Uncategorized – Orren Prunckun

How To Customize Sales Scripts To Your Product, Service Or Solution

Orren Prunckun — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 14:15:16 +0000

When I talk about selling, particularly the sales presentation part of the sales process, I tend to talk in terms sales scripts.

This is mainly because sales scripts tend to cover all aspects of a sales presentation, so that people can pick and choose what elements are relevant to their prospects, marketing & sales pipeline and product, service or solution.

However, not all products, services or solutions need a sales pipeline (nor is a pipeline practical), nor direct response.

In fact, direct response marketing doesn’t really work for products like beer, so an effective marketing strategy is branding…

This could be for fast moving consumer goods.

And not all products, services or solutions need an all the elements I have outlined in a sales script either.

And it doesn’t even need to be a script that is written or verbal.

It can be visual.

A great example of this is beer; a fast moving consumer good.

Take for example the following sales presentation, by the brand like Corona Extra:

Under Pipeline Alignment, this sales presentation is an advertisement and follows the formula also known as the acronym, AIDA:

(A)ttention;
(I)nterest;
(D)esire; and
(A)ction.

The term and format are attributed to Elias St. Elmo Lewis.

When discussing advertising, Lewis said, “The mission of an advertisement is to attract a reader, so that he will look at the advertisement and start to read it; then to interest him, so that he will continue to read it; then to convince him, so that when he has read it, he will believe it.

If an advertisement contains these three qualities of success, it is a successful advertisement.

This is what they mean:

You first need to attract prospects’ or customers’ attention, cut through and stand out among all the other communication they are receiving;
You then need to engage prospects or customers so they listen to your message;
You then need to help them convince themselves that they desire your offer; and
You finally need them to act on that desire.

How AIDA works for Corona Extra:

Corona Extra, attracts a prospect’s attention by creating curiosity about what the 3 males are doing in the advertisement;
The prospects is then engaged by the writing: “From where you’d rather be;”
“From where you’d rather be” implies the prospect is not in a beach oasis; in fact where Corona Extra runs the advertisements is in metropolitan cities, so they know their statement is true. And it’s a pretty convincing statement that most prospects would rather be in a beach oasis than the metropolitan city;
And in combination of the above 3 elements, the prospect will ideally act on that desire of being in a beach oasis by purchasing Corona Extra.

Buy you are probably thinking that the beer will not create a beach oasis, it’s only beer.

Well, people don’t buy features.

People don’t even buy benefits.

People buy outcomes that move them away from pain or towards pleasure or both.

In fact, sometimes people just buy for the feeling of what a particular outcome would be like.

They buy the beer because the image along with it invokes the feeling of “From where you’d rather be.”

When they drink the beer they go back to that image in their head and tell the story to themselves that they are in a beach oasis.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

As this is an advertisement, you’ll notice Corona Extra still uses the majority of the vital sales elements in a sales script.

Not all are needed, as it is a fast moving consumer good sale.

Here are the elements included:

Value proposition;
Benefits;
Who it is for and not for; and
Call to action.

Not:

Brand creation story;
Brand credibility;
Features;
Advantage;
The offer;
The price;
That value translated into other currencies;
Guarantees;
Bonuses and incentives; and
Testimonials and case studies.

Why would Corona Extra choose a visual sales script over text or verbal?

Again, a picture is worth a thousand words.

It would be harder to convey the benefits of “From where you’d rather be” in a text add alone.

Second, brand congruence.

Corona Extra, has elected a premium brand, to which they have to be congruent with in all of their touch points.

So, how can you use this to your advantage?

If you have a multiple step sales pipeline line and a premium product you should opt for an image sales script.

If you have a multiple step sales pipeline line and a commodity product you should opt for a text or verbal sales script.

If you have a single step sales pipeline line regardless of it being a premium or commodity product you should opt for an image sales script.

In Corona Extra’s market research, keywords for the dream could be:

Miles away from ordinary;
Serenity;
Seclusion;
Disconnection;
Relaxation;
Etc.

These could then become elements for the ad:

The ad has:

Appetising/Inspirational image;
Have product placed;
Logo; and
Tag line.

It entices customer that if they want the “dream” ad depicted above in their needs above they need the product.

Same goes with before/after images.

