Tag: sales

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Why small businesses need to pay attention to engagement

Posted on by Red Slice

Today, here’s a juicy guest post by small business writer Erica Bell about why engagement matters.

Starting a business isn’t easy, I know. Small business owners wear many hats, from CEO to Marketing and HR Manager, and are constantly under a time crunch. While managing the business from sunrise to sunset may already be a challenge, small business owners can’t forget to pay attention to customer engagement. Because smaller businesses often have smaller marketing budgets, they need to pay attention to engagement, something that doesn’t require a large financial investment. Customer engagement is how small businesses can drive loyalty, create return customers and boost starting off sales.

Build Loyalty

Small businesses need to spend some time engaging with customers and building customer loyalty. A customer who supports your business from the beginning and has a great experience will return for more! When small businesses get started, it’s the return customers who build the business. Make sure you are engaging with these early on customers to build their loyalty. How? Be personal and responsive to customers and see those same customers return and spread the word.

  • When a customer is engaged with a company, they develop deeper emotional commitment to the companies, granting them an average 33 points higher Net Promoter® score (NPS®), a common measure of customer loyalty (Bain & Company).

Increase Sales

Engagement with customers can lead to an increase in sales. Customers are likely to share their fantastic experiences and interactions with your brand with their friends, family and in some cases the general public. You can keep engaged and satisfied customers coming back while attracting new ones. Remember, it costs more for your business to acquire a new customer than it does to keep current customers. Engaged customers tend to stick with your business longer, buy more often and refer your brand to their friends. (Tweet this!)

  • Customers who engage with a brand online report spending 20 percent to 40 percent more on that brand, or on that company’s products (Bain & Company).

Provide Better Service

Customer engagement and the customer experience often go hand in hand. When you know where your business is falling short in terms of customer service and the customer experience by engaging with customers, either through social media, your business phone or review sites, you can alter your current strategies for better performances in the future. Engage with your customers to find what they do and don’t like and what they would like to see from your business in the future.

  • Poor customer experiences result in an estimated $83 Billion loss by US enterprises each year because of defections and abandoned purchases (Parature Customer Service Blog).

When engaging with customers, make sure your employees are friendly, personal and knowledgeable. Great personal experiences and great customer engagement leads to great customers who talk about your business and brand in a positive light. Help your business stand apart from the major corporations by providing better, more engaged responses to customers, no matter how they choose to contact you. Engaging with customers can make your job as a small business owner easier. You can cover your marketing, customer service and sales bases all at once!

About Erica: Erica Bell is a small business writer who focuses on topics such as small business call center software and making the most of a business phone system. She is a web content writer for Business.com, Media Inc.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Avoid the strong-arm: 3 tips for smarter small business marketing

Posted on by Red Slice

I’ve been hearing some disturbing stories about Yelp‘s aggressive (and sometimes intidimdating) sales tactics to purchase paid advertising – and recently got to experience it on the phone firsthand on behalf of a local nail salon owner friend. I’m still gathering info about this to approach a WSJ reporter who could investigate these claims further and fairly get Yelp’s side of the story. (PS, if you have a story to share, please email me) Makes me not want to use them anymore, and I used to love them.

One small business owner I know claimed that when she turned the ad sales rep down, he said, “Well, this will destroy your business, you know.” Another story I heard was that someone had signed a year long contract with them – and claims it was the worst mistake he ever made and wished he could get out of the contract.

But since this is all circumstantial, and this is a blog of my own perspectives and opinions (and not an investigative journalism outfit), I wanted to instead share three must-do tips to avoid being strong-armed into making poor marketing choices:

