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March 12, 2014

Same ol’ marketing & sales in 2014? How’s that working out for you?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… “If you keep doin’ what you’re doin’, you’ll keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’.”

When it comes to business development, it simply means this… if your marketing & sales activities last year resulted in a certain level of business… and the activities planned for this year are essentially the same, why would you expect your level of business this year to be any different?

And I get it… change can be hard.  We’re uncomfortable trying new things.  Well, get over it!  If you want to succeed, you’re going to have to spread your wings, take a chance and try something new.  I’m not talking about a dozen new things… start with one or two.

What’s the worst that can happen?  Nothing.  That’s right… the worst that can happen is that sales do not improve – which is where you are now.  On the other hand, you never know when a new initiative might catch fire and bring in that new business you’ve been looking for.  But you’ll never know until you try.

If you’re looking for a spark of inspiration, consider trying one of these this year…

  • Update your logo
  • Install a Marketing Automation Software platform
  • Get involved in another social network, like Google+
  • Regularly ‘participate’ in social conversations, like those on LinkedIn groups
  • Commit to a regular email marketing schedule
  • Test print or pay-per-click ads
  • Produce your first webinar
  • Network at a conference you’ve never been to before
  • Spruce-up your elevator pitch
  • Hire your first sales rep
  • Or your first marketing person
  • Put a process in place for lead nurturing
  • Commit to a consistent blogging schedule
  • Put a process in place for following up on inquiries
  • Focus on SEO – maybe refine your keyword list or add meta-tages
  • Send out a press release – new hire, new service line, new location
  • Put some new marketing & sales measurements in place
  • Participate in some sort of marketing and/or sales training
  • Update your website (for the first time in 5 years!)

The bottom line is this, if you’re not happy with the results of your business development efforts, you have to do something about it.  ‘Hope’ is not a strategy… it’s time to take charge!


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