Accelerating Growth Through Better Sales & Marketing Decisions

Increase Your Sales by Avoiding the Major Sales Botches

Even the very best sales professionals make selling mistakes from time to time.  As CEO and President of Sales, I admit that I bungle things now and again. So, does my sales team, just only once in a while. There are many reasons for bungling, such as:

• Managing internal day-to-day issues.  Employees count on me so I need to be available to them whenever necessary. 
• Putting out current client fires.  Some clients have valid problems, others just like to complain, so evaluating the differences takes time. 
• Working under pressure to land that next big account.  That often takes away from working on the smaller accounts that might add more continuity to the bottom line. 
• Dealing with cash flow issues.  Even the largest companies face this challenge. 
• Facing personal problems, which everybody experiences.  Finances, relationships, health – the list is often long. 

But, think about this.  Do those reasons simply become excuses for not following successful sales basics? Maybe we have to lean on our sales and marketing basics – like we did on our ABCs or 123s. If not, we will probably blunder, which means lost sales, and maybe even our entire business.

We’ve all read articles about sales blunders, but I would like to direct you to one, which I believe, can provide you significant insight into the major sales and marketing mistakes, along with great solutions to overcoming these blunders. 

Authored by Kelley Robertson, and titled “The Top 7 Sales Blunders” you can review at SalesDog.com

According to Robertson, The Top 7 Sales Blunders are:

# 1: Allowing a prospect to lead the sales process.

# 2: Not completing pre-meeting research.

# 3: Talking too much.

# 4: Giving the prospect information that is irrelevant.

# 5: Not being prepared.

# 6: Neglecting to ask for the sale.

# 7: Failing to prospect.

For more details and his solutions, spend some time reading the article I referred to above. 

If we would remember these basics every day before approaching our current clients and pending prospects, we would likely avoid mistakes and increase our sales.  

 

Tackle B2B Marketing Challenges in 2012

Today’s B2B buyers have an abundance of product information at their fingertips and they tend to research their purchasing decisions well before they contact your sales department or reps.  So, with that fact in mind, you must be ahead of the game by optimizing your sales and marketing effectiveness. Items like identifying your channels and filling your pipelines, scoring leads before sending to sales, establishing a process for nurturing leads, and so on.   

For advice on how to convert B2B marketing concerns and challenges into revenue, you should consider MarketingSherpa’s 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report. They surveyed 1,745 marketers on their most effective B2B marketing tactics and saw up to a 50% decline in their overall marketing effectiveness from the previous year.

This report indicates that despite current challenges, B2B marketers are still not optimizing their sales and marketing channels:

• 68 % haven’t identified or optimized their sales and marketing funnels
• 61 % still simply send leads, even non-qualified ones, directly to sales
• 79 % haven’t established a lead scoring process
• 65 % don’t nurture and grow their leads

The last few years have not been easy for most sales and marketing professionals, and I doubt that 2012 will be any easier. What might make things better is to be more effective in your sales and marketing strategies and processes. 

In that vein, I invite you to visit our Sales & Marketing Effectiveness Blog at http://infogrow.typepad.com/  for ideas and advice on how to accelerate your B2B growth and grow profits in 2012.

Looking to Grow Sales?

Who isn’t? 

According to RAIN Group, “76% of leaders at small and medium size businesses cited sales growth as their greatest challenge in 2011.” 

That’s a huge percentage!

RAIN Group’s Entrepreneurial Selling program will provide the needed solutions to enable you to grow sales and your business. Their program focuses on entrepreneurs and growing businesses plus promises to be as huge as the number of companies they will help. 

In addition, this program’s faculty is comprised of some of the best sales and marketing experts in the country. 

• Jill Konrath / Chief Sales Officer of Selling to Big Companies

• John Jantsch Creator of Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network;

• Peter Ostrow / Research Director for the Sales Effectiveness practice at the Aberdeen Group

• Brian Halligan / CEO and Founder of HubSpot

• Plus RAIN Group leaders Mike Schultz and John Doerr, along with many other sales and marketing pros. 

Anybody who wants to grow sales and business – and who doesn’t? – should check out the Entrepreneurial Selling program!

Marketing Must Master Its Own Technology

Not long ago, marketers just marketed, which is the backbone of any business.  They were responsible for advertising, content, branding, targeting, direct mail, positioning, lead generation and so on.  All the programs that make customers and prospects not only aware of their products and services, but keep a company at the top of consumer minds, and grow a successful business.

Usually marketers had to turn to IT to implement the technology for managing these efforts, but they had to wait in line for a solution.  Marketers are expert at marketing, not dealing with technology.  But times are changing and smart marketers now need a person on their team with technical savvy.  With new technology such as web analytics, CRM, marketing automation, SEO auditing, (and more) marketers need to master their own technology.  They need a marketing technologist who can bridge the gap between marketing and IT.  This is beneficial to both sides and, obviously, the entire company.

There is a very insightful article that addresses the above issues.  Titled, Rise Of The Marketing Technologist, it will provide you with some valuable information about marketing technology.  Authored by Scott Brinker, President & CTO of ion interactive, he offers three reasons why marketing must increasingly step up to lead its own technological destiny.

1. The first reason is clockspeed.  The pace at which new marketing initiatives must be conceived, tested and tweaked is blazingly fast.  Agile marketing – which is actually derived from agile software development practices – is gaining popularity as a way to manage this accelerated operational tempo.  But since marketing is now dependent on technical capabilities for many of its efforts, bargaining for and scheduling resources from a completely different department quickly becomes the bottleneck to agility.
   
   
2. The second reason, closely related is budget.  IT naturally wants to control its costs.  Marketing is cost-conscious too, but may prioritize technology investments different than IT.  In pursuit of its objectives, marketing should be free to allocate its budget to technology – as interchangeably as spending it on media, headcount or agencies.  But someone on the marketing team needs the skills to manage such tech investments.
   
   
3. The third reason, perhaps most important, is that the technology itself is arguably now a creative medium.  For instance, say you’re using a marketing automation system to drive a drip-marketing email campaign.  Knowing what the system is capable of and how to actually implement it – such as dynamically substituting content based on behavioral profiles- expands your creative canvas.

Aside from those three reasons, he discusses the role of the marketing technologist, views and ideas on why it is important for marketing to step up their role in technology.

When Buyers Don’t Buy – Taking a Look from the Buyer’s Side

You thought you were doing everything right, but you didn’t close the deal.  Why?  What did you do wrong? 

