Tweet

Today…Relevance Rules!

Written by: Ed Delia

Article Overview: The onset of faster communications and up-to-the-minute information access has broken down some of the standard rules of thumb for Business-to-Business marketing. It used to be that you could count on frequency and reach to eventually win the hearts and minds of a particular audience segment. You could apply the rule of seven, successfully making seven points of contact (via phone, email, direct marketing, letters, in-person, etc.) and the sale was yours. But today, you might as well punch your fist against a brick wall seven times - unless you’re punching just in the right place, and just at the right time. Because today…relevance rules!

Today…Relevance Rules!

Relevance goes a step beyond the basics, and involves qualifying prospects based on a different set of criteria. For example, if someone on your list just purchased exactly what you’re selling, that decision-maker is simply not a prospect, no matter how well he or she fits your profile.

Look at it in basic marketing terms. You have a product or service. You identify a target audience based on: market or industry sector, size, location, title of contact, perceived or historical need for your offering, and so on. Bingo. You have your list. However, the list of names you have gathered is NOT a prospect list. It only represents a series of prospective prospects, or SUSPECTS, as many call them, because the relevance of your product to that decision maker has yet to be qualified.

Let’s take a close-to-home example.

There’s a sales representative I hear from regularly. Let’s call him Ralph. Ralph systematically calls me every 60 days about his staffing services. And every time he calls to “check in,” I politely tell him, “No, Ralph. I’m afraid we have no staffing needs at this time.” Even if I did, I would never place an order with Ralph. For a simple reason: Ralph is fishing. He believes that if he keeps casting his line in the same pool of water, over time, he will eventually land a fish. It’s just not going to happen because Ralph is ignoring the rule of relevance. Not only does he have no idea IF I have staffing needs, he also has no idea WHAT my staffing needs might be, or WHEN I may have potential staffing needs in the future. Ralph is basically being a lazy salesperson.

But determining the RIGHT TIME to position your brand as the right choice for your suspect is hard work you might say. I don’t have time to validate relevance you might add. Let me clarify. You don’t need to do a complete relevance evaluation for ALL your prospects. You should do it for your top 20, your ideal list. You should do it for the ones, that if you landed just one, it wouldn’t make your day, it would make your year.

How to determine relevance?
Relevance begins with putting aside your personal or corporate agenda and adopting your prospect’s agenda. It means keeping an ear to the ground, looking at what will influence a buying decision. It takes asking questions, a process made infinitely easier with new online surveys.

Relevance can also be determined by watching for change. A merger or an acquisition. A new CEO at the helm. New government regulations or new corporate policies. Consumer trends. All these issues create their own kind of relevance for your goods and services.

Then there’s seasonality. That time of year is coming. You probably don’t want to try to sell much of anything to a retailer between October 31 and December 31 (except maybe more part-time help).

And relevance doesn’t only apply to timing. It also applies to methods of your brand message delivery.

Take web segmentation
We have a client that has about four different product lines. Instead of making one corporate website, we’ve developed four individual sites that all link back to one another. It has enabled a far deeper “conversation” in terms of content, and each Web site makes one product category relevant to one group of suspects. The result: our client is landing new business opportunities from all over the world, and attributes this to the segmented online approach.

Take customized direct marketing
We have a client that is targeting two important market sectors. One aspect of the brand awareness program we have developed for them is a regularly published newsletter. However, instead of creating one edition, and sending it out to their entire target list, we constructed one newsletter template. We then produce two editions, one relevant to each market segment.

Take online PR
First make a profile of the visitors – both editors and readers – to each news portal that attracts readers likely to be interested in what you sell and what you have to say about it. Then make each news story you generate relevant to that visitor profile. Those searching for what you have to offer will find your news.

Lest we forget
What else does relevance do besides deliver the right message to the right people? It tells them that you care. The biggest mistake that B2B marketers make is continually delivering self-absorbed messages. When you deliver a brand message with relevant content, a message that speaks directly to your target, you take your communications to a whole new level. Lest we forget that prospects don’t wake up in the morning caring about your product. They want you to wake up in the morning caring about them.

