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Chapter
1. Getting Ready: Research & Planning © 2002 - Jody Hornor |
In
This Chapter: --Target Marketing --Positioning for Profits --The Sales Process --Assemble Your Tools --Avoid Costly Mistakes --Involve The Troops --Book Table of Contents |
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Involve The Troops When you're marketing without money, it's vital that every part of your marketing program be well oiled and in perfect working condition. You can ill afford to "lose things through the cracks." That means that your staff must be an integral part of your marketing program in order for you to get the most cost-effective marketing results. Just think about what it takes to get a customer into your business. You have likely put countless hours and money into advertising and other promotion. You've sweat over your products, your guarantees, your operations. You've negotiated with vendors, bankers, and partners to get you where you are. You've teetered on the edge...more than once. Now, finally, you have a good flow of customers calling or coming to your business...whew! But they're not greeted when they walk in. The phone line is always busy or answered slowly because your employees are busy with friends. Your customers tell the person who looks like they're in charge, that the service is far from satisfactory, but your staff never brings these complaints to your attention... they wouldn't want to put their jobs in jeopardy. And another profitable customer or prospect goes by the wayside. You may think that this sounds like a drastic scenario, but it's more often the case then not. All too often an excellently strategized marketing program is put into action, and sure enough it works. But sales aren't up nearly as much as they should be. Even though the marketing program seems to be working, profits don't reflect the numbers you expect. Having the phone ringing off the hook and customers coming to your business, is only the start of a successful marketing program. Your staff, and how well they respond to customers and prospects, will be the determining factor in whether your marketing program produces cost-effective results. There are a few key areas you'll want to be sure you've prepared them for, such as:
This may seem basic, but when and how often do you have workshops with your staff on the features and benefits of your products? If yours is like many businesses, this may be an area that is taken for granted once an employee gets his or her initial training. But, it's an area that can add significant sales and profits to your bottom line, just by having an ongoing "sales meeting" that can keep the features and benefits fresh for everyone on staff -- especially if there are active promotional programs taking place. Sales meetings don't have to be long, difficult, or overly formal. But they should be regular. If, once a week, each staff member had to come to a short meeting bringing with him or her four things:
Just think about having a 30 minute sales meeting every week where each employee would have to prepare with items from the above list. Then, all employees would participate in "how to answer the question", "how to handle the objection", etc. What do you think that kind of involvement by your staff would do for the sales performance of your company? (The "people" management and motivation issue is so important, it will be addressed frequently in subsequent chapters.) Now, imagine how much more productive your company could be if you coupled the sales meetings with regular contests and incentive programs. Then, put in a large measure of pats on the back for people who take initiative, perform exceptionally well, exceed the prescribed number of proactive calls to customers, and report immediately the name, address, and phone number of a customer who has a problem, and how the employee resolved the problem for the customer. Plug your staff into some active involvement in the development of your marketing and advertising programs, and you'll have even a more powerful recipe for success. Employees can be wonderful sources of brain power for developing promotional campaigns, customer service programs, and management systems. And once you involve them, they'll be far more willing partners in working toward your success. Last but not least, throw in a generous dose of empowerment for your employees, so they not only get excited about their jobs but have the ability to perform them without constant management intervention. If success in your marketing is what you truly want, then training, employee motivation, and marketing management systems go part and parcel with the actual "marketing" elements of your program.
Table of Contents l Next - Chapter 2: Phase 1 of the Sales Process: Lead Generation |
Schedule sales meetings for early in the week so ideas are fresh and can be tested in the field as quickly as possible. Resources: FREE Downloadable WorksheetsYou MUST sign in to have access to these -- once you've signed in, bookmark the page from which you download to avoid having to sign in every time you access them. Marketing Plan
Worksheet |
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