As we start the new year, businesses are presented with a new opportunity to set ambitious sales goals and devise strategies to achieve them. A well-thought-out sales plan is the key to a successful business, providing direction, focus, and a roadmap for growth.
Here are some best practices to make 2024 your most profitable year ever:
Identify key successes, challenges, and areas for improvement. Consider customer feedback, any new trends in the survey profession (and how you can incorporate them), and the effectiveness of your sales strategies. This will be the foundation for making informed decisions this new sales year.
Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) sales goals for the new year. Whether it’s increasing revenue, or launching new products or services, always articulate your goals and sales vision with clarity.
A successful sales plan is built on a deep understanding of your target audience and WHO your buyer is. Clearly define your ideal customer profile, including demographics, behaviours, and pain points.
Outline what makes your BRAND and company unique. What do you have and offer as a surveying company that others don’t? This will be a crucial part of your marketing which will lead you to more Marketing-Qualified Leads (MQLs).
Always keep learning. This is the one thing that will help you build and develop a sales process that works. Make sure you are providing sales information and training to your team daily. Reviewing sales training will help ensure your team is constantly learning what they can do better within the sales process.
Marketing and sales seem to be taboo topics in the surveying industry, but they shouldn’t be. You need to talk about sales and marketing — they are what make your business.
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the success of your sales plan. (Common KPIs include leads generated, new contracts, average contract value, etc.) Regularly monitor and measure progress against these metrics, This will help you keep track of what’s working and what needs to be improved.
Sales is all about repeating successful actions. Find what works, do it over and over again, and build a system that your team can duplicate as well. Use all the tips and tricks we gave you above — and REPEAT. At the same time, keep in mind that a sales plan is not static – it should evolve with the changing business landscape to ensure ongoing success.
By reflecting on past performance, setting clear goals, understanding your audience, and implementing effective strategies, you can position your company for an amazing sales year.
In a crowded market with many offers and competitors, we tend to hear a lot of: “Your price is too high,” “I have other offers with a better price,” and so on. But what if I told you that price is NOT a determining factor within a sales process, and it is usually a complaint more than an objection?
When it comes to closing a deal, no single thing will make the deal fall through. So, if we treat the price as a complaint instead of an actual objection, various solutions will make this work for you – instead of against you.
Price is relative and if a product or service provides unique features, superior quality, or exceptional customer service, customers are more likely to perceive it as valuable, justifying a higher price point. Businesses that focus on enhancing overall value, rather than simply lowering prices, can build stronger customer loyalty. As an example;
A company’s reputation plays a pivotal role in consumer decisions. Customers are willing to pay premium fees if they trust that your company has a reliable reputation. Survey brands that prioritize looking after their clients and are consistent in delivering on promises can establish trust, making customers less price-sensitive.
If you are a survey brand, you probably don’t shout about your reputation. In fact, this might be something you haven’t even thought about, and educating the market is not a priority – therefore the consumer goes solely on price. Something to consider is the fact that even if other survey brands don’t do this, it doesn’t mean that you can’t. This can actually open doors to more caring and loyal customers.
A unique selling proposition, or USP, sets a product or service apart from its competitors. Whether it is a new technology, exclusive features, or a distinctive approach to customer service, a strong USP can justify a higher price.
Remember it’s all about what makes your company, product, or service different to justify a higher price tag.
The overall customer experience can outweigh the price in a purchase decision. An easy buying process and responsive customer support is a great way to add value to your offer. Having a great and responsive team dedicated to a happy customer will not only be important when making an offer to a potential customer, but it will more likely mean that they will be a recurring customer.
The focus must always be on the problem you are solving for your potential customer. Rather than focusing on the price, direct attention to the pain points you will be solving. Always emphasizing the value proposition will help shift the focus away from the cost.
In conclusion, while pricing undoubtedly plays a role in the consumer’s decision-making process, it is far from the only factor and should always be treated as a complaint. Surveying businesses that prioritize building value, maintaining a positive brand reputation, highlighting unique selling points, and delivering exceptional customer experiences will always beat the price tag.
