Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I'd try to stay away from making a "high ground" approach in a case like this. You already did that when you presented your marketing strategy, and it sounded like you did so rather successfully.

In the case of brochures, etc., this is a part of marketing known as "sales enablement." Sort of a dirty job, and it is considered a price to play, meaning this is a fundamental requirement. This ought to be an easy sell with your Sales colleagues - get the Sales Leader or some vocal Sales folks to back you up on this. Have them help you make a case for how the current collateral is causing missed opportunity or lost sales. To me this is better than an "investment vs. cost" argument. Most bosses listen to whatever the Sales people have to say. Have them attend the meeting with you.

HOWEVER, make sure Sales does actually get some benefit from collateral. And see how you can make it better for them. That way they should be more inclined to help you if they see they are getting benefit too.

Another strategy would be to collect the best of the best from your competitors - show the boss how you compare. Make sure the company you pick is recognized as a threat to your company - otherwise your illustration is certain to be disregarded.

And while you're at it, it would be a miracle if this works, but tell Sales this wasn't in your budget and could they go halfsies on it? Bosses rarely turn down Sales expense requests.

Finally, he's probably right about events. You should acknowledge him on that score and see if you can find one or two important BUT low-cost events to participate in. Make that part of your discussion too -should help grease the skids to getting approval for the collateral upgrades.

Best of luck!

Patty,

You say that brochures and the like that you want to spend your boss' money on are "fundamentals." Frankly speaking, these are marketing tools available to use, but no tool is applicable to every situation. For instance, I have a brochure. I've given out hundreds of these brochures - they are well written and attractive and state the benefits of utilizing my firm. Guess what? For TWO YEARS with my home phone number on it for the contact phone number! I just noticed this after I printed my last batch. Can you guess how many business phone numbers I've received on my home phone??? NONE!

The point is that in my field, sales are not made by brochures. People don's search the web for services such as mine. Prospects don't go to the yellow pages or read an ad in the paper. Potential customers don't read billboards and decide they should call me. Some businesses require these kind of activities, maybe all of them, but in my line of work, these have limited applicability.

If you want to convince your boss to spend his money on marketing, then show him you understand how customers are acquired. Show him where the tools you want to spend money on aid that process. Some tools are to establish brand - so that when a prospect hears the words "spend management", "category management," or "package engineering" they automatically thing Connell Co. Other activities and tools are more fundamental to the selling process.

I suspect your boss knows that his customers don't take a brochure, read it, and say, "YES! That's what I need! I'll hire them." I suspect that many of his customers don't know what spend management is or how it can help their business. Sales efforts for his customers probably begin with showing them they have a problem or opportunity that they can't solve themselves but his company can solve it. Spending money on seminars, personal sales, training sales people to say the right stuff - these are the efforts that net new revenue. It's a personal relationship sales where he has to build rapport and trust with his clients as quickly as possible to get them to realize they have a problem and that your boss can help them. And in these kinds of situations, the less the sales people look like "sales people" the better. At least this is the way sales goes with most consulting businesses.

My recommendation for you: show your boss you understand his selling process and how your ideas support that selling process.

I hope this helps.

Wayde

Hi Patty,

interesting scenario here so let me put my disclaimer in right up front. What I may share with you may not be a traditional marketing resolution but here it goes and it's based on my experience.

In times past a great deal of my most difficult and challenging situations revolved around the kind of scenario you are dealing with above. What I've found is that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. If you want to really win friends and influence people and hopefully cause your boss to respect your decision making you've got to serve their best interest first.

Your most important goal for the next 30 days is going to be centered around how you can best serve your bosses needs. And while I know you believe you have a great idea your boss is the one that's going to have to be convinced.

By serving your bosses needs and winning business to his company you're going to open a door in his imagination where he will be forced like a "CraZy man in a strait jacket" to have to listen to you.

