That is certainly not a call to action, rather something to consider when setting the low bar of constructive criticism.
The truth is business hecklers come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes from the one you least suspect. You will meet them at a conference presentation, or at the next network gathering. Look past the person and the sting of the NO, and there is value in any stalled elevator pitch.
We get so caught up in the good we think we’re bringing the world, that sometimes we need that person that ‘just doesn’t get it’ to help us get our mojo back—the relevant differentiator that can determine the fate of your business.
If you’ve ever read any Guy Kawasaki, he has a point about “Make Meaning.” It’s not how cool you think you are… do people believe in your product, care about your mission, and trust in your sincerity?
In the moment you may want to strangler the nay-sayer, but an unwavering commitment to make meaning is why you are in business. Figure that out and there is nobody that can talk you off the value you deliver!
Is anyone else tired of talking about this Marketing Land of Oz? Social Media is communication phenomenon, but it’s not the yellow brick road to success and clicking three times will not get you home.
Why? Because if you need a social media strategy to be authentic, maybe you have a brand disorder?
The lofty new authors of “Social Media or Die” are not talking to the real people that are on these channels. If they stopped to have this conversation, they would discover a growing discontent for advertising on Facebook. The low entry cost and viral potential makes it attractive to marketers, but consider what your profile would look like if every brand in the world was marketing on social media… a big, noisy NASCAR page.
How marketing showed up and ruined the social media party…
Of course there are case studies and success stories out there, but the percentage of replicable success is low. The bell curve (something we all learned in grade school) remains true, and the early adopters that failed quickly and refined their strategy are winning. Unfortunately, a big wave of newbies is coming. This will over-saturate the medium and leave a mess in the wake.
What if the best social media channel for marketing is yet to come?
I’m not discouraging social media marketing, but a simpler theory is you don’t need a strategy to be on social media—just be real, build a healthy presence, and have a relevant and compelling word of mouth message. Your fans will do the rest.
If you’re out there already, then keep playing. Trying to catch up on strategy is about as effective as worrying about the next thing. What will you do then?
Simon Cowell is a saint. He is polarizing, opinionated, a great judge of talent, and arguably the most patient man in the world.
Could you sit through thousands of dreadful auditions and months of follow up presentations to pick the diamond in the rough, only to have an electoral board make the final decision? How about doing that year over year?
The percentage of great companies to work with out there is less than the number you will pitch, and you have to work hard at being “Why you, why now?” relevant to a constantly changing audience.
In business we can be on either side of the audition table given the situation, and understanding that should help you draft a sustainable B2B sales strategy… skip the dud clients, make it a point to audition for the companies you really want to work with, and be prepared to shine when given the opportunity.
Casual Thought Friday… at what point do you need outside help to improve your performance?
A friend of mine recently tried to help fix my golf swing in the middle of our round. I’m no Tiger Woods, but on that day I was more like Charles Barkley. And in the middle of the game the advice of others seems to be readily available in hindsight and rarely sought at the opportune moment.
The pearl of wisdom was not to work with the clubhouse professional to get better results; it was why I needed outside help…
“You can’t fix your swing by yourself because you are part of the problem.”
Great companies refine their strengths and outsource their weaknesses. The ability to create value (your relevance to the customer) should be the strength of your sales strategy. Your weakness will be figuring out how to integrate social media and remove the antiquated sales pitch from your marketing. Accepting this is the first step in the best direction.
Ask a respected professional for an honest assessment of your 2010 business development plan. Because it will be an extremely competitive year, and you will need to change something to improve your sales performance. There are no mulligans.
Casual Thought Friday… how relevant is cold calling in today’s B2B Sales Strategy?
Results would indicate it is about or less effective than direct mail, which puts it around 4% effective at best. Of course there are amazing success stories, and yours truly has had more than a few. But the cold hard fact is you won’t be able to grow your business in 2010 or beyond without a marketing plan that supports dialing for dollars.
As for scripting the call, this is not the time to tell your story or cite your brochure. If there was a Biz Dev bible, it would say cold calling is about as relevant as your ability to create value (give me a reason to care) in 30 seconds or less. The person on the other end of the phone has other priorities, so out of consideration you should be able to deliver your best message in this time frame. And this also includes leaving a voicemail.
If you are lucky enough to spend more than 5 minutes on the phone, then hopefully you took advantage of the time to let them talk. The more you know the better, because you want to pitch big picture vision at the C level and sell at the influential level.
The objective of a cold call is a warmer introduction. Close the call with a “first date” invite or find out if they are attending any networking events in the near future. You don’t need a login and password to be social. The handshake may be old school, but all new business relationships begin face to face.
In the B2B world, most new business is developed through relationships. However, selling change or pitching new ideas will always create the biggest opportunities.
This dichotomy is best explained as “familiarity vs. possibility,” and every good sales and marketing person should pursue new work knowing that the incumbent service provider has a comfortable relationship with the client—translation: they probably haven’t heard any new ideas in some time.
