The One Critical Question about Marketing Every CEO Should be Asking

Today we have a guest blog from Elizabeth Andreini:

You were probably one of the millions who watched the recent Seahawks Super bowl victory and accompanying ads. What you may not have realized is that a 30-second spot at the 2014 Super bowl costs approximately $4 million, and that’s only airtime, not the cost of creating the ad. Hearing that fact is when most people make snide comments or an uncomplimentary sound about wasting money on marketing. And although I’m a marketer, I agree.

Hopefully you don’t think that is what smart marketing is, spending beaucoup bucks with little chance of a significant revenue impact. That’s like thinking of marketing as a method of transportation and thinking you have to choose between a $100,000+ Tesla car and walking. If you are walking you probably aren’t going to get very far very fast, and at the same time there are a lot of other viable transportation options before you shell out $100,000+ on a fancy  electric car.

Some businesses don’t think that they do marketing or need to do marketing. They expect sales to promote their products (and assume that they are all saying the same thing) or believe their products and services “speak” for themselves. To those CEOs I say look honestly at your sales efforts and ask the question: “How am I getting word out about my company and its services when a sales rep isn’t in the room?” If you don’t have mindshare when your sales rep is outside the room then you are in trouble, maybe not today but tomorrow, or in the next economic downturn.

Marketing isn’t as useless as most Super bowl ads; it serves a purpose by building awareness and knowledge, even preference of your products and services – without having a one on one conversation. It also helps keep you top of mind for potential customers and referrers. Marketing helps create a consistent story about the benefits of your product and services that everyone hears. For those who don’t believe in “marketing” or are uncomfortable with “marketing” then let’s call it what it really is “relationship building.” (Hint: sponsoring events is marketing.)

Marketing helps you remind referral partners and customers that you offer great products and services, tell them about new offerings and help build and maintain strong relationships – and who doesn’t want that?!

Here are some questions to think about:

1. How strong a market presence does my company have when a member of the sales team isn’t in the room?
2. If I look at my company’s sales pipeline, am I relying too heavily on a few referral sources or passive responses to requests for proposals?
3. How many unsolicited inbound leads are coming to our company?
4. How is my company continuing to stay in front of past customers to keep mind share and encourage repeat business or referrals?
5. How effective is my company at rapidly communicating new and special offers to the market? 

ELIZABETH ANDREINI

As the President of Accelerate Marketing, LLC, Elizabeth Andreini, is the “secret

weapon” CEOs turn to at key growth points when they need to transform marketing and

product management to grow their customer base, increase revenue & scale their

business. In addition to providing experienced executive insight and guidance, Elizabeth

often works as an interim CMO or VP to provide the hands-on leadership needed to

rearchitect marketing and product management and improve execution from the inside.

Elizabeth Andreini, founder & president of Accelerate Marketing, LLC 

206-769-3420 or elizabeth@accelerate-marketing.com

www.accelerate-marketing.com

Twitter: @acceler8mkting

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethandreini

The easiest companies you’ll ever market (& sell) to are…

Today we have a guest blog from Elizabeth Andreini:

The easiest companies you’ll ever market (& sell) to are…your customers of course! But yet that seems to always be the group that gets the least attention by marketing (and sales). Don’t make that mistake!

Not too long ago I found myself at a company that was suddenly agitated because their customer retention rate unexpectedly dropped by almost 10% in a single year. Customer subscription revenue was a significant part of their total revenue, and actually had more impact than new customer revenue, so the impact to the bottomline was significant. The company hadn’t been paying attention and consistently marketing to their customers because they had been so busy chasing new business. Once the revenue started to drop it took them a while to respond, and by that time the damage was done. While they couldn’t have saved all those customers, neglect had taken its toll.

An unfortunate story and a hard lesson learned.

Once this company started to look at their customer base more thoroughly, the other lesson the company learned was that it was not selling new products and services to their customers, many of whom didn’t even know about other solutions available to purchase. The business was not only losing current revenue, they were leaving new revenue on the table! While retaining your customers is important, what is often even more frequently overlooked is that these same customers are the most fertile ground for new sales.

Your company may not be in that same situation, but are you doing the best job you could to stay in touch with your customer base and consistently market to your customers? Chasing new customers or market segments while neglecting your customer base, leaves your customers unappreciated and makes it easier for your competitors to acquire them.

