Editor
About Editor
Posts by :
Play Your Strongest Player
In every game there’s a player that stands out, and out-performs the others on the field.
These strong players are usually the key to winning or loosing, so it’s important to put them in a position to do so.
In marketing you have to decide what are your best tactics, that are your strongest players.
What I mean is that for different industry sectors various tactics work the best.
For example, social media may not be the strongest in the mix, but still a good support player, but webinars may be a better use of time and resources, and give the best results.
Having a strong line up with different roles is important to the game plan.
Each should have a specific task, and should move the message down the field to your goal.
Just like when you have training sessions in sport, you need to test the performance of each player.
Put in place a campaign so that you can test results, normally called A-B testing.
Campaign [A] has different tactics and messages to Campaign [B] and you can measure the best results.
Once you find the best performer, you need to then look at what supporting tactics compliment it and formulate a strong team.
Keep the campaign going and play to the final whistle.
Summary : Identify your strongest tactic that gets you the best results, lead with it, and surround it with support tactics. Stick to the plan and adapt if you see a change in results, re-tool and re-launch, but don’t stop.
ABOUT kNEXTis LLC
The kNEXTis Team is focused on delivering results through a blend of traditional sales techniques, media and digital campaigns.
Interactive, integration and idea driven elements are always key modules of any sales generation campaign they put together.
Selling products and services with all the digital options at a business’s fingertips can be a challenge, and with a suite of digital, broadcast and online options kNEXTis can put together comprehensive sales & marketing packages for small and medium sized businesses.
kNEXTis also offers small and medium sized businesses a low cost one-on-one coaching service to help plan and execute your marketing plan, allowing you to run your business and we help grow it.
Drip, Drip, Filter. Refine. Repeat. Sell. Repeat
The science of business development has truly got more sophisticated, as buyers also get sophisticated in the way they purchase services and products.
Let’s stop and review that last statement.
I hear it all the time with sales folks, and yes, if you listen to my Link’d AM show you will hear me say it too.
So it’s essential to put into place a systematic, intelligent lead generation process.
This is now affordable for small and medium sized
In one of my recent segments I talk about the purchasing cycle, and understanding the 10 elements that a buyer goes through while making a decision on who will become their vendor of choice.
It’s easy for us to get wrapped up in the “close” phase of a sale, and go head on into discussions with low hanging fruit and what we think are good prospects.
What I have found with this approach is what we think as a short circuit to success, leads to long conversations and complex discussions.
This happens because we are initiating the conversation with assumptions that the prospect is hot to purchase.
In reality the prospect is being forced into the buying cycle, and we are, in effect pushing a square peg into a round hole, and usually there are 10 competitors having the same conversation.
Let me give an example.
If I have a fridge full of milk, enough to last me a month, and I go to the grocery store, and Milk is on sale.
The grocery manager will try to sell me milk.
I’d be interested, because I need milk, but my immediate need is not there.
It doesn’t matter if the grocery manager offers me a great deal, I won’t just buy milk, because the timing is wrong, but in a few weeks I will be in the market for Milk.
The grocery manager will, I’m sure, be perplexed why I would turn away from such a great deal.
If he asks questions, got to know my habits and understood my buying patterns he could predict what offers work for me and maximize on my loyalty and increase my individual revenue value.
Depending on your business, and the type of customer you are looking for, will determine what processes you have to develop, and put in to play.
Developing an intelligent lead generation process can make your pipeline more productive and shorten your close cycles.
Make sure you have;
A filtered, targeted list
A focused message
An automated communications platform
An Integrated CRM
Filter responses and nurture relevant
Create a Call-to-Action
Route Opportunities to your sales force
ABOUT kNEXTis LLC
The kNEXTis Team is focused on delivering results through a blend of traditional sales techniques, media and digital campaigns.
Interactive, integration and idea driven elements are always key modules of any sales generation campaign they put together.
Selling products and services with all the digital options at a business’s fingertips can be a challenge, and with a suite of digital, broadcast and online options kNEXTis can put together comprehensive sales & marketing packages for small and medium sized businesses.
kNEXTis also offers small and medium sized businesses a low cost one-on-one coaching service to help plan and execute your marketing plan, allowing you to run your business and we help grow it.
Play To The Final Whistle
Many times in business we set plans and schedule projects that seem to have never ending deadlines, and the more complex projects have multiple milestones.
Sometimes we look at tasks and try to short cut the route to a result and in most cases that doesn’t work, or even worst we don’t see the results we were hoping for and just put ourselves in cruise control.
We hear coaches say, “Play to the final Whistle” in a lot of sports, and we need to follow this train of thought , because all too often business professionals get distracted and move onto projects that are new and shiny and they were so close to getting a result, and never knew it.
But I want focus on another big factor; getting a result ( you score a goal ).
