Be Prepared for Marketing

For most businesses, making a sale is all important. However, despite the amount of effort and attention given to getting sales, there is often no attention given to developing and effectively implementing a systematic marketing process. There are many things that can go wrong between the point of the customer first developing an interest in your product or service and the time of making the sale. Despite knowing this, very few businesses actually take proactive steps to nurture the progress of a sale. In sales and marketing, as in life, preparation makes a world of difference.

Be Prepared to Initiate

In many businesses there is no real attempt to initiate action towards a sale. Many sit and wait for customers to come in or for the phone to ring. They hope the customer will initiate the action. This is OK when things are busy, but what happens when trade slows down? Often the first thought is that we had better do some advertising. Unfortunately, random, unfocused, one off type advertising rarely achieves good results. You need to know what initiates action from your customers and then consistently and regularly set that process in motion. This takes a degree of preparation and planning, by analysing customer needs, preparation of a targeted marketing message and delivery through the right media to attract the appropriate amount of attention from the right customers.

Be Prepared to Measure

Is there anything worse when not making enough sales than to spend money on advertising that doesn't work? The trouble is, many people don't actually know whether their advertising is working or not. They don't take the time and effort to monitor and measure the response to advertising. Every time a new customer makes an enquiry or purchase, you should be asking why they came to you. Then note and keep track of the answers. If you can't tell what advertising works and what doesn't, you will end up wasting a lot of money. When you spend money on advertising, be prepared to monitor and measure the results. No one really knows what will work and what won't. You need to measure results and fine tune your advertising so that you do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

Be Prepared to Respond

Even worse than doing advertising that doesn't work is to be unprepared to deal with the enquiries that do come in. Nothing kills off sales quicker than not giving customers what they expect. You need to be prepared with follow up marketing materials, stock to sell and people who are trained to deal with the enquiries. Sales staff need to be trained and prepared to be customer focused. They should be able to lead the customer in a helpful manner towards making a decision in such a way that no pressure is ever exerted by the sales person or felt by the customer. My experience is that very few sales people ever achieve this level of expertise. How about yours? How much training do you give them?

Be Prepared to Help

Customers hate to be sold, but love having their needs met. In these days where customers are much better informed, most of the old sales techniques of the last decade no longer work. Customers are put off by tired and over used sales techniques. Today selling is about being helpful, providing advice and assistance to customers in matching specific products or services to the customer's specific needs. You need to be good at discovering those needs to be able to offer helpful solutions. Many sales people jump too quickly over the process of discovering needs and skip straight to the "solutions" stage. This makes selling difficult. When you spend most of your time discovering needs, you build a lot of trust that means when it comes to offering the solution it is usually obvious that it is the right one for the customer and they buy with minimal hesitation. It all comes down to being prepared to help, not sell.

Be Prepared to Compete

Do you worry about your competitors and feel that they are getting too many sales that you should have won? Well, don't just worry and get annoyed about it. Be prepared to fight back. Find out what the competition does and learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Then get proactive. Attack their weaknesses and downplay their strengths in your marketing and sales efforts. Do a better job of marketing your business and products or service than they do theirs. If you can't do it yourself, get help.

Be Prepared for Objections

You have probably noticed that most sales don't go through the process smoothly without the customer raising some objections. Despite this, many sales people seem to be caught out when customers have a problem or need an answer to a concern they have. This is often the case when the same types of objections are raised repeatedly. Good preparation can help in overcoming objections. Get your salespeople to write down objections that stump them. Find the best way to overcome those objections and prepare your sales people to answer them effectively. This is best done by answering the objections before the customer raises them. Do you know what a difference it makes to a sales person's confidence levels when they feel prepared to tackle objections? It's enough to make your sales graph go through the roof.

(c) 2004, Greg Roworth, Progressive Business Solutions Limited

Greg Roworth is the Managing Director of Progressive Business Solutions Limited, a business development consultancy firm with branches in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand. Greg has created a unique business development program that assists business owners transform their business from a state of total dependency on them to a state where the business works so well they don't have to.

