Nearly every business owner, start up, and entrepreneur I speak with about his or her marketing strategy and sales execution approach seems to be shackled by the same monster: trying to text and run a business at the same time. Pre-occupied with the day to day, they narrowly miss veering off the road while trying to drive and text (no, I’m not speaking from experience), or narrowly avoid missing the person bustling down a busy side walk because they too are hyper- focused on their smart phone (I really mean iPhone).
So why is this is a problem?
1. In order to execute a marketing strategy you need to be fully aware of everything that is happening around you: pricing, market trends, competitors, changes in market conditions, new regulations, advertising vehicles. You can’t be fully aware if you are only looking far enough down the road to avoid a major incident.
2. Sales execution requires undivided attention to the buyer. If you are texting (preoccupied in your own world), you will miss vital clues that could be the difference between winning and losing key sales opportunities. In simple terms: “In all the hustle, they under-perform.”
How to fix the problem:
1. From a marketing strategy and sales execution perspective, you need to carve out at least 3 hours per quarter to look 18 months into the future. Here are some resources you might use to evaluate the market:
a. Trade journals in your industry. If they don’t exist, give a colleague in a non-competitive market a call and talk to him about his top concerns over the next 18 Months.
b. Review some trade journals for suppliers who provide services or products to your industry. Focus on articles and comments that speak to what they believe to be future trends.
2. On a monthly basis, set aside one hour to review all sales opportunities from a closed-won, closed-lost perspective.
3. On a weekly basis, set aside 60 minutes to evaluate the health of your sales pipeline and ensure you have a plan of attack to close opportunities.
Once you have reviewed this data, identify the top one or two anchors that are holding you back. Then, set out to remove the anchors to better prepare yourself for the future. If you can carve out the time, you could play an Innovation Game(R) with your team called SpeedBoat.
Please remember, focus is the key to effective marketing strategy and sales execution.
Stop texting, and look up at the world around you. You may be shocked at how much faster you reach your destination when you focus.
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