Best Way To Develop A Great Marketing Team

4 minute read

It’s not a secret. Unless you have a product or service everyone wants and no competitors, you need to develop a great marketing team. Unfortunately, that’s like having a pet unicorn. Not very likely! At least on their own! The best way to develop a great marketing team is to plan – in writing what your goals are, and then write out the steps and strategies to make those goals happen.

HUGE TOLERANCE

It continues to amaze me how forgiving, tolerant, and generous owners and managers are with marketers and sales staff that continues month after month to fail at achieving the established goals! If the goals are reasonable, and in writing, then the owner must be reviewing and evaluate the sales and marketing staff at 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days. Failure to perform equals termination. Allowing BS excuses and continual bogus “reasons” why targets have not been met is the fault of the owner/manager, and it’s time to cut the cord of the salesman and let them go!

REASONABLE GOALS

There is always a discussion with those owners and managers we coach, asking us what is reasonable for sales goals. Every marketer in the restoration industry should produce $750,000 – $1 million a year in revenue. That’s only about $62k per month on average (at the lower number). I personally know MANY marketers in the disaster recovery industry generating over a million dollars a year! One marketer in Tampa brought in over $2mil in 2019 and another in Baltimore brought $4mill-plus, each year for the past 3 years.

BOGUS EXCUSES

Even in the residential roofing industry, it’s common for a hustling salesperson to generate $1.5 million a year in gross revenue. (They often earn $100k – $150k/year). My experience coaching marketers is they tell you things like:

“This is a bad time of year”
“With all the Holidays, people don’t want to buy”
“It’s been too rainy, cold, hot, stormy, windy, etc.”
“The economy is bad right now”
“People are focused on vacations”
“School is starting – people are dealing with that”
“And a massive list of month-after-month junk excuses”

STRATEGY

As an owner/GM you should know EXACTLY what you need to generate in profit each month to pay all your overhead costs. If that’s $75,000 each month, then your sales staff needs to bring in at least $150k for the month (at a 50% profit) to cover your monthly expenses. Accepting a marketer that is only bringing in $1k or $20k, or even $50k monthly WON’T cut it. Once you know your expense numbers, and then know your revenue requirements, you can tell your marketers what they must generate in sales volume. And it must be in writing! It should be listed on the whiteboard in the office daily, weekly, and monthly. Why? Because “what gets measured, gets done.”

Until you have these numbers established, there is no way to lay out a step-by-step marketing and selling strategy. As I work with restoration owners weekly, I am constantly surprised that most don’t actually know their monthly numbers. Even worse, the marketers often don’t have a clue what they should be generating in revenue. At a minimum, you need to establish how many leads and referrals, and then your closing ratio, and your average sale amount.

WE CAN TALK

Since there are so many variables, and each company has different needs and wants, every company I coach is given a specific–tailored strategy for their company. Too many consultants provide a one-size-fits-all approach, and we find that unacceptable. I’d welcome the opportunity to help your company develop an appropriate marketing strategy.

Dick Wagner 419-202-6745

Nationally recognized coach, consultant, trainer, and speaker

Creator of the renowned PREP™ pre-disaster program

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