Editor’s note: Paul Kirch is CEO of ActusMR Inc., a Lewisville, Texas, business and sales consulting agency. Kirch can be reached at 214-295-6111 or at pkirch@actusmr.com.

In the marketing research industry, many companies have thrived despite their questionable business development and marketing efforts. Some firms have been around for decades and appear to have grown almost purely on relationships. However, in today’s competitive market, you can't afford to have a weak approach to growing your business.

My advice to research vendors looking to grow in the industry is to stay focused on what you do well - and strive to be even better at it - and cultivate a team of representatives that will communicate your mission and message effectively. Aside from the quality of services provided, the bulk of a research company's success lies in its sales team. The time and energy spent hiring and training the right salespeople, setting reasonable goals, establishing accountability and tracking measurable progress regulary will likely come back to you in spades.   

'Dinosaurs' of research

To start, growth does not have to mean out with the old, in with the new. If you go to a conference or networking event where supplier-side researchers congregate, there will likely be more than a few conversations regarding the “dinosaurs” of research - companies that cling to traditional research despite changing technology and methodologies. I actually don’t agree with these discussions. It’s true that there are changes impacting the way people look at research and there’s clearly debate about elements such as social media or social networking research and its potential impact, as well as exciting opportunities within the mobile device arena. However, it’s not clear how these areas are ultimately going to impact our industry’s future.

Even if these opportunities don’t fit a company’s business model, every firm can still be strategic and focused on the future. Where are they going to be in five years? What services do they believe they can or will offer? With the rapidly-changing world and with many technological influences, it’s important to be open-minded about the opportunities ahead. That doesn’t necessarily mean diversifying your business, at least not without a well-thought-out plan. After all, if you specialize in certain areas, diversification can water down your perceived expertise. Look at a company that claims to be an expert in 10 different businesses or verticals but only has 30 employees. Is that realistic? If you try and be a jack of all trades, you truly are a master of none. Do you believe buyers will choose your business over a specialist? 

Considered experts

Think back to 2009 and how challenging it was for many companies. While attending a CEO conference in 2010, I met the leader of a company that specialized in health care research. 2009 was a record year for them. We discussed in depth why they were so successful when many others struggled. It came down to being considered experts in their space. They were very specialized and found that their customers relied on them, especially at a time when budgets were so tight. Of course, there’s always risk in putting all your eggs in one basket. For example, the financial services industry suffered significant setbacks and firms that conducted research in that space were hurt when research budgets plummeted. So there are valid reasons to consider some form of diversification but it needs to have purpose.

Eventually, you can be seen as an expert in a new area but it does take time and experience to own that label. This is where branding and positioning play a critical role. What are you known for? What audience do you typically serve? If you change focus, how do you position your brand and company to succeed there? These are questions you need to ask.

Your people

What about your people and their approach? Today, more and more research suppliers have some form of sales staff in place. In some cases, it may be operations people wearing dual hats, or in some companies the owner or other senior staff is still interacting with clients. In either of these cases, such companies are generally very relationship- and referral-driven. With exceptions, prospecting consists of conferences and some targeted selling. Though there’s a point where it’s hard to scale a business with this approach, there are several examples of success and longevity.

Beyond these companies, many firms have dedicated sales or business development professionals on staff. With the right team, training and leadership, this can provide a significant boost to a company and offers much greater potential for scalability. However, if you were to ask a group of business owners with a sales team if they felt it was working, a good portion of them would say no. I’ve had those conversations and heard comments such as, “I just don’t think it works for our business” or “We have a team but we don’t know what we’re doing.” In many cases, sales success comes down to the leadership in place; the systems and support for that initiative; and the people doing the selling.

Its own challenges

That process has its own challenges though. For example, why would someone who was successfully selling a similar product/service for one company struggle to produce numbers after joining a similar firm? It often comes down to a couple of key components. What were they selling before vs. what are you asking them to sell now? In other words, were they dealing with warm, qualified leads or maybe even existing accounts at their previous company and you now have them combing through an industry directory or Web sites to make cold introductions? Maybe you’ve not clearly set a plan in place for them to succeed? Are you defining their goals and milestones? How are you helping them track it? Do you have a CRM tool in place that you’re using to report progress? Are you reviewing their progress weekly, monthly and quarterly or are you avoiding that because you don’t know how to track it? Do you really know what they’re saying on the phone or in meetings? What networking are they allowed to do? And, the ultimate question, were they really successful in their previous position? If you hired them solely based upon a résumé and a couple of loose interviews, it’s possible that how they represented themselves differs from reality.

