Three Little Words

This week we're going to do an exercise that will define your Three-Word Promo Identity. It's going to be fun, unless we end up with three silly words, like Wonky Water Wedgie. But I don't see that happening...

Coming from decades of sales management positions in the promotional products industry, I'm a big proponent of planning. You've got to make time each day and each week for prospecting activities and fueling sales growth and you must schedule these efforts and stick to that schedule or it simply won't happen. That means staganation and you do NOT want to live in that nation, believe me.

The more organized you are, the more successful you will be. Sometimes you will experience accidental success, but you can't count on good fortune ... you have to make it. The way to do so is to have a plan. Success is a destination—you'll need a good map to get to your destination on time and with your marbles fully intact.

At HALO, our map is literally that—a MAP—a Marketing Activity Planner. At the beginning of each year (or the end of the previous year—even better!) we encourage our salespeople to set up a one hour conference call with their dedicated marketing consultant to craft this MAP for the entire new year, laying out all of the sales tools they'll be utilizing, the e-blasts they'll be scheduling and the content of those blasts, the lists they'll be compiling for us to schedule the e-blasts from, the self-promos they'll be using and like that. We've proven that the Halo peeps who use our marketing tools and do the MAP will grow their annual business by nearly 20 percent—just by being organized and using proven tools.

It's very empowering to have a destination and map to get you there ... but before you can figure out where you are going, you've got to know WHERE YOU'VE BEEN. And by that, I mean, you must know who you are, what you bring to the table and how to quickly and effectively communicate this to clients and prospects. What makes you different and memorable? What is your personal brand?