Dave Wakeman — December 16, 2016 Follow @davidwakeman
As we move quickly towards the end of the year, it is likely a lot of you are already planning ahead for your New Year’s Resolutions!
Am I right?
But have you done any thinking about the resolutions you want to keep for your business?
I’m sure a lot of you have thrown around things in your offices like, “in the new year we need to do____”
- increase sales
- get a consistent marketing strategy together
- improve our b2b sales
Whatever…these are all the same if you think about it.
They are all ways of procrastination and avoiding the hard thinking and actions that will really change the results of your business.
So let’s give your strategy a tune up that will have it in shape for the new year!
1. Do you have any idea what kind of value you are trying to create for the world?
Let’s start at the beginning because in most cases the simplest answer is best.
So let me ask you, do you know what your value is to your clients and prospects?
What do I mean by value?
Pretty simple, what are the tangible and intangible benefits that your product or service deliver to your clients and prospects?
Tangible, think:
- More sales
- Faster closing time
- Improved performance in some measurable way
Intangible, think:
- Better brand recognition
- Higher customer satisfaction
- Less stress from a challenge
Whatever those things are for your business, have you lined them up and thought about them?
If you haven’t, take a few minutes and come up with a list of them.
2. Who in the hell are you really trying to reach?
Do you know who your buyer is, really?
Or, are you in the habit of taking any meeting you can get because it is easier that way?
Do you have a list of buyers or organizations that you want to do business with?
You know the kinds of clients and buyers that you can knock it out of the park with because you have such a tremendous value proposition?
If you don’t have a list, I don’t want to overwhelm you…start small.
Pick 10-15 target clients.
I keep a list of 100 that rolls and changes as my business does.
3. What does your marketing plan look like?
Do you have a marketing plan?
Is it laid out with goals and measures of success?
Are you overwhelmed by the thought of planning out your marketing strategy?
Here’s a simple way to solve that problem:
Take the value proposition you have and marry that will the list of target clients you have. Now ask yourself a question:
“How do I reach these people?”
Is there a magazine for the industry? Blog? Podcast?
Do the executives you want to reach go to a conference? Attend an annual meeting?
Are these buyers active on social media? Do they go to your gym?
Whatever your list looks like, pick a few people and ask yourself what are 3-5 ways that I can try to reach them in a meaningful way.
Then go out and execute on that.
Write an article for the magazine or a post for the industry blog.
See if you can attend that conference.
Is there a person that can refer you to them?
Whatever the answer is, follow through on that.
That’s your marketing plan.
Not, “I need to be on Pinterest because some know-nothing blogger on Inc says I do.”
If you follow through on this little exercise, I can guarantee that your marketing strategy will be back in shape in no time for 2017.
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