Marketing
Plans that Build Empires
Now that the holidays are over, it's time to
plan for 2005. The biggest mistake experts make:
choosing in a vacuum. Marketing plans without
accurate intelligence only look like empires on paper.
It's like using a blueprint for a mansion to build a
sand castle that the marketplace can destroy in an instant.
Below are two areas to inject market analysis before
you start building your empire.
Feasibility
Experts are great at figuring
out what they want. They dream big and will spend
plenty of time exploring their options. Then,
many experts make a fatal mistake: in the spirit
of positive thinking, they assume buyers
will just hand over the fees. The reality:
the marketplace focuses on what it wants first.
Then, you get what you want.
Setting goals
is a great first step. The next step is just as
critical: knowing if the marketplace will give
you what you want. Feasibility hangs on three
big questions:
- How does the marketplace perceive your expertise
in comparison to the fees you ask for?
- Of all the ideas you can bring to the marketplace,
which one will generate your projected revenue the
fastest?
- How does your offering compete with the other choices
buyers have?
Answering
these questions will help you make choices the market
will respond to.
Risk
In general, any markets with large budgets also have
many experts vying for that line item. The more
crowded the market, the more intelligence needed to
reduce the risk of expansion. The next question
you want to ask yourself: do I have to bet the
farm to make this plan work?.
There
are market conditions that play to your favor...and
there are market conditions that you need to move around.
A strategic "heads up" will allow you to include
specific market activities in your plan that will deal
effectively with obstacles before they become barriers.
Two questions to ask yourself:
- What do I already have that will propel me ahead
of my competitors?
- What happens if this effort fails? Will it
just hurt, or would it be fatal? What is my
worst case scenario?
Remember:
Dreaming about a bright future is just the first step.
Plans that build empires use market intelligence to
make strategic choices that work.
Execution
is Everything
If the marketing plan is feasible, then execution is
the name of the game. Many experts fall flat by
not being as strategic in this area as they are in planning.
The result: experts rush into the market and create
opportunities, but results lag behind.
The master
of "getting it done" is Jenn Kaye of Touch
With Intention. Jenn is known as a virtual "Chief
Execution Officer" for experts building their empires.
Here are Jenn's thoughts about what experts can do to
take full advantage of the marketing opportunities they
work so hard to get.
Q:
Jenn, so many experts are speaking at public events
to sell their products and coaching. What is the
one thing experts can do to explode their sales?
A: No matter how well these events are planned,
Murphy's Law is bound to visit. Experts who have
an "advance team" to smooth out the wrinkles
can better concentrate on networking and getting sales.
This is particularly true of the closers -- I have one
client who closed 100% of her sales appointments because
I took over the qualifying process and the booth.
Experts will see their business skyrocket with this
tag-team effort.
Q:
All of these promotional activities can lead to incoming
calls asking specific questions that lead to sales.
What is the biggest mistake experts make in handling
those calls?
A: Experts
put themselves in a position of weakness. Experts
must decide: what's the best use of their time
and energy? If an expert is a good closer, then
they need systems for prospecting and qualifying.
If the expert is good at qualifying, then they need
a system for handling objections. It's all in
the systems.
Q:
It sounds like execution is only as good as the systems
we use. What's the difference between systems
that move an expert's empire to the next level and those
that let the business languish?
A: I assess growth systems all
the time and what I see most is lack of qualifying.
Experts get so excited about the potential that they
don't plan for what I call the "idiot factor".
You have to have two kinds of systems: those that
cut out what you don't want as well as systems that
create what you do want. If you don't cut out,
then you spin your wheels with prospects and opportunities
that won't drive the business forward. In the
heat of the marketplace, it's easy to forget your benchmarks.
Your systems must continually focus on what you want.
Happy
New Year!
Whew! What a wild ride in 2004...the highlight
of my year was meeting so many cool people. Many
thanks for those who have crossed my path...you make
this adventure a delight! What's up for 2005:
creating big results with big-thinking visionaries.
Would that be you? If so, I welcome the
opportunity to exchange ideas. Contact Vicky Likens
at vlikens@sullivanspeaker.com.
Now's
the time...
If you haven't already, now is the time to make key
strategic decisions about your marketing activities.
Economy may be on the rise, but so is the competition.
Blind spots about the marketplace are the biggest
business-killers now, so getting accurate intelligence
is more important than ever. Don't assume that
you know everything. Empires will be built by
experts who are smart enough to know that the sharpest
knife can't carve its own handle...
The
biggest change is coming...
Mark my words: sponsorships will change how experts
will be paid. With "branded entertainment"
already on the sponsors' radar, "branded expertise"
is not far behind. Are you ready to go beyond
your speaking fee and into the large alliances?
Fasten your seat belts and check out my newest system,
"Become Sponsor Savvy:
An Expert's Guide to Attracting and Getting Sponsorships".
What makes me different
from other experts is not my message; it's my "real
world" experience and the unique perspective that
my experience has taught me. How do I communicate
this differentiation to the marketplace?
A: You
can't. The marketplace doesn't buy the "real
world experience" argument for two reasons:
(1) too many experts make this claim and say the same
thing everyone else does; and, (2) CEOs turned celebrities
have this market cornered. Give this pitch and
you'll be seen as "one of many".
You say you
have a unique perspective? Prove it with a nuanced
point of view. Turn this point of view into a
manifesto, so buyers can immediately determine the strategic
fit getween your ideas and their objectives. Use
your background as credibility for your ideas.
Making the marketplace think is the best way to communicate
your expertise.
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