In most small companies sales and marketing is the responsibility of the same person. Often the person in charge has been with the company for some time and what they know about sales and marketing has been learned on the job. Sales and marketing are joined at the hip. In fact your strategic sales plan should be an outgrowth of your strategic marketing plan. Although there are multiple marketing objectives such as investing in customer relationships, building community, establishing your company as content expert in your field, etc., the fundamental purpose of marketing is (drum roll, please) to create sales opportunities.

It is amazing to me how many companies operate without full understanding of the answers to the following questions. So what are the key questions that should be answered for successful sales and marketing to occur?

1. Who is the customer?
2. What problem does our product solve for the customer?
3. How do we reach the customer? Read the rest of this entry »

   Share This

   Posted in: Sales, Marketing, Educational Publishing | Comments(0)

I ran across this article  today at Speechworks and it reminded me of the same essential points I use in training sales people. Since this article echoes my own experience, I share it with you here. If you adhere to these five guiding principles, you will walk away with the order more often than not. Even if you’re “just” pitching your ideas to company colleagues, these principles apply.

1. Begin your presentation with a focus on your prospect’s problem and how it can be solved. It’s all about them, not you.
2. The power of making three major points. Beginning, middle, end. There is a magic in this number as human beings begin to lose focus with more.
3.  If you sell with passion, people will buy what you’re selling. If you don’t have passion, why should your prospect care?
4. Make it interactive. People don’t like lectures. Ask your prospects questions and listen to the answers. Make it a conversation.
5. Be ready. Act like a professional. Practice and rehearse.

There are many sales’ best practices, but if you concentrate on doing these five well, in addition to getting the sale, you’ll build a valuable relationship.

Share This

Posted in: Sales | Comments(0)