This is your foot in the door, but new clients weren’t just sitting around waiting for your sales call and they didn’t just finish a meeting discussing the problem you propose to solve. Therefore, the pitch is not about you. It is always about the client.
You are only as relevant as their problem, and your pitch has to be empathetic of their situation. The budget, timelines and resources in your proposal need to be proportional to their business objectives, and for every decision maker you will need an influencer to support your cause internally.
You can help this cause by allowing your influencers to play along. Let them share their subject matter expertise and guide them to developing the best solution.
Change is most frightening to others when there are definitive terms, and it is OK not to have all the answers. Act like you have thought of everything and you risk taking them out of the process—then they will be asking what’s in it for them?
Selling Change: A B2B Sales and Marketing Strategy (Recap)
Understand your prospective client’s industry. Know the company framework, how they make decisions and what influences those decisions. Be empathetic to their situation and how receptive they will be to change. Create value, propose relevant solutions and always calculate your odds of winning before you decide to play the game.
Once you decide to play, swing for the fences… and best of luck!
The funny thing about change is it does not adhere to any rules, and in business there is not a shared work calendar with CHANGE MEETING booked in the conference room on every other Tuesday. So remember that when you are selling change your audience is on the defense because they didn’t see you coming, and client insight and industry foresight are your elements of surprise.
Why this?
The four company frameworks (Structural, Human Resource, Political and Symbolic) will respond to your change proposal according to their culture. And before you pass GO and talk money, you must fully understand their situation. If in doubt, don’t even pick up the phone unless you can clearly communicate in 30 seconds or less how your solution is relevant to their business.
The litmus test: a compelling idea gets you to the next step, and nothing fails faster than a clumsy sales pitch.
Why now?
Timing is everything. When you sell change, be aware that you are rearranging priorities. Right now, companies are looking at 2010 initiatives and trying to figure out what will make the biggest impact for the least amount of investment. The logistics of your pitch better generate ROI in six months or less—or your odds of winning have dropped significantly.
In B2B sales your task is to be forever optimistic, because selling change to a client is a win-win scenario. And even if your best pitch fails, the lasting impression you should leave them with is… if not now, when?
The Symbolic Company (ex: Nike, NFL, Anheuser-Busch )
Every company loves having these brands on their client list. They are dynamic, well recognized and easily add to your reputation to deliver innovative results—because the Symbolic Company framework is about being an industry leader.
Central Concepts: culture, ritual, ceremony, stories, heroes
Decision Process: inspiration
The business atmosphere of the Symbolic Company is like a carnival. Everything is big, bold and nothing is competitor imitation. These traits make them the most receptive to change because if nobody else is doing it, they could be first.
These companies lead with reputation and the product is a result of their vision. When pitching these companies you need to be bleeding edge relevant, and your solution needs to keep faith in the brand and give it meaning.
The sales process can be painfully long at times and might come with an RFP, depending on whether or not they are justifying the budget with ROI. But avoid giving away your best work and ideas for the promise of future work, or the carrot on the end of the stick.
Map out your plan and make decisions based on the scope of the project at hand—because once the decision is made you better be ready to jump.
The Political Company (ex: Municipalities, Non-Profits & Associations)
Be mindful as you pitch the Political Company, because this will be your toughest sell. Not because they are unwilling to change, but the framework of this organization is reluctant to hear outside ideas because they are often struggling internally on multiple agendas.
Central Concepts: power, conflict, organizational politics
Decision Process: develop agenda and power base
Political companies must adhere to strict budgets, and their financial assets are measured in grants, federal and state programs, donors and volunteers. Every decision must appeal to these stakeholders.
The nature of this framework is to drive every project through the RFP process and there is little wiggle room for innovation—as most of these projects have been waiting their turn in the line of development priority.
Any solution being pitched to this organization is best targeted straight to the top or at the board making the decision. You must stay at or under budget, deliver expected results, and have answers for these internal questions: Who will take this on? Who will be responsible for it?
If you are out of position (the slightest bit irrelevant to the RFP objective), then you should calculate your odds of winning before investing resources to the sales process.
The Human Resource Company (ex: Zappos, New Seasons)
Now is a great time to be selling change to the Human Resource Company because their framework opens many needs to be addressed. The behavioral traits of this business culture:
• Central Concepts: individuality, needs, skills, relationships
• Decision Process: empowerment
This type of company is much like a big co-op, where individual contributions add up to customer service success. There is a willingness to hear new ideas—especially fighting through a recession. The solution you pitch must address their core challenge: align organizational goals and human needs.
The sales cycle will be a bit longer than the RFP methodology of the Structural Company because you will need to build a base of influencers. The big decisions are made by committee. But the upside to this is Human Resource Companies have a great brand following, and working with them will be good for business.
Part Five: Selling Change to the Political Company
