Last week we talked about the 6 parts of an SPF company, along with the purpose and processes of each, in The Business Bullseye
This week I have invited a marketing expert, Angi Semler Welch with Jumpdog Marketing, to share with you why you need both sales and marketing to grow your business
Here is what Angi says:
As small business owners, we wear many hats—some of which are more comfortable for us than others.
And when it comes to Sales and Marketing, it’s important to recognize that these are two separate hats. Yes, they work together, but they are not one and the same. If we focus on one and ignore the other, we make it much harder to gain momentum and hit our revenue goals.
Let’s break this broad category into bite-size, actionable chunks that we can use to drive more revenue in 2017.
What’s the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?
For the sake of this conversation, let’s consider Sales everything that includes:
- Identifying prospects.
- Cold calling or directly emailing prospects (as opposed to sending a mass email).
- Calling or directly emailing warm leads.
- Meeting with prospects (and all the efforts we go through to schedule that meeting).
- Answering phone or email requests for project estimates.
- Preparing, presenting and following up on project bids.
- Closing deals.
Similarly, let’s consider Marketing the following:
- Direct mail, such as a print newsletter to clients or a postcard to prospects.
- Email marketing, such as a newsletter.
- Expos and trade shows (exhibiting at).
- Networking.
- Online advertising, such as Google AdWords or an industry-specific website.
- Print advertising.
- Public relations.
- Social media.
- Your website.
How Do Sales and Marketing Work Together?
The best way to explain this is to look at some examples:
- Let’s say Harry is the salesman and makes cold calls all day long. Wouldn’t it be nice if he also received phone calls, such as from a general contractor he met at a networking event, an architect who received your postcard, or a homeowner who found you online? How many more deals could he close by talking with prospects who are ready to buy?
- And then there’s Sally, who has spent the last three years developing warm leads. Wouldn’t she be able to close more deals by staying “top of mind” with those leads by sending them a monthly e-newsletter? She can be in front of them regularly much more easily than she could if she were emailing or calling them one by one. And that means she’s far more likely to reach a prospect at a time when they’re ready for a bid.
- Similarly, let’s give Chris a boost. How many sales do we lose because we get busy and don’t follow-up – at all or often enough? Imagine how many more deals Chris would close if we set up a series of targeted, relevant emails or letters to the decision maker(s) after Chris has presented a proposal.
Do you see how marketing is supporting the sales team’s efforts? And with technology, so much marketing today can be automated and still customized. It helps your sales team accomplish so much more.
And what if you are the sales team for your company? You can compound your sales efforts and save time, which frees you up to switch to your Operations, Finance or HR hats.
Yes, marketing is going to cost you some money, but that’s where tracking your return-on-investment comes into play.
Which Sales and Marketing Tactics Should I Be Doing?
That’s the million-dollar question.
With limited time and finite budgets, we have to choose wisely.
Unfortunately, when it comes to sales, we all know how difficult it is to hire an A-player. And with marketing, many business owners waste thousands of dollars every year on marketing that simply does not work.
This topic warrants its own article—or a series of them. But for today, let me offer this advice:
- Make separate lists of the Sales and Marketing activities you’re doing now.
- Make two lists of the Sales or Marketing activities you’d like to add to the mix.
- Need a quick way to narrow down the list(s)? Weigh the amount of time and money each is going to require against the anticipated return.
- Take the ones that are left and map out how you’re going to measure each one. It should look something like this:
“It’s going to cost us $__________ to do ___________________.”
“We expect $_______ in sales in return over ____ days/months.”
“We’re going to track this by ____________________________.”
- Track it, track it, track it.
- Pull the plug on programs that don’t pay off and continue to build the ones that do.
Planning to implement new sales or marketing programs in the new year?
I’d love to hear how you put the tips in this article to work for you.
Angi Semler Welch is president and founder of Jumpdog Marketing Inc., a Chicago-based firm that helps business owners make more money with effective marketing that drives tangible results. She works with clients in the spray foam insulation, home building and automotive industries. You can reach her by email at [email protected] or by phone at 773-313-0755.
