The Salesby5 Blog

We all know that there are inherent desires and passions within us that gravitate towards different subjects. You’ve known this since you were a kid. What are some of those passions that you have where you have endless levels of energy to read, research and grow? According to Marcus Buckingham, Strengths have SIGNs:

Success – You have been successful in developing this area of your life.
Instinct – There’s a natural desire in your life to do that activity.
Growth – When you do the activity, you get better than the last time.
Needs – You have a desire to do the activity again.

For business leaders, are you letting your teams explore their Strengths? For all team members, are you doing what you can to embrace your Strengths and spend more time each day using them? It may seem far fetched, but the beauty is that everyone has different Strengths that often complement one another. You will be amazed at how much happier you (and your team) will be at the end of the day once you’re actually doing what you love.

*The photo above is of our friend, Stephen Lynch, during the New Zealand Strongest Man Contest – Lifting 410 kgs aka 904 lbs!

Pricing expert Mark Burton tells us that pricing is one of the least utilized but most potent tools we have. There is only one purpose for price – to increase profitability. Go through these 3 questions: What is your purpose for price? How consistent is your leadership team in supporting that purpose? If there are inconsistencies, what are the leading causes? You need to understand the value you offer your customer. Then, identify how to create financial value for customers so we can know when to charge more and what to take away when we charge less. Better prices, less discounting and more effective offering significantly increase both profits and revenue. Replace the discounting habit with a little confidence! In the absence of other indicators of quality, consumers look at price. What does your price say about your product or service?

Yesterday, we talked about the importance of purpose—the why—in your organization. It is equally important to have the right people. Passion is something of great value in the workplace, but you should hire people who are passionate about your purpose. Simon Sinek’s insights say that candidates can be highly qualified, but unless they believe in your why, they will not fit. When your people are asked if they like their job, they should say they love it. That will let you know whether or not you have the right people. Bruce Chizen, former CEO of Adobe Systems, says that we all know if we’ve made a mistake within the first month of hiring and to pull the trigger quick if it’s not right. Don’t be afraid to take the steps to get the right people in the right places. A team that lives your purpose and core values will be worth all the effort.

At this year’s EO Texas Roundup, Simon Sinek spoke of the importance of purpose—the WHY. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “I have a dream,” not “I have a plan.” He preached the why, not the what or the how, and 250,000 people showed up in 1963. Inspiration starts with why, then how and what must come into play for execution. Simon gave the example of Southwest Airlines vs. other large airlines. Even when Southwest doesn’t have the lowest fares, they maintain customer loyalty because they are living their purpose. A company should be a group of people that share goals and beliefs and a common why. Is your company full of people that believe in your purpose? If your people don’t believe in your why, how will they ever convince your customers?

We believe that the future of the marketing piece will continue to evolve away from the company brochure. As the attention span of consumers gets smaller and smaller and the number of marketing messages increases, you need to create a marketing piece that gives concise, pertinent information about your company. We suggest a small two sided card with the following details.

The front of the small two sided card will not focus on the name of your company or your title, but rather what you do; what true benefit your customer receives from you. Then, it will feature how you are different from your competition, being sure that the difference is a true overt benefit. Then, the back of the card will feature a photo of your product or service, your tag line, your website, phone number, and social networking sites where your company can be found.

If you’re interested in distilling your marketing message, grab your best marketing piece, a permanent marker and start cutting. Keep the hard hitting information only. How much IMPORTANT content do you really have left?

Nan and Erik were asked to speak about Twitter to the 210 business owners at Fortune Small Business Sales and Marketing Summit. We helped many of these attendees to get their names and company names taken for Twitter. We quickly realized that most of these companies have marketing firms/departments, ad agencies or PR firms, so why on earth are these vendors/partners failing to get these accounts set up for their clients? Isn’t that the proactive services that they expect? Well, we think that people have low expectations and need to raise them. It should be painful to imagine running your business without your marketing company. What steps can you take today to make yourself invaluable? Are you taking the proper steps to delight your customers by saving them money, thinking two steps ahead or bringing an additional value that they didn’t expect? Drop us a line in the comments about what you do to be indispensable.

We’re in Day 2 of Fortune Small Business’ Sales and Marketing Summit in New Orleans. We heard from Victor Cheng this morning, who gave great clarity to recession proof business. Companies like FedEx, UPS, Price Mart and Coors were all founded during a recession. They succeeded (to say the least) because they solved a problem for consumers at that time. The key to building a recession proof business is to find a solution to a problem that gets worse during a recession, and to do it in a unique way. This can work nicely alongside what we learned from David Meerman Scott yesterday about social media and viral marketing. Once you have your unique solution to a problem, you will have a great story to tell, so you won’t have to spend thousands of dollars on advertising campaigns. Take a look at your company; is there a better way for you to solve a problem or a struggle for consumers today? Your most profitable area may have changed. Don’t be afraid to reinvent your business in order to offer something of real value to your customers.

(If you’re on Twitter, check out @salesby5 for conference details and live tweeting from the event!)

The Salesby5 team is in New Orleans at the Fortune Small Business Marketing and Sales Summit today and tomorrow. Approximately 210 CEOs and business owners are here, and it seems that only around 15% percent of them use Twitter. Most of them have heard of Twitter, but few are actually on and even fewer understand the benefit. We produced a video last week that shows how to join the Twitter community and explains strategies to apply this tool to business. We want to help you, because the companies that learn quickly are the ones that win! In honor of 10 Minutes to Twitter’s official debut today, we will send a complimentary copy (usually $49) to the first person who posts a comment on this blog post!

You snooze, you lose. Good luck!

Our last 8 blog posts have featured insights from the 8 scheduled speakers/presenters for the Gazelles Sales and Marketing Summit in New Orleans April 21-22. Tomorrow we will begin live tweeting from the conference from @salesby5, so join us if you’d like to hear more from these sales and marketing experts!  We will hear advice from guerilla marketers, recession marketing experts, relationship nurturers, and more!  Tune in and learn the latest best practices for sales and marketing in today’s challenging economy!

New customers are what drive top-line growth. Al Lautenslager says that “effective marketing is the key to business survival, growth and success.”  Most successful entrepreneurs know that they have to market, but many don’t know where to start or how to cut through the clutter.  Gazelles has invited Al to their Sales and Marketing Summit for his insights into guerilla marketing, the entrepreneur’s preferred method of gaining new business. Have you taken the right steps toward new business? Are you thinking creatively and finding innovative ways to market your products or services?  Tune into the conference to learn the steps to smart marketing with energy and imagination.

Drop us a line in the comments if you have a good example of creative ways you’ve gained new customers.