In a special report, RAIN Group asked more than 200 buyers what problems they encountered during the sales process.  According to their respondents’ answers, they found many sellers are making pricey sales mistakes.  Mistakes which are losing them new business.

Consider this result -- 80% of buyers say they experience at least one major problem during the purchasing process.

Obviously, that one problem might turn the buyer away.  So, what are the most common problems that buyers reported and overall percentage rate results?

- Did not listen to me – 38%
- Did not understand my needs – 30%
- Did not respond to my request in a timely manner – 30%
- Talked too much – 25%
- No personal chemistry with me – 25%
- Did not convince me of the value I might receive – 24%
- Did not craft a compelling solution to my needs – 22%

For the complete report, great tips on seeing your buyers’ point of view and advice on how to close more deals, RAIN Group offers this free Ebook, Sales Mistakes that Turn Buyers Away.

And, while you’re at it, take some extra time and review RAIN Group’s entire website, resources and blog for more great information and advice.

The Power of Dynamics CRM and Bing Maps

Mapping is changing the game in CRM.  In fact, it is putting companies ahead of the game. 

In a recent blog article by John O'Donnell, titled Integrating Mapping with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, John describes the combination of mapping and CRM as “It is the latest source of innovation adding value to the already value-stuffed Dynamics CRM 2011.”
 
In the article, he provides some great examples of how integrating mapping with CRM data will provide your business with the ability of getting ahead of the game. Some article highlights are:

How many customers are in a particular area?
Let’s say you are travelling to location X and want to also visit customers in a radius of say 10 miles of that location. If you have geocoded all of your customer addresses you can easily work out all of the customers nearby and visit then.

Display all of your customers on a map
Couldn’t be simpler, display a map of the USA for example and plot a point for every one of your customers. You might be surprised that you have not targeted companies in a particular area for example. Sure you could look at the data directly but displaying on a map makes it so much more visible.

Who is the nearest sales guy?
Perhaps you can use your CRM system to track your sales people in real time as they travel about the country. With a simple service on their phones they could be transmitting their position every 15 minutes or so. With that data you could respond when a new lead comes in and have the nearest sales guy reach out and perhaps visit in the same day.

Marketing
In a real world example I deployed CRM to an organization that did a huge amount of direct mail each month at significant expense. Using geocoding and mapping I was able to display not only a map showing all the addresses they targeted but also overlay demographic data such as income per capita showing they were targeting area where they had little chance of closing business and also missing areas which could be potentially lucrative. This was definitely one of those moments I wish I had a camera to record the reaction when the head of marketing saw his data presented in this way.

Well, John, I also wish you had a camera in that instance. I’ve seen similar reactions from marketing VPs and CEOs when I’ve presented their data via mapping. 

With everyone looking for new business, how does your company stay ahead of the game?

Top Marketing Advice, 10 Best Marketing Tips, Great Sales & Marketing Ideas - And similar titles go on and on and… on again

How many times have we all read something akin to the above titles? Yeah, yeah, yeah…like I want to read another bunch of the same thing.

Well, I don’t. But sometimes a person does offer improved ideas, tips, advice that can truly help companies achieve better sales & marketing results.

And Jim Connolly, does that with his post, titled Top Marketing Tips! Okay, okay … he should have changed the title, but his tips run way beyond the same old, same old.
 
Here are some highlights from his post, but log onto the entire post for his full information:

1. Throw that old marketing guide in the bin!
   If you want to avoid wasting stacks of money and missing countless sales opportunities, throw your old marketing guides and audio programs in the recycling bin!
   
   
2. Email marketing – start using email marketing NOW!
   It’s a fact; email marketing is extremely cost effective and perhaps the single most powerful marketing tool available to small businesses. This is because it provides predictable results and costs little or nothing to use!
   
   
3. Build a well-connected network
   One of the biggest myths in business is that you must have a large network if you want to succeed. The reality is that the size of your network is not what’s important. It’s the influence of the people within your network that counts!
   
   
4. Internet marketing – start taking your website seriously!
   Most small businesses are unaware that they could receive stacks of high quality enquiries, leads, phone calls and sales from interested prospective clients; if only they had a professionally designed website that has been search engine optimised by a proven SEO expert.
   
   
5. Match your fees to your promises!
   You cannot promise the marketplace a high quality service and yet charge a bargain-basement fee! If you do, you will send people a mixed-message and it will lose you business every time.
   
   
6. Use ‘attraction marketing’ and not pursuit marketing
   I am sure you will have noticed what happens whenever a beautiful woman or a handsome man walks into a crowded room or a bar? People look at them.  In fact, some people will actually walk over to them and offer them a drink or strike up a conversation with them.  The reason we call these kind of physically striking people ‘attractive‘ is that they literally attract the attention and also the interest of other people.
   
   So, you might be wondering at this point, what this has to do with you and your marketing?   The most successfully marketed businesses gain the attention and interest of potential clients by making themselves attractive.
   
   Most businesses get it the wrong way around. They choose to ‘pursue’ new clients and even though people are not responding to their letters, emails or calls; they just keep on grinding away regardless
   
   
7. Do some competitor research
   It’s impossible to effectively sell or market your services unless you have researched your competitors. You need to know what offers, guarantees, prices or fees you are selling against, in order to make YOUR offering the most attractive to potential clients.
   
   
8. Joint Ventures
   Sometimes known as a J.V, a Joint Venture is where you and another business or person get together to (usually) cross-market your services. The key to Joint Venture success, is to find someone credible, who offers a non-conflicting product or service to the exact same profile of person or business as you do.
   
   
9. Endorsed Relationships
   An endorsed relationship is similar to a joint venture – BUT with one BIG and POWERFUL difference! The person you do the venture with actually gives you their professional or personal endorsement. This is marketing gold dust!
   
   
10. Don’t mistake movement for progress!
    I have worked with thousands of businesspeople and found something amazing! The owners of under- performing businesses almost always work just as hard, and sometimes even harder, than the owners of successful ones! At first glance, this doesn’t seem to make sense – until you dig a little deeper and realize that the reason their hard work is getting them nowhere, is that they mistake MOVEMENT for PROGRESS.

Jim offers some valuable advice here that will help you grow your business! What about adding a few of your own tips? 

From Sales to Marketing – Let’s Talk

There are tons of articles, white papers, expert opinions, books, and what else, dating back to probably three plus decades, on the constant rift between sales and marketing. 

This has been a never-ending conflict, with few valuable solutions.  No side wants to stop fighting this war, though both their efforts are self-defeating. 

