Sales Productivity with Better Marketing

INTEMARCO IS AN INDUSTRIAL MARKETING DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANCY

There are often doubts about the need for marketing and whether it make sense to invest in this discipline. Here are some reflections and clips to comment on frequent statements by the sceptics…

1. “Our brand is what it is…”

YES, but a positive, meaningful brand is not a given – A brand is the result of deliberate control to achieve desired perceptions of an organization.

Brand = Perceptions, which are built through messaging and interactions

45% of brand perception can be attributed to what a company says and how it says it

Customers judge your brand when they read an online review or an article, or hear about a colleague’s experience…

Customers’ combined interactions with your business or product contribute to their brand perception

2. “Our Sales Team is very good at describing product features and the fact that our products are reliable and top quality…”

GREAT, but reliability and quality are a given, right? Conveying the Value Proposition, or Features, Advantages and Benefits linked to Needs & Wants before the sales meeting is crucial. It will enable sales to make the actual interaction with a new prospect focused on sorting out the actual solution and project details. A strong Product Communications Platform will help convey why to choose your solution.

3. “Taking part at selected Trade Show works fine for us…”

That may well be the case, BUT with today’s excellent digital systems and tools you get a long way with social media, including LinkedIn advertising, SEM, Marketing Automation and more.

EARLIER

  • Companies find customers
  • Mostly mass, outbound marketing, such as ads and trade shows

TODAY

  • Customers find companies
  • Mostly inbound marketing, such as search and websites with targeted outbound

Why not go for TRUE digital marketing, or as we call it, 24/7 Communications?

4. “Sales begin when the salesperson meets the potential customer”

You probably recognize the ad to the right. It is the well-known “Man in the Chair” ad that the publishing organization McGraw-Hill, ran in their magazines in the late 1950s. The questions are still relevant, although there are many new communications channels at hand these days.

An exaggeration maybe, but it highlights a company’s need for better marketing to pave the way for successful sales.

The message addresses both brand and product portfolio aspects, as well as the fact that a cold call is time consuming and seldom productive.

5. “But we get all RFQs”

Great! But you need to make the sale before the RFQ comes out – it’s very hard to win a contract as a newcomer.

  1. Make sure you are known and that they trust you and your overall offer
  2. Relationships matter and building them is of paramount importance, so that you are not tendering as strangers
  3. With close contact, you can find out what is important and tailor your offer

And, learn from the Pepsi Paradox: “If you don’t have a strong brand image with the buyer to begin with, then this is a significant business development oversight that will seriously weaken your chances of success. You will be competing with companies with strong brand recognition and will be exposed to the Pepsi Paradox. PepsiCo noted that people tended to choose Pepsi as the preferred cola. Here, the Pepsi Paradox relates to the issue of being unable to gain a market advantage over Coca Cola’s less preferred product due to the brand strength of Coca Cola.”

6. “I have a good contact”

There are many stakeholders involved in making a buying decision. This fact is often missed or ignored by the seller.

6. “I have a good contact”

There are many stakeholders involved in making a buying decision. This fact is often missed or ignored by the seller.

So, what do we suggest?

Firstly, it’s important that you believe sales productivity actually can be increased, i.e., that time spent to close deals can be reduced, and that margins can be increased by greater sales efficiency and effectiveness.

If you believe this, the question is: How do you increase efficiency and effectiveness in sales? Our answer: Establish an enhanced, seamless Marketing and Sales process. Or, even simpler, do Better Marketing.

Do
Better
Marketing

Here’s where we at Intemarco come in

Together, we can help your sales people by building the brand, clearly defining the product & service portfolio and USPs, driving traffic, and providing Sales Tools for speedy closing.