Gary White's presentation for the April 2010 BACN meeting about making sure your sales and marketing efforts are on the same page.

1. How To Synchronize
Your Sales & Marketing
A Workshop with Gary White of Pacific Crest Marketing
Tips & Techniques for Companies Large & Small

2. Not Synchronized
 Time and again we hear unfortunate stories of
sales and marketing activities that do not
support one another and actually work at
cross purposes.
 One hand does not know, or care, what the
other hand is doing. They are out of synch.

3. Defining Moments
syn-chro-nize v. (si ng krəˌnīz)
[ trans. ] cause to occur or operate at the same time
[ intrans. ] combine; agree; coordinate

4. Combine, Agree, Coordinate
 Being in synch starts from within.
Whether you are a one man band, or
a one woman brand, or a large
company or a small business owner,
everything you think, write, say and
do needs to work together.
 Traditional marketing materials
 Social media
 Referrals and lead generation
 Sales calls
 Tip: You need to have a written value
proposition that describes who you
work with, what they need and why
they work with you…and then some.

5. Combine, Agree, Coordinate
 If there are two people or two thousand
people in your company, everybody needs
to be on the same page. Literally and
figuratively.
 Tip: Have key people throughout your
organization fill out a value proposition
template. One for each person. No
collaboration. Not yet.

6. Combine, Agree, Coordinate
 Tip: Don’t worry about the words you use for this exercise.
Just fill in the blanks. At this point they are for “internal
purposes only”.
 Tip: Describing concepts is different than writing copy. Think
about “inside words” (private) vs. “outside words” (public).
 Tip: Work on the copy and talking points later. Think about
hiring a professional copywriter to do the job. They would
also bring perspective and objectivity to the task at hand.

7. Combine, Agree, Coordinate
 Review all of the completed
worksheets for agreement,
disconnects and contradictions.
 Create one master document
through trial and tribulation.
Everyone has to own it.
 Tip: Use your best resources.
 Play the same song at the same
time in the same key. Harmonize.
 Tip: Make a commitment to use a
written value proposition as “the
conductor” for all of your sales
and marketing efforts.

8. Technique: Value Proposition Generator

9. Technique: Strategy Compass

10. 1. Determine Challenges,
Problems, & Internal Alignments
 S.W.O.T. analysis will identify your Bridges & Barriers.
 Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunity/Threats
 Tip: Your strengths and opportunities are your bridges to
your clients and prospects.
 Tip: Your weaknesses and threats are your barriers.

11. 2. Define, Segment & Size
Target Audience
 Are you saying the right things to the The Right People
(Targeting) at the right time?
 Job titles
 Company size
 Company type (industry vertical segments)
 Tip: Be very specific. Clarity here is a key piece in
reaching the right people, getting quality referrals and
prioritizing your use of traditional and new media.

12. 3. Analyze Competitive Set,
Differentiation & Positioning
 Know both the real and perceived
competition.
 Know thyself and how you are Stand
different from all the rest. out,
don’t fit
 Know how you want to be known. in!
 Tip: Monitor the language people
use when they describe what it is
that you do and the value you bring
to the table.
 Tip: Be brave enough to go narrow.

13. 4. Probe the Voice of the
Customer and the Prospect
 Do some kind of marketing
research. Formal or informal.
 Use social media and data mining
to listen to the conversation, to
interact with your audience and to
improve the customer experience.
 Tip: Interview your clients or have
someone interview them for you.
 Ask your clients why they work with
you and even why they don’t.
 Ask them what they need that they
are not getting from anyone.
 Ask them to tell you three things
they lose sleep over regarding work.

14. 5. Diagnose Key Rational and Emotional Drivers
 Are you saying the right things to the Rational:
 Time to market
right people at The Right Time?
 New product development
 What is their business challenge?  Supply chain
 What is their emotional need state?  Customer acquisition
 Employee retention
 Tip: Here are some examples of words  Operations efficiency
to use in your value proposition:  Productivity
 Cost control
 System integration
 Risk management
Emotional:
 Fear
 Anger
 Frustration
 Resignation
 Pressure
 Hope
 Satisfaction
 Fulfillment

15. 5. Diagnose Key Rational and Emotional Drivers
 Are you saying the right things to the Triggers:
right people at The Right Time?  Economic downturn
 Political issues
 Technique: Use this grid and these
examples to define what triggers and  Community involvement
drives your clients and prospects. Add  Compliance
them to your value proposition.  Competition
External Triggers External Drivers Drivers:
 Career goals
 Board pressure
 Internal politics
 Investors
Internal Triggers Internal Drivers  Succession strategy

16. 6. Establish Value Proposition,
Benefits & Viability
 Do not write much about how you do what you do and
nothing about how much you receive in compensation.
 Tip: How and how much are often traps or pitfalls later in the
process: when marketing ends and selling starts.
 Think problem/solution.
 Think about making a contribution.
 Think about positive outcomes.
 Tip: Use action words like increase, improve, accelerate,
enhance, maximize, minimize, save, cut, reduce, eliminate,
motivate, revitalize.

