Mike Crandall

Do you invest a lot of resources in marketing collateral like brochures and fliers? If so, are you doing that strategically or just doing it because you think you should or think it might somehow lead to more business? Do you know how much of your investment ends up in the trash?

Something Mike saw a couple of years ago might make you think a little differently about your marketing collateral.

In Sandler, we often talk about the importance of good communication in the sales process. The same thing is true for your marketing as well.

Maybe this has happened to you. It's not unusual to...

If you're not being strategic in what marketing activities you invest in, it's time to start. Whether it's time, money, or other resources, it's important to identify where your gaps are. Where should you be investing more resources? Where should you be investing less?

Here's a system you can use to determine what adjustments you should make.

We work with various organizations with an internal sales or fundraising team, with just one or two salespeople, or even with the owner making sales. Sometimes they will have an internal marketing team, but more often than not, they outsource their marketing.

Before working with us, sales and marketing end up...

The key to making a sale is uncovering pain. If you can discover your prospect's pain and help with that pain, you're much more likely to make a sale.

In Sandler terminology...

One of the original 49 Sandler Rules can help you position your marketing to help your sales efforts consistently. That is Sandler Rule #39: When All Else Fails, Become a Consultant.

Much of marketing today takes the form of...

If you sell an inexpensive commodity, price is not usually a question. If you're selling water bottles, most people won't even notice whether it's $1.00 or $1.10. They'll drink it and forget about it. They won't even remember the brand an hour later!

However, if what you sell is big, complex, personal, technical, expensive, bought infrequently, or any combination of those, the price can be a huge part of the conversation!

As it turns out, price is never the real issue. Let's look at a story where price got in the way, why prospects bring up price, and how we can help them get at the real issue.

LinkedIn can be an excellent platform for both marketing and sales. However, you have to work smart and consistently in your activities.

In Sandler, we use the term cookbook to refer to your unique list of behaviors that you do regularly and track to make sure you do them. Those can be behaviors for either personal or business development.

Here is a list of LinkedIn activities...

There's a common phrase you likely heard as a child: It's not what you said; it's how you said it. There's a similar phrase in business: People will buy how you sell long before they buy what you sell.

We typically talk about that in sales, but the same thing is true in your marketing!

When running a business or non-profit, there are many KPIs-Key Performance Indicators—you need to track. How many new contacts is your sales team making each week? What is your revenue YTD? What is your profitability?

Marketing has just as many potential KPIs as any other area of your business, maybe more. But there's one that is generally far more important than the others...