Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Other Added - How do You Get the Most Out of a Limited B2B Marketing Budget?
Have you ever realized, as a business owner you frequently repeat some tasks more than twice daily? If yes is your response, I bet you also didn’t realize the amount of time used to repeatedly do the same tasks. For example, after a sample session with a potential client, I explain my services, fees and expectations as well as ask a series of questions to see if we will be a good fit for one another. This process took an additional 15 – 20 minutes beyond the allotted sample session time. I decided that I could save time and close the sale quicker if this process was automated, so I developed a Welcome Packet and Questions that the potentia
Lesson 4
So far this exercise has cost you nothing but time, effort, and the embarrassment of not having this vital data to hand in the first place. We should now have on a single spreadsheet a list of the decision makers and key influencers at your most important customers, cross referenced with who buys what and how much of their spend you’ve got. This list needs to be prioritised a bit further.
Action Point
Take the list of customers and add a column for Annual Revenue. This can be for last year, or the last twelve months, or even the last six months annualised. Now sort the list with the highest revenue customer at the top. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 5
Fine-tu
One need only to scan a newspaper or read a weekly magazine to be astounded by the number of stories about new medical breakthroughs, disease processes, emerging threats of disease, or innovations in medical and health care technology. The World Health Organization warns us to prepare for a potential worldwide Bird Flu epidemic, terrorists threaten us with chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and new protocols for ACLS are released. How is a working nurse to keep up?Nursing education provides the basic building blocks of medical, scientific, and nursing knowledge, but competence in the nursing profession requires an ongoing proc
If you really are in B2B then you will know all of your customers pretty well because they’ve been placing orders with you for a while and should continue placing orders with you for a good while longer. The reality is that many salespeople, for whatever reason, not only don’t like administrative tasks such as maintaining databases but also regard their customers as their customers, not the businesses.
Action Point
Ensure that your business keeps an up-to-date record of the most important decision makers and key influencers. If you must, give the database an unthreatening title, such as the Christmas Card List. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 2
Just who are your most important customers? Are they the customers that spend the most with you? Are they the ones that give you the biggest margin or the most profit? Or are they the organisations that you currently do some business with but could do a lot more?
Action Point
Make it clear to the sales teams exactly which type of customers are important, and what sort of mix is required, and why. You might need the large accounts to pay for the overheads, the high margin accounts to contribute to profits and the growth potential accounts to fit into the growth plans you’ve got. Not to mention the inevitable customer churn. Once this is done, the Director of Sales can manage how time, effort and resources are spent, making sure that they are in line with your plans. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 3
We all need to sell more to stand still because of the nature of customer churn. When pressurised into producing Growth Plans we must always bear in mind the “hierarchy of risk” map. This hierarchy goes in three stages.
Low risk is selling more to existing customers.
Medium risk is selling your existing range to new customers and selling new stuff to existing customers.
High risk is selling new stuff to new customers.
The safest route to take is to sell more to your existing customers and the easiest way of doing this is through the Windows of Opportunity.
Action Point
Take the list of your Most Important customers (the Christmas Card List), perhaps also using Pareto’s 80:20 rule to refine the list still further, putting the names in the left hand column. Then, across the top, list out the products or services that you offer. This may be Nuts, Bolts and Washers; Vales, Pumps and Actuators; or PR, Copy Writing and Consultancy. Now, against each item in the matrix, put the estimated level of penetration (or wallet-share) you have with each customer against each product or service you offer. Show this as a rough percentage – 100% or 80% or 30% - something simple that everyone can understand. You might need help from the sales people on this. Better still, use the delivery drivers. They often get to see the inside of the customers’ warehouses and they know who’s buying what from whom. This is your Window of Opportunity. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 4
So far this exercise has cost you nothing but time, effort, and the embarrassment of not having this vital data to hand in the first place. We should now have on a single spreadsheet a list of the decision makers and key influencers at your most important customers, cross referenced with who buys what and how much of their spend you’ve got. This list needs to be prioritised a bit further.
