Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1288481
40 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2020 This will involve an implementation plan for producing the following marketing materials to establish your expert brand. Marketing Message Your marketing message is how you will po- sition your company as the experts in the field and will serve as the backbone for all of your other marketing. The message must be clear, consistent, easy to understand, and—most of all—memorable. Content All your content has to be valuable and strictly on message. Your content, as well as its distribution, is the key to getting your message of expertise out to the marketplace. Here are four examples. 1. Columns and Articles When it comes to establishing a reputa- tion as an expert, nothing works better than a regular column or article series. It not only provides you with a forum to broadcast your knowledge base, but it elevates the author of that column and associates you as a true ex- pert of your technology. 2. White Papers White papers are always effective, especially when they are presented at trade shows, exhi- bitions, or virtual events. They are longer and generally more technical than columns, and they demonstrate your knowledge of a specific aspect of your technology. 3. Technical Bulletins and Newsletters If technical bulletins and newsletters are sent out consistently—at least once a month—this will help you create a true following or "tribe" of the right people because they consistently read about your expertise. This creates a data- base of interested potential customers, which is what your marketing efforts are all about. 4. Webinars Webinars have—more or less—replaced lunch-and-learns in this time of COVID-19. The companies I work with have had tremen- dous results by offering one-hour webinars on a particular facet of their technology. This is another great way to establish your company's leadership and expertise when it comes to the technology you are selling. Sales: Turn Your Leads Into Gold Now that you have done all that great mar- keting, all that's left is to turn them into sales— or, as I like to say, turn them into gold! Train Your Salespeople Make sure you train your salespeople well. Be diligent about this. Most salespeople think they can "wing" themselves to success, but they can't. They must be well-versed in talking about your technology. Then, they will be able to handle some of the questions they will get from the leads of your marketing efforts. Here are five things that salespeople must do to turn their leads into gold. 1. Complete the Lead Sometimes not all the information is provid- ed. A good salesperson will know how to get the complete information for a given contact. This might mean using LinkedIn or searching with Google. But no matter how you do it, if you are a good salesperson, you will conduct research until you get the right contact's name, email address, and phone number. Be careful: Anyone who complains about having to do this is calling themselves out as a poor salesperson. 2. Research the Company Once you have the right contact information, you have to find out everything you can about that target company from its history to what they build and what market they are in. With all the information available today, there is no reason not to learn anything about the compa- nies you are targeting. Be careful: Anyone who says they cannot find anything about the company is calling them- selves out as a poor salesperson. 3. Warm up the Cold Call With email, snail-mail, and social media, there are a number of ways to make sure that