Customer-Centric Marketing -
No Selling Required!

By Bob Hennessey

Generate Business Sales Leads 

Customer-centric communications marketing although less espoused, is the ideal marketing approach for small business seeking to generate B2B leads. This marketing strategy is as its name says, focuses on the needs and wants of the customer, and not about what the person doing the selling wants its sales prospects to buy.

Focusing on understanding the problems, concerns, needs and wants of your customer, not yours is the secret to this marketing approach. It assumes nothing and seeks to gain insight into the concerns of your potential client, leading to a mutually beneficial business relationship and a well-satisfied customer. It recognizes the sale is the natural result of forging a solid relationship built on listening and problem solving, not forcing someone to buy. It begins with building customer rapport and ends with a lasting business relationship.

People often confuse the method used to deliver a marketing message with a type of marketing. Many people equate telemarketing, direct mail, print advertising, radio, TV, public relations, seminars, newsletters, audio and video presentations, email, and Web sites as marketing. These are not marketing approaches they are delivery methods used to distribute marketing messages. People can and do use all of these delivery methods to send various types of marketing messages. You can send a capabilities/capacities message, a consultative/informative message or a customer-centric communication using any of these delivery methods.

The key to successful B2B small business marketing is not about how you deliver the marketing message; it is all about the marketing message you deliver, to the right audience, at the right time. We call delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time achieving "B2B marketing message alignment."

The formula for B2B marketing success is understanding the differences between and among these marketing approaches: 

  • capabilities/capacities

  • consultative/informative

  • customer-centric

Then applying the appropriate approach to your target audience, (B2C or B2B), coupled with a multi-layered approach to utilizing delivery methods, all at the proper time. That is why we say Customer Centric Marketing is the best-kept secret to generate B2B sales leads.

The Wrong Small Business B2B Marketing Approach Actually Stifles Sales:

Potential customers do not respond to your marketing because it all sounds, looks and says the same thing.

  1. People avoid meeting with you because no one wants to “be sold” anything.

  2. Prospects lack trust because they are tired of sales people who put themselves first with their agenda and will say or do anything for a sale.

  3. Prospective clients take a defensive posture immediately because they don’t want to be "hustled" into purchasing unneeded or unwanted products/services.

Creating Relationship Sales:

Understand the problems, concerns, needs and wants of your customer. Ask a lot of probing questions to understand the real problem issues. Assume nothing and seek to gain insight into all the concerns of your potential client, explicit and implied.

Focus solely on building a well-satisfied customer and a mutually beneficial relationship will follow.

  1. The sale is the natural result of forging a solid relationship built on listening, caring and problem solving. Prospects ask you to help them. Never ask for an order.

  2. Don’t be concerned with overcoming objections, avoid any objections in the first place. Trying to come over objections often leads to arguments & lost sales opportunities.

  3. Customer acquisition begins with building rapport and ends with a lasting business relationship.

Customer-Centric Benefits:

There is no sales pitch, so selling becomes effortless you help a person become more successful and by doing so you benefit too.

  1. Enjoy increased referrals the best form of marketing and least expensive
  2. Reach prospects before they have begun to seek solutions from others
  3. Eliminate wasting marketing dollars on ineffective marketing approaches
  4. Pre-qualified prospects call you
  5. Earn profits not response rates. Quality not quantity is the way to a profitable ROI on your marketing investment. One hundred replies and no sales = $0.00 profits. Ten responses and three sales are money in the bank.

Adopting this marketing approach is essential to small business if your goal is to achieve high-quality B2B sales leads and marketing success at the lowest ROI.

Bob Hennessey is President of MyMarketingDept Inc. MyMarketingDept. Inc helps small business selling B2B services and products to obtain face-to-face sales meetings that are affordable by having sales prospects call them. Using customer-centric lead generation principals and B2B inbound marketing techniques MyMarketingDept is leading the way in generating B2B leads to help small business sell more products and services affordably.

MyMarketingDept. Inc is online at www.mymarketingdept.com. Before you spend any money on your next small business marketing campaign, check out their free small business SmartMarketingCampaign analysis tool.

Contact: Bob Hennessey
Email: sales@mymarketingdept.com
Contact Phone: 866-875-2534