Good Day,

76% of company’s sales and marketing strategies have been affected by the economic downturn.  Yet according to Red Wheel Marketing, in a small but impactful survey of Canadian Business owners, companies are doing the same things they have always done and expecting results to improve.  (the old insanity thing)

Other findings:

• None of them admitted to modifying sales quotas.
• None provided extra sales or marketing support, additional selling tools, lead generation or incentives.
• “Sell harder, darn it” is the strategy.
• 50% lowered their prices. (A little panic there, don’t you think? Too quick to give away margins.)

For the last year I have been mentoring you to think first, then plan, then implement.  (Even though I realize the thinking and planning thing is hard on entrepreneurs.)  They are action oriented, reactive doers.  But here it goes again:

1. Think about your offering.
2. Where the money is in the market.
3. Your market sectors, what they want and are motivated to buy.
4. Match your offering to the motives and then deliver a better offering with a better story.

Some of you are probably sick of hearing it and you will tune out soon.  We don’t like hearing advice that we are not going to act on.  I guess that’s nagging.  I’ve advised you to call old customers and listen to them concerning their needs, motivations, and how they buy. To hear the story of the issues in the industry you are in… and really listen.

But very few business people do that!  We are too busy trying to do the same stuff but even harder.  Your marketing department should be doing it, your management team could be doing it, your sales team or customer service team could devote some time to it… all of this so you can repackage your offering with compelling, introductory specials, new bundles and possibly alliances with firms that compliment what you deliver.

If nothing else, all those that do call will have a big wake up call as to where customers are at.  And will be more connected to the marketplace.  Then you can redesign an offering and a story to launch with your team in the market.

Then you have to get the story out!!

Accessing the market today has been a two-fold challenge.

ONE: How do you access prospects and customers with your revamped story when customers have the power today?  They compare vendors on the internet when they are looking.  Most have insulated themselves from contact the rest of the time.

How do you get their attention when they use e-mails for everything but block incoming ones?

What could you possibly say to get attention if you do reach them, that is more compelling than your competitors.  All vendors sound alike.  Most customers are overwhelmed with information and don’t believe advertising anyway.  There’s too much choice and information out there. So what matters most is referrals, or someone’s else’s opinion.

And that leads us to social networking/marketing today. How do you increase leads coming to your website?  How do you get people/prospects to find and connect to you? Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook etc. … that’s how.

Next week I will be sending you a brief video to watch.  Already, 250,000 people around the world have seen it.  It will really get you thinking about how to use social media tools to access the market and we will give you six things you can do immediately.

TWO: How does your organization sell effectively today?  Consider this data from CSO Insights.

• Sales effectiveness has been deteriorating over the past five years. Closing leads has gone down by 7% before the recession.  You can imagine how much it has gone down since.

• There is a noticeable shift in the expectations customers have.  They already know about your products through the internet, now they want to know how a seller can help them solve their problems.  Some go further and want you to help them strategically.

• The best companies at helping customers with their problems do these three things: *research prospects before the initial call
• *develop a sales strategy for how to create and pursue an opportunity
  *for those prospects who have interest but no time, salespeople need to implement a lead incubation strategy to remain in contact with prospects until the latter can dedicate part of their schedule to evaluate the reps offerings.

Yet in the CSO research, 47.9% say they need improvement in researching prospects, 54% in developing sales strategies, and 50.3% in incubating leads.

The best companies have an integrated sales system worked out which includes all three areas addressed.  A CRM, strategic selling skills that creates customized problem solving and strategic assistance to their clients.  Those who have this system have a 55% win rate (prospect to close) compared to a 43% rate to those that don’t.  More deals at a higher value even in a turbulent economy.  (More on this in coming Monday Morning Mentors)

So, don’t give away your margins!

Some Immediate Actions:

1. Have a team call 5 customers each this week.  Find out what is going on.  Use the questions I suggested.
2. Re-group and re-think your offering and whether it matches their motivations.
3. What new story could you tell your customers… and begin to examine how social media could help.
4. What would be your sales system? Begin a new conversation.

Think, plan, implement and you won’t default to giving away your margins.

Have a great week!

To your continued success,

Kevin D. Crone
CEO
Dale Carnegie Business Group
BusinessNext Inc.
Offering Dale Carnegie Throughout Canada
kevin@businessnext.ca
(905) 826-7300 / 1-800-361-2032 ext. 223

New Podcast Now Available…
Last week’s STRATEGIC COFFEE HUDDLE Podcast
From Monday, August 24th with special Guest Steve Cardy
Click Here to Listen.

Feel free to sign up friends and associates to the Monday Morning Mentor.

Good Day,

Last Tuesday we heard that Fortune Magazine named Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the blackberry, “The World’s Fastest-Growing Company”. RIM, as you know, is worth 44 billion in stock and is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario – 40 minutes from my office.