  1. Know your audience: Sounds obvious, but be crystal clear on your target ideal customers. Not just “women” but what age, income? Where are they and what do they do for a living? What do they care about? What are their hobbies and interests? Build this character profile and you stand a much better chance of asking the right questions of advertisers to ensure you’re not wasting your money. (Tweet this!) For example, if your business appeals more to high-income working moms in urban areas, you can avoid spending money on advertising to stay-at-home moms or young teen women, let’s say.
  2. Ask about the ROI:  Ask for references, proof points or statistics. If they say their website traffic is “really good” ask to see a breakdown of unique visitors and where they are coming from.  If they say their other advertisers are seeing great results, ask for case studies or if they will let you speak to at least 3 of them as a reference check. Ask if there is any guarantee on performance or credit given if things underperform – do they provide performance statistics for you? Don’t be afraid to ask an advertiser to prove their claims. (Tweet this!) And make sure if you invest that you do so for a test period and track your sales and visits accordingly. Recently, I placed an ad with HARO and they have not responded to requests to provide click through data on the ad. Lesson learned: I should have done a better job of tracking that myself!
  3. Talk to others: Don’t be afraid to reach out to other local small businesses or others in your field and ask about what they are hearing regarding the outlet. Collaborate with others and don’t pretend you know all the answers. (Tweet this!) This will save your butt and avoid mistakes. For example, if you are part of the local SBA, merchants association or a networking group (even one online), ask others if they’ve invested in what you are considering and what their success has been. One small business owner I talked to shared that a business which could have been perceived as competitive shared his negative Yelp advertising experience with other similar businesses in the area, just to help them avoid the same mistakes. There’s enough to go around, and wee’re all in this together so ask about and share these lessons.

Now, I want to hear from you: Have any other hard-earned tips? And do you have a negative experience to share about Yelp or some other similar outlet? If so, please leave a Comment below (or shoot me an email at maria@red-slice.com if you prefer).

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

5 quick tips to boost sales around the holidays

Posted on by Red Slice

The Bermuda Triangle of holidays is almost upon us: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. It can feel like a vortex into which you get sucked against your will and you can’t control the velocity with which you spin widly out of control – until you get unceremoniously spit out the other end on January 2. Often with jetlag, a hangover and an eye-popping credit card bill.

But the holidays can also be a great time to bolster your brand and connect with your customers and clients. Here are 5 quick tips on how you can leverage the festivities to increase sales and delight your audience.

  1. Give Thanks by Giving Back: Donate a portion of sales during Thanksgiving week to a local charity. Collect coats and gloves for a local shelter. Or gather canned goods to give to your local food bank. This increases traffic to your site, encourages a concentrated week of sales, and presents your brand in a fabulous light – not to mention the amazing good it does for your charitable recipient and your Karma. Approach a charity you love and ask them to partner with you by spreading the word to their mailing list or via social media. And heck, pitch the local paper or news about your event for the Community Events calendar.
  2. Turkey Day Dinner Giveaway: Offer a full-on Thanksgiving Day dinner, with all the trimmings, for 8 people as a prize. People can automatically enter if they buy from you within a certain period of time. Of course, this is for catered fixins….unless you really, REALLY like to cook! You can even partner with a local grocery or specialty food store to increase exposure AND get the items donated.
  3. Give Peace a Chance: Create a wine-tasting event or movie night for your customers and prospects by partnering with a competitor or two. Put aside your competitive spirit and exponentially increase exposure for all your audiences. You can even make this event a charitable giving exercise by asking people to bring a donated item or charge a fee that goes 100% to a cause you both support. You can market this really creatively around “Calling a Truce for the Holidays” or something fun like that.  Make T-shirts or giveaways that say “Team Red Slice” or “Team Whatever” and offer games and prizes for some friendly competition.
  4. Countdown to Christmas: Celebrate the 12 days of Christmas by offering a special promotion each day leading up to it. If you’re a store, highlight one special sale item each day, or offer something unique with purchase. If you’re a service business or big on social media, craft a new holiday-themed inspirational quote or trivia contest to share with your audience. This will delight them and encourage people to keep checking back with you  – in your store, on your blog, or on your Facebook page – to see what you’ve got cooking next.
  5. Glitter and Sparkle: If you own a store, throw in giftwrapping for free. If you sell online, offer free shipping for the month of December. If you’re B2B, incent people to sign contracts for work starting in 2013 prior to December 31, 2012 at a special rate so you can stock your sales pipeline for a very happy new year.

What other holiday or seasonal promotions do you recommend? Any you’d like to promote this year? Please Share in the Comments!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What marketing is…and is not

Posted on by Red Slice

“I don’t believe in marketing.”

