read past articles

The term "strategic quitting" is from marketing expert, Seth Godin. It is is deciding to reevaluate your process and quit unproductive, time wasting activity.

The best manufacturers understand this concept very well with lean production, just-in-time inventory, quality circles, etc. Manufacturers know that wasting time on non value added activities result in NO PROFIT. The successful manufacturers make the best product efficiently in the shortest time possible so they can offer the best price and then win more business and make BIG PROFITS.

The same thought process should be used in your sales and marketing effort. Where are the "time wasters" in your sales/marketing? If you find yourself just hiring more sales people (generally for every dollar you spend in payroll you spend another 50 cents in benefits) to make more calls on poor prospects, what is your return on that investment? Find out where your wasted time is so you can "start quitting" and spend your time and money determining the best prospects and then learn HOW they buy.

Determine your sales time wasters first:

· Sales time spent chasing product quality problems?

· Sales time spent on routine reporting tasks leaving little time for actual customers?

· Trade shows that have proven to generate boxes of names of poorly qualified prospects that are not
worth calling on?

· Developing mailings of expensive literature that no one ever reads?

· Wasting time selling to the wrong prospects that give you low margin or small, time consuming orders?

· Sales people spending endless hours making unproductive calls to an outdated database and leaving voicemails that never get returned?

Once you have determined activities you want to quit, you can now determine the type of business you want and the type of prospect you need to reach, and learn how they buy and take an objective look at your company. Walk in your prospects shoes and take a look at your company. You will need help with this because it is hard to objectively evaluate your own company.

Answer these questions:

Does your company give a professional image?
Even small companies need to brand themselves. Consistent logos, colors, in everything such as: letterhead, email signatures, business cards, trade show displays. All images should be "up to date" with the same look and feel to give the prospect confidence that your company is solid and has been around for while.

Does your company convey competence?
Are your sales people offering solutions or just taking orders? Does your website have the level of detail that conveys that your company has the expertise and knowledge to provide good solutions? Does your company appear to be up with technology or do you find yourself saying "No I can't convert the file to a pdf, can I fax it to you?" Is your website serving the customer so a new prospect viewing it feels they will be taken good care of?

Does your company give a feeling of "trust"?
Are sales people always there to help or do they let the phone go to voice mail? Does your website offer open, honest information about your company to make the prospect feel comfortable and secure calling you? Does your website look like you are a success or does it look like you are so financially unstable that you can't afford a professional site?

Its about the prospective customer. Are your sales people making annoying phone calls to people who would prefer an email? Are you marketing in a way that makes your company appear out dated? Is your website intentionally vauge to "force" prospects to call you? Walk in your prospects shoes and sell to them in a way they want to buy.

Make this the year you challenge the status quo and stop the chaos! Spend your new found sales time targetting the "right" prospects, and be where they are and sell to them the way they want to buy! No more mindless activity... TARGET, TARGET, TARGET.

I always appreciate your feed back. If you have any questions about this article or your ThomasNet program, feel free to contact me at mary@trconn.com or (860) 601-0150. This article was written by Mary Dykas MVP representing ThomasNet