Strategic Marketing™ - Part I
Sales are often referred to as the lifeblood of an organization.
But, it is impossible to have an effective sales program without
a corresponding and effective marketing initiative. Most
organizations just start trying things in the hopes that one will
generate some leads and resulting sales. Like all facets of your
business, you should take a strategic approach. You should have
an elaborate and systematic plan of action.
I begin by defining marketing as everything that happens before
and after the sale to identify, acquire, magnify, and keep
customers. In other words, any activity your company is involved
in outside of the moment that the sale is made can be linked to
your marketing efforts.
How your receptionist answers the phone will impact your clients,
and also affect your marketing program. If the janitor does a
good job, your place of business will look great and have a
positive impact on your marketing efforts. The manner in which
you bill your clients will resonate with them and contribute to
your marketing efforts.
If all of these activities are involved in marketing then what
does that say about all of the people in your organization?
Right! They are all part of the marketing effort. They should
be aware of this. They should also be consulted as to how they
can best interact your prospects and clients.
Strategic Marketing involves the creative application or
organizational resources designed to produce dynamic marketing
results. Your organizational resources are valuable assets that
when leveraged properly help you reach your goals. The resources
you should focus on are:
- Money
- People
- Information
- Fixed Assets
- Technology
- Clients
“Money” is the funds you have in the bank. These are dollars
that you can invest to work for you. Anyone can spend more money
in an effort to generate a greater marketing impact. A great
Strategic Marketer works to use their money wisely.
“People” refers to your team. The people you work with can have
a tremendous impact on your success. Most highly successful
business people I know attribute their success to the outstanding
people they work with.
“Information” refers to product and industry knowledge that you
have. I have a marketing philosophy that says, “It’s not what
you know that counts, it’s what you help your prospects and
clients know that will determine your marketing success.” We
will discuss this in more detail later in this article.
“Fixed Assets” are your phone system, your fax machine, your
computers, and anything else that you have invested in that is at
your disposal. Many companies let their fixed assets only be
used for one thing or let them sit idle much of the day. There
are some great ideas for leveraging your fixed assets that we
will discuss.
“Technology” refers to the technology that is available to you.
Some of this technology you may already be taking advantage of,
some may be available but you have not taken the time to learn or
invested the money to own.
“Clients” are simply those people or organizations who have
bought from you before. This includes those currently using your
services and those who have in the past but for one reason or
another have stopped.
The goal of strategic marketing is to produce greater results
from your current resources.
To market any product or service you must be able to answer these
three questions for your prospect:
1. Why should I buy?
2. Why should I buy from you?
3. Why should I buy now?
People buy to satisfy a need. It is that straight forward. Look
at all of your clients and ask yourself why they bought and the
answer is because they had a need. Maybe they needed to be more
secure. Maybe they needed to be more comfortable. Maybe they
needed to be better equipped. Any way you slice it it always
comes down to need fulfillment.
It is important to understand that the need can be real or it can
be imagined. Think of a football quarterback going into his
local Mercedes Benz car dealer. The sales person walks over and
asks which model the quarterback is interested in. The
quarterback is looking at the E320. “Very nice automobile,” says
the sales associate. “You’re the quarterback of the football
team aren’t you?” she confirms. “You know,” she continues, “Last
week two of your teammates were in and they invested in new
automobiles. They each bought a shinny silver E320. You’re the
quarterback. They block for you don’t they? They’re the ones down
in the mud? You are the leader of the team. You really deserve the
SL600.”
The quarterback could drive to work in a Hyundai. The need for a
Mercedes may be real or it may be imagined. It really doesn’t
matter as long as you help illustrate the need and make the sale.
It is your job to make sure that your clients all realize they
have needs. If you do this then the only logical next step is to
fill that need, or sell your products and services!
Clients buy from you for several good reasons. Below is a list
of these reasons:
-Expertise
-Bonding
-Price
-Security
-Quality
-Solution
-Service
-Uniqueness
-Value
One of them, price, can be misleading. Some people buy from the
lowest price supplier. Some people buy from the highest price
supplier. And, some people like to do business with someone in
the middle. You have to decide where you fit in.
Your goal is to give your clients as many reasons as possible to
do business with you.
Clients should be encouraged to buy now. Your time is valuable,
and so is theirs. If they do not buy from you now they could end
up buying from someone else or their needs could change or
disappear. The proper use of sales and incentives will help you
make the sale now.
In Part II of Strategic marketing we will look at who do you
market to and the four phases to marketing success. Understanding
the importance of your Memorable Marketing Message will be
important as we move forward. Work on developing as many reasons
as possible for someone to do business with you, and you will be
on the road to Building a Better Biz!
