Developing new business today is challenging; it’s competitive and expensive, and the conversation we need to have with our prospects has changed. Consider the following.
Start-ups are starting up again. Which is great news overall for the economy but if you’re trying to develop new business (or hold on to and grow what you have) it means new competitors and new ways of doing things. Think of Uber a few years ago and how it might have taken taxi companies by surprise.
And developing new business is expensive. Whether it’s your time or salary and benefits for a sales team, the activities to support it, or the tools to manage it, the cost adds up quickly. If you’ve ever customized a CRM system you know exactly what I mean.
Today’s prospects – or future clients, as I like to think of them – are informed and sophisticated which changes the conversation we should have with them. Saturated with information in our transparent world, our future clients now thirst for a deeper understanding about what drives our brand, how we treat our people, the impact we make on the planet, and even what we do with our profit – they want to know about our Quadruple Bottom Line.
So when we differentiate solely on what we do and how we do, it’s not necessarily enough to stand out, and it makes developing new business harder.
But our marketing content can help. When we are authentic in our marketing, when we specifically and genuinely identify – and even celebrate – what makes our organizations uncommon, we’re better able to connect with our future clients and create that a-ha moment when they know we are THE solution for them, not just a solution.
When we are clear about our innate talents and values, and we articulate the unique and inspiring ways in which we express them for clients, we’ll resonate with the people who want to work with us. That means better qualified leads, shorter sales cycles, and lower cost of sales, which also improves our profitability. And that’s good reason to be authentic in our marketing.