Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Randall,

The developer or inventor of the product is never the best source of the worth of a product. It's their baby. No one calls their own baby ugly - even though ALL babies are at best "the same" and hardly "beautiful." The marketing firm who is hired by the developer to "make the product a winner" is hardly qualified to discern if the product is a real winner - after all, if they call the inventor's baby ugly, they won't get the account and will lose money - hardly objective!

The ones who are "qualified" to give this feedback are the prospective customers! If the inventor goes out to the "public" and listens and takes the feedback into account, versus bank the positive feedback (usually from friends and family) and discount the negative - then the inventor can make a truly mind-blowing product. This takes courage and genuine interest in solving other people's problems versus floating his/her own boat.

In any communications, there are two involved: sender and receiver. To blame the failure of communications solely on the receiver is near-sited. Marketing is the same way. If the product isn't successful, chances are that it's because people really don't want to buy it! Simple, huh?

Bottom line: The opinion on a product being the "best" comes from the users. If they disagree, two possibilities: The product ain't it or you're not communicating in their language so they can understand what the product is. Either way, it's the fault of the "sender," not the receiver. If you want input, ask the prospective customers. They are the answer.

Wayde

Its execution Randall The US Department of Commerce states that American industry has no problem with production - its main problem is distribution. Inventors, companies sit on their laurels with the Field of Dreams mentality. "Build it and they will come".

The largest sale of my career was created by a competitor. He was so sure of the order, he never followed thru, waiting for the customer to call him. And there comes me, in dingy as ever and sold (stole) the job. I'm not the smartest bear, but I have moxy.

You see insane sites that make lots of money giving disastrous advice-- like "Never Cold Call Again". It succeeds cause they tell you people want to hear. All the self help gurus-- when all people have to do is get from behind those books and desks and make it happen. BTW, my biggest sale I mentioned above, was the result of a cold call.

I too have seen phenomenal products die in the wake of marginal products that outsell them. Its not about price, its not about design, product-- its all about execution.

I feel you are always compensated by the risk you take. That doesn't mean leaping willy nilly without due diligence, but expanding your space and making it happen. Idea people aren't worth a dime wthoutkey people who know how to execute.

I'm sure you have read that book Execution-- the Art of Getting Things Done. If more people read that vs The Secret, they'd be a lot beter for it.

Dear Randall,

You urged people to write and write. I think there might be a word limit imposed on answers, so my response is in two parts.

PART ONE: Are We There Yet?

Your question is going to set people thinking, which is both good and bad.

When people think, they become more creative. When people are forced to think, they often become combative, confrontational, and downright uppity. Why? Because suddenly, the safety net of other people taking responsibility gets cut out from under them. So they panic. When people panic, they look around them, often in haste, so that they might apportion blame or fault to someone other than themselves.

The laws of psychology are such that when other, similar people enjoy success, we aspire to be like them; so that some of that success might rub off on us. Conversely, when the laws of psychology paint the opposite picture, we do as much as we can to distance ourselves from what we see as the offending party or thing.

What's it got to do with having the best product in the world?

It's to do with radical degrees of separation from lesser products, or of setting one's product on a higher pedestal and crying "Behold! This is the gold medal winner!" And it's to do with manufacturing significance within the marketplace for the creator or the product's originator.

So, why don't either of these philosophies SELL the product? Because to the consumer, to the buyer, they lack one crucial ingredient that many, producers and manufacturers ignore at their peril: relevance.

Attention! All designers, producers, and manufacturers of the self proclaimed "The Best Product in the World"!

First, let's deal with the issue of social proof.

When we tell other people that we are the best, the biggest, the strongest etc., at whatever it is, we generally lack credibility because we have little evidence that our opinion is indeed, valid.

Over time (or with the right incentive) people with (or that are perceived as having) influence take up our message and they tell people that our widget is the best in the world. Because they are people of influence and because our message is now going out to the world from someone with more clout, suddenly, the overall value of our message and our product increases.

When Joe and Jane Public hear their friends telling people that any given product is the best in the world, Joe and Jane are more inclined to believe it because the "proof", our "evidence" is coming from a source other than the thing's supplier or creator. Because other people (people that Joe and Jane aspire to be like, or that remind them of themselves or the people they want to become) tell them that this thing is the best, Joe and Jane become more inclined to believe the proof because it's coming into their lives from other people that remind them of them in some way.

With me so far?

