A successful Vertical Marketing plan requires education, in-depth collaboration and a discovery period of investigating the day-to-day workflow of a specific organization.
In business, sales representatives plant seeds all the time through their interactions with prospects and clients. But how committed they are to acquainting themselves with and nurturing these relations once planted, often determines ultimate long-term growth.
Consider Vertical Marketing the ultimate exercise in studying and tending to individual seeds, learning each nuance and developing growth consistently based on relevant client needs. It’s much more than canned brochures or pre-determined sales pitches. It’s a duel effort of zeroing in on a specific market’s shared challenges and objectives, and finding relative solutions that produce long-term results.
Vertical Marketing comes down to truly understanding and anticipating your clients’ every move. By going vertical, your clients can grow vertical and positively impact their bottom line.
A key word in this journey upward is “relevance.”
As stated by Janie Smith, author of Smart Advantage, “a differentiator that is not valued by the customer is not a competitive advantage. If it’s not relevant, it doesn’t matter.” Relevance cannot be a part-time discipline. It must be your consistent focus throughout the entire sales process, from initial marketing materials you use to generate leads, to well after the ink dries on the final receipt!
Educators today face expanding enrollment, escalating costs, rising security issues paired with emerging demands for networked device access. Non-profit organizations are constantly looking to attract and retain donors, while adhering to budget limitations or restrictions. What’s relevant to your market?
For those wishing to implement it, a successful Vertical Marketing plan requires education, in-depth collaboration and a discovery period of investigating the day-to-day workflow of a specific organization.
3 Ways to Plant Seeds of Vertical Growth:
1. Become an Expert.
Vertical marketing requires an understanding far beyond the products you sell. You need to know the client or prospect’s industry frontwards and backwards – its jargon, its procedures and its perceived path to success. More importantly, you need to be able to focus closely on what obstacles stand in the way of them reaching desired objectives and working at an optimal pace.
With this granular knowledge obtained, you can target your message with laser-like focus to specific clients.
2. Continue to Innovate, Educate.
The professional world is a fluid environment. With ever-changing policies and procedures, the markets you may be after are constantly evolving, maturing, even subdividing into specialized segments. Never stand idle in your pursuit of what a client or individual market’s needs may be.
Technology, likewise, never stands still. Keep your finger on top of the trends.
3. Listen First. Then Ask Questions.
Just as writer and founder of the world Scouting movement Robert Baden-Powell said, "if you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talking." The best method for compiling relevant information is forcing yourself into your client’s shoes and shadowing their path. The only way of getting there is by listening.
Follow up with questions that dig deeper toward the root of your client’s needs, challenges and objectives.
With a number of years cultivating custom business process-based technology services and solutions for virtually every industry, Datamax knows how to speak the unique language of your business. We understand the vast and distinct differences that exists among industries, which is why we created goVertical. This initiative enhances our focus and expertise on individual markets to empower you to go vertical with your business and bottom line.
In short, Vertical Marketing strategies echo the mission statement and tagline of Datamax: Relevant Technology, Raving Results.
