Marketing Is All About Not Giving Up

I used to think I can never make a good marketer/salesman. I lack all the obvious skills an ideal salesman should have. But now, after one and half years of running my own business and consulting for other businesses (with a solid marketing team), I see that we all get similar results. 

image: iampyourbrand.com

They have a great sales team that actively push their training and services. Unlike me, they pick calls and reply promptly to emails and do regular follow-ups. I also have a sales team but I am often the first point of contact. I get the bulk of the training requests and phone calls. Sometimes, I take a month to reply to a client's request. And then, I often forget to follow up. Yet surprisingly, I notice that we get similar results. Sometimes, I get better results than them. And it's very surprising. They actively source clients and yet someone who isn't even replying on time to his emails is getting more training participants.

The reason has many parts but all central on the fact that no business is perfect. And it's not because you can't be perfect it's because the moment you are perfect at what you do as a business then you expand which erodes the perfection. When a company start, like mine, and focus on one niche area, maybe Excel consulting, the moment they become so good that customers rate them as perfect on all aspects of their service; that company expands to include some other services the customers want. They could start doing Access and PowerPoint consulting too. And in a few years time, they would have expanded numerous times and now have about 10 different services they render. So in the end they would be just as imperfect as when they started with just one focused service. But it's better for them. They would have more revenue.

Below is the breakdown of the parts:

1. No salesman can be as convincing as the guy who created the thing. My sales conversion rate is very high because the potential client gets a good feel of the huge value he'll be getting from our service right from the phone conversation or email. So even though I am late in replying and pick just a ratio of all the phone calls I get, the numbers of buying clients I get still beat those of some other companies.
2. A great product markets itself. I work hard at giving the best and exceeding client expectations. That in itself is a great marketing tool. Satisfied customers keep telling others and getting us referrals. So that compensates for our poor active marketing.
3. I share knowledge freely online. When people search online and they come across the numerous very helpful and expertly written articles I have taken pain to share freely, they have no doubt about the value they would be getting. They become more active than me in ensuring they come for our training or engage our service.
4. Digital marketing. I am also good at digital marketing, I know how to get our company and services in front of the people who will want to buy using online tools. That is my special edge.

I am a marketer, maybe not in the traditional way you'll expect but it's the end that justifies the means (in this case). Yes, I could be a better marketer by working on my weak points. And so also, the other marketers. They could also improve by becoming an online strategy geek like me. For every fine point they have, I have mine too. It's about getting results. If you have found a method you are comfortable with, then marketing is all about not giving up.