For some helpful advice on this issue and great suggestions on how to possibly end the battle, I suggest you read “An Open Letter from Sales to Marketing”, by Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer of Selling to Big Companies.

All sales and marketing professionals should take some time out to review this article, if you have not done so already. I believe it provides innovative ideas on how to align both of your needs. 

Boost Your Business with 3 Thought-Provoking Questions

Well, you have to come up with the answers to those questions, and put them into action, but if you do, there is every chance that you will increase your sales, customer loyalty, return on marketing investment, and …as the title says, Boost Your Business. 

Jim Connolly’s blog, titled Jim’s marketing Blog, Marketing Ideas for small & medium sized businesses, has some fantastic content. Though billed as a source for small to medium businesses, I find that his suggestions would work for all size businesses.  So, yes, big business should log onto his site and maybe learn a few lessons. 

Following are some excerpts from his recent post, Give your business an immediate boost with these 3 great questions.

1. What was the last service you recommended to someone and what motivated you to recommend it?
   
   
2. Who was the last person to leave an extremely positive impression on you, and what was it that impressed you?
   
   
3. What was the last website or blog you shared with your social network, and why did you share it?

Review the entire post for more links and good advice.

As Jim states, “Those 3 questions are typical of the kind of questions we need to be asking ourselves all the time.”  And, as he asks last, “What would you add as a 4th question?”  That would be interesting to know from all of his readers and my readers.   

Combine CRM and Email Marketing to Grow Your Business

Taken separately, CRM and Email Marketing are each vital marketing tools.  But, when tied together, they create a powerful sales and marketing tool that provides an integrated, cost-effective approach for maintaining customer loyalty and generating new sales leads. 

There is an excellent, you-don’t-want-to-miss post on the Business Black Belt blog, titled How CRM and Email Marketing Can Help Grow Your Small Business which covers some of the most significant benefits that result from combining these two important tools.  Although, the title refers to “small business”, I believe the article is applicable to any size business.

Some of the most important benefits cited are:

• Helps Keep Track Of Leads And Customers – A growing business has a large number of new leads, as well as current and past customers. Often, Excel and paper-based solutions are difficult to manage and it’s easy to let opportunities and contacts slip through the cracks. A CRM system allows the user to keep track of this information in an organized and proactive manner. Integrate your email marketing system for even better results.
  
  
• Convert Leads To Customers – A CRM system when used properly will help ensure that every lead is properly moved through the sales funnel. From first contact to the sale and beyond, a CRM system will optimize a business’ established sales processes. Most systems can be customized to fit the specific needs of a business.
  
  
• Build Customer Loyalty – The often-cited statistic is that it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. CRM and email marketing systems help to build loyalty by staying in constant contact with prospects, customers, and other key stakeholders.
  
  
• Keep Customers Up-To-Date For Top-Of-Mind Awareness – With many companies competing for the same customer, it is important that it is your company or your brand that has top-of-mind awareness. New offers and important news are two items that companies can use to generate more awareness and increase sales. CRM and email marketing done right will improve brand awareness by keeping customers updated when the information can be most valuable.
  
  
• Cross-Sell And Up-Sell – Every customer has the potential to buy more of the same product or buy another product you sell. CRM and email marketing solutions help to identify and act on cross-selling and up-selling opportunities to increase your revenues.

For those of you who already have a CRM system but are considering adding an email marketing system, I hope this helps.  For those of you who have neither I hope this also helps. 

Last, but not least, for those of you who are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, I invite you to review CRM2Emails. http://www.infogrowcorp.com/Services/Email+Marketing/default.aspx

Predictions and Certainties for Customer Loyalty Marketing in 2011

Given the unstable economy, along with the increasing depth of customer choices and power, plus the multitude of avenues available for customers to wield their clout, it has never been more critical that marketing focuses on customer loyalty.

An article posted on Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog, by Mark Klein, founder and CEO of Loyalty Builders, provides some great insight on getting closer to your customers over the next year.

Following are a few excerpts from the article:

- More companies will shift a significant percentage of their marketing budget from acquisition to existing customer marketing as customer retention comes closer to customer acquisition as marketers' number one goal.

- Price competition on the Internet will increase the number of often-unprofitable one-time buyers in the active files of many companies, from the current average of 42 percent to 46 percent next year. However, more marketers will recognize that capturing that critical second sale is a significant, actionable revenue opportunity.

- Senior management will put greater pressure on marketers to increase the performance of their campaigns. The first relief valve will be more automation of routine marketing tasks…

For the complete article on how marketers will, or can, impact customer loyalty this year, read more at http://www.1to1media.com/weblog/2011/01/guest_blogger_mark_klein_custo.html.

 

 

Forecasting B2B Sales and Marketing Strategies for 2011

Sales and marketing strategies and ideas, in both the B2B and B2C world, are constantly transforming and the pace is rapid.

Everyone involved in the B2B world understands that extended sales cycles, along with extensive products and services, unquestionably distinguishes their marketing strategies and tactics from the B2C world.  There are two types of customers which mean two distinctive types of sales and marketing needs. 

According to an article titled, B2B Sales and Marketing Predictions for 2011, in the 1to1 Blog by Elizabeth Glagowski, there five distinct strategies that will dominate the B2B sales and marketing world in 2011. Following are highlights of her article:

1. Internet Fueled Buying Cycles on the Rise - B2B prospects are taking charge of the buying cycle using online content to drive research, comparisons, and purchase decisions.
   
   
2. The Death of a Salesman? With more information at the ready for buyers, sales professionals are being invited later in the buying cycle, often coming after key decisions have already been made.
   
   
3. It's Only a Matter of Trust - A company's online presence will play a larger role as a passive player in the sales cycle.
   
   
4. Overcome Information Overload - Significant investments in better content, targeting, and personalization will be made in 2011…
   
   
5. Fight Frugalnomics - Today, B2B buyers are focused more than ever on what solutions are available to enable "doing-more-with-less," driving savings and realizing quantifiable bottom-line impact.

For more on each of these five predictions, make sure to read the full article at: http://www.1to1media.com/weblog/2010/12/b2b_sales_and_marketing_predic.html#more

As Elizabeth asked, I also ask, what do you think about these, or other issues that B2B sales and marketing professionals will be facing in the 2011, or even beyond?

 

Can You Identify Your Perfect Client?

It’s been said time and again that not all customers are created equal. 

The sad truth is, regardless of your need for new customers (and the almighty dollar), some clients just aren’t good for your company.  Some may sap your profits, curtail your growth – in fact, may even put you out of business. 

