Sales + Marketing: Are You Looking in the Right Mirror?

[00:00:20] Okay, so welcome to the Tea and Timbits podcast. I'm Andy, coming to you from the United Kingdom, and we hadn't planned who was going to start the episode.

[00:00:29] I was frantically trying to figure that out. And I'm Scott, and I am in Canada.

[00:00:36] I think you are actually hosting, Scott. So you go ahead, because I'm going to tell the story, so you can host.

[00:00:42] I think it works the other way around. But anyway, welcome to Tea and Timbits, everybody.

[00:00:47] This is a podcast on international perspectives on business development to help you prosper.

[00:00:53] I gave the tagline wrong. Global perspectives.

[00:00:57] Is global not the same as international?

[00:00:59] It is, but I mean, it's a tagline and it goes with the thing.

[00:01:02] So we're batting a thousand here. Do you know what that means?

[00:01:08] No.

[00:01:11] In baseball, America's pastime, which we play a lot of in Canada as well,

[00:01:17] and my son, I'm obsessed with. If you hit the ball every single time you're up to bat, if you get a hit,

[00:01:23] and there's a whole other definition of what a hit actually is, you would bat a thousand.

[00:01:29] And then every miss after that takes down your percentage.

[00:01:32] So a hundred percent accuracy, efficiency at hitting the ball is actually a thousand.

[00:01:40] They add another multiplier on there. So people's batting averages are actually referred to that way.

[00:01:49] So I see.

[00:01:51] There you go.

[00:01:52] And everybody else listening on this side of the pond just tuned out.

[00:01:57] So we are going to talk more about sort of our marketing theme this week.

[00:02:04] And this episode is going to be a little bit more about that reminder to be introspective.

[00:02:09] One of the techniques that we've both used is a marketing self-assessment.

[00:02:15] We'll get into that.

[00:02:17] But before we do, and so that I can stop rambling, Andy, share your story.

[00:02:23] Well, it's an interesting story for me personally.

[00:02:27] And I'm not sure whether the listeners will think so too, but I recently.

[00:02:33] I was recently blocked out of LinkedIn and.

[00:02:41] Why?

[00:02:43] Well, this was because a hacker had attempted to gain access to my account and LinkedIn were very good.

[00:02:50] And they noticed this and did something about it.

[00:02:52] And they suspended the account and they notified me that they had done this.

[00:02:56] But of course, when it is your primary area for communication with your prospect customers and your, you know, future customers,

[00:03:08] it's a little bit daunting when that is suddenly taken away from you and you realize that, oh, everything I've been doing and everyone I know is on there.

[00:03:16] And I don't necessarily have all of their personal contact details because I talk to people on LinkedIn most of the time.

[00:03:24] And when that tool is taken away from you, it's a little bit concerning.

[00:03:28] They were not the quickest at getting it back up, but they they have done now and it is back online and I just need to get back into actually using it.

[00:03:38] But having the break from LinkedIn also actually, I have to say, did make me reflect a little bit more on making sure that I have alternative ways of generating business,

[00:03:49] communicating with my customers and making sure that I'm not relying on just one tool.

[00:03:54] So I'd say there's a lesson in there, certainly for me personally, that LinkedIn is fantastic.

[00:04:00] Make sure that you are using it, but don't rely solely on that and make sure that you have backups of your information and data.

[00:04:07] But I think also you, I mean, so I discovered that you were missing because I went to tag you in one of our.

[00:04:12] That's right. Yeah, I think it was almost the same day that I'd been notified.

[00:04:16] Yeah, I was like, where did Andy go?

[00:04:17] And then I was like, what have you done? You fool.

[00:04:22] I sent you a text and, and hey, dude, you're not on LinkedIn. What gives?

[00:04:26] And it took quite some time for your account to come back.

[00:04:30] It was probably, I think it was like a week and a half or 10 days or something.

[00:04:33] Yeah, I thought it was more than that.

[00:04:36] But you've also decided to sort of, with your reinstatement on LinkedIn, be a little bit more intentional about the owner on different social media platforms, which sort of follows on our last episode of personal branding.

