You know, I’d hate to be a marketing manager in a typical service-based firm. The problem is, in such a firm, there’s precious little for a marketing manager to manage! Here’s a person with no authority, no direct reports, a tiny budget, and no process to oversee. A person who’s only mandate (to ’get the [...]

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what percentage of their sales they should be spending on advertising, I’d be writing this column from Aspen! Problem is, it’s simply the wrong question to ask. And I’ll show you why… Let’s assume that the objective of your advertising is to generate sales. [...]

If you’ve attended any of our recent breakfasts, you’ll know that I am a big fan of e-mail perodicals – or ’eBulletins’, as I call them. Now, whenever I mention eBulletins, someone asks, ’But Justin, isn’t broadcast e-mail spam?’ My answer: ’Well it is, and it isn’t!’ You see, it all depends on your definition [...]

In a process built along the lines we advocate it is critical that salespeople pursue a ‘sale’ at each business-development appointment. Now this sale may not be the achievement of the ultimate objective.  In many cases it’s just permission to move to the next step in the (standardised) opportunity-management process. It may be that salespeople [...]

Years ago, I remember consulting to a small printing firm.   As is often the case in job shops (make-to-order manufacturers), estimation was the system constraint.   Obviously, this wasn’t a good thing.  It meant that customers wanted to buy printing; that production had the capacity to fulfil their orders; but that estimating was limiting [...]

If you stop and think about it, there are probably many companies you deal with automatically. You don’t stop to think about price, quality, service, or convenience – you just instinctively make your purchasing decision. We might be talking about your printer, your doctor, your real estate agent or your computer supplier. But then we [...]

I’m always bemused by the exalted tone used by salespeople and management when discussing ‘qualification’. The presumption seems to be that this activity somehow adds tremendous value to the opportunity-management process. I suspect, in most cases, it does the opposite! From what I’ve observed, ‘qualification’ typically involves a salesperson making preliminary contact with a list [...]

I heard an amusing story the other day. I was talking to the Managing Director of a large manufacturing firm, with a force of 100+ salespeople. He told me about how he recently went on a sales call with one of these salespeople. After the appointment, the two of them returned to the salesperson’s car. [...]

It’s a common practice to categorise clients (or prospects) using an A/B/C rating (or similar). This practice may be common, but it’s rarely sensible! Organisations typically apply such a classification in an attempt to prioritise the allocation of sales resources (field or phone) to relationships under management. If those resources are abundant, this method may [...]

It’s often claimed that there are fundamental differences between major- and minor-account selling. Obviously, we’re not interested in the ‘selling’ here, so much as in the ‘sales process’. Here are some thoughts on this issue. If a minor opportunity is one that you can win in a single appointment, then a major opportunity is just [...]