The Marketing & Sales Strategy and Implementation Process

Orren Prunckun — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 13:50:53 +0000

You are almost bankrupt.

Let me break it down for you.

Strategy and implementation are different.

Don’t mess up the distinction.

I offer marketing and sales strategy and implementation to clients.

Part of what I do is find out if the potential client wants and needs strategy, implementation or both.

Most of the time, they say one thing but mean something completely different.

And for the most part, it’s because they think they are one and the same and they don’t know the causative (I’ll discuss causation and correlation later on) value each brings to getting them more customers, more often.

Nevertheless, let’s have a look at some clichés…

In the tech hub of Silicon Valley, there is a saying that goes like this:

“Ideas are worthless – execution is everything.”

I disagree 100%.

Tongue–in-cheek, I suspect this is perpetuated because there is a culture of not signing NDAs.

Regardless, this saying is only partly true.

Thomas Alva Edison’s quote is a little closer:

“Genius is 1% Inspiration and 99% Perspiration.”

I’d say that strategy (inspiration) and execution (perspiration) is 50/50.

Why?

Think about this quote from Abraham Lincoln:

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

Suppose you want to get from Australia to New Zealand.

Your idea may be to just start swimming across the Tasman.

I guarantee you’ll have 99% perspiration, but your genius level is about 1%.

My idea maybe to design and build a plane.

I metaphorically will spend four sharpening the axe and two hours flying.

That is closer to 50/50 strategy and execution.

From an input, activities and output, objectively is a better strategy.

From an outcome perspective it was equal.

On balance, it is a far better strategy.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but it’s pretty accurate for any marketing and sales.

Especially when we think about a Johari Window of knowledge.

The Johari Window of Knowledge exponentially expands the value of ideas.

The Johari Window is a psychological tool developed by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham that helps someone become aware of their knowledge.

This was popularised by Donald Rumsfeld:

“As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

This is what they mean:

Known, knowns – you know that you know how to market and sell with some level of expertise;
Known, unknowns – you know that you don’t know how to market and sell better than you currently do (otherwise you wouldn’t here); and
Unknown, unknowns – you know you don’t know what you don’t know (because if you did then, they wouldn’t be unknown, unknowns.)

So, if you are not getting the results you want, stop doing what you have always done.

That is the definition of insanity.

And this is doing things in the known, knowns.

Simply put: stop marketing and sell in the way you currently are.

You know how to market and sell with some level of expertise and that is not getting the results you want.

Now, you will realize you don’t know how to market and sell with the level of expertise to get you the results you want – more customers, more often.

This is doing things in the unknown, unknowns.

That is the value of ideas.

That is the value of strategy!

So, what now are your options for moving forward?

You have three options:

Learn better strategies to market and sell yourself and implement those strategies yourself.
Acquire better strategies to market and sell (this could take many forms: either in a group or solo, live or canned, recurring or once off, remote or flexible) and implement those strategies yourself.
Ask someone else who knows better strategies to market and sell to apply this strategy on your behalf (this could take many forms: live or canned, recurring or once off, remote or flexible).

There aren’t many other options.

The first is called Do-It-Yourself Strategy and Implementation.

If this is what you are after, check out the 250,000+ words I have published for free (no opt-in) on everything I know about marketing and sales and here.

The second is called Done-With-You Strategy combined with Do-It-Yourself-Implementation.

If this is what you are after, check out what I offer regarding of marketing and sales consulting and coaching:

The third is called Done-For-You Strategy AND Implementation.

If this is what you are after, check out my Productized Services and Unrestricted Implementation:

Notice how I said strategy AND implementation in the third.

Both need to be present for Done-For-You services.

Why?

Let me tell you a story…

Before I start with the story, let me be clear, my Done-For-You services are expensive but I get results.

The results I get are out linked here.

If you know about the Fair Value Line and a Price-Quality Graph, this will make sense.

The Fair Value Line and a Price-Quality Graph is a diagram that tracks quality and price along two axes.

A value could be defined as the difference between a pain and wanted gain.

Functional value could be defined as what a product, service or solution does.

Emotional value could be defined as how a product, service or solution makes a customer feel.

Therefore, a brand is a combination of function and emotional. It is what separates it from a commodity.

