Any business that provides a product or a service — so yes, every business — must always be thinking of new strategies and tactics to attract new customers. Businesses can’t grow unless new customers come knocking. But there’s one problem with this single-minded thinking to business development. Too much time spent on generating new business […]
As we all know, word-of-mouth is the best marketing channel, because trust is one of the most important factors in making a sale. That is especially true for B2B business, as there is a lot of money at stake potentially. If you want more high quality customers, you need to consider your existing customers as a great […]
Recently I attended a B2B marketing seminar, to stay abreast of the latest trends. While there are no radical game changers, the shifts we’ve seen in the B2B world continue to further differentiate B2B marketing from the consumer-based world. If you sell to businesses, then your approach needs to be aligned with the way your […]
When you are trying to sell to larger organizations, you quickly discover that the person you are in contact with is not the sole decision maker. And every new person introduced into the mix has a unique perspective on the situation. How can you best deal with these scenarios. Where possible, I recommend mapping out […]
A Quick Response After Kim’s last blog, I had a few clients ask about businesses that are operated based on ‘homerun clients.’ These are businesses that will land clients that make up the bulk of their business. Similar to the formula in Kim’s blog, I recommend these business look at their three-year run rate and […]
As we near the end of January, you’ve probably set your sales goals for 2012 but how do you know if you’ve set realistic targets? Realistic goal setting is an area where most clients fall down. The issue is that setting extravagant sales targets erodes their value as a business planning tool, for budgeting and forecasting. […]
There’s one word that can make business owners shiver and rush out of a room, unlikely excuses falling off their tongues as they scale walls and cross oceans to get out unscathed. That word is CONSULTANT. Consultants have bad rap and it’s no wonder. Many consultants will hijack hours of your time, only to deliver […]
They are a relic of the past. There are still a few industries which prominently feature finders fees as a way to incentivize business referrals, but there has been a marked move away from these in the past decade. The reason? it began with the corporate malfeasance early in the millennium at companies like Enron […]
Last blog I discussed disciplines which owner-managers who sell can use to improve their game. But there’s an interesting step to take which they cannot accomplish themselves – external accountability. It’s a simple concept – but a tough one for the boss. Every two weeks, you report your business development progress to someone else. That […]
Business owners are frequently their own best sales person – sometimes the only one. The sales process works well for them because they are passionate, know the business well, and the very fact that they are not sales people usually works in their favour. So not being trained in sales can be good. But it […]
It’s the end of the network TV season, and we all know not to expect much over the summer months. Most B2B businesses take this same approach, expecting sales to drop off. As their customers are frequently vacationing, it seems too much trouble to take on summertime projects. But it’s those low season jobs that […]
I always cringe a little when I hear folks talk casually about developing a brand and UVP. They’ve become buzzwords which businesses come to value over measurable gains. “Sure we lost money last year,” I’ll hear, “But we made great strides in establishing the brand, and getting our UVP out there.” The UVP, in case […]
In a mid to large sized company where there is a layer of middle management, many business developers don’t fully understand the power of that layer. There is a tendency to want to appeal directly to the president or CEO. It’s seen as a short-cut to decision making, and direct access to the cheque book. […]
Pipelines. These days we think of high oil prices when someone mentions the word pipeline. But if you spent any time in sales for a large organization, you know that you likely had to prepare a monthly pipeline report for your sales manager. This is a largely overlooked discipline for owner/managed small to mid-sized businesses. […]
The contacts you have in an organization may not be the right people to make decisions, or the influencers of those decisions. But there are no bad contacts. Within any organization, it's important to understand their structure, and where your contacts sit within that framework. There are generally three major types of contacts you can […]
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