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Hans Fuller

That’s an absurd question!

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I can remember when websites were a novel idea. I was just a grunt in a marketing department but the debates were heated: Why do we need one? They’re undefined, expensive and half-baked! We have a great process for getting printed materials to people that ask for them…let’s just double-down on that!

Asking the question ‘Why do we need a website?’ today would be absurd. In fact, everyone I know is in a perpetual state of building websites, updating websites, redoing websites, making new tools for the web, etc.

So what’s the next question bound to become absurd in the very near future? I believe it has to do with ‘going mobile’ and whether the benefit of building mobile apps (true native mobile, that is) is worth the added effort and cost.

Here’s an easy test: Is there a chance you’ll miss an opportunity if customers and salespeople need to learn about your product when they’re away from their desks? We just crossed the point where people spend more time on mobile devices than on desktops. Your industry might be behind the times a bit, but it’s definitely coming your way no matter what you sell and who you sell to.

Convinced but confused? You may be making progress in this area, but chances are you still have a gap. Here’s a primer that sorts through what technologies to use when. And here are a few examples of problems/solutions that are uniquely mobile.

Today is a good day to answer the question ‘Why go mobile?’ before it becomes absurd.

Comb your hair, build your brand

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The marketing you don’t do becomes your reputation and your brand.  Take for example your neighbor who doesn’t comb his hair.  He’s making an impression whether he knows it or not.

Similarly, a company that doesn’t care much about how it’s products are presented risks leaving the impression that those products are nothing special.

If your competitors promote themselves using an outdated web site, hacked up power points, and crumpled catalogs, what reputation could you build by presenting your products using modern selling tools?  And combing your hair.

Have story, can’t travel

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That’s a great story you just told me. I think I’m ready to buy.

I bet that when you get in front of a customer, you win the sale more often than not, right? So how do we tell the story to 10 others? Does it mean 10 days and 10 plane tickets? Does telling it to 1,000 others mean 1,000 days and 1,000 plane tickets?

We need to find another way. We need to find unique methods and new tools.

Stop collaborating

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There’s a time and place for collaboration, meeting halfway, and rounding off the edges. Collective wisdom often prevails and the result is greater than the sum of its parts.

 

But the things that set us apart from our competitors can not, must not, be compromised, negotiated or otherwise diluted.  Does the industry’s thought leader work for you? Is lightning-quick responsiveness in your company’s DNA? Do you offer a complex business case that no one else can touch?

Our differentiation is subtle and as we convey it, we can’t afford to let one iota of our message get lost in translation. So make your stories strong and pointed, make them engaging, and use technology to make them easy to tell and spread.

Ready, fire, aim

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Sometimes we aim our second shot based on where our first one hit. Until we actually pull the trigger, we don’t really know if all of our preparation, practice and aiming will result in improved accuracy.

When trying to hit the moving target of mobile technologies for our salespeople and customers, consider firing a test shot or two. If we instead wait for the perfect shot, we may regret that we spent too much time aiming and not enough time shooting (and yes, perhaps missing).

Let’s start small and narrow and cheap. Let’s experiment with a limited audience. Let’s test our assumptions and see how close we can get to the results we wanted. It can only serve to improve our aim for the next shot.

Selling ice to Eskimos and your return policy

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It’s a familiar compliment, but it benefits no one. The Eskimo ends up with buyer’s remorse and we get our ice back while earning a bad reputation among Eskimos.

If the first step is determining if there’s a fit, let’s figure it out as quickly as possible. Why take three conversations when it can be done in one? If it’s not a good match, we can move on to more promising opportunities and our customer will be more inclined to see us the next time we call.

Most of our tools are designed to help our salespeople sell, but consider adding some that first assess fit. Simple checklists, case study comparisons, and interactive surveys can qualify a prospect and inform both parties about how to best work together.

Spend a little more time assessing fit and you’ll spend less time explaining your return policy.

Content needs innovation too

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It’s ironic that much of the discussion about marketing using technology circles back to the importance of content. Now that our information is available to anyone, anytime, anywhere, our customers expect to feel like they’re the only ones that matter at the exact moment they choose to engage.

The good news is that content does and always will matter.  The bad news is that broad-brush approaches designed for all occasions are no longer sufficient.

As we embrace technology and optimize tools for our specific objectives, we can’t stop there.  Our customers will give us high marks for being progressive, but only if the stories we tell are at least as innovative as the tools we use to tell them.

How credible are you?

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Your offering is rock solid. You’ve done a really nice job of designing and executing your product or service. Seriously. Well done.

Once I establish that you’re in the running for my business, on what other criteria do I make my decision? To some degree I make it on the credibility of the salesperson sitting across the table and the company she represents. Is she able to persuade me that she knows what she’s talking about? Do I agree that her company stands behind everything said so far?

We’d like to think that our product accounts for the majority of our credibility, but if our sales force turns over often or if we’re headquartered in the east and selling in the west, there may be many non-product obstacles making us less credible.

Picture your newest, most remote salesperson. Is he equipped with the right stories and mobile tools to build credibility?

It’s on the website

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Jim, a client, told me that it’s a running joke in his company: ‘If you want something to disappear forever, put it on our website.’

We let ourselves get away with it and we shouldn’t. Simply posting something to a website is not good enough. Do we really expect our customers to find our content among more than 150 billion web pages?

A customer that knows exactly what to search for can find what they need, but if they’re uncertain or are not yet aware that their industry is about to be disrupted, putting our solution on the web is a longshot at best.

Reaching customers will forever be a challenge, but if you have salespeople that call on prospects, mobile tools can provide a proactive way to use your content to consult and collaborate.

Unless we like odds of 150 billion to one, it’s not enough that it’s on the website.

I’m not ready for the punchline

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Any joke, story, or marketing angle ultimately arrives at a punchline. The ‘aha’ moment at the end when it all becomes clear and we laugh, or cry, or buy.

But telling the punchline before our story has been fully grasped has little impact. In some long sales cycles, our punchline won’t create that ‘aha’ moment for years even though we repeat it over and over.

So take a fresh look at your marketing strategy, materials, and tools. Are they built around telling stories?  Or built around telling punchlines?