INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS: THE RIGHT MESSAGE, THE RIGHT AUDIENCE, THE RIGHT TIME

As companies have struggled to survive the economic roller coaster of the last two years, many have fallen into the trap of relying on old tactics to generate new results from their advertising, public relations, and marketing campaigns. While this approach sometimes works, it usually does not. The problem is that most campaigns were conceived well before this current crisis, and as it has unfolded, most companies have simply been trying to hang on and survive. But, as the needs of customers (both internal and external) have changed, so must the strategies we implement and the tactics we use to support them.

I recently had the CEO of a small company ask why he should do business with me. I sat back in my chair and thought for a moment, and just as I was about to start spewing out about all of the awards we had won and our amazing staff, I caught myself. I realized that he didn’t want to hear about my business, he wanted to hear about how my business might help his. It wasn’t about me.

My approach to business development is simple: understand what you are really good at, and look for companies who need the services you can provide. This sounds simple, but it isn’t. Because customers have become inundated with so many pieces of information on a daily basis, they have started to tune us out. We end up like junk mail: our message gets lost in the delivery.

My approach is to make my message about the customer. I ask questions in order to understand the unique business challenges they face, and then work with them to develop custom solutions. By building partnerships, I become so relevant to their business that they can’t help but buy from me. For my organization, this creates brand loyalty. For the customer this creates trust. In today’s world, trust matters big time.

Integrated communications is the idea that all brand contacts with customers and prospects must remain consistent and relevant over time. When discussing an organizations communication strategy, it is important to start with the story: what do they want their customers and prospects to know, and work outwards. My approach to business development is to do the exact same thing. Customers understand that I am on their side, bringing innovative solutions to the table that help solve complex business problems while improve their bottom line. That is my story.

Personality Types- Avoiding the “Cookie-Cutter” Approach to Sales

Most sales reps take a cookie cutter approach to sales. They have one sales pitch and assume it works for every buyer. That couldn’t be further from the truth. All buyers are different, but in general, they fall into one of four personality types. There is a lot of crossover, but the sooner you can figure out which personality type best fits your buyer, the sooner you can get them to buy. The worst thing you can do is go into an appointment without a game plan and take the wrong approach with the wrong buyer. Really good sales reps understand this and do their homework, but they are also able to change their approach on the fly if they need to.

Here are a few questions to consider for each personality type. I hope this helps!

HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS PERSONALITY TYPE IN CUSTOMERS?Guardians- A guardian is going to test you in the first two or three minutes of your conversation. They aren’t comfortable “winging it”, and like dealing with sales reps who know their stuff. Sometimes they ask questions they already know the answer to just to get your response. If you blow it, your credibility is gone.
Idealists- Idealists like to know their sales reps on a personal basis. They like to know who they are dealing with. They ask a lot of questions and are genuinely interested in your answers, but usually don’t share their own opinions right away. Once they get to know you they open up.
Artisan- Artisans go right for your samples. They are visual people, and go with their emotions, so you need to get them excited about doing business with you. They are more interested in the end result than they are with the process to get there.
Rationals- I know I’m dealing with a rational when they send test files and ask me to bring samples to the appointment. Because they are often skeptical, they will ask questions about your company’s background and qualifications to validate you as a vender.

HOW SHOULD YOU SELL TO THEM?
Guardians- I take a more methodical approach with guardians by providing and following a strict agenda, but I always get feedback from them in advance to make sure we accomplish exactly what they want to get done. They are usually less interested in samples, and more interested in processes. Emphasize the benefits to them – how will you make their job easier? How will you make them look good?
Idealists- Because idealists are so loyal to their organizations, it is important to emphasis big-picture benefits. How can you help the company operate more efficiently or save money? Printing is just dots on paper, but other aspects of printing, like web-to-print solutions or an automated bindery, really provide opportunities for results. Emphasize the results and you will keep their attention.
Artisan- Because artisans trust their instincts more than any other personality type, you want to engage them right away to get them on board. Skip the plant tour, but bring plenty of good samples and be ready to quote a job on the fly. If they have a job ready to go, and your samples look good, they might let you take it with you. Artisans are all about what is right in front of them at that moment. Create lasting impressions and you will win their business.
Rationals- Rationals like the “top down approach”, so start with the big picture- explain exactly how your solution solves problems, and then go into the details. By catching their attention with the solution right away, you allow them to get in their comfort zones. More than any other personality type, if you can get the rational on board with your solution, they really become de facto members of your sales team within their organization.