Greg is also the author of "The 7 Keys to Unlock Your Business Profit Potential," which descibes the fundamental keys a business needs to achieve this transformation. Find out more, get 2 free chapters, or buy the book online at http://www.small-business-success.ws

____________________

Advertisement: Honest Riches - Click Here!

Advertisement: Lost AdWords - Click Here!

Advertisement: Get $1 Million A Month In Google Pay-Per-Click Ads Free! - Click Here!

Advertisement: Who Loves Money? - Click Here!

Advertisement: SEO Elite, the GrandDaddy of SEO Software - Click Here!

In The News:

---

LA reveals unveils new tourism marketing slogan
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - 47 minutes ago
AP LOS ANGELES—The city on Friday unveiled a new marketing campaign built around the slogan "That's So LA" to keep tourists coming despite the nation's ...
New campaign to boost LA tourism abc7.com
"That's So LA" NBC Los Angeles
all 18 news articles

Reuters
Audi says it will increase US marketing efforts
Chicago Tribune, United States - 3 hours ago
Those marketing dollars have an aim to push Audi US sales to 200000 vehicles by 2018. Schwarzenbauer said the company has a goal to sell 1.5 million Audis ...
Audi plans record US marketing spending Reuters
Audi plans to boost US marketing budget Automotive News
Audi says it will increase US marketing efforts Fox 28
DetNews.comall 15 news articles

Columbus tech firm buys Dayton marketing company
Bizjournals.com, NC - 6 hours ago
Implications International, which specializes in interactive marketing, brand design, and Web development, has offices in Peoria, Ill., Mumbai, India, ...

Wellstar/TMI Begins Marketing Imaging System to Long-Term Care ...
MSNBC - 1 hour ago
TMI's marketing plan includes a program where LTC facilities can lease the equipment necessary to perform skin assessments and store the necessary data ...

Halekulani to get marketing boost from Japanese hotel
Bizjournals.com, NC - 5 hours ago
Effective April 1, Imperial Hotel will start reservations service, sales, marketing and public relations activities within Japan for Halekulani and Waikiki ...

Proton Laboratories Announces New Sales & Marketing Office
MSNBC - 18 hours ago
Proton will start by marketing a variety of enhanced water products that provide health benefits for people and the planet as well as the commercial product ...
Proton Laboratories opens Southern California office Bizjournals.com
all 9 news articles

Zoo honored for marketing campaign
Salt Lake Tribune, United States - 2 hours ago
... different companies around the US The Utah Chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services recognizes excellence in marketing communications ...

Boston Globe
FedEx trims '09 marketing budget by 25%
Bizjournals.com, NC - Jan 8, 2009
United Parcel Service Inc. rival FedEx Corp. will cut its marketing budget by more than 25 percent for 2009, the company recently disclosed on its blog. ...
FedEx cuts marketing spend by more than 25 percent Reuters
FedEx cuts marketing budget DM News
FedEx to reduce marketing budgets by 25% Brand Republic
all 45 news articles

Katz Media Launches New Marketing Unit
FMQB, NJ - 9 hours ago
Katz Media Group has launched a new, national marketing unit that will create custom solutions for advertisers and their agencies with the goal of ...
Katz Launches National Marketing Unit, Trims Staff Media Buyer Planner
Katz Media Group forms marketing unit BtoB Magazine
Katz creates unit to handle ads for new radio platforms SmartBrief
all 6 news articles

Examiner.com
Cape May tourism department wins marketing award
Examiner.com - 13 hours ago
by William Sokolic, Jersey Shore Examiner The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International will recognize the Cape May County Department of ...

marketing - Google News

Marketing Brain Trust

Rest assured that no matter how smart you are, you do not know everything about marketing. You don't even know anything about marketing your product! You can't... Read More

Celebrity Product Placement: A Primer

With more and more companies wanting to integrate their products into the lives of celebrities, now seems like a good time to take a closer look at... Read More

15-Minute Marketing: Lots of Results in Little Time

Do you think you don't have enough time to market? Here's a solution that can help you get started on marketing, or any other task you've been... Read More

What Does Your Logo Color Say About Your Business?

