Do you know what problems you solve for them and the benefits they’ll receive if they buy from you?  What do you tell them and do you know if that’s what they want to hear?  What about your competitors – what are they saying and how does that compare to you?   If this information changes depending on which product or service you’re selling, then we’ll map this information out for each group of potential customers, aligning each of your product(s)/service(s) to them.

What materials do you produce and use (e.g. brochures, case studies, giveaways etc) and what channels (e.g. direct selling, PR, website, banners, search etc) do you use to get that information out?  Is there consistency in terms of branding and identity across them all?  With your website, how often is new content added and who is responsible for producing it? How well does it reflect your identity and what you do – does it need a design update?  How well does the content align with your ideal target markets and messaging?

Too often, sales and marketing teams view each other with a lack of respect and trust.  Sales teams can jealously guard their prospects in case marketing jeopardises their opportunities while marketing teams can pass over leads that are poorly qualified and targeted.  This can lead to a reluctance by sales people to follow up leads so great opportunities are sometimes missed.  Frustration builds up on both sides and a lack of communication generally means that improvements in results are few and far between.  These two areas need to be closely aligned, with clear definitions of respective responsibilities, what constitutes a lead and feedback loops to ensure that incremental improvements are being made constantly.

From CRMs to analytics and marketing automation, the right software can dramatically transform your capabilities and have a profound effect on your results.  However stand-alone solutions will limit your effectiveness.  They should all talk to each other, sharing data and adding insight into your activities and results so that constant improvements can be made over time.   There are clear benefits to using these tools, but there are also dangers.  Without the right skills and knowledge of how to operate them, mistakes can be made that can damage your brand. Choosing something too advanced can see your marketing budget quickly eroded with little return; something too simple can frustrate and remain unused.  You need to find a balance between cost and function and avoid implementing technology in ways that don’t add value.

Good data and data hygiene is at the heart of all successful marketing and an accurate, up-to-date prospect and client database is one of the most valuable assets your business has.  Who is responsible for keeping your databases updated and what information is trapped within emails, spreadsheets and other hidden areas.  How do you ensure activity based information (such as website visits, emails sent, events attended, calls made, quotes sent etc) is collected and stored to provide better intelligence to both your sales and marketing teams?   Do you routinely collect email opt-ins as well as unsubscribe information and do you conform to all the privacy and security of personal data standards?