No amount of capturable data can tell you when someone is unsatisfied with a situation and willing to pay good money to solve it. There can be digital clues left here and there but there is no tracking mechanism for the human psyche. Despite all the efforts attempting to control your behavior and mine, we still act on our own volition.

Top of Mind Rotation

Whatever you’re selling, you think people need it or will be better off having it. The problem is they are doing fine without it, until they aren’t! This is why regular newsletter-style updates that include valuable, problem-solving information should continually be placed in front of your customers and prospects.

As long as you keep including interesting tidbits and valuable content, your audience will welcome getting your regular updates. When they need something, and your newsletter hits them with an expert recommendation that’s relevant, it’s as if they just got a referral to your business. Something like, “Oh, I should just call these guys, now that I’m thinking about it!”

Newsletters Fill the Gaps

Over the last ten years, our email newsletter has generated over 30% of our clientele. It’s almost predictable. Not every newsletter generates new business but about 1 out of every 4 or 5 does, and this result has been consistent over the years. It works like this:

1. Be curious! Get really interested in conversations with all of your business associates about what’s going on in their companies and industries.
2. Attend business events, have conversations and make mental notes. Then capture the notes!
3. Build themes and topics around your industry’s problem-solving opportunities. Think in the terms of the expert that you are.
4. Write articles and make videos that address specific market needs and publish them on a regular basis – monthly or more often when possible.
5. Publish an email newsletter with front-loaded, value-based summary information about your article and link to it.
6. Proactively contact audience members who show repeated interest though your analytics. Suggest one-on-one networking meetings.

Notice the simplicity and logic of this B2B direct marketing approach. Add it to your marketing mix, especially if email is missing or spotty. With regard to items 1 – 6, they can all be outsourced effectively. We welcome questions about these services.

Regularity is Perfect Timing

Most businesses need to stay connected with their customers and associates to remain relevant in their market. Doing so on a regular basis is the key and email is one of the best ways.

Beyond this simple approach, the power and sophistication of marketing automation can bring your integrated digital campaigns to new levels. Some companies need it. Others don’t. It really depends on how the pipeline is best filled and that can be different for every organization.

One thing is certain. When prospects identify you as the resource for them and reach out to engage, you’ve struck gold! New business that’s generated from your strategic marketing efforts feels really good, fits well and lasts long.

The post Timing is Everything in Needs-based Marketing appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Sales prospecting is a vital and long-term business initiative.

You own a business so you’re in sales. You’re on the executive team, you’re in sales. You’re a marketing director – definitely in sales! If you’re in sales, well…

How long have you been doing this sales work of yours and what makes it pay off? What does it consist of? How much do sales cost your business to attain?

Every business has a cost of sales and it can be very high.

Let’s say your goal is to add 10 additional clients this year. What will it take to close business with them and how much will it cost your firm?

Sales activity carries high overhead when you consider the salaries, prospecting costs, travel costs, marketing costs, bad hiring decision costs and administrative costs all required to bring on new customers.

Are there no exceptions to the high cost of sales? What if nine years from now, a prospect you met once at a networking event or on a cold call contacts you and invites you in as the exclusive, pre-selected vendor for their needs. How much did that sale cost? Not much! Especially if you only made one call or shook hands once. However, it probably took more than that to earn the new customer. After all, you have strong competition that’s hungry for this client’s business, so why did they select you nine years after one brief introduction?

My nine-year scenario isn’t hypothetical, it’s a true story that came to fruition this week. The fact is, this real new customer of mine was put on an email list nine years ago after only one cold call visit. No direct contact in nine years, just the same newsletter that you’re reading, emailed every couple of weeks for a decade.

Stories like this happen all the time in business. There are three powerful lessons here. One is for salespeople, one for marketing people and all 3 are for company leaders:

1. Sales prospecting is a long term, sustaining initiative.
2. Effective marketing can be like sales on steroids, set on autopilot.
3. The interdependence of sales & marketing needs to be nurtured for compatibility and continual harmony.

I’ve been selling for a long time in related industries (various marketing services) and I’m making sales this year with people I contacted many years ago, even while working for different companies. The one thing these prospects have in common is they all got on my email list and chose to stay subscribed. The content they receive is continually value driven and must pass a strict quality standard – yours!

The post Think in Decades, Not in Quarters appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.