[00:04:52] Well, it does. And I think, you know, the biggest challenge I have is, and I've had for many years that I'm sort of balancing two worlds.

[00:05:01] You know, I've got the world of the heavy metal and the punk, and then I've got the corporate world.

[00:05:05] And, um, the things don't overlap.

[00:05:08] Well, they do actually in some ways, uh, because I have, you know, I have a personal opinion of, well, a personal slogan, I suppose, of be bold, be brave, be different.

[00:05:18] And, uh, and that's sort of kind of adopting that punk rock mindset and that, uh, attitude and bringing it into business, which isn't always welcome.

[00:05:27] But, um, the places who are, you know, those are the ones who thrive, you know, doing something different, being, being willing to challenge the norms and being willing to step outside of the comfort zone is where the good stuff is.

[00:05:39] And, uh, you know, that's where success will thrive, but it does feel like you're a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde sometimes because you're jumping in these two things.

[00:05:50] Uh, cause I dress as I am now or dress with a suit or a tie, which are things that I'm very comfortable wearing, but that does make me seem a bit out of place in the metal and punk world that I work with him.

[00:06:03] Do you wear a suit to the metal and punk world?

[00:06:06] Sometimes, yeah.

[00:06:08] And some, to be honest in, in the U S some of the, uh, some of the larger labels and, um, you know, uh, music industry, uh, executives are very, very professional and is expected that you have a, you know, a tailored suit and a good tie and well-polished shoes and stuff when you turn up at the offices.

[00:06:26] So, you know, it can, it can be very strange.

[00:06:28] And then there's others who, if you turned up in that, you'd be taken out by the security.

[00:06:33] Right.

[00:06:34] Um, so it's all about that balance and about understanding, um, where you are.

[00:06:38] I know we've gone way off topic now, but in a way not because I think marketing and marketing self-assessment starts with a bit of the personal branding as well.

[00:06:49] And, um, knowing who you are and who you are in certain environments and how to represent yourself in the right way is, uh, is very important.

[00:06:57] I mean, I'm, I'm very comfortable in a sawn off sheet, sawn off t-shirt showing off tattoos and stuff as much as I am wearing a suit and tie.

[00:07:05] And, uh, and I'm comfortable in both those environments, but it's not always easy to, to balance that.

[00:07:10] And certainly digitally to get that message across that you're, you know, you're not just one thing or another, you are both is, is sometimes very difficult.

[00:07:18] Right.

[00:07:19] Yep.

[00:07:19] Well, uh, I think you do it pretty well and, uh, welcome back to LinkedIn.

[00:07:24] Thank you.

[00:07:25] Uh, let's get, let's get into that conversation about marketing and self-assessment.

[00:07:30] What do you think, um, you'd like people to take away from this conversation?

[00:07:33] Well, as, as I touched on just there, I think it's, it's just having that awareness that you are looking at yourself as well as your market, that you're not so focused on how can I get the market to be interested in me?

[00:07:48] How can I attract the market?

[00:07:49] But it's about how you're representing yourself.

[00:07:51] How are you showing up?

[00:07:53] What is your deliberate choice of who you actually are?

[00:07:56] And, you know, as a company, as an individual, as individuals, um, what is your persona, your corporate persona and your individual persona and making sure that you are representing that and therefore attracting the clients that are going to match with you.

[00:08:11] Right.

[00:08:12] So, I mean, when I, um, when I think of this topic, um, it, it, it, I guess the scenario that I've seen before is, um, and this has happened to me at work is, you know, we'll get a call from a client or a prospect and, um, they want help with their, with their digital.

[00:08:33] And there's a parallel there.

[00:08:34] We, we operate very much on overlap with marketing.

[00:08:37] Um, and, and they want to, they want a quick fix.

[00:08:42] They, they, they, they're not getting inbound leads.

[00:08:45] They're not nurturing their prospects properly.

[00:08:47] They think that their website should be doing a lot more or their digital experience should be doing a lot more to foster and nurture that.

[00:08:53] Um, and, uh, and, and they, they think that there's a solution they can just buy off the shelf.

[00:09:01] Um, just, just fix it for me.

