Marketing is a Process. And it leads to higher sales.

Many technology companies identify marketers as being primarily concerned with tactical communication (e.g. “we need to change our logo”). If you think of Marketing as a process however, the sequential approach of performing thorough market research, of calculating and identifying the most profitable markets and segments and of developing a concerted plan to involve all relevant colleagues to ‘go-to-market’, is a sound business practise that is designed to reduce risk and save time. 

Many leading tech companies I deal with in Ireland seem to forgo this process, while in fact unconsciously they compress all these steps into a few days, often leading to conclusions and decisions that waste the R&D budgets (new products launched despite limited market appeal) or prevent repeatable sales (a first and only customer represented “a big market”), hence increasing the cost of sale. This can happen in hyped-up markets where the technology and its derived products can be copied fast (ever heard of Microsoft Hohm, killed off even before its proper launch? or of Google Buzz, pushed to market and promptly pulled back, only to be re-launched worldwide as Google+ ? The difference is that no NI company has a cash pile of $30 bn. and can afford such costly mistakes. So every time I try to help a company get more sales out of marketing, I follow a rigorous marketing process.

Whereas twenty years ago, I would devise five-year Marketing Plans for Telecoms companies, the increasing pace of change over the past decade forced me to narrow down to three-year, then eventually to one-year plans. You may argue, “what’s the point of spending time to prepare a document with such a limited shelf-life?” Well, writing a plan actually kicks off the Marketing process, and helps you reflect and ask where you really want to lead your business. Once the basis has been set, it’s easier, more flexible and useful to transform that plan into a rolling basis one-year document (reviewed every three to six months). That is enough to get colleagues across the company aligned on positioning, message, sales pitch, benefits and the value proposition brought to your customers.  

Norbert Sagnard

www.sagnard.biz

Who's afraid of the sales guy?

I’m petite and highly unlikely to personally inspire fear in anyone (except perhaps my husband!). However, what I am proposing for most companies and their employees is scary. I may look like I am selling software or hardware or mobile applications or outsourced services but what I am really selling is change. So be afraid, be very afraid!

Endless studies have been written about the psychology of change and its impact on sales (a simple Google search will turn up about 26m references). As well as change, prospects are also scared by:




Conflict. Decisions that colleagues or other departments oppose are simply too risky to pursue.
Work. If they think that your solution requires a lot more work on their part, they will not buy.
Failure. If you do not deliver, they will be held accountable for the bad choice.

And the bigger the company, the worse it gets (although they won’t necessarily always admit this!). And exporting makes the situation even scarier. Prospects then have fears about your ability to support them locally, fears about cultural misunderstandings and fears about solution fit to their local needs.

So, how can you minimise this fear?
1. Watch your language – avoid scary words that imply major change (transformation, radical, quantum, dramatic) both verbally and in writing and where possible, communicate in your prospect’s native language.
2. Improve on existing solutions - if appropriate, illustrate how your offering blends with and improves existing practice (small changes). Demonstrate an understanding of local norms.
3. Talk to more people – the more you are known within an organisation, the less scary what you are proposing will appear. This is especially important when your solution crosses departments – try convincing multiple department stakeholders of your value. Build some consensus. Link them with similar staff in your existing customer base.
4. Talk to senior staff – they are more likely to embrace change agendas, understand your value and have more influence on the final decision. By-passing middle management fears.
5. Map out the work-load – Be very clear what work will be required of your prospects and try very hard to actually minimise what they will have to do. Have a Plan B ready. Show how you will “hand-hold”. Build your solution with implementation effort in mind.
6. Build local partnerships – when exporting, this will help allay many prospect fears about your commitment to their country and minimise the potential for cultural misunderstandings.

However, inspiring fear in the gatekeepers of your prospects may not be a bad idea – make them afraid of not putting you through to their bosses.

Geraldine Fusciardi
http://www.strategy-structure-sales.com/

Export Business, risky business!

Prospects are nervous these days.  Nervous about the economy, nervous about their jobs, nervous about anything new, nervous about failure, nervous about you.   They may like your product, they may even like you, they may understand the value of your solution but it’s still a risk to them (especially if you are a small company trying to do business with a large organisation).   And as decision-time grows closer for your prospects their minds turn away from solution/product “fit” and move onto price and risk, especially risk. 

   

 How many customers do you have?  What experience do you have in my industry? What does your balance sheet look like?  Tell me about your roadmap.  How many experienced implementation/support staff do you have?  How much value will this new solution really bring me? 

And this risk is only magnified if you are exporting:

How will you support me locally?  Do you have the same respect for timelines as we do?  Will your product roadmap suit my market/ culture/customers?  How easy is it to do business with you?

Ideally, you will address these questions as early as possible in the sales process but be ready at this decision point to minimise the risk of doing business with you and re-emphasise some of your earlier answers.  How can you enable your prospects to make a small risk-free decision for you?

Put them in touch with other customers in their industry sector or locally in their country/region.  Allow them to implement and pay for your product in stages.  Do a trial.  Organise a financing package.   Arrange support for them in their language.

In an export situation, consider getting a local partner (country or region) to deliver support.  This has a big impact on your prospect’s perception of risk and shows that you are committed to their country.   However, at a minimum, ensure you have the right language skills across the right time zones to provide support.     Provide credible proof statements on your commitment to delivery dates and service levels – working against you, Ireland is perceived as having more of a casual attitude towards timekeeping than some of our European neighbours. 

Re-emphasise the value your solution brings to their company and be sure to present this from the perspective of multiple departments (as your sales cycle nears a conclusion many departmental directors may be influencing the final decision particularly in countries where a consensual decision is critical e.g. Denmark or Sweden). 

Finally, be pleased that they are asking you these questions.  If you are not being asked the “risk questions” then they are not seriously considering doing business with you.

Geraldine Fusciardi

www.strategy-structure-sales.com