions. Finally there are multi level relationships to be unpicked and developed. Most seem to forget that the huge wave of new business that came in when the company began trading came from efforts in the past usually from relationships forged whilst with the previous company. They get carried forward and we all forget that these trusted relationships themselves took time to forge. It is the “It takes 5 years to be an overnight success” tale.

A new business programme that is active, specific, well planned and implemented over the long term is therefore one that will create sustainable new client acquisition. A well managed, active programme uses techniques that proactively opens up dialogue with the client such as telemarketing or direct marketing techniques. Specific programmes promote one service or offering that their target market has a need for. It has a much greater chance of success than one that pushes bland generalisations.

Once the crisis is past avoid the mistake reoccurring by crafting a well planned and implemented programmes running over the long term capture clients at their point of need, whenever that might be.

A good new business plan should be:

• Specific
• Long term
• Active
• Planned

If you need help pulling out of the dive, avoiding it in the first place or guidance as to how to refill your sales pipeline please call me on 07956 532963 or email me at robh@credence-uk.com

Climbing out of a dive.

How to refill the sales Pipeline

Have you come across a similar tale as the one below?

You hear of a successful company that suddenly seems to run out of steam. The sales pipeline dries up and the management and or owners cannot seem to work out why. Their immediate response is denial. They argue that there is nothing intrinsically wrong; it is the time of year, part of the business cycle, normal business churn they say.

However, things get worse and the typical gushing from the sales pipeline has dropped to a trickle and even those leads are not good quality.

Eventually they take action. But note that the typical actions are passive.

They gear up their on line marketing effort sending our newsletters, updates, white papers and so on with the hope that it will encourage sales.

They reason that they need to increase their Search Engine Optimisation ratings to capture the millions of potential leads that they know are out there and work diligently to determine the optimum search terms. They then rewrite their web pages with all the new content crafted around the SEO terms.

But it doesn’t work so they then turn to sales professionals either in telesales or in real time sales to turn the sales around.

But the response rates are pitiful. They spend hours fruitlessly tracking down new names and addresses that don’t seem to develop into sales opportunities. And cash is running out and fast. Pressure on the sales teams seems to be having the opposite effect. They are doing less and less and seem to be costing more to achieve less.

Cash is now at crisis levels.

No new sales initiatives can be started because there is no cash. The focus is now on survival. Cuts are made but they are not enough. Huge amounts of management time are spent determining the extent of what and where to cut but it seems to have no effect and cash is now gone.

The staff seem to notice that the senior team seem intent on working on the minutiae of the business. They have developed that “thousand yard stare” that is typical of those undergoing shock or serious trauma. They seem to have lost their objectivity and leap at any and every passing fad in the hope that it will turn things around.

In the worst cases the company sells out as a fire sale or ceases trading.

Does this sound familiar? It does if you have been in the consultancy field for any length of time.

The answer as to why they experience a dive lies in their new business process. For many companies the new business programme is:

• Passive
• Generic
• Hesitant
• Short term

A passive programme relies on using the media to encourage their target audience to make the first move. A generic programme promotes the agency’s entire range or describes it in terms that lack specificity. Hesitant programmes stop and start according to the prevailing emotional or cash flow conditions at the time, missing the buying cycle and therefore freezing themselves out for 12 months or more from re-pitching. And short term programmes falter because they fail to build the relationship with the potential client. Finally, if this was not bad enough they hand over the responsibility of new business to a third party.

Some do survive because they take action. What action do they take, find out in the next gripping instalment of Climbing out of a dive!

If you cant wait, call me on 07956 532963 or email me on robh@credence-uk.com. Or wait until the next blog where the answers will be revealed!