“Most of the presentation was like looking for a light switch in the woods.” I answered Gail. “What every entrepreneur needs to understand is that to be successful their product or service needs to appeal to the multitudes but the only way to be sure that will happen is to understand why the single sale closes.“
Rob drawled, “let me get this heah straight…a light switch in the woods you say. Either they or you are confused.”
“Yes and yes,” I said. “I was speaking about Contact Relationship Management to a group of young entrepreneurs. Their expectation was that a CRM system should go from initial contact to final sale…seamlessly.”
Chris asked, “So what did you do?”
“I remembered what Kate said last week: Marketing is multitudes. Sales is Singles.
That seemed to get through to them. I used these examples:
- You’re sitting in an audience at a conference and the speaker tells a story about a signature act –an action taken by Johnny, a young grocery bagger that kept people in the line he was working even when the store manager opened several other registers. Afterward you ask the speaker for advice on how to apply this marketing principle in your shop. She tells you the Signature Act is not marketing, it is sales. It can have a marketing impact but it is meant to make a difference one on one.” More? See the article in Resources on my consulting web site and search Signature Acts on this Blog
Marketing is multitudes, Sales is Singles.
- Then I went interactive. I said: Those of you that would like to have more money to build your business, please stand up. The whole audience was on their feet. Then: If you’re willing to accept a loan from family and friends, please stay on your feet. About 10% sat down. Followed by: If you’re willing to give up stock in the company to family and friends for funding, remain standing. About 80% stayed on their feet. How many of you are willing to work with venture capitalists? Fewer than half remained standing. And last, how many of you are willing to give up control of your company for funding? Only a scattered few were still on their feet.
“All of you,” I said, “want money.” “Only a few will sell out. Each group responded to the key element for them. Each group can be approached with the promise that works for them. But every sale is singular. it is reached between you and your benefactor. There are no enmasse sales.
Marketing is multitudes. Sales is Singles
Part of the difficulty is that there are so few people that understand both traditional and digital marketing plus the age–old myopia and fear regarding sales. Well it leads to this kind of confusion.”
Kate piped up. “Fear of sales?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. Entrepreneurs find themselves having to sell every step of the way. They have to sell their ideas to get others to join them and then they have to find the money to keep the vision alive and they find themselves having to convince alpha and beta testers. They would prefer to turn the business development, the marketing and sales of the company, over to someone else. But the customer, whether it is the banker or the buyer, wants to speak to them.”
What every entrepreneur needs to understand is that to be successful their product needs to appeal to the multitudes but the only way to be sure that will happen is to understand why the single sale closes.”
www.JerryFletcher.com is where you’ll find way too much information about Jerry’s consulting services and experience. Sign up for The Whole Enchilada there.
www.NetworkingNinja is Jerry’s Professional Speaking web site. Keynotes, Workshops Rates, Dates as well as audio and video samples.