Two ways business grows - by Chuck Sink

There are many ways to grow your business! And it probably takes more than two of them to succeed, so what could we be talking about here? During a recent meeting, my colleague Matt Barden from Industrial Marketing in Nashua, N.H. distilled business development down to its essence and I may be paraphrasing: “New business comes in two ways; making calls or getting calls. You call or you get the call.” In both cases, the sale is up to you. Simple maybe, and simple is what works!

I bet you have a few key prospects in mind and are thinking about when you might call them. When one of them calls you, you’re giddy!

The Digital-Human Nexus

Start thinking about having the data/intelligence to make really effective outbound calls and get well-qualified inbound calls as well. Boatloads of people are online right now either searching for properties or services related to your business or they’re passively educating themselves on personal and work-related topics. They really want to find that ideal solution online and when they find it, they want you, a human being to help them get exactly what they want.

When you discover the abundance of the real-time, electronically-connected marketplace, you can’t wait to get your message circulating in it. You want to personally connect with all those business prospects online. You can experience the digital-human nexus with a voice conversation once your communications jump from the computer screen to the phone or a meeting place.

Move Out of the Desert

If you want to move your brand from nowhere land to the bustling bazaar of daily online commerce, you’ll need to make a modest to perhaps moderate investment in a digital platform that supports your organic website – the hub of your brand. Costs for these services have settled at reasonable rates and the tools work better than ever! The best thing? Everything is fully transparent, measurable and accountable. You’ll be in the know!

You can see your investment working (or not) without any smoke and mirrors. In other words, your marketing team won’t be using dubious analytics and vague forecasts. They’ll be giving you qualified sales leads and you’ll be measuring new business results from your campaigns.

Do you want to grow? Call or be called. Better yet, make great calls and get great calls too. When your campaign is set up and integrated, you’ll spend less time prospecting and more time closing.

Chuck Sink is CEO of Chuck Sink Link, Contoocook, N.H.