Marketing & Sales tools – going back to basics
Marketing & Sales tools – going back to basics
Here are some practical examples of marketing activities you can do that don’t cost the earth and will help you stay afloat this year.
Website:
Many small business owners have some type of web presence. However, if you are a business owner without a web presence, I would highly recommend that you make this your next marketing priority. If you need convincing why, drop me a line to discuss.
A web presence may be as simple as a profile on a number of industry websites, a page on Facebook, your business details on numerous directories or a complete website dedicated to your own business.
Have you ever been onto a website that contains obvious out of date information? I know I have and do so quite often. I appreciate that business or life in general doesn’t exist in a perfect world, and that there are multiple reasons why information is out of date on websites. However, your first step on your ‘back to basics’ marketing journey is to be brave enough to visit your website and take an honest view of what it says about your business.
Here is a checklist of what to look for: –
1. Does your home page have out of date information on it?
2. If the last time you wrote a blog entry or e newsletter was four years ago, then perhaps you should have that section taken away.
3. Do you have price lists or timetables available for download that expired 12 months ago?
4. Does your website have a last updated date? If you don’t regularly update your site, consider having it removed.
5. Does the text in your website read from a customer’s perspective and is appealing to their needs and not yours?
6. Are there spelling and grammatical mistakes in what you have written?
If you have come to the realisation that you are much better at doing what you do rather than updating your website, then it is time to outsource that activity. Whoever you give that project to, make sure that they take the time to get to know you and your business and you pencil in regular updates with them.
To give this some perspective, having out of date information on websites is a common problem for all businesses, whether they are large or small. Just today for example, I visited a very well known website to review advertising rates and the contact person on the media rate card was incorrect. Use this common occurrence to your advantage. Jump ahead of your competition to project a professional and up to date image about you and your business.
Sales letters:
I have recently completed a large audit for a client that involved reviewing all of the sales collateral in their business. We looked at surveys, sales letters, quotes, follow up letters, and ‘with compliments’ gifts, just to name a few. What I found from this process was, that there wasn’t any level of consistency in the message or tone of how this business was being projected. This can easily happen to any business. Documents are produced over a period of time by different employees, and in this case (see below) tended to reflect the personality of the author rather than a constant and common business tone.
Having a consistent approach in how you position your business will certainly help you win more work now and into the future. Here is an example of what I mean.
Example - Sales letter pre-audit:
“I am writing to follow up from my letter and phone call on the 12th June and 14th June. I have not heard back from you and if I don’t within seven days, I will remove your details from our database.”
Example - Sales letter post audit:
“I am writing to touch base and follow up from our conversation a couple of weeks ago. I hope this note finds you well. With the end of the financial year approaching, you may like to take up our offer prior to June 30th. We are happy to turnaround your job in a short time to suit your specific requirements. Look forward to hearing from you soon.”
When the economy was booming, having great sales collateral materials may not have been necessary as you were able to win work and pick up jobs regardless. Now that the economy has slowed, you may have found that whilst the work is still there, it is perhaps a little harder to get. It is time to do a thorough sales documentation review.
Telephone messages
A beauty salon in my local area changes their voicemail message every couple of weeks. Every time I call, a new product is available or promotion is obtainable for a set period of time. Whilst the person at this salon who records the message often speaks too quickly for me to get the entire message, I do expect to hear about ‘what’s new’ when I call to make an appointment.
In your office, what does your voicemail message actually say? When was the last time you changed it? Perhaps you could update it once a month with a new message about something that is happening in your business. It is a cheap and cost effective way of keeping those who contact you up to date with activities in your business. So why don’t you get your diary and pencil out and start to plan for your regular updates now?
Email signatures
There is no doubt that we use email for a substantial part of our business and personal communication. What is less frequently used though is marketing or sales messages in your email signature. I must admit though, I have seen some people/companies over do it. What I am referring to is something quite short, perhaps a line or two or a link about something that is happening in your business. By keeping it short and simple, it is more likely to be read and is much easier for you to update. Email signatures are a very cheap and cost effective basic marketing activity that you can implement right now at no cost to your business. Use it to your own advantage.
In summary – here are things to look out for in your back to basics approach:
1. spelling mistakes
2. grammatical errors
3. documents that are out of date
4. incorrect details
5. pricing that is old.
To help position your business favourably in the eyes of your prospective customers, it is a good business discipline for you and your team to regularly review, audit and refresh all your basic business tools.
Marketing Sales tools going back to basics - To learn more about this author, visit Jo Macdermott's Website.
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Getting ‘back to basics’ is similar to doing an audit. It is about pulling out all of your marketing, advertising and sales materials and reviewing each piece to ascertain if it is delivering the best possible outcome for your business. If nothing else, it is a good discipline to have in your business on an ongoing basis.