In this world, in his world and in your and my world the bosses most favorite conversation is about what he's earning. So how are you able to prove to him that you are going to be able to do more of that? I say the best way is to start impacting the bottom line and you'll have a greater impact on how he feels about your ideas. REMEMBER... our only real problem in life is our failure to be "MORE Creative" than we’ve ever been. If you “Invent” your opportunity YOU WILL most definitely create your future. I'm only an email away from you if you need my help Steve. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant,

Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)

*Caring Promotes Exuberance

I agree with my colleagues above, and just wanted to add that you should also remind your boss that in addition to the printed brochure, you'll also have an electronic version that can be utilized by the sales team (and posted to your website if appropriate) -- so the design fee sort of does "double duty." And while you're getting the sales team involved, you could interview them about what other kinds of sales tools they need... their enthusiasm will definitely help sell your ideas.

Oh wow! It is as if you have lived my life in an alternate universe. Everyone has given you great input so far. I am the Marketing Director for a Mortgage Servicing Company that literally had the worst website that I have ever seen and the marketing material by far was like clip art from a 14 year olds class project. I went to my boss repeatedly trying to make changes. Nothing worked. Over and over again I was shot down. Maybe your boss thinks that they have been successful in the past so he doesn't see a reason to change. Maybe the so called, "Bean Counter" won't give up the funds for such a thing without proof that it works. So here is what worked for me and I think it is a good way to go. Respect your Boss, after all he is your Boss. Bring him materials that you like and that he may like from promotional and marketing brochures and flyer's that you receive at home and at work. Forward articles to him about successful marketing. Leave newspaper clippings for him to read about marketing strategies. Also keep asking for these items, but make sure you listen to his needs as well. Utilize your Sales Team!!! They will be on board with marketing, hands down, because this makes their job much easier. It also gives them a reason to enter a conversation. "Did you read our latest brochure?" Or "Are you signed up on our mailing list?" That sort of thing. I listened to my Boss in meetings and took notes. One day he mentioned how he wanted to look more like an attorney firm. He like how they look conservative and trustworthy considering that they are attorney's. I headed to my desk and did a newspaper out of publisher and pulled photos from a stock photography site that gave that same image. I went into his office and said, "I heard what you said during our meeting and that you wanted our look to be more conservative and almost attorney like. I did a small newspaper and wanted your opinion to see if this is what you were talking about." I made sure that he knew it was his idea. He loved it. I had him proof it and surveyed the office and they all loved it. It was all in the approach. I sent it to the printer and that was the beginning. Now we have ad's in magazines, a new website, new logo and tag line and a fully functional promotional mail out every week to over 9000 leads. Sometimes you have to be a little creative and do some extra work to lead up to something spectacular.

Good Luck,
Promo Chic

Hi Patty,

I'd like to add my 2 cents. I'm a graphic designer who has worked on marketing and branding projects large and small for clients large and small. You have really gotten some great responses, really really great responses. (Man, I love working with professionals!)

However, if all else fails, and you don't get your budget, you might consider creating a Word and/or Powerpoint template that the sales team can use for their "customized" (ahem) communications. If you can get folks to use the template, you will begin to be able to control placement and color, thereby creating at least visual consistency.

This can be a start to building a consistent communications approach internally, because in the process of getting them to use the template, you begin to educate them on the value of strategic branding and consistent tactics (brochures, copy messages, etc.). When the sales folks start to see favorable results and positive impressions from customers and non-customers, they will champion your ideas. Eventually you'll be writing a brand manual! Woo hoo!

So, although it's a baby step, it's in the right direction, and it fits the boss' budget. Sometimes you gotta start small.

You may be able to get your ad agency to create something for you, and if they don't have to spend too much time they may do it gratis. If you have someone in-house who's good with MS Office, see what they can put together. (Key words: header and footer. It's amazing how many casual Word users don't know how to edit them.) Or hire a freelance resource, who may be more affordable than a full-service agency or design firm.

Good luck!
--d