Ah, February 1, 2008. We are already into month 2 of 1Q08 and fiscal year 2008. How many resolutions have already fallen by the wayside? You may be wondering where to start on improving things for 2008. Or you may be wondering how a month went by so fast and not much got done.
My goals for 2008 are to help 10 companies achieve their goals. To market myself to my prospects, I am speaking at and attending conferences; writing this and other blogs; publishing my book; interacting with prospects in online forums; and holding tele-seminars and webinars.
Speaking last night with a prospect, it is clear that many people want revenue, but want easy revenue to come in at a steady trickle. That's not how it works. It comes in waves, if at all.
Both sales and marketing require constant feeding or the funnel runs dry. Marketing is getting the attention of your target marketplace. It consists of Branding, PR (Public Relations which includes PR (press releases), Advertising, and Operations. That's right, Customer Care is as much about Marketing as Ads. Every touch by your organization to your marketplace is a chance to win or lose a chance. Even your truck with your logo driving on the highway, while advertising your business, could also be sending a bad message if the driver is a jerk. Every touch. And in a crowded space, it is difficult to get attention. The key is to spend your effort on the correct marketplace. That would be your targeted field of qualified prospects. What makes them qualified?
- They have a need for your service.
- They want to buy your service.
- They can afford your service.
Wanting it is more important than needing it. And being able to pay for it is even more important. But if they want it bad enough, they will find a way to buy it.
Guerrilla Marketing is one way to get attention in a non-traditional manner. Tactics may create buzz or WOM (word-of-mouth). WOM requires that you have an interesting story to tell that is easily repeatable. Not a paragraph out of a business book, but a concise, memorable story.
Affiliates, Referral agents, and Testimonials are all ways to get others talking about your company. However, Customer Evangelists, Sneezers, Buzz Agents, bloggers are even better. That's the 80/20 rule. 20% of your customers and agents will result in 80% of your results. You need a system or process to get there. Do you have one in place? Or is Hope your Strategy? It likely won't happen on its own or by accident.
Final thought: If you don't control the message about your company, someone else will.
There are 4 P's in Marketing. Product, Price, Promotion and Position. Let's work on those. Next Friday, we have the first of many seminars to help you jump start 2008's revenues. Who is your Chief Revenue Officer? Sign him up!
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