Here are some practical examples of marketing activities you can do that don’t cost the earth and will help you stay afloat this year.
Website:
Many small business owners have some type of web presence. However, if you are a business owner without a web presence, I would highly recommend that you make this your next marketing priority. If you need convincing why, drop me a line to discuss.
A web presence may be as simple as a profile on a number of industry websites, a page on Facebook, your business details on numerous directories or a complete website dedicated to your own business.
Have you ever been onto a website that contains obvious out of date information? I know I have and do so quite often. I appreciate that business or life in general doesn’t exist in a perfect world, and that there are multiple reasons why information is out of date on websites. However, your first step on your ‘back to basics’ marketing journey is to be brave enough to visit your website and take an honest view of what it says about your business.
Here is a checklist of what to look for: –
1. Does your home page have out of date information on it?
2. If the last time you wrote a blog entry or e newsletter was four years ago, then perhaps you should have that section taken away.
3. Do you have price lists or timetables available for download that expired 12 months ago?
4. Does your website have a last updated date? If you don’t regularly update your site, consider having it removed.
5. Does the text in your website read from a customer’s perspective and is appealing to their needs and not yours?
6. Are there spelling and grammatical mistakes in what you have written?
If you have come to the realisation that you are much better at doing what you do rather than updating your website, then it is time to outsource that activity. Whoever you give that project to, make sure that they take the time to get to know you and your business and you pencil in regular updates with them.
To give this some perspective, having out of date information on websites is a common problem for all businesses, whether they are large or small. Just today for example, I visited a very well known website to review advertising rates and the contact person on the media rate card was incorrect. Use this common occurrence to your advantage. Jump ahead of your competition to project a professional and up to date image about you and your business.
Sales letters:
I have recently completed a large audit for a client that involved reviewing all of the sales collateral in their business. We looked at surveys, sales letters, quotes, follow up letters, and ‘with compliments’ gifts, just to name a few. What I found from this process was, that there wasn’t any level of consistency in the message or tone of how this business was being projected. This can easily happen to any business. Documents are produced over a period of time by different employees, and in this case (see below) tended to reflect the personality of the author rather than a constant and common business tone.
Having a consistent approach in how you position your business will certainly help you win more work now and into the future. Here is an example of what I mean.
Example - Sales letter pre-audit:
“I am writing to follow up from my letter and phone call on the 12th June and 14th June. I have not heard back from you and if I don’t within seven days, I will remove your details from our database.”
Example - Sales letter post audit:
“I am writing to touch base and follow up from our conversation a couple of weeks ago. I hope this note finds you well. With the end of the financial year approaching, you may like to take up our offer prior to June 30th. We are happy to turnaround your job in a short time to suit your specific requirements. Look forward to hearing from you soon.”
When the economy was booming, having great sales collateral materials may not have been necessary as you were able to win work and pick up jobs regardless. Now that the economy has slowed, you may have found that whilst the work is still there, it is perhaps a little harder to get. It is time to do a thorough sales documentation review.
Telephone messages
A beauty salon in my local area changes their voicemail message every couple of weeks. Every time I call, a new product is available or promotion is obtainable for a set period of time. Whilst the person at this salon who records the message often speaks too quickly for me to get the entire message, I do expect to hear about ‘what’s new’ when I call to make an appointment.
In your office, what does your voicemail message actually say? When was the last time you changed it? Perhaps you could update it once a month with a new message about something that is happening in your business. It is a cheap and cost effective way of keeping those who contact you up to date with activities in your business. So why don’t you get your diary and pencil out and start to plan for your regular updates now?
Email signatures
There is no doubt that we use email for a substantial part of our business and personal communication. What is less frequently used though is marketing or sales messages in your email signature. I must admit though, I have seen some people/companies over do it. What I am referring to is something quite short, perhaps a line or two or a link about something that is happening in your business. By keeping it short and simple, it is more likely to be read and is much easier for you to update. Email signatures are a very cheap and cost effective basic marketing activity that you can implement right now at no cost to your business. Use it to your own advantage.
In summary – here are things to look out for in your back to basics approach:
1. spelling mistakes
2. grammatical errors
3. documents that are out of date
4. incorrect details
5. pricing that is old.
To help position your business favourably in the eyes of your prospective customers, it is a good business discipline for you and your team to regularly review, audit and refresh all your basic business tools.
Marketing Sales tools going back to basics - To learn more about this author, visit Jo Macdermott's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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I've created this section on my site to share some of the incredible tools that I've used to build my business. I hope you too can benefit from them and look forward to hearing your feedback on the reviews! - Visit Evan Carmichael's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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