The 2 most costly and unproductive myths in marketing and sales
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 3:54 am
These 2 phrases are responsible for billions of dollars wasted on useless marketing and sales efforts around the world:
Vendors sell anything
Marketing is one
The reason is because there are at least 2 groups of sales processes:
Mass consumption:
They are products with benefits that are already internalized by the buyer. Their costs are affordable and that makes the purchase decision simple (I want it | I don't want it)
In mass consumption, the user/buyer/customer has this clear:
He knows what he needs.
Decide without needing to consult anyone else in most cases.
You know the places to go to purchase your products.
The value equation is clear and simple (it takes away hunger, it cleans, it keeps you fresh, for example).
The sale is made through hundreds of points of sale and the presence of a human is not necessary to communicate benefits: the choice is made automatically and preferences will be based on quality, price or affinity. Many of the products in this category are called commodities for that reason .
With these products, branding and mass media advertising play a very important role.
Complex products:
Complex products and services (data management systems, IT systems c level contact list development, core banking, media advertising, technical insurance, consulting, logistics solutions, for example) have these characteristics:
Their sales processes are long, often lasting several weeks, months or years.
They are implemented through projects.
Each sale generates a high level of income.
The decision-making process involves several people and committees.
The sales team must have a deep level of knowledge of the product and the client's business to ensure that it adds sufficient value.
Marketing is complex, technical, and requires working with validated products to be successful. The seller is not the only one responsible for the final sales.
In these sales processes, the effective work of a team that understands how to:
Understand how the client's business works.
Raise requirements.
Define solutions and reward needs.
Validate your points.
After all this, present a budget and negotiate.
The impact of a brand on these companies is limited: its endorsement helps, but the determining factor in sales is the process and the team that executes it. The work of:
Attraction, conversion and lead generation.
Execution of the sales process in each company.
Registration and CRM.
Effective follow-up.
They will be much more important than the execution of brand positioning campaigns.
If this distinction is not clear, you fall into the trap and end up with a wasted marketing budget and an unmet sales goal. That is why these two myths are so destructive:
Vendors sell anything
Marketing is one
The reason is because there are at least 2 groups of sales processes:
Mass consumption:
They are products with benefits that are already internalized by the buyer. Their costs are affordable and that makes the purchase decision simple (I want it | I don't want it)
In mass consumption, the user/buyer/customer has this clear:
He knows what he needs.
Decide without needing to consult anyone else in most cases.
You know the places to go to purchase your products.
The value equation is clear and simple (it takes away hunger, it cleans, it keeps you fresh, for example).
The sale is made through hundreds of points of sale and the presence of a human is not necessary to communicate benefits: the choice is made automatically and preferences will be based on quality, price or affinity. Many of the products in this category are called commodities for that reason .
With these products, branding and mass media advertising play a very important role.
Complex products:
Complex products and services (data management systems, IT systems c level contact list development, core banking, media advertising, technical insurance, consulting, logistics solutions, for example) have these characteristics:
Their sales processes are long, often lasting several weeks, months or years.
They are implemented through projects.
Each sale generates a high level of income.
The decision-making process involves several people and committees.
The sales team must have a deep level of knowledge of the product and the client's business to ensure that it adds sufficient value.
Marketing is complex, technical, and requires working with validated products to be successful. The seller is not the only one responsible for the final sales.
In these sales processes, the effective work of a team that understands how to:
Understand how the client's business works.
Raise requirements.
Define solutions and reward needs.
Validate your points.
After all this, present a budget and negotiate.
The impact of a brand on these companies is limited: its endorsement helps, but the determining factor in sales is the process and the team that executes it. The work of:
Attraction, conversion and lead generation.
Execution of the sales process in each company.
Registration and CRM.
Effective follow-up.
They will be much more important than the execution of brand positioning campaigns.
If this distinction is not clear, you fall into the trap and end up with a wasted marketing budget and an unmet sales goal. That is why these two myths are so destructive: