How Smart Small Businesses Grow
The Five Keys To Marketing
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Chapter 1
What's Marketing Got To Do With It?
Lots of small-business owners lump sales and marketing together. This is a mistake of the highest order. Marketing is a broad umbrella; sales is just one very critical dimension. If done right, a marketing infrastructure will create the flywheel effect that generates more profitable business and leads to products that solve the limitations of the status quo.
The usual sign that an organization needs to create a marketing infrastructure is that every few months everything stops while the business focuses on generating leads in the pipeline.
Why Hiring A Salesperson Won't Work
To solve this problem, the first instinct of a small-business owner is to hire a salesperson to generate more sales at the top of the sales funnel. This will not work without a marketing infrastructure.
The reason is simple. A marketing infrastructure creates the credibility necessary to overcome resistance from more conservative buyers (the ones you'll run into as the business matures).
Furthermore, without a marketing infrastructure, the new salesperson will be forced to use direct promotional tactics in order to sell. This puts the salesperson at a distinct disadvantage, particularly if the organization is working in many markets.
Unless the salesperson has a title commensurate with the C-level executive who has the most influence over the decision, it will be difficult to gain access during the sales process. This senior-level executive will also "carry-the-day" in terms of defining the problem or improvement issue and, consequently, in determining the quality of the solution.
To make the case for a marketing infrastructure, let's examine some all-too-common scenarios that suggest ways the organization has failed to move beyond its roots in sales. Here are three common scenarios that play out every day in business:
Scenario 1
A small consulting business wants to grow the business. The two principals hire a business development manager to beat the bushes for new business. After about six months, they fire the salesperson. Here are some of the reasons this happened:
1. The two principals resist providing access to their past customers. The business development manager must develop leads in a vacuum.
2. The business development manager has a background in one of the three areas of the business, but is not familiar with the other specialty areas.
3. The consulting firm works in eight markets. The business development manager is familiar with a few of their success stories, but no scripts or testimonials are available.
4. The nature of the consulting practice requires access to the C-level decision maker. The business development manager does not have the credibility or title necessary to gain access to the CEO and other C-level executives.
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Book Details
About the Book
How Smart Small Businesses Grow will show you how to generate more business from customers, uncover profitable niche markets and develop products and services that can't be duplicated by the competition. You will also learn how to create the kind of credibility that makes the selling process effortless. Best of all, it usually requires a minimal investment of money.
The key is to create a marketing infrastructure. By implementing the five-step formula outlined in this book, you will develop a marketing infrastructure that will also produce a 'fly-wheel' effect in your business.
This will enable you to uncover what you can do better than anyone else and develop products and services that solve the limitations of current product offerings. The net result is a set of customers willing to pay a premium for your products and services.
If you must drop everything to sell more business every few months or you are so distracted by delivery issues that you are disconnected from customers, these are common signs of a business that does not have a marketing infrastructure. This means selling will get harder and the competition will get smarter. To determine if you need to develop a marketing infrastructure in your business...
Take This Test
If you answer 'No' to one or more questions, this book will help you.
1. Does your lead system generate a consistent set of leads? yes no
2. Do you know what your business can do better than anyone else? yes no
3. Do you know the key pains of your customers? yes no
4. Have you recently created a new product or service that solves the limitations of current offerings? yes no
5. Have customers funded any of your products or services? yes no
About the Author
How Smart Small Businesses Grow is the bible for small business owners. Elaine's inspiration for the book came from observing the common patterns that keep some companies from growing and the steps she took to help under-performing businesses get back on track. Prior to starting her own marketing consulting firm, she was a director at the Center for Management at Xavier University, where she also received her MBA. Other leadership roles include President of the American Marketing Association in Cincinnati and Adjunct Professor in Marketing at Union Institute & University. She has also published articles for Project Management Institute and other professional journals. More information on Elaine can be found at http://www.elaineschneider.net/.