This is what a CEO who has a few successful tech startups under his belt told someone I know. And it made me laugh.

Have you ever told someone sitting next to you on plane what your company does? That’s marketing.

Have you ever pitched a client on the value of your solution? That’s marketing.

Have you ever followed up with an unhappy customer to make things right? That’s marketing.

Too many people believe marketing is simply about placing expensive ads or ordering silly tradeshow tchotchkes that end up sitting in a storage closet somewhere, gathering dust.  They dismiss it because they haven’t seen it done in the right way – and then wonder why they slog to gain traction. “If our sales reps just “sold” better, we wouldn’t be having such a hard time,” they say.

Here’s the deal: Marketing is communication. Communicating the value that your product or service offers to the people who will buy it.

I guess he doesn’t believe in communicating what his company does, why they are different or speaking to a customer’s needs. I suppose people will just see the product or service, instantly understand how it can help them without a word being spoken or read, and say, “Gee, I need that widget now!”

Can you be successful without an official marketing director or an earmarked “marketing budget”? Well, yeah. Businesses do it all the time. But don’t try to tell me your company is not performing marketing.

If they don’t have a marketing function, they normally burden the sales process with performing both sales and marketing at the same time. Marketing is about communication and positioning based on market analysis that ultimately helps a sales rep sell something. Marketing as a function exists to make it easier to sell.

If you have a sales pitch, a product label, or a 50-word company descriptor – those are all elements of marketing. And if you approach it with marketing discipline to create a foundation and maintain clarity and consistency, you can go a lot further than if you reinvent the wheel on the fly each time.

I’m not sure what there is not to believe in about that.

Photo credit: © Royalty-Free/Corbis (PMTips.net)

Ever work with someone who did not “get” the value of marketing? What was that experience like? What is your definition of marketing? Please share in the Comments!

 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Do you judge wines by their labels? An adventure task…

Posted on by Red Slice

While we are all taught not to judge a book by its cover, let’s get real. I’ve bought books, magazines, scented lotions, household cleaners (how can you resist Method’s packaging?) and yes, wine based solely on how the label looks.

I’m a marketing groupie. I admit it. I’m a sucker for cute, clever or crisp packaging.

As a former wine writer and still-active wine lover, I know that some gems are hidden in the ugliest bottles and even price does not necessarily guarantee “bottled poetry” But I’ve fallen in love with cheeky, well-designed wine labels over the years which enticed me to buy and try the product.

Nothing conveys a brand personality – and hints at the quality and delight of the wine experience bottled inside – like a wine label. And there are many diverse ones out there, all trying to communicate why they are good, how they are different and to stand out from the hundreds of options out there.

Your business needs to ensure its “wine label” stands out from the crowd. Can prospects tell what kind of product, service, or quality you offer right off the bat? If you don’t think visual identity or your website quality and design matters (“I offer amazing products/services. That is enough to convey my brain.”)  – think again. One stat suggests that in less than 10 seconds, you have the opportunity to lose or gain a valuable customer – just based on your website’s layout and visual appearance.

Your Slice of Adventure, should you choose to accept it:

Peruse the racks at a local wine shop or the wine aisle of your favorite supermarket.  Pick three vastly different wines based on their labels – don’t look at the price!! Just from the label, colors, font, copy – even the shape and size of the bottle – ask yourself four questions:

1) For what occasion would this wine be a good fit?
2) How does the wine taste?
3) Who is the winery’s ideal customer? Age, personality, lifestyle?
4) How much does the wine cost?

You will soon see in action how our immediate responses to visual cues tell a whole story that words never could. This is how people are judging your business: by your website, storefront, signage, product design. This is a powerful lesson in making sure all of your communication channels convey the right clear, consistent message that you intend.

And enjoy your wine. You didn’t think I’d skip the actual taste/experience test, did you? That’s the fun part.

