With the recent buzz around Marie Kondo, I couldn't resist diving into her book and testing out her organization theory. Of course, I started by applying it to my home, my clothes, my books, and my kitchen.

Her methodology is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, particularly the Ōsōji (year-end cleaning), and goes beyond the concept of household organization.

That's when I started pondering how to apply Marie's mantras or messages to businesses, specifically to marketing and sales.

Apply Marie Kondo to your Marketing

As the internet and social media continue to flourish, businesses that have taken the leap into establishing a digital presence have been experimenting with various strategies to discern what works and what doesn't. However, in the process, many have fallen into the trap of overindulgence, juggling multiple websites, different campaign pages with every provider, numerous Facebook pages (sales, corporate, customer service), various email platforms, contact lists in Excel files, and much more.

The outcome? An online presence lacking control and focus because "it takes too much time to manage" and yields little to no results.

So, as I like to say, "less is more," but when it comes to Marie Kondo, her motto is "Cleaning is the act of confronting oneself." This marks the initial step in the process we guide our clients through when we begin working together. It aims to encourage each company to face itself, ask what it wants to achieve, and plan how to do so. This involves taking inventory of all digital assets floating around - from websites to social media profiles, design files, and procedure manuals, among other things.

 Organize your digital "pile of clothes" and confront it, keeping only what sparks joy, or in our case, what ignites your sales.

Marie Kondo to your sales

How often do we find ourselves on the phone with someone requesting a quote but having no knowledge of our product or service? Quite often, right?

How many times do we send emails or newsletters to contacts who haven't opened or read them in months? Every month?

Even worse, how many times have you missed out on closing a new client by following an outdated procedure as it is? It's time to stop wasting your time.

It's time to stop wasting your time.

As Marie would say: "Effective organization involves only two essential actions: getting rid of things and deciding where to store them."

To break the inertia of continuing to do things as they have always been done, you first need to eliminate outdated sales techniques that nobody wants, stop imposing on the customer how they should engage, refrain from buying databases unrelated to your business, and put an end to relying on your old contact list. Get rid of all that right now!

To understand how people buy today and adapt to it, it's not useful to dwell in the past. According to Marie, "order depends on values about how one wishes to live," in this case, where you want to take your company.

Generate your own base of potential customers to sell more, only keep those contacts that align with your ideal customer and are the result of good communication and marketing actions. Learn to group contacts and opportunities into categories or segments, decide where to store them, and what treatment to give them. Also, learn to prioritize effectively.

Shift the focus of your company

For any change to occur, a shift in mindset is essential. As Marie would say, "People don't change habits unless they first change their way of thinking." So, it's time to change how you do business. It's no longer about you, but about your customers, how they make purchases, and the problems or challenges they seek to solve with your product or service. Understanding more about the methodology of Inbound Marketing can help, placing the customer at the core of your marketing, sales, and services processes.

Thank the past for all it has given you, as it has brought you to where you are today. Make room for the new, invite in fresh abundance.

By applying a touch of Marie Kondo style to your company with Andimol, you will see results quickly.