If you expand the emotional value, you can broaden the price.

A value proposition is the value you offer (aka proposition) customers to solve their pains or gain or move them from pain to gain.

This could be in the form of saving them time, money, labour or attention currencies or making them money.

Value (speed and automation) for cost (money).

My Done-For-You services expand both the functional and emotional value for clients but getting them out of pain to a wanted gain, that is more customers, more often.

It costs them.

Back to the story…

A while back, I got an email from a potential client who was an ASX listed company asking for help.

This potential client wanted to create the marketing and sales strategy and wanted me to do the marketing and sales implementation.

That is fine, but it’s not a service I offer.

What was problematic in their thinking was they wanted me to be accountable for the marketing and sales results (based on implementation) they stipulated in their marketing and sales strategy.

In other words, they wanted to come up with the marketing and sales ideas that (they hoped) would get the results.

This sentiment shows EXACTLY why they are in the position they are in:

Crappy sales.

How fraught this sentiment is:

NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

Except trying to divert the blame externally to the person implementing to make them (the client) feel better about the lack of results.

REMEMBER: If you are not getting the results you want, stop doing what you have always done.

That is the definition of insanity.

A crappy marketing and sales strategy executed correctly is still a crappy marketing and sales strategy.

In other words, you can be efficient at implementation, but without an effective strategy you’re going nowhere new.

Likewise, you can have an effective marketing and sales strategy, but with inefficient implementation, you’re also going nowhere new.

Mutton dressed as lamb.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe,” takes on a whole new light!

So, I told the potential client that I considered our business relationship to be starting on the wrong foot potentially:

“To have a long and fruitful business relationship, I suggest we discuss and set a precedence and expectation of our working relationship from the beginning. I trust that you also consider this as important for success. Otherwise, this may give rise to a potential miscommunication about the nature of our engagement. My understanding is that you are engaging me as a contracted consultant to achieve marketing and sales outcomes where I lead the strategy and implementation based on my experience, knowledge, credentials and credibility in this industry, with input where required and final approval from you. Based on some of the latest communication between us, it appears that the expectation is the inverse – you direct the strategy and I implement. Thus, I would like to know if the nature and extent of input, approval and leadership of strategy and implementation between both of us before we move forward.”

Don’t get me wrong, of course, I am open to input and there is a massive difference between micromanagement and legitimate concerns.

With all the reason outlined above, I may not act on that input in marketing and sales strategy and/or implementation because (with respect) it’s likely coming from an unknown perspective, and hence the reason why you are getting me as an expert.

And as this potential client wanted to create the marketing and sales strategy and wanted me to do the marketing and sales implementation, I told them implementation is not a service I offer.

Anyone with a basic marketing and sales skill set can do the implementation.

That’s not where the value is.

The value is in the strategy, IN COMBINATION with execution.

Again, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe,” takes on a whole new light!

The problem is most businesses don’t want to pay top dollar for marketing and sales strategy.

In another way, they want to pay poorly for marketing and sales implementation.

Still, they want to pay cheaply for BOTH marketing and sales strategy and implementation, expecting the person they hired to implement (who has an essential marketing and sales skill) has both skill sets.

Both skills sets are vastly different!

Instead of reasoning this way, I’ll let Penelope Trunk, founder of Brazen Careerist explain it.

Penelope Trunk once wrote:

“Most people I’ve managed told me, at one point or another, that their strength is strategy. Usually, I hear this as “I don’t know how to execute what you’re asking me to implement or perform.””

And:

“It is a cliché that everyone thinks they’re a strategist. The reason everyone thinks they’re a strategist is because they don’t know what a strategist does. Get a reality check. Odds are you are not a strategist. Strategy requires thinking conceptually and creating something from nothing. So, for the most part, if you need to see something to do strategy then you are not doing strategy, you’re doing editing. Strategists usually favor thinking about the future instead of the present; strategists I admire are bored by what is and focus on what could be. Also, strategy means constantly making decisions based on incomplete information. It means taking intellectual leaps of faith that could derail many departments in an organization, and organization and doing that with confidence. The best thing you can do for your career is take a personality test to understand your strengths. If you are an INTJ you really are a strategist. If you are not an INTJ, the fewer letters you have that match that, the further away from strategist you are. So get some self-knowledge before you declare yourself a strategist.”

