Are you committing random acts of marketing and selling?

If you and your organization are goal driven, I applaud you! That’s something too many businesses give lip service to. Yet, clear objectives are not enough.

Imagine this. It’s ten days before the end of the month and it’s looking like the team will fall short of their revenue goals. The boss calls a meeting and says, “Let’s pull out all the stops and do whatever you can to make our numbers.”

Everyone springs into action. Social media posts fly out. Someone yells, “We need to dust-off a webinar from last year and promote it”. Marketing sends out an email to prospects and customers with a discount coupon attached. Sales managers call their book of business to see who’s good for a last-minute purchase.

This is the “throw something at the wall and see what sticks” method of marketing and selling. Checking a bunch of disjointed tasks from a list may make you feel good, even give a sense of accomplishment. In reality, this randomness usually leads nowhere fast.

Goals are great -- isolated actions are not!

You have a starting point (your vision) and ending point (your objectives) and need a coordinated effort in-between to connect the two. A road map, processes, and plan of action are essential.

Here’s the good news. You can quickly ramp up your “let’s pull out all the stops” plan now without throwing anything against at the wall. All you have to keep in mind is turning leads into paying customers are not a series of disconnected random acts of marketing and selling.

You’ll still need to take a little time out to review your strategy and create a plan that connects the dots to effectively achieve your goals. Yet, you don’t have to wait and can kick revenue generation into high gear today.

Refocus your message and get everyone on the same page. You already know that you have only seconds to get and keep someone’s attention. But when people on the selling and marketing team -- and outside partners too -- aren’t in sync on what to say, in the mad scramble to get revenue people tend to roll their own message. When this happens, no one in your business will be able to deliver a succinct and compelling elevator pitch. Talk about isolated actions! Create a headline that includes a key trigger phrase, demonstrating that what you sell is the answer to your idea customer’s problem and it’s not about you! A mish-mash of fragmented tactics isn’t the answer. Have and use a consistent message across all communications and channels. And practice saying it out loud!

Before closing a sale, you must first earn the right to ask for the sale. It’s human nature. You need to make some sales quickly, so you zoom in on the end game and push for the close. Yet, even on small ticket items, there’s a process in play or you’ll turn off the buyer. Each action you take should be purposeful and lead to the next step. No random acts of marketing and selling allowed! Every step along the path between vision and the end goal should be planned and have meaning -- for your buyer. At the same time, make sure what’s about to come out of your mouth or gets posted to social media fits effectively into the big picture of your company’s strategy. Go into each situation thinking, “What do I want to accomplish?” Of course it’s ultimately to sell your offering, but that’s the goal and not necessarily the step your buyer is ready for at the moment. Is it to get them to agree to something, such as you providing a bit of education or set up the next meeting? After any completed action, ask the buyer what they think the next step should be.

Say no to things that distract from reaching your destination. Every step taken in the marketing and selling process should lead to you partnering with your buyer as a new customer. With each interaction, remind yourself of where you want to go and what your company’s strategy is. If not, you end up trying this or that tactic randomly. And without a plan all you’re doing is hoping something, anything sticks. Unless you can justify some sort of boost in productivity, just say no to the latest cool new marketing idea or selling apps because your time and resources are too limited. Say no to “requests” for new features or products that take you way from your core mission and competency. Stay focused on your strategy, goals, and game plan to get there. Then stay on message and don’t be distracted!

Concentrate your efforts on moving in the direction you want. Create an action plan that is realistic and stay dedicated to your strategy during each step in the marketing and sales process.

When you’re purposeful like this, you’ll quickly bridge the gap between your buyer and your business. Best of all, you’ll never commit random acts of marketing and selling and will get more customers.

Ron Stein is founder of More Customers Academy, helping business leaders build strategic messaging and positioning that cuts through the competitive noise to grow revenue. Ron has developed his own highly successful 5-step Stand Out & Sell More approach to winning new customers as a result of his twenty-five years of business development, marketing, and selling experiences. He works with a range of businesses, from startups to large corporations across industries including technology and healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services and banking. Ron conducts workshops, leads company meetings, offers keynote talks, and consults. He can be reached at 727-398-1855 or by email.