An effective business strategy has three parts. One part involves knowing who your target audience is. You truly know your audience when you can make decisions for them, says Tim Ferriss. But just knowing your audience is not enough to formulate a strategy.
Your offer is another significant part. It must be one which your target audience cannot ignore. If you know your audience well enough, nothing can stop you from designing an irresistible offer.
Right. So you now know who your target audience is and have designed an irresistible offer. Sales should now flow in. Right?
Not really. You’ve just completed half the process.
The third, and most important MO of an effective business process, is the approach. The approach ensures your offering makes the expected impact in your customer’s mind.
An approach has 2 components – marketing and sales. Many times, a single person might conduct both functions. That’s why, understandably, many people confuse both functions as one. But they couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The Difference Between Marketing and Sales
Marketing generates interest in your customer’s mind. It informs your customer that you exist, and creates an image of your brand. You subtly promote your offering without asking for a sale. Marketing is often defined as the art of selling to prospects not in front of you.
Sales converts interested prospects into paying customers. It’s a direct request to your prospect to pay for your offering.
Marketing sets the platform up for sales. Sales brings in revenue. Marketing is covert and does not involve a monetary transaction. Sales is more blatant and involves money. Marketing might turn your target audience into interested prospects. Sales might convert interested prospects into paying customers.
Hence, marketing and sales are different. And these functions (should) exist in all businesses.
How Your Approach Contributes to Your Business Strategy
As mentioned above, marketing and sales constitute your approach – the third component of an effective business strategy
[Source”timesofindia”]
