As many of you may know, we are in the middle of a blizzard here in Massachusetts!  It is very exciting to get 2-3 feet of snow in one storm, especially if you get to keep your power!  While I can’t promise the power will stay on, I can promise that I am happy about being snowed in for the next 24 hours.  I have batteries, firewood, food, ice, a full gas tank in my car and an army of shovel-bearing kids. What does this have to do with marketing and business development?  Perhaps not much, but the topic of preparation has a lot to do with successful marketing.

Being prepared is all about having the right items for a predicted scenario. What you need to be prepared certainly differs depending on what you want the final outcome to be. But almost anyone needs to have the following components at the ready in a marketing scenario:

• A solid network.  Creating your networks and keeping your connections close is very important so that you may be opportunistic on a dime. Use a range of tools to maintain your network… social media, in person meetings, email contact or phone calls.  They all build relationships that support your business development efforts.
• A quick pitch.  I have posted about creating a quick pitch in the past and encourage everyone to draft a few versions of their pitch and practice them until they are perfect.
• An updated database.  Whether you have a formal database program, or simply use your outlook, make sure your email addresses are up to date so that you may communicate in a timely fashion.  Nothing worse than having something important to share and no way to do it.
• A follow-up strategy.  Sometimes the most important piece of the sales cycle is the follow-up.  Effective follow-up will always help you win a pitch.

Of course there are so many more tools that you will want to draw upon for successful business development, but these are definitely the essential items to include in your marketing preparation kits!