How CEOs Can Drop The Ball With Marketing

Hello,

I've found a brilliant article here on sales and marketing. That fact that most B2B businesses under $30 million in annual revenues don't even have a marketing department is pretty shocking. Not even a minimum wage kid.

They just have armies of salespeople who try to sell often high ticket items through cold prospecting.

http://www.raintoday.com/pages/1763_...121&ID=282 55

Thoughts

I read the article and didn't see "cold prospecting" mentioned anywhere. Did I miss it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvin

I read the article and didn't see "cold prospecting" mentioned anywhere. Did I miss it?

It isn't mentioned per se. It's just my conclusion that if we don't market our services, we have to pound the pavement and hammer on phone dial pads to chase down prospects to make some cashflow. And that's waht so many companies do. That's why thery keep overbloated sales forces. To compensate for the lack of marketing.

I would say that many companies rely on their salesforces to generate business. It's part of the job description. However, I didn't get the impression that pounding the pavement and hammering the phone dial pads were considered major sources of new business.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvin

I would say that many companies rely on their salesforces to generate business. It's part of the job description. However, I didn't get the impression that pounding the pavement and hammering the phone dial pads were considered major sources of new business.

I think I've mixed in my own experiences as well. If we don't do marketing (having prospects come to us) the only option is to chase them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

I think I've mixed in my own experiences as well. If we don't do marketing (having prospects come to us) the only option is to chase them.

Yes, they come to you or you go to them.

Where does referrals, networking, etc. fit into your model?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvin

Where does referrals, networking, etc. fit into your model?

With referrals, instead of closing the deal, I start with offering free information and never ask for the sale. I let them ask me to accept them as new clients.

Networking is the same. I offer free info through my automated lead nurturing system. I don’t even talk to people (Well, I can’t since I don’t even have a phone), let alone meeting them until they make a conditional commitment to work with me if I can fulfil their buying criteria. Jacques’ High Probability Selling has been a good teacher for me. Thanks a lot, Jacques!

And I have pretty tough conditions for the first meeting. I request 1 hour of uninterrupted time. I require prospects to leave their mobile phones in their cars. I require them to bring a $1,000 cheque and all their business documents to the very first meeting. And I absolutely don’t tolerate the “I think about it” excuse. Prospects must make a decision by the end of the first meeting. Briefly, I don’t tolerate tyre-kickers.

And as a result of being such a hard-a.r.s.e, I get great, wildly committed clients. Yes, the tyre-kickers are convinced that I’m an arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d, who should have been be hanged right after his birth, but who gives a rat’s a.r.s.e about them anyway.

Thoughts?

What do you recommend for the companies referred to in the article?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvin

What do you recommend for the companies referred to in the article?

I would say that they get rid of their image marketing efforts and replace it with multi-step direct response marketing. Ditching brochures and creating well-crafted direct response sales letters instead.

Eliminating fancy images from advertising and replacing them with hard-hitting copy.

Eliminating the gap between the sales and the marketing departments by building a kick-a.r.s.e business development team (a real team, that is) with a military commando mentality: Small group of cross-trained generalists light on the foot, armed to the teeth, deadly effective and dangerously agile and flexible. And have the courage to do what the competition is scared of. That is, doing bold things.

It works pretty well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

I would say that they get rid of their image marketing efforts and replace it with multi-step direct response marketing.

Let's use automobile sales as an example. If you were a local Dodge dealership what multi-step direct response marketing would you use?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

Eliminating the gap between the sales and the marketing departments by building a kick-a.r.s.e business development team (a real team, that is) with a military commando mentality: Small group of cross-trained generalists light on the foot, armed to the teeth, deadly effective and dangerously agile and flexible. And have the courage to do what the competition is scared of. That is, doing bold things.

What would this business development team do specifically (light on the foot, armed to the teeth, deadly effective and dangerously agile and flexible)?

How CEOs Can Drop The Ball With Marketing

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