The more often this "proof" comes into Joe's and Jane's lives from multiple levels and directions, the more overwhelming the evidence that the news is true becomes, (even though the "truth" might be a lie. This is how propaganda works).

And even though Joe's and Jane's common sense tells them that the evidence might be less than convincing, because it's coming to them from sources outside of their own experience, they question their beliefs less and less and they accept "the evidence" more and more until, basically they cannot tell the difference without having to think about it in any great detail: in effect, their minds "make" the statement true.

When Joe's and Jane's minds "make" the statement true, that's where they find people taking advantage of them and it's where they find their money, their vote, or their control going in one direction while they are left standing in a fog of confusion wondering what just happened.

Whether Joe and Jane accept the "thing" as being the best in the world or not as a true statement or not is not the point; "social proof" (testimonials, peer pressure, repetition, and presentations) all conspire to tell Joe and Jane that the statement is, in fact, correct. So why don't other people who KNOW the statement to be incorrect correct or redirect Joe's and Jane's thinking?

Because despite Joe and Jane both wanting to be individuals, Joe and Jane also all want to be seen to be part of the elite, as part of the hip crowd of people in the know; they want to be the elect. So depending on the group Joe and Jane want to belong to (or the group they aspire to belong to), Joe and Jane believe the weight of the evidence as it's presented to them from the group they are in or from the group they aspire to be members of.

... to be continued.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Dear Randall,

PART TWO: You Never See The Sudden Curve 'til It's Way Too Late!

In PART ONE you read about Joe and Jane and social proof.
In this section I'll offer opinions on why things DON'T sell. I'm NOT a psychologist, but I've been around long enough and seen enough to have picked up on why things happen.

The Best (insert the name of any item, movie, book, presentation etc. here) in the World? Trivial. Fiddle faddle. A talentless lump. Pathetic.

Why?

Because often, the only people claiming those things or qualities are the people responsible for the message, a message that, were it a cup, wouldn't hold a drop of water.

Billy Bob could argue that he's the best contributor to the MarketingProfs Know-How Exchange. But because other contributors have the weight of social proof (their visible contribution) on their side, Billy Bob's statement is obviously false; it has no gravity to anchor it; it has nothing to make it memorable in a positive light.

However, Billy Bob's never been one to give up easily.

Again and again he claims the high ground; he offers no contribution, but he persists with his message "I'm the best".
To the majority, Billy Bob then becomes an irritant, a laughing stock. He offers no proof of his ability, but some of us might admire his determination.

But what if Billy Bob is actually telling the truth? What if he's writing under an assumed name? Then the picture changes, although this does Billy Bob no good because people already have belief structures in place about his contribution. Why? Because Billy Bob gave these beliefs to people.

The point Billy Bob (and any producer of the best thing in the world) is missing is that when it comes to the consumer, he does not matter. Billy Bob's point of view about himself in the eyes of the consumer does not matter. His contribution is irrelevant because all Billy Bob is doing is ... drum roll please ... telling his audience about himself.

That's Billy Bob's major mistake: telling the world about himself (unless he can prove his claims beyond all reasonable doubt). Unless Billy Bob can SHOW US THE MONEY (as it were), we, as his potential buyers, really don't give a sackful of rat's pertooties how great Billy Bob thinks he is.

What WE care about is how Billy Bob's widget is going to improve OUR LIVES.

When Billy Bob's widget solves our problem, then we'll believe him and we'll probably tell our friends. Thus, Billy Bob becomes remarkable, meaning, worthy of being remarked on to other people.

When Billy Bob's widget becomes our savior, the super hero we've been longing for, when his widget SAVES OUR WORLD from planetary doom, THEN his widget becomes the best in the world. NOT BEFORE.

Why? Because Billy Bob's widget has suddenly become RELEVANT, it's gained considerable SIGNIFICANCE, it's taken on the persona of SUPER WIDGET.

SUPER WIDGET's teeth are whiter, its boots are shiner, its strength is greater. When Billy Bob's widget ROCKS OUR WORLD and SAVES OUR KEISTER in some memorable, compelling and problem boosting way, in our eyes, Billy Bob can do no wrong.

Randall, you asked "What should marketers do? What should marketers watch out for?" To which my answer is: all of the following:

When Billy Bob's message connects with our deeply felt need or problem, when the benefits of Billy Bob's widget shine, and when his benefits, values, risk reversal, price, testimonials (from people like us or from people that aspire to be like), and when his guarantee all outweigh our fear of his widget not working, we begin to like the idea.

