I was talking with a business associate recently, and we were discussing how “the way” we market and sell has changed so much. We were sharing our thoughts on how technology has made all of us savvy buyers, and how customers are much more educated and aware than ever before. Gone are the days when just having a good product or service and a demand for it created an opportunity for growth. We talked about how it’s not a bad thing, it’s just different. As business leaders, we need to understand that difference and learn how to approach our marketing and sales in new ways.
One of the main things we are all realizing is that we need to become stronger partners with our customers. We need to become advocates for them to help them grow. We need to not only sell them something but also become interested in who they are, what they do; how we can help them do it better, easier, and more cost-effectively. We need to genuinely care about them and show them that we do. It is time to market and sell on purpose. Not “on purpose” in the meaning “intentionally doing something” but “on purpose” in the meaning that what we do “has significance and it matters.”
I read a book by Tim Sander, who was once the Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo, “Love is the Killer App.” It was a great book that described how we need to look at how we market, sell, and grow our businesses. Tim had 3 things to help you grow personally and professionally, they were:
Your Knowledge: What you know and what information you can share that makes you an expert in your field. He recommends learning as much as you can about the products or services you offer and continuously expanding that knowledge.
Your Network: Your collection of friends and business contacts that you have developed over the years, and how you should continue to grow that network in all aspects of your life. The bigger our network the greater the opportunity to help others by connecting them to each other where we see a need.
Your Compassion: All of us want to help others. The desire to share what you know and who you know so that others may benefit and grow. The feeling we get when we feel like we have made a real difference in someone’s life.
In his book, Tim describes how we can dramatically change the way we do business by just doing these 3 things each day. When we become good at what we do, when we expand our network of influence and then seek to share them both so others can benefit from them, we move to marketing and selling “on purpose”. This is how we find the “LOVE” in marketing, and this is how as we move into a new era of business – we discover a better way for all of us to prosper.
So go out and get good at what you do. Meet new and exciting people, and then share all of it with all of them and watch your business and your life change.
About the Author:
Tony Pires is the Director of Operations at CFS, Inc. in Norton, MA. Tony serves as a leader in developing new business and strategic partnerships with our clients. You can contact him at [email protected] or click here to connect with him on LinkedIn.
