Don't Worry, "IT Will Sell Itself"...

..& other, self maiming strategies !
by David Bookout

Would you take a sharp knife to your own arm? What about a dull one? This is in effect what we do when we attach ourselves to bankrupt thinking.

The intent was to have a product marketing meeting. Like many start-ups, the product idea was really quite brilliant and the opportunity to talk to a professional, credentialed, industry expert seemed like a good idea. Especially since the expert was a doctor.

This good doctor made it quite clear that the idea had turned bad. Thinking back, the doc's opening salvo was very telling - "What do you need marketing for? This product sells itself".

The next telling sign came as the group huddled around the small waiting room and inter-office doorways, where the "conversation" turned "monologue". It seemed that the marketing lesson had begun. Thinking back I'm not sure if this resonated from the depths of my monologue induced boredom, but it must have - monologues are always a bad sign, particularly if the meeting objective is to promote speculation and enable collaboration.

But, the real issue - the main claim - Products sell themselves !??

Have you ever been in a meeting like this? A meeting where there's an over supply of; puffery, misguided claims and bankrupt thinking ???

As I looked around I remember thinking: (a) This must be a dream, and (b) That's the most arrogant / ignorant thing I've heard this week !!, and (c) What does a doctor ( and a Dentist at that ) really know about sales, or even marketing for that matter ?, and (d) Completely as a hedge - Hmm, was there ever, or could there really be a product / service that sells itself ?

So, I wanted to open the topic up for discussion here. Please tell me if you think that it's possible for a product, or service to "sell itself". If you think so, please share the URL, or some other way we can all directly connect with the offer, and come to our own conclusions !!

Also, I wanted to offer the following to bring more value and accomplishment to your meetings:

1) Don't extrapolate. Things that worked once, or have worked in one ( 1 ) place, don't necessarily work anywhere else.

2) Get connected to what YOU know. We all have unique experiences and backgrounds and specific areas of study. Stick to that.

3) Be humble about what YOU don't know. A posture of not knowing actually opens possibilities for new learning.

4) Be open to the possibility that YOU might not even know that YOU don't know quite a bit about a lot.

© Copyright 2008 - Effetti, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.


The article and contents herein, unless otherwise specified in writing - by Effetti, Inc. are ALSO licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting the author through Effetti, Inc. http://www.effettigrowth.com/about-contact.php.

The displayed image is © Copyright to James Donnelly.

Meet the new sales person, Marketing...

...& why you might want to re-think the budget !
by David Bookout

There has been a shift coming for some time, have you noticed? Sales used to be about cold calls, roaming door to door, using lobby phones, inviting people out to lunch, dinners and an occasional box of doughnuts. Not anymore. Today, sales is about the post choice, transactional components of the process; how many, how much, by when, shipping methods, warranties, etc. Everything else, and I mean EVERYTHING is marketing.

According to the American Marketing Association "Marketing" is no longer a “function”, but an integral process that includes every nook and cranny of an organization. Today, marketing is about “information”, both good and bad, that is available 24 X 7 X 365 to anyone with a computer, an internet connection and a friend.

The American Marketing Association's Definition - 2008
“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

The American Marketing Association's Definition - 2004
“Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”

This new definition of marketing is more actionable, yet still doesn't really enable direct assessments of increased adoption rates, trial sales, and the ultimate result - repeat transactions. To take this a step further we prefer to say that "Marketing is the act of preparing the listening of another to accept an offer".

Either way, when we begin to think this way, marketing plays a much bigger role in terms of how goods and services get specified and ultimately purchased. But why, then, are the budgets for marketing and sales still reflective of the old model?

To me, this is because few see that Marketing is the new Sales. Fewer still see that Marketing is the best sales person they will ever have…

This is great news for the few small, medium business ( SMB ) owners, executives and managers who are attuned to this vision, and can make effective use of the significant competitive advantage this concept represents.

But now what?

Perhaps your a business owner that doesn’t think from a marketing perspective, and wants to try this on, what do you do?

Here are two relatively simple things that can get you started:

First, define your core offer at its highest level. For example, a school that helps men and women get their state contractors license could be considered to be in the construction industry. But, at a higher level the school really provides knowledge that in turn helps people improve their lives. So, the schools core offer is knowledge. Another example might be a contract manufacturing company that specializes in machining, forming and finishing of sheet metal, and light electro-mechanical assembly. This company also has specific equipment, knowledge and practices that enable this work to be done with very low overall deviation from part to part, and can be done very quickly. Some might say a quick turn machine shop. But, at a higher level the company provides peace of mind relative to the speed and accuracy with which it can produce custom parts and assemblies. A fun exercise you can facilitate with your team is continue to ask – “What is so great about that?” – in an attempt to keep bubbling the conversation upward.

Next, define your touch points. These are the places where your desired audience, prospects, and even customers come in contact with your company. These touch points can be anything from front line phone answering, to websites, faxes, quotes, service calls, invoicing, emails, seminars, trade shows, etc., etc. ALL touch points MUST CONVEY THE CORE OFFER. Period. In our first example, if the school doesn’t provide new student inquiries with enough “knowledge” to make a clear, no pressure decision, they are not living up to their core offer. In the second example, if the company is too slow in the customer’s mind to turn quotes, they can’t be counted on for “speed”, and as such they are not living up to their core offer either. These breaches, while perhaps sounding trivial, essentially break trust, short circuit critical word of mouth referrals, and limit the abilities of your best sales person ever – Marketing – to help you grow your business.

© Copyright 2008 - Effetti, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.


The title "Meet the new sales person, Marketing...", article, and contents herein, unless specified otherwise in writing - by Effetti, Inc. are ALSO licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting the author through Effetti, Inc. http://www.effettigrowth.com/about-contact.php.

The image shown, from the TV series "Mad Men", is either copyright to, or a trademark of AMC TV.