Pillar 6: Sales

This continues our 8-part review of Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. As before most of this post comes from Bryan’s own words from An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. I still strongly urge you to buy the download with its accompanying PDF for further study. In addition, I think that you will find reading Bryan’s blog very beneficial.

Marketing Must Include Sales

Effective implementation of the first 5 pillars should lead to sales. For that reason, Bryan includes sales as one of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. He recognizes that some people separate sales from marketing. He shares his feelings on why sales is definitely part of marketing.

“Here it is, plain and simple: Sales is part of the ongoing marketing process. If
marketing is everything I do to get people to notice my company and sales is the act of
closing the deal, where does everything else—you know, important things like client
retention—come into play? For that matter, isn’t stellar client service part of my
marketing strategy? It had better be! The bottom line is this: Every truly successful
company is a marketing company. Let me repeat that. Every truly successful company is
a marketing company. The product or service they are offering is immaterial. If they are
on top of the heap, that’s because they understand marketing. And they understand that
marketing starts long before they opened their doors, it goes on long after each
transaction is made, and it pervades every aspect of their business.

So, yes, we’ve done much in the name of marketing to get our potential clients to
notice us and get them to the sales table, but the act of striking a mutually beneficial deal
and closing the client is as much a part of marketing as everything else that will happen
from that moment forward as you nurture that client and help him or her become fiercely
loyal to you and your company.”

Increase Revenues Using Consistent Sales Systems

“First of all, just as you have overarching strategies for your marketing efforts, you
must also have specific sales strategies. Whether that strategy is

• Driving someone to a well-crafted website where a final transaction will take place
• Getting them to try your product so they realize there’s no way they can live without it
• Allowing them to feel left out if they don’t jump on your bandwagon

The sales function…is the entry point of cash into your company—of course it
is wildly important! You can go through all the motions of marketing you want all day
long, but if you fall down on this one, you lose! You won’t make any money, and,
therefore, your existence as a business will be short-lived.

It is also very important to establish sales systems in your business…If you’re stumbling through every sales transaction—whether “sales” in your business means an outside salesperson closing a deal, someone stepping up to your cash register and handing the clerk cash, or any other way that transaction ultimately transpires—you must have systems in place that streamline the process, make it consistent, and allow you to continue to tweak it as you identify better ways to make sales happen for your company.

Some companies have just one or two sales systems in place. Others may have
dozens. Whatever your situation, see these systems as systems and treat them as systems.
Train everyone consistently in using the best practices that have been discovered and
continue to improve your sales systems as new discoveries are made.”

Questions to Help You Establish Sales Systems

1. What sales strategies do we currently have in place?
2. Are these the best possible strategies?
3. What might work better? What is worth testing?
4. What are the sales systems we currently have in place?
5. What are some ideas for systems we might test to see if we can improve the
   consistency of our sales efforts?
6. As part of my marketing budget, what expenses do I have related to my sales
   strategies and systems?
7. Is that budget where it should be?
8. Am I overspending for my return-on-investment?
9. If I invested more, would I see a greater ROI?

Budget for Your Sales Systems

“There is, of course, a cost to doing sales as well. Establish a sales expense forecast for
your business. Whether that’s travel expenses, meals, etc. for outside salespeople, costs
related to your website as a point-of-sale spot, or any other expenses related to making
sales happen for your business. These expenses will come out of the marketing budget
you’ve established. If you didn’t consider these expenses as part of your marketing
investment, go back and revise your marketing budget.”

Saturday we will conclude our examination of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing