"I'm looking completely differently at how my company goes to market and interacts with customers."
"I'd like to be much more transparent with customers and prospects on how we do things. For example, I don't think I'd actually put rates on our company website, but I like the idea of at least explaining how we develop our rates and what goes into our pricing process."
"I'm going to start attracting more high-quality prospects into my internet sales funnel by replacing outdated practices like keyword stuffing and link-building with authentic content that will be useful along the buyer's journey."
These were just a few comments made as approximately 200 marketing, sales, and business professionals left the 2017 TMSA Logistics Marketing & Sales Conference near Jacksonville, Fla., this last week. It’s the one time every year when many TMSA members come together to share ideas, learn from each other, and to network.
There’s no question that one of the top values was the ability to spend some time with Marcus Sheridan of The Sales Lion, and Opening Keynote Speaker of this year’s conference. He discussed how today’s buyer has changed into a “digital consumer,” and what we must do about it.
You must evolve your sales and marketing if you want to reach your customers.
If you’re ready to become the most trusted voice in the transportation and logistics industry, and need a roadmap, then the principals of his book “The Ask, You Answer” will revolutionize your business. (TMSA purchased a copy of his book for conference attendees).
Know what your customer is thinking.
Sheridan shared how he did so with his own small business – and created the #1 ranked website in his industry. His story of how he saved his swimming pool company, River Pools and Spas, from the economic collapse of 2008 has been featured in books, publications, and talks around the world. Today, River Pools and Spas is one of the largest builders in the country.
The core reason? Through the powerful business approach of “They Ask, You Answer.” By becoming the Wikipedia of pools, Sheridan showed just how much impact honest, transparent content can have on today’s buyer and ultimately alter the sales process for good. It’s an approach to communication, company culture, and the way we sell as a business.
“They Ask, You Answer” starts with an obsession: What is my customer thinking? He explained that you need to extend past “What are they thinking?” to “What are they searching, asking, feeling, and fearing?” And having a set of defined buyer personas doesn’t count as sufficient either.
When you embrace this philosophy, you believe it’s your duty to be the teacher, the go-to source within the transportation and logistics industry.
