Salespeople are quick to say how they could be more successful if they only had great advertising supporting them.
Cry all you want, but using advertising as a reason for your success or failure does not make you a great salesperson. It makes you an order taker.
Quit trying to worry about whether your marketing plan is getting drowned by the big boys.
Let the big boys advertise all they want. Even if you’re not one of the big boys, you can still win and win nicely.
The launch of both the Microsoft Surface tablet and the launch of the new Apple iPad Mini is a classic case of this. Yes, these two big kids are creating a lot of buzz, and yes, it could be argued the buzz is taking the oxygen out of the room. I’ll argue otherwise.
Advertising and marketing buzz creates awareness and serves to open up new markets. This is where you as the salesperson can step in and make a difference. Using the tablet war as our example, what we’re seeing is a lot people gaining awareness — but there’s a big difference between awareness and making a decision to buy.
Use your competitors’ marketing to your advantage by being the one that is there to discuss with the consumer what is right for them. This is just as important in a B2B environment as it is in B2C.
When prospects become aware of something, they will develop questions and this is where you shine. Don’t ever think just because a competitor is making a big push with their marketing that you should decide to use the time to go on vacation. Just the opposite!
Jump in even more and use the buzz to create openings to meet with prospects. If I’m a maker of tablets, I’d say thanks to both Microsoft and Apple for creating a market that is growing rapidly.
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
