SYNCHRONIZE MARKETING WITH SALES!
by Jack McMahan
Marketing’s job is to pull customers toward your company by delivering compelling messages to the customer who the company wants to attract and maintain, and to make sure that your brand is attractive enough to the right customer segments to create sustained growth.
Marketing messages provide information that explains who you are and why the customer should want to maintain or develop a relationship with you. These messages also reinforce what you know about customers that conveys “understanding.” These messages, simply said, become your “brand.”
These messages, in whatever form, need to synchronize with your sales effort. If, for example, you intend to build relationships with key customers, your marketing messages need to be relationship-building oriented. On the other hand, if your goal is to maximize transactional opportunities, marketing messages need to focus on products (price, benefits, time-sensitivity, etc.).
Marketing must extend the reach of your sales team. When the customer says, “Tell me what you offer — and why this is important to me in terms of what I do, who I am, and what I expect,” sales and marketing must respond in unison. Marketing messages become the voice of the sales team during the absence of the actual salesperson.
In each case, the salesperson or relationship manager (the term we prefer) must be prepared to receive a favorable response. Marketing’s job is to supplement this response; giving the customer a sense that their voice is being heard, even if the salesperson didn’t actually do the talking.
GOOD MARKETING CREATES BRAND MAGNETISM
Your company’s brand is a composite of everything you do that touches the customer. Company principals often mistake “brand” for logo or the corporate façade, such as the appearance of corporate headquarters. These elements certainly form part of the brand, but brand also includes such items as your hours of operation, service techniques, billing terms, dress code, and much more.
Marketing’s job is to make sure that your brand is attractive enough to the right customer segments to create sustained growth. Notice that I said, “the right customer segments.” It’s unlikely that your brand will satisfy everyone. This means that you must decide who your most valuable customers are (or will be) in order to synchronize your brand with your business development effort.
GOOD MARKETING CREATES ONE VOICE
Customers interact with several departments within your company. Sales, customer service, marketing, and accounting usually interact with customers frequently. It’s important that each of these interactions reinforce your brand message. Marketing’s job is to communicate the brand internally as effectively as it does externally. Your internal customers (employees) must understand and believe in your brand in order to live it and distribute it.
Marketing must support sales; but more importantly, it must satisfy the voice of the customers whom you aim to develop.
ACTION STEP:
Define your most valuable customers (in terms of long-term growth) and set specific, measurable goals for synchronizing your brand with your company’s business development plan.
Jack McMahan provides consulting services that help insurance agency principals develop and sustain powerful business development programs. He also conducts a series of relationship management workshops and teleclasses aimed at helping agencies find, build, and manage trust- based client relationships. For more information, visit www.crossingthechasm.net or call (405) 767-3310.