One of the new marketing trends is
“disruptive selling.” This is defined as any marketing strategy
that is bold enough, unique enough or enough out of the ordinary
to create buzz and, consequently, sales. It could be marketing
that runs counter to the time of year when competitors are
running campaigns or that runs in the opposite direction of
other campaigns, such as Dove’s True Beauty Campaign. This
counter motion results in greater effectiveness and far less
cost in terms of time and money for disruptive marketing.
Launching a successful disruptive marketing or sales program
usually follows four basic steps. The first step is to throw out
pre-conceived ideas you may have about what would make for a
good marketing program. The second step is to set a huge goal-
for example, the number of people you want to reach and the
amount of sales you want to make. The third step is to look at
other industries and companies of all sizes and types and
consider what they’ve done from a sales and marketing
perspective. The last step is to identify a period of time when
your competition is not typically doing any sales or marketing.
What you ultimately decide to do must be attacked with reckless
abandon. Too often great sales campaigns are developed only to
be abandoned prematurely because the campaign lacked a sturdy
backbone. Once you start a disruptive campaign, don’t back off;
keep running the campaign and expect positive direct and
indirect results to accrue. In fact, the greatest return on
investment is usually found in the indirect results of a
campaign that emerged without your anticipation. To find good
examples of this kind of indirect result, you can look to
companies such as Nike, Starbucks, Fox Television, GEICO, or
Aflac, to name only a few. Each of these companies has used
disruptive marketing or sales techniques to stand out and
therefore be noticed. For several of these companies, the
disruptive marketing was out of necessity, because they couldn’t
afford to implement “normal” marketing programs; but in the end,
these disruptive campaigns were far more successful than if the
companies had followed the norm.
Remember, the underlying sales principle of disruptive selling
is that success in sales comes not to those who do things the
way everyone else does but rather to those who are willing to
step out and do things differently.
Mark Hunter, “The
Sales Hunter”, is a motivational sales speaker and industry
expert who addresses thousands each year on how to increase
their sales profitability.
For more information on his sales training or to receive
a free weekly sales tip via email, contact “The Sales Hunter” at
www.TheSalesHunter.com.
Reprinting of this
article is welcomed as long as the following is included:
Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter",
www.TheSalesHunter.com,
© 2007
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