Choose Or Lose

While a good brand and marketing strategy is important, so is its precise execution and implementation. For that, you need a strong team consisting of competent people. Selecting the right sales and marketing professionals is essential to avoiding sales losses. Hence, the mantra is clear: choose or lose.

It is important to choose correctly and wisely to protect your brand reputation and drive sales growth. The selection of the right sales and marketing personnel is a critical factor that determines success or failure. This is especially crucial in challenging times, such as during the pandemic.

To ensure effective selection, I recommend my six-strategy module called ‘Open-Up’.

• In the selection process, it is vital to have people who are open to possibilities.
• Avoid individuals who are closed-minded or pessimistic.
• Remember: when you open your mind, you open the market—because the market is in the mind.
• If you believe there is a market, there is a market. If you believe there isn’t, there isn’t.

Choosing an open-minded professional is critical. In these challenging times, it is important to have adaptive individuals who embrace new methods and fresh approaches to achieving marketing objectives.

• They explore possibilities rather than dwell on limitations.
• They adopt a ‘why not’ mindset instead of just asking ‘why’.
• They can help maintain sales, market share, and profitability despite crises.

A negative attitude does not get you anywhere. Statements like:

• “Things like this have never been done before.”
• “It is not possible.”
• “No one else is doing it.”

These reveal self-doubt, which does not contribute to success in sales and marketing. A negative attitude is one of the biggest liabilities in a sales and marketing team.

• Attitude is a way of looking at things.
• The same situation can be viewed as an opportunity or a challenge.
• A positive attitude helps professionals find opportunities and move forward while competitors hesitate.
• Trying beats crying—positivity drives success.

Having a positive attitude in your team is a valuable asset that significantly influences sales and marketing success.

Companies often prioritize qualifications and experience when hiring. While both are important, they are not sufficient. The willingness to perform is key.

• An eager person takes initiative beyond what is required.
• Their enthusiasm fuels success.
• Eagerness is a voluntary drive that spreads motivation throughout the team.

In these difficult times, it becomes easy to come up with excuses to convey that ‘everything is closed down’. An eager member of your team will not allow that to happen. You must choose a person who is eager to perform, grow, and meet the brand marketing objectives. A laid-back person is not going to be of great help, as that person would be a bundle of excuses. Therefore, select someone who is willing to put in the effort, irrespective of obstacles, and move forward to meet the company’s objectives.

There are times when, in a company’s journey, things go bad—due to internal problems or external forces like a pandemic. People who give up are not the right people to choose. With such individuals, you will only lose. But those who open up and have the ‘never say die’ attitude will lead the company through turbulent times, ensuring uninterrupted service to consumers and customers.

• These individuals do not pause, hesitate, or stop in the face of challenges.
• They put in extra effort to find new ways and methods to achieve goals.
• They adhere to company policies while innovating to keep the business moving forward.
• A ‘never say die’ salesperson ensures that your company does not lose.
• Even if multiple attempts are needed, giving up is never an option.

A ‘never say die’ salesperson is a must-have for every brand marketing organization.

The sales and marketing professionals you choose should be useful, not excuse-full. Utility, not futility, is what drives selection.

• You choose people to win, not to lose.
• You choose people to perform, not to provide excuses.
• A useful person understands the difference between uses and excuses.

A useful sales, marketing, and brand professional looks at the entire task from the perspective of serving consumers, customers, distributors, retailers, franchisees, institutions, B2B customers, and the entire target audience. They ensure that their brand is useful to the target audience, helping them achieve their objectives through its benefits.

Being useful is not just about benefiting the company, superiors, peers, and juniors, but also about adding value to all stakeholders, including consumers and customers. The opposite of a useful person is a useless person—and no company would want that. So, choose correctly, so that you do not lose.

In marketing, we often hear about the four Ps—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. However, I believe that the fifth P—Patience—is equally important.

• Patience is not ‘waiting forever’, but knowing when, how, and what to do while waiting.
• It allows the market, consumer, and retailer time to digest the sales pitch.
• It ensures that customers have time to convince themselves rather than just being persuaded.
• Patience is not idle waiting—it is about constructively engaging with customers while they make decisions.

Many misunderstand patience as inactivity. In reality, it requires continuous mental, physical, and marketing activities to convince customers and highlight brand benefits. Persuasion, a key aspect of brand building, thrives on patience.

This six-strategy ‘Open-Up’ module has proven successful over decades in selecting effective sales, marketing, and brand professionals. I firmly believe that if you choose correctly, you will certainly not lose.