Help Smart People2Understand Marketing‍

For the past decade, I’ve noticed something that seemed kind of odd to me initially. Over time, I continued seeing this pattern and I figured it was time I identified it.

Some of the smartest people I know own companies, invent products, or find a better way to accomplish a goal. They are brilliant at what they do and have built a product or service based on some sort of genius technological solution. The work they do takes brains and grit. And, of course, a lot of other pieces have to fall into place just right for them to be able to start, sustain, and grow their companies.

These same people are often clueless about marketing and advertising.

To me, it’s almost humorous because what my company does is so simple and logical, it seems rather obvious. Yet, marketing know-how often escapes these experts and entrepreneurs. When that happens, it still catches me off guard.

The Power of High Marketing IQ4Your Organization‍

You may have the most amazing product, service, or platform. But, if you can’t explain it to investors, partners, consumers, and your target audience, it is meaningless. Without demonstrating how you can help or fill a gap in the marketplace, you’re simply wasting a great opportunity.

Advertising must interrupt. It has to gain attention so that the recipient is ready to hear more, investigate, and learn. Marketing must explain and position. The way you communicate about your company can position you for success and detail the ways your product or service meets needs and satisfies the user. It’s simple.

So why do smart people freeze? I’m convinced they actually want to complicate things and that’s where they get tangled up. Get out of your own way and put into place the people who can translate your product or service's special value to those who need to hear about your solution. Allow them to directly communicate your message to your target audience. That’s really being smart, you know.

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Investing to Reach the People

Years ago, I wrote about the value of “going where the eyeballs are” when it comes to advertising. It’s an age-old axiom, but as you evaluate your place in the business community, it’s one that deserves a little closer examination. If you have exceptional messaging but aren’t sharing it with the right people, then what is the value? If you build an incredible advertisement then show it to no one, what have you accomplished?

The answers may seem obvious, but sometimes the obvious confounds people. Even smart people.

Even those well-versed in marketing can be thrown off by familiar industry jargon. For years, B-2-C in business has stood for business-to-consumer advertising while B-2-B has always referred to business-to-business advertising. If you are targeting end-user consumers, you employ B-2-C tactics and channels. If you want to reach business owners and decision makers, you use a B-2-B approach.

The only problem with that theory is that when it comes to buying things, even business-to-business focused decision-makers are themselves consumers.

A Valuable Concept for Your Marketing‍

As you evaluate your advertising spending and determine how you will allocate your 2021 investments, think about new ways to reach the standard audience.

During the height of COVID, the time consumers spent in front of computers was at an all-time high. That was the same whether it was a business owner or a stay at home dad. Whether you were a soccer mom or a CEO, you were bound to your home and watching a screen. It was a pattern that transcended any type of demographic. Get it?

The majority of people in the spring and summer were also watching more TV and consuming more video and internet information. You may not have noticed it then, but think back now, and you’ll realize many of the advertisers you saw were corporations like Microsoft, Salesforce, ADP, and Adobe.

In other words – anticipate where the majority is casting their gaze and use a strong message that cuts through. The money, new deals, and business expansion will be much more likely to follow.

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Leaders Forgetting What It's Like‍

Many of you know that before starting this marketing firm eleven years ago, I was in the television industry. Like a lot of sales organizations and similarly structured companies, there is a tiered system in place. From the men and women pounding pavement on the proverbial street to the “big wigs” looking out from the top, most sales-driven, big businesses operate the same way.

This isn’t a knock against that way of organizing a sales force. After all, I’m not sure there is another way to do it. Instead, it is an observation based on my own experiences as a salesperson, a sales manager, a director of sales, and a person that reported to plenty of vice presidents of sales.

The further you get from the frontlines, the easier it is to simply tell people how things need to be or should be done. Sounds simple enough. It’s just that this approach is completely backward.

A Simple Solution to Improve Relationships‍

A seller who is meeting routinely with clients (whether face-to-face or on Zoom calls) may not have the sales experience or acumen of a VP of Sales for a big organization, but you can bet they get much more truthful feedback. They hear what’s actually happening and encounter real objections and hard-to-answer questions.

When I was a local sales manager, I went on sales calls on a weekly – and sometimes daily – basis. As I progressed in my management career, I noticed it was harder to leave the office and visit clients. There were too many obligatory reports and meetings. As a director of sales, I would manage to make it to sales calls every week or every other week, but nowhere near as often as when I was an LSM or an account executive. Rare were the times I saw our general managers make calls. In fact, in the twenty years I spent in the sales business and almost a dozen more as a client, I can’t recall a VP making their way from corporate headquarters to the storefront of a local or regional client.

Why is that?

If you want a better, more authentic business and you want to find out what people really think, how they genuinely want to conduct business, and how to win “on the street” – you can do it. Encourage your upper management and company leadership to regularly interact with all levels of customers. And don’t stop there. Get those VPs in front of real, hard-to-sell, and full-of-questions prospects, too. It doesn’t work to put them in front of the cupcake people, show those further away from the frontlines what it's really like and do so as a routine.

