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Sales and Marketing

Written by: Stephen Potter

Article Overview: Two of the most important words for any small business owner – sales and marketing. Without them, no business would ever survive. But, what exactly do they mean to each other? And how can you effectively use your marketing to boost your sales? This article takes a look at some of the top tips for those of you looking to change your marketing strategy in an effort to up your bottom line.

Sales and Marketing

Two of the most important words for any small business owner – sales and marketing. Without them, no business would ever survive. But, what exactly do they mean to each other? And how can you effectively use your marketing to boost your sales? This article takes a look at some of the top tips for those of you looking to change your marketing strategy in an effort to up your bottom line.

First of all, what is the promotional strategy that your company currently has in place and where is it going wrong? Have you correctly identified your target market and their preferences and behaviours? Do you know what they want and when they go looking to buy it? And, have you examined what your competitors may be doing that you aren’t? These are questions you need to be asking yourself. Based on the above information, you can better identify your own objectives and position your business so that it is in a place to meet customer demands.

When outlining the objectives of any new promotional strategy, you need to do one thing above anything else: put the customer first. Customers need to be at the core of anything and everything that your business does. Without them, your business is nothing. It might be a straightforward concept, but it is one that many entrepreneurs lose sight of, so it can never be said enough.

Improving your company’s sales and marketing depends on the people behind that effort. You don’t just want marketers working towards that goal. Instead, you want managers who have a better sense of the direction of the company in the future as well as the financial know how to implement any changes. You also want a young and passionate sales force that is out on the floor and in tune with what customers are talking about. And, of course, all of these groups of people need a leader, which is where you come in.

As a small business owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that there is effective and open communication between everyone in the company. Unless your team is focused and agreed on a common vision, it will never be able to present a united front to the customer.

So, now that you’ve identified your target customers, you need to figure out how to get across to them the supposed benefits of your product. No matter how much you believe in your product, it is still going to need some selling to get it off the shelves and into customers’ homes.

Sales and marketing depends on a number of key areas that you need to be aware of in order to revamp your company’s strategy. First is the product you provide after sales, for instance in the form of warranties or service maintenance. Second is the price, and by using discounts and limited time offers, you have a lot of room to play around with this. Third is the location of where your product is being sold. From catalogues to websites, you need to think about how people are buying your product. And, finally, is promotion. Whether it’s through advertising, trade shows or other activities, how are you getting your message out there?

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Article Tags: marketing strategy, promotional strategy, sales and marketing, small business owner, small business owner



Related Forum Posts
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
niche forum categories - I think Kevin just touched on the point that I was going make... and that is developing 'categories' that stick. Sales and Marketing may be too broad for example. However I can almost guarantee you that you would see many more sign-ups if you tailored a category to 'internet marketing' for newbies. I've seen this work on other forums, however, [i:1i903wkn]it can get a little frantic[/i:1i903wkn]... Fine tuning the categories, or expanding the scope should be effective. I think a lot of IM folks are surfing right on by because they're not finding what they're looking for here... Just a few thoughts: Better Blogging Developing Info Products Internet Marketing Presentation Skills More How to's Another point is... a lot of people don't know that they can benefit from participating in forums. The signature links to their site - if they have one - can / should be motivation enough to get more involved. The more internet savvy members that have signatures seem to stick around more... Don't you think?
Different Hats - CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company Strategic Vision 10 Alliances & Growth Strategies 10 Hiring & Managing People 8 Mentoring 8-9 Strategic Planning for Clients 10 Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty) Financial Management 9 Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0 Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff) Writing & Publishing 9 (getting better all the time!) Speaking 10 (so I have been told) Self Promotion 9-10 Web development & Promotion 6-7 (learning more and have brought on players who are 10+) Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have) Great topic Kevin!! Jude
Any ideas for potential partner sites? - Hi Everyone, I was wondering if any of you have any ideas on "potential partner sites" for our specific forum categories? For instance, is there a leading "Women Entrepreneur" or "Sales/Marketing" site you know of that doesn't have an existing online community of its own? This could be a great way to help us attract more traffic. Thanks


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