PS, I’m also in love with unique wine/winery names, especially saucy ones. Here are some for your amusement:

Bonking Frog
Fat Bastard Wine
Spoiled Dog Winery
Kung Fu Girl, Boom Boom and The Velvet Devil from Charles Smith Wines

Please report back your findings below in the Comments – and of course tell us if you recommend the wine! Any faves you already have that you can share? Please do…

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

4 things that selling tea in Chinatown can teach you about a successful website

Posted on by Red Slice

Guest post by Seth Leonard who trains and mentors people who want to build dynamic, successful websites. 

I recently started exploring the diverse and tasty world of tea.

Luckily, I live in Berkeley, right across the water from San Francisco’s Chinatown, filled with tea shops.

So when I visited this amazing neighborhood in search of tea, I visited most of the shops. But I only chose to buy from one of them. Why? Because this shop did things differently. And you can employ the exact same tactics they used in their store with your website, turning your visitors into loyal fans and customers.

Starting with…

Provide An Entry Point

The shop I bought from, Vital Tea Leaf, offered free tea tastings. Now, this was important not because it got me to enter the store, which I was going to do anyway, but because it gave me an entry point for my experience within the store.

With each of the other shops I visited, all I could really do was smell the various jars of tea. Being a complete newbie, I didn’t know what I was smelling, or even what questions I should be asking the staff. I was intimidated and unsure where to start. So I left.

The free tastings at Vital, however, gave me somewhere to start. I didn’t need to come up with the right question, or demonstrate any knowledge. All I had to do was sit down and drink some tea. At the very least, I could talk about what I tasted.

You should be doing the same thing with your website: providing an entry point. Visitors are going to come to your site, unsure of what you offer, and unsure of where to start. Figure out how to demonstrate the value you provide in an easy, accessible way.

Then give them a reason to interact with you. Give them something to consume, to comment on, or ask you about. (Tweet this!) Figure out a way that makes it easy for them to enter into a conversation with you. 

Engage

Once I was seated at the tea tasting table, Royal (his real name), my host, worked to engage with me. He didn’t ask me what my favorite tea was, or even tell me what his favorite tea was. He asked about where I was from and we talked about Chinatown.

Royal was friendly and excited to talk to me, as well as the other people doing tastings. He would serve various teas and look on with curiosity as to how we would react. He wanted to hear our opinions. He gave us tips on brewing tea that later made me feel more knowledgeable and comfortable in making a purchasing decision.

Your website is about more than selling (when I say selling, it could be a product, service, or content you want people to see). Your website is about engaging with your audience, and giving them a reason to be there other than to buy. (Tweet this!) It’s about empowering them with the knowledge to make a decision about their next step.

People want an experience. They want to feel a part of something. Open your website up to your visitor. Be curious about them and hear what they have to say.

Give them a seat at the table, something to discuss, and then listen. Give them an experience. Engage.

Offer Social Proof

The free tastings at Vital meant that there were always people in the shop. Watching us laugh and nod our heads at the tasting counter only encouraged more people to join us. Just as it
was reassuring for me to see others interact with Royal before I sat down, my presence helped other people to join the group.

Sometimes it helps to think of your website as a party. You want to arrive when there are already guests there. And you want to see that those people are having a good time. It lets you know that you’re not making a mistake by being there.

One of the values of engaging with your website audience is that it shows others that there is a buzz going on. Visitors become more likely to add a comment after they see that a discussion has already started. They’re more likely to explore your site, knowing others have already found value in it.

So whether it’s displaying your comment count, Twitter follower numbers, or testimonials from past clients, find a way to offer some social proof that you’ve got something valuable to offer. (Tweet this!)

Don’t Be Pushy With Sales

Royal never once asked me if I’d like to buy any tea, even the ones I obviously liked. He probably could have at the end, and I wouldn’t have minded. And perhaps he lost some sales to others who started by looking for free tea, but who would have bought if he had asked.

What Royal did, however, was give me confidence in what I was buying. The more I knew, the more I tasted, and the more I trusted the source, the more likely I was to buy.

I walked in to Chinatown looking to buy. I just needed to find the right experience that would make me comfortable in doing so.

Your website audience is the same. They are looking for a solution. They wouldn’t be at your website if they weren’t. They want to invest in something. You just need to give them the confidence to do so. (Tweet this!)

