In life, we all go through phases where we will be super interested in something, focused and driven one minute and change tack the next.
Whether it is going to the gym, healthy eating, focusing on self maintenance, visiting friends or cherishing love ones we tend not to do all of these well, all of the time.
The impact of changing the focus of our energy can keep us feeling alive as human beings and challenge us to grow and develop over time.
In business, changing focus all of the time can be healthy and adaptation is often needed to stay dynamic and keep ahead of the competition. With some elements of business, changing focus all of the time can sometimes lead to poor internal communication, poor external communication and distrust.
For example, if you change your sales strategy every week at your Monday morning meeting, your sales staff are likely to be confused and not have enough time to implement what you suggested last week. It will also lead to a change in vocabulary in the field so that the customers are also confused. Repetition and Reiteration can be very important for trust and likeability. Your sales people need to be consistent in their actions and prove themselves as trustworthy and reliable, this will come through regular communication and accountability for their promises.
The same goes for your marketing. Closely linked to your sales marketing needs consistency communication and accountability. I work using these three things every single day of my career with all of my clients.
It is absolutely pointless me creating a full new toolbox for the client to use that looks flashy and has wonderful messaging if we have created no mechanism for that to be taken forward to the customer base. The toolbox will sit there gloriously waiting for its audience, for it never to arrive. This is both a waste of time, waste of energy and a waste of money.
If I then take the new toolbox and plan out my audience pathway and when I am going to use which tools, for what purpose and for which audience, I have clarity and direction.
Coupled with that my team can see why I am doing what I am doing, when I am doing it and for what reason so they also have clarity and direction. This sense of purpose creates a creative mindset in my team and allows for further planning and forward thinking which promotes job satisfaction.
If I then set them a KPI or objective relating to the success of the toolbox I created, this will lead to correct customer engagement and therefore more sales. This approach can also help to close the buying cycle and increase productivity overall.
It is important to remain flexible in your sales and marketing approach every single day. Question everything you are doing and review often, reframe all aspects of why you are doing it. There is also a key place for planning ahead and staying proactive here; flexibility with forethought.
What I am saying is change your energy and focus by all means but stay true to your business vision at the same time. Create clear and consistent communication tools so that you can go to them at any time making sure they are relevant throughout the whole process…if they need a refresh then give them one. This refresh should be based on customer feedback and usability by your sales team in the field.
With your marketing, create a plan over a defined time period for most people this is 12 months. You then can see exactly how you are meeting your customer needs, through what medium, when and for what reason. Communication, consistency and accountability are absolutely integral to accelerating your business growth through sales and marketing.
