1st Consideration in Selling Today: Pull and Push Marketing

In my last post, I identified five considerations that sales reps must employ when selling in today’s world. They are pull and push marketing, media choices, disciplined timing, selling cycles and buying cycles. Today, we’ll look at pull and push marketing.

 Pull versus Push

By some estimates, customers and prospects conduct nearly half of their buying research before speaking with a sales representative. Even after speaking with a sales rep, analysts estimate that customers continue their research of products and vendors independently from speaking with sales reps. These estimates drive home the fact that sales reps must conduct ongoing campaigns to deliver information to their target markets and customers. Sales reps must employ both pull and push marketing and sales techniques.

Pull marketing is a technique designed to pull customers in so they become interested in your products and services. Common pull marketing tools include engaging web sites, email blasts and social media campaigns. The idea is to increase awareness and put information where buyers will be exposed to it. Pull marketing is usually an educational tool designed to prompt prospects to engage with you.

Push marketing or sales is a technique where the sales rep sends or “pushes” information to targeted customers.  Push marketing is much more targeted than pull marketing. You have identified specific individuals to communicate with. Often, these individuals have already contacted the sales rep because of the pull marketing campaign. Push marketing tools include personalized email, text messages, phone calls, video meetings and in-person meetings (inasmuch as you can get them today).

A key to pull and push marketing is to maintain a mix of both and to use techniques that are appropriate to the customer and where they are in the sales process.

TechCXO Can Help

As a partner at TechCXO, I can help you put the plans and processes in place to drive consistent, predictable sales. We build teams that deliver profitable, long-term customers. We lead companies to become customer focused. Learn more at techcxo.com.

We’d like to help you achieve your sales, marketing and customer success goals. Contact us at (203) 856-9400 or david.wallace@techcxo.com to discuss how we can help you drive more business.