Michael Gerber author of the famous book – "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It” makes a fundamental observation regarding the majority of small business owners.
He asserts that most small to medium sized business owners are technicians at heart and started their business while having an "entrepreneurial seizure”. They're excellent technically so think they'll be equally good at running a business.
And sadly, as business statistics show – most are completely wrong and go out of business.
Why? Because they either don't understand or haven't taken the time to master how to effectively market and sell (or employ people who can).
We saw an excellent example of this the other day…
Our friend Sam works for a small software development company here in Sydney. It's a 20 person operation that creates Electronic Document Transfer systems that allow companies to consolidate purchasing over many locations.
It's a highly technical area and frankly as far as most organisations go, not essential.
The owner is wrapped up in his technology and couldn't explain the benefits in lay terms to save his life and got his first contracts through bespoke software development for individual organisations.
He's now barely keeping his head above water by contracting out his staff, so enter Sam.
Contracted to help the organisation grow, the first thing he realised was there was absolutely no written material which explained why an organisation would need this software system and how it would help.
The owner sprouted technical jargon and believed his audience should have understood and immediately seen the benefits. After all, he did, didn't he?
Which is classic mistake number one and a trap that countless technically oriented companies fall into.
The vast majority of your customers aren't interested in the technology first. They have a problem to solve and want to know you can solve it. Yes, some people will be interested in the technology or how you go about it – but it comes second, a long way after you've shown them the benefits of working with your solution.
The second trap is assuming your market actually wants or even needs your product or service.
Once again, I've seen many a business create a product because they think it's a good idea, only to find the market couldn't care less.
Which is exactly what Sam found here.
He started calling larger organisations with multiple locations and speaking to procurement managers.
What came through very clearly was that consolidating procurement wasn't even on the radar. And in many cases trying to consolidate would be a hot political potato, so the executives wouldn't touch it with a ten foot barge pole!
Having said that though, there were a handful in instances where there was polite interest, but the time wasn't right for any number of reasons. Remember this is a very nice to have – not a business necessity by any means.
So in the absence of any written follow up material or systems, Sam simply persisted via the phone. Sometimes he'd get through, sometimes not. All the while he set about building a relationship. As long as the person was happy to keep talking, Sam was happy to keep in contact.
He told us the other day that 12 months of persistent calling may, just may, potentially lead to a sale. The prospect's company was taken over and they're looking at ways to consolidate purchasing across the group.
It's still a long way till the money's in the bank and it's by no means certain.
The irony is the business owner still doesn't believe in building relationships and selling, so Sam is moving on. The business owner certainly won't keep up the contact. So maybe there won't be a sale after all.
So what should he (or any business owner in a similar situation) do instead?
- Create products that actually solve really pressing problems for your market. Nice to have doesn't cut it. You have to show real productivity improvements, cost reductions, increased profit opportunities etc. And they have to be explained succinctly and in ways people can immediately grasp.
- You must have a marketing system that gets your prospects to call you. Cold calling is generally a waste of time. You must be able to put your case to a busy buyer and get their interest and ask for more information before making a call. That way when you do call, it's warm and they've already expressed interest.
Our recommended approach is to create and offer white papers and free reports which detail the issues your prospects face and how you can solve them. If your prospects ask for them, they're interested in what you have to offer. Our 24 Marketing Strategies Report is a great example of this (if you haven't downloaded it, you can do so here).
- Have an automatic follow up system which keeps your name in front of your prospects. So once they've made contact, downloaded a free white paper, they get a series of follow up material (combination of email, physical mail, fax, SMS as appropriate).
Then when the time is right for them, they'll be in contact and buy.
If you'd like help setting up such a system, from writing the material to setting up the automation, give me a call.
Rashid.
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