So, how do you go about painting an accurate picture of your model client, then creating a marketing plan that will draw more of them to your company?  

You could start by reading this excellent article, How to Discover and Attract More of Your Ideal Client, by John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing. 

In this article, John provides some valuable steps for helping you identify your ideal client and using that information to build a marketing plan to attract more of them.  Following are some highlights of his suggested steps:

Profitable First
If you can, create a spreadsheet of your clients and focus on the amount and type of business you do with each.  Now, carefully comb through the list with an eye on profit. Which are your most profitable clients? Are there entire types of work or types of clients that traditionally produce unprofitable sales? The key is to understand the most profitable work.

Now Add Referrals
Now let’s divide that list again. From the profitable work identify clients that are known referral sources. Here’s what I’ve found to be true. Only happy clients refer and happy clients are most often found because you or your approach is a good match for what they needed.

Demographics are Outbound
From your group above it’s time to start looking at the physical characteristics that are known about your ideal client group. You’re looking for any common characteristics that are shared.

Behavior is Inbound
The secret to attracting, as opposed to hunting, your ideal client is to understand what makes them tick, what triggers them to go looking for someone like you, and what behavior they typically exhibit that might act as another marker for you to focus on.

The Biographical Sketch
Finally, once you are able to pull together profit, propensity to refer, demographics and behavioral markers, you have the making of what I refer to as the ideal client biographical sketch. The idea here is that you create a picture of your ideal client through the use of words and images that is so rich, just about anyone could conjure up a vision of such a client.

I would suggest to, then, take another important step – carry out his advice!

In addition, I’d like to point you to one of my older blog posts, What Every Marketer Must Know About Their Best Customers, which will provide more information about defining your best customers and prospects.

The trick is not to hunt, but to get hunted. 

 

The C-Suite Needs More Marketing Education

Why?  You might be thinking the C-Suite knows it all.  Isn’t that why they are supposedly in charge of sales, marketing and everything else?  So, why would any of them need more marketing know-how? 

Consider this: Maybe, they didn’t receive a good marketing education. Maybe they base their beliefs on antiquated marketing strategies. Maybe they believe that sales is all that is needed…

But regardless of their beliefs or education, some marketing myths do die hard… and they should not be reincarnated. 

You, as a good marketer, work hard at educating your customers about your products, services and company.  But, in order to obtain the budget to gain and keep your customers – you need to educate your management team.

How to do that?  Begin by reading the following article, 5 Marketing Myths The C-Suite Still Believes Because We Let Them, written by Rob Rose who is Chief Troublemaker of Big Blue Moose, then send to your management team.

Rob aptly states, “As much attention as we’re paying to new platforms like Search, Mobile and Social Media, and to conversing more effectively with our customers and prospects – it would seem we’re still not getting through to those who still feel like marketing is “a boat that I pour money into on the hopes that I’ll eventually get to use it” (an actual quote from a CEO).

(I say that comment is scary indeed, and comes from a CEO who definitely needs some intense marketing education!)

But, let’s get to the real highlights of Rob’s article, which should help you educate your management people:

5 Marketing Myths

Over the last month, I’ve had the pleasure to visit with more than 10 client companies.  They range in size from a five-person startup, to a mid-sized non-profit to a billion dollar global corporation.   And a fascinating trend emerged during those visits. For all the progress we’ve made as digital marketers, The C-Suite in organizations of all sizes, still has some die-hard beliefs about marketing that need busting.

Here are five of them in no particular order…

1. Sales & Salespeople Should Be Separated From The Marketing Process
   This is still common. And it’s still amazing to me when an organization’s management separates the sales team from the marketing process. In many organizations there is still an “Us vs. Them” mentality – where once the ‘formal handoff’ of the customer takes place, – neither side pays attention any more.
   
   
2. Marketing Results & Budgets Are Linearly Related
   This one is going to be tough to shake. We’ve become so focused on making digital marketing a “science” with analytics and measurability – that its now viewed as such by some CEO’s and CFO’s. We’ve got to start communicating that a 10% reduction in marketing does not necessarily mean a mere 10% reduction in success metrics (leads, customers, page-views etc.)
   
   
3. Marketing = Advertising
   It’s amazing that this one still persists with so much emphasis on conversation, engagement and content on the marketing process. But it’s still out there. There are CEO’s and (especially) CFO’s out there that still view marketing as “money for media buys”. The reality, as we all know, is that the role of marketing is expanding.
   
   
4. Since Digital Marketing Is So Fast – Results Should Come Just As Fast
   This one is directly connected to #3 above – and is also a tough one to shake. These days, we can be so quick with results on experiments ranging from search marketing, optimizing content, polls and other direct feedback – that somehow the expectation has emerged that results should come just as fast. I visited one organization where the marketing budget was increased in August, and linear results were expected for September (see #2 above).
   
   
5. If We Can’t Quantify The Results – We Shouldn’t Do It
   This is where analytics has the potential to become what I call WMD - or a weapon of mass delusion. In some cases our C-Level managers are expecting every graph to continually go up and to the right. Any deviation from that sets us up for the sideways glance, the uncomfortable meeting, the reduced budget and more questions (see #2 above).

As Rob summarizes, “it is up to us to work as hard on our internal communication and marketing strategy, as it is on our customer facing one. Otherwise, we’ll perpetuate that most famous of all marketing myths…Everybody’s got two jobs… theirs…and marketing.”

Thinking Outside of the Email In-Box

Would you like some great secrets for revving up your email campaign performance? 

Of course, you do!  Who wouldn’t?

You can’t miss this article, Seven Secrets to Increasing Email Marketing Performance published in 1to1 Magazine.

It begins with this … Email marketing success takes more than a clean mail list and responsibly processing opt-ins. Those are simply table stakes to being a serious email marketer. To achieve standout success with email campaigns today means thinking outside the inbox. Consider these seven strategies…

Well, you need to go to and read this great article to learn all about the Seven Secrets and 1to1 Media by following the above links. 

Also, you can learn more about how to use email to enhance customer loyalty and lead generation by visiting CRM2Emails at http://www.infogrowcorp.com/Services/Email+Marketing/default.aspx.

Could Sunday Be the Best Day for Email Marketing?

According to this great post on Marketo’s Modern B2B Marketing Blog, it might be Sunday! Following is a brief summary of the article.

An AOL survey in 2008 found that 62% of people check work email on the weekends. As reported on MarketingVox, the Pew Research Center for Internet and American Life project found that half of workers reported checking work email from home and two thirds do work related research from home.

