Stop Sales Travel . . . Are You Kidding Me!

Dan Beaulieu poses a great question in this week’s issue of “It’s only common sense!” audio cast – “Stop Sales Travel Indeed!” As Dan says in his email – “While companies need business now more than ever, they are actually canceling sales travel!”

Canceling sales travel should be the LAST thing on your list.

What your customers and prospects really need is a reason to believe in you, your company and your products. They need to feel comfortable that you’ll be in business at the end of this year, next year and in 5 years.

Sales travel puts a face on your business.

Marketing, on the other hand, is hit by the budget axe much earlier in the spending reduction process. The knee jerk reaction by the uninitiated is to reduce or even cancel the entire marketing budget as a way of responding to a down market.

Marketing puts a face and feeling on your business.

What’s the difference between canceling sales travel and canceling the marketing budget? Not much.

Either way your customers and prospects think you’re out of business.

Stay tuned for my next post on why marketing is important in a lean economy.

Screencasting your way to success

What is screencasting? It’s a digital recording of your computer screen in action. Back in the day, it was called screen capture, but many times the technology limited us to static images. There are a number of programs available that can produce a Flash or other video file of your actions for a price. Yet today our friends at Mashable brought a free web 2.0 system, ScreenToaster to my attention.

Given the rising costs of sales – travel/living, production/postage/shipping of lead fulfillment items such as demo disks and brochures – is causing more suppliers to rethink their marketing strategy. We’ve already witnessed the move to electronic versions of magazines and brochures. Now it’s time to accelerate the move to the early stages of the sales cycle online.

Effective use of Web 2.0, SaaS (software-as-a-service) and a host of free tools available from Google and others makes this a great way to qualify leads.

Once the lead is qualified and pre-sales issues addressed they can move into your pipeline with a personal visit scheduled to finalize the details and close the sale.

Social Media Can be Effective

So you recommended using Social Media to a Client (or your boss) as a way of reaching that great cloud of prospective customers. Of course you were the right choice to implement the campaign since it was your idea in the first place.

But now the pressure is on to succeed.

That’s when Todd Malicoat’s StuntDubl blog comes in handy.

Today’s entry, 7 Reasons Your Social Media Marketing Failed (and how to fix it!) highlights some of the most common mistakes made by novice Social Media marketers.

My personal favorites are:

Your Content Sucked

It doesn’t matter what medium you use for your marketing if your content sucks. We see this daily on web sites throughout the internet and blogosphere. What’s important to you as an author is only as important as it is relevant to your audience.

Identify your target audience before you start creating the content. Then write directly to them in a conversational tone. Write like you speak. It adds a touch of credibility to you and your work.

You Chose the Wrong Channel

Posting great content is very fulfilling to an author. Having it read is a different matter. Using Facebook may be good for your personal image, and even promoting a consumer product. But is it really the best place for pitching a business-to-business product or service?

Carefully consider where your target audience congregates in social medial circles before you take the leap into a potential abyss.

You can read Todd’s post at Stuntdubl.com.

Getting back to the fundamentals

Over at The Marketing Maven Blog we’re reminded that our success sometimes depends on learning lessons from past failures. History frequently has a habit of repeating itself.

The Top Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2009 gives us a concise set of typical errors new marketers and seasoned veterans tend to repeat. Sometimes we forget to return to the basics of our craft.

Here’s the list:
1. Not measuring your current marketing program
2. Staying on the same path
3. Forgetting to “fish where the fish are”
4. Ignoring frequency
5. Working separately from your sales team [ my note – or Clients ]
6. Focusing on lead quantity verses quality
7. Failing to make the most of your media partner relationships
8. Overlooking timing
9. Abandoning brand exposure
10. Moving into the year ahead without a plan.

Head over to The Marketing Maven blog for more details.

Stuff . . .

A recent post on Digital Nomads by Jay White had me taking a step back to see exactly what I bring with me when I’m on the road. The basics include my BlackBerry (of course) with a wall charger that uses a USB cable, digital camera (since the 8830 lacks one of its own) with its charger and cable, sunglasses, an assortment of writing implements, passport, driver’s license, credit cards and the inevitable laptop with a USB mouse.

I leave behind the multi-purpose pocket knife, but include a small whistle, small Maglite, Advil and business cards. Of course there are always the ‘extras’ that find their way into my laptop backpack – highlighter, Sharpie, check book, etc.
Back when I used a ‘real briefcase’ and not a backpack, my travel kit included a few other items that I really don’t remember nor miss. I wonder what they were and why they were in my bag in the first place.

What accoutrements do you travel with regularly?

My List for 2009

This year I will do my best to:

Increase my tenacity in uncovering opportunities for my Clients
Learn at least one new thing each week
Become better at planning my day’s tasks and activities
Spend more quality time with my family
Reinvest in my community through my volunteer work