The Great Guns Marketing Blog

I spend quite a lot of time with fellow entrepreneurs and recently had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Claxson of Comtec.  Whilst speaking to Nick, it became apparent that although he is ridiculously successful and has managed to build an organization from scratch to a £12 million turnover business, he has little regard for material things.

Nick works really hard, long hours to achieve the ongoing brilliant results, and it has certainly paid off.  Thinking about it though, for a lot of people work is something they do to allow themselves to have a lifestyle out of work.  I have heard many people say things like “I work to live, not live to work”!

But as I sit here and write this blog at 4.00am with my family sleeping and my brain going a hundred miles an hour brimming with excitement about Great Guns it strikes me that perhaps I, and others, have an addiction to business.

Nick clearly loves what he does. He has started many companies in different fields and seems to have a genuine passion to grow them.  Even though this means he has to make sacrifices like working a 6 day week most of the time.  Of course Nick is well off and drives a lovely Bentley but that doesn’t seem to be much of a reward for him.  Building the business it definitely what excites him.

I believe some business people get the same thrill out of running a business as some sports people get out of running or working out.  I hate exercise and never understand when folks talk about being addicted to it as it’s my worse nightmare but I’m beginning  to see that I get the same buzz out of business that they get in the Gym.

I don’t think anything will challenge the brain and nerve like building a business. There’s definitely nothing more competitive than pitching, and the feeling of winning a deal and collecting an order form as your trophy makes you feel like Lewis Hamilton on the finish line.

So I don’t think we should ever feel sorry for business leaders who work hard and long. It’s their drug and even when business is hard you’ll find that some of these girls and guys will be buzzing and on a ridiculous high.

So is it wrong to have this love for work and this passion for business?  If it was a charity we would all be applauding, but people like Nick employ many and create secure, successful and honest working environments which I think is an incredible contribution to society.  Why then do you see so many civil servants and charity workers in the New Years honours lists while business people hardly get mentioned?!

Also here in the United Kingdom, unlike in the United States, when business owners achieve great success in their field we often say things like “well, they were given more opportunities than others” or try to unpick their success in some way.  Look at the bad press and judgement that leaders like Phillip Green and Alan Sugar get.  Whatever your view they have created many jobs and a great deal of wealth in the UK and world economy.  In my view, if we’re now heavily reliant on private business for economic recovery, I would like to see the business people who take the risks and ride out the recession creating jobs rewarded for their contributions.

Getting my MBE was a lovely reward for me and I appreciated it but I don’t think I was any more deserving than many other business people I know. Yes, ultimately private business owners aim to profit from their efforts but they also create employment opportunities for many thus contributing massively to our society.

It’d be great to see these contributions regarded with the same esteem as other national “heroes” such as Olympic Medalists like Kelly Holmes and scientists like Sir Mansel Aylward.

If you want to watch my interview with Nick Claxson, then take a look at the video casts below:

Sales is all about results – largely measured by return on investment.

Here are some things to think about before you go steaming ahead with the sales process, which will help you to manage your pipeline and get more out of your telemarketing activity:

1. What makes a good client? Do you really know who you’re targeting and who you want to sell to? One of the first things you can do to make your time more productive is to only go after prospects you know will be your best clients. Profile them based on the industry, size of company, where they are in their buying cycle, what the potential opportunity is etc. For example, if you are a printing company, you may want to think about targeting companies that have a minimum annual print spend, have requirements for lithographic printing, are local to you etc.
2. Build a process to manage your database and gather this market intelligence as you are calling. If you set up you database correctly, it will prompt you to ask these profiling questions and record the intelligence. Some prospects will automatically drop off your radar as you identify they don’t have the correct opportunity for you, reducing your time and money in continuing to target them. Those that do meet your criteria for an excellent client will become apparent and you will put more effort into targeting them.
3. Decide the best way to engage with each prospect. This may be a multi-channel approach. In the first instance you should ideally speak to them over the phone, identify what their pains are, what their personal objectives and business objectives are and understand how they would like you to keep in contact with them. Don’t push too hard – listen to them and respond to what they want, when they want. If you can’t offer a solution to them at the time, be honest about this as it will earn trust and respect.
4. At the end of every conversation agree a next course of action. This may be to send them some information, to invite them to events you run, to call back in a few weeks or to put them on a mailing list. Agree this with your prospect and make sure you deliver to this agreement. We still find one of the best way of achieving appointments is by calling back when we say we will. If this is difficult for you to manage as you’re too busy to stick to your promises then maybe you need to look for support to carry out the telemarketing on your behalf. If you’re not very organised and miss your call backs then maybe you should look for a CRM system where you can set alarms to remind you to call prospects back.
5. Get the level of contact right. If you have followed the above steps then you will be giving your prospect just the right amount of attention as you are agreeing next steps with them. If you contact them too often then you are likely to drive a prospect away. Don’t take advantage of an agreement to contact a prospect again – this is a sign of their trust so don’t abuse it.
6. Give it some time. Stick to the principles and you will win quality meetings with great prospects.