Several years ago I gave a keynote speech at a national trucking association tradeshow on how to increase top line revenues using value forward methods and word of mouth marketing. The audience was full of CEOs of privately held trucking companies.

Trucking company CEOs are a tough audience. The industry is full of government regulation and state tax issues, has multiple employee drug and alcohol problems with drivers, and truck and cargo theft is rampant. So when I opened up the keynote to Q and A, a CEO of a $100 million trucking company raised his hand and said, "This concept of Value Forward and getting your buyers to see your value up front and showing your value to them three dimensionally  is full of "#%^&*". " I run a $100M trucking company, we are 50 years old and we know everything that is moving within the state. We sell by word of mouth and everyone knows our brand." "Why should I waste my time with your method of revenue growth?"

Well the room . . . went quiet.

So, I walked off the podium into the audience, handed the CEO a handheld microphone and asked him the following questions.

Question 1.  How many salespeople do you have? His response was 37. 

Question 2, What do you pay your sales team? His response - $60K base salary per year plus commissions.

So, I said the following: Based on the numbers you gave me, would you agree that you spend at least $3 Million a year in selling costs? And he said yes.

Then I said, "If your value is well known, and you have been in business for over 50 years in the same selling geography, then why do you have to pay $3 Million a year to sell your value? Why aren't your clients just calling you?

He thought for a second, took the microphone from me and said "maybe you're right, maybe our word of mouth and value identification is not as strong as I think it is!"

Isn't that the point?

Provided to Paul DiModica by eMarketer.com under contract.

If your current prospects and customers know your value, then you don't need to sell them . . . they just buy!

Take The Business Word-of-Mouth Assessment Test

1. How many prospects have called you during the last 30 to 60 days that were not in your sales forecasts and just bought?
2. How many prospects during the last 12 months have bought from you the first time without asking for references?
3. When your sales team calls prospects the first time, do prospects already know who you are?
4. How many of your existing clients (without you asking) introduce you to their business peers as potential prospects for you to sell?
5. What percentage of your total revenue comes from inbounds leads -- who contacted you?

Provided to Paul DiModica by eMarketer.com under contract.

When your word of mouth value communication is successful, it reduces your marketing costs, shrinks your sales cycle selling time, minimizes discounting, eliminates competitors and maximizes total top line revenue capture.

If your firm or offering is so great, why aren't your clients just calling you?

© Value Forward Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.