[00:09:03] Just give me something better.

[00:09:05] Just take this and correct it.

[00:09:08] Um, and, uh, you know what, you're going to find lots of people that will sell you something in that situation and convince you that, yeah, yeah, you're just missing my tool.

[00:09:18] Um, and, and I think that's a, that's a mistake.

[00:09:21] And I don't fault anybody for sort of being in that moment and, and feeling that, that, um, desire to, to just, you know, somebody else must have solved this.

[00:09:29] We got AI these days.

[00:09:31] What does chat TPT say?

[00:09:32] You know, um, and so I think it is prudent to take a look in the mirror.

[00:09:39] And before you make that call, think about a few things and, and then put that call in, in context more, more effectively.

[00:09:49] So what are the things in your mind that you should think about, that you should reflect on that should be in that self-assessment before you make that kind of a call?

[00:10:02] I think, I think actually knowing what your goal is as an individual, as a business, um, is, is the first starting point.

[00:10:11] Because if you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, it's very hard to make sure that you set, you create a message and a story around that, that is going to resonate with your market.

[00:10:21] And then of course the next step is once you've established what your goal and your, your purpose and your mission is, is to have that story, to know your story and to make sure that you can tell that story in a way that is engaging and exciting.

[00:10:34] And, um, you know, connects with the audience in the right way.

[00:10:39] After that, uh, I would say the, uh, the next thing is, is understanding who your target customer is, who is your ideal customer, who is the person, company, organization type group of people who this is most relevant for, who it is going to appeal for most.

[00:10:56] And then focus on building everything around that.

[00:10:58] Just keep it simple because those three elements are going to give you a really, really good foundation.

[00:11:03] Um, because if you know those three things, then everything else can be built from that.

[00:11:08] Yeah.

[00:11:10] Um, and so then I would take it a little bit further.

[00:11:13] I couldn't agree more.

[00:11:14] Like those are the fundamentals.

[00:11:16] And honestly, the number of times we get into a conversation and one of those three things is missing is very high.

[00:11:25] And, um, and the why is often, uh, the most overlooked, um, in my opinion.

[00:11:33] Um, and, and then challenging somebody on that, they, they get, uh, defensive.

[00:11:41] Um, like why, like, uh, who are you to act like, and then they're a bit flustered because they can't actually answer the question.

[00:11:49] Um, and it doesn't need to be complicated, right?

[00:11:52] Like why is because we need to sell more widgets or whatnot, but it should be a little bit more than that.

[00:12:00] Anyway, that's a different episode.

[00:12:02] Once you're past the sort of, um, the why and the resource or sorry, why in the, and the, um, and the audience, I think you need to look at your resources.

[00:12:12] You, you should, you should self-assess your own capacity to deliver on, uh, a marketing, uh, initiative, a marketing campaign.

[00:12:24] Um, and when I say capacity, uh, there's a few components to that.

[00:12:29] Um, uh, one, do we have the people available?

[00:12:33] I might be outsourcing this perhaps, or maybe this is somebody putting a campaign together internally.

[00:12:38] Um, can I, can I do this?

[00:12:42] Uh, but not just, can I do it, but can I then also manage the result?

[00:12:47] Can I follow up?

[00:12:48] Can I execute the campaign?

[00:12:51] Um, and two, do I have the, the physical infrastructure, um, at my disposal?

[00:12:58] Do I have the right equipment?

[00:12:59] Do I have the right, the right software?

[00:13:01] Do I have, um, and I guess to a certain extent, the right budget.

[00:13:05] Um, and so, so before you kind of go fishing for, or go out asking and, and exploring,

[00:13:13] you know, for, for options and I, and new ideas, or just start it even with your own team,

[00:13:17] um, you could get your own team to do kind of this, this thinking, um, as well.

[00:13:23] And then, um, there's a few like sort of fundamentals that, um, I think need to be, uh, in, in place.

[00:13:31] There, there are certain industries that have, um, particular rules around how you're allowed

[00:13:37] to communicate and market.

[00:13:39] And I think we actually, yeah.