Remember, successful sales are not solely determined by the number on the price tag but by the value add you will provide to the customer once the transaction is closed.
Want to learn more or discuss how we can help your sales and marketing strategy? Schedule a meeting with me!
When it comes to geospatial marketing, the errors and missteps are all too common. The precision that the field demands really should extend to your marketing strategies as well! And yet, we often see these epic geospatial marketing disasters. Pay attention and learn from others’ mistakes.
Picture this: You’ve just launched a fantastic marketing campaign. You’ve invested time and resources to create the perfect ad (or email or social post), and it’s drawing clicks by the dozens. Everything should be sunshine and roses from here, but you’ve neglected to create a landing page!. Instead, your potential customers are left wandering around your website, looking for the offer dangled before them in your ad, email, or post.
Avert disaster: Always, ALWAYS create dedicated landing pages that align with your campaign offers, content, and goals. Make sure they’re optimized for conversions, with clear calls to action (CTAs). No one likes a digital dead-end!
Your geospatial marketing campaign is a labyrinth of content that even Lew would struggle to navigate. You’re throwing out buzzwords like “geospatial intelligence,” and “geodetic surveying” to visitors who just want to know where the property line is, and offering free consultations to customers who’ve been with you for years. The result? Your audience is confused, lost, or worse – they don’t feel like you know who they are.
Avert Disaster: Map out your customer journey as well as your buyer’s journey (yes, they’re different!) and provide content that’s relevant at each stage. Start with educational, informative content and gradually guide your audience toward more technical material as they progress. Keep it clear and concise, so your customers won’t feel like they’re on a quest. (Note that some content management systems (CMSs) and marketing platforms can actually help you dynamically guide the right content to your audience.)
What is your Power Base? It’s your network of friends, family, acquaintances and connections as the initial prospects or customers for whatever product, service, or venture you are offering.
Don’t ignore your power base like they’re invisible! You should be leveraging your connection this audience to support your campaigns.
Have you heard of the six degrees of separation? Look it up! Any person on this planet might be connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances that have no more than five intermediaries. What does this mean to me? Well, think about it: Your power base potentially links you to an untapped pool of potential customers. Your Uncle Joe may never buy from you, but you don’t know who he knows. By liking or sharing your posts, he may connect you to your next best customer.
This is why your power base is so important.
By sharing your post, it’s clear that Uncle Joe knows and trusts you. When is friend Lucy sees your post, she sees someone she trusts endorsing a business that they trust.
That’s why leaning into your power base is an important to marketing success – and ignoring it is a potential disaster.
Avert Disaster: Write a list of all the people in your power base. These can be family, friends and acquaintances, customers you have sold too, not sold too. Write them down?
You have a team of rock stars, and their social media accounts are collecting dust. Meanwhile, your company’s geospatial achievements and news are being seen by the twelve people who actually follow your page. It’s sort of like having a treasure chest but never bothering to open it.
Avert Disaster: Encourage your team to share company posts and news on their social media accounts. They may have their own massive networks of potential customers and partners who know and trust them, and that can help your company reach new audiences. Remember, every retweet, like, or share extends the reach of your posts.
Reporters are like the “mean girls” in marketing. If they want something from you and you don’t give it to them, you’re going to pay. Ignoring their queries, providing vague (or worst, inaccurate) information, or being downright rude can lead to some disastrous PR nightmares.
Avert Disaster: Treat reporters with respect. Respond to their queries promptly and provide them with the information they need. Be clear and professional. It’s a small world, and you don’t want your reputation to suffer because you rubbed Jimmy Olsen the wrong way.
Those disasters are all too common, and more harmful than you realise. While it may seem that any marketing is better than no marketing, inviting your customers and prospects to a bad experience may do more harm than good! And why invest time and energy into creating marketing campaigns that will drive business away from your business rather than to it?
To ensure you’re well-prepared to avoid disasters moving forward, here are some tips to help guide you to marketing success instead.
Before launching any marketing campaign, have a plan. This should include target audiences, messaging, goals, and, of course, landing pages. Your landing page should have the same (or a very similar) headline and offer as your email, ad, or social post so that when your customer clicks, they know they’re in the right place – and they know what they came for.
