Shout your virtues and boost your profits

Why is it that some companies are more successful at winning new business even though you (and probably they) know that they are not that good? Why do you lose a pitch when you should have won it?

Here is the answer. The client didn't trust you enough to give you the work. So all your hard work spent working on your pitch was wasted.

Here is how you can go about changing things to your advantage.

The secret

You need to build your reputation as a trusted advisor or to put it another way - you need to break through the trust barrier.

Successful businesses promote their reputation by who they are, what they do, who they work for and as importantly, who they do not work for. They have worked out the secret of what makes it easy for clients and potential clients to trust them and as a result they always get selected.

Ponder this well known marketing maxim “In any market where the number of choices is high and the risks of getting it wrong are also high, the more established, trusted or reputable suppliers will win more business.”

Put yourself in the client’s position and ask yourself what you would do if you were faced with a huge array of suppliers, many of whom seem to offer the same service and your job is on the line if you make the wrong choice. Simple, you would opt for an established, trusted, reputable agency. The emphasis is on being “established”. Once you are “in” it takes an enormous amount of effort for a client to change their supplier.

Sadly, the chances are stacked against you usurping the incumbent supplier.

So what can be done to reverse this situation? How can you stand out from the crowd and get in front of more clients?

You build a reputation that makes you stand head and shoulders above the rest.

I will be posting more on how to build that reputation so come back soon to find out more!

Call me for more information on 07956 532963 or email me at robh@credence-uk.com

Would you employ a sales person?

A few clients of mine asked my advice on whether they should employ a dedicated sales person to grow their business. They were established and looking to grow and felt that having someone out there "selling" would help.

I thought about it and came to the conclusion that they should not employ a dedicated sales person. The reason being that they were both small companies. The risk of employing someone at such high fixed costs (estimated to be of the order of £50k) was too high. They only needed a few good contacts and a few new clients and they would be close to capacity.

Rather than hire an expensive fixed asset, here are my suggestions:

1. Clearly identify who has the propensity to buy from them - their target market
   
2. Develop their offering to resolve these individuals pain - ease their pain
   

They can then use other, less costly methods to build their reputation with the target audience. Write thought pieces, blogs, draft articles, speak at conferences, call them to ask for a meeting. Each of these will build the relationship. Some will turn into clients. Some will not. That's fine. If you keep in contact they may become clients in the future, but they will also be talking about you and that in turn builds your reputation.

So don't employ sales people if you are a small business. Build your reputation instead.