Four Ways to Supercharge Sales & Marketing Efforts

When I worked at an Interactive Marketing Agency in Atlanta, we determined our core advantage and it transformed our business. We analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of those we wanted to compete against, we conducted interviews of previous employees at competitor firms and analyzed the offerings and marketing messages of competitors.

We then analyzed our own strengths and weaknesses. At my firm, we were able to determine that a major strength we had was having a local presence in many cities in the Southeastern U.S. Therefore, clients that hired us only paid for our services and did not need to pay for daily living expenses for traveling consultants. This allowed our firm to offer quality services at a much lower daily rate than other firms.

We then compiled all of the information gathered about ourselves and our competitors and developed an effective core strategy.

After you discover your core advantage, you need to ensure it is being communicated properly—on your web site, brochures and anywhere you speak with your customers. We consulted with a private school that had many core advantages, but was only 80 percent filled with students. The school needed to discover their main core advantages, and then communicate them in marketing messages.

This would take it to 100 percent full with a waiting list, resulting in an increase in sales of roughly $200,000 per year. A small investment to uncover the school's core advantage would have a tremendous payoff.

2. Focus on Targeted Leads
Lead conversion will take much less effort if your firm focuses its efforts on its target market. To develop targeted leads, first determine who your target market is, and ensure it is narrow enough. "All executives" is too broad of a target, but "new CEO's" or "Safety Directors" represent a narrower target.
After identifying your target market, determine the best way to reach them.

Consider where you can reach a large number of your targeted market. Speak at associations where they gather. Write articles in magazines where your target market will read them. Those on membership lists at the associations could be sent targeted media kits. Databases with targeted leads represent another avenue to pursue. By placing business development efforts into reaching your target market, you should expect to reach more potential clients who have a need for your services.

3. Educate—Don't Sell
Customers have become averse to traditional sales tactics. As soon as a customer determines he or she is being sold to, an invisible shield of protection goes up, and they tune out. Education-based selling is a far more effective method.

Education-based sales presentations educate the customer about why they need your product, and position you as the expert. Imagine an entire roomful of your best customers—at any given time a small amount of them (estimated at 3 percent) are in the market for your product or service. What would you say to them? If you are a carpet cleaner and asked them "Do you want your carpets cleaned?" only a small number would be interested in your message.

Instead, create a message that all of your customers are interested in hearing—you'll not only capture the interest of those in the market, but you'll engage those who are not presently needing your service, but will remember you when they do have a future need. So you'd develop a presentation and educate them on "The four health dangers of not cleaning carpets regularly." You will teach them why they need to use your product or service regularly.

If you're a real estate professional your education-based presentation might be entitled, "Five ways to get top dollar when selling your house." A financial planner might entitle his presentation, "Five critical mistakes everyone makes in planning for retirement."

Whatever your product, gather industry data to educate your customers on the benefits of using your products regularly. The presentation should be weaved together so that it encourages the buyer to purchase your product. Buyers won't feel sold to—they will feel educated. Offering to educate the consumer will generate far more interest in your presentation. You will come across as the industry expert to the buyer—and you'll be the first person they think of when they have a need.

In developing a presentation, understand why your product or service is valuable to customers; what are the key drivers for purchase and key benefits they seek in using your products and services. Uncover key industry information and statistics to build a compelling story around why the customer needs to use your product or service. The title must be riveting or alarming to encourage the customer to listen to the presentation.

4. Continually Track Competitors
Finally, ensure you are tracking your competitors and your industry on an ongoing basis. You must track competitors to keep focused on new developments so that you are not blindsided by them. New products should be tracked as well as market share increases or decreases.

It's also a good idea to track industry trends and regulations to take advantage of new opportunities and be ready to mitigate any potential threats. These steps will help to ensure your strategies for growing your business remain intact.

In Conclusion
When these four tactics are used together, companies will thrive, and sales and marketing efforts will be supercharged. You'll also be working smarter, not harder. As your company discovers and communicates its core advantage, customers will be drawn to your products and services. When customers are pursued in a targeted fashion, your sales and marketing efforts become more effective.

An education-based sales and marketing presentation will compel customers to use your products and services more regularly, and they will think of you when they have a need. And when you track your industry trends and competitors, you'll stay on top and ride the waves of change instead of being blindsided by them.

When all four tactics are used in unison, you'll find that your sales and marketing efforts are supercharged. Get started today, and we anticipate that soon your revenues soar as a result.

Rebecca Bosl is the founder of The Research Advantage as well as a research consultant to businesses of all sizes. The Research Advantage specializes in helping businesses of all sizes discover their core advantage, generate targeted leads, develop education-based sales presentations and monitor competitors and industry trends. For more information, please contact info@researchadvantage.net.