HOW TO ENSURE AND IMPROVE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.

HOW TO ENSURE AND IMPROVE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.

Hello entrepreneurs, marketers and salespersons. My name is Patrick Paradza, the creative director of MRZ Marketing Communications. I am a marketing strategist and sales trainer and also the author of the ‘100 Big C’s in Marketing and Sales’. My specialty is proactive marketing, whereby the marketer goes out of his/her way either physically or in the digital space to look for customers, instead of waiting for customers or clients to come to him or her. I would like to share with you some important points which will ensure and improve the success of your products or services.

1. Cultivate and nurture personal relationships with prospective customers and clients way before you intend to sell to them. This is a critical point, particularly in the context of big-ticket sales.
2. Use meaningful no-no questions to widen areas of agreement with prospective customers.  A no-no question is one which is difficult or impossible to answer in the negative. This approach will make the closing question less of a make or break issue.
3. Have a critical mass of marketing knowledge which you can ‘deploy’ in different marketing situations. Remember that it is not the knowledge per se which will make you an effective marketer, but rather how you use that knowledge in specific situations.
4. Listen more attentively and talk less in your marketing and selling engagements.
5. Improve the level and extent of engagement with prospective customers. This is also very important for big ticket items.

6. Identify influencers in your target market and develop relationships which can help you in the long term.
7. Know that each marketing situation has its own unique characteristics and challenges. No two prospective customers who need the same products or services are exactly the same.
8. Where necessary, explain to the prospective customer the important difference between the price i.e. what he/she would pay now and the cost which can be spread over a number of months or years.
9. Show the prospective customer that the value of what you are offering is greater than what you are asking him/her to pay up-front.
10. Note that a question or objection is usually a sign of interest in your product or service. A prospective customer who agrees with you on everything is unlikely to buy the product or service.
11. Know that there is a big difference between marketing and sales, but the interface between these two becomes more important the smaller the company is. There are some organizations where nobody is designated as a marketer or salesperson, but the responsibilities of these two positions still need to be carried out, sometimes by the same person.
12. Beware of people in some organizations which you approach for business who say ‘yes’ when they have no power to say ‘yes’, and those who say ‘no’ when they have no power to say ‘no.’
13. During the course of your work as a marketer, you should aim to discuss your offering at the highest possible level in the organization which is your prospective customer. But this does not need to be at CEO level, especially if it is for routine purchases, which can be finalised by the buyer’s department. However, for important or strategic purchases it is advisable to initially approach the CEO’s office for guidance on who would best handle the issue.

14. Learn to distinguish between prospective customers who are likely to buy, who are unlikely to buy, and are never going to buy. This can be done using an objective qualification process which identifies and assesses key customer characteristics like age, income, social and economic class etc. BANT analysis is a focused method of assessing the likelihood of selling to a company.
15. Know that in marketing, success is neutral between individuals. Success only goes where it has been invited and the doors are kept open. In marketing, there are objective criteria for success, and you will only make the grade if you have what it takes, or are prepared to learn the ropes.

• In this field, success will only be enjoyed by those who are able to convert their expertise and experience into cash and profits.

1. Know that in marketing, presentations are crucial, whether they are verbal, written or electronic. The purpose of a presentation may be to provide information and to identify explicit or implicit objections to the product or service offering.
2. Avoid the temptation to try and sell anything and everything to everybody (the fishing expedition approach). Cold calling, although sometimes effective, can be like shooting in the dark, hoping that something will be caught in the fire. It is more cost-effective to target those who are known to you to a greater or lesser extent. As an example, existing customers can be a good opportunity to do additional business in the form of cross-selling and upselling. Use social media to generate and develop interest in you and your products or services.

For effective training of marketing teams and sales teams, contact us on 0242-443 504, 0773-215 671 or 0772-373 459 Email: patrick.paradza@mrzconsult.co.zw