Wow, the best company in the world in such a highly competitive market – a Canadian company. Now how does that thought shift any recessionary cynicism you may have?

I also read that 25% of Canada’s gross domestic product is attributed to companies with fewer than 50 employees. These entrepreneurs believe the worst is over and expect business to pick up in 2010.

At a conference of entrepreneurs in Ottawa recently, Peter Thomas, founder of the Canadian unit of Century 21, generating 9 billion in sales, said, “Recessions are when money is transferred to smart people from dumb people.”

What I get from both of these examples is that the strategic game of business is still being won by those who are willing to compete – to think – to plan – to execute and are always moving forward.

Goodness, the recession hit harder than we thought and more quickly than expected. All of us know we had to work 30 – 40% harder just to stay okay. So now it’s time to leverage that recessionary experience to capture our lessons and move forward.

So where do we go from here? There – that’s where. This is when the entrepreneurial spirit with vision comes in. It’s time to determine what “there” is all about – what it looks like.

Don’t ask your accountant for it. “Accountants only give us history lessons but can’t lead you to a new vision”, says Stu Scott, one of my original mentors (and he’s an accountant by trade). Stu is an incredible businessman – when he talks, I always listen.

During all of these times, I’ve been writing that you as business people have to:

•    Hang in there – keep the ship afloat but start making some moves that position you for a smart recovery.
•    Discover new opportunities while others are turtling – you can outthink, outsell, out-serve, out-hustle, out-deliver all those who are still guided by their cost cutting accountants.
•    Look for ways to innovate your offerings around customer motivations.
•    Build the capacity of your business to deliver by creating a plan that will pull you to where you want to go.
•    Engage and connect your people to the plan
•    Figure out where training comes in – to build your capacity, to make your plan work.
•    Connect to old customers and new ones with a new refreshed story that shows that you match with their motivations.

Most importantly, focus on your own attitude – your thinking. Get yourself ready to lead again.

Like a good relief pitcher in baseball, we all need to have a short memory to be able to get up and go to the mound again to compete, despite what ever bad has happened. The sun is coming out but where should you be sailing?

Now it’s time to shake off the recession fatigue and execute a return to a rebounded economy.

These principles work for RIM or for anyone who acts on what’s required on behalf of the opportunities out there. Those that wake up and get going – that execute!

Stu says, “The difference between successful businesspeople and those who struggle – one is willing to pull the trigger – the other doesn’t.”

The wise things you do in today’s time create tomorrow’s good times. But do what?

Every company right now needs a stronger sense of direction, “a here to there” picture – to find what’s good and hidden in tougher times and use it. This is what becoming better is all about.

It’s interesting when things are rolling well, a lot of business people become arrogant, stop listening to everyone and don’t learn much about anything, except how they feel. As you head into the recovery, allowing yourself to learn something valuable right now can really cause you to be better.

Most of the learning about our opportunities or challenges have always been there. The pain of a recession can wake us up to the truth and the reality that we have been ignoring. We can create many possibilities by making current reality a welcomed friend regardless of our feelings.

Ask yourself:

* What value is missing in the market?
* What is it that customers in my industry don’t like?
* What old customers could we access, what new message can we launch to them?
* How can we cut delivery times?
* How can we be of more service to our markets, organization and boss?

You can change your business, your team and yourself. We can’t let our fears masquerade as caution and comfort. We need a new sensible vision in full colour and detail that is believable, specific and matches our aspirations for our business, department or career. Write it up, then accompany that vision with a good dose of current reality in relationship to what you want. Pull the trigger on this – at least begin it.

Sometimes our vision can be more about what got us successful in the first place; about making things better for our customers; about doing more for others – our associates and even our bosses. When you create the vision this way, you’ll manage to get outside of yourself, your opinions and limited views and emotions that lock you in and provide you with no direction.

Isn’t it interesting that athletes spend most of their time practicing and only a small percentage (a few hours a week) competing? Yet you and I must perform on demand, 10, sometimes 12 hours a day and we devote almost no time to practice, learning, training or creating what we want (if nothing else to recover and recharge).

Last Monday I told you about Steve Cardy. So why not practice your business skills today by joining me and Steve today for this month’s Strategy Huddle at 11AM EST.
Register-Today-button

Hear how Steve rebuilt a business, demonstrated exceptional leadership and caused incredible business results.

This one-hour complimentary call will be a great way to get focused on what kind of vision you can have, what you need to do and receive some inspiration and ideas on how to do it.

Actions:
•    Join us on our Strategy Huddle Teleconference Call
•    Take 10 minutes and answer the following questions:
•    What have I learned from the recession?
•    What new vision can take me forward?

Have a great week!

To your continued success,

Kevin D. Crone
CEO
Dale Carnegie Business Group
BusinessNext Inc.
Offering Dale Carnegie throughout Canada
kevin@businessnext.ca