So focus on chasing after current customers! Market to them! Make keeping your customer base informed about all current and new products and services a priority. Invest time and energize your customer base and you may find they actually help you sell new customers too!

As the CEO, five questions you should ask your marketing (and sales) departments:

1.    What is our customer retention rate and how could we improve it?

2.    How much time and resources is our company spending marketing to our customer base compared to chasing new customers and new markets?

3.    How are we keeping our customers informed about new product and services offerings, and are marketing and sales working together to encourage purchase?

4.    How can we help our customers be better evangelists for our products and services?

5.    What else do our customers need that it would make sense for us to provide them?

ELIZABETH ANDREINI

As the President of Accelerate Marketing, LLC, Elizabeth Andreini, is the “secret weapon” CEOs turn to at key growth points when they need to transform marketing and product management to grow their customer base, increase revenue & scale their business. In addition to providing experienced executive insight and strategic guidance, Elizabeth often works as an interim CMO or VP to provide the hands-on leadership needed to rearchitect marketing and product management and improve execution from the inside.

Elizabeth Andreini, founder & president of Accelerate Marketing, LLC 

Accelerate Marketing, LLC

206-769-3420 or elizabeth@accelerate-marketing.com

www.accelerate-marketing.com

Twitter: @acceler8mkting

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethandreini

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Know your customer’s “true” motivation

Today we have a guest blog from Andrew Ballard:

There is a difference between what your customers say their motivation is for buying your product, and what truly motivates their decision. Are you confident you know the difference? The wrong assumption can cost you sales.

Most buyers believe they employ a logical thought process in making purchasing decisions. This is true for both business and consumer segments. However, many studies demonstrate that most decisions are motivated by emotion not logic. That being said, most consumers still rationalize their purchases. Psychologists refer to this event as post-hoc rationalization.   

I know this to be true, professionally and personally. When I bought my last car (a sporty red Acura with a high performance engine and suspension…fastest car I’ve ever owned), it was purely an emotional decision. Of course, I tried to rationalize the purchase to my wife. On my way home from the dealership I called her. “I just bought a new car honey; it’s a pretty red Acura, gets 30 MPG and you’ll love the navigation system, I’m pulling in the driveway.”

As I set the parking break, I noticed Sandra standing in the front doorway; I waved enthusiastically; then I made the mistake of racing the engine…busted! She gave me the look—the kind of look a husband deserves after 20+ years of bliss—then rolled her eyes and went back inside the house.

So what does this revelation mean to your business?  It means you should focus more on your brand image and the emotional connections your market makes with your product. It means you should focus less on features and comparative data, and adjust your messaging accordingly.

If you are able to identify the “true” motivation for your customer’s buying decisions, and act on that knowledge, you will likely experience a significant increase in sales. At the very least, your customers won’t roll their eyes and walk away.

So I ask you, what is your current messaging strategy…is it rational or emotional?

How can you adjust your message to trigger the emotion that “truly” drives consumer behavior? 

ANDREW BALLARD

Andrew Ballard is the president of Marketing Solutions, a Seattle area agency that developsresearch-based growth strategies for small to midsize businesses.  He has over 30 years experience specializing in marketing research, strategic planning, brand development and revenue generation.  Ballard has helped hundreds of organizations (from startups through Fortune 500 companies) realize significant growth.

Andrew is a graduate of the Ford Marketing Institute and Certified in Six Sigma.  He is also a respected author and educator.  His articles on marketing strategy have been published in business journals through all 50 States.  His first book, entitled Your Opinion Doesn’t Matter, recently released to rave reviews in both corporate and academic circles.  In addition, he is adjunct faculty at the University of Washington.

 He can be reached at 425-337-1100 or www.mktg-solutions.com

Six Sigma marketing, a formula for success

Today we have a guest blog from Andrew Ballard:

Six Sigma is no longer just for large manufacturers. Smaller service companies can benefit too. The term Six Sigma refers to a measure of quality within six standard deviations, which translates to a maximum of 3.4 defects (or errors) per million...near perfection.

Near perfection may sound intimidating; however, in terms of applying Six Sigma to your business, I’m referring to more of a mindset than a metric. A customary Six Sigma exercise, which translates well to the functions of marketing and sales, involves process mapping.

Michael J. Webb, president of Sales Performance Consulting, put it well (in an iSix Sigma Magazine article), “Effective sales process mapping focuses on the goals and problems of buyers and sellers.”

