Delivered for the ICSBD this presentation gives techniques to increase effectiveness of marketing and sales activities in 2009

1. Marketing and Sales Techniques
that Work in Today’s Market
Jennifer Vessels
July 15, 2009

2. Today’s World

3. Keys to Success Today
1. Spend sales time on Sales Ready prospects
2. Manage the pipeline closely
3. Build credibility through marketing assets
4. Focus messages to specific audiences
5. Refine approaches to address today’s needs

4. Alignment of Sales and Marketing
Lead Nurturing Process
Problem identification
Branding, PR, advertising
Inquiry
Solution exploration (Suspect)
Website, SEO, direct mail
Solution selection Lead
Events, seminars, trade shows, webinars (Prospect)
Inbound telephone/email/web inquiries Vendor
selection
Sales-Ready Lead
Lead nurturing opt-in email
Sales Process
Engage
Sales calls, meetings Qualified Prospect
Follow-up/close
Customer

5. Marketing Success Today
Prior to Trade Shows Today’s Search engines
2007 World
Virtual events and
Seminars
workshops
Telemarketing for Calling on
leads clients/partners
Segmented
Broad campaigns
campaigns
Purchasing a list Development of
of contacts house list
Use of marketing
Direct mail
assets
Brochures Vendor websites
Advertising Social media

6. Marketing to YOUR target audience
Small organizations:
• Specific ads, offers in third party newsletters, white
papers
Medium size organizations:
• Case studies, webinars, emails re new research and
how-to’s
Enterprise:
• Personal relationships, targeted success stories,
virtual workshops

7. The Value Selling Process

8. Value Selling Customer
Engagement Process

9. Create Interest with Prospects
• Introduce yourself and
your company
• Share the value YOU
bring to clients
• Relate to their issues
• Provide validation and
proof
• Ask for follow-up
Purpose: Create demand for further discussion

10. ACTIVITY: Elevator Pitch
• Consider one of your clients or prospects
• What are their ‘top of mind issues’
• Fine tune your elevator pitch based on the
framework
• Prepare to practice with the group
• Listen for:
• Value of ‘what you do’
• Link to top of mind issues
• Validation and proof

11. Uncovering Customer Needs
• Sales diagnosis is performed by
questioning and listening
• Question to direct conversation
into areas that allow you to
determine if the prospect has
needs for your solution.
• Listen to issues, problems, or
opportunities that you can
impact.
Don’t prescribe before you diagnose!

12. Uncovering Needs Dialogue
Mutual Value
Needs Payoff
Implication
Problem
Status

13. Value Selling Customer
Engagement Process

14. Business Value of Your Offerings
• Functional
• Financial
• Emotional

15. Assessing your Sales People
• Hiring the RIGHT sales
people
• Time management and
utilization
• Calling on sales ready leads
• Focus on qualified accounts
• Value Selling Skills
• Use of discovery questions
• Building the business case
• Ultimate assessment is in the
pipeline

16. What you can do today
1. Enhance value sales techniques
2. Assess / improve sales team’s effectiveness
3. Nurture leads until they are Sales Ready
4. Build targeted marketing campaigns
5. Refine messages to address today’s needs

17. Action Plan
I commit to completing the following actions within the month:
Action Completed By
1.
2.
3.

18. Next Step Delivers Revenue Results
• Take your company to the Next Step through:
• Alignment of sales and marketing programs
• Cost-effective lead generation / nurturing programs
• Assessment and enhancement of sales team
effectiveness
• Targeted marketing programs that deliver revenue
results.
“Thanks to Next Step we now have the right team, sales
“Thanks to Next Step we now have the right team, sales
process and marketing resources in place for peak
process and marketing resources in place for peak
performance despite the current economic conditions.”
performance despite the current economic conditions.”
Amir Zoufonoun CEO Exalt Communications

19. Marketing and Sales Techniques
that Work in Today’s Market
Jennifer Vessels
Next Step
650.361.1902
www.nextstepgrowth.com