Empower them. Give them an entry point. Engage with them. Offer some value, offer some social proof. And don’t be overly pushy.

After that, they’ll be more than happy to give you their attention, and maybe even their money.

Thanks Seth! Do you have any real world purchasing experiences that have led you to think differently about your website?  Tweet me @redslice or share with us on Facebook.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How you like me now? A chat with Michelle Tillis Lederman

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We all say it. We want to work with people we like. But can it really be this easy to conduct business this way? Can we focus on networking with the people we like and with whom we genuinely connect versus just the “right” people? Michelle Tillis Lederman says yes – in fact, it’s better for your work and career in the long run?

Today we dish about likeability, how to be more concise and three red-hot ways to rethink networking.

Michelle is an author, speaker, trainer and communications expert. She’s a firecracker – and she’s also a blogger, animal lover and rescuer (you can see why we bonded), and a mom.

Her new book, The 11 Laws of Likability, is subtitled: Relationship Networking . . . Because People Do Business with People They Like. The book, featuring activities, self-assessment quizzes, and real-life anecdotes from professional and social settings, shows readers how to identify what’s likable in themselves and create honest, authentic interactions that become “wins” for all parties involved.

RS: Welcome Michelle! Your book is called The 11 Laws of Likability. Saving the actual laws for those that buy the book, what does this mean and how can they make your business life (and personal life) better?

MTL: What makes each of us likable is distinct to us, and to some degree it’s in the mind of the beholder. But the basic drivers of likability are the same for most of us.  It is these drivers that I refer to as the Laws of Likability.

In many cases, likability actually trumps competence and many organizations differentiate the average performers from the stars based on their ability to lead, manage, and interact effectively with others. Life is about relationships and it is those relationships that sustain us and generate results.   Likeability is everyone’s business, and people do business with people they like.

RS: One of your blog posts recently was called “Say What You Want to Say And Shut Up.” Loved it. And for all my talk on clarity, I tend to ramble when I think I’m not communicating clearly. How can we be more concise?

MTL: Start with the punchline.  Is that concise enough?  The simplest way to increase both clarity and brevity is to start with your conclusion. Often, we try to get others to follow our train of thought in order for them to agree with our opinion.  If instead we start with the conclusion, it is much easier to follow, and be persuaded by, the explanation that follows.

Another tip, ask.  Ask, “Is that clear?”  or “Would you like me to elaborate?”  Those questions prevent the rambling and allow us to be clear about what is unclear with a follow up question.

RS: What are 3 actionable tips for effective networking?

MTL: Shift the way you think about networking in 3 ways:

  1. From you to the relationship.  It really isn’t about you or what you need. It is about the relationship and adding value to create connection. Don’t network just for need.
  2. From business to anything.  We often start and stop conversations on business topics such as, “what do you do?” There is nothing wrong with that, but often we find the strongest connections come in other areas of our lives. Talk about a broad range of topics.
  3. From now to long term.  Build the relationships that you want to build, not the ones you think you should. The network that you build based on connection is the one that will be there for you when you need it. Don’t network for now, network for life.

About Michelle: Michelle Tillis Lederman, PCC, author of  The 11 Laws of Likability (AMACOM), is the founder of Executive Essentials, a training company that provides communications and leadership programs, as well as executive coaching services.  Michelle believes real relationships lead to real results and specializes in teaching people how to communicate with confidence, clarity, and connection.

PS: Affiliate links for Amazon in effect. Just to let you know.

What one aspect of networking or communication do you take away from this interview? Please share in the Comments.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Best sales email letter ever

Posted on by Red Slice

A while back, I downloaded an informative white paper from Argyle Social, a provider of social media marketing software and consulting. Within a week, I received the following email (reprinted with their permission):

Hey Maria, 

I saw that you downloaded one of our whitepapers and thus, I have a question. 

Which one of these categories do you fit into? 

A. You’re just perusing and don’t want to talk to me.

B. You’re interested and may want to talk b/c you have questions.

C. You’re dying to talk to me and couldn’t wait a second longer for this email to arrive in your inbox.. 

D. These options suck and I’m too good to fit into a category. 

Let me know which and I’ll act accordingly!

