“Guys,” I said, “I got referred into this prospect because
he needed strategic marketing help with a complex situation that could grow his
operation by 500% in 3 to 5 years. But
when I spent an hour with him discussing his business and the market he wanted
to pursue he wanted to know why I wasn’t asking the kinds of questions about
marketing he was expecting.”
Charlie asked, “How did you respond?”
“I told him that I had to understand where they were now in
order to begin to find a way to get to where they want to go.”
Gail hushed me and said, “Did you ask him what he meant?”
“Yes. His ideas about marketing were similar to what I’ve
found over the last 20 years asking business owners and managers about how they
think people find them and buy from them.”
I asked him to list where or how he believed marketing would
have the greatest ROI for his Enterprise
level computer consulting him. Here is his list:
- Direct sales
- Trade Shows
- Online (Website, SEO)
- Public Relations (PR)
- Responding to RFPs (Requests for Proposal)
“I know you’ve actually gone out and asked your client’s
customers how they came to buy, said Gail, “how does that compare?”
“Well, that varies by the phase the company or product or
service is in at the moment. There are three phases:
- Start up
- Growth
- Established
It doesn’t matter whether it is a one man band or a
corporate megalith the answers buyers give tend to be the same and are only limited by the
budget available. What works according to the buyers fall into six categories:
- Referrals/Word of mouth
- Prior Experience
- Distribution/Direct Sales
- Direct Marketing
- Networking
- Everything Else.
You’ll notice that only one of these was on his list so he’s
missing over 80% of why clients would seek him out.
I know I need to educate him and others about what works versus the
hype and what has changed over time and how to take advantage of the changes.
I’ll
be working on the white paper on this subject over the weekend.” (If you would like a copy let me know with a comment.)