Some people get complacent and sit back ( defend ), instead of driving forward for another goal.
This is true for marketing, and sales development.
It’s easy to see why, because people work so hard to get a result, they tend to stop and reflect on the success, and not push forward to end of the game.
The end of game isn’t Friday when you leave the office for the weekend, it’s whatever your financial cycles are. Marketing has to run parallel to those cycles, and in most cases affect the end result – the win!
If you “score” with a big contact because of your efforts, don’t put your campaign on hold so you can focus on your new piece of business, keep the momentum going, until you win the next one, and the next.
By stopping the momentum you’ll find that you just have to start all over again.
So all this sounds fine, but how can we put this in to reality?
If we are going to make this “Play to the Final Whistle” sports analogy work we need a playing field and length of game.
“Football” ( the American version for my British friends ) has four (4) quarters, and guess what, so do the typical financial cycles.
So put your game plan in to action:
- Set the Start Time of the first Quarter, second, third, and forth
- Choose your Starter Tactics (Players)
- Position them ( This is your Marketing Process )
- Get your strategy (game) plan in place
- Kick Off
- Play to the Final Whistle for each Quarter ( Don’t stop and drive forward
Summary
If you put a plan in place, with a strong strategy and good tactics finish strong, and don’t stop when you hit a big result.
ABOUT kNEXTis LLC
The kNEXTis Team is focused on delivering results through a blend of traditional sales techniques, media and digital campaigns.
Interactive, integration and idea driven elements are always key modules of any sales generation campaign they put together.
Selling products and services with all the digital options at a businesses fingertips can be a challenge, and with a suite of digital, broadcast and online options kNEXTis can put together comprehensive sales & marketing packages for small and medium sized businesses.
kNEXTis also offers small and medium sized businesses a low cost one-on-one coaching service to help plan and execute your marketing plan, allowing you to run your business and we help grow it.
Become The Star Of Your Own Show
Sit back and think about all the products and services you have purchased over the years, and ask yourself the question – “why did you buy from that person, or company?”
I’m guessing because you felt confident that the product or service would deliver the results you were hoping for, or at least you hoped it would.
If it did, I’m sure you kept with it and you purchased again.
But the journey leading up to the buying decision was full of milestones, that usually get checked off as the journey of the purchase, and these include feeling confident and secure in your choice.
So what makes a buyer feel this way?
- Recommendations
- Great Customer Experience
- Good Reviews
- Confident that they deliver
If you know your product you should come over a subject matter expert, your passion for your solution should shine through in everything you do, say and present. This should also translate to your sales staff, operations and all other channels that represent you.
You can only do this by leading by example, turning every opportunity in to a sales message, and creating an environment that makes you a subject matter expert, for example:
- Pick a Pain Point
- Showcase a success story
- Give Examples of your solution
- Highlight results
- Create a call to action
If you become the star of your own “solution”, people will turn to you to help them with their problems, of which you have solutions, you become the celebrity – and your fans (customers) will seek you out.
Finding ways to broadcast this message is easier than ever before, the choices are vast, but the key is how to get your “show” in front of the right audience?
There are organic ways to drive traffic to your content, but they are usually slow and unimpressive, with very little results.
You need to seek out people with the problem you have a solution for , and associating your topic with an existing audience is the best and most effective way to gain credibility.
You should look for channels that have various ways they connect with their audience.
For example look for shows that align with you message, and have personalities/ hosts that can represent your brand.
Make sure they have other elements to push out promotions to encourage viewers to watch your segment, show or presentation.
For example:
- A good viewer generated email list
- Active Social Media activity
- Promotional Opportunities
- Lead Generation Solutions
- Advertising Support
In summary if you can position your company, brand, product or solution as the place to go you will get attention, and this leads to proposals, and eventually sales.
Craft your story today, and develop your audience.
ABOUT kNEXTis LLC
The kNEXTis Team is focused on delivering results through a blend of traditional sales techniques, media and digital campaigns.
Interactive, integration and idea driven elements are always key modules of any sales generation campaign they put together.
Selling products and services with all the digital options at a businesses fingertips can be a challenge, and with a suite of digital, broadcast and online options kNEXTis can put together comprehensive sales & marketing packages for small and medium sized businesses.
kNEXTis also offers small and medium sized businesses a low cost one-on-one coaching service to help plan and execute your marketing plan, allowing you to run your business and we help grow it.
How To Build An Audience
It’s the Awards Season, so I thought it was relevant to write an article about building a loyal Fan Base.
With all the various marketing tactics being spoken about, including all the articles and videos I’ve posted, one question is always asked of me, who is going to see or listen to the campaigns we produce?
We are lucky enough to have access to a quality audience of over 170 Million Households with our various networks, shows, social platforms and over 200 Million email addresses.
