Commerce is changing.
Communication is changing. The 'old ways' do not work as well as they used to. We have seen rapid sales-marketing-and-purchasing changes creeping up and around us during the last 10 years. Now, things seem to have reached a new commercial zone.
[The pace of change is hastening: mail, fax, email, Web 2.0, etc.]
To grow business we need to know how to succeed in a new commercial zone.
The current economic climate presents an ideal time for growth. Many businesses are struggling to some degree and many are seeking better ways and solutions. This opens the doors for new forward-looking alliances.
Some competitors will fail and many will be distracted and doors will be opened to upbeat and strong businesses. Clients will be taken from the weak and the distracted businesses. And, these clients will be better served.
People have not changed.
But, the things that catch their attention and interest have…
The keys to marketing & sales success are still the 'old' basics:
• Accurate identification and understanding of Market Niches/Target Markets/Clients
• Real Value Propositions, confirmed and proven by the Clients who receive the Value
• Real Differential Advantages (Unique Selling Propositions or whatever the currently-accepted descriptor is)… differences that ensure attractiveness to Clients vis-à-vis their choices to either do nothing or do business with one of our competitors
• Quality Relationships
• Effective Referrals and Other Routes to connect us to our Target Market Clients
The last bullet point contains most of the new stuff (ie, the stuff of the new commercial zone). Businesses can no longer rely on one or two routes to commerce. Old sales approaches are stale and yield lacklustre results. Sales training on its own does little to generate improvement of results.
So - how do we construct a multi-prong Marketing Plan that contains new & effective routes to commercial success?
That’s the interesting challenge testing our brainpower.
How do we construct a multi-prong Marketing Plan that contains new & effective routes to success?
But, let’s make sure we do not rush into this backwards.
Every day we see people ignore this crucial point: that last question is and must not be the first question.
The bullet points for the thinking process and the questions are presented above. The first question is at the 1st bullet point. The next question is at the 2nd bullet point...and so on. Yet, we see business people violate these steps. They assume or presume or conclude they have an accurate understanding of their Target Markets when they do not. Then they assume presume and conclude they understand the Value Proposition as seen from their Clients’ perspectives when they do not. Almost everything they do after that is a waste of time, effort, and money.
We must start by putting ourselves in our Clients’ shoes…and we must not free our feet from those shoes until we have finished the strategic-thinking process…and, of course, all of the implementation and tactics, the testing and measuring, and the feedback.