The new year is right around the corner. Most sales and marketing teams are busy wrapping up the end of their year quotas with one more sales push. This is important since bonuses often depend on your productivity for 2019.
You also need to make time to plan your 2020 sales and marketing strategy. Here’s how:
- First: Look at what worked well this past year. Take note of the preferred customers that you brought in as well as the products that they purchased. Also, review the clients who were difficult to work with or who brought in very little profit. List their characteristics in your “red flag” category to avoid them in the future.
- Second: What was your sales process? How did you meet your preferred clients? Why did they choose you over your competitors? If you do not know the answers to these questions, ask your clients and ask for permission to use their responses as testimonials.
- Third: Meet with your marketing team and look at your analytics. How did they drive in new business? Is this process repeatable? Should it be enhanced with an increase in activity or advertising? Did the sales team make use of social media posts, website links or marketing techniques? If so, it is worth repeating and increasing your efforts.
- Forth: If 2019 was not a stellar year, both the marketing and sales team should meet together to review the processes list above. Use these results to build a new strategy.
The greatest mistake I see companies of all sizes make is that the sales and marketing teams do not work together. Instead, they blame one another for poor results. If, on the other hand, your company’s teams work well together, I would like to hear your story. Please contact me at norine@nwibusinesssolutins.com.
Taking the time to step away from the daily grind and evaluate your activity can give you great insight into your next steps. It always surprises me that when people are unhappy with their results, they keep repeating the same activity yet expect different results.
Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” Though we are not insane, most of us are creatures of habit who resist change.
Embrace change by focusing on the wonderful results that it can provide. In the world of marketing, your results may not occur immediately. Many online processes, for example, take a while for the search engines to pick up your activity. Consistency is the key!
To learn more about setting your strategy, and a wide range of other sales and marketing related topics, follow our blog and consider attending one of our many educational seminars and workshops. Keep up to date on our latest offerings here.
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