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Rain delays and marketing
4/7/2016 4:55:25 AM

I am a baseball fan and this is the first week in April. That means that the beginning of the Major League Baseball season is upon us. Of course it also means that the April showers that bring May flowers have already rained out two opening day games. Baseball is not a game that can be played well in the rain. So when rainy days shower down upon us, baseball players wait. This is not unlike what happens in business.

For many businesses, the past several years have been one long rainy season. Just when they think they are ready to take the field, another cloudburst keeps them in the dugout. The sentiment is, they would like to put together a marketing plan and grow their business, but the time just isn’t right… or is it? If you are waiting for everything to get itself straightened out in the economy before you start marketing, you are seriously behind the curve. What has happened the past few years is markets have tightened up and money doesn’t flow like it used to. It is why being smarter in the way you market is essential. In particular, it calls for an integration between your marketing and your sales in a way that keeps leads from getting lost. There are all kinds of software that will help you make contact with potential customers and track them through sales steps. Do you know the biggest hurdle to handing off leads from marketing to sales is not the software, it is the people who make excuses and refuse to take the next steps.

Here is what I would suggest you do if you find yourself in a rainy season. First, put together a list of current customers and prospects. Secondly, get some sort of marketing piece in front of them that engages them in a way that you can measure their response. That may be an e-blast that links to your web site. It may be a blog or an article you post on social media. Whatever engages with your customer, do it. Thirdly, make two lists. Make a list of engaged customers and have your sales staff make a call on them. This might mean taking them to lunch if they are a really good client. It may mean simply giving them a phone call. Make sure you touch them in a human way (in other words, don’t send them another e-mail!) The other list should be prospects who have engaged with you. Get another form of marketing in front of them. Drive them to look at your web site. And again, have the sales staff call on them. I know sales people don’t love to make cold calls. But if they are engaging with you in your marketing, it is not a cold call, it is a warm lead. There is a reason someone would look at your web site if you sent them an e-blast – they have some level of interest in what you are selling. This is where marketing and sales have to work hand in glove.

Do you know what happens when baseball games are rained out? Professional baseball players practice. Batters take to the cages under the stadium to keep up their swing. Scheduled pitchers throw a simulated game. If they don’t do this on rain out days, their skills will diminish to the point they will be cut from the team. Baseball and marketing your business aren’t that far apart from each other, are they?

 

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