And with this liking, we begin thinking about buying.

And when Billy Bob urges swift action because he cannot guarantee that the price will remain this low for much longer, or because he has limited quantities, or because he cannot promise to have any more of his widget for another six months or more, well! The evidence is overwhelming and although Billy Bob has done no outright "selling", we buy because we'd be fools not to solve our problem with this solution, wouldn't we?

If Billy Bob CANNOT present his sales proposition in these terms, if all Billy Bob is interested in is telling us about himself, the brilliance (to him) of his product is meaningless to us because he's done NOTHING TO ENGAGE US AS BUYERS.

So when it comes to presenting (for which read "selling") anything, the keys to profit are: relevance, significance, connection, salience, risk reversal, social proof, outstanding benefits, overwhelming value, and stories that connect, inspire, emote, and support our feelings about us as buyers, or about the people we want to associate with or that we want to become.

As a marketer or a business owner, if your product, your message, and your promise can do all this, there'll be nothing to stop you.

But if your your product, your message, and your promise all FAIL to do this, EVEN IF you think your product is the best in the world, if there's any single element not pulling its weight, not earning its keep, and NOT making a difference to the lives of your customers, tough luck: you're toast.

For anyone that doubts the value of a great story, you might want to watch the following

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7lnnZiORpk

Long though my responses have been, I hope they've helped in some way.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Very often inventors are disappointed because their great invention doesn't make them rich overnight. Usually that's because they invent the product and then search for the marketplace need it satisfies.

The products that succeed more often start with identification of an important unmet need in the market. Inventing the SOLUTION to a problem, rather than a PRODUCT, is the difference.

Consumers don't go around saying, "I wish someone would invent a product that ..." They say, "I wish someone would solve my problem."

So why do so many great products fail? Because they are solutions searching for a problem, not solutions to existing problems that are truly important to consumers.

It is one client at a time== especially when funds are limited. Large companies can spend upteen bucks creating "brand awareness". NewCo's need sales. I had a client bought a franchise for metal buildings. His collegues laughed at him for bragging about a $1200 sale He's an ex Fortune exec, and he's thrilled about a $1200 sale? His comment-- that is `1200 that is incoming vs outgoing.

We get frustrated. We want it quicker. But we all have to pay our dues. We learn and the next one is easier. Maybe the reality is, new co's aren't ready for the mega sale. Yet. Thank goodness for a learning curve that is still profitable.

According to Doug Hall (who has reviewed tons of advertisements and marketing studies and crunched the numbers), some of the relevant key points are:
* To be successful, the uniqueness must be big enough and bold enough to be worth the hassle of changing. "Big enough" could mean savings of $1000s, but it could be pennies (if the volume is there).
* Creating a new market generates 3.8 times more sales and 9.6 times more profit (rather than trying to shoehorn your way into the existing field).
* If the marketing message specifically details the point of difference (between your new product and the competition), you increase the odds of sustained success by 52%. Be overt.

Randall,

This second question is the same as the first and my first answer is largely still the case. It's all about value. If the prospective consumers have an alternative option (including the "do nothing" option), and that option is perceived as meeting their needs better, then the mind blowing nature is only in the mind of the inventor.

The industrial customer you have - if the consumer really doesn't need 10, 20, or 30X reliability, then they won't value that and won't change suppliers.

If the people in the link for the speech pattern honing product have options that will satisfy their needs for renumeration better than this option, they will take that option and not work for a "percentage." If they have nothing better, they will work for a percentage. It's all very basic. Payback times probability of success is the expected reward. Payback can be money and also can be intangible rewards - like satisfaction for a job well done or plowing new ground, or whatever. People evaluate this reward against all the other rewards alternatives and will gravitate to the one that is the highest.

Wayde

The really good marketing professionals won't work for a percentage unless they are absolutely convinced that all the other suppliers are top-drawer, and that the execution will be flawless.

Most of us have tried this a few times, and it never seems to work out, and often it's because the whole venture is under-funded from the beginning. Any entrepreneur who finds our fees too expensive probably (a) doesn't value what we do, (b) doesn't believe in his/her own product, and/or (c) doesn't have the money to implement our recommendations, no matter how solid they are.

Is that the kind of client you'd want to invest with? I don't think so.

R.

SWAG (gifts) to those 'A' Listed types at Festivals; where the public eye is focused, has been used with some success from Rim's Blackberry to watches and jewellery .... Anybody read M Gladwells Tipping Point and remember Mavens?https://blog.noetech.com/archives/2005/02/05/blackberry_swag.shtml in fact there is a whole SWAG industry now....but the other swag (Silly Wild Ass Guessing) concerning number crunching and market expectations is perhaps more important.

https://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/businessplan/a/defendableswag.htm

Didn't Sony or was it Sanyo develop crystal spheres and make them into speakers years ago then go looking for a market .....haven't seen many around who use or need them....assessing the numbers is most critical I believe versus forcing a the message alone.

'Is there a need' is always critical then other things can fall into line. If not will creating the belief of a 'need' be cost effective?

What some people don't truly "get", is you need them more than they need you. Sales are lost more to ego than price. That is exactly what happened in the 4 day weekend story above. You must always keep in mind, there are 4 others behind you ready to step in your place. I always keep in the front of my mind, my goal is to make my clients money. I have no value if I don't. That focus keeps me working weekends, whenever and however. Its not about "me", its about making money for someone else-- and in doing so, I make mine.

Randall,

Your former clients? The ones who wanted to take a four day weekend?

You can cure bad copywriting. You can save poor photography. You can bump up investment by borrowing more money, and you can rescue messages and poor perception of customer loyalty.

But you can't cure stupid.

I've seen it again and again: over-educated and often overly-self important types, some with MBAs, some without, who all, for one reason or another, THINK they know best.

Based on? Often, nothing but a whim.

We all need to learn one important lesson: thinking is not knowing.

KNOWING is knowing. And knowledge comes from a hard-edged combination of acquired knocks, scars, and scrapes, and from gut feeling.

It comes from experience and getting it wrong, from learning from one's mistakes, and at times from admitting (to one's self and to others) that one is over one's head in one's SPECIFIC area (been there, done that).

All of which adds to crucial life experience.

Randall, your client forgot one thing and it's this: in business, in entrepreneurship, whoever you are as the main head honcho, you do not matter, you, as the creative force behind your great widget, you are of no importance whatsoever.

You might think you are, but you're not. So what or who is more important than the guiding light that illuminates the darkness? The darkness, for without the dark, the light has no purpose.

So customers matter more. People interacting with your thingy or widget, they matter more than the widget, because they are the ones using it to solve their problem.

In the world of physics, the opposite of light is not dark, it's an absence of light. And when customers sense an absence of light (or in this case, commitment), they walk. Sometimes they stride. At other times they positively SPRINT! But either way, they vanish, taking their money (and a business owner's profit) with them.

Why? Because some idiot could not or would not follow solid advice, because they thought they knew better.

In the movie Apocalypse Now, there's a scene where Captain Benjamin Willard (played by Martin Sheen) and Jay 'Chef' Hicks (played by Frederic Forrest) are walking through the jungle when Willard, who, as a Special Forces soldier and with an ear that is ever cocked for danger, hears something odd.

What can it be? The VC? Is it Charlie? We don't know.

But Willard and the spaced out Hicks go off to investigate.

Finally, Willard confronts some thick vegetation that appears to be the source of the sound. Save for the sounds of the bugs and the rain dripping from the canopy, everything is quite.

Nothing moves.

Then, from nowhere, a snarling, jaw gnashing, tiger erupts from the undergrowth.

It's really an impressive scene, but the point of all this is the mantra invoked by Hicks as he and Willard sprint, arms flailing and M-16s blazing, back toward their boat.

When Hicks gets into the boat, among a string of profanity that I won't repeat here, he exhorts his squad members to " ...never get out of the boat!"

That's the point people.

When you, as a business person or entrepreneur decide to go walkabout, when you decide to get out of the boat, you might, just might, walk slap bang into a tiger you were not expecting.

Several years ago I read about Mark Shand, a British writer and explorer who traveled 800 miles across India on an elephant called Tara. At one point Shand encounters a group of villagers who have had at least one of their number taken by a large, man-eating tiger.

Shand offers his services to the local game wardens so that they might track and kill the tiger before it strikes again. The game wardens, with just one Land Rover to cover hundreds of square miles accept his offer because they are under equipped and out of their depth.

So off they go out into the forest until they come across the spot where the villager had died. All that was left of this poor fellow was a blood stained loin cloth.

A little farther on, as Tara strode through the shoulder high brush, they came upon another clearing, a clearing across which there were fresh tiger prints, not more than an hour old.