A few excerpts from this fantastic post by Caroline Ruggiero…

“I know that I personally do not wait for Monday morning to receive a flood of emails when I get into the office. I’ll admit it, I check work email on Sundays and I enjoy it.”

“I enjoy unplugging on the weekends mentally from work so I can come back on Monday refreshed. But for me, it’s also a time to catch up on newsletters, lower priority messages, and feeds without the distraction of, well, work.  I am absolutely more open to reading marketing messages in this quieter, more relaxed setting.”

Have you found a best day for email marketing?  If, so please let us know what you’ve found to be the best day.

GET HUNTED

For decades, we’ve hired sales reps to be hunters instead of farmers. We’ve even coveted our neighbors’ (competitors) hunters. Perhaps this recession, along with more effective gate-keepers, (receptionist and voice mail), and the “Walmartization” of buyers, shows us that hunting has become too tough and expensive. 

Today our hunters are having a harder time opening doors. Middle managers have disappeared and “C” level executives are too busy running from meeting to meeting, since they have fewer middle managers to sit down with our hunters.  Our sales reps – our hunters - are not getting a shot at engaging a decision-maker in a solution selling approach.

Maybe we need a different approach. GET HUNTED!

How?  Marketing needs to pay more attention to being hunted by ready buyers.  Yes, it might not have the same long term value as nurturing a prospect along. Then again…how many of our nurturing efforts have not played out the way we hope when our prospect leaves, or the company is sold?

Being hunted means that we position our www site and direct marketing efforts to be found, easily. It means working harder to make our target markets even tighter for finding those who are ready to buy.  Our marketing message and value proposition must be simpler and clear with a strong call to action for our targeted buyer.  Our www site must become a lead generation engine where our SEO is more effective than ever.  Most importantly, our lead follow-up must be unmatched in our sector.  As marketers, we must get our hunters hunted. 

Your thoughts . . . 

Hosted Services Provide Better Financial Performance

The Microsoft SMB IT and Hosted IT Index 2010 research report indicates that small and midsize businesses (SMBs) that use hosted services performed better fiscally than those that do not.

The study was conducted between 2009 and January 2010 and questioned 3,193 small and midsize businesses (up to 500 employees) across 15 countries worldwide.

The results found that more than 40 percent of the respondents that use hosted or cloud technology reported revenue rises of 30 percent or more compared with 90 percent of respondents not using hosted technology that saw decreases in revenue.

The advantages of hosted or cloud technology are viewed as reduced cost and IT management and maintenance, as well as increased business value, productivity and competitiveness.

Awareness of hosted services is increasing with 65 percent of SMBs using hosted software to some extent, while 73 percent of the remainder have considered it, compared with only 44 percent in the 2008 Index.

“Over the last five years, we have seen nearly 40 percent growth in usage of hosted services,” said Michael Korbacher, director of EMEA Software plus Services in the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “Using pay-as-you-go cloud technologies, small and midsize businesses can now afford and easily have access to enterprise-class, secure services across any platform.”

“Our assessment of the report tells us that an increased focus on IT correlates with good performance in all of the size categories surveyed,” said Dale Vile, research director of Freeform Dynamics. “This whole picture corroborates the notion that technology and hosted services can provide tangible business advantage, even for smaller companies, and it’s not surprising to see that investment in IT and hosting goes hand in hand with good financial performance.”

What are the Benefits to Sales & Marketing?

The biggest benefit is that you are sharing and accessing vital information with all your sales and marketing teams, instead of it all residing on your separate desktops.  That means:

• Sales & Marketing on the same page, sharing the same information all the time
  
  
• Enhanced company image and customer loyalty
  
  
• Reduced costs and increased revenue and ROI

Bottom line is: You get to concentrate on your core competencies, and increase your sales and marketing effectiveness.    Read more about hosted services.

 

Reasons to Contact Web Leads Within 5 Minutes

A business partner, David Svigel, Senior Consultant at MAARK Cleveland, pointed me to an interesting study that shows why web leads should be responded to ASAP. 

This study indicates that the odds of contacting a web lead by phone within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drops 100 times. The odds of qualifying a lead if called within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drops 21 times.
The study also provides data suggesting the best follow-up trends by days and time of day. However, possibly the most interesting point in the study, was that additional follow-up attempts after 20 hours may actually hurt your ability to make contact to qualify a lead.

Thank you, Insidesales.com/MIT for an interesting and thought provoking study.  The nine page study summary is worth the attention of anyone with a web lead form on your web site.

Learn More

 

 

Will Sales and Marketing Ever Get On the Same Page?

According to a recent article in the American Marketing Association’s publication, Marketing News, experts say complete alignment is unlikely, but point out that key objectives are imperative
Those objectives include:

• Determining and agreeing on what constitutes a qualified lead
• Defining the responsibilities of sales and marketing to one and other
• Collaborating on setting goals and building a consensus on key metrics
• Creating a system for marketing and sales to share customer data and leads’ progress

My opinion is that Marketing should be taking the lead – they drive lead development and customer loyalty.  and every company should keep striving to align their sales and marketing teams.  See previous blog post.

But, when all is said and done, the article states that probably the most important step is:
Don’t dwell on the differences between marketers and salespeople; instead, celebrate
the similarities.

Marketers and salespeople play different but complementary roles to accomplish shared objectives: attracting and retaining customers, says Lisa Dennis, president of Knowledgence Associates, a Cambridge, Mass.-based marketing, sales and customer service consulting firm with clients such as Mutual of Omaha and Unica. Dennis also is board president of the Boston chapter of the Sales and Marketing Executives International association.

With every customer interaction, sales reps are marketing the brand. Therefore, you want your sales team to feel a sense of ownership over the brand message they’re conveying, Dennis says, so get buy-in from your sales team before launching a new campaign. And as a marketer, you should be well-versed in your company’s sales process, so spend time in the field familiarizing yourself with what customers want and what sales reps need to get the job done. “As a marketer not knowing how sales works, I’ve got one arm tied behind my back,” Dennis says. “Your first customer is your sales team, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. If I give them what they need, they’ll do well and I’ll do well, and we’ll both get closer to the customer.”  Read Lisa's previous guest article, Cure “Deal-Blindness” by Applying a Territory or Account Map

I invite you readers to let me know what you think?  What are the chances of sales and marketing ever getting on same page? 