Strategy is worth so much as it puts you on the path to effective outcomes – more customers, more often, which is what most businesses want.

Sales and marketing are the lifeblood of business.

Without marketing and sales, you have no customers.

And without customers, you are playing business.

Still, you are out of business.

Bankrupt.

In a 9-hour work day you should be spending time on the following:

Marketing – 4 hours;
Sales – 2 hours;
Product delivery – 1 hour;
Human Resources – 1 hour; and
Administration – 1 hour.

That is 2/3 of your day working on marketing and sales and 1/3 of your day working on products, product, services or solutions.

In addition to time, your allocation of capital should be in the same proportion.

In my experience with clients, it’s another way around or LESS.

The amount of time I have heard potential clients say “we have no marketing budget, what rabbit cam you pull out of the hat for us” is rife.

I think to myself “are you serious about your business?”

If you have no money or time to get that ratio correctly, something is fundamentally wrong with your business model.

This is dire.

Let me repeat:

IF YOU HAVE NO MONEY OR TIME TO GET THAT RATIO CORRECTLY, SOMETHING IS FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG WITH YOUR BUSINESS MODEL.

You have no idea about margins, upsells, marketing and sales funnels.

You need to get up to speed on those basics ASAP.

Luckily for you I wrote a guide on that here:

The ironic thing is if that followed the allocation of time (and capital) division rule I just mentioned, then they wouldn’t be calling me for marketing and sales help in the first place, as they know or would be doing what they need (strategy and implementation).

Don’t be stingy with marketing and sales strategy and implementation your business depends on it!

Specifically, how do you bridge the gap between marketing and sales strategy and implementation?

Let’s start with an analogy…

On a windy day, would you grab a wad of $5,000 of your own money, made up of one hundred, fifty-dollar notes and throw it up in the air on in a busy mall?

Of course, you wouldn’t.

If all the people didn’t swoop on it before you could collect them all, it would be a pointless exercise.

Why?

Since it has no value.

So why do businesses do the same with their marketing and sales?

I once worked for a client who was certain they should take out $5,000 ads with no regard to return-on-investment, until I talked to them.

Silly.

The Logic Model is a tool that helps with strategy (planning) and implementation (execution).

It assesses the causal connection between elements.

Causation is different from correlation.

Just because two things are correlated (a related link between an input or activity and an output or outcome) doesn’t mean that one caused (a direct link between an input or activity and an output or outcome) the other.

The elements of the Logic Model are as follows:

Inputs – these are the resources that are used for activities (below);
Activities – these are the actions that are used for creating outputs (below);
Outputs – these are the yields used for creating outcomes(below); and
Outcomes – are results that generate impact you want (below).

You may be asking how the Logic Model relates to marketing and sales?

Inputs in a marketing and sales context is the use of general capital, time and labour. This is characterised by the phrase “you need to spend money to make money”;
Activities in a marketing and sales context are the implementation of marketing and sales to create a marketing or sales output. It could be the creation of a flyer or a whole range of these (read more here);
Outputs in a marketing and sales context is creating the flyer etc.; and
Outcomes in a marketing and sales context are the receipt of new customers and sales etc.

The problem is that most businesses concentrate on activities and outputs not outcomes, like the potential ASX listed client I mentioned previously.

They hoped that doing activities (based on the wrong strategy) would create outcomes.

It doesn’t.

They didn’t think about this at all!

In the Logic Model activities create outputs first.

A value step is needed to move from outputs to outcomes.

That is where strategy comes in.

The right marketing and sales strategy.

An implementation that creates outcomes (and hopefully outputs) is only the effect of a strategy’s suggested inputs and activities.

Strategy, therefore, is deciding what the right inputs and activities are to produce not only outputs but the right outcomes.

The reason your business is not where you want it to be with marketing and sales could very well have to do with the way you approach strategy and implementation.

Any implementation, if it is “busy work” lacking strategy and foresight, means you are on Path A (bankruptcy) or Path B (More customers, more often).

Strategy is about being effective, not efficient.

Implementation is about being efficient.

Effectiveness is doing things that get you results.

Efficiency is performing a task in an economical manner without regards to whether it is the thing that get you results.

