SOHO Start-Up -- Planning for a Profitable Future

Planning for a Profitable Future
by C. Richard Weylman, CSP, The Achievement Group

As an integral part of the distribution system, you are responsible for making things happen in your business and in the marketplace. You should be asking yourself, “What are my goals for 2000?” and “What am I willing to change to achieve those goals?”

To ensure that you accomplish your goals, you need a marketing plan so that you can take appropriate action. A marketing plan gives you a track upon which to run.

This is why pilots file a flight plan. The pilot knows in what direction the plane and passengers are going, from whence they’re leaving and the path they’re going to follow to arrive at their destination safely.

A coach has a game plan and a sense of how the team is going to play the game that day. The coach knows the things that he/she is going to do to use the players effectively to thwart the competition and, in the end, come out on top.

Your own marketing plan should be designed the same way—with the end result in mind. Your marketing plan should fit your specific niche markets and the people in them. It should be dynamic because the needs and expectations of the people in your markets are constantly changing. Plus, unexpected opportunities for visibility and access will occur frequently. Thus, the ability to change and to be entrepreneurial is vital for your long-term success.

Develop a marketing plan that will implement relationship marketing and prospecting strategies, tactics, and ideas so that you’re able to expand your business. Remember, marketers focus on people—merchandisers focus only on products. It’s vital that you develop a marketing plan that will enable you to reach more people.

Your marketing plan should include each of these categories:

1. My Specific Target Markets.
Be sure that the markets you list here are definable groups such as plumbers, welders, auto dealers, restaurateurs, members of a specific PTA, orthodontists, periodontists, neurosurgeons, etc. Be specific.

2. The Ways I Will Leverage Research and Centers of Influence.
Critical to a good plan are the opportunities you have to understand the market and work with Centers of Influence. List the types of publications such as trade magazines, or Internet access, that you will use to find out more about the market in which you want to work. Also list your top 3-5 Centers of Influence that you would like to take out to lunch and talk to about how you can be more effective in the market.

3. Lead Sources.
A solid plan focuses on leads that network and communicate with one another, not on purchasing mailing lists. Be sure the lead sources are specific and include membership lists of organizations that support the people that you’re targeting.

4. Networking Opportunities.
This strategy is critical for success in the market. Clearly, the more involved you are in the organizations that your clients and prospects belong to, the better. Be sure that you indicate several ways to get involved—exhibiting at trade shows, conducting seminars, submitting articles for their newsletters, participating in monthly meetings, serving on committees, etc.

5. Referral Approach.
In this part of the marketing plan you should address how you are going to consistently ask for and receive referrals, whether this be developing a referral talk or requesting referrals in your thank-you notes. In addition, you should also list how you are going to reach out to referrals and be received on a favorable basis. This might include having a letter of introduction written by those who are referring you or a post card sent by those individuals. Or it might be simply developing a telephone presentation where you can reach these people effectively.

6. Mailing Activity.
This is an area where you should address ways to drive activity during slow periods. The most important thing today is to realize that mail is not the easiest or best way to reach prospects. That is not to suggest that it doesn’t work, but it takes enormous volume to get their attention. During slow times of the year and after you’ve achieved positive visibility in a target market, you can use wave mail techniques to drive activity so that you are able to reduce the peaks and valleys in your business.

7. Telephone Technique.
In this category you should list things that you are going to do to be effective in getting clients and prospects on the telephone. With voice mail everywhere, you should list such things as developing 3-5 voice mail messages that are benefit-driven, tips to interact with secretaries and assistants, how much time you’re going to set aside to develop your telephone skills as well as the skills of your staff. People are pressed for time and your ability to use the telephone effectively as a communication tool will impact the results you receive.

8. Cultivation.
This is another vital part of relationship-building so you should list several pro-active approaches to reach and stay in touch with prospects and clients. These approaches could include sending a quarterly newsletter, sending articles of interest, setting up a hotline so people can call you when they have a question, and sending anniversary notes to your business clients in the month that their business was founded.

9. Ongoing Marketing Education.
This is perhaps the single biggest development factor for your future. The marketplace is changing; the opportunities are enormous, yet it takes marketing and prospecting acumen to be successful. Remember, sales keep you in business, but in today’s environment, marketing keeps you in sales.

Whether you’re a sales professional or a leader, I encourage you to create a plan for all the markets that you want to reach. This will give you the opportunity to concentrate your efforts and get the profitability that you deserve from your activities. New sales professionals and experienced ones alike should invest in themselves by creating a plan in order to enjoy increased satisfaction in the business, a greater sense of purpose and higher productivity.

C. Richard Weylman serves as President of The Achievement Group, Inc., a Florida-based marketing firm and publishing house. He is the author of “Opening Closed Doors, Keys to Reaching Hard-to-Reach People” and numerous other sales, relationship marketing and management audio and video programs for entrepreneurs. To receive more ideas and insight on how to market and prospect in today's competitive marketplace hear Richard Weylman live at www.unlimitedprospects.com. To find out how you can have Richard speak at your next meeting or conference, call 1-800-535-4332 or email achieve@theachievementgroup.com. Enroll in Richard Weylman’s free emailed Relationship Marketing Tip of the Week at www.unlimitedprospects.com.

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