17. 6. Establish Value Proposition,
Benefits & Viability
 Use $’s, %’s, #’s, or time frame when
describing a positive outcome.
 Tips: Use your client success stories
to uncover your true business value.
Your good clients will help you. If you
are already in the habit of asking your
clients why they work with you, this
step will be easier.
 Tips: Use the Internet to find long lost
facts and figures to re-construct
success stories from the past.

18. 7. Create Reasons to Believe & Messaging
 Your value proposition is the skeletal
structure to support all of your
synchronized communication.
 Your client success stories puts skin on
your bones, engages your audience and
provides clients and prospects with
reasons to believe.
 Tip: Memorize at least three client
success stories with proof points: tell
facts, talk figures, be foolproof on
problem/solution.

19. 7. Create Reasons to Believe & Messaging
 Are you saying The Right Things (Messaging) to the
right people at the right time?
 Create three bullet points that clearly communicate the
value you deliver.
 Tip: Your elevator pitch or Verbal Billboard is merely a
TM
very short version of your written value proposition.
 Tip: Only when other people can repeat your pitch will
you get high quality referrals.

20. 8. Revisit Target Audience, Sales
Process & Marketing Plans
 Stay In Synch!
 Tip: Revisit your value proposition and its
component parts on a regular basis. Rewrite it if
and when your products and services change or
when market forces dictate.
 Tip: Your clients and prospects are a moving target.

21. HoYour Sales & Marketing

22. Exhibits
A. Pacific Crest Marketing Value Proposition
B. Client Success Stories: Value Received
C. Client Success Story: Contribution Made
D. Technique: Success Stories Template
E. Success Stories Template: Completed

23. Pacific Crest Marketing Value Proposition
Our clients are CEO’s, presidents, senior sales and marketing
executives and business owners who are under constant pressure
to make sales goals and to maximize marketing budgets.
These team leaders, in companies of all sizes, have a lot in
common. They want and need to…
…determine if sales and marketing are in sync.
…ensure both are saying the right things to the right people at the
right time.
…get everyone to identify bridges and barriers between their
company and the target audience.
For more than 23 years, Pacific Crest Marketing has been helping
clients to build their brands, position their products and to
increase demand.
While most of our work has been in banking, shipping and wine &
spirits, all of our clients have profited from the use of our
proprietary tools, techniques and specialized skills.
Here are a few client success stories about the contribution we
made and the value our clients received.

24. Client Success Stories: Value Received

25. Client Success Story: Contribution Made
 Pacific Crest was an integral part of the innovative
management team that maximized the competitive
advantage of a Sonoma County wine.
 Differentiated the brand by creating an engaging
and one of a kind story built around the rich
architectural history of Healdsburg, California.
 Re-positioned brand of wine was able to command
a 100% increase in the original price point. Case
sales grow by 41% in one year!

26. Technique: Success Stories Template

27. Success Stories Template: Completed
 Category: Wine & Spirits
 Client: Managing Director, Nordic Beverage
 Situation/Assessment: The company was floundering with key branding, marketing, and product
line decisions, and needed savvy stateside marketing expertise to help them launch and penetrate
the U.S. market with their products. This same expertise would also be leveraged to help them
raise Norwegian investment capital. Our early assessment was that they needed a new brand name
and positioning for their vodka line (it carried the brand name ‘50 Below’, positioned as a
premium vodka), new packaging, taste tests, evaluation of their Nordic pedigree, a breakthrough
print campaign, plus strong bartender involvement.
 Action Plan/Process: The first step we took with Nordic Beverage was to recommend and help
them select a new advertising agency in the U.S., as well as set the stage for the needed market
research. With the new agency in place (Clear Ink), we planned and implemented focus groups with
consumers (vodka drinkers) and potential brand ambassadors (bartenders). Subsequently, we
helped them demonstrate the viability of their product to existing and key potential investors
through a series of presentations in Oslo.
 Results/Upshot: A superior brand name was created: Christiania. (This was the name of the
Norwegian capital city prior to Oslo.) This supported a key point of differentiation: Christiania is
the only vodka from Norway distributed in the States. This was deemed to be important, as
Norway’s image as clean and icy cold proved to be perfect for vodka. The packaging built on these
positive associations with a frosted glacial blue-green bottle which also set it apart from Grey
Goose, Belvedere, Chopin and a long list of wannabes. And so, the product was re-positioned as
“The World’s Smoothest Vodka”: an ultra premium vodka from Norway with a commanding price
point and a beautiful, up-scale bottle. What’s more, the infinitely smoother formulation of the
vodka itself garnered accolades from the discerning trade.
 They got their funding! Christiania, the first and only brand of ultra-premium vodka from Norway,
launched in over 12 states. According to the General Manager, PCM “was an indispensable player
in our new product development.” Sales exceeded 50,000 cases in the first year rolling out to trend
setting markets: San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City and Las Vegas.

28. Pacific Crest Marketing
Est. 1986
@
Contact Gary White
415-902-5929
gwhite@pacificcrestmarketing.com
www.pacificcrestmarketing.com
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