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Green Planet Films Executive Director Suzanne Harle was interviewed for an article called SALES PITCH, about how small companies are exploring creative ways for making new business contacts on the web.
It's a new year and things are looking up. Why not explore some fresh sales tactics to gain momentum?
Suzanne Harle has a dual personality when it comes to small business. For the last 12 years, she's been a profitable freelance communications specialist, helping small companies prepare PowerPoint presentations and orchestrate speaking engagements. Now, Harle is trying her hand at a non-profit, online DVD rental startup specializing in nature films.
As the primary marketer for both businesses, Harle, undoubtedly, faces a huge sales challenge. That's why, beginning this year, Harle is actively exploring creative ways for making new contacts in addition to her usual sales tactics. Harle is exploiting her membership on Ryze.com, a business networking Web site, to do everything from reaching out to marketing executives to win new assignments, to soliciting advice on her business plan for Green Planet Films and seeking out interested filmmakers. "On Ryze, everyone is there for the same purpose - to make connections, to offer advice, or to participate in online forums," explains Harle, who is based in Corte Madera, CA. "The folks there are much more approachable than if I had to cold call someone S? they're predisposed to branching out or conducting sales."
Like Harle, most small-business owners would welcome an easy, less intrusive way to connect with potential customers. Whether you run a professional business services firm or a restaurant, a landscaping business or Web design shop, companies of all types are forever grappling with how to uncover new leads and boost sales. The stagnant economy over the last few years certainly hasn't helped. But with a new year on the horizon and clear signs that business is picking up, small-business owners need to take a fresh look at their sales tactics and regroup if they want to cash in on the momentum. The biggest mistake small-business owners collectively make is to treat sales as an afterthought - not as a proactive, well-rehearsed strategy. "The number-one rule of small business is it's all about sales," says Jeffrey Gitomer, chief executive salesman at Buy Gitomer Inc., a sales training firm in Charlotte, NC. "Small-business people fail to realize that they themselves are the prime salespeople. They underpay, undertrain, and then expect results - then moan when it doesn't happen."
Exploring new sales channels, like Harle did with the Web-based networking site Ryze, is just one approach. Investing in sales training for yourself or your key salespeople is another worthwhile tactic. Other companies are learning new techniques for hunting down new business. They're moving away from the old-style sales techniques, which focus on selling key features and attributes of the product or service and concentrating more on how they can deliver results and solve the customer's problems. "Strategies and positioning will be more effective than traditional sales tactics," Gitomer explains. "In sales, it's not who you know, it's who knows you. Becoming known in your market segment or in your business community is critical for customer acceptance."
Get in the door
For many companies, particularly those selling business-to-business services, the primary sales goal has been to land the big deal. That's not a good long-term strategy, particularly in today's more cost-conscious climate, according to Jill Konrath, a sales consultant and president of SellingtoBigCompanies.com, a St. Paul, MN-based service aimed at helping smaller firms sell to large corporations. Instead, Konrath says smaller companies need to get in the door by winning a project that will showcase their value and experience to the immediate group, and potentially to the rest of the company. "By breaking your offering into bite-size chunks, you can demonstrate something tangible," Konrath says. She also suggests narrowing your prospects to specific niche areas where you have expertise - a tactic that strengthens your appeal and also reduces your marketing costs.
Legal Search Inc., a search firm for the legal profession, was able to leverage its relationship with clients in New York to other geographic areas, where those same clients had satellite offices. Being able to expand its client base to cities other than New York was crucial after the September 11th terrorist attacks, when business in New York really slowed down. Having a direct referral from someone in the New York office gave them an immediate entree, if not an actual assignment. "It was warm calling instead of cold calling," explains Mark Jacobson, president of the firm.
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"Small-business people fail to realize that they themselves are the prime salespeople. They underpay, undertrain, and then expect results - then moan when it doesn't happen."
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Leveraging technology can also set you apart from your competitors, especially in a market that rarely changes. Corby Capital Market, a 12-person bond underwriter in Boston, prospects most of its clients the traditional way, via cold calling. But unlike some of its larger competitors, Corby Capital is looking at Web technology to get closer to prospects and communicate with them in a unique and memorable fashion. The company uses Bloomberg research and Internet services to communicate regularly with its clients and prospects and is now working with a design firm to create an e-mail slide show of its capabilities. "There's not much that's fresh about investment sales," says Tim Coffin, senior vice president of the firm. It's a transaction-oriented business and one that rarely gives business owners time to lift their heads during the day, let alone brainstorm new sales strategies. "If we're willing to put in the extra hours ... to get focused on growth, then that sets us apart," he says.
Another option is changing how you go after prospects. Ross, Culbert & Lacy, a 12-person marketing communications and design shop in New York, used to prospect new clients through word of mouth or by sending out targeted mailings and samples of their work. That strategy worked wonders when times were good. When the economy began to slow, the mailings were far too expensive and were ineffective in getting people to follow up with project work. "In a stagnant economy, you can't wait for clients to call you with work; you have to call them, set up an introductory meeting, and build a personal relationship," says Jennifer Younge, one of the employees at Ross, Culbert & Lacy charged with new business development.
Under Younge, Ross, Culbert & Lacy began to shift to a cold-calling campaign to try to develop new relationships. Younge, who sought sales training from Wendy Weiss, a sales coach in New York, has a very clear goal for each call: To schedule a meeting with a prospect. "I don't ask for the job, I don't ask them to change suppliers, it's not a hard sell," Younge explains. "I just want to get in the door and in front of someone and attach a face to a name as well as to our product. That way, I'm under consideration when projects come up." Much of the time, there is no immediate gratification. Younge says she's still calling initial contacts made over a year ago. "But now I'm getting as many calls in as I'm making out," she says. Younge also joined a number of organizations and associations affiliated with the target markets Ross, Culbert & Lacy had earmarked. That kind of networking has built lasting friendships that have and should translate into real business in the future. For Younge, the only investment was time.
Ryze.com, the Web-based business network, can actually mimic that kind of relationship building without having to physically attend networking events and association meetings. Of course, face-to-face contact is always a plus, but with Ryze.com, small businesses can establish themselves as experts in their areas - marketing communications, accounting, finance, etc. - and quickly gain a reputation that will cause other potential prospects to seek them out, according to Adrian Scott, president of Ryze Ltd., based in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. "Ryze.com is more of an application for emerging businesses than for large corporations," Scott says. "It's networking done right. Every time you connect with someone, you might have a friend in common, have gone to the same school, or have similar interests. It's a warm, approachable way to make relationships and turn those relationships into business opportunities."
Based on Harle's experience with Ryze.com, that's exactly what she plans to do. Just weeks after posting a listing seeking out environmental filmmakers looking for new distribution channels, Harle has already had more than 50 hits. While no film offers have materialized, Harle is confident that Ryze.com will be a key resource, and one that will eventually lead her to prospects. And with the launch of her new business, it's only fitting that she kick off the New Year by experimenting with new sales tricks. BA
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