Transcript What is marketing anyway? - Consulting Architects of Alberta

Effective Business Development
Consulting Architects of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Copyright TBCI
How did we get here?
“Selling” Sophistication
Madison Ave product “marketing” moved
into the professional services space
Strategic
Planning
Business Development
Collaborative
Relationships
PC’s
Social Media
Mobile Devices
& Cloud
Technology
Internet
Consultative Selling
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
What is marketing?
Essentially, it is everything you do
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How you dress
What you say
How you present
How you “package” your
– Image
– Services
– Relationships
What is marketing? (cont’d)
– Your historical service performance
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Design quality
Design performance in the final deliverable
Bid vs actual price
Number of RFI’s, design changes caused by design
deficiencies/weaknesses
• Change orders during construction
• Bid ranges on design documents
• Trade show attendance and participation
• Technical papers - presentation and publication
Marketing is still in the adolescent stage in most firms, yet it
is one of the most complex and integrated processes in your
business.
Terminology
• Marketing (long term, positioning, market conditioning)
– direct (lead finding, repeat clients, proposals, presentations, etc.)
– indirect (direct mail, brochures, newsletters, resumes,
advertising, business cards, etc.)
• Selling (short term, activity-based, tactical)
– direct (cold calling, face to face)
– indirect (direct mail, telemarketing, sales tools)
– facilitative/consultative (relationship development, consulting)
• Business development (long term, relationship-based)
The Business Development Triangle
Decision to
Propose
Look for
Prospects
Client Management
Negotiate
Contract
Key Marketing Components to Develop
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IFBP Matrix
CRM System
Opportunity Tracking Process
Sales Funnel
Effective Sales Training (e.g., RAS)
3-D Marketing
Markets
Services
Customers
Pull Marketing
• What is it?
• How to use it effectively.
• Why it is more effective than push.
Differentiation
• Identifying related “clusters”, or groups of
customers, with like needs and buying characteristics
• Understanding the concepts of Unique & Distinctive
Selling Points
• Differentiating Issues, Features, Benefits and Proofs
• Clearly answering “What makes you different?”
Customers
You know who they are, but do you know...
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their distinct buying habits
where you stand with them
how they are similar/different
where they go for services
who they like/dislike
what they like/dislike
what their key challenges are
Markets
You know what they are, but do you know
where they are going and where the money is?
– Trends
– Drivers (social, demographic, regulatory, etc)
– Market Life cycle (intro, growth, mature, decline,
phase-out)
– Basis of your knowledge (emotional, factual)
– Threats/Opportunities
– PESTLE forces
Services
You know what you have to offer, but is it
what your customers want to buy?
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Service life cycle (dog, star, cash cow, wildcat)
Unique features
Provable benefits
Leverage able
Pursue Segmentation
SEGMENT
Commercial
SUB-SEGMENT
 Hotel/Entertainment
 Retail
 Office
Industrial
 Light mfg
 Heavy
 Food/Pharma/Bio
 Micro-electronics
Institutional
 Educational
 Correctional
 Healthcare
Transportation
 Rail (Light/Heavy)
 Airports
 Road/Bridge
Public Works
 Ports/Harbors
 Water/Wastewater
 Dams
Utilities
 Gas
 Coal
 Nuclear
 Other
PUBLIC
PRIVATE
QUASIGOVT
OTHER
Service Segments
Hi-growth
High share
Hi-growth
Low share
Stars
Wildcats
Cash Cows
Dogs
Market
Growth
Low-growth
High share
Low
Low-growth
Low share
High
Market Share
Low
Benefits to Segmentation
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Profitability
Growth
Determine competition
Service distinction
Defense of business
Maintain competitive advantage
Positioning for future
What is at the heart of Marketing?
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Trust
Confidence
Client service
Listening
Understanding client needs
Tailoring a service at a competitive price which
meets the needs and creates value for the client
• Repeat business at a lower cost of acquisition
Strategic Hierarchy in Marketing
• Corporate strategy focuses on vision - “What” the
company wants to be.
• Marketing strategy focuses on “where” company
wants to be - much like deployment of resources
in military structures
• Company must answer question “What do we
want to be?” in order to implement an effective
marketing strategy
• Marketer must clearly understand his/her role in
the marketing hierarchy
The Marketing Plan
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Why have one?
Structure of the Plan
Process to develop the Plan
Executing and tracking the Plan
The Marketer’s role in Plan development and
execution
The Marketing Plan
Plan Structure
– Pre-planning Considerations (cash flow,
human resources, capital requirements, etc.)
– Environmental Assessment (external, internal,
company (mgmt, financial, SWOT, etc.))
– Assumptions
– Objectives
– Action Planning (strategies, tactics, actions,
responsibilities)
The Marketing Plan (cont’d)
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Milestones (target dates)
Budget
Contingency Plan
Plan to Control Plan
Plan to Update Plan
Key success factors in Marketing Plan development are
involvement, creation of objectives, strategies, tactics,
and actions, and in communicating the developed Plan.
Why Marketing Plans/Programs Fail
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Arrogance
Lack of buy-in by stakeholders
Greed
Ignorance
Hidden agendas
Apathy
Lack of discipline
Bad luck
Selling vs Marketing
• Selling
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Volume oriented
Short run
Individual customer
Field work
• Marketing
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Profit planning
Long range
Market segments
Good information
systems
Marketing is doing and thinking, not traveling.