Danny (contact information followed)

In the sea of crap that invades my inbox every day (some by choice, some not). I promptly wrote Danny back that I was not interested (it’s only fair to not waste a good salesperson’s time leading them on. Don’t be a tease. Let them moe on to other, more interested, prospects) but asked a favor. I told him that in all my years supporting sales teams in Silicon Valey, this was the best sales email followup I had ever seen. He told me one of the sales guy’s created it, and various people had tweaked it for their own purposes.

Why is this so great and what can you learn from it?

  • Human connection: This is a real person, talking like real people talk. I hate B2B advertising that speaks in a language no one uses in life. To boot, it’s got humor and charm. A natural magnet for my time and attention.
  • Respectful of my time: It’s brief and to the point. A sales rep I knew once had a saying posted on his cubicle wall: Be Bold, Be Brief, Be Gone. Words to live by.
  • Filters the leads: From a sales perspective, a good sales rep works what is known as a sales funnel. Lookey-loos or tire kickers are at the top, those with actual projects, budgets and decision-making power filter down a level and then those who also have an impending timeline or compelling event  forcing them to make a buying decision pass through to possible closed sales. A good sales rep needs to assess what kind of prospect you are quickly and this email does that in a humorous and casual way. I don’t feel like he’s being creepy, and he knows he can put me in a separate “nurture file” for either himself or Marketing to continually follow up.

What kind of follow up are you doing with your leads? Are you able to segment the tirekickers from the serious buyers who will purchase this month or quarter? Pls share some of your best sales emails (good or bad) in the Comments!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Reboot and Reframe: Branding lesson for life #4: PRACTICE PATIENCE

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dog_patienceIn our instant gratification world of 140 character tweets, instant geo-location couponing, and lightning fast Internet speeds, we often forget that human nature is what it is. It takes time to build a strong reputation, for people to get to know you, trust you and believe your claims.

Simply rolling out a pretty new logo or website will not mean you’ll meet your sales numbers the very next week.

You’d be surprised how many CEO’s  – especially in the tech start-up world – don’t understand this. They think that all they need to do is invest in more salespeople or run a cool email campaign and leads will come flooding in the very next day.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. To gain the trust needed for someone to invite you into their email inbox, or attend your event or schedule that demo, you have to lay the groundwork – and beat that drum clearly and consistently over time.

This patience lesson is just as true for our lives. When we get knocked down and we have to start over, as happened to me with my brain injury, you have to accept where you are and make progress each day in the right direction. It’s not about going from 0 to 60 overnight. But as with a brand, you can measure incremental steps along the way to ensure you are on the right path and making forward progress.

In this lesson, I talk about how it’s easy to talk about patience when speaking to branding clients but it’s hard to accept being patient in your own life when you just want to go, go go. Being patient is not the same thing as being stagnant and people often get the two confused. Being patient means understanding there is a journey ahead of you and that by taking the right steps, you can get closer and closer to your goals over time.

View the juicy video for Lesson #4 here.

What small steps do you measure in your business to ensure your marketing and message is attracting the right people?

BACKSTORY TO THE SEVEN LESSONS: What do recovering from a  brain aneurysm and branding have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out. Recently, I got the wonderful opportunity to share my dramatic story at a Women Business Owners luncheon and I promised I’d post the lessons here for everyone. This is a seven-post series.

Lesson #1: Focus (and backstory to the series)

Lesson #2: Be Authentic

Lesson #3: Count on Your Tribe

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Ask the Expert: Matt Heinz on how to sell your heart out

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MattHeinzDo you think Sales is a four-letter word? Well, Matt Heinz can help you break it down into something manageable, repeatable and effective. I sat down recently to grill him on his new book, Successful Selling: How to Attract, Manage, Close & Keep More Business in a Buyer-Centric World, The book answers questions like: What are the secrets to unlocking more sales at a lower cost? How do you match your sales strategy with the way your customers want to buy? Where do you spend your time to build the biggest-possible sales pipeline? How do you close more business when your buyer is in control?

