Follow these tips to develop a marketing plan to grow your numbers.
By Bill Lee
Most of the salespeople I know entered the 21st century with more business than they could service. Life was good. Then 2008 rolled around and whatever salespeople had put away for a rainy day was quickly used for survival. How rapidly business conditions can change!
Now that business has returned to a level that allows salespeople to have a fighting chance of earning a decent living, I believe it’s time for professional salespeople to prepare a written marketing plan that allows them to take optimal advantage of the improved housing economy. Like Hank Haney says on his Golf Channel advertisement, “…golf pros have a Blueprint that enables them to avoid their ‘big miss.’”
But when I make this suggestion to salespeople, I get a lot of pushback.
Common reasons behind a delayed marketing plan
- “You make a good point, but I haven’t had time to do a lot of planning. I am in the process of giving it [a strategy] some thought, though.”
- “I’m too busy to spend much time developing a strategy. After putting in a 60-hour week, all I feel like doing is kicking back and resting up for the next week.”
- “I’m not sure we’ll ever see a business environment that we had prior to 2008, so I guess you’d have to say that I’m still a little bit discouraged.”
While there’s really nothing particularly earthshaking about the year 2015, entering a new year is a great excuse for salespeople to take time to look down the road a few years. But before spending too much time developing a strategy for the next ten years, it’s a good idea to take a critical look at what has happened to your business over the past 10 years.