But getting to that number did not happen overnight.
If you know me, you are aware of my work in the entertainment industry with Fancorps, including our programs we run for festivals and artists around the World. These programs have also translated well for our retail, restaurant and non- profit clients.
What makes these programs work so well?
The answer is the “Passionate Fan” or as some people call them, the “Super Fan”. You can also replace the word “Fan” with “Customer or Supporter”.
To understand the dynamics of why people connect with an event, artist, product or service, you first need to understand what a Super Fan is looking for – and human nature is the common denominator.
We all want to connect with things that make us feel comfortable and safe, giving us the sense of confidence that whatever we align our loyalty to is going to reward us.
We all like being rewarded.
Rewards can mean different things to different people. Some people want physical rewards, others want to get a sense of enjoyment, and accomplishment, and these are the most powerful we see in the entertainment sector.
Let’s put this in to a real scenario:
Fans listen to music because they connect with the artist, music and the culture that is built around the experience. This enjoyment drives the fan to buy the artists music, go to concerts, and buy merchandise, and of course they tell their friends.
There’s a question whether a fan drives success or does the experience attract fans, this actually kept me awake trying to figure it out and after years of working with fans, the answer is, it’s a combination of both, and the chemistry is complex.
Let’s break this path to becoming a Super Fan and loyalty down;
The Experience: This is where the Fan is going to experience the artist/ event/ product/ service/ mission’s
Connectivity : This brings comfort to the Fan, the experience is relevant to them and it delivers the things that are important to them. The experience becomes a regular part of the Super Fans schedule, and touch the experience on a consistent basis.
Satisfaction: The fan needs to get satisfaction from the experience which ensures that they repeat the experience.
Confidence : The fan needs to feel that they can trust the experience and with this comes recommendations and “bragging” rights, and they tell their trusted friends that they should try the Experience, and the customer base grows.
Consistency : The Destination/ experience has to deliver a constant result for the fan, and reward the individual with satisfaction
So when you run an “audience development” program you have to have the these elements as part of the mix, and have a plan to enable your business to connect and help deliver the components that develop the right environment to nurture the Super Fan for your organization, artist or company.
ABOUT kNEXTis LLC
The kNEXTis Team is focused on delivering results through a blend of traditional sales techniques, media and digital campaigns.
Interactive, integration and idea driven elements are always key modules of any sales generation campaign they put together.
Selling products and services with all the digital options at a businesses fingertips can be a challenge, and with a suite of digital, broadcast and online options kNEXTis can put together comprehensive sales & marketing packages for small and medium sized businesses.
kNEXTis also offers small and medium sized businesses a low cost one-on-one coaching service to help plan and execute your marketing plan, allowing you to run your business and we help grow it.
Why Do Customers Buy?
The short answer is “Buyer Confidence” in your ability to deliver and execute a product or service.
This is going to sound more like a psychology lesson but we do need to get into the head of the buyer.
In my previous posts, I have talked about the sales cycle, the sales message consistency and ensuring you are in front of the buyer even when they are out of the “purchase window”
But let’s get a little deeper into why people buy products and services.
- They have a need, and have budget to purchase a solution for that need
- An unforeseen situation causes an immediate purchase
- An impulse purchase of a solution that appeals to the buyer at a particular time
So if you realize there are only 3 reasons why people buy, your sales approach need to map to those.
I have heard sales executives say “Go and SELL that prospect, they need our products”, well in some case that may be true but most it’s not, and finding prospects that are in the buying cycle takes time to develop.
Time is what a sales person needs most, and if time runs out we are usually in a place we don’t want to be.
So using your time wisely in your sales and marketing process is essential.
Go back to your “Perfect Customer Profile”, I spoke about that in my previous post and analyze where did they fit into the 3 categories above.
Buyers want to know that they are not the first customer you have, and they want to see results, in either the form of a case study or references.
Think about this, why are networking events and trade shows somewhat effective?
Depending on the type of “in-person” events you attend, the audience in the room are there for a common theme, and if you establish your credibility in the room with your experience and knowledge you get more conversations.
How many times have you been at a conference where the Key Note speaker just captivated the audience, and at the end of the session there is a line of people wanting to talk to the speaker.
This is not coincidence, at some point in the Key Note, the speaker established his expertise and knowledge in his subject topic, and the audience saw a relevant synergy with their business.
Let’s use the typical format of how a keynote speaker plans his session:
Set the tone of the session
Establish authority on the topic
History
Experience
An Example
Subject matter content
Pain Point
Process
Solution
Audience Engagement
Workbook (If it’s a Breakout Session)
Questions aligned to the topic
Feedback (Usually pre-developed)
Outcomes
If your business can develop marketing strategies that align with the above you will do several things
- Buyers will pay attention to your messages
- Buyers will feel comfortable that you are experienced in your field of business
- Buyers will relate to the pain points you have solutions for
- Buyers will see you as a subject matter expert in your field
- Buyers will ask you questions
- Buyers are more likely to take a meeting
The sales and marketing process is not any different to the keynote speaker, and it doesn’t matter which purchasing category your prospect is in, if you architect your message, show experience and showcase results for other customers, you will get the Buyers attention.
