by Catherine Brown, President Initial Call

As the year has progressed, I have added more and more newsletters and blogs I want to read to my list of “to dos.”  I find that there are quite a few good sales and marketing consultants whose regular communication I like to follow.   I recently reread Mary Sullivan’s article Maintaining Sales Momentum in a Recession- or Whatever This Is.  Her five principles are timeless and timely:

a.            Narrow your target markets

b.       Rethink pricing

c.       Fine tune your messaging

d.       Engage your customers

e.       Focus on existing customers

If we could do these all the time!  I have had recent success with number 1 that I thought I’d share.  Since September 2008, we have been reaching out to companies to whom we have spoken over the last year and a half or so, writing individual letters, notes, and calling them individually.  I have been reminded (and admittedly a little amazed at) what a focused approach really does. We are taking our own advice and it works!  Initial Call has recently begun work with a couple of companies that we have talked to for a long time.  Timing is everything. It wasn’t the right time before but now it is.   I hope you have a happy new year; we are excited for January!