Lots of our clients are fast-growing businesses for whom finding and keeping good people can be as much of a challenge as finding and keeping profitable customers. So, I asked Peter Baynes to look at the effect of implementing Watertight Marketing on staff morale. ~ Bryony Thomas
Putting a Watertight Marketing operation into your business will help generate awareness and lead prospects through their journey to become loyal and profitable customers. Perhaps less obvious is that it will also help you create the environment that maintains you and your staff’s morale on that, often rocky, road to success.
Success can be measured in a number ways. Providing a motivating and enjoyable place to work should definitely be one of your goals. It really does underpin the sales success that you need for a profitable business, as high staff morale boosts productivity and makes your business more attractive to customers.
Finding and keeping good people is often one of the real difficulties in a growing business. So, the effect of your external marketing on your internal morale should not be overlooked.Here are some ways to ensure your marketing is having a positive effect on both your sales, and your people’s morale.
Assign responsibility and avoid the blame culture
Your marketing should have a structured process to nurture the buyer through their journey. Everyone in the business then knows their role and what is expected of them in that process. It ensures nothing falls between the cracks, and it prevents a ‘blame culture’ from developing. See: A marketing task for each step of a sale
Get visibility of your sales pipeline to avoid nasty surprises
Your marketing process should provide clear visibility of volume and movement of prospects at each stage of the sales process, from awareness to purchase. This enables problems to be identified sooner and remedial action to be taken quicker, avoiding last minute surprises and the resultant stress and panic. See: Mindful marketing measurement
Know how to scale it back when times are tough
Your marketing plan and budget should be designed so that each activity can be scaled up when things are going well, or scaled down when things are tight, but still maintains some activity at each stage of the buying process. This removes the stress of knowing what to cut back on when things are difficult. See: What shape is your marketing budget?
Step off the roller coaster
Your marketing should mean you are not on the roller-coaster of frantic marketing activity, when the business is slow, and little activity, when everyone is occupied with work. It should avoid those panic moments, such as “we have no sales leads, we must run a campaign, now!” See: Are you stuck on the Yo-Yo marketing diet?
Get the work you all enjoy
Your marketing should attract the right type of work for your business – so you and your staff are doing the work that they enjoy and that makes you and them money. This also helps you recruit the right kind of people by showcasing work you’re really proud of. See: Will this client energise your business?
Get calm and confident control
A sound and effective marketing process in your business puts you in calm and confident control of your business. This will not only provide you with the profits you need, it will also help you to attract and keep the best calibre staff and make your business a great place to work. They feel more sure about how to describe what you do. They know where to point anyone who asks about the business, and the having confidence in the security of their position also drives commitment and loyalty from people. See: Effective marketing sets you free
Oh, and happy staff make for great natural marketers of your business. There’s nothing better than hearing someone talk about work they love… it can be a great engine for word-of-mouth. If you know that the people you employ would say good (and consistent) things about you down the pub, you’re in a good place!
Peter Baynes
Watertight Marketing Certified Practitioner
Peter is an experienced B2B marketing consultant with a strength is supporting high-growth technology businesses. He is based in Surrey and supports clients across the South East.