And not only your logo, but also your website, your brochure, your business cards and any of your marketing materials for that matter.Yes, colors do matterThey communicate... Read More

10 Important Steps to Mail Order Success

There are a number of difficulties a beginning entrepreneur may encounter that can "torpedo" his business almost before he knows it. But the wise mail order dealer... Read More

10 Beer Budget Event Marketing Tips

Are you planning an event or participating in a trade show any time soon? If so, consider the following 10 low-cost marketing tactics before mailing your payment.Event... Read More

Financial Services Marketing Insights: A Marketing Compass

What we now call "marketing" began long before the name was coined. In the mid-1800s, traveling salesmen dressed "snake oil" and other tonics in fancy packaging and... Read More

Trade Show Promotions That Are Memorable

If you have been to expos and trade shows as an attendee like me you would be familiar with the exciting prospect of carrying home a heavy... Read More

Consumer Thinking And Search Marketing

12/20/04According to a recent article by ComScore Networks, about three-quarters of all consumer product research is initiated through a generic search term, such as "televisions" or "Adoption... Read More

Writing Sales Letters That Sell

The most important part of any marketing you do is direct marketing. This includes letters, postcards, brochures, newspaper or magazine coupons, telemarketing, TV or radio direct response... Read More

Marketing Lessons from Santa

If a nonexistent man can change the world and millions of people with a message of joy then his marketing plan surely works. Right? Then what has... Read More

What to Look for in Display Graphics and Trade Show Graphics

Display graphics are graphic images used for illustration or "display" purposes. Display Graphics are usually printed on paper, vinyl or fabric using a "large format" printing device.... Read More

Client Attraction Technique #3: Study the Competition!

One very powerful and cost-effective marketing strategy is to study the competition. This is an important exercise, as essentially it allows you to find out as much... Read More

Sum of Its Parts

I just spent a week at the beach with my family and, as much as I vowed not to think about work, stumbled onto a highly relevant... Read More

Where to Find Cheap Brochure Printing

Whether it is for is a real estate listing, a trade show handout, a data sheet, or another application, brochures can be a great promotional tool. They... Read More

Your Plan For Marketing Success

The most important, yet overlooked aspect of marketing is an actual written marketing plan A business simply cannot succeed without marketing. Whether you are a one person... Read More

The Surprise Inside!

Think about all those Cracker Jacks you ate as a kid. What's your lasting memory? I'm guessing it's not the taste, but the surprise inside ? that... Read More

Marketing Through Associations

©2004 Jeffrey DobkinIf you're in direct marketing, you're continually looking for new list sources - everybody's tired of mailing to the same lists. If you're not in... Read More

Questioning the Data of Demographic Off The Shelf Marketing Products

I have been working on a direct mail campaign for our team in many areas and we are finding that the yellow page listings and business list... Read More

Creating Your Future with a Marketing Plan

Almost everyone who dreams of starting their own business is familiar with the fact that they should create a business plan. However, often that's where many people... Read More

Marketing With Business Cards

Many businesses today overlook the importance of business cards as a very powerful marketing weapon. Their business cards contain just a name, company, address and phone number.... Read More

Marketing Is A Long-Term Investment

"Dig your well before you're thirsty" is the title of a wonderful book by Harvey Mackay. It is smart advice for investing your money, "Save your money... Read More

Has the Free Report Had Its Day?

For years now we have been inundated with offers of Free Reports. Most promise to tell you how, in a few hours per week, you can make... Read More

Let Your Survey Write Your Business Plan

Most entrepreneurs first write their business plan and then develop their services or products. This causes them to generate and fulfill a marketing plan that requires them... Read More

Nine Advance Networking Skills for Seasoned Networkers

A seasoned networker knows the real meaning of networking -- being organized, efficient, effective, and, of course, work the event to its fullest. Attending networking groups after... Read More

Wooing Women With Packaging

In just one month three California vineyards have introduced new wine product lines specifically targeted to women. The product offerings are intriguing with names such as "White... Read More