Staffing sales and marketing positions

When you need to recruit /position someone for a sales and marketing role, it might be helpful to keep in mind the following:

- Unlike many other functions, the magic formula of skills for success is unknown in sales and marketing. Can you describe what skills you need to be an ace salesperson who always achieves?

- As an external and internal facing function, S&M needs more all rounded skills than many other functions. It might be that the person may have 50-60% of the skills and the rest have to be developed or mentored.

- Every role in sales and marketing can be linked to organizational goals . This linkage is critical else some of the roles may remain side-liners ( with the danger of elimination in times of trouble)

- Since there is no SOP ( Standard Operating Procedure) for many of S&M activities, which change with customer,market,business situation etc, the roles need continuous mentoring and monitoring.

- Look for people who have a bent of mind to continuously learn and have tolerance for frustration. Both are key to success in sales and marketing.

Good luck in building your sales and marketing teams!

Innovation in Sales and Marketing

Pressures of today's sales and marketing challenges mean that you cannot do the same old, same old....

Are you one of those who thinks customer's thinking is always right? How can you be so sure? Just because customer is on the other side does not mean customer is omniscient.

Are you one of those who thinks that your thinking is always right?

Good ideas are good but how 'implementable' are they in the 'CURRENT' context?

Many a time, there are many ideas on the table on increasing pipeline,sales etc. Check these ideas to see how many are 'do-able' ( else they would have been tried long time ago).

How many of these are tried by our competition? Whats working for them and whats not?

Are we reinventing the wheel that the idea was tried before in our own organization but did not work?

Can we try the idea in a small way so the 'failure' doesn't cost a LOT?

Try and fail fast rather than NOT TRY AT ALL.

Good luck.

What Customers want

This post is to all those who are figuring out what to say to a B2B prospect.

Here is a low down on the prospect:

S/He is extremely busy/overloaded with mails/phones/work and may not necessarily be looking for help from you.

Given a choice, the prospect would not like to change things but complete whats on his/her plate.

Prospect would like his/her image in the organisation to go up.

Now lets analyst the impact of each of these to our message:

- Do not bore them with your offerings. They care a damn.

- Do you know whats bothering them NOW? Else dont bother contacting

- Does your offering become a solution to their CURRENT PROBLEM?

- Can you convey this in 3 lines or LESS?

- WIll this improve his/her image in the organisation?


Check your message against this list.

Good luck with your messaging.

Season's greetings

Season's greetings and best wishes to all visitors of this blog for a great new year 2010!

Amateurs built the arc, Professionals built the titanic

Never be afraid to try something new!

Tomorrow's winning ideas can come from people you never expect!

The Budget Issue

How many times have you heard 'our marketing budgets are getting cut coz they are easiest to cut'!

B2B sellers who sell into marketing functions ( advertising agencies for example) talk about how their clients are unable to find money for their services and hence the shorter revenue inflow.

Here's my question to them:

Have you gone to your clients offering a 'Revenue Driver' or a 'Revenue Multiplier'  - not just another item to spend to 'Build their brand........"!

Let me explain. If you are able to offer something that drives their revenue up directly or multiplies their revenue ,as DIRECTLY as possible, will your B2B client be able to snub it off ,citing budget cuts?

If your offering is truly a Revenue Driver or Multiplier , businesses will find money to fund your offers. Budget cut will not be your showstopper.

On the other hand, all you are offering is helping build a brand , your clients do not have the visibility,patience,spend for the future . Especially in today's times.

How directly relevant can you make your offering to your client's revenue?

Where the mind is without fear

Hope you have read the poem by nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore with this title.

If you haven't, you can find it here .

This post is not about the great poem/author.

It is about where such a mind is required - in 'Marketing'.

A fearless mind is required to

- To question conventional wisdom /products/services/offerings/pricing/channels....

- To question the customers' conventional thinking if your alternative thinking can help them

- To question every marketing technique known, to see if it will work in the ever changing business world

- To question oneself to get better all the time


"....Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action..."

Timeless words indeed!