The Relevancy of Being Relevant and Gaining New Business!

Last month’s article discussed the concept of content. This month, I will discuss the importance of being relevant as it relates to your sales process and development of new business.

Thad’s definition of content: Blah, print, blah, blah, price, blah, blah, sales, blah and yadda, yadda!

Thad’s definition of context: Blah, print sales, blah, trends within that vertical, blah, pain points of that vertical, blah, your solution or remedies to eliminate the pain points, blah and Yup more yadda, yadda!

OK, those definitions are not totally accurate, but do you get my point? To turn any sales call into a sales action, you need to fulfill the foundational elements of the Advertising, Sales Promotion and the Marketing processes.

The Foundation for All Sales Calls — AIDA and More
The secret to success in developing new business success is based on the following elements: Awareness of the need; Interest in your offerings; Reasons to consider (Considerations) your services and skill set; Intent of the potential clients to make a purchase; your providing a tool to allow Evaluation of your "sales pitch;" and finally the action of your potential client, your targeted contact, to make a Purchase. This process is summarized as AICIEP. An option to this process is AIDA, or Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Linkage — Understanding the Need Connected to a Solution
How you link the AIDA or AICIEP to your sales process is the most important part of the new business development process. Relevancy is critical for a successful sales call, compounded with the other defined steps. You cannot, no, you CANNOT make an effective sales call without a pre-determined and detailed understanding of the needs, the trends, the pain points, the problems facing the vertical or segment you are targeting. Few brands purchase print for simply to purchase print; increased sales is what drives them to use print!

Simply stated, you need not only to be relevant to the needs of your potential clients, but also they need to feel that you are relevant to their business strategy and the strategy of their clients. They also need to believe that your relevancy will solve their problems (OK, not all of them) and increase their profit base.

“To become relevant, you have to create an intuitive message perfectly aligned with the motivations which drive a [BUSINESS] person’s in-the-moment behavior.” - http://www.insightsnow.com/blog/importance-of-being-relevant-tmre-01

Being Relevant — Why Are You and I Here?
Relevancy is the first of the IX muses, and it is first for a defined reason — relevance is the first “act” of the advertising workflow, the start of the conversion from interested contact to qualified lead to a satisfied client. Relevancy is a base for developing dialogue and establishing engagement, two other key components of the IX Muses.

Relevancy is more than just being supportive and providing customer service; relevancy is telling a great story of the who, why, where, and when you and your skill set are “needed” by your targeted market. Storytelling, great story telling, is based on introducing the relevancy of your story to the reader at the beginning and then continuing to persuade the reader of that relevancy throughout the story as you develop new plot twists and turns that keep the relevancy at the highest, truthful, and believable levels possible.

Just as your business needs to make changes, so will your target verticals need change? That presents a challenge for you to keep being relevant. There can be no excuse in your not making changes in your “story” and process in order to stay relevant to your current and potential customers. The Internet when used correctly can assist you in establishing and maintaining relevancy. You always need to stay ahead of the relevant trends, based on the many new business opportunities you are perusing.

Back Up with Facts
Storytelling is great, but you need to have some “proof of the pudding” to correctly and effectively present your relevancy. Just knowing about the customers’ pain points will not be enough. Offering a broad-based brush to solve the problems will help, but in most verticals there are three or four pain points. Offering even a partial remedy, a solution to any one of the say the top three/four pain points, will differentiate you and your firm.

Be aware that being interesting is not the same as being relevant. There is a distinct difference between interest (a curiosity or concern) and relevance (being connected or distinctive). Many of a printer’s client base have interests such as fishing, running, woodworking, etc., to which you might appeal. These topics may seem as relevant to your prospects as their business life, and appealing to them. It may also offer you an entry point to new and expanded business opportunities.

The Times They Are A Changin’
I am attempting to provide via these seven articles (two still to come) multiple reasons to think of me as not only being relevant for your business needs but also being able to help you adapt, change, and offer what the times are calling for — in other words, become more relevant for your customers and potential customers. Being more relevant offers you a clear-cut advantage over your competition. There are over 30 words to state the opposite of being relevant (including irrelevant) — none of which you ever want to hear in the discussion of who you are! More importantly, being more relevant provides you and your firm with the added ability to survive the ever-changing market and move into a future with a solid foundation of existing business, pending business, and active and qualified leads. All of these are nurtured by the new business fertilizer known as relevancy.

Need to develop your relevancy quotient? Reach out to me at thad.kubis@tifmc.org, or call me at (917) 597-1891, I will become even more relevant to your business life once we speak and expand your relevancy quotient.

IX Mutant Print-for-Profit Muses: Relevance, Interaction, Integration, Engagement, Dialogue, Content, Context, Metrics and ROI.