Wisdom from Marketers for Marketers

Once again, I must point out that nothing beats getting solid, down-to-earth advice from successful real-life marketers.  Well, except, maybe getting it for free!

Earlier this year, Marketing Sherpa released their 7th annual “Wisdom Report”, so if you haven’t heard about it yet, check it out and download it now. Their Marketing Wisdom for 2009 is packed full of real life stories, lessons learned and tips gathered from 101 marketers for marketers. 

The topics include email, search engine, B2B, lead generation, direct mail, metrics, customer service issues, and much more. 

You definitely don’t want to pass this up.  Plus, you don’t want to pass up logging onto the MarketingSherpa site at least once a week to review their marketing case studies, research, surveys, and access to free reports.  If you’re in the market for some great marketing advice and ideas, this is the place to go. 

Marketers Take Wrong Route to Revenue Opportunities

It appears that lack of existing customer insight and the tools to leverage that insight is creating a revenue roadblock for many marketers. 

Despite the critical need to leverage current customer knowledge, especially during this recessionary period, many marketers are throwing up their own obstacles to reaching solid, ready-and-waiting opportunities. 

Instead of concentrating on and maximizing their existing customer potential, too many marketers are spending their limited resources on acquiring new customers, while allowing their existing customers to fall by the roadside.  What a huge waste. 

According to a recent study titled, “Routes to Revenue”, conducted by the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO), and based on a survey of more than 650 senior marketers, an astounding 75.9% of these senior marketers believe they are not realizing the full revenue potential of their current customers.  Only 46.5% of the surveyed marketers feel they have good insights (note, not excellent) into retention rates, customer profitability and lifetime value. 

Additional study findings include:

• 22.3% lack real-time data and analytics from across all customer touch points

• 21% say that selectively gathered information is inaccurate or incomplete

• 15.5% cite problems with data silos and restrictions in availability and use across the organization

Marketers were also asked what strategies they are using to realize greater revenue and profitability from existing customers.  Top responses were:

• 60.1% - becoming more personalized, relevant and precise in customer communication

• 44.5%  - finding new ways to cross-sell or up-sell current accounts

• 41.0% -  addressing under-penetrated markets or new customer segments

• 32.20% - using more efficient channels or alternative media to engage customers

“Many marketers, and in most cases, the larger organizations, don't have the insight into their customer data to be able to determine what the opportunities are The constrained environment we have today will force marketers to do more analysis, get more data, get more insight and intelligence into their customers, and map strategies to up-sell, cross-sell, partner and be more inventive in the ways they engage with existing customers,” noted Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of the CMO Council. 

Neale-May said there are three core areas marketers should be focusing on to improve their overall performance: customer insight, customer experience and customer advocacy.

“That is all about retention marketing and more individual retention management,” he said. “Most creative groups tend to see value in external programs, rather than looking at the customers they already have, the cost of acquiring customers, the value of the deal and whether they are targeting customers that are most predisposed toward the company or brand.

“These do not all require outside media or marketing dollars. They require much more drilling and integrating with the customer database and sales organizations.”

So, are you leveraging existing customer insight to maximize your revenue potential?
If not, then why not?

If you want some guidance on these issues, then take a few minutes to review the following. I am sure it will help. Download Sales & Marketing Effectiveness Overview 

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Still Flying Blind in 2009?

The new year is already tick-tocking away. You, now have only 11 months to identity and solve your biggest sales and marketing challenges.  

How well you leverage, integrate, share and view your customer data, marketing analysis and resulting reports will likely predict your company’s position in the marketplace at the end of 2009 and into well into 2010. 

Are you equipped with the right tools, customer intelligence and focus to succeed?   

If you can’t definitely say “Yes!”, then I suggest that you review the following: MARKETERS ARE FLYING BLIND WHEN IT COMES TO LEVERAGING CUSTOMER DATA AND ANALYTICS. Lack of Customer Data Sharing, Integration and Insight is Impacting Competitiveness, Retention Rates, Revenue and Profitability.

Next, check out The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council website at http://www.cmocouncil.org
and start tooling up with their free executive summary and/or full report, titled Business Gain From How You Retain.  This is an impressive study that surveyed more than 450 senior level marketers across the globe, with 72% being in North America. 

Although, the study was conducted and reported on several months back, I think it’s safe to say the issues and obstacles addressed remain a huge problem for companies of all sizes, in all industries, everywhere. The summary alone is extensive and packed full of value, while the full report provides significant ideas on how to succeed in 2009, 2010, 2011…you get the picture. 

Consider the following stats:

• The average company loses more than 10 percent of its customers each year.

• Acquiring new customers can cost five times more than satisfying and retaining current customers.

• A two percent increase in customer retention has the same effect on profits as cutting costs by 10 percent.

• Loyal customers are 15 times more likely to increase spend than high-risk, intermittent customers.

Then consider some of the study findings:

• Only 50 percent of global marketers report having a strategy for further penetrating or monetizing key account relationships

• A surprising 45 percent rate the effectiveness of customer relationship management (CRM) systems as deficient or needing more work

• Only 15 percent of companies rate themselves extremely good or effective at integrating disparate customer data sources and repositories.

• Just 50 percent report they have fair, little, or no knowledge of the customer.

• While more than 35 percent of respondents report that the CMO or marketing department (38.9 percent) has primary responsibility for the customer analytics function, they are not leveraging its value. Over 31 percent of those surveyed do no data mining at all and 63 percent are only doing moderate levels of data mining for intelligence and insight.

• Key initiatives to increase customer retention include improving customer communications (65.2 percent); addressing complaints, problems and pain points (51.8 percent); and enhancing the customer experience (54.8 percent). Unfortunately, fewer marketers noted their companies’ willingness to modify busin  ess practices and policies to accommodate customer need

According to the study:

The research demonstrates a disconnect between what marketers say they want to do and how well they are equipped to do it. For example, close to 50 percent of the respondents say they are improving customer retention by enhancing front-line customer service, while at the same time, only 55 percent report that their customer service and support teams have access to real-time customer data.

A fair number of survey participants (23 percent) say they’re able to acquire a sufficient amount of customer data but don’t have the ability to share the information, while 33 percent think that there is insufficient data as well as an inability to share.

Another way to put it is: If you don’t retain, you don’t gain.

Are you equipped to succeed in 2009?  What about 2010 and beyond?  Is your company still wearing blinders or are you flying with vision?

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Have You Wrapped Up That 2009 Marketing Plan?

If not, there is still time, but not much, to wrap it all up.  Keep in mind, there is no Santa coming to deliver a nice tightly wrapped marketing package outlining your plans for success in the coming year. 

