How to Sell Internally Against Competing Marketing Spends
If you were to ask a company how they spend the majority of their marketing dollars, more than likely they would be gearing their marketing strategy toward the customer. They would be focused on persuading the customer to buy their product or service. However, it is equally important to invest in internal marketing. Before a company can adequately sell their product, they must first engage their own employees by building product knowledge as well as an emotional connection with the product or service they are selling.
In the midst of a competitive and profit-seeking business world, it can be difficult to convince executives to “sell internally.” Unfortunately, many high level executives underestimate the power of internal marketing. When their business is only allotted a certain amount to spend on marketing, it can be quite the challenge to compete with the outside customer. All too often, internal marketing takes a backseat when it comes to marketing spends. It is time for business owners to begin applying this same principle of consumer advertising to their own employees.
Give employees the power of knowledge.
How can a sales representative possibly sell a product or service they know very little about? Before thrusting your sales team out into the market, give them all of the tools necessary to be able to sell. Make sure your team is knowledgeable and thoroughly understands the product they are selling. Not only will they feel more confident about what they are selling, but they will be equipped to handle the needs of their customer.
Make your employees passionate about their brand.
The purpose of any internal marketing campaign is to create an emotional connection between employees and the brand they are selling. You want to instill passion into the minds of employees so that they will have brand awareness in every aspect of their job. You need to reinforce the brand every day in the workplace and cultivate a connection with employees. You want to be sure that your employees believe in what they are selling and feel motivated to communicate that passion to their customers.
Bridge the gap between internal and external marketing goals.
The focus of any internal marketing campaign should closely match the message being sent to customers. For example, if your company insists that their number one priority is serving the needs of their customer, you don’t want to turn around and tell your employees to be deceptive in order to boost sales. In doing so, you would be compromising the integrity of your company. By linking internal and external marketing, employees can feel good about the services they are providing and they will be more motivated to produce results.
While it may appear to some as a tall task, the pros of selling internally speak volumes about the success of a business. Studies have shown that when employees believe in what they are selling, they are more motivated to work harder for their business. They become loyal to the brand and loyal to the company. Strong internal communication will help to create a business model that is both consistent and profitable.
As you can see, there are multitude different ways to successful marketing – internal, external, online, and offline. And to realize a complete marketing approach, it is important that you are aware of both internal and external aspects. You need to market internally then get out of the world.
One of the simplest ways to get out there in the world and show off your product or service is through a tradeshow. Blazer Exhibits takes all the conjecture, boredom, and frustration out of your marketing experience. We specialize in the design and fabrication of custom trade show exhibits, trade show rental booths and displays for our clients from a wide variety of industries. We can help you from the planning stages all the way through to execution and follow-up.
With over 30 years of experience, we have turnkey solutions for exhibits and trade shows in San Francisco, Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Diego, California.
We also hand out business cards around cities of Boston, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and Orlando.