HOW SHOULD YOU NOT SELL?
Guardians- Guardians like to buy, but they don’t like to be sold. If you put on too much of a sales pitch they will become weary of your tactics and start looking for reasons to exclude you, instead of buying from you. Don’t challenge them. Remember that guardians are dutiful and cautious. If your solution sounds too good to be true, they probably won’t be willing to take a chance. They don’t want to risk their credibility.
Idealists- You want to avoid being overly technical with an idealist. My company provides web-to-print solutions, so it is easy to get caught up in speeds, feeds and technology jargon, but idealists aren’t comfortable making decisions unless they understand all of the information presented to them. The sales call with an idealist is not the time to try and prove how smart you are.
Artisan- Artisans don’t like to get caught up in processes, so if you make it hard for them to do business with you, they won’t buy. Avoid stuffy conversations and make your appointments fun. Meet outdoors. Get them away from the office. The last thing you can do is lose their attention. The minute they look at their Blackberry, you have lost them.
Rationals- if you don’t emphasize your solution in the first few minutes you risk losing the rational’s attention. They understand their problems, and are looking for vendors who can help solve them, but you have to remember that they are also very skeptical. They have probably been burned in the past, so if you go in with the “we are the best at what we do and never mess up” attitude, they will probably eliminate you right away.

Why Won’t He Call Me Back?

According to business author Chet Holmes, 2-3% of consumers at any given time are interested in changing vendors, regardless of the commodity, product, or service we are offering. Another 7% might be open to changing, 30% are not thinking about making a change right now, but might be open to it in the future, 30% don’t think they are interested in changing vendors, and the last 30% definitely know they’re not interested.

So, if only 10% of our audience is even interested in changing vendors, why do we hit everybody with the same old sales pitch? We do it because it’s easy. Our managers are pushing us for activity, so the easiest way to get them off our backs is by showing them a list of unanswered voicemails and emails and blaming our lack of closure on the economy. Everybody’s doing it, right?

Wrong! Successful salespeople have changed their approach. Closers understand that the rules have changed, so to remain relevant in the marketplace, the approach must change as well. Customers are still buying, but now, more than ever, they don’t want to be sold. They want to be engaged to the point they can’t help but buy from us. That’s hard to do.

The hardest and most important thing for us to do in this current economic environment is to grab buyer’s attention, and keep it long enough for them to understand what is in it for them. How can we help their business operate more efficiently? Can we save them money? Even if they aren’t in the market right now, why should they be? What’s so new about our product or service? Why should they even care?

It‘s tough out there for sales reps, but it’s tough for customers, as well. Remember that when you leave those voicemails and emails. Find the middle ground. Think like a consumer- what would make you call back? Don’t leave a message you wouldn’t return yourself.

Sales, Karma, and the Never-ending String of Unanswered Emails

I think one of the by-products of this poor economy is the belief by many organizations that it is OK to treat people like crap. I don’t get it. I recently posted an ad on Craigslist for a salesman, and not surprisingly, I got a ton of responses. I didn’t find any good candidates, but I tried to respond to them all to thank them for their interest. One fellow emailed me back, and thanked me for being professional enough to at least tell him “no”. That got me thinking: what ever happened to common courtesy?

OK, I get it. Our prospects get a ton of unsolicited calls every day, and I am sure they get tired of it, but if I put in the time and effort to contact them, it would be great if they at least told me whether or not I had a shot at the business. If the answer is no, fine, I can take them off my list, but if the answer is maybe, I can at least hold out hope. The same is true for salesman and job seekers alike.

The backside of this recession is near, but the only companies who will come out on top are the ones who have done things right during these ups and downs. We need to remember that, whether we are buying, or selling. Take the extra step of treating people the way you want to be treated, and karma will kick it back to you three fold. Remember, in sales, just like in life, bad karma always comes back to bite you in the butt.

He’s Just Not That Into You

Watch this trailer for full effect.