Segment your content to suit different stages of the customer journey. Start with user-friendly, easy-to-understand content for newcomers and gradually delve into more technical information. Think of it as creating geospatial breadcrumbs. There are lots of great graphics out there that can walk you through either the customer and buyer journey, or more simply, the sales and marketing funnel, showing you the kind of content you should have available to visitors at every stage.
Your friends, family, past customers and clients, and currrent customers and clients are your greatest allies. Keep them informed about your marketing efforts, and encourage them to support your campaigns. Word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied customers are more valuable than gold doubloons.
Encourage your team to use their social media accounts to spread the word about your company’s achievements and news. It’s like having an army of digital ambassadors. Why not empower and encourage them – even reward them – for amplifying your brand profile?
When dealing with reporters, be professional, prompt, and respectful. Build relationships with them, as they can be important allies for generating positive media coverage and bolstering your industry reputation.
In the competitive world of geospatial and survey, a well-executed marketing strategy can give your company a tremendous advantage over competitors in your local market. So, do your best to avoid disastrous pitfalls! Hopefully, this guide will help you get on the right path.
Like this article? Download it as a PDF here: MarketingDisasters2023!
Want more tips to get you on the right track with your sales and marketing efforts? Schedule a consult!
We’ll answer all those questions in this post, but let’s start with the last one. Yes, you need it. Or, at least, you should certainly be trying it!
So, what is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing has really taken off in recent years. It’s become a buzzword, but the term ‘influencer’ became popular in the 2010s and was officially added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2019.
In that dictionary, an influencer is defined as:
One who exerts influence: a person who inspires or guides the actions of others;
Often, specifically: a person who is able to generate interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media.
Harnessing the social power of an industry influencer has become an essential marketing tactic for a lot of businesses because it’s a seriously powerful way to:
And trust me, you want all of these things.
In its early days, influencer marketing was generally used to promote fashion, beauty, and e-commerce brands. Businesses sent products to celebrities and famous faces in exchange for their reviews or endorsements. So yes – this channel was once dominated by celebrities selling tooth whitening products and protein shakes, but it has proven effective and matured in a short time.
Now, influencer marketing is making its way into Geospatial. It makes sense – there are influencers in every industry. How can you identify them? They are the people in your LinkedIn and Instagram feeds who are:
It’s up to you to find the people behind those social profiles with knowledge, influence, and followers. These are the voices that your customers listen to; the thought leaders who can offer guidance and expertise to their audience.
Like any part of your marketing, the selection of a thought leader requires strategy and research.
At a basic level, you need to partner with influencers who have a similar (or complementary) social media following and audience to help spread the word and showcase your product or service.
Influencer marketing can introduce your organisation to new audiences and help you to find your ideal customers.
It’s important to align influencers with your business. Beyond just sharing the interests and industries, your influencers should also share similar values. Alignment goes beyond working in the same industry – if you’re focused on promoting adoption of new technologies, it hardly makes sense to partner with an influencer who believes the measuring wheel is still the best tool – even if they have 1,000,000 followers on TikTok.
Nor does it make sense to partner with influencers whose followers fall outside your target audience. It might be hilarious to show a Kardashian how a point cloud works, but is your next big customer really going to find you that way?
Which brings us to today’s top tip: Find an influencer who has the ear of a similar or complementary audience. That could be someone like hunting and fishing Instagram star Mark Kenyon (assuming your audience is in one field when they’re not in another), or it could be a GIS expert like Alvaro Anguix Alfaro. Either way, there’s a good chance you’ll find your people.
As an important note, keep in mind that your best influencers could be within your four walls! Inside many companies is an expert with a large and loyal audience on social media. Your marketing director, southwest regional sales manager, or newest surveyor may have a beloved podcast covering surveying technologies or a massive audience for their ridiculous geospatial memes. Ask around the office – that internal influencer might be happy to have the recognition and additional audience.
It’s no secret that the Geospatial industry isn’t always the most up to date with marketing trends. In fact, most businesses in our sector are way behind the times. But influencer marketing is one area where we really shouldn’t be dragging our feet.