The objective is to define the challenges and opportunities in the process of 1) identifying responsive segments, and making them aware of (and interested) in your product or service – the function of marketing; and 2) qualifying prospects’ needs and satisfying them – the function of sales.

We had a client that was unsatisfied with their sales numbers; their remedy was to increase the budget to pull more leads through the pipeline. Using process mapping we found that their weak link was conversion, and had nothing to do with quantity of leads. The real issue was sales training and tools. In essence, they were burning leads and would have thrown more good money after bad.

Begin the mapping process by defining and grouping your seller inputs (marketing and sales stimulus), and buyer outputs (prospects’ response). Using a flowchart format, map the linear progression from lead generation through customer service. Process maps differ by industry, business situation, objectives and resources. Customize your map by using MS Excel (it has an adequate flowchart tool).

Use Six Sigma as a philosophical and data driven approach toward improving your marketing and sales processes. It’s not just about generating more revenue; process improvement encompasses reducing costs, mistakes and time-to-market as well.

Near perfection may not be realistic for your business, but improving your marketing and sales process will likely lead to better customer experiences…which is the formula for success in any enterprise.

How do you detect your company’s strengths and weaknesses, with regard to marketing and selling processes? And, how would you use process mapping to identify opportunities that may improve your customers’ experience? Give process mapping a try…you won’t be disappointed. 

ANDREW BALLARD

Andrew Ballard is the president of Marketing Solutions, a Seattle area agency that develops research-based growth strategies for small to midsize businesses.  He has over 30 years experience specializing in marketing research, strategic planning, brand development and revenue generation.  Ballard has helped hundreds of organizations (from startups through Fortune 500 companies) realize significant growth.

Andrew is a graduate of the Ford Marketing Institute and Certified in Six Sigma.  He is also a respected author and educator.  His articles on marketing strategy have been published in business journals through all 50 States.  His first book, entitled Your Opinion Doesn’t Matter, recently released to rave reviews in both corporate and academic circles.  In addition, he is adjunct faculty at the University of Washington.

 He can be reached at 425-337-1100 or www.mktg-solutions.com

Unblurring the Line Between Marketing & Sales

Today we have a guest blog from Elizabeth Andreini:

Recently I was talking with a CEO who wanted to increase his sales and grow revenue to expand his business. The CEO wasn’t sure whether he should focus additional resources on the Marketing or Sales departments, wanting to allocate his limited budget wherever the company would get the biggest “bang for its buck.”

Because marketing and sales are so intertwined during the customer acquisition process the line where one stops and the other starts isn’t always clear. One question to help answer the “sales or marketing” question above is:

Do you need to do a better job generating awareness or interest in your company and its products/services to find more (or better) prospects OR do you need more help closing the prospects you have or closing those interested prospects faster? 

The former is Marketing, the latter Sales.

Marketing works in a one-to-many manner with the whole target market with a longer term focus. Marketing broadcasts key messages and benefits about the company and the products/services being sold to create awareness and interest from the entire market to identify prospective customers.  These leads” get handed off from Marketing to Sales for the individual interactions required to turn them into customers.

Sales is the personalized one-on-one interaction required to build a relationship, understand the unique requirements a specific prospect has, and communicate the benefits and value gained by becoming a customer. (Sales also interacts with existing customers to buy more products or services.) Sales has a near term goal to close a deal or get a specific contract signed.

Marketing should be done in coordination and consultation with the specialized knowledge sales, customer service, product development and others have. And Sales should rely on the expertise Marketing has to create the sales tools needed to communicate key messages and get customers interested enough to ask for more information and engage sales directly. Regardless of your answer, both groups need to work together for you to really get the most “bang for your buck” and the best marketing and sales for your company.

ELIZABETH ANDREINI:

As the President of Accelerate Marketing, LLC, Elizabeth Andreini, is the “secret weapon” CEOs turn to at key growth points when they need to transform marketing and product management and grow it to the next level critical for revenue and profitability. In addition to providing experienced executive insight and guidance, Elizabeth often comes in as an interim CMO or VP to provide the hands-on leadership needed to rearchitect marketing and product management and improve execution from the inside.

Elizabeth Andreini, founder & president of Accelerate Marketing, LLC. 

Accelerate Marketing, LLC

206-769-3420 or elizabeth@accelerate-marketing.com

www.accelerate-marketing.com

Twitter: @acceler8mkting

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethandreini