Selling in today's economy is tough. And simply doing more of the same is not the way to survive, much less thrive, in a tough market. There are important dos and don'ts in times like these.
This eBook is your industry-specific roadmap out of the economic slump. Selling through a Slump: An Industry-by-Industry Playbook brings together sales strategies and best practices from 11 top sales experts from 11 distinct vertical market sectors, ranging from retail to health care to telecom - because one size doesn't always fit all. The practical tips and experience-based wisdom here aren't just limited to any single industry, though. Regardless of your market sector, you're bound to find value in this arsenal of great sales ideas. Get access to exclusive tips on how to sell in a challenging market, from renowned sales experts like Jill Konrath, Charles Green, and Dave Stein. You've got questions - this eBook was created to give you answers.
Offered Free by Oracle Corporation: Download today!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Marketing Plan Template
To Plan or Not To Plan...It's not even a question! Particularly as you face the aftermath of a recession.
Often when marketing dollars are allocated within companies, the temptation is to hurry and launch a marketing campaign because "we need the leads and we need them now!"
While it might induce some angst to wait for a well thought-out Marketing Plan, the consequences of not doing so could do serious damage to your marketing effectiveness AND budget. It doesn't have to take four months to develop a comprehensive plan. In fact, a focused team can accomplish it in three to six weeks; and the time invested upfront WILL pay off through the implementation and launch of future campaigns.
Built in Microsoft Word for easy editing and customization, this Marketing Plan Template includes step-by-step instructions for each section: market research, company identity, target market, product/service definition and messaging, competition analysis, sales model, marketing mix, implementation calendar, and budget.
This plan is probably the most important document you will create throughout your marketing efforts. It establishes a roadmap for your sales and marketing planning, maximizing your resources. It validates your target market and competition, summarizes the marketing plan, and outlines the resources and budget needed for successful completion of the planned activities.
So, download your Marketing Plan Template and get started!
Often when marketing dollars are allocated within companies, the temptation is to hurry and launch a marketing campaign because "we need the leads and we need them now!"
While it might induce some angst to wait for a well thought-out Marketing Plan, the consequences of not doing so could do serious damage to your marketing effectiveness AND budget. It doesn't have to take four months to develop a comprehensive plan. In fact, a focused team can accomplish it in three to six weeks; and the time invested upfront WILL pay off through the implementation and launch of future campaigns.
***************************
Built in Microsoft Word for easy editing and customization, this Marketing Plan Template includes step-by-step instructions for each section: market research, company identity, target market, product/service definition and messaging, competition analysis, sales model, marketing mix, implementation calendar, and budget.
This plan is probably the most important document you will create throughout your marketing efforts. It establishes a roadmap for your sales and marketing planning, maximizing your resources. It validates your target market and competition, summarizes the marketing plan, and outlines the resources and budget needed for successful completion of the planned activities.
So, download your Marketing Plan Template and get started!
Monday, October 12, 2009
New FTC Rules for Social Media!
The new FTC rules on Social Media content go into effect 12/1/2009. And, for the most part the new rules are aimed at protecting the consumer from reading a blog about a product that presents itself as an editorial, when the "blogger" has been paid to promote the product and/or has been given the product for free.
That's a good thing, right? Yup...we think so too. BUT, it does create a few things every marketer must consider--whether they run a blog and/or promote their products on blogs or other social media sites (such as Twitter).
The main crux behind the new rule is this...when endorsing a product or service (such as in a blog or tweet), you must:
Really, most legitimate marketers already follow #2 and #3, but they should now be much more diligent in making sure nothing slips through. The biggest addition to all is the disclosure requirement--so make sure your social media efforts (whether you are the blogger or the product company promoting through 3rd party blogs) now have these new rule on the operations checklist...it's the law!
That's a good thing, right? Yup...we think so too. BUT, it does create a few things every marketer must consider--whether they run a blog and/or promote their products on blogs or other social media sites (such as Twitter).
The main crux behind the new rule is this...when endorsing a product or service (such as in a blog or tweet), you must:
- Disclose when you are being compensated--whether you are being paid for the endorsement and/or have been give free sample of the product (traditionally known as "not-for-resale" copies).
- Be truthful in your statements...and make sure they can be substantiated.
- Speak from actual experience--meaning you can't just regurgitate the sponsor's marketing speak if it isn't an actual experience, opinion, or belief of your own.
Really, most legitimate marketers already follow #2 and #3, but they should now be much more diligent in making sure nothing slips through. The biggest addition to all is the disclosure requirement--so make sure your social media efforts (whether you are the blogger or the product company promoting through 3rd party blogs) now have these new rule on the operations checklist...it's the law!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Seriously, SHUT UP!
