Rethink your sales strategy

I have met many hard-working people in my life. Some became successful, while others failed miserably. It is therefore inevitable to come to the conclusion that success in business and life depends on more than your ability to work hard.

I am also, what most people call, a “workaholic”, and therefore have great respect for the hard-working, honest individual. I can appreciate the pure intentions and the feeling of hope that “your hard work will, sooner or later, be rewarded”. Unfortunately hard work alone will not turn your hopes and dreams into reality. Right now you might even be at a point in your life where your business is causing you more frustration and heartache than freedom and joy.

As a business owner and / or entrepreneur you have worked your fingers to the bone in order to plan, deploy and develop your business. You have done your market research and know for a fact that there is a demand for you product. You are the best guy for the job, and yet you are struggling to maximise profit and earn good money.

One key factor that influences the success of almost any business is communication. In modern terms we say, with absolute certainty, that technology changed the way we communicate with our customers. It changes the way we conduct business and how consumers make purchasing decisions. Businesses are challenged to find innovative ways to convince customers you to buy their products and services, and consumers find themselves in world where it is unbelievably easy to buy.

Most consumers nowadays have access to the internet and will do an Internet search on products that will satisfy their specific wants and needs. Two major factors come to mind when we look at the way modern consumers make purchasing decisions:

1. Consumers are aware of their personal wants and needs, and they now have the power to search for the products and services that will fulfil those needs according to their own criteria. Consumers have access to millions of websites, packed with information, competing for an opportunity to persuade and make clients want to buy.
   
   
2. People buy what, and when they want to buy. This is probably one of the biggest reasons why so many businesses fail in their marketing efforts. Most business today still attempt to manipulate clients into buying things they don’t want or need.

Within the scope of this discussion there is one question I want to ask you:

Are your current sales a result of assisting your clients in making informed decisions (persuasion), or are you simply selling in order to benefit yourself (manipulating)?

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Pierre Fourie is a leading marketing and advertising consultant based in Johannesburg South Africa. He is highly regarded for his expert knowledge on Digital Out Of Home (DOOH) systems and his ability to conceptualise and execute marketing / advertising strategies. Pierre was dubbed the “digital expert” on developing content strategies and promoting branding concepts for private digital advertising networks, including Planet Fitness Gyms and The More Golf Group. His background in the electronics engineering field of study, combined with more than 10 years experience as a business owner, entrepreneur and media expert is reflected on his personal blog: http://mediamarketingandsales.blogspot.com

Don’t loose touch with your staff and co-workers

It won’t kill you to get into the front-line every once in a while. Answer some calls, work a few shifts, do the filing and make your own coffee.

Over the course of time many mangers tend to withdraw from the fiery furnace to the sterile, air conditioned comfort of their private offices. For some reason managers tend to get off the train in order to avoid communicating with the staff.

Stay in touch with your people. Don’t drift off into outer space and become a stranger to those around you. As a manager, CEO or director of an organisation it is important that I remind you that the people working with and underneath you actually appreciate seeing you once in a while.

This is especially true during times of change and economic uncertainty. Your people are looking at you for reassurance, peace of mind, inspiration and motivation.
How can you expect people to share your vision if they never see you around?

Being a stranger to your people will lead to a humble fall.

Don’t guess what your customers want

Sometimes the best advice is free. The key ingredient to successful market research is to get as close as possible to the customer. With Internet and email it is now possible to get even closer to your clients. If your clients are so “close” to you, why not get them to do some work for you?

Your customer is the most reliable source of information at your disposal, and it is free. “Quality purpose recordings” are used to train personnel; on-line surveys and polls are used to collect valuable information directly from the targeted market.
If you collect information with the intention to improve the quality of your service your clients will certainly not have any problems giving you a piece of their minds.

You cannot get close to the consumer with aggregated data. Making one-to-one contact with a few clients will provide valuable, accurate data that cannot be matched by aggregated data.

If you do not have time to talk to your clients you better make time. You need to get rid of the “average” data and discover the real consumer. If you “make” time for your customers your customers will make more time for your business. In the process of communicating with your clients, your clients become part of the product development process. You will discover new segments and provide products and services that were actually developed by your clients.