You have been told a lie. It is NOT marketing AND sales. It is marketing THEN sales. And still, it does not end there.
You see, the moment you realize it is marketing THEN sales, your process changes. Your thinking and actions become more aligned and clearer.
Marketing becomes responsible for certain actions. Sales will be responsible for other actions.
So; what is marketing responsible for? McGraw and Hill gave us that answer in 1958. Yes, we have known this since then. Amazing isn’t it? Let us break it down.
Now – what was it you wanted to sell me? MORAL: Sales start BEFORE your salesman calls – with business publication advertising.
What is marketing responsible for:
- Awareness in the market (if they do not know you they cannot buy from you)
- Trust (marketing must build trust with the customer)
- Know what you offer
What is sales responsible for:
- Making an offer
- Answering objections
- Finalizing the sale
If you are like many people, you might be thinking; ok … so marketing gets the lead and the sales person must close. That is one way of doing things.
There is another way. It is called sales funnels. But again, we are misguided by the name. It should be called marketing THEN sales funnels. But that does not roll off the tongue now does it?
Just this slight change will have a BIG impact in your marketing game. Marketing THEN Sales.
With each one there are subsets of things happening. These include:
- Email marketing
- Facebook marketing
- LinkedIn marketing
- Google Ads (search and display ads)
- Re-targeting
- Your Website
- Product pages
- Blogs
- Video
- Sales pages
- Your message
- Your USP (unique selling proposition)
In this space there are 3 critical items:
- Your positioning: How are you positioned in the market?
- Your promotion: What promotions are you doing?
- Your processes: What are the nuts and bolts of doing things?
Just to be clear. I am not talking about branding or brand marketing here. A brand is important. It is important to have a clear concise brand which can be trusted. It is more than just branding. There is positioning in the market and your promotion.
When you are marketing you need to have 3 core elements:
- Add value
- Build trust
- Make an offer
If you do not tell people exactly what the next step is, they do nothing. A confused prospect does not buy. Tell them exactly what to do next. Make an offer. There are many ways that you can do this. It is important to make offers every time. Be consistent. And make it easy for people to buy from you.
Got it. It is marketing THEN sales. And each one is responsible for specific results in the market place.
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