Marketing & Sales isn’t easy but easy!

Churning, negotiating, navigating & wading thru my 2 decades of work culture, felt like penning few thick segments/factors which should be borne in mind to market, sell & sustain in any business; perhaps, a product, solution, service, a brand in making or an offering. Every business would want to sell & succeed, but, why only a mere, inside 10% sustain in their respective domains or verticals?!

Well, with my experience (only my thoughts & observations), let me throw a gist,

Recently talked to a guy who had several genuinely good start-up ideas. None had worked. Why? Because, he was neither a programmer nor had a cofounder who was. So, he had to hire them, and that put him at the mercy of partners who had nothing to recommend them except access to money. Partners who bring you nothing except access to money tend to be not only useless, but not super upstanding either. Think about the sort of person who’d end up being described that way.

Well, all criticism shows a difference in opinion. Know the quality you are providing. Defend yourself in a suit of your own research and preparation & then trigger it in the market. This strongly reminds me of the sales pitch (or an elevator pitch whatever), from the movie “Wolf of Wall Street” — the first penny stock sale from a lagging & drowsy entity: AeroTyne International — “a cutting-edge high-tech firm out of the Midwest awaiting imminent patent approval on the next generation of radar detectors that have both huge military and civilian applications” with the screen cutting to a single door garage.

Fantastic & spellbinding — Its all about how you present & project. “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit!”

Important — “Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don’t find one, it’s you.”

Another example of retail, which always comes in my mind. Marketing done perfect!

₹10 Lay’s packet boldly says 40% more chips. 40% is good, right! For the same cost you’re getting 40% extra! WOW! the packet had 25–28 full chips in all — In absolute terms, 40% = 8 chips! “40% more” sounds enticing than “8 extra chips” One of the strongest points of big brands is their marketing strategy.

Most top brands like Cadbury, Lays, Pepsi, Maggie, etc. have a strong brand recall among consumers, thanks to their distinctive and powerful ad campaigns. When analysing companies as prospects/suspects, check their brand image & then work thru the channels.

When a consumer market is new, distribution wins. As consumer become educated, product wins. When products reach parity, brand wins. — Jeremy Liew

The more you speak, the more likely it is that you’ll mess up the sale. Understand your moderation and apply your tabs on the tongue. Let the customer talk and talk and talk.

Lemme give you another beautiful example of a statement presentability in software business: — Java & Python — Both are good, both are efficient, both are popular — that means both are amongst the best. The question that perplexes users is — “which is the better out of the best?”

“The joy of coding Python should be in seeing short, concise, readable classes that express a lot of action in a small amount of clear code — not in reams of trivial code that bores the reader to death.” — Guido van Rossum

“Java: write once, run away!” –Brucee

Nothing changed but the mindset of the seller infusing command into the buyer. Simple. Sales people always think about the sales process and not the buying process. Sales doesn’t go as expected since the buying process is never linear. Did you know in 1975, Sunil Bharti Mittal (age 18 years) used to travel on a scooter to sell telephone instruments?

“It is impossible to produce an above-average performance unless you do something different from the majority ~ in Life or any occupation. PERIOD!”

Here’s another super one:- Jack Ma launched his translation agency, Hope, in 1994. With a monthly office rent of $300, he made sales of just $20. To support his venture, he started peddling across the streets selling books, flowers, plastic Carpets, etc. Thus, a translation company became a retail trading company.

Investors look for opportunities. Owners wait for opportunities. Marketing & sales engines create opportunities!

All said & done, before blaming the market & competitive conditions, think about your potentiality as an entity or an individual. Nevertheless, market has always potential, but its upto you to decide & whether to serve an aerated drink or a coffee to find your potential.