Creating a stark-raving mad fan out of a world of billions of people can seem as challenging as winning Olympic gold. Both require a lot of work.
As I watch the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, I am astounded by the performances of the athletes from all over the world and humbled by the thousands of hours of practice, competition, failure, and success behind each one. Its a powerful message of determination and perseverance, and I hope my children are comprehending that, even just a little.
In our organizations, the challenge of finding, winning, and delighting new clients and customers can seem as harrowing as the skeleton (head first?), as daunting as the 50k cross-country skiing event (seriously), and as baffling as curling (hogs, hacks, and houses?). Its nearly impossible to visualize how you’ll move a Twitter follower along this winding, weaving path to become your very best customer and lifelong advocate. But it can happen!
Here’s my spin on five steps in the Sales and Marketing Olympics:
Making people aware that your organization exists seems simple enough. Out of the millions of Twitter and Instagram and Facebook users, some of them are bound to find you. Or maybe they stumble across your beautiful website for a quick look. All seems fine until you see the numbers — the followers, the visitors, the connections — stagnate and maybe start to drop. What do you do now? What is your plan to create sustainable growth across all of these channels?
People that are engaged with your organization have opted in to your email lists, are reading and retweeting your tweets, and love everything you’re throwing up on Instagram. They are visiting your site regularly to see what’s new, and they are developing a real affinity for your insights, your perspective, and your people. Maybe they have been speaking to one of your senior leaders, but are they buying?
Contract may not be the best name for the next stage, but its definitely a big part of it. Ideally, your prospects have been paying attention to you and see good alignment with their needs and your offerings. Maybe they’ve done this research and assessment on their own, or maybe you’ve provided some guidance. You’ve worked hard to establish trust and transparency early on in the sales process. Can you close the deal?
Sales and marketing doesn’t stop when a prospect becomes a client, contrary to how many firms behave. Note that most believe a customer should be marketed and sold to throughout the entire engagement, but few actually do it. How many of the client’s employees are connected to you on LinkedIn? Are you sending them your insightful newsletter? Are you working to complete the contract or create a raving fan?
Advocates are the ultimate stage of your sales and marketing journey, not just satisfied customers. Advocates “flip the funnel” and turn one relationship into many through references, referrals, and outright advocacy for your organization and your work. Getting to this point in a relationship requires a lot of work. When is the last time you spoke to these advocates? Are you in a position to ask them to be your reference and supporter?
This process, particularly in low volume/high stakes situations with big contracts and long-term engagements, can take months or years. Each stage can be expanded and exploded into many smaller parts, just like gold medal snowboarder Shaun White dissects every twist, turn, twirl, and grab in each run down the halfpipe.
More often than not, unfortunately, you’re rewarded with a silver medal… and there is no second place in sales. But hard work and determination do pay off eventually, just like it does in the Olympics. Some of you may be too young to remember the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, but I’m just old enough to remember Al Michaels exclaiming joyfully, “Do you believe in miracles?”
Better yet, some of you might be creating your own magic right now.
Wainwright Insight provides sales and marketing consulting for professional services firms who want to stand out and grow their business using the very best tools and powerful, customer-centered insights.