One of the biggest mistakes sales people make is to go into a sales call with a prospect or customer and talk, talk, talk. In fact, when coaching we often find that sales people talk more than the prospect does. By A LOT!
Seriously, you need to SHUT UP. And we mean that in the nicest possible way.
Selling is largely a process of learning what your customer needs—what they do, how they do it, with whom they do it with, why they do it that way…all BEFORE telling them how you will help them do it better. How can you accomplish this if you’re talking all the time?
We know this to be true, yet we can’t seem to stop ourselves from talking. Why?
Well, because when silence lingers it is human nature to fill it. But you must fight the urge, whatever it takes—bite the inside of your mouth if you must—and let your prospect do the talking. Count to ten and if the prospect still hasn’t filled the space, ask a question…and then shut up and wait for their answer.
This technique really works. Most of the time you will find that the prospect/customer will tell you things you haven’t even asked for…which is exactly the position you want to be in when selling.
So try it…just SHUT UP!
More Selling Technique Articles:
Monday, August 17, 2009
Three Negotiation Skills for the Economic Recovery
We just got done reading Negotiation Rules! A Practical Approach by Jeanette Nyden, J.D. It offers tons of good advice!
We asked Jeanette to share a little for our readers, and this is what she had to say:
Business Week ran an article suggesting that businesses prepare for the recovery. ("Getting Ready for the Recovery," April 14, 09) What the article doesn’t mention, and what you and I both know, is that the recovery will look very different from what we are used to. Rather than strong, steady growth, many of us will see more peaks and valleys.
This means more opportunities to negotiate: Negotiate your lease; negotiate to get good pricing and prompt payments from clients; negotiate with employees. Negotiation skills must now be a core competency for every small business.
Small businesses were hit hard by the recession. We are innovative and responsive, so we will survive. To maintain that flexibility, you need to look at three core negotiation skills.
- Making tradeoffs, rather than concessions
- Making effective counteroffers, rather than saying no
- Planning for all conversations, rather than winging-it
Here is a case on point. A sales rep for a small company called me after her client asked to re-negotiate the deal—within days of signing the deal! My client was confused because she didn’t know what to ask for in return for accommodating her client. She did not want to just give in to her client’s demands after they reached a deal. It would have eroded her company’s bottom line.
Not only should you know what you are willing to give the client, you need to know what you want from them in return. Once you know that, you can now make an effective counteroffer, rather than caving in. Both of those require at least a little thought and preparation.
Everything has changed and you have to be willing to negotiate. It is now expected of you. Know what you will give and what you want in exchange. It will keep your doors open despite the recovery.
For more information about making tradeoffs, counteroffers or planning, read Negotiation Rules! A Practical Approach to Big Deal Negotiations.
AUTHOR BOX: Jeanette Nyden, author of Negotiation Rules! A Practical Approach to Big Deal Negotiations, is the president of J. Nyden & Co., Inc, a negotiation skills training company. For more information and free negotiation articles visit www.jnyden.com. Jeanette can be reached at 206-723-3472 or jn@jnyden.com.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Getting Facebook into the Marketing Mix!
Social media is clearly here to stay. And most of you have already incorporated it into your marketing mix with LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. One social media tool that marketers have been slow to adopt is Facebook. This is largely due to the fact that Facebook is primarily a social network focused on personal relationships. In fact, many members specifically avoid business contact connections in Facebook.
Still, Facebook is the largest growing social media website online today (over 25 million and growing). It cannot be ignored or dismissed so easily. But how do you add it into the mix? Here are two easy and cost-effective ways:
1. Create and promote a Fan Page. Facebook allows members to create a specific Facebook page for their business through its "Facebook Pages" application. This page can then be used to promote who you are and what you do. You can use this page to post alerts when you have new articles to distribute, news to announce, etc. Facebook members can then become fans of your page and receive these updates on their newsfeed as you post them.
a) Create your business page by going to the "Advertising" link on the bottom of your personal Facebook page. Choose the "Pages" tab at the top of that page, and then choose "Create a Page." Upload your logo, enter your company profile details, and establish your settings. Once completed, click the "publish your site" button to go live.
b) Promote your Page EVERYWHERE you can. Add a "Company X on Facebook" link to your website, your email signatures, and email newsletters. Ask your "friends" and "fans" to spread the word. If you're already on LinkedIn and Twitter, promote it there. You get the idea...Get the word out and begin building that fan base.
Want an example? Find Go-To-Market Strategies on Facebook and become a fan! Heck, tell all your friends about it while you're at it.
2. Advertise with PPC. Another cost-effective way to add Facebook to the marketing mix is to deploy pay-per-click ads through the advertising application. Like many online advertising venues, Facebook advertising has received mix results. Still, it's depth and breadth of demographic targeting makes it one of the most powerful tools in this space.
