Monday 30 March 2015

Sales Strategy for Business

To have an effective sales strategy a business needs to consider its products, its market and how the sales effort will be directed to ensure it captures profitable growth selling to customers. Sales strategy is a business decision on (1) who the sales teams are going to sell to (2) what are they going to sell them  and (3) how are they going to sell to them?
business-game
Sales strategies ensures market and customer coverage with plans that give the best possible opportunity to win business. In more detail, a sales strategy defines  the customer segments it wants to target(verticals, industries, geographical), the business value propositions for each segment (product, pricing, distribution), how the sales force will be structured (inbound, field, deal value) and the selling processes.
Today’s business is more about “Smarketing” than sales and marketing. Effective business strategy brings marketing and sales together to drive traffic, generate leads, build awareness and improve consideration levels so more customers buy. In a nutshell a good sales strategy will help a business identify and take advantage of the best opportunities available.
Sales strategy Tips.
Continue reading the sales strategy article via The Bitter Business blog  Sales Strategy – The Bitter Business

The Ultimate Inbound Marketing Guide for Business

Inbound marketing article for business, published on TweakYourBiz by Brian O'Connell.
Inbound marketing has become the main driver in getting a business into buyers awareness and consideration steps when looking for a product mainly due to the non-interruption aspect of inbound marketing.
The Ultimate Inbound Marketing Guide for Business
Here are eleven tips in using inbound marketing to attract people to a business; inbound marketing is more about sharing than selling, helping not hyping.  The great thing about inbound marketing is that it works so well for any business regardless of size in any market.  A word of caution is inbound marketing does take a bit of time to get going, however, once the results start happening they are better qualified and less expensive than harder outbound tactics.
The foundation stone of inbound marketing is “Content” and publishing quality content alone will go a long way to increase traffic and leads for a business or website.  But there is more to inbound marketing than publishing content; inbound marketing also includes social selling, article sharing, social networks conversations, social media influencers, article seeding, forum participation and chat.
So follow these inbound marketing tips to improve your Inbound Marketing results
The full article can be read at this link The Ultimate Inbound Marketing Guide for Business - Tweak Your Biz

Thursday 26 March 2015

Customer Targeting

Customer targeting or who a business wants to sell to whether it is B2B or B2C, is a key part of the business planning process. Customer profiling and target selection is critical as it defines the marketing strategy, resources, costs and customer target selection lists for the sales team. A businesses services or products may have appeal to a wide range of customers or markets but the reality is you cannot target everyone at once so you need to list your target customers by demographics, segment, industry and size to get the best return possible.
customer-targeting
Every business wants as many people or buyers as possible to know about their business. However when it comes to customer acquisition the more customers you want to reach, the reality is the more time, resources and money it’s going to cost. Defining the customer acquisition strategy and target customer selection may feel like you could be ignoring some groups or segments but it is important to remember that you’re not excluding anyone; for now the business is choosing where to focus, to spend the time and money to win new customers at reasonable cost. Customer targeting focuses a business and ensures all marketing and sales resources are being maximised. Focusing on a market segment or profile of businesses/consumer who could be interested in what company is offering allows you to communicate and engage with that segment more deeply. The cost of customer acquisition alongside the product to market fit is critical for any business success.
Customer Targeting – Action Plan - read the full article on The Bitter Business. Customer Targeting – The Bitter Business

Tuesday 24 March 2015

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing impacts on SEO or search results as content marketing (articles, blogs, whitepapers) and status updates (news, press releases, stories) when shared or published leads to search engine discovery around a set of keywords or a title. Research also shows that people also search on social media sites like LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Facebook etc. to find relevant social media content. Social connections who share a company’s social media links can also impact the position they show up on search engine results for keywords, whether within a social media network or on Google.
In marketing, harnessing the power of content marketing, social selling and social influencing can deliver big increases in traffic, audience and customer engagement. Before a business talks about marketing automation, social bookmarking, social sharing or social data they should discuss how to get the fundamentals of social media marketing right. Whether your social media marketing is designed to drive traffic, generate sales leads or reach a wider audience, following these ten simple rules will help lay the foundation to serve your marketing, customers, brand and business better.
social-media-marketing
Read the full article on social media marketing on The Bitter Business blog