Related Articles
  Rule 20 Rules are Made to be Broken
  Failure Comes From Not Following Your Additive Rules
  Q: How can I make my employees accountable?
  Letting go of our rule books
  Mobile Home Parks - How to Properly Enforce the Rules

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Trump and Stewart - I really enjoyed Trump: The Art of the Deal and The Martha Rules. I think the best advice you can get is from people who have made it and not just consultants who haven't been there. Evan's site is great because of all the famous entrepreneurs and their advice directly from them. Donald Trump and Martha Stewart are 2 great examples of successful entrepreneurs and the books are written in their own words which I find extremely valuable and motivational.
AFL + Soccer Athletes - In Australia one of the most popular sports is Aussie Rules Football, but the principle I'm about to talk about is the same in all sports. The reason athletes get paid so much is because of competition between clubs. For example Club A will offer $1000 a week for an athlete to play for them but then Club B will offer $2000 until one club reaches a figure that they consider to be "reasonable" and obviously higher than the other club is prepared to pay. In saying this if a soccer athlete is worth the $4,000,000 transfer fee and $7,500 a game the management of the team obviously believe they are going to gain more revenue for the club in terms of more wins, supporters, media spotlights and higher morale in the team.
How She Does It - Interesting to see what are the most popular threads in this folder, judging by how many hits each thread gets. There must be a lot of moms out there who want to start businesses. I'm currently reading How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs are Changing the Rules of Business Success, by Margaret Heffernan. Some interesting statistics: Between 1997 and 2006, privately held businesses owned by women grew at 3 times the rate of all American privately owned firms, women's companies are creating jobs and growing profits at twice the rate of all firms and are responsible for more payroll than all of the Fortune 500 companies combined. This book tells the stories of a few women who have made it big...recommended reading so you know that "you can do it, too."
She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rules Every Businesswo - She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rules Every Businesswoman Needs to Know Gail Evans, 2003 Also author of Play Like A Man, Win Like A Woman Inside jacket: Every time a woman succeeds in business, every other woman's chances of succeeding in business increase. Every time a woman fails in business, every other woman's chances of failure increases. Gail realized that one of the most important elements of the men's game, which was missing from the women's, was support: The boys know how to take care of one another. In order to create lasting success, women need to help one another and band together as a team. TOC The Woman's Team Why you must play on the woman's team How to join the team Tips for the team 1. Be a mentor 2. Rainmake 3. Uncover and share information 4. Keep quiet 5. Unite with all women at all times 6. Make team-related choices 7. Weave a female web Challenges of the Team Twelve team members to watch out for The eleven most common team questions (and answers) Conclusions Acknowledgements My own view Haven't read this yet, but it seems like she's advocating an "Us against them" mentality. Neverthless, networking with fellow women - and men! - only makes good sense.
Protect yourself from Hackers - I received this from a newsletter from FXpro that I subscribed to. Please read and apply In the 21st Century internet is widely used for everyday job. Despite the "ease" and free time offered from internet use, one should be aware of the dangers and be prepared to avoid and safeguard him/herself from any attacks his/her computer may accept or even from the "unwanted" e-mails received. Golden Rules of Protection When using the internet make sure you have an antivirus program installed in order to avoid intrusions in your Computer, If you are using wireless internet connection make sure you have your connection locked, Do not save any official documents on your Computer, such as Copy of Passport, ID, Bank account numbers, copy of cards in case your Computer is hacked or even stolen, Keep all access codes/passwords in a safe place, Do not share an e-mail address with any person, Do not reveal any access codes, passwords to any person, If you are using a public Computer, ie in an internet cafe, make sure you log out any internet sites you have visited before leaving and deleting the cookies in order to minimize the risk of someone following your tracks, Regularly change your passwords on your e-mail accounts, or any other account that requires passwords, Be careful of e-mails received. Always check the e-mail address and in case you believe that this does not come from a person, Company, Organization you might be dealing with always send an e-mail to an e-mail address stated on the person's business card, Company's, Organization website requesting them to confirm that the e-mail address on the e-mail received belongs to them, before you reveal any information, Always have in mind that an established Company/Organization never uses an e-mail address such as g-mail, yahoo, hotmail etc thus always be careful when you are receiving such e-mails, even if it appears to be from a Company/Organization you are dealing with, Always remember that a Company or Organization will never require you to send them your login/password/access codes, When using a website that requires an access code, do not allow the browser to remember your passwords


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Ways to Improve Your Landing Page Conversions

What Type of Business Should I Start?

Winning Market Share in a Tough Economy

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.