SALES AND MARKETING: 10 Actions That Grow Revenues: Part 2

Sales and Marketing with Bill Doerr

15 Second Executive Speed Read

This month I will complete the ten (10) actions that will definitely grow your revenues. They take place in a context based on three things:

1. Objective . . . to grow revenues


2. Strategy . . . involving prospects, clients and COI's


3. Goals . . . ten (10) actions to do to achieve your objective

This month, let's look at the last five 'actions' this suggests:

6. Use a CRM
Once you really get underway, you'll find that the myriad contacts your marketing calls for . . . that must be orchestrated as to WHO gets WHAT kind of contact and WHEN . . . quickly strain even the most disciplined mind. Therefore, you want to get some kind of contact relationship management (CRM) software to help you manage your contacts.

I've recently become enamored of an online CRM product that works on a PC or Mac. It's called Solve360 from Norada Corporation. It's not something you have to install and, as long as you have a browser and an internet connection, you'll be in business. I like it because more than one person can access the same data and no 'sync'ing is needed. But whether you use this or ACT! or Goldmine or . . . you need a CRM!

Suggestion . . . get a CRM that is designed to help you manage your marketing activities. This means more than just keeping your calendar! And, while it may not seem like it now, the software you choose must be able to coordinate and produce all kinds of communications -- from printed letters to 'dripped' emails, etc.


7. Drip . . . Your Marketing Communications
Closely related to the prior point about using a CRM to manage your marketing activities and contacts, it's imperative that you understand and apply what marketers know . . . "marketing is NEVER . . . a one-time-only event".

To be effective, your marketing messages need to be sent to your contacts on a regular basis. In the marketing field, we call this kind of repeated contact with prospects, clients and centers-of-influence 'Dripping' on them. (Note: it works!)

Just remember this . . . marketing is a STRATEGIC not a tactical experience. You'll need to plan for and carry out your marketing over time . . . and using regular, respectful and relevant communications to do that . . . is very important.


8. RE-Qualify . . . Religiously!
Just because some person 'qualifies' as a prospective client for your services, you must not assume they will always deserve that classification. This is why you must plan to periodically re-contact everyone you're cultivating with your repeated communications and re-qualify their status as 'still viable' . . . i.e. able to provide you with future sales and/or future introductions to people who can buy what you're selling.
Bottom Line: NEVER assume that someone is 'always' qualified for your time, energy, money and attention. If they pass muster once, you must periodically plan to reconnect and requalify their status. Fail to do this and you'll find that you're carrying a lot more 'empty eggs' in your business CRM than you may like or want.

9. Generate INTRODUCTIONS . . . Accept REFERRALS
Earlier, I mentioned the need to establish a network of centers-of-influence. These are people who know, like and trust you. They are your 'fans'. They are also a great source of names of people who should be made aware of you and your services. And, where possible, vice-versa. So a COI is WHERE you must go to get names of people who could become a client or customer of yours. If not today, then in the foreseeable future.

The names you collect from these people is WHAT you want from them. And the kind of name you want is an INTRODUCTION or, 'Preferral' (preferred introduction).

A Preferral is someone who:

1. satisfies your 'Ideal Client' profile (now you see why you had to define that?)


2. respects and values the opinions of your key people -- COI's


3. you can meet by leveraging the influence and prestige of your COI's

If you'd really like to know how to generate a LOT of these 'introductions' to fill your pipeline, contact me and I'll send you a Special Report of mine on the topic!

10. Create 'Killer Content'
Some years ago, Howard Shenson, the highly regarded and extremely successful marketing consultant to other consultants did a study of all kinds of consultants and how they generated clients.

He found that a major difference between consultants earning less than $50K and those making more than $100K was that those earning more money were far more likely to use PUBLIC SPEAKING and WRITING as means of promoting themselves than those earning in the lower income range. (NOTE: times have changed, income levels have too. But the principle is pretty much the same!)

OK, let's suppose that speaking in public is NOT your forte. Don't worry!

Writing on topics of interest and value to your target market members is a lot less anxiety producing. Actually, you can even outsource this to professional copywriters -- just give them the content and let them make it look good!

Ultimately, what you'll want to do is create a 'game plan' for either getting in front of the kind of people who can appreciate your Mission and/or creating the kind of 'info-products' (e.g. Special Reports, White Papers, etc.) that will help you achieve a certain level of lasting notoriety and position yourself as a highly qualified resource of practical expertise in your chosen field.

LAST . . . but NOT LEAST . . .

1. RE-read this 3-part article . . . again . . . with a highlighter and make notes. Make sure you're comfortable with these ideas I've presented for you here.


2. Identify any 'step' where you have a reasonable opportunity for improvement


3. Prioritize these 10 steps in terms of their impact on your main objective -- to increase your clientele and income!


4. Devise ACTion Plans to reduce / eliminate any weakness you may have found:

A. DEFINE and objective that, when achieved, indicates the weakness is 'history'

B. ASSESS your resources -- to be sure you can do what your objective/s suggest

C. IDENTIFY any/all ACTion steps required to achieve your objective/s

D. ASSIGN a time-frame for completing each step you've chosen

E. IDENTIFY who is to be responsible for completing each step in your plan

F. MONITOR your planned / actual results called for by your plan

G. CORRECT any 'discrepancies' you find as quickly as you practically can

H. ACCOMPLISH your objective . . . that you created the plan for in the first place

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Bill Doerr is a partner at SellMore Marketing. He helps professionals and other service providers to market their problem-solving expertise simply, effectively and affordably. You can reach him at http://stayintouchmachine.com/, or by phone at 860-798-6964.

For more information, please visit Bill's TNNWC Bio.

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SALES AND MARKETING: 10 Actions That Grow Revenues: Part 2