Social Media Marketing – The Bitter Business

Monday 23 March 2015

Why Customers Buy – The Bitter Business

Buyers and consumers are moving away from the traditional purchasing funnel to a more enlightened decision journey that uses the Internet to change the way they research, value and buy products. If sales and marketing plans have not changed in response to the new buyer-driven decision journey, it better start soon.
So why do customers buy?
Before we answer that, the first thing to understand is that every customer has a “decision journey”. This journey has pre-purchase and post-purchase steps. The pre-purchase journey can be described as Awareness Consider Evaluate Buy.  The post-purchase journey is Reflect Feel Decide.
In this article we will discuss the pre-purchase customer decision journey. Understanding the customer journey and its steps as to why customers buy can speed up the sales cycle improve conversation rates and drive revenue.
decision-journey
Remember, people buy because they have needs, a problem needing solving, a goal that needs fulfilling, a situation that needs to be remedied, something that affects their life or  business, and needs solutions.  In the Consider and Evaluate steps buyer preferences usually fit into three main categories, known as PPI:
Productivity – efficiency, ease of use, outputs
Profitability – ROI, making money, increase revenue, improve profit margin
Image – brand, style, reputation, approval, desirability (this is mainly consumers)
The full article is available at : Why Customers Buy – The Bitter Business

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Marketing Plans

A great tip to identify what type of marketing plan is right for a business is to ask this question “What is the lifetime value in profit of a customer we sell to?”

I suggest you then assign your business into one of these three customer lifetime profit value categories
  1. Sub €200 profit
  2. Sub €2000 profit
  3. Above €2000 profit
This is important as it defines your cost of customer acquisition (what it costs a business to get a customer to buy from them) and how much a business can afford to pay for clicks, traffic and a sales lead. The business should also figure in customer churn, do not over calculate how often or how long a customer will stay loyal to a business. Depending on the business model, the marketing plan also affects cash flow, because you pay for marketing upfront with a lag over weeks or months to get an ROI on the tactics.
Marketing plans and go-to-marketing strategies may get more advanced and complicated as a business grows but for the vast majorities of companies a simple, effective marketing plan will suffice. Do not write a marketing plan to please an investor or bank manager, write the marketing plan as your best bet to get customers interested into what you are selling.
The full article on marketing plan can be read here Marketing Plan – The Bitter Business

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Business Consultant

What does a business consultant do?
A business consultant works with a company or small business to review the existing practices in the areas of sales, marketing, product or finance amongst others and then to work with the management to make recommendations for improvements. Most business consultants specialise in one or two areas of business management, such as sales. For example, a software company might hire a sales and marketing consultant to help develop its market reach or customer acquisition strategy.
business-consultant
A business consultant brings expertise, experience and knowledge to help a company improve performance metrics or key performance indicators through the thorough analysis of existing business problems. The business consultants then develop plans for improvement alongside the management team. A business may consider engaging the hire the services of a business consultant for a number of reasons, for example, to get an external view on the business, to receive objective advice and recommendations, to tap into the business consultants expertise, or even as a temporary resource to help with aspects of the business where hiring a permanent employee is not needed.
A business should expect due to the business consultants relationships with numerous markets and industries, the consultant can transfer knowledge and insights that will be beneficial to the company’s growth or profitability. A consultant may also provide organisational change assistance to up-skill existing staff, coaching to staff, business strategy development, or improvement services in a department. A business consultant usually brings methodologies, templates and frameworks to uncover the identification of opportunities and then to act as the basis for recommendations for more effective or efficient ways of performing the business task.
To continue reading this article on business consultant services please visit the original article at Business Consultant – The Bitter Business

Monday 9 March 2015

brianoconn – The Bitter Business

Brian O'Connell

Sales and Marketing Enabler in Ireland

Sales and Marketing Service with a twist. The Bitter Business is a business enabler, working with and investing in Irish start-ups and growing companies to implement the sales strategy and bring paying customers in.
Based in Ireland, I am a hands on senior manager with experience in digital media, software (SaaS mainly) and online technology who has operated both within large organisations and start-ups. I have sales and marketing skills (still love selling) plus strategic, operational and management experience in multiple channels (online sales, inside sales, field sales and channel) across software, digital media and solutions markets.


