Month end, quarter end, year end are all important transitions in the business cycle. While they signal and end to one cycle they also signal the beginning of another.  These regular business cycles can sometimes present a lull in the action for Marketing. It’s important, however, to use these transitions wisely. They serve as an excellent opportunity for Marketing to help the organization with both near term and long term initiatives. What can Marketing be doing to help close a month, a quarter, a year and prepare for the next push?

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Five efforts for where to use a business cycle to make a difference

Most Marketing organizations have their own rhythm with our work often separated from the transitions between months, quarters and years.  These transitions in the business cycle provide important opportunities for the Marketing organization. Here are five ways Marketing can be make a difference during these business cycle transitions.

1. Focus on opportunities that can close: Many companies make a final push to generate business to during the last remaining days of a month, quarter, and year. It is not likely any new campaigns are going to have the impact you want in this specific window. Very few companies can realistically close a net-new customers in fewer than 60 days. Expensive Hail Mary passes or aiming for over the fence do not make sense. Your prospects and customers are also busy this time of year, trying to meet their own goals, wrap up the year, and prepare for the coming year so offer something meaningful and of value to get people’s attention. If you decide to lob a campaign before the end of the year, make sure you sales force is clued in and understands the goals and the expected results. Where can Marketing make a difference? Focus your Marketing efforts on generating new business from existing customers. Which ones? Rather than spending limited time and precious resources on enterprise deals which typically have long sales cycles, target your efforts on SMBs who, while smaller, may be able to take action before the close of the year.

2. Develop new sales tools: Your time may be better used to prepare for the coming month, quarter or year. Take a moment to review your sales tools and evaluate which ones helped the team be successful and with which customers. Use this information to develop sales enablement tools, such as case studies, educational product information, and white papers that you can use right out of the gate. Be sure to design your sales enablement tools with more than just the sales people in mind. The tools should be applicable to field marketing, your inbound service team, and anyone else in the organization who participates in the sales process.

3. Ensure consistent messaging:  In the heat of battle, it’s possible to get off message. It is also a time to learn whether different messaging against the competition was more effective. Review your content assets and assess how well they are synced to the appropriate touch point in the customer journey. Now is a good time to make sure all of your communication vehicles use the same value proposition, promise, and key messages to reinforce your company’s positioning with customers and prospects.

4. Update the proposal library. If you don’t have a proposal library this is a good time to develop one. If you do, be sure it is current. A proposal library should contain all the information necessary for the sales team to quickly develop a proposal. A well-written informative proposal can be a valuable competitive tool in the sales process, yet many companies often overlook this element as they race to close a deal.

5. Create a welcome kit for new customers. Customer success is a buzz word today.  What does that mean for your company and how does your company put it into practice? Most companies see customer success as an avenue for securing add-on business from existing customers. That means you need to insure that the first interactions with a new customer create the right expectations and experience. One way to get started on the right foot is to create a welcome kit for all new customers. Work with the Sales and Customer Success functions to develop the kit so it helps make doing business with your company easier and paves the way faster add-on business.

While all of these are “tactical” efforts to support the business cycle, they also facilitate overall alignment of Marketing to the business. To be successful each of these tactics must be grounded in your overall strategy. Find these tips helpful?  Let us know. Want more, tap our advisory services.

FAQ:

1. Focus on opportunities that can close: Prioritize generating new business from existing customers and SMBs, rather than launching new campaigns or chasing long-cycle enterprise deals.
2. Develop new sales tools: Review and update sales enablement materials—case studies, product info, white papers—to equip the sales team and broader organization for success in the next cycle.
3. Ensure consistent messaging: Audit content assets and communication vehicles to reinforce your value proposition, promise, and positioning at every customer touchpoint.
4. Update the proposal library: Maintain a current, comprehensive library to help sales quickly develop competitive proposals.
5. Create a welcome kit for new customers: Collaborate with Sales and Customer Success to deliver a seamless onboarding experience that sets the stage for long-term value and add-on business.

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