[00:13:41] And, uh, I think being aware of that is going to be very important in how you then take that

[00:13:46] next step in developing your message and what it is you're going to be saying.

[00:13:49] But as you say, this is part of, this is a very important part of that.

[00:13:53] Um, you know, that marketing self-assessment is, you know, are you doing things in the right

[00:13:58] way?

[00:13:58] Not only are you doing it for the right people, but you're doing it in the right way.

[00:14:02] Yeah.

[00:14:02] Your computer's trying to tell you that you've got an appointment soon.

[00:14:08] I know.

[00:14:09] And I can't turn it down without turning you down.

[00:14:12] Um, the, uh, so, so those are, those are a lot of the fundamental things that I think

[00:14:18] we need to, um, think about, um, when, um, when you're actually doing that, that marketing

[00:14:24] self-assessment in, in that sort of fundamentals, that regulatory kind of assessment, I think

[00:14:30] you probably know it in your own brain and then you kind of expect everybody else to know

[00:14:34] it just as well.

[00:14:37] That's poor.

[00:14:39] Uh, somebody else has just dropped into our little recording studio somehow and now they're

[00:14:43] gone.

[00:14:44] Um, that was funny.

[00:14:46] Um, so the, um, the, the regulatory stuff, you might know it in your own head.

[00:14:53] You might have an awareness.

[00:14:54] You might have an assumption that everybody around you because they're your colleagues or

[00:14:58] they're your agency partners knows this as well, but just put it on the list.

[00:15:01] Just write it down.

[00:15:02] Just say, let's, let's always remember not to forget these things.

[00:15:05] Um, even if you do it on a routine basis, it's easy to go, Oh, right.

[00:15:09] I forgot about that.

[00:15:10] So anyway, I think then formalizing what you have thought about in this assessment process,

[00:15:17] um, in a simple outline, um, or a more comprehensive brief, uh, can be helpful even if you're doing

[00:15:26] your own, um, uh, initiative.

[00:15:29] And that's really important actually is making sure that you document this processes.

[00:15:33] You don't just go through it, then have a session and then leave and go back to doing what you

[00:15:38] were doing before.

[00:15:39] Right.

[00:15:39] You know, it's very important that this becomes a foundation of everything that you then do

[00:15:43] moving forward.

[00:15:45] Yeah.

[00:15:45] Yeah.

[00:15:45] We're not.

[00:15:46] Yeah.

[00:15:47] Um, so awesome.

[00:15:50] Uh, um, do you think we sort of covered what we're, what we're, what we're looking to

[00:15:54] accomplish there in that conversation?

[00:15:57] You need to get ready for your next meeting.

[00:15:59] Okay.

[00:16:01] No, I think we did.

[00:16:03] Actually.

[00:16:03] I think, uh, I think we've both come at that, uh, from the same place.

[00:16:08] I think we're trying to achieve the same thing in the same way.

[00:16:11] The key message is just make sure that you do it, you know, get those foundations in place

[00:16:17] and then start looking at the details on the how, and then start doing it.

[00:16:23] Well, well, and I guess you're doing it.

[00:16:25] Yeah.

[00:16:25] Like, so, and it also just, I think gives you a more robust capacity to get some of

[00:16:29] your marketing initiatives done.

[00:16:31] Um, and that, that, this concept I think can scale with like, you know, just making sure

[00:16:36] you're, you're being really intentional about even the smaller efforts that you do and,

[00:16:43] you know, the broader, bigger, you know, um, campaigns.

[00:16:47] Yeah.

[00:16:48] Agreed.

[00:16:50] Thank you very much, Scott.

[00:16:51] Thanks, Andy.

[00:16:53] If anyone wants to get in touch with us, uh, or find out more about, uh, marketing self-assessments,

[00:16:59] then go to tea and timbits.com, uh, where you can find ways to get in touch with us or listen

[00:17:04] to past and future episodes.

[00:17:07] Um, anything else got to add to that?

[00:17:09] Uh, that's been fantastic.

[00:17:11] Thanks for chatting, Andy.

[00:17:12] Thank you very much.

[00:17:13] Have a great day.

[00:17:14] Thanks everybody.