Steering Sales

In today's economy, customer acquisition is the name of the game for marketers. But the real question for many marketers, is how much investment of your resources and advertising dollars are wasted on leads that go nowhere.

I recently was watching an 80's movie called "Gung Ho" which was about the culture shock that occurred when a Japanese auto company took over an American auto factory. In one scene, an assembly line worker was randomly spray-painting the bottom of a car. One of the foreign executives pointed out to him that he did not need to be "all over the place." Rather, all he needed to do to the car was spray specific points to get the job done.

Here's the point--neither man was wrong in their approach, but if we want the most efficient way to get the maximum results, we need to target more carefully.

Do 1,000 leads mean a successful program? Not if they don't translate into customers, nor if your team can't handle qualifying all the prospects. Lead generation initiates the sales process, but unless you have a good system in place, your marketing efforts are wasted, opportunities are missed, resources drained and your team is all over the place.

Given the economy, most companies are challenged by shrinking budgets and smaller teams. How do you make your sales and marketing efforts more effective? Work smarter:

-Talk to the right people. Cast a smaller net. Develop a model profile of your best current customers—not necessarily your “desired” audience—and target accordingly.

-Tell them why they need you. Marketing is must. Reach out to your prospects and tell them what you do. They can’t buy from you if they don’t know about you.

-Say the right things. Messaging matters: Take a closer look at your sales and marketing message. Could you swap out your company name for your competitor? Are you articulating what makes you different, better and relevant to their problem?

-Listen to who’s talking. Train well. Are sales people on message? Is your receptionist? You’d be surprised how much business falls through the cracks.

-Track of who’s listening. Track prospects: Track all new business inquiries through website landing pages, telephone numbers, URLs or offer codes, so you can see where the prospect came from.

-Channel your conversations. Focus energy and resources to where the greatest potential will be realized. Is the deal a long shot? Or do you have a good chance and it’s worth pursuing the conversation?

Given the economy, the need for new business and long sales cycles, it's essential to keep pipeline full. Remember Pareto's Principle, the 80/20 rule: the majority of businesses get 80% of their business from 20% of their customers. As I’ve said before, you don’t need a million customers, just the right ones. The key is focus, and putting your paint in the right spots.

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