My wife made me sit through this movie last weekend. It was cute. The characters were funny and engaging and the storyline was amazingly unpredictable, but somewhere between my Juju Beans and second diet coke I started to get the feeling that I had seen the movie before. That’s when it hit me. I had. As a matter of fact, I had lived it.

In sales we are always chasing that one big customer. You know the one: the one who buys tons of stuff and transforms mediocre sales reps into superstars. Sometimes we actually get to meet them. We go in, pitch our stuff, and leave confidant we have a shot at the business. We go back to our managers with wild tales of buying signs and imminent POs. We wait for their call.

Silence…..

He doesn’t call. We call him, he doesn’t call back. We email and hear nothing. We try to friend him on Facebook. We even sit outside of his office looking for the competition. That’s when we realize he’s just not that into us.

Suck it up, it happens, but if it happens too often you might be doing something wrong. The sooner you acknowledge the problem, the sooner you can fix it. Ask more questions. Let him do the talking. Do more in meetings to educate and see what happens. He still might not call, but at least you will know that up front. Don’t waste time sitting around waiting for his call.

Print Sales and The Current Economy

The current economy has been tough on everyone, but with local printers dropping like flies it is obvious our industry has been hit especially hard. Companies are simply spending less on printing. The irony is that now is the time you should be printing more, not less, to better position yourself for the other side of this recession. That’s not likely to happen right away. Like most people I think it will get slightly worse before it gets better.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be printing, but you should be very careful how you spend your printing dollars. Now is the time to embrace variable-data and personalized print. Send highly targeted messages to your very best prospects and clients. Let them know you are still out there. Tell them how you can help solve their problems. Make it about the customer.

I remember the old days, back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Printers lined up with sample cases and pictures of iron and talked about speeds and feeds and paper samples. There was ritualistic process of getting three quotes, listening to pitches and picking the quote in the middle. Everyone knew the game.

Well, the game has changed. Look at the graveyard of household names that have gone under if you don’t believe me. As sales people we must understand that consumers deserve more than pictures of our presses. They expect information and we must deliver it quickly in ways that is relevant to them. It isn’t about us.

This economy is tough, but it will get better. It has too. The question is how we will be positioned when it does. Will we be solution providers, or will we revert back to our habits of old?

Building Brand Fanatics - Possibility or Myth?

I got a spam message today about “building brand fanatics”. I’m not sure what they were selling (note the spam part) but it got me thinking. Are customers fanatics for my brand?

One of the groups we work with is an all-girl, fast-track roller derby team, and asides from being really cool people to work with, they are really great marketers. Everything they hand out has their logo on it, but isn’t the same true about many organizations? The obvious answer is yes, but what makes them different is the attitude their brand conveys. People love wearing their stuff because of the perception that they are rough and tough, don’t take junk from anyone and aren’t afraid to take out their aggressions on each other. The reality is that they are all professionals with great day jobs and simply do roller derby for fun. Perception drives their brand! When was the last time we got excited about a golf towel with our bank’s logo on it?

Our business is the same way. At the end of the day we put ink on paper, just like countless other printers, but the difference is how we get from point A to point B. let me be clear, the purpose of this blog is not to promote my business, but as a consumer I know what I like. Companies must engage and excite me to the point I can’t help but buy if they want me to become fanatical about doing business with them! Our goal has to be creating the same experience for our customers if we expect to grow our business.

Digital Printing - Start with the Message!

Over the last ten years the traditional business letter has almost been replaced by email, and email is quickly losing ground to new social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, but the basic premise of business writing remains the same: send people something they want to read and they will read it. The most challenging aspect of sales is new business development. As sales executives we identify prospects who may want our need our services and contact them in hopes of converting them into customers. Writing plays a critical role in that process. The challenge we face in today’s society is that consumers are bombarded with so many pieces of information that it has become virtually impossible to distinguish the good information from the junk mail. Think about credit card offers we get in the mail. I got three yesterday and didn’t open any of them. I’m not even sure they were credit card offers but I perceived them as such so it didn’t matter - they ended up in the trash. The same thing happens with our writings all of the time. If our audience perceives us as spammers we get blocked. So how do we get their attention and convince them to read what we are sending? We get their attention by sending them information that is relevant to them.