If your 2009 plan is still on the table and you’re yet trying to determine effective strategies and dollars, I encourage you to peruse the following links to 2009 marketing trends, surveys, advice and predictions.  These resources could help you finalize an effective marketing plan for the coming year. You need a plan that puts you ahead of the pack next year…and years after. 

And, even for those of you who have finalized your 2009 marketing plans, you might find some valuable ideas that you could integrate into those plans. 

Changes to Marketing Spending and Strategy Coming in 2009
For some excellent insight on potential marketing budget and strategy changes coming in 2009, you must read this post on 1to1 Media’s blog – Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog .  This article provides the results of a survey of their readers and LinkedIn members on potential changes to their 2009 marketing budget and strategy.  The survey conducted by Ginger Conlon, Editor-in-Chief of Peppers & Rogers Group’s  1to1 Media, and article comments are a wealth of information that you can’t afford to miss.

How’s That 2009 Marketing Plan Coming?
Also, back in August, Ginger Conlon posted this article based on 10 trends offered by Richard Feldman, managing partner of Source Marketing that may impact marketing in 2009 and beyond. As Ginger stated, “Keeping tabs on trends can help”. 

Media Alert: ANA Reveals 2008 Annual Conference Polling Results
Check out the results of a poll conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) during their 2008 Annual “Masters of Marketing” Conference.  The 1200 attendees, including a mix of B-to-B and B-to-C marketers, were polled about their marketing mix, budgets, plans and tactics for growth in 2009.  Learning what other marketers are planning may help you with your 2009 marketing strategies. 

What won’t fly in that 2009 marketing plan
For some great suggestions and additional resources to help you solidify your 2009 marketing plan, read this post published on the Red on Marketing blog built by Business Communications Group.  The post covers several specific 2009 marketing strategy questions along with some good answers, ideas and additional marketing links/resources.  You don’t want to pass this by. 

Survey Says: Nearly 43 percent of healthcare marketers plan to spend more in 2009
Details of the survey were posted by Mac McIntosh, president of Mac McIntosh Incorporated, a sales and marketing consulting firm.  While the survey is centered on healthcare marketing, healthcare is a huge growing industry and a glimpse into what some healthcare marketers are planning and spending in 2009 could provide some great insight into marketing strategies for any industry. It’s a great read and may show you how to apply their strategies into your own.  Mac’s post also includes a one-question 2009 marketing budget survey which provides a comparison between 2008 and 2009 marketing budgets. 

Marketing Into The Storm: How The Recent Crisis Will Create New Opportunities 
This article by Mike Gospe, Co-Founder of KickStart Alliance puts forth three marketing truths that companies need to embrace and act upon in order to achieve success and excel in 2009.  Great advice for the coming year and all the time. 

Strategic Thinking 3.0 - A media forecast for 2009 
These 2009 media predictions offered by Nick Brien is president and CEO of Mediabrands provide some valuable opinions about marketing in 2009.  Although, this forecast seems to embrace advertising firms, it is valuable for all companies since many B-toB and B-to-C organizations use ad agencies for much of their marketing efforts.  Definitely worth your time. 

InfoGrow Corporation Website and Blog 
Last, but hopefully not least, is my company’s website and blog. I invite you to visit both sites and look over the solutions we provide to all companies everyday in order to help them achieve sales & marketing effectiveness.  Solutions that worked 20 years ago, will work in 2009 and in the future. 

I hope these links/resources are of value to your marketing efforts in 2009 and years after.

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year

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Some Industries Thrive During Hard Times

Good news!  There are those industries that actually grow during tough economic times, so opportunities still abound for your sales and marketing people. Just need to know where to look. 

I’m not sure any industry is what I would call recession-proof, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 72 industries that grew throughout the recessions of 1990, 2001 and, again, in 2007.  Based on the BLS statistics, these industries are the most likely ones to continue growth now and in the future. 

Among the industries that have typically thrived during recessions are:

• Healthcare
• DIY industry for hardware, supplies
• Debt management
• Consulting
• Energy

There are lots more and you can find a complete list at Career Hub.  You can also find more information on these recession-proof industries at BizChicksRule, Yahoo! HotJobs, Wikipedia, plus numerous other places. 

So, check out the links above and do your own search for other valuable lists.  No doubt, you will get some ideas on how to better focus your sales and marketing efforts, find new and better prospects, and most important, thrive also. 

As I stated in my last post, Hard Times Require Hard Work, a slow economy shouldn’t slow your marketing efforts. 

And, if you have an idea or suggestion of any other recession-proof type industries, add a comment and let us all know.  There is enough business for everybody, even during hard times.  We just need to know where to look and see the opportunities. 

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Driving Sales to Existing Customers Takes a Marketing Dive

According to a joint study by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and BtoB Magazine, the marketers’ role is evolving beyond their primary function of communications.  The survey, conducted in February and March by research firm Guideline, is a follow-up to a previous ANA survey, which found that 70% of marketing organizations have been reorganized in the last 3 years. 

In the newest survey, B-to-B marketers were asked which best described their pre and post organization functions.  Following is a summary of the results:

Marketing Communications
  -  62% pre
  - 47% post
Responsible for Strategy / Innovation
  - 14% pre
  - 24% post
Drive Sales to Existing Customers
  - 14% pre
  -  7% post
Direct New Business Development
  - 10% pre
  - 23% post

While it’s refreshing to see that B2B marketers might finally be recognized for making large contributions to business growth, I’m amazed that the role of B2B marketing in driving sales to existing customers was cut in half! Plus, this function in B2C marketing also took a 3% dive. It was equally surprising that neither ANA or BtoB mentioned this change while discussing the survey results. 

Have marketers forgotten that retaining and driving sales to existing customers is critical to business success?  If you’re not driving sales to existing customers and giving them a reason to stay with you, your competition will certainly give them a reason to leave. Customer retention, which includes cross-selling and up-selling propels profits.  Most surveys, across all industries, prove that keeping one existing customer is 5-7 times more profitable than acquiring one new customer.

So, why did this survey show that the marketing role in driving sales to existing customers was cut in half?  Does that mean companies don’t place a marketing emphasis on this function?  If marketing isn’t driving sales to existing customers, who is? 

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The Sorry State of Lead Management

Getting new leads is great, but turning them into lifetime customers is what counts.  The biggest challenge facing companies today is the art of turning prospects into lifelong customers and those customers into company advocates.  And, the first critical step in that process is how you manage your sales leads. 