To start with, identify your influencer. Don’t just look at their follower count: Most serious influencers will have media kits that show their audience demographics and engagement. That will help you ensure your audience goals are met, and that you’ve made the best selection. Do some additional research too, and make sure there are no nasty controversies lingering around your influencer (looking at you, Jake and Logan Paul). Then reach out!
Define your goals, and make sure your influencer partner understands them. Are you trying to increase your own follower count, stimulate engagement, drive leads, or actually close sales? Define your key performance indicators (KPIs) and make sure everyone is on board – including the influence, who should agree to be accountable for their part in achieving those goals.
The next step is to determine the best way to work with your partner to showcase your product or service. Handing an established influencer a script is definitely not the best route! You’ll want to give them some talking points or highlights, but you probably don’t want to stifle their creativity.
These folks know what works for their audience, so let them take the lead. They may want to demo your product on their own, they may want to tag along on a job with you, or they may simply want to craft their own script for a live read. Some influencers may want to try something a bit wacky, like attaching a lidar scanner to a falcon (or something actually wacky!), but if they know their audience will love it, and no products, property, or living creatures will be harmed…why not?
Once your content is live, make sure you share it on all your owned media channels, from your website to your Threads accounts. And ask everyone on your team to share the content on their accounts, too.
Now more than ever, Geospatialers should be leaning into this marketing tactic and harnessing the power of influencer marketing to build trust and discover new audiences. So take the plunge and be the bold early adopter! Start working with influencers before your competitors beat you to it!
If you’re wondering where you find some amazing Geospatial influencers, you’re in luck. We’ve done the hard work and found our industry’s rising social stars!
View this post on Instagram
Rami has an impressive 60,500 YouTube followers (and growing)! I predict this likable guy will go on to do BIG things!
Rami’s educational content explains different aspects of surveying, which has gained him an engaged audience that encompasses both the young surveyors of tomorrow as well as today’s working surveyors.
Any company keen to target students and showcase the range of careers in Geospatial – or in their own business – should consider working with Rami as he’s tapped into the younger market in a fun and informative way.
Farrah Etcheverry – Ladyland Surveyor
View this post on Instagram
With fewer women in the Geospatial and surveying industries, it’s great to see Farrah’s content. This working mom is a passionate and hardworking surveyor who works alongside her father in their family business. Her content shows surveying and mapping as the fun profession it is.
From full high-vis to getting down and dirty with drones, her day-in-the-life content shows just how different every day in survey can be. If you have followed her over the years, you will have seen how much she has developed and grown in her own confidence as a woman in a male-dominated profession. GO, FARRAH!
Robert Martin – Surveying with Robert
Robert is a trusted voice within the surveying world. His honest reviews don’t pull any punches: He says what he thinks, and his audience love him for it.
With over 8,000 followers, his audience might be huge, but it’s highly engaged. His content ranges from all things Trimble to in-the-field surveying tips and tricks.
He’s an authoritative voice showing the range of technology and innovation in the industry, and he brings with it a depth of surveying experience.
View this post on Instagram
Landman (is that a cool name for a surveyor or what?) is a working surveyor in South Africa who makes surveying look incredibly cool via his Instagram account.
Using reels, stories, and grid content, he shows how his Trimble techhnology works in the surveying industry. As if his photos and screen shots weren’t cool enough, let’s face it – he’s also in one of the world’s coolest locations, direct from Cape Town!
His 16,700 followers from around the globe are captivated by his eye-catching content. You will be, too.
Peter Haddock is a journalist, vlogger, podcaster, and a voice for the construction industry with a lot of experience in Geospatial and surveying.
Peter knows how to ask questions and likes to dive deep into how stuff works! You will take an instant liking to his catchy personality which shines through on every video.
These great influencers should give you a solid jumping-off point, but they’re certainly not the only industry super-stars. Ask your customers who they follow, and don’t forget to search your own team for in-house influencers! You may just find an ideal influencer for your business.
Yours,
Elaine
PS: Would you like access to more content like this? Something that will boost your marketing through the roof? First watch this. Then, connect with me on LinkedIn – here!