How close can we get to the customer? To the actual end user? Is a question frequently asked in the boardroom.

A perfect example of getting close is vehicle finance companies distributing via dealerships. Most cars are purchased with an element of finance, typically offered as part of the overall deal. This is a perfect model for the finance company. The customer is buying, has a clearly identified immediate need and the car salesman is selling the finance for them, including handling the front end of the administration process.

This model is not exclusive to vehicle purchases – think of interest free credit on white goods offered at the point of sale and now BNPL (buy now pay later) which is the result of new finance companies spotting the opportunity to fund smaller ticket purchases both online and via retail outlets over shorter timeframes.

Pre-COVID, I started referring to these types of set ups as viral sales models and I firmly believe they are the way forward, but the possibilities are not limited to dealers and retailers, there’s also intermediaries. Think of mortgage brokers as an example, adding value in the space between the real estate agent, the purchaser and the financier, selling mortgages for lenders.

So where are the new opportunities to create viral sales models? Which industries are ripe for distribution disruption? Whose distribution strategy is kicking goals right now? https://93twenty.com.au/sales/

Following on from Tuesday’s post I’ve been asked to explain what I mean by a viral sales model. In short it is a form of 3rd party distribution and for it to work the product or service has to be simple and the target market large enough to attract intermediary interest.

Continuing with the finance examples, in the B2B space, its difficult to beat Asset Finance. The target market is c.$2.4M businesses and demand is strong. As a consequence, there are hundreds if not thousands of specialist asset finance brokers throughout Australia building customer books. Asset Finance BDMs sell to the broker network and the broker network in turn sells to the end user. Where does “viral” come from? Well, a BDM signing up 10 brokers who each write 10 deals a month for that BDM has turned 10 sales into 200 pieces of business.

I must give credit to my former colleague Chris Evans for making me think more deeply about the potential in these models. During one of our early conversations, he explained to me how he had stopped asking brokers for referrals when he was selling unsecured business loans, instead turning the focus onto training. Explaining the qualification criteria in more detail and showing them how apply online on behalf of their customer. They loved it because they retained control, he loved it because he was multiplying the effectiveness of his time and the customers loved it because they only needed to deal with one person. Everyone a winner!

Can you make your product or service simple enough to have an army of intermediaries selling it for you? Can you adjust your onboarding to enable a third party to do it for you? It’s bigger than kicking goals if you can. It’s a complete game changer! https://93twenty.com.au/sales/

The concept of the marketing mix was introduced by Neil Borden in the late 1940s and built upon by Jerome McCarthy in 1960 with the 4 Ps Price, Product, Promotion and Place. This was later extended to the 7 Ps by various contributors with the addition of Physical evidence, People and Processes.

Although the original concept is over 70 years old it still has relevance, but it takes some work and creative thinking to link it effectively to the commercial environment we operate in today.

How do your 7Ps combine? Are your marketing efforts finding your target audience? Is your Marketing Mix effective or defective?

Is your cash position strong enough to handle the next 6 months?

– Job keeper discontinued
– ATO activity ramping up
– Winding up petitions back in play

Will your business be able meet its payment obligations as and when they fall due?

Download our Quick Cashflow Tips and navigate your way safely through the rest of 2021.

In his book Good Strategy Bad Strategy, Richard Rumelt argues that “the number one task of a leader is to develop strategy. A talented leader”, he continues, “identifies the one or two critical issues in the situation, the pivot points that can multiply the effectiveness of effort and then focuses and concentrates effort, action and resources on them”

If Rumelt is correct, then almost every strategy conversation I’ve been involved in over the past 20 years has one common flaw. The desire to do too much!

“One or two critical issues….” Issues are typically either opportunities or threats and often they can be one and the same thing.

Can you identify the two biggest issues facing your business? The two areas where focus, concentrated effort, action and resource allocation could transform your business?
Strategy execution

There’s a common phrase in marketing circles which goes something like 50% of my marketing spend is working but the trouble is I don’t know which 50%!

This is a genuine challenge for all marketers as budgets come under threat from Boards and other executives understandably seeking clarity around the effectiveness of all spend. All marketing managers and staff will have had the conversation with the CEO or the CFO wanting to know how many leads were received from a particular advert or campaign and how much actual business and revenue eventuated and its almost impossible to answer unless the activity is exclusively digital.

Digital and Social Media including the use of influencers and brand ambassadors tend to dominate activity particularly in the B2B space, with mass media such as TV, radio, billboards, newspapers and magazines typically more relevant for consumer target audiences.

If your current spend isn’t working, there could be a number of reasons and some are less obvious than others. Dialling up spend alone is unlikely to improve a disappointing result, but it will increase the cost of that result!
At 93twenty we’ve drawn up a quick checklist that may help you get back on track. Download our Marketing Checklist here. 

Statistically there are at least twice as many strategy failures as successes, so how can you beat the odds?
Its starts with making the critical choices around what and how many issues to tackle and then adopting a robust approach to planning.

Richard Rumelt in Good Strategy Bad Strategy argues that good strategy revolves around 3 key elements. A diagnosis, a guiding policy and coherent action. Conversely the hallmarks of bad strategy, he contends are fluff, failure to face the challenge (misdiagnosis), mistaking goals for strategy and poorly thought-out strategic objectives.

At 93twenty we have identified 12 common reasons why strategy fails. You can download our one page summary here.