brianoconn – The Bitter Business



Hi,
My name is Brian O’Connell. Based in Dublin, Ireland, I am a hands on senior sales and marketing manager from the digital media, software and on-line technology sectors who has operated both within large organisations and start-ups. Focused as a business enabler or growth hacker I have sales and marketing skills plus strategic, operational and management experience in multiple channels (on-line sales, inside sales, field sales and channel) across software, digital media and solutions markets. I have demonstrated a track record of achievement in both top and bottom-line growth. I have a deep understanding of sales models, on-line marketing, sales channels, product offer development, KPI management and sales processes to meet business goals.
My experience covers senior and board positions with both start-ups and large organisations including developing on-line strategy and sales channels, entering new markets, product strategy, managing multi-lingual sales teams, sales team development, customer acquisition strategies, channel marketing plus implementing “Go to Market” programs/tactics
Find me on              Twitter                  Google+                 LinkedIn

Friday 6 March 2015

Sales Techniques – The Bitter Business

Every sales professional should have a reference library on effective selling techniques. There are lots of sales trainers who dispel “sales wisdom” which in reality does not help the sales person improve their sales close rates. Gathered from sales interviews and insights from sales leaders here are some really effective selling techniques that have been proven to work. Ten sales technique tips that might help improve sales performance.
sales-person
For the full article on sales techniques, please visit The Bitter Business blog at Sales Techniques – The Bitter Business

Thursday 5 March 2015

Sales Lead Generation – The Bitter Business

To achieve bigger sales and better sales leads generation results; here are some ideas and insights a sales manager may consider:

ales lead generation is the fuel that powers the sales engine; it is the single biggest sales activity to ignite the selling process. Sales lead generation includes three core principles: First is having the correct product to market fit strategy including compelling offers. Second is putting the product and offers in front of the right audience in large enough numbers and third is giving the audience a reason to act or interact with the business now.
If a business can make the above three things happen and then use some of the tips listed below to gain sales momentum, it should put the sales engine on a path for increasing sales while refining a sales strategy that will work in the future.
Every sales manager or sales leaders knows that the sales growth is a given together with other sales goals the business demands. It could be to boost sales by twenty percent or acquire new customers in a new market. Maybe the sales plan includes launching a new product line. To move sales planning and goals into sales success, sales leadership calls for carefully planned out selling tactics; clear eyed understanding on the current state of the business and the maturity to know when and what to change.
To achieve bigger sales and better sales leads generation results; here are some ideas and insights a sales manager may consider:
sales-lead-generation
The full article is available here: Sales Lead Generation – The Bitter Business

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Marketing Plan Template – The Bitter Business

 Marketing plan template and guide

                           The Bitter Business

A marketing plan will help a business identify the markets, product to market fit, customers and competitors which underpins the strategy selection to make a business sustainable. This marketing plan template courtesy of The Bitter Business can act as a guide through the process of creating a solid, well thought out marketing plan for your business.

Download the marketing plan template for free here. Marketing plan template and guide
Why every business needs a marketing plan
A good well thought out marketing plan will help the business stakeholders to answer key questions about the business, and act as a reference document to help the team execute the marketing strategy. It will also help develop a structured approach to creating services and products that satisfy the market and customers’ needs.
When writing a marketing plan,  always be clear about the marketing objectives and how the business is going to achieve them. This free marketing plan template can be a guide in setting those realistic and measurable objectives, budgets and action plans with ability to allocate resources.




Marketing Plan Template – The Bitter Business

Monday 2 March 2015

Business Strategy in a Digital World

Bye now, most businesses know that digital is changing the way we do business. Every business must evolve and have a digital strategy that can take advantage of new sales and marketing platforms, data tools, and digital technologies that can get a business closer to customers.

digital-business-strategy

The market is pulling these business changes as the markets or countries with knowledgeable populations, high standards of living and education are demanding companies face up to the challenges in the digital landscape for communication and commerce. The reality is that digital advancement and the associated challenges will accelerate rapidly in the few years. Business leaders must grasp the straw and realise that innovation, flexibility, and speed of execution will be core to thriving in a digital marketing powered world.

You can read the full article here: Business Strategy in a Digital Marketing World – The Bitter Business