Winning At Business With Your Marketing Game Plan

Stuart from Colorado had talked to a number of marketing firms and gotten estimates for designing and printing his marketing materials and building a web site for his business producing promotional cds. One firm quoted $100,000 to build his web site alone. He sensed something was missing or wrong, but couldn't put his finger on it, so he called me.

I asked Stuart how the various marketing pieces and activities were going to work together to help him generate leads. I asked him what his marketing strategy was. He drew a blank. The marketing firms he had talked to had provided detailed information on what they were going to produce for him, but none had discussed a coordinated plan to generate leads and sales.

Marketing without an integrated strategy is like playing poker, tennis or football without knowing the rules, keeping score or having a game plan. You could put in a lot of time, energy, and capital, and still end up losing the game. Has this happened to you?

Winning at business is the same as any other game, whether your objective is to beat the competition or just to be the best in your industry. To be successful, you need to know the rules of the game, have a clear strategy and track your progress.

The Rules for Winning at Marketing and Sales Here are some of the most essential rules to follow to succeed at marketing your business.

1. Written goals are motivating and can help you succeed. Define your objectives for revenue, lead generation and conversion rates for the year and then break those down for each quarter. Commit them to writing. Next list the weekly and daily tasks you and/or your employees need to accomplish in order to reach your goals.

2. The more qualified prospects you can attract, the more clients you'll have. A clearly defined lead generation strategy will bring in the new prospects you need to be profitable.

3. It's easier to convert prospects to clients when they are looking to solve a problem. It's much harder to convert people who don't have a current need or concern, even if they are members of your target market. Instead of seeking prospects, prompt prospects to look for you.

4. You'll get a better response from marketing messages that are focused on client problems and concerns, not on your credentials or descriptions of products and processes. If you're not getting the response you'd like from your mailings, ads or web site, take a second look at your marketing message. A few changes in your marketing copy can increase response by factors of ten or more.

5. Integrate your tactics and message across your marketing materials, ads, and web site to prompt people to seek you out and contact you. Trying to generate leads without an integrated strategy is like playing football without a set of plays for the quarterback to use with the team. He'd end up throwing the ball only to find the receiver had gone the other direction or go for a field goal on the first down.

6. The purpose of having a web site is to generate leads. Once you have a lead you can use it to generate sales. Once you get prospects to your web site or reading your marketing materials, make sure you prompt them to contact you.

7. Most sales are the result of a relationship based on your credibility and the value of your products or services. Developing these relationships can take weeks or months to build. Your marketing strategy should facilitate this process of building relationships over time, with multiple opportunities for contacting prospects.

8. The easiest people to sell to are past customers. Prompt first time clients to buy from you again and again.

Keeping Score In order to know if your marketing is working you need ways of keeping score. Which marketing results are you tracking? Which additional ones should you define each month and quarter to track?

Keep track of these important 'scores' to evaluate your marketing:

1. How many prospects seek your firm out each month? Is this number growing each month by five to ten percent?

2. What percentage of people who are exposed to your ads, your web site and other marketing materials give you their contact information so you can stay in touch with them?

3. How many people are on your house list of qualified prospects? How fast is this list growing each month?

4. How many people buy from you each week? What is the dollar volume of each sale?

5. How many sales come from repeat customers?

Whether we're talking poker, tennis, or marketing your small business, the objective is to improve your performance and succeed more often. When you have a game plan, know the rules and track your scores, you can continually find ways to improve your marketing and be more successful.

2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan eBook, for small business owners and people responsible for marketing, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

---

Simple Marketing Idea - Big Marketing Results!

Have you ever noticed how many times it's the simplest... Read More

Work Backward And Make More Sales!

It goes against the grain, especially for those of us... Read More

Are Your Brochures Worth The Paper Theyre Printed On?

Brochures are one of the oldest marketing weapons in the... Read More

FREE Means MORE Business

Why give freebies?We have all seen freebies at trade shows... Read More

Fail Your Way To Small Business Marketing Success!

Are you willing to fail your way to great marketing... Read More

Fundraising Letter Envelopes: How To Make Them Irresistible

Readers spend only a few seconds deciding the fate of... Read More

Basic Brand Building

A brand is the essence of who you are. The... Read More

What the Heck is a Campaign and Why Do I Need to Do One?

Many people ask me, "What is a postcard campaign, exactly?"... Read More

Top Five 2004 Required Marketing Tips Needed to Succeed

When marketing your practice, as well as designing yourbrochure, web... Read More

How Your List Affects Postage Costs

HOW YOUR LIST AFFECTS POSTAGE COSTS AND WHAT YOU CAN... Read More

Top 3 Reasons Why Your Headlines Fail

Many professional copywriters estimate that the headline contributes to 80%... Read More

Write It and They Will Come ? 5 Ways that Written Information Products Can Help You Build Your Busin

Whether it's a downloadable report available from your website, a... Read More

Meaning and Marketing - The Eye of the Storm

It's 1954. Yes, Mrs. Patricia Smith has been a good... Read More

Are You Marketing Backwards?

Marketing is like rowing a boat. When you know how... Read More

5 Great Ways to Reach Your Target Market

There are many ways to reach out and find the... Read More

Generational Marketing

Having run a multi-state franchise company with multiple brands it... Read More

Color Part 1: Accuracy

Color is one of the most difficult parts of a... Read More

Devious and Deceptive Packaging

Have you read anything in the news lately about childhood... Read More

Ten Ways to Market Your Business by Doing What You Love To Do

Most business owners get so involved in the work of... Read More

Take the Logo Litmus Test

Here is your C.I.T.T. (pronounced "kit")[Color ? Illustrate? Type ?... Read More

B2B Marketing Tips - Create an Interactive Online Experience for Clients

Business to business communications on the web are as stale... Read More

Maximize Your Lead Generation Efforts by Recycling Your Leads

The basic lead generation process is pretty much the same... Read More

How Important is Your Marketing?

Bob called last week from Phoenix, Arizona with some stunning... Read More

Powerhouse Marketing With Persuasive Postcards

The lowly postcard?it's more than just a "having fun, wish... Read More

Why Do They Buy?

A recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine included a marketing story... Read More

Make More Sells With Colors

How Colors Effect Our Emotions?One of the most interesting things... Read More

Mortgage Marketing - How to Find Your Niche

Ann Landers, Dr. Phil and Roger Ebert take pleasure in... Read More

Direct Marketing ? Brand Identity Guru Tips

If your company doesn't have a direct marketing program in... Read More

Make More Money with Marketing Metrics

Do you know how effective each of your individual marketing... Read More

Are Your Prospects Walking Out on You?

After 11 years in sales, I've put together and delivered... Read More

Are You Playing Checkers or Chess?

When you think about how to attract more clients for... Read More

Arts Marketing : Suggestions for Students and Beginners

Many artists create art but when it comes to marketing... Read More

Developing the Unique Selling Proposition

The "Unique Selling Proposition" advertising campaign was developed by Reeves... Read More