What these words should mean to you is NEW BUSINESS.
Branding and promotion are not easy tasks, either. They take continuous, persistent, hammering, as though you were making the next great sculpture. And in this case, your tools are industry knowledge, a good industry database of relevant contacts, and a way to look at metrics within your own comfort zone.
Signs of good activity - you are getting meetings from the outreach.
Signs of ‘need for change’ - your meetings are not closing into new business.
If the meetings aren’t coming in, don’t kill the messenger. Look at why those meetings aren’t closing.
Are you talking to the right people? Yes, then move ahead.
Do you have compelling success stories? Yes, then move ahead another step.
Do you have the right person on the phone? Maybe. Too high a level person, like the CEO, talking to potential buyers? Sometimes not always good, because your prospects may think you don’t have the bandwidth within your company. It all depends on what you are selling. If you are a young company, then come out and say that you’ve been operating for 10 years using the technology internally and just recently decided to open it up to users. Now that’s a reason a CEO might be on the phone call.
Are you following up with the right information? Maybe. If on the call you hear concern about how good you are in comparison to a well-known competitor, are you following up? Are you asking for another meeting? Or are you following up with a list of why you are better than the other company? Know how to follow up and do it like you really want this customer.
Don’t shoot down any person or group that helps you get to each of these steps successfully.
Look elsewhere for where you need to make a change.
