Paul Nelson

Founder & Managing Director

BrandMatters

Marketing Webinar

Winning the racevia the New 4 P’s of Marketing: Persistence, Positioning, People and Profitability

Introduction

The literal definition of crisis is

‘a turning point’

Let’s consider this as a turning point...

for thinking differently about Marketing and Business Development

The Marketing world at a turning point

OLD WORLD

• New products proliferate

• Brands are trusted and invincible

• Brand strength is aligned to ATL spend

• Media is ‘pushed’ mainstream

• Marketing is driven by brand

awareness

NEW WORLD

• Simplicity and rationalised product set

• Trust must be earned and retained

• Brand strength occurs via conversations

• Media is fragmented and ‘conversational’

• Marketing is driven by financial accountability

Persistence

Let’s start with a few reminders about the basics of client contact and business development

Marketing Persistence; at a client level• Demonstrate you understand your clients business; this builds trust and their belief in your ability

• Focus on high value/margin customer and loyalists - identify the 20% who deliver the 80%

• Renew relationships with lapsed customers.

• Don’t sell your services, sell solutions to their problems

• Deliver more than you promise, to demonstrate you care about them and their business

• Cross sell/ up sell existing customers – find benefits for them!

• Seek referrals – focus on six, then recognise and reward

• Cross-functionalise your understanding of clients across the entire business

Also;

• Product knowledge; know all your products well.

• Product associations and combinations; know how your products integrate with each other and how they form a bigger picture.

• Education; don’t under-estimate your value in terms of the education you bring to clients.

• Pricing structure; know how your pricing works – the structures, bundling, unbundling, volume pricing, various product, servicing and pricing combinations, etc.

Sales persistence80% of sales on the 5th approach

• The typical objections:

– I don’t have a need right now – happy with my software/system/supplier:

– Other associations or relationships / I’m not convinced I need to see you.

• Why following up is so Important

– 2% sales - 1st contact– 3% sales - 2nd contact– 5% sales – 3rd contact– 10% sales – 4th contact– 80% sales – 5+ contact!

• Of 10,000 advertising enquiries made

– 22% of enquirers never received the information they requested

– 57% received the information more than 65 days after their request

– 87% were never contacted by a sales representative

Source: http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p195292521_Why+following+up+is+one+of+the+key+sales+skills.html

Positioning

Defining your story, so you stand out with an offer that is Credible, Relevant, Differentiated and Sustainable

Brand Positioning

You have the tip of the iceberg:

• Name

• Logo

• Strap line?

Ensure your positioning is right…every conversation & touchpoint counts…

• Is it Credible, Relevant, Unique and Sustainable?

• Only promote attributes that your clients care about

• Make sure what’s different about you can’t be copied easily

• Don’t replicate your competitors, focus on what you do

• Stay true to your current position and reinforce it

Brand Management

• Assess your current target and their level of trust in your brand

• Optimise your entire portfolio

• Understand each brand’s role and purpose within your brand portfolio/architecture

• Interrogate against customer segments and value propositions to minimise duplication and identify gaps

• Understand its positioning relative to its primary competition

• Ask yourself ,what’s our brand’s enduring relevance and point of difference

People

Aligning your internal teams behind your brand principles and values and looking for the right strategic alliances

Sweet spot – convergence of values and goals

•Employee Track•Individual goals & personal•career objectives

•Organisational Track•Business goals, strategies•& definitions of success

EVP Sweet Spotmaximised employee satisfaction maximised organisational performance,

External & Internal coherence matters

What is your offer?

What is your promise?

Where is the evidence?

What is your offer?

What is your promise?

Where is the evidence?

External Brand Proposition

Internal Brand Proposition

Common platform of attraction, retention, profitability

•Content•Communications •Service delivery•Methodology

•How aligned are your internal •and external brand propositions?

14

Companies with strong brands have a strong internal brand

• Westpac

• Nike

• GE

• News Limited

• Fuji Xerox

• Cochlear

• Procter and Gamble

• PepsiCo

• Nestle

• People leave leaders not organisations

• Motivated employees will find and bring new opportunities

• Reward, recognise and acknowledge their role

• Keep them happy and feeling secure

• Their mood is then experienced by all who interact or know your organisation.

Profitability

Maximise the marketing and media mix against your most valuable customers and take share from less visible and creative competitors

Profitability – at a tactical level• With competitive noise levels reduced it is easier for a brand to stand out in the marketplace.

– Media costs are more attractive. Push harder for advertising bargains: Distressed ads sell for an average discount of 40% on normal rates,

• Consider targeted Direct Mail and personalised letters

– digital and email content is very prevalent

– Well written, edited and designed copy– cuts through.

• Sounds simple, but make sure you’ve got a system that can track, qualify and contact leads

– How effectively are we converting leads into sales?– Is our sales force working effectively in getting the leads that they’ve got to an actual sale?– How effective are we being in terms of lead generation?

• Leverage the power of PR - Become a visible expert in your field – submit an article to be

published – online or offline

• Check for leaks and the little things - check systems and processes

• Get Creative With Corporate Partners

Embrace media integration and fragmentation

• No longer tell and sell; marketing is now a conversation

• 80% online daily, yet only 5-10% of spend is applied to digital media

• 43% of CEO’s use social media weekly (BM 2008)

• 78% trust recommendations of other consumers (Nielsen Ttrust report 2008)

• 92% of people cite WOM as their best source for product ideas (Gfk NOP/Roper)

• Online consumers trust their peers far more than corporate websites (Neilson Report, “Online global customer survey Oct 2007)

• 2 in 5 companies directly associate an increase in sales from a move to new forms of media (Colman Partners 2009)

Email marketing • Maximise your returns on email marketing and

get the basics right by:

• Understanding your reason for doing it

• Making your proposition compelling

• Getting the frequency right.

• Keeping it short and focused

• Contacting loyalists first

• Really understanding your list

• Finding your clients triggers

• Being serious, committed and professional

• Finding the right support package

– SEO partner– Google Ad words

Profitability – more broadly

• Think like the business owner

• Business case expenditure and launch programs

• Use metrics that matter to your CEO and that he understands:– Beyond traditional, to leads, pipeline and

revenue

• Forecast results and ROI, not just spending

• Track media effectiveness and keep suppliers accountable

• Remember; accountability directly correlates to profitable performance

In summary

• It’s a new marketing paradigm – accept this as the new normal

• Understand your clients - yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s

• Check your business development processes

• Understand your brand’s positioning and ensure it’s aligned internally & externally

• Look to maximise your marketing in the current conditions – stay focused on costs

• Embrace the new media, with all it brings

• Know your lead indicators and focus on accountability

• Think like the CEO and focus on metrics that he/she understands and believes are important

Thank you

“Companies that outperform the market are companies that invest, understand and capitalise in a downturn”

Ronan Harris

Director online sales

Google European Operations