But as the game warden climbed down from Tara's back to investigate the prints, from the forest, not fifty feet away, Shand said they heard the most gut-wrenching, stomach-churning, low, throaty roar he'd ever heard (and probably, never wanted to hear again).

Climbing swiftly back onto the elephant, the game warden said "Time to go!"

Why am I telling you this? Because, as Shand put it, although they could not see the big cat, its roar and the sign of its prints were enough to convince them to move away from the danger.

That, and because the tiger's paw prints were the size of a dinner plate.

When clients ignore solid, experience-based advice and go off into the forrest (metaphorically speaking), when they get out of the boat or when they ignore the size of the tiger's paw prints, they flirt with disaster.

But that's just my two cents' worth.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Randall

there's a raft of reasons why we shouldn't work on a percentage of sales - or of the value we create. And another raft of reasons why we should.

It comes down to this: Why are you talking to ME? If you're talking to ME because you value my input, let's put a value on it. That means costing up a proposal to do the work required.

Now - you can't afford to pay ME? OK. If I like what you're doing enough, maybe I can contribute funding (on a sweat-equity basis). Now let's work out a suitable price based on the value of the business now, for a percentage share. And pay for it with the proposal.

Oh? You want to value the business based on some perceived future value, after all the hard work has been done? Then you need to understand the difference between seed capital and second round funding. Seed capital comes at a high price, appropriately, because of the risk involved.

Money is in almost unlimited supply. My time, however, is available for only 168 hours each week. And some of those hours are off limits because I have to sleep, eat and wash.

MORAL of the story: If you don't respect the wise counsel you provide and the hours you invest with your client, why should you expect them to?

Cheers

ChrisB

Randall and all

One more thing:

There is a fundamental problem with the product concept you described. A program that assists those coming into the US from other countries to hone their speech patterns in order to better communicate relies on the immigrant to understand they have a problem that needs fixing.

The problem is, they usually don't know that problem exists. And if they know it exists, they don't believe it costs them. And if they believe it costs them, they want to blame someone else for their inability to afford a solution to fix the problem.

There's no doubt the problem can be fixed. But as millions of taxi users in New York City will attest, the accent/vocabulary/idiom/verbal mannerisms problem is rife. Despite the availability of a range of competing solutions.

To be able to sell something, the person paying for the product must be aware of the pain of NOT having the solution you are selling. It must be palpable, they have to be able to taste it. They have to be almost out of their minds trying to find a solution when you pop up and say "Here it is. This will heal your pain. Buy now."

Otherwise you're just another product peddler trying to grab their attention for a few minutes.

Hope that helps.

ChrisB

thank you for leaving this question open so we all have time to respond. I'm still working on my answer to your first question. But you also asked, what do we think about opportunities to do marketing for al percentage of sales.

One time when I was asked this question by a potential client, I responded this way:

"Let's break this down. I'll need to start by getting a list of people to call. That's easy. Then I'll need to take the time to understand your product, and that's no problem. Then I'll just have to make the calls. Naturally, I need to be somewhat careful with my time. I need to be sure that I'm focusing my time on things which provide a good return. And so I need to know if marketing this product provides a good return on investment or not. You know your product and your market and your competition and your sales cycle better than I do. So tell me, would it be a good investment of time and resources to market this product?"

"Oh yes!" The potential client would say. "This would be a great investment of marketing effort."

"Fantastic" I would say. "How much would you like to invest?"

People either believe in their own product, or they don't. If people do not believe in their own product, or if they do not have sufficient capitalization to make reasonable investments in their own product, I tend to avoid them. Certainly I have missed out on many opportunities with this approach. But I've been able to focus my efforts on people who are serious.

I could tell you story after story about companies who are perfectly willing to risk my time, but not willing to risk their own money. I consider myself a marketing professional. To me, professional means you get paid.

Carol will likely reply that you can make much more money by taking a bit of risk and working on a commission basis. I wholeheartedly agree. But I just happen to be a risk averse individual.

I am still working on my response to your first question, and hope to post a reply this evening. Good luck.

Actually Telemoxie-- I wouldn't do what you do without a retainer. When I take on a line I get sales from the entire territory-- whether I made the call or not. I am in total control of my territory. You (I'm assuming) are only rewarded for the sales you generate.

When I talk about risk- I mean putting yourself out there. In telemarketing you are definitely putting yourself out there. When I coach sales people they often come cause they are failing-- because they just can't do that. And the reality is, your clients can't either. Cause if they were going to do it themselves they'd be doing it already.

