Episode 075 Why every company needs SAM!

Lisa Thal is an Author, Speaker, and Business Coach. She wrote the book "Three Word Meetings."  A Simple Strategy to Engage, Inspire, and Empower Your Team.  Lisa coaches leaders on how to take their sales and business meetings to the next level with fun and interesting 3-word  topics to get your sales team motivated and inspired.  She has over 33 years of marketing and leadership experience.

 

Episode 075 - Why everyone company needs SAM!

 

I realized in my 33 years of marketing and sales that every company needs a SAM Plan. I know many of you are in sales and what you have to communicate or develop for your customer is that having a better SAM could be the difference to having a profitable year.

 

Visualize this, we have products/ services on the left, and far-right is revenue and profits. What is in the middle is what I call a Bridge. This bridge is a marketing strategy that creates the opportunity to gain more market share and sales.  

 

Think about the products you use today. The car you drive, the toothpaste you use, the shampoo, the coffee or alcoholic beverage you consume, the clothes you wear, and your cell phone use. All influenced by SAM. So what's the best way to create your SAM and make sure your bridge leads you to more sales and profits?  

 

Here are four strategies to create a better SAM. 

 

Become a problem solver.  Marketing is all about solving someone's pain or providing pleasure and providing better customer solutions than your competition. Solve a problem for the consumer. McDonald's is solving several issues. People that need food fast and for a fair price. They have found a way to market to you to consider them when you're hungry and need food fast. Let's think about what you and your company can solve for the consumer. What problem are you solving for your current clients? Ask your best client the top one or two reasons they chose to work with your company. They may share some insights you can use to position when calling on other like-minded companies.

 

Whose problem are you solving?  I will ask most companies I work with tell me more about who you would like to do business with. They respond to everyone. In marketing, we call that a Family reunion. Most companies want to target everyone, but they have to have the resources to do it effectively. So start with targeting a brother or sister, that owns a home, has kids. See, not everyone has a marketing budget like McDonald's to target everyone? That's okay; let's narrow the focus to start to own the consumer that may be more profitable. Tell me more about them? Who are your current customers that you retain year over year? You want more of the Life Time customers, not just the cut my price customers.

 

Make your message matter.  How that consumer hears and processes your message is critical. You have to break out of the noise and have your message heard. If you can enter into the conversation already going on into their minds, you have a better chance of converting them your way. Keep your message simple. You know I am a fan of using three words. McDonald's uses simple phrases, I'M Lovin It. Nike, Just Do It. So Simple and impactful. 

 

Measure the results.   It's crucial to track SAM. Does SAM need to help build more brand awareness? Do we want SAM to increase website traffic? Store traffic? Do you want SAM to bring you referrals? We have to measure the results that SAM is delivering.

 

Our job is to teach our clients the road map on how best to use SAM - Better Sales and Marketing! Remember when you call on new clients, there are only two reasons they should meet with you. You are going to validate what they are currently doing? Or You have a way to improve what they are doing. Hello SAM!

 

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