Action Point
Take the list of customers and add a column for Annual Revenue. This can be for last year, or the last twelve months, or even the last six months annualised. Now sort the list with the highest revenue customer at the top. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 5
Fine-tu
Today, companies have an ever-expanding list of options available to them when it comes to sourcing new employees, from advertising in newspapers and trade journals to powerful, cost-effective recruiting options available through the Internet. Unfortunately, the growth in the number of recruiting options available has made the competition for top candidates even more fierce.So how do you break out of the pack to find the people that you need? Like most other business activities, a successful recruiting program must be a planned effort. Here are some tips for ensuring that your recruiting effort produces results:Always Be Recr
Action Point
Make it clear to the sales teams exactly which type of customers are important, and what sort of mix is required, and why. You might need the large accounts to pay for the overheads, the high margin accounts to contribute to profits and the growth potential accounts to fit into the growth plans you’ve got. Not to mention the inevitable customer churn. Once this is done, the Director of Sales can manage how time, effort and resources are spent, making sure that they are in line with your plans. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 3
We all need to sell more to stand still because of the nature of customer churn. When pressurised into producing Growth Plans we must always bear in mind the “hierarchy of risk” map. This hierarchy goes in three stages.
Low risk is selling more to existing customers.
Medium risk is selling your existing range to new customers and selling new stuff to existing customers.
High risk is selling new stuff to new customers.
The safest route to take is to sell more to your existing customers and the easiest way of doing this is through the Windows of Opportunity.
Action Point
Take the list of your Most Important customers (the Christmas Card List), perhaps also using Pareto’s 80:20 rule to refine the list still further, putting the names in the left hand column. Then, across the top, list out the products or services that you offer. This may be Nuts, Bolts and Washers; Vales, Pumps and Actuators; or PR, Copy Writing and Consultancy. Now, against each item in the matrix, put the estimated level of penetration (or wallet-share) you have with each customer against each product or service you offer. Show this as a rough percentage – 100% or 80% or 30% - something simple that everyone can understand. You might need help from the sales people on this. Better still, use the delivery drivers. They often get to see the inside of the customers’ warehouses and they know who’s buying what from whom. This is your Window of Opportunity. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 4
So far this exercise has cost you nothing but time, effort, and the embarrassment of not having this vital data to hand in the first place. We should now have on a single spreadsheet a list of the decision makers and key influencers at your most important customers, cross referenced with who buys what and how much of their spend you’ve got. This list needs to be prioritised a bit further.
Action Point
Take the list of customers and add a column for Annual Revenue. This can be for last year, or the last twelve months, or even the last six months annualised. Now sort the list with the highest revenue customer at the top. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 5
Fine-tu
Promoting products or services on the web isn't the only way to make money online. Your knowledge can make you a nice income. People are always seeking knowledge that can help them solve a problem, to educate them, or just for entertainment. There can be a lot of cash to be made by selling information products online. The potential for huge earnings are great because there is low start up costs and, in many cases, no inventory to maintain.One of the most common information products available is an e-Book which is simply information in an electronic rather than paper format.Some other information products can include things such
Lesson 3
We all need to sell more to stand still because of the nature of customer churn. When pressurised into producing Growth Plans we must always bear in mind the “hierarchy of risk” map. This hierarchy goes in three stages.
Low risk is selling more to existing customers.
Medium risk is selling your existing range to new customers and selling new stuff to existing customers.
High risk is selling new stuff to new customers.
The safest route to take is to sell more to your existing customers and the easiest way of doing this is through the Windows of Opportunity.
Action Point
Take the list of your Most Important customers (the Christmas Card List), perhaps also using Pareto’s 80:20 rule to refine the list still further, putting the names in the left hand column. Then, across the top, list out the products or services that you offer. This may be Nuts, Bolts and Washers; Vales, Pumps and Actuators; or PR, Copy Writing and Consultancy. Now, against each item in the matrix, put the estimated level of penetration (or wallet-share) you have with each customer against each product or service you offer. Show this as a rough percentage – 100% or 80% or 30% - something simple that everyone can understand. You might need help from the sales people on this. Better still, use the delivery drivers. They often get to see the inside of the customers’ warehouses and they know who’s buying what from whom. This is your Window of Opportunity. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 4
So far this exercise has cost you nothing but time, effort, and the embarrassment of not having this vital data to hand in the first place. We should now have on a single spreadsheet a list of the decision makers and key influencers at your most important customers, cross referenced with who buys what and how much of their spend you’ve got. This list needs to be prioritised a bit further.
Action Point
Take the list of customers and add a column for Annual Revenue. This can be for last year, or the last twelve months, or even the last six months annualised. Now sort the list with the highest revenue customer at the top. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 5
Fine-tu
Among the many advantages of marketing your business with promotional items is the visibility you gain when your gifts are used. If increasing brand awareness and recognition is part of your intent in using promotional gifts for marketing, then visibility should be high on your priority list when you choose which items or gifts to use. Of course, visibility is – if you’ll forgive the pun – in the eye of the beholder. There are many different kinds of visibility. Before you make your choice of promotional giveaways, you should decide exactly what you hope to gain from them and the type of visibility that you want. That will help you choose pro
Lesson 4
So far this exercise has cost you nothing but time, effort, and the embarrassment of not having this vital data to hand in the first place. We should now have on a single spreadsheet a list of the decision makers and key influencers at your most important customers, cross referenced with who buys what and how much of their spend you’ve got. This list needs to be prioritised a bit further.
Action Point
Take the list of customers and add a column for Annual Revenue. This can be for last year, or the last twelve months, or even the last six months annualised. Now sort the list with the highest revenue customer at the top. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 5
Fine-tu
Everything you do in life – from the way you dress to the car you buy, from the friends you see to the club you belong, from the notes you write to the way you speak -- either builds or diminishes your personal brand. Below are ten suggestions for building a stronger personal brand.One: Become an expert source. Deliver a speech, write a bylined article, and become an expert source for reporters. Make sure you have a current photo, bio, resume, and speaker introduction.Two: Become a great communicator. Research shows communications skill is the top determinant for upward social and professional mobility. Join Toastmasters
Lesson 4
So far this exercise has cost you nothing but time, effort, and the embarrassment of not having this vital data to hand in the first place. We should now have on a single spreadsheet a list of the decision makers and key influencers at your most important customers, cross referenced with who buys what and how much of their spend you’ve got. This list needs to be prioritised a bit further.
Action Point
Take the list of customers and add a column for Annual Revenue. This can be for last year, or the last twelve months, or even the last six months annualised. Now sort the list with the highest revenue customer at the top. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 5
Fine-tuning the list based on the Windows of Opportunity can have a huge impact on the direction of the business as a whole. It is best to take the whole figure for penetration rather than the individual scores for each market segment, as this next stage doesn’t want to get too messy.
Action Point
Create a new column entitled Overall Penetration and stick to simple percentages such as 50% or 75%. Now divide the revenue by the percentage figure and the result should be the account potential. Sort the spreadsheet again, with the highest potential, shown in Pound Notes, at the top. This should be a list of your softest targets. Cost: ?nil
Lesson 6
We’ve touched on customer churn already in this exercise. Some churn is unavoidable – mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies all contribute – but in general at least two-thirds of customer migration can and should be caught before it happens. If you have a churn rate of 15%, it should be possible bring that figure down to just 5% within a few months, thereby putting an extra 10% on revenue forecast.
Action Point
To do this you need to Listen to your Customers. Find out their little niggles. Find out whether there are any personality clashes between your sales people and their buyers. Find out what is stopping them from giving you all of their business; from passing you on to other buyers of your goods and services within their organisation. And find out what issues might be driving them to look elsewhere.
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.otheradded.com/article/28374/otheradded-How-do-You-Get-the-Most-Out-of-a-Limited-B2B-Marketing-Budget.html">How do You Get the Most Out of a Limited B2B Marketing Budget?</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.otheradded.com/article/28374/otheradded-How-do-You-Get-the-Most-Out-of-a-Limited-B2B-Marketing-Budget.html]How do You Get the Most Out of a Limited B2B Marketing Budget?[/url]
Related Articles:
Information Products as a Way Out
Does Size Matter? According to the Research, Yes.
Top 7 Secrets to Franchising Your Existing Business
Bookmark it:
|