Unfortunately, a recent study from the Sales Lead Management Association (SLMA)  shows that many companies are ignoring their sales lead management.  Their 2nd annual Sales Lead Management Study, conducted with 144 businesses in Southern California, revealed the following results:

• 68.8% don’t qualify leads before sending them to their sales teams
• 52.4% have no formal process for compiling sales forecast reports
• 82.8% don’t track ROI for lead generation investments
• 55% rated low satisfaction with their SFA/CRM system, at 5 or less on a 10-point scale
• 52.1% use no SFA/CRM system to track the lead process

If 52% are not using a CRM system, is anyone surprised by the survey results?  One would think that with all the CRM technology and sales lead management expertise available, that numbers like those above would be a thing of the past.  However, after all these years, it is still the norm and not the exception. 

Aren’t marketing efforts and dollars spent, whether it is direct mail, websites, trade shows, branding, or advertising, for the purpose of generating leads?  How much money do companies lose by not managing those leads?

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Trade Shows Remain a Marketing Priority

According to BtoB Magazine’s “2008 Marketing Priorities and Plans” survey of 213 B2B marketers, trade show marketing is slated for a 49.5% budget increase this year. 

In addition, CMO Council’s 2008 Marketing Outlook indicates that Event and Trade Show budgeting expenditures are among the top 5 areas of marketing allocations for 2008. 

Yes, trade shows are here to stay despite tough economic times. How can you successfully promote your trade show in a down economy? 

Francis J. Friedman in "Surviving A Down Economy - Take steps now to ready your show for what lies ahead" published in EXPO Magazine, provides some useful tips to consider.

TIPS FOR PROMOTING YOUR SHOW IN A DOWN ECONOMY

1. Write for the CFO
Many attendees need permission to attend a trade show. Your pre-show brochures need to be the sales tool that enables an attendee to visit your show. Pre-show promotions need to be written as if you are speaking directly to the CFO asking for travel money. Be specific and benefit oriented. Answer the question: What will I take home and put to work if I attend your show?

2. Showcase new as problem solving
People attend trade shows to see what’s new. In a down economy, new has to be re-cast as problem solving in pre-show brochure copy. By presenting new in the context of helping to solve problems, a trade show becomes more relevant to its industry and better able to justify CFO travel approval.

3. Engage exhibitors to promote the show
Most shows already encourage pre-show exhibitor promotion. In a down economy, however, this activity needs increased attention by show management. Exhibitor customer service reps should tout free pre-show promotion tools. Continuing exhibitor pre-show follow-up will be necessary to ensure these tools are actually implemented.

4. Engage the facility and the city
A fall-off in economic impact from a show hurts a city and a facility. Many facilities and cities can provide in-kind services to help organizers promote their show. These services can include attendee telemarketing, e-mail blasts, blogs, links from their Web sites to your show and CVB newsletters. Ask what they can do to help market your show

If trade shows are part of your marketing plans, this article is a priority read.      

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When Your ‘Nice’ Customer Fires You By Spending Elsewhere

• A customer who has had 1-2 bad experiences will tell up to 20 people
• A satisfied customer may tell 5 other people
• It costs 5 times more to attain a new customer than to keep one you already have
• Just 4% of your customers will bring a complaint to your attention, so for every complaint you hear about, there are probably dozens you haven’t heard about. 

My marketing support manager has been reading over older sales and marketing materials. I have to say, though she keeps abreast, she is not always agreeable with advancing sales and marketing technology.  She insists that, even with all the available current tools, nothing has truly changed in how sales, marketing, customer service, indeed, the entire company attains and keeps customers. 

Yes, she agrees, the tools can help, but without the major understanding of what constitutes a customer and their needs, why bother with the technology?  To her, understanding the customer is what sales, marketing, customer service; in fact, the whole company should be about. 

In her opinion, without customers and their loyalty, there would be no companies, no products, no CEOs, CFOs, COOs, VP Marketing, VP Sales, no newsletters, no blogs, no new products, no podcasts, no social networking, no webinars, no whatever they come up next with.  Without customers, there is nothing – companies simply don’t exist. 

In keeping with that, I’d like to introduce a short article, actually something she took from another source, and printed years ago in a company newsletter. 

The ‘Nice’ Customer Who Never Complains — and Never Comes Back!

You know me.  I’m a nice person.  When I get lousy service, I never complain.  I never kick.  I never criticize and I wouldn’t dream of making a scene. 

I’m one of those nice customers.  And I’ll tell you what else I am.  I’m the customer who doesn’t come back.

I take whatever you hand out, because I know I’m not coming back.  I could tell you off and feel better, but, in the long run, it’s better just to leave quietly. 
 
You see, a nice customer like me, multiplied by others like me, can bring a business to its knees.

There are plenty of us.  When we get pushed far enough, we go to one of your competitors.
Source-(Celin-o-gram, Celina Group, 1 Insurance Square, Celina, OH 45822 )      

How many “nice” customers do you have? 

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Does It Take a Recession Threat to Shape Up Marketing Efforts?

I keep reading articles, blog posts, and newsletters packed with advice for marketers on how to ride-out the recession, economic downturn, revenue slow-down, tough times, or whatever one decides to call this unsure economy. 

The following are all great marketing tips, but does it take the threat of a recession to shape up our marketing efforts?

• Stay in close touch with your current customers and make sure you know everything you can about these target accounts.
• Keep a good eye on your competitors.  Learn their strengths, weaknesses, long and short-term goals.
• Reactivate your old leads and tighten up communications to those leads you’ve been slowly nurturing.
• Prioritize your marketing budget. Decide what you must have, what would be nice to have, and what you can do without. 
• Motivate and reward your sales teams with programs and qualified leads that encourage them to excel.
• Target wisely.  Don’t waste precious time and resources on those not likely to buy; instead focus on your most profitable customers and prospects.
• Strengthen relationships with your existing customers and business partners.
• Segment your customer base and measure lifetime profitability value and overall sales.
• Don’t cut back on marketing and advertising because your competition is likely holding back now. You have the playing field.

This last one gives me hesitation, though I read this tip everywhere. I truly doubt that anybody’s competition is sitting on the sidelines right now, or ever. I would say to spend more wisely by focusing correctly and that will get you ahead in any times. 

I find it interesting reading all of the “how-to-market-in-a-recession advice,” but one BIG thought strikes me.  Actually, it makes me worry. Shouldn’t marketers be performing all of these activities regardless of economics?  Isn’t that just good marketing? 

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