This article has nothing to do with a rod, reel, or hook.

Rather..

pick a sales training buzzword, which may have touched you at one time. Does that same word mean as much to you today or have you replaced it many times over? Maybe over your career, managers have said you should go to a course to get your marketing plan in tune with ACT, Gold Mine or another fine CRM tool. You thought, “ sales tools and marketing plans are great, but why do I need to bother?” Well like everything else, things change. Why? Because customer expectations in today's business marketplace demand more of you and your company, and if you don’t outperform, your competitor will.

If you're in sales or marketing, you are acutely aware of what you do every day to build new business and strengthen existing relationships, right? Well maybe not. Either way, you MUST always remember to keep your eye on the prize by keeping your company’s brand fresh and your marketing plan well thought out. Don’t be embarrassed if your ‘original’ marketing plan didn’t make you your first million as quickly as you thought. The most important thing to remember here is that you are taking the steps necessary to refresh your marketing and sales approach.

Here are some ways to understand your own - and your company's – marketing and sales style. Maybe your methodologies are still hot. Let’s Find Out.

What industries or vertical markets are you focusing on, right now to not only sustain your company’s growth, but also ensure a healthy and profitable future? Usually I am told “the ones at the beginning of the Fortune or Forbes’s lists in my area” or ‘what do you mean by ‘vertical’ markets?”   You may think your monthly sales are safe because of your relationships and the networking you do. Yet, because of client budget unrest, poorly executed mergers, and failed product launches, those handshakes you felt so comfortable with before now may get you a brush off. Don't rest on your laurels or assume your current client will protect you or guarantee your sales. What should you do? Take a more sophisticated approach to marketing your business. Add specific areas of concentration to your target marketing approach. 

Let’s say that you have a strong background in food service prior to selling uniforms and promotional products. You know the ins and outs from an insider’s point of view and feel that you could relate well with a buyer, but you don’t know if you should pursue that particular market. Now that you have earmarked one of the many target industries you have been considering, you need to perform a SWOT analysis. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of spending time to target this new direction and the gain it may bring. Gather intelligence about the target industry by:

• Looking up one of the prominent companies you are considering on Hoovers (www.hoovers.com) and seeing who their competitors are
• Identifying the related trade association(s)
• Identifying all publications
• Identifying all tradeshows
• Identifying ‘key’ competitors to you
• Will this audience be large users of promotional products or uniforms

For example, according to PPAI (Promotional Products Association International) the charts above not only describe popular usage categories but also the TOP buyers.

In doing your due diligence, will the target audience you are considering contribute to an increase in sales volume for your company based on thiscollected data?