It’s the only way to uncover the truth. It’s the only way for those VPs to get honest feedback and to help make the organization better. Out of the ivory towers, folks. Take it to the street – or even to the Zoom call – and, once again, listen.

And learn.

Simple Observations for Business Growth‍

Over the years people have asked me how I decide what to write about in our monthly columns. Often it is noticing something basic and then pondering how it fits into marketing or business operations.

I have a teenager, which means I have to deal with the constant cycle of updating, repairing, and replacing of mobile phones. My normally sure-handed young man occasionally drops his handheld device and, after a few such instances, I found myself at the local iPhone repair store. As I observed the owner working to make the little hand-held computer we call a telephone function properly again, I noticed two pretty obvious things:

To fix something as intricate as a mobile phone, you’d better have a lot of knowledge and you best have the right tools to help you get the job done. That day I realized the same principles hold true in commerce.

Knowledge & Tools for Improvement‍

Have you ever heard the story of the plumber who charged a customer $150 to fix a clogged pipe?

He went to the house, gathered the information needed, pulled out a wrench and forcefully hit the broken pipe. Before the customer knew it, the pipe was fixed and the water was flowing again. The tradesman gave the customer the bill, prompting the homeowner to ask, “How can you charge me $150 just for hitting a pipe?”

The confident plumber replied, “Well it's $50 for the call and $100 for knowing exactly where to hit the pipe and how hard.”

The iPhone repair guy figured out what was wrong with my son’s phone, pulled out a minuscule instrument from Apple, and proceeded to fix it. He knew what to do and he had the proper tools to make the repair.

It’s the same in your business. Employ people who can help you fix what is broken, give them the knowledge they need, and make sure they have the pieces on hand to take care of the job. If you decide to fix something yourself – you’ll need to follow the same basic steps.

While this may seem pretty obvious, it’s the simplest observations that frequently make the biggest difference in business, marketing, and operations.

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Pay Attention to Attract Attention‍

My friend Bill from Toledo told me a story once and it has stayed with me for more than twenty years.

At the time, he was in broadcast television commercial production and, as a Black man living in America, he had a very different perspective than I did. He recalled being a kid in the early 70’s watching television and seeing a person of color portrayed in a local commercial. He raced to the kitchen and shouted excitedly to his mom, “There’s a black man on TV!”

The occurrence was pretty rare back then, though in many cities (Toledo included) the African American population was a significant part of the market. For a variety of reasons, most likely starting with the fact that most commercial production workers were white men, there was very little ethnic diversity on TV.

As a result, and for decades, advertisers were missing the mark with their messages.

Match Your Audience for More Success‍

Perhaps as a part of the many social justice movements or the expanding base of talented producers – many of whom are women, Hispanic, Asian, or Black – commercials now look different. And they should.

It’s not uncommon these days to see a tapestry of people represented in advertising now. If you read magazines, watch enough TV, or glance at billboards while driving down the road, you’ll notice same sex couples, bi-racial families, and all kinds of images of people.

That’s because most of us desire to be able to relate to those we see in advertising. Incorporating client testimonials, patients, actors, or models who represent your core audience creates a connection. Determine who you are doing business with or what part of the market you’d like to serve, and then be intentional in selecting the images you use. Whether it is a print ad, digital billboard, website, social media post, or your new TV commercial, it’s important to utilize talent who match society. It’s a simple tactic, but an important part of representing your business and doing business successfully.

Bill’s story may be 20 years old, but the lesson is completely relevant in 2020 – and moving forward.

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You Know the Ones

Before I became a business owner eleven years ago, I was a sales manager. Before I was a sales manager, I was a seller out in the field. Early on I decided I didn’t ever want to be “that kind” of a salesperson. You know the type – the ones who don’t listen and care for their clients and who do not value the work of the Account Executive, Account Manager, or Account Representative. They’re usually referred to as “slimy” salespeople.

It’s true. There are some of them out there and they’re pretty easy to spot.

As I worked with hundreds of sellers before, and over the past decade consulted with hundreds more, I realized salespeople generally mean well. While there are people only in it for themselves, they typically do little harm outside of giving the rest of the industry a bad name.

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Selling is Still Essential

I’m not saying your friendly neighborhood salesperson will have banners hung that read “Heroes Work Here” any time in the near future. I can safely say – especially in times of economic recovery – there is a significant place for relationship building, problem solving, and considerate purveyors of business to business services. As America ramps up and adjusts to the ever-changing climate, here’s a perspective for everyone in the professional sales world.

Few people want to be sold to. People want to be heard.

No one has time to waste. Prospects make time for people who care and help.

Don’t make it about yourself. Focus on the problems your clients have.

Cookie cutter answers rarely work. Once you’ve listened, the real work begins.

Tonality, timing, and value will serve you. Don’t go barging in where you haven’t been invited.

Don’t just sell. Fix. Solve. Help. Build value.

The recipe to landing on the good side of sales is pretty simple. The good ones simply pay attention to what works and they take a breath before starting that sales process, or contacting that prospect. To those of you who sell professionally – you may not be heroes, but you are, in fact, an important part of the economic revival this nation is craving.

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