Marketing Strategy - What's Your System?

By Kevin P. Dervin
Posted Friday, January 21, 2005

Where Do Most of Your Clients Come From?

Is it from your marketing and sales system?

When I meet people for the first time and they understand that I'm a marketing consultant, I'm frequently asked, "Where do most of your clients come from?" Many times I believe the question is asked innocently enough. But, quite often I feel like the person asking wants to know if I have a magic answer that might work for them.

Most small business owners are passionate about the services they provide - not the marketing it takes to consistently find more clients. Many service businesses will admit that they're not really sure what works best or how to get going with marketing.

With that as your starting point, marketing can sure seem like a lot of work that takes too much time and energy for the return on investment.

Too often the result is a scatter gun approach. I refer to it as episodic marketing - a series of unfocused and hastily-planned, one-shot episodes (or campaigns). For example, throwing together a tri-fold brochure that you can start mailing or handing out to everyone you meet; or sending out a direct mail piece to try and stir up some interest.

It's not uncommon that the motivation for these marketing episodes is a slow down in business. And then when business picks up, you quickly scrap the current campaign (until the next slow down).

No System, No Consistency

What's missing for most small service businesses is a system to break marketing down into a series of connected small steps to generate a consistent supply of leads and convert them into new clients.

I think a lack of a system might be one reason why so many small businesses conclude that word-of-mouth is their best source of new clients. It's kind of funny because when I ask others where the business comes from, 99% say that it's referrals (word-of-mouth). But, when someone asks me, I actually have to pause and think about it.

There's no doubt that referrals are one of the most effective ways to grow any business, but most service business owners would have to admit that they don't have any system for consistently generating word-of-mouth business.

So Where Do Most of Your Clients Come From?

For me, the answer is that they are coming as a result of my marketing and sales system. The same system I'm using to help teach my clients how to get better, more consistent results from their marketing is the system I'm using to build my own business.

Having a system allows me to dependably follow simple, but proven and effective processes to consistently generate leads and convert them into more business.

It is not one or two great ideas or strategies. It's breaking marketing and sales down into a series of connected strategies and tactics to gain attention from prospects and help them to become clients. The system helps move prospects forward that are ready to say "Yes", and lets those who are not motivated or ready to make the investment move on.

Why Do You Need A System?

If you don't have a marketing and sales system, you'll never be able to grow your business to its full potential.

Most businesses address their primary business functions with systems. You have your billing system, accounting system, payroll system, and time management system. It's likely you have systems to manage client or project work. One primary business function that seems to go without a system is Marketing.

There's a great misconception that to be an effective marketer, you need to be creative. And most small business owners will tell me that they're just not good at that. But I've come to believe that marketing should be more of a science (a system) than an art.

Without a marketing and sales system, most service businesses end up reactively marketing when business is slow and stop when they are busy. This mindset usually lends itself to episodic marketing.

With a system, you'll be better prepared to generate inquiries and convert new clients all year round.

Marketing and Sales

Notice that I've said you need a Marketing and Sales system. Marketing and sales are NOT the same thing, but you need a system that addresses both seamlessly.

One of the notions I hear over and over again is that Marketing is about creating name recognition or brand awareness. I would argue that these are simply welcome side-effects of marketing. When you are a small business and all of your time, energy, and money count, then what you really need is for marketing to produce a consistent stream of good quality leads.

Sales then is the process(es) you use to convert as many as possible of those high-quality leads into clients.

This is why the two should be seamlessly addressed in your system. Too many businesses jump forward to selling before a potential lead is even established as a qualified prospect. Conversely, many leads go uncultivated when there's no means to explore the prospect and move them towards becoming a potential buyer.

A System is The Key To Reaching Your Full Business Potential

Now just imagine if you had a system to drive these vital functions in your business – a system that breaks down the marketing and sales process into smaller, more manageable, interrelated steps.

Think about your own business. Where do most of your clients come from? Is it from your marketing and sales system? It should be.

About the Author:
Kevin Dervin is the owner of KPD Marketing and creator of the ABCD Growth System. If you find this article useful, you’d probably enjoy Kevin’s FREE monthly eZine called ABCD Grow. To subscribe, just go to (http://www.ABCDgrowth.com) and follow one of the links to the FREE Stuff page!