In spite of all the gloom about the economy, there is recurring evidence that many small companies are doing quite well. Their small scale has insulated them from a global drop in demand unlike large firms whose results usually reflect the overall state of the economy. Many have a good product and a few customers, and are looking to get more. The challenge is that they often lack the marketing structure, the processes and the tools to scale because they have been pouring their energy into product development and satisfying key customers.
To accelerate their growth, they often turn to lead generation and/or marketing companies. Marketing professionals bemoan the fact that many of these clients have not done the basic marketing groundwork required to get a new campaign off the ground: brand guidelines, company and product positioning, even product collateral are often non-existent. When the lead gen company takes it upon itself to ask key questions to create talking points for a call center for example, it often triggers discussions within the client’s management team that go well beyond the confines of a calling campaign: “What are we really about?” “What are we really good at?” “What is our goal?” “Which market do we want to target?” Marketing plays a key role in informing the discussion and shaping the strategy. And, answering these questions is as important as getting those much wanted leads.
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Tags: lead generation, SMB