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3 Sales Strategies for Marketing Agencies from Fishing Grizzly Bears

Posted by Carole Mahoney on 2/22/15 9:58 AM

I have had a lot of conversations with marketing agency owners who were looking for growth. A few were even bold enough to say they wanted that specific year to be their million dollar year of sales. But how?

Have you ever considered how grizzly bears fish? I learned that they use different methods, and that their fishing methods are like some marketing agencies' sales strategy.

Hey,_that_was_MY_fish

Strategy #1: Anyone who needs more leads.

Some grizzlies smack the fish out of the water and onto the shore. If you were to watch, they stand in the river madly slashing and trying to grab fish, making a lot of noise. The fish get thrown onto the shore (where sometimes other grizzlies wait and take the fish they swatted). Marketing agencies who can “help anyone” are like the grizzly that spends a lot of energy going after any fish that moves. Eventually one of them will end up on the shore, and hopefully they will get them before another grizzly comes along and steals it.

Strategy #2: The balancing act.

Some grizzlies dive underwater to find fish in deeper pools. From the videos I saw, it’s an entertaining balancing act because they don’t like to get their ears wet, and it involves some fancy footwork. For marketing agencies, or any professional services company that relies on skilled and talented people to deliver the service, the balancing act between finding clients and delivering the work is a common challenge. You don’t want to get so far underwater that you don’t have time to find new clients, only to eventually have those clients go away, and nothing in the pipeline. Some will spend a lot of time perfecting the machine, only to find themselves with wet ears when the machine sits idle because there are no new sales to run it.

Strategy #3: Go niche or stay home.

Some grizzlies stand still in the water, watching the fish closely. When a fish jumps out of the water the grizzly snatches it in it's jaws. It doesn’t require a lot of work, just a lot of focus. Marketing agencies looking for sales and business growth who focus on a niche are like those watchful grizzlies. At this point, most everyone knows about SEO, social, blogging, and all the other inbound tactics. To differentiate, agencies need to focus on where they have industry expertise. This is where you can add real value, by focusing on how to apply the strategy and tactics of inbound to the context of your target industries.

Which grizzly fishing strategy are you in? Which one will get get you to a million this year? Which one will help you focus on the right people to hire? Which one will help reduce competition? Which one will enable you to deliver the most value for your clients?

What other sales questions are you looking for answers to?

Topics: sales strategy