ABOUT kNEXTis LLC
The kNEXTis Team is focused on delivering results through a blend of traditional sales techniques, media and digital campaigns.
Interactive, integration and idea driven elements are always key modules of any sales generation campaign they put together.
Selling products and services with all the digital options at a businesses fingertips can be a challenge, and with a suite of digital, broadcast and online options kNEXTis can put together comprehensive sales & marketing packages for small and medium sized businesses.
kNEXTis also offers small and medium sized businesses a low cost one-on-one coaching service to help plan and execute your marketing plan, allowing you to run your business and we help grow it.
Race To The Start Line
A strange headline for a blog, “Race to the Start Line”, but it’s smartest thing a business should do.
Before I explain what I mean by this please indulge me with some observations I have made over the past 30 years in business.
I have sat in many meetings where the topic has been, “We have to FINISH Strong, lets end this quarter with our numbers”, well in most cases there was a flurry of activity and lots of stressed out executives and employees trying to hit their numbers.
Well I was taught by the best in the business, my father, and he always looked at things a little differently.
At budget time, we all know how those meetings turn out, lots of numbers and usually higher than the ones the year before, both on the expenses and the sales objectives – which is fine – we all need to grow.
But then they get placed in a folder and then reviewed at the end of each quarter to see how we are tracking.
Who looks forward to the end of quarter reviews?
So excited that we can’t sleep and we just want to get into the office super early that day?
Well my father told me that the only way to avoid these feelings is to beat the deadline and be in such a position of strength before the quarter ends, so that we can relax and enjoy the moment.
“Yeah Right” I hear you say.
Well let me pass on some of the wisdom I have learned.
“Race to the Start Line” is the key.
If you can position yourself in front of your competitors and create the awareness and the demand from your customers ahead of time then you can create what I call advance revenue, and if done strategically you can pre-sell in advance giving you time to plan for the next quarter.
This takes discipline, and team work and you have to focus on your goals and objectives to ensure you execute the plan.
Now I do accept that there are businesses that cannot use this approach, but the premise of creating a consistent and constant sales and marketing messages to start a fiscal year off strong has worked for our business.
We have created a formula that blends various tactics and strategies to deliver clear and comprehensive results, and with bi-weekly checks and balances we can ensure we are in front of our customers.
In our business, it’s about connecting with a relevant audience, and then communicating with people that want to know more about our shows, and the topics we are showcasing.
Our audience engagement tactics that we have developed, help us identify where we should be focusing our messages and how to create demand ahead of time.
We can then put the relevant content in front of them with a sales focused call to action.
Getting yourself out in front of your customers is vital, and racing to the “Start Line” for the NEW year is a valuable goal for your business, the sooner you are in front of them the shorter the revenue cycle is.
See you at the Start Line.
ABOUT kNEXTis LLC
The kNEXTis Team is focused on delivering results through a blend of traditional sales techniques, media and digital campaigns.
Interactive, integration and idea driven elements are always key modules of any sales generation campaign they put together.
Selling products and services with all the digital options at a businesses fingertips can be a challenge, and with a suite of digital, broadcast and online options kNEXTis can put together comprehensive sales & marketing packages for small and medium sized businesses.
kNEXTis also offers small and medium sized businesses a low cost one-on-one coaching service to help plan and execute your marketing plan, allowing you to run your business and we help grow it.
Work with Our Expert Consultants
Our consultants are from all types of industry sectors and we assign specific account managers and campaign teams to our clients so that we can deliver the best possible results.
We use a proven process, and we leverage our blend of consulting and marketing experience. That is why we say “We Bring Consulting and Marketing Together”.
Understanding why your customers buy products and services is essential to developing a sales campaign that is going to deliver results.
We call this a Value Proposition Canvas, which is a discovery session that helps our solution architects design your campaign.
Winning Means Business
One of the challenges for businesses is getting in front of your potential customers. The other challenge is getting accurate contact information. So how does a business connect and engage with potential buyers?
Over the past 20 years our team have been working with clients that have had that challenge, and they have designed solutions that stimulate a call to action.
We have a library of interactive games and contests that offer individuals the chance to win prizes in return for their contact information.
Our solutions are geared to drive a result, and that can be in the form of driving foot traffic through the doors of a quick serve restaurant, or capture the names of potential customers that visit your trade show booth.
Let out customer engagement consultants work with you to drive more engagement with your potential customers.
