It’s fun making marketing plans. Everyone likes thinking about their ideal customer and the kinds of communications they would like to see out there about their amazing products or services.
But sometimes people can get stuck tinkering with plans and never actually get their marketing action started.
Well, that’s not going to happen to you because we are going to flag up the common barriers that prevent people from starting their action plan and knock them down one by one. Take these five steps and you will be ready to get your marketing promotion started straight away. No more excuses.
1: Get all your data sorted
Is it a year since you phoned that customer? Do you know the name of the person you need to talk to? An updated customer contact list is vital if you want to start selling to the right people. It’s no good firing off a load of marketing emails if they all end up in the inboxes of long-departed former employees. Call or email all your potential customers and get those details up to date.
2: Create a CRM
Customer Relationship Management is at the heart of great marketing. When you start making your business development calls, how will you record who you have spoken to and what level of response you received? The most successful businesses use a CRM system where all of this information is stored. There are many different CRMs to buy with different functionalities and different price points. A spreadsheet is fine but it won’t be tapping you on the shoulder for your next call back or marketing action.
3: Pick up the phone
Set yourself a list of people to call and don’t get off that chair until you have called them all. Yes, it can be daunting at first, especially if you hit a couple of rejections early on. But those calls get easier with practice and you will soon build your confidence. Know what you want to say, but remember, it’s a conversation and you are not a robot! Yes it is easier to e-mail, but quite often you get a much quicker, more personal response with a phone call. It will give some real insight and makes you stand out from the rest.
4: Choose the right team
That marketing executive you employed may have brilliant ideas and great copywriting skills, but do they have the confidence to sell your product or network with potential customers? You may find you need two different people for those jobs because they are very different skills. Although this does come very naturally to some, you can be trained to have excellent telephone skills. And, like with most things, practice makes perfect.
5: Boost your personal drive – purpose
Do you really want your business to be a success? Are you willing to put in the energy and legwork to start bringing in those sales? Try brainstorming a list of all the things you want to achieve with your business. Can you pinpoint a top three that you want to make happen now? Next break those down into smaller steps that you would have to take to achieve your goals. If you feel you are disappearing down a rabbit hole, just ask: “What is our purpose?”. We find this powerful question can quickly bring you back on track.
Now you are ready to take on the world. Even the best marketing plan won’t help your business if you don’t take that first step and get cracking.
If this seems daunting, give Spirus a call or drop us an email hello@spirusmarketing.com and we’ll get you on the right track today.