A Limited Time To Connect
Here are several things you can do to lose your prospect’s
attention in the first five seconds of the conversation:
• Start a telephone conversation with, “Hi, how are
you?”
• Open your conversation by introducing yourself,
your company, and what you do.
• Make small talk about “stuff” you see in their office
(awards, plaques, photos, etc.).
• Give them an overview of your products and
services.
A Limited Time To Connect
• Explain how your product or service will benefit
them.
• Tell them what companies you have worked with.
• Show them the awards and accolades your
company's service has received.
• Give them a brochure that outlines your key
services.
Unfortunately, most sales people fail to effectively
open the sales conversation with a new prospect.
Selling Issues
• First Impressions are critical
– In the first 0-30 seconds of a sales call, the
• first response is always irrational
• first impression usually lasts
• first role-definition shapes the relationship
– In the following 0.5 - 5 minutes
• the first impression will either be confirmed or
altered
• future “doors” to the relationship will either be
opened or closed
You are what You’re Selling
• Be sure the client/prospect sees what he/she
wants:
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Competence
Understanding
Interest
Respect
Energy
Comfort
Trust
Compelling Call Objectives
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Get through
Instill urgency
Create a positive image
Generate information/receptivity
Define the next steps
Maintain control of the process
The “Sales Call”
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Know the prospect/customer before going in
Have a strategy or plan
Set reasonable call objectives
Take notes
Should there ever be a “cold” call?
Getting Through the Selling Barriers
• Gatekeepers
• Voice and e-mail
• Finding the right person/qualifying the
prospect
• Creating interest in the interview
• Know the subject matter
• Know when to leave
• Create the follow-up action …. and own it!!
Handling the Price Objection
• What do you do when the prospective
client says “Your price is too high.”?
• How do you overcome “cheap”?
Handling the Price Objection
Price/Value = Cost
Value = Benefits - Price
• Customer controls the price perception
• You control the value proposition
• Jointly arrive at the cost
If the value proposition is adequately posed, the
perception of cost can be lowered.
Handling the Price Objection
• Remember buyers have a bargaining instinct
• Realize the buyer is working the “price/value = cost”
formula in his/her mind; help them build up value and
lower the cost
• Always probe the objection
• Translate features into advantages into benefits and
build up value
• Remember (most) buyers fear “cheap”
• Recognize that “your price is too high” may be a
buying signal.
Interviewing
• Interviewing techniques
• Asking questions
– Closed-ended
– Open-ended
• Taking notes
• Giving information to get information
Special Selling Techniques
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Cross selling (being aware of your surroundings)
Referrals (Don’t forget to ask)
Seminars (brown bag, open house, issue driven, etc.)
The Internet, as a
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research tool
marketing venue
direct selling medium
a venue to deploy apps
Survey Results
• According to market research performed by several
industry groups, it takes between 8-12 repetitions of
the same message to achieve recognition.
• Most companies change their message after 6
attempts.
• It takes an average of 5 sales calls to move a
prospective buyer from awareness to action.
• The average seller quits after 3 attempts.
• An average sales call today costs in excess of $740.
Life Cycles
Startup
Growth
Maturity
New and Improved
Decline
Time
Life Cycles
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Company
Organizational unit
Service
Market
Customer
Competition
Understand the life cycles of these elements.
Know Your Service Line Cycles
(They’re getting compressed!)
Growth
New and Improved
Entrepreneurial
Growing
Aging/Declining
Commoditization
Balanced Approach to Acquiring Work
Pursue Job
Win
Develop
Relationship
Where is your firm?
Where do you want it to be?
How big is the gap?
How long will it take to close it?
The “Core” of the Work Week
Typical Work Week
Bad Day
Poor call times
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Most productive
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Bad Day
Afternoons are generally bad
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Mondays and Fridays are “Bad days”
The PM/PA’s Role in Business
In general, today’s Marketer is expected to:
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Find (or help find) the work
Win (or help win) the job
Ensure the timely delivery of services
Stay within ever increasing constraints of cost,
quality, and time
Make a profit
Maintain the relationship
Collect (or help collect) the money
Find more business/work/relationships
The PM/PA’s Role in Marketing
• Active participation in the planning process
• Maximizing the “core” of the work week
• Avoiding the “Sell/Do” trap
• Backfilling and support to enable marketing, selling, and
business development, AND to distributing
responsibilities for work assignments left hanging during
the “core” of the work week
• Relationship management (repeat business)
• Involvement in key proposal efforts
• Project closeout
The Decision to Pursue
• Go/No-Go process
– Formalize it and use it; the process helps build
discipline and improves the hit rate
– Determine unique selling points relative to the
opportunity
– Evaluate risk/return aspects of the opportunity
– Is it a “one-of-a-kind” project; if so, why pursue it
– Create an “as good as you can be” win strategy and
commit the resources to it
Other Marketing/BD Considerations
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Trade Show Strategy
Peer Organization Involvement
Getting Published
Developing a Valuable CRM System
Clarifying Roles And Responsibilities
(Mktg, Selling, BD)
• Other?
Current Trends and Observations
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Down-sizing/right-sizing
Outsourcing
Globalization
Demographic shift
Technology advancements
The Internet and social networks
Role changes (Marketing is now a mature business
process affecting and involving all of us)
Questions