Sales, Marketing & Retention Strategies September 17, 2009 Presented by: Jodi S. Graham

Agenda Introductions & challenges I heard What is Sales & what it is not? What is Your Sales Process? What is your most valuable resource when developing a Sales & Marketing Strategy? What are essential elements of a Sales & Marketing Strategy? What are essential elements of a Retention Strategy? A Checklist to maximize your resources & efforts? Review & discuss challenges Wrap up

Challenges: Growth How to take advantage of existing customers & expand our market? Execution How does Sales differ from Marketing? How to determine market size & potential? How to determine the value proposition & project ROI? How to articulate a message that will peak the prospect’s interest? How to differentiate the sales strategy for market segments? What is the quickest & most reliable way to acquire name, product recognition & market penetration as a new company? Process How to identify the decision maker & get our information to that person? How to identify the point of pain our product can solve for this prospect? How to avoid overselling & knowing when to be silent? How to handle objections such as change resistance? People How to develop & support a well trained sales team? How to keep our sales team focused & organized? How to increase sales volume per sales person? How to identify & recruit A+ sales people?

What is Sales & what it is not? It Is: Building rapport & relationships Asking relevant questions Listening intently/actively Understanding & agreeing on needs Identifying a fit with features, advantages & benefits Mutually agreeing to do business (or not) Confirming & reinforcing why this is a great decision It Is Not: Advertising “Sales techniques” Talking versus listening Showing up & throwing up A “sales pitch” Telling them what they want to hear “Closing the deal” Sales: involves most or many of the following activities, including cultivating prospective buyers (or leads) in a market segment; conveying the features, advantages and benefits of a product or service to the lead; and closing the sale.

What is your Sales Process? Seven Steps to a Sale or Sales Meeting: 1.Approach/Rapport 2.Qualify 3.Agree on Need 4.Sell the Company 5.Fill the Need Handle Objections 6.Close 7.Cement the Sale

What is your most valuable resource when developing & executing a Sales & Marketing Strategy? Resource: Your existing customers Uncover: Market Analysis Who are our customers? How many do we have? What industries are they in? Where are they located? Which are most profitable? Who do we retain? Who do we lose? Etc. Voice of our customer How do they describe what we do? What impact has our product/service had on their business? What do they love about what we do? What do they wish we would change? Who else did they consider & why? Why did they select us? Etc.

What is your most valuable resource when developing & executing a Sales & Marketing Strategy? Organization: An integrated approach leads to success Sales Marketing Account management Goals: Established, communicated, tracked & discussed Retain your existing customers Grow your existing customers Generate new business

What are essential elements of a Sales & Marketing Strategy? What is our business? Value proposition defined for our prospects & customers Differentiators identified versus our competitors Features, advantages & benefits understood Concise elevator statement created & internalized by all Who is our ideal client? Target market defined What is our sales distribution method? Personal contact directly or through partners Telesales Direct mail Internet How do we tell our story & win business? Use consistent messaging via the value proposition Presentation developed Training formalized Other activities (seminars, events, brochures, website, case studies, etc.) Are we measuring results, refining our strategy & strengthening our execution?

What are essential elements of a Retention Strategy? How are we building relationships with our profitable customers? 80% of revenue typically comes from 20% of our customers Important to view customers as strategic partners & take interest in them How are we increasing revenue opportunities within our customer base? It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to a customer* Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers* How are we leveraging happy customers? Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non customers* Are we driving innovation through customer co-design & collaboration? Often customers leave because they feel indifference or insincerity Assists in developing products/services our customers need & will buy

A Checklist to maximize your resources & efforts?  Have a plan for retaining & growing your existing customers  Understand the buying process & how decisions are made for your product/service  Qualify all prospects  Know the average length of your sales cycle  Sell through referrals  Identify activities needed for success (phone calls, appointments, rfps, presentations, etc.)  Invest in tools for capturing this data (ACT, Salesforce.com, Microsoft CRM, etc.)  Establish metrics and track results on all activity (closing percentages, etc.)  Benchmark with others in your industry  Recognize & reward success

Challenges: Growth How to take advantage of existing customers & expand our market? Execution How does Sales differ from Marketing? How to determine market size & potential? How to determine the value proposition & project ROI? How to articulate a message that will peak the prospect’s interest? How to differentiate the sales strategy for market segments? What is the quickest & most reliable way to acquire name, product recognition & market penetration as a new company? Process How to identify the decision maker & get our information to that person? How to identify the point of pain our product can solve for this prospect? How to avoid overselling & knowing when to be silent? How to handle objections such as change resistance? People How to develop & support a well trained sales team? How to keep our sales team focused & organized? How to increase sales volume per sales person? How to identify & recruit A+ sales people?

Wrap up Questions & answers