Matt is a sales pro, bringing more than 12 years of marketing, business development and sales experience from a variety of organizations, vertical industries and company sizes. His focus has been on delivering measurable results for clients in the way of greater sales, revenue growth, product success and customer loyalty.

Check out his blog, Matt on Marketing, or follow him on Twitter.

We talked about sales, productivity and the challenges of moving beyond just the founder’s networks when doing business. And I realized how much of what I teach clients about branding applies to selling effectively – which is ultimately what good branding is all about: making more sales.

RS: Do you think company size matters when it comes to who faces sales challenges?

MH: Actually, companies of different sizes, industries and stages often have the same three fundamental problems when executing their sales & marketing efforts. 

One, most often, there’s not enough customer focus.  The sales process is created and driven by how the company wants to manage sales, not based on how the customer buys. 

Two, many companies also don’t have a consistent sales process they’re following across the organization.  Without consistency, it’s impossible to predict future revenue and scale those efforts to new markets.

Third, few companies evolve their sales & marketing enough as their customers, markets and competition change the playing field.  The best sales & marketing organizations in the world (at companies big and small) are constantly testing, evolving and measuring what they’re doing.

RS: Adaptation seems to be everyone’s weakest link, doesn’t it?! Let’s move on to productivity: You talk about quite time-saving tools in your book. Do you feel time management is the biggest barrier to effective selling?

MH: No, but it’s an important part of reaching your optimum velocity.  Whether you make 40 calls or 80 calls a day isn’t necessarily going to help you sell more if your message doesn’t hit the mark with your target customer.   The biggest outcome of productivity focus is eliminating the constant distractions that surround us every day.  Know what you need to do, focus on it, and eliminate the majority of things that would otherwise take your time.  If you effectively measure the impact and outcome of your activities, you can then predict the impact of doing more of that activity on sales and revenue.  And that expected outcome can become a motivator to stay focused (yourself and your team) moving forward.

RS: Having worked both in both B2B and B2C, I hear conflicting opinions about who “has it easier.” Do you feel B2B vs. B2C companies need to nurture leads differently?

MH: The tactics may be different – B2B companies can often afford to spend more based on the average sales price per customer, for example – but the fundamentals are the same.  Whether you’re selling to a business or an individual (and in both cases, you’re really selling to people anyway), the vast majority of qualified prospects will not be ready to buy.  Right person, right company, not ready.  If you assume they’re going to be in the market eventually, your primary job is to be in front of them at the right time.  A good nurture program builds value with the prospective buyer so that they want to continue hearing from you.  This increases your overall awareness, allows you to continue a frequent line of communication, and will significantly increase your ability to win the business when the prospect is finally ready to make a move.

RS: If someone reading this is starting from a standstill and has absolutely no sales process or standard tools whatsoever, what do you recommend their actual first step be?

MH: Two things, both related.

First, identify your target customer.  Get specific, and narrow.  Get to know them inside and out – who they are, where they are, what background or motivations or needs bring them to the market, who and what influences them, etc. 

Second, use that knowledge to map your sales & marketing strategy specifically to how your customers want to buy.  The best marketers today are simply walking alongside their customers as they navigate their own path to purchase – providing advice and value, building reputation and trust and credibility along the way.

You can use this customer understanding and practical purchase-path knowledge to build the tactics, tools and processes necessary to effectively serve the customer, and scale your ability to do it with more and more customers moving forward.

RS: What advice do you have for companies that rely on the founder’s reputation and networks for new business and want to move to a more scalable, repeatable sales model?

MH: Figure out what it is that makes the founder’s system so effective, and systematize it. Build it into the DNA of the organization.  Document it, measure it, and moving forward iterate on it to improve it.  Michael Gerber talks about treating every small business as the prototype of a franchise.  Even if you’re not planning on opening dozens of branch offices, assume that you will.  How do you replicate and scale what worked in the beginning so that 1) you can scale, and 2) you can (as a founder) separate yourself directly from the ongoing success of the business?

**Full Disclosure: The link to Matt’s book is through my Amazon Affiliate Program.  But wouldn’t recommend the book if I didn’t love it and believe you will get incredible value from it.