Nine things marketers ought to know about salespeople (and two bonuses)

“I don’t know if it’s lunch or that powerpoint or the Christmas card
I sent last year”
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/…

Selling is hard. Harder than you may ever realize. So, if I seem stressed, cut me some slack.Selling is personal. When I make a promise, I have to keep it. If you force me to break that promise (by changing processes, features or a rollout schedule) I will never forgive you.

Selling is interpersonal. I am not moving bits, I’m trying to change people’s minds, one person at a time. So, no, I can’t tell you when the sale will close. No one knows, especially the prospect.

I love selling. I particularly love selling great stuff, well marketed. Don’t let me down. Don’t ask me to sell lousy stuff.

I’m extremely focused on the reward half of the equation. Salespeople love to keep score, and that’s how I keep score. So don’t change the rules in the middle, please.

I have no earthly idea what really works. I don’t know if it’s lunch or that powerpoint or the Christmas card I sent last year. But you know what? You have no clue what works either. I’ll keep experimenting if you will.

There is no comparison, NONE, between an inbound call (one that you created with marketing) and a cold call (one that you instructed me to create with a phone book.) Your job is to make it so I never need to make a cold call.

Usually, customers lie when they turn me down. They make up reasons. But every once in a while, I actually learn something in the field. Ask!

I know you’d like to get rid of me and just take orders on the web. But that’s always going to be the low-hanging fruit. The game-changing sales, at least for now, come from real people interacting with real people.

(a bonus, switching points of view for a moment): I know that selling is hard and unpredictable. But if you’re going to be in sales, you’ve got to be prepared to measure and predict and plan. You need to give me sales reports and call lists and summaries. It does neither of us any good to keep your day a secret. If you don’t plan and organize, I can’t do my job of marketing.

(and bonus number two): The two worst pieces of feedback you can give me (because neither is really actionable or especially effective): a. lower the price and b. make our product just like our competitors.

Can multi-media coverage ROI be delivered by a single fee?

Can multi-media coverage ROI be delivered by a single fee?
A very strong story of multi-media results delivered for a client
http://www.lexicon-pr.com/ Sue Baker, Managing Director of Lexicon PR suggests marketing managers could, understandably, be nostalgic for the days when you could choose a key publication which was bound to hit your target audience, book a series of adverts and inserts for a single fee and know it would deliver the leads.Current thinking tells us that the complexity of today’s marketing mix requires duplication of advertising – and inevitable duplication of cost – across a multitude of media, stretching marketing budgets to breaking point. Or does it?

A 12-month multi-media campaign developed and delivered for the world’s largest nursery and child products manufacturer is reaching its conclusion. It’s on-target to deliver 560 per cent Return On Investment, 27.5 million target audience ‘hits’ and a significant increase in sales for the company.

The campaign has influenced the target audiences through a multi-media approach which has produced coverage in: consumer and trade journals, national, regional and local newspapers, radio, television, and across the web.

Surprise, surprise, it’s all been done by public relations!

Sue Baker developed the campaign to promote two key brands and three new products: two innovative pushchairs and a child car seat. She says: “As well as delivering key messages to the target audiences through a multi-media approach, the campaign has also had a significant impact on sales, which have reached record levels.

“It’s a mistake to believe that multi-media means multi-fee. Good PR stories play across all the media because whether you’re producing a glossy magazine or a website, great content is all-important.”

Sue Baker is the first to agree that PR can lack the precision of paid-for advertising if marketing campaigns are urgent and short-term. “When clients tell us they need coverage in a specific issue of a specific title on a specific page, we tell them they need to advertise. Public relations isn’t such an exact science. However, for marketers who are far-sighted enough to look at a six- or 12-month campaign, PR can out-deliver every other communications method”.

“Its third-party endorsement means that as a credible communicator of corporate and sales messages, PR is unsurpassed.”