Don't Spend Money on Marketing If You Can't Do This One Thing

Personally, I have almost 10 years of marketing experience to date and the marketing world has gone through many shifts from traditional forms of marketing to internet and social media marketing. The internet has revolutionized the way we conduct business. The way we sell products and market businesses all stems from the way the internet continues to evolve. One of the most important lessons to learn in this field, is that if you are a late adopter to new marketing trends and tactics, you are already behind. Waiting too long to jump on a marketing trend can cost your company and clients thousands of dollars, and can single-handedly sink your business to an mere irrelevancy within your niche.

Successful businesses pay top dollar for marketing professionals who can deliver results that maximize their ROI. On the other hand, businesses who don't spend marketing dollars effectively will achieve success at either a slower rate, or not at all. One of the most intriguing facts that I have discovered in working with small businesses is that many of them simply do not want to spend the money to hire a professional, they would rather hire an intern, or an amateur at a much lower price.

My sales strategies when closing a deal are directed toward my genuine interest in helping my potential client succeed. In developing these strategies many times before, I have come to find that many small businesses have been making one major mistake.  That mistake is realizing that it costs more money to hire an amateur than it does to hire a professional. Let that sink in for a moment. This is a truth that small business owners must realize immediately, and the sooner they realize this, the better shape they'll be in. The great thing about me, is that I am not only a marketer, but also a salesman. I can take these companies where they need to go, especially if they are selling a valuable product. But there is one situation, where I have learned the hard-way, to stay away from.

Several years back, I developed a comprehensive marketing campaign for a client who's IT business was barely making it. I was fresh out of college, and just starting to really build momentum in my new business, Creative Campaigns. I had so many clients whom I helped succeed in closing deals and in closing sales. Until this particular client.

I still remember the day that I presented my marketing plans, designs, and strategies. I remember feeling like everything that I worked on was flawless and my client was ecstatic to launch the new initiative.  We launched aggressively, and after a few weeks my client was very upset that he was not generating any sales from my campaign, that it was ineffective and that it was not what he expected.

After changing my strategy several times to no avail, my client sent me an email stating that he no longer needed my services. I was dumbfounded on how this genius marketing strategy had absolutely bombed.

I requested one final meeting with him to close out our agreements. When I arrived, I sat in the conference room at his office as I waited for him to join our scheduled meeting. I pulled up the documents on the strategies I had created, and ran through the one more time in my head. As I sat there, I heard him answer the phone in the other room, it was a potential client for him.

I listened to him stumble upon his words and struggle to communicate well with the client. The lightbulb went off in my head. He couldn't close the sale. He was shaky on his product offering and he was not confident in selling his services. His word choices were very poor and he had a very noticeable stutter when he was asked about price, services, and guarantees.

I shared my finding with him and asked him if I could do one more thing for him at no cost... That was to call back some of the leads he obtained. It should be noted that I closed 6 out of 8 leads that he was unable to close.

The marketing was on point. The calls were coming in. The sales were not being closed.

To grow a business you must have both marketing and sales working coherently together to maximize the outcomes.

So again, the question is... "Why market when you can't sell?"