In yesterday’s post I focused on how my thinking had changed.  I was able to step away from the day-to-day focus of executing campaigns and instead draw upon those experiences when preparing new business pitches and answering client requests for different campaign strategies.  Learning, networking and attending conferences are all great ways to spend your time but really what is most important is how that time spent learning converted into sales – so Part Two of my Sales and Business Development post will focus on…The Results.

I went into Business Development in early 2008.  Things were a little shaky in the marketing world, but the bottom had not fallen out yet.  I set about to figure out my business development strategy.  I lined up my prospects, seeded articles, sent emails and followed up with calls.  The part where I seeded clients was great; the toughest part, and I will critically evaluate myself on this one, is the cold calling especially when the bottom fell out of the market in late Spring/early summer.  New business opportunities were scarce, getting people to call back or respond was even more difficult which meant that every RFP response meant so much.  And then I learned a tough lesson,  oftentimes RFPs are exercises in futility.  It was tough to close a deal in 2008 and combining that together with working at a boutique agency, in mid-December 2008, I was laid off.

Although I didn’t feel it at the time especially when I was trying to figure out how to pay my rent – being laid-off was one of the best things that has happened in my career because I learned how to sell…myself – Barbara Maldonado.

I mention this in earlier posts, I called, emailed, sent letters, articles, offered my services for free when I was looking for a new job – I needed to stay top of mind with everyone in my network and meet new people.  As luck would have it, I was pretty good at selling the integrated marketing experiences I could offer and by mid-January, I was working on freelance social media projects.  The projects couldn’t fully pay the bills, but it was definitely a start which I am incredibly indebted to my client who believed in me.  I was able to hone my social media marketing skills, continue networking and along with this great learning and implementation experience I was getting in a small business environment, I was earning my self-confidence back.  The work I did for my client served as the launching point for two other social media projects that I landed with a few conversations, writing a plan and careful follow-up.  In answer to “The Money” question – I increased my take-home pay by 30% via freelance projects in 2009 by learning how to sell myself.  All three of those projects have been renewed for 2010 and I have two other deals currently in the works.

I was fortunate enough to be able to land at Marketing Resources in March 2009 in a Business Development role.  I was happy to be able to work within an agency that was technology-driven and gave me the answer to the question I was often asked by my experiential marketing clients – how do we measure this?  Selling our contest, games and sweepstakes capabilities I was able to support my client’s needs in delivering traffic to their websites, tracking, online surveys and social media applications.  It was tough getting into the role when the economy was so bad, but it allowed me to once again learn and experiment with a few different tactics in business development and client outreach.  It has been hard to figure out a path in either one of my Business Development roles without a clear mentor that has a successful methodology and track record in sales that I can learn from – but I am figuring out my path with mistakes and a non-stop determination.  And in answer to “The Money” question – in Quarter 4 of 2009, Marketing Resources held four different sales contest for new business (new clients that have never worked with the agency before) – I won three out of the four.  Highest Sales Volume, Highest Grossing Project and I sold the first agency’s Facebook Application.  Not withstanding that success, in my first month at Marketing Resources, I sold the agency’s first in-stadium text promotion for a sports team.

I provided my successes not as posturing or boasting about my accomplishments, but for 2 reasons:

  1. I wanted those reading my blog to see that there is substance and results behind what I talk about.
  2. Provide an example of what a person can accomplish even when your career has turned upside down by a lay-off in the worst economy in decades.

I want to be very clear and I say this because I am very critical and tough on myself.  I have much improvement and several goals to embark on this year to build on the success of the last year.  Evaluating 2009, I could have done so much more.  I could have worked harder, brought in more sales for my agency, brought more of everything to my social media campaigns, could have had more one-to-one mentoring sessions with friends and contacts out of work and most importantly, could have spent more time with my family.  In 2010, I WILL do all of that and more because I owe it to what I have been through to keep move forward with momentum and drive.

Here is to 2010 – I hope you are ready for me…

Barbara Maldonado

@bmaldonado / @pipelineb2b