Clearly-defined goals

I find that successful sales teams have clearly-defined goals and targets that are constantly being reported on so both the leadership and the salespeople know where they stand. It’s often said that compensation is a critical driver in motivating your salespeople. Though it can strongly influence certain individuals, accountability can play an even bigger role. Once you have your team in place, focus on the numbers you want them to reach; how you’re going to track it; and how you’re going to help them get there. Many managers and owners are frustrated with their sales efforts. They often question if it works or if they should spend more money on it. In almost every instance, it comes down to a lack of understanding on how to build and manage a sales team or even model.

If you’ve been successful in the past without such a team and aren’t seeing significant growth with that team in place, it has to be frustrating. It also makes sense that you would have little understanding of how to create a successful process to follow or the metrics to track. Without metric-tracking, it’s hard to gauge success beyond sales activity. The end result is a belief that you have the wrong people in place, that it’s not working or that you don’t need to spend the money on the sales process.

Be thorough

So either you let people go who didn’t seem successful or you keep them on far too long. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Hire slowly, fire quickly.” The first part of that applies to your sales team as much, if not more, than any other group you recruit. The hiring process should be thorough, with much time and energy spent checking references. Are you doing a Google or LinkedIn search?

As for firing or moving on, it’s important to move quickly if you have the right form of measurement in place. Have you set realistic targets? Are you setting targets beyond revenue or sales? In other words, how many meetings with clients are they supposed to be setting? What about the number of calls or e-mails sent per week? Since there is such an investment in hiring, you better understand what’s working and what isn’t. Are you giving them the opportunity to succeed? If they’re falling short of certain goals, are there things you can do to help them get there?

Managing the sales process is critical. It doesn’t mean micromanaging, but it does require tracking and real activity monitoring. CRM tools can help significantly but the data has to be updated regularly. Do you want to know a surefire way to get your staff to update the CRM tool or other tracking systems you might use? Monitor it consistently. Most of these tools provide simple reporting that can give you data to track, such as call activity, e-mails, bids produced, bids won, etc.

Provoke some thought

Recently, I was contacted by a research supplier for the eighth time in less than a year with an e-mail solicitation (plus three other phone calls). The interesting thing is each time, I’ve told them that I don’t conduct research and I’m not a prospect. Actually, I didn’t put it so plainly, as I was trying to provoke some thought behind what they were doing. What I said was, “Have you visited my Web site? If you go to www.actusmr.com and look at what my company does and you still think we should talk, I’m happy to set up a time.”

I never received immediate follow-up until recently. I happen to know that this company hires very junior people and trains them in their sales process. I’d love to understand their process, since it seems they’ve overlooked some critical points about researching their prospects. I mentioned above that you need to know what your people are really saying. Who are they calling and what message are they relaying? In this case, it’s clear that their people are either prospecting from a list or a directory. However, what’s concerning is they put no effort into the process. A lazy sales approach can be detrimental to your organization and how you’re perceived.

On the most recent instance, I received a reply to my note, the comment was, “Oh, I see you do business coaching and consulting. Would you have interest in our reporting tool which leverages social media and integrates with our database?” I believe his approach was lazy, even though he came back trying to provide a targeted solution, which still wasn’t a fit for my organization. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth that this company’s approach is so impersonal. I’m guessing I’m not alone, since I’m certain others have had a similar experience with this particular company. How do you believe your efforts are perceived?

Companies that grow

Clearly, there are companies that grow without the strongest processes in place. However, strategic planning and a focus on processes and setting targets and goals can go a long way toward creating stronger practices which can take your company to new heights.

A simple starting point is to focus on clearly defining what you do, how you do it, how you let people know about it and how you get them to buy from you, while constantly thinking about where you’ll be tomorrow.

While we don’t live in a perfect world, everyone should strive to move away from weak approaches to business growth. Being strong may not be the only way to survive but if you make some changes to strengthen your approach, you can create something everyone in business strives for: true sustainability.