Efficiency is the default mode of businesses marketing and sales.

Don’t fall into this trap.

Strategy is the ideas and the path to get to outcomes.

It says we should take this way and not that way.

Implementation is executing that path.

Strategy is also not tactics.

Tactics is implementation.

Tactics are specific, strategy is broad.

Tactics change, strategy does not.

But what is strategy?

Strategy is one of those terms, like “happiness” that is hard to define, because no one encompassing definition exists.

A simple dictionary definition could be:

“A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.”

Strategy is about the future.

Understand this: plan for and create the future.

It is about choosing a path or set of actions (the best path or action) over another (an inferior) that creates the future that you want.

It may take into account strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats.

As everyone will arrive at a future regardless of that this is, everyone has a strategy.

But not everyone is a strategist.

There is no right strategy.

But there are better strategies than others.

That is what makes strategist.

Someone with great strategies are easy and clear to them.

Most marketing and sales people call them strategists.

They are not – remember what Penelope Trunk said?

So how should you apply this to your business?

Here are the elements:

STEP 1: Marketing and sales strategy; and
STEP 2: Marketing and sales implementation.

Let’s begin with…

1) Strategy

..Step 1 is about planning.

Start with a solid marketing and sales strategy.

This is the effectiveness of moving from outputs to outcomes.

The Logic Model then could be re-arranged to look like this:

Outcomes – what results generate the impact you want?
Outputs – what end products are needed for creating outcomes (above)?
Activities – what actions are needed for creating outputs (above)?
Inputs – what resources are needed for activities (above)?

Only you can determine the results you want.

Any only you can determine the resources you have at your disposal.

However, choosing the correct activities and output will create the right outcomes.

There are so many right marketing and sales inputs and activities that you can choose from and depending on the result you want (not output), I have outlined many of them and the activities and outputs required to here you there, here.

Of course, the exact details of how to do these are beyond the scope of this guide.

This step is about planning.

This leads us to the Implementation step…

2) Implementation

…Step 2 is about execution.

This is where you implement your marketing and sales strategy.

This means being efficient with your resources you apply to your input and activities.

Of course, the exact details of how to do this are beyond the scope of this guide.

This step is about execution.

Case Study: Marketing With Restricted Channels

Orren Prunckun — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:01:02 +0000

I have wanted to write this for a while…

But it’s taken me a while to find the accompanying photos to finish this case study.

Many of you would have seen these fliers lying around the streets.

As a side note, the person behind these and the business has had quite a lot of media attention in the past.

Before I go on, let me make it very clear that I do not condone him or his business or his marketing or sales practices.

First off this is littering, which not only destroys the environment but also is a crime, not to mention his business or his marketing or sales practices.

I’m not making a value judgement on business, business type, business model etc.

I simply want to highlight, in an extreme example, how one could market when normal marketing channels are restricted.

I have helped market an adult product business, which I do not have permission to share their case study, so “Bikini Girls,” must to do as it’s in the public domain as illustrated by the filer.

Marketing with restricted marking channels is frigging hard!

But it makes you think outside the square, and usually, you can reach more prospects with far less money.

As another extreme example, you can get hundreds-of-thousands of impressions on adult entertainment sites for a penny.

Anyway back to the case study, they are always on strewn on footpaths.

They are never in flier racks.

I would speculate that this is an intentional marketing tactic.

First off it would be very hard to get these in flier racks as marketing platforms have strict policies about what they are willing to advertise.

Adult related products and services are not in that policy.

So by dropping them on the footpath the advertise gets around flier racks.

Second off, things that are dropped on the ground tend to appeal to peoples curiosity to see what it is.

Is it money?

Is it a love note?

Etc.

Especially if it has a woman in a bikini.

Unfortunately, sex sells as it appeals to the reptilian brain of all genders.

The risk with this is if a prospect picks it up, they have to reveal themselves.

In addition, if it is controversial enough, you can move from paid media to earned media very easy to get even more distribution.

In fact, this article is a case in point: the advertiser paid for the flyer printing and distribution, and now I have written about it because it is controversial enough and the advertiser has now earned extra media via me.

This happens all the time.

As you would have guessed, the key to making this type of advertising works is:

An interesting image;
An interesting headline; and
Drop them.