I heard a quote that was supposedly from a J&J Sales meeting. "Often the hardest door to open is your own front door". They bust their reps all the time, sitting idle, taking for granted their business and not making their calls-- not doing their job.

Which again, goes back to the discussion at hand. Great products fail because they're out maneuvered by the competition. Products don't "sell" themselves, they are objects incapable of action. People sell. You have to get out from behind the computer and make it happen.

Just for fun ... cute marketing idea, great mini movie but punch line gets lost if you miss the Release Date link.

Cute vs Smart .... I'd pick Smart every time.

Have fun. Another amazing "Best Product in the world"

Too much sizzle not enough steak!

https://www.pomegranatephone.com/

Naturally we could all give more specific answers if we knew more about the product, the industry, the profit margins, the competition, the structure of the sales force, the price point, and so forth. But it is not always wise to post information about your clients on an open forum, and so you have asked for our personal strategies, so here goes.

You say you are marketing the best product in the world. You need to create that impression in the market by looking your best. Salespeople must be well groomed, graphics must be sharp, offices must be neat, letterhead must be professionally designed and offset printed, not laser-printed.

There is a strong halo effect here. But many folks will never see your beautiful offices and attractive salespeople. Your website and phone system must also leave a positive impression. For example, to create the best possible impression you should have a female receptionist with a British accent. You should also have a professionally recorded advertising on hold system.

I am not an expert on pricing, but a former boss of mine said that if you are to position yourself as the best product, you need to be slightly more expensive than the competition.

One of my personal specialties has been to help companies maximize their market penetration. So my answer will focus on that aspect of your question.

In order to maximize market share, you need to be all things to all people, which means that you need multiple styles of communicating.

Some types of marketing, such as direct mail, can tell you why people say yes, but don’t tell you why people say no. To achieve maximum market penetration, you must understand why people are and are not reacting to your message, so you need interactive forms of marketing such as professional telesales, in person presentations, and professional interviews with lost sales.

As described in Conrad’s response, an excellent strategy to maximize market penetration is to install a product for an extended trial period so that a prospect can gather data to justify a purchase. You don’t want a situation where your salespeople avoid such an opportunity due to a lack of budget because the prospect is not ready to buy immediately, right now, today.

“Maximizing market share” doesn’t mean you have to go after the whole world. One of my clients was an advertising agency, and after we worked together for several months, the president of the firm gave me a list of 25 local companies. He said, "these are my customers -- they don't know it yet." He had spent time researching companies in the area who were big enough and technical enough to afford and need his services.

After six months of consistent and targeted effort – building rapport by phone, sending samples, and emphasizing my client’s unique selling proposition – we signed the biggest prospect on the list.

My approach involves a sustained, professional conversation with key individuals in the market, sometimes over a long period of time. This requires many different techniques to reach the audience, which means that you need many different forms of marketing communication, including references, white papers, case studies and testimonials. One way to generate these is to interview current customer (and even lost sales), which has the added benefit of helping you understand how the market views and uses your product.

A great strategy to sell to a large company is to begin by selling to a small division, which your competitors may be ignoring. This gets you in the door. But in order to make this happen you have to have some flexibility in the sales compensation plan to reflect a team approach.

Once a prospect has been identified, you might consider a saturation mailing to the company. This can create the impression that your marketing budget is bigger than it really is, and you can promote your solution more broadly among the management of your prospect company.

If I can recommend one single project to penetrate targeted companies, it would be a year-long highly focused outbound program culminating in a trade show. (For my perspective on integrating tradeshows with outbound marketing programs, search previous questions for "Frankenstein marketing".)

The long-term approach I am advocating requires skilled and experienced people who can cultivate opportunities over time. Of course you will need some way to measure and reward interim results.

Sales people tend to cherry pick – looking for the leads who are ready to purchase immediately. That’s not what you want for maximizing market penetration. You want to nurture prospects, not sales. This means you need a sales compensation program and reporting program that is designed to support maximum market share – not one that is heavily weighted towards commissions and immediate results.

If you wish to maximize your market share, you need to create the impression that you are a first-rate company with a quality product, not only by your marketing communications and online presence, but by the way you treat your prospects and customers. You also need to understand them – not just sell to them.

Thank you for the opportunity to describe a bit of my marketing philosophy. I hope I have not been too long-winded, but after all, you did ask us to write and write. If I can be of any service, please let me know. Good luck.