With Facebook advertising, you can target as tightly as specifying sex, age, relationship, location, education, as well as specific keywords (titles, favorite books, sports, movies, etc.). Once you specify your target criteria, the tool will tell you how many members in the network meet your target needs. It's really quite amazing.
As mentioned, Facebook results have been mixed in terms of how much traffic you will really see from it. Still, given the low cost and the nature of pay-per-click, you really have very little to lose and at the minimum you are making online impressions that will help build brand recognition for other vehicles in the mix. Just make sure you set a daily "not to exceed" budget to keep your spend at an amount you can afford.
If you haven't already engaged the above two techniques in your social marketing strategy, it's time you you got started. Facebook has a huge audience and these tools are a free-to-cheap way to gain awareness with that audience in a way that is highly targeted and interactive.
Oh...and in the meantime Find Go-To-Market Strategies on Facebook!
Still, Facebook is the largest growing social media website online today (over 25 million and growing). It cannot be ignored or dismissed so easily. But how do you add it into the mix? Here are two easy and cost-effective ways:
1. Create and promote a Fan Page. Facebook allows members to create a specific Facebook page for their business through its "Facebook Pages" application. This page can then be used to promote who you are and what you do. You can use this page to post alerts when you have new articles to distribute, news to announce, etc. Facebook members can then become fans of your page and receive these updates on their newsfeed as you post them.
a) Create your business page by going to the "Advertising" link on the bottom of your personal Facebook page. Choose the "Pages" tab at the top of that page, and then choose "Create a Page." Upload your logo, enter your company profile details, and establish your settings. Once completed, click the "publish your site" button to go live.
b) Promote your Page EVERYWHERE you can. Add a "Company X on Facebook" link to your website, your email signatures, and email newsletters. Ask your "friends" and "fans" to spread the word. If you're already on LinkedIn and Twitter, promote it there. You get the idea...Get the word out and begin building that fan base.
Want an example? Find Go-To-Market Strategies on Facebook and become a fan! Heck, tell all your friends about it while you're at it.
2. Advertise with PPC. Another cost-effective way to add Facebook to the marketing mix is to deploy pay-per-click ads through the advertising application. Like many online advertising venues, Facebook advertising has received mix results. Still, it's depth and breadth of demographic targeting makes it one of the most powerful tools in this space.
With Facebook advertising, you can target as tightly as specifying sex, age, relationship, location, education, as well as specific keywords (titles, favorite books, sports, movies, etc.). Once you specify your target criteria, the tool will tell you how many members in the network meet your target needs. It's really quite amazing.
As mentioned, Facebook results have been mixed in terms of how much traffic you will really see from it. Still, given the low cost and the nature of pay-per-click, you really have very little to lose and at the minimum you are making online impressions that will help build brand recognition for other vehicles in the mix. Just make sure you set a daily "not to exceed" budget to keep your spend at an amount you can afford.
If you haven't already engaged the above two techniques in your social marketing strategy, it's time you you got started. Facebook has a huge audience and these tools are a free-to-cheap way to gain awareness with that audience in a way that is highly targeted and interactive.
Oh...and in the meantime Find Go-To-Market Strategies on Facebook!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Quick Social Media Tips
Thanks to the recession, many of us have been out of work this past year, sitting on the sidelines as our colleagues have mastered the new tools, technologies and trends in our industry. One of the biggest, most influential of all is the use of social media in sales and marketing. If you are feeling left behind in the Web 2.0 world, we’ve pulled together some quick tips to help you navigate the social media questions in your job search.
To be successful professionally in social media, we recommend the following:
- Define a clear goal to guide your participation. Does your company want to source referrals? Gain brand awareness? Increase SEO? Knowing this will help you narrow down what techniques and sites to use. (For example, a Facebook page will not help your SEO, but it will help you source referrals.)
- Do not use social media sites to hard sell. Ever.
- Blogs are a very important tool to building credibility and to increasing SEO. If your company doesn’t have a blog, they need to start one. Yesterday.
- Social media networking is reciprocal. Link and be linked, but make sure the links are relevant and do not do any brand damage. The idea here is to promote you (and your company) as knowledgeable and helpful, so all links and referrals you post must be credible and valuable to your prospects.
- Create a set of guidelines for employee social media participation. A list of do’s and don’ts will help ensure that your brand is not diluted or damaged in any way by raising awareness about what is and isn’t acceptable.
- Make time every single day for social media networking. To be relevant, you have to be active… even if you can only dedicate 15 minutes a day!
When preparing for your interview, find out how your potential employer is currently using social media by visiting the top sites. Determine what you think they are doing well and what could be improved. Bring your social media recommendations to your interview. And remember to spend some time on the company’s website. Also, search for them on the big search engines to see how they rank. Arming yourself with this information will make your social media savviness even more impressive.
Happy job hunting!
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