It is quite difficult to achieve your goals if you are unsure of what they are. So, make sure to develop new company goals that are both clear and attainable while also stretching. Then devise a strategy to achieve those objectives. You will be in a better position to market your company to potential clients both in person and online if you have a firm grasp on that. Without knowing the costs associated with the many routes to market, how can you assess each option’s feasibility in relation to your goals and budget?
Workout the ROI
For example, if your value of the sale is low for a particular product or service in a particular sector, you may need to use email marketing or even advertising to reach a large audience quickly at a low cost per contact. If the value of the sale is high, the personal touch (e.g. exhibitions, telemarketing) is almost definitely needed and the cost of sale will rise but that’s set against a strong ROI that may justify the spend.
No business manager knows everything so take advantage of any support you can get. That could be by reading and implementing actions from blogs like these or using a sales and marketing expert for your strategy or implementation of government support such as GrowthAccelerator.
Become an Expert
This relates to information around your area of expertise. There are over 100 articles, tips, podcasts and blogs on this site. We get large traffic numbers from people wanting knowledge. This in turn pushes up Google rankings and from that, we gain new business inquiries. Social media is a fundamental change to how we communicate both socially and in business. Younger managers have arrived in the workplace and they expect to engage on different platforms not just by email and on your website. You need to play in this arena or you will disappear from both search and potential supplier shortlists.
Become a consultant not a salesman
No buyer likes to be sold to. Old fashioned selling techniques have long gone. Nowadays, especially at a higher value of the sale, you must be prepared to give good advice even if it means no sale at that time. Goodwill and recommendation have more long-term value than short-term sales gain when that sale may not be the right solution for the client.
Make sure that your colleagues also focus on the new business effort. It can be as simple as a call to a prospect or writing a blog or sending an email. But make it a discipline that new business is a daily task. Content is great but you can’t rely on people simply finding your website. Buyers increasingly consult their networks and find relevant content through social media. That means you need to share your information through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social platforms. Google+ and YouTube are particularly important in a b2b context since both are increasingly found in search results. That means both offline and online. People cannot buy your services or recommend you if you aren’t there. That means scheduling time for attending networking events and also for participating in relevant conversations on forums online using LinkedIn and so on. Social influence is increasingly important so start to build your network.
