NEW THINKING FOR THE NEW NORMAL: “Stop marketing, start listening, start selling.”

Quick question, as a marketer (agency or client side) how many courses, books, webinaires, videos have you watched on sales techniques in the last year?

The average response? Only 2%. [I emailed 100 people I know with this question, ok, not high end research but a bit shocking.]

One of the key differences between marketing and sales is summed up in this statement from one of the greatest salesmen of all time, Tom Hopkins, “Marketers talk at people, salesmen talk to people and listen.”

The old saying, “People buy people” remains true. Yet how many brands would sell better if they could be more human, connect with people, especially with their communities?

Ask yourself this question if you are in the marketing department – do you sell to people or to targets? Is you potential customer Sarah Smith or just a number or worse, just data?

Understanding your audience may seem common to both methodologies but in practice, very different. Hopkins points out that in the process of selling you will face barriers. “People think NO before they say YES”. The art of selling is getting them to YES. To do that you need to listen.

Before I set up my own agency, I had not seen a brief that had a section entitled “barriers to purchase”, which is why it’s now a fundamental part of all my agency’s briefs.

We often reflect on the 4% who bought and seek to find out why - but how often do we ask, why didn’t the 96% buy it? If you start to break it down you’ll discover that maybe 6% nearly bought. Another 10% just needed more convincing. And a further 10% would long term. So 26% could be potential customers if we modify the sell. Instead we are just trying to find another 4%. As Einstein would say, “Marketing is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.

?

Values

Another sales guru, Grant Cardone, believes that we need to focus back on value, “When value exceeds price, people buy things.”

It’s a simple thought (the simple thoughts are the most effective). But creating value in the minds of a potential customer is down to understanding WHAT they value and WHAT their values are.

This current crisis has reset the value dial, consumers deprived of mass consumption have gone through cold turkey and are now revaluating what they buy and why. Ethical values are now key (read my piece on why the Triple Top Line has replaced the Triple Bottom Line [https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/new-sustainability-marketing-why-triple-top-line-has-replaced-arnold]) and top of that is community – people.

Back to the doorstep

My dad was in sales and marketing and very successful at it. At 18, before I went to art college, he sent me out to sell door to door because he believed that “you learn real marketing on the doorstep.” You do, and as a creative director and strategists I always apply the doorstep test - would this sell to Mrs Higgins? Imagine, you have just knocked on her door, she is tying to feed 3 kids, watch TV, do the ironing and has a baby in her arms. Now sell to her!

By contrast we imaging some smiling middle class family just waiting to be sold to as they sit in front of the TV.

I have always been amazed at the gulf between sales and marketing and believe that sales should run marketing and not operate as silos. Because that’s what marketing is all about.

As Bill Bernbach said, “We are just glorified salesmen.” Yet how many of us really can sell?

If you overlay marketing methodology over sales methodology they don’t match up.

“Marketing people don’t sell to people they pitch blindly at data models based on assumptions. Salesmen sell to real people based on human interactions.”

Although I am open minded and often impressed by claims that an algorithm can predict what we will buy next (though we still can’t predict the weather properly or what my partner wants for Christmas) I think that reducing marketing and sales to pure maths is a folly. If you can find me one successful salesman that disagrees, then I am open to persuasion (a word algorithm programmers don’t understand).

Back to the shop floor

When I use to work on a major car brands (4 actually), I use to get the brief from HQ, then go and visit 3 showrooms to talk to the salesmen. The salesmen were always amused, “they actually pay people to write this rubbish?” was one salesman’s comment, “I’d like to see marketing try and sell a car in a showroom, that would be a laugh.” But they would put the finger on what really sold the car models. I never understood why marketing didn’t just ask them what sells? These guys knew. You didn’t need 6 focus groups and an online survey. But most importantly, they also knew why people didn’t buy a car, which is as important.

To this day the clients have no idea how we always managed to exceed the target.

I think Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy (rated as the 2nd best salesman of al time) and Bill Bernbach (if they were still alive) would ask, “yes, but does it sell more product?”

In the new normal I advocate 5 things:

1.   Remember we are just glorified salesmen. So let’s stop pretending we are anything else. The only real measure of success is in sales – did the campaign sell more yoghurt/cars/insurance…

2.   Stop doing the same old thing. This is a great time to rethink WHAT we do, HOW we do it and most importantly, WHY? (purpose). If you just go back to your old ways you’ll be left behind.

3.   Focus back on people, stop using the world ‘target audience’. Engage with people in the real world, not just on line in a virtual world. Remember data, algorithms are single dimensional, it’s not the same as real people. Try asking the frontline sales team what they know and think – it would save thousands in research!

4.   Values are key – focus on the Triple Top Line – Purpose, People & Planet. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/new-sustainability-marketing-why-triple-top-line-has-replaced-arnold  Especially on connecting with communities as people are more influenced by their communities than by marketing. Read: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/forget-consumer-insights-think-community-we-dr-chris-arnold and https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/why-we-need-think-power-crowds-individual-dr-chris-arnold

5.   Be creative, imaginative, surprising, different – 90% of marketing has become dull. As David Ogilvy said, “No one buys from a dull salesman.”

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Interesting reading:

Engaging Consumers After Covid-19: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/marketing-ethics-insights-engaging-consumers-after-covid-19-arnold

Why Doing Good is Good for Business: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/why-brands-do-good-finding-its-business-dr-chris-arnold

#tomhopkins #davidolgilvy #leoburnett #billbernbach #selling #marketing #advertising #newnormal #aftercovid19 #chrisarnold #connect2 #creativeorchestra #thegarage #grantcardone #data #media #

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Chris Arnold is a creative strategist, a Dr of Business and former director of both Saatchi & Saatchi and the DMA. He is founder of the ethical marketing agency Creative Orchestra, the UK’s leading specialist community engagement agency CONNECT2 and The Garage Innovation Lab.

He is author of Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer and FLIP – Unthink Everything You Know. He was also the long-term writer of the Brand Republic Ethical Marketing Blog.

Contact: 07778 056686 Message via Linkedin.