Woof: Why Ordinary Organizations Fail

WOOF provides a practical playbook for driving growth by creating a measurable sales and marketing strategy that's grounded in research and generates a predictable return on investment. Written by Lori Turner-Wilson, the award-winning syndicated Guerrilla Sales & Marketing columnist and CEO of RedRover Sales & Marketing Strategy, WOOF is a business mentor in book form according to D. Bryan Jordan, Chairman, President and CEO of First Horizon National Corporation. Russ Klein, CEO of the American Marketing Association, says WOOF is bite-sized and easy to pick up over and over again. I keep it around for inspiration... Just as a heart surgeon would never cut before a diagnosis, so should go your sales and marketing strategy. Turner-Wilson outlines the way a proper diagnosis requires objective, comprehensive research insights that can only be gathered by gaining the authentic perspectives of your current customers and the broader marketplace. Only through proper research can you determine the sales and marketing levers to pull in order to generate a strong, predictable return on investment. She explains that the brands deploying the most successful marketing strategies share these approaches. They have claimed a unique brand territory. They have a distinct brand voice that resonates with buyers. They have a deep understanding of their target market - who they are, what makes them tick, and why they buy. They have identified the most cost efficient and productive avenues for reaching them, and they focus on these channels in order to maintain an affordable cost of customer acquisition. Believing that the strongest return on investment can only be had when marketing and sales strategies align, WOOF shares insights into Turner-Wilson's sales philosophies. The consultative sales model was conceived in the 1970s and was ahead of its time. Its discovery or question-based approach puts the sales person in the enviable role of adviser, and its principles couldn't be more relevant today. At its core is the premise that you must first seek to understand before you can truly be understood. Master this sales methodology, and you will find yourself forging impenetrable, long-term relationships and consistently outpacing competing sales professionals. Only through introspection can we improve, says Turner-Wilson. She reflects on how well Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates clearly understood this when he said, I have been struck again and again by how important measurement is to improving the human condition. Thanks to technological advancements, the author demonstrates that our ability to easily measure sales and marketing strategies has improved exponentially. Gone are the days where it's good enough to simply monitor revenue growth and marketing expense, making vague correlations between the two. Today's savvy sales and marketing leaders make informed, data-driven decisions. The author's firm, RedRover Sales & Marketing Strategy, is an internationally award-winning boutique sales training and marketing agency that has generated measurable sales and marketing results for its clients for more than a decade. Lori Turner-Wilson spent her pre-RedRover career on the client side of the business, allowing her to see the world a bit differently than most agency heads. Having been in the client's shoes - leading corporate marketing, sales and communications teams - she knows what it's like to have ultimate responsibility for the bottom line. As such, she is RedRover's compass, ensuring client strategies are measurable and likely to deliver tangible, meaningful results.