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by: Jim.Olivero
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In the business-to-business marketing arena, your direct sales force should play an integral role in your marketing plan. They are the "front line" that comes face-to-face with your customers and prospects. The great entrepreneur Marshall Field once said, "The distance between the salesperson and potential buyer is the most important three feet in business."

As part of every marketing plan, you must develop key messages that resonate with your target market. These are simple, direct statements that clearly define the most important benefits that you offer to prospects. The key messages should be tailored to meet the critical needs of your customer base.

Once you have established key messages, you must determine the most effective way to communicate these benefits to your clients and prospects. You need to evaluate the potential communications options which include traditional advertising, direct marketing, interactive/internet marketing, sales promotion, public relations and personal selling.

Personal selling has the distinct advantage over other media of letting the sender immediately receive and evaluate feedback from the receiver. This allows you to customize the messages being sent, so the benefits conveyed can be tailored to meet the specific receiver's needs and wants.

A drawback of direct sales is that it is considerably more expensive than other types of media. Belch and Belch in Advertising and Promotion state that the cost of the average sales call varies by industry and has increased $9.06 per year since 1980, which makes it currently about $385.00.

Therefore, it is very important that you maximize the benefit you derive from your sales efforts. By including the sales team in the implementation of your marketing tactics, you can ensure that they are communicating your key messages in the most effective way.

A good marketing plan offers many tools to help the sales force enhance their dialog with prospects. For example, a strong public relations program will generate numerous press releases, white papers, bylined articles and case studies. By having reprints made and circulating them among your sales force, they can be presented to prospects to show third-party endorsements that provide credibility and reinforce your key messages.

Case studies are especially effective. These are real-life examples that describe how your company faced a challenging situation and developed a solution that produced tangible results. Case studies can be developed for various industries that show how you met the needs of customers similar to the prospects you are targeting. By demonstrating to a prospect that you can solve the kind of problems he faces each day, you increase the impact of your sales presentations.

Your sales force should also be equipped with reprints of the current ads, direct marketing pieces and be kept aware of the information on your website. By making sure your sales people are using these tools, you can control the information being sent to prospects and get first-hand feedback about their reactions to key messages. By analyzing the feedback, you can tailor your messages to make your direct selling efforts more effective than ever.

About the Author

Brad Gerdes is the Senior Account Manager for Justice & YoungK - Strategic Marketing Communications Programs, a Cincinnati-based marketing and public relations firm. Gerdes has 30 years of sales, management and marketing experience ranging from Fortune 500 automotive, electrical and appliance firms, to consumer candy and snack companies.

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