Why your position drives sales performance.
Are you a volume player, a specialist or a hybrid?
Most B2B service businesses think their growth problem is marketing and if they turn to us its a numbers game (more on that later).
In our telemarketing work we spend our days deep inside pipeline data, renewal patterns, brand recall, and call performance across service and product led businesses. What becomes obvious very quickly is this:
Most companies haven’t consciously decided how they want to grow they’ve just found themselves where they are due to whatever reason, maybe simply because of the work they have won. However when they then go out to try and create more business this lack of a clear position in their market shows up in the data.
- Low brand recall.
- Late-stage conversations.
- “Put us in the mix” responses.
- Renewal-timed engagement.
- Price sensitivity.
This is no reflection on the customer service or strength of delivering whatever solution they deliver it is because for the next possible buyer their positioning is unclear and they just see them as one of many (so the buyer buys on price as the only clear anchor)
Before you touch messaging, targeting or campaigns, you need to answer one uncomfortable question:
What game are you actually playing and who are you playing with?
As a starter look which of these 3 models are you or do you want to be:
Volume model
As a volume operator you compete broadly. Win on service, price and coverage.
This looks like:
- Broad target market
- Standardised packages
- High activity levels
- Renewal-driven pipeline
Marketing focused on high visibility and sales is probably contract renewal driven so you are in the mix at buying time. Its safe and it works but is crowded, competitive. If you choose this path, your growth engine becomes:
- Data quality
- Renewal intelligence
- Consistent outbound so you are there when they are ready to buy
- Volume activity
There is nothing wrong with this and it requires discipline and consistency. By the way, If your pipeline depends on timing, you’re playing a volume game whether you admit it or not. If you want earlier engagement, you must choose a reason to be invited in sooner at probably a higher level that you are currently entering the conversation.
Specialist model
If this is your chosen path here you want to be known for something specific. This is where you can say – We are the partner for X problem. Which mIght be:
a sector or industry, compliance, values led (think BCorp and environmental agenda) t might be: Compliance or regulatory led A defined risk such as operational continuity risk/disaster recovery Scaling infrastructure A values led solution (think BCorp, environment)
This path requires focus and you have to let go of things here as you cannot be everything to everyone. The returns for putting the work in is that you will gain:
Earlier conversations Higher perceived value Less price comparison Stronger referrals Clearer inbound triggers
Specialists are harder to replace but only if they truly commit. It might mean looking at your existing customer base as a starting point and looking at houw you get your legacy clients on this specialist bus.
Hybrid model
As a starting point we say here what if there was stable core revenue and we could add one clear specialism or USP – what would be the lighthouse that would get you above the masses and seen.
This is the model many mature firms evolve into.
You keep:
- The broad base
- The recurring revenue
- The referral engine
But you deliberately build: One standout entry point which delivers a great reason to talk to you before renewal
The hybrid model reduces dependency on timing while protecting cashflow and when done well is controlled evolution.
Committing to a position
Most businesses say “hybrid” but then won’t do the work to define the uniqueness or build their lighthouse so strategy is delivered without clarity and becomes volume with extra marketing noise.
The telemarketing data doesn’t lie
Whatever you land on the proof will show up in the pipeline. In our direct marketing work when targeting is broad and undefined:
- DM rates drop
- Conversations drift
- Opportunities are lower quality
When focus sharpens and we are clearly taking your positioning to a defined market who we know wil be interested in it
- Engagement improves
- Conversations deepen
- Pipeline becomes more predictable
This is not a numbers game. Before you redesign your website, invest in campaigns and hire extra sales and marketing resource sit down (in a very well lit room) and decide: What you stand for, who you serve and what are the results you get for that market.
Which of these best reflects how you actually want to grow over the next 24 months?
- Volume, Specialist or Hybrid.
There is no right answer. But the moment you start consciously choosing your marketing, sales outreach and pipeline mode is mucheasier to see as the it will all align with the path you choose.
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