By Marc Hausman, President and CEO Strategic Communications Group, Inc.

Part 2 of a 2-Part Series (Click here for part one.)

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed a two-pronged approach of "macro-targeted" and "micro-targeted" marketing and communications activities to grow your sales pipeline by getting in front of your key targets.

To fill your sales pipeline with quality leads, it is critical that your sales and marketing programs rely on both micro- and macro-targets. As a reminder, macro-targets (including media and other broadly-based market influencers) validate your company's positioning and key messages, and increase your awareness in the market. Micro-targets, on the other hand, are the specific people, companies and organizations that can more immediately affect revenue and your company's overall success.

In the second part of this series we will discuss how to make the most of a sales meeting once it's set. Again, it is time to leverage macro- and micro-targeting in three important ways.

Laser Focus Messages for Micro-Targets

Macro-targeted messages should broadly express your value proposition and your company's positioning in the market to the press, industry analysts or other market influencers. However, micro-targeted messages are specific to people, companies or organizations that may directly influence your capital, customer or partnership goals.

Let's assume that you have a meeting set up through the combined efforts of macro- and micro-targeting. It's important to take your micro-targeting one step further - hone your message and make sure that your value proposition translates to the needs of the specific company with which you are meeting.

This meeting was arranged because you are promising to provide value, whether it is a strategic alliance, customer acquisition partnership, channel development strategy, etc. Do your homework and make sure you have the answers they are looking for to the questions of "why buy," "why partner," or "why invest."

Here's one example: You're a small company looking for sales penetration in a particular vertical market. If you know that you offer a product or service that a company already selling into that market lacks, you clearly are valuable because you extend the range of offerings that company has at its disposal. The larger company can compete for wider-ranging, more lucrative contracts if it enters a partnership agreement with you.

That's how you answer the "why partner?" question. Now, if your product is still in its development stage, the same company may be willing to invest in bringing it to market. In short, you have to be laser focused on what you do, and how it can pay off for the people with whom you're meeting. And you have to be able to explain it quickly and convincingly.

Validate With Third-Party Credibility

The power of third-party credibility is that it is always more convincing to have someone say something positive about you than just to say it yourself. This third-party credibility should be used to smooth your way through your meeting.

Use the successes from your macro-targeted campaigns to reinforce why your micro-target should meet with you. Provide examples of articles by or about your company, press releases, inclusion in industry analyst reports, etc. as validation and a demonstration of a third-party confirming your value proposition.

During the meeting, incorporate comments from journalists and analysts into your presentation to validate specific sales messaging. If an industry trade magazine has rated your product tops in reliability, you'll want to stress to the prospect that it is not just your company touting your product's benefits.

Demonstrating third-party credibility is a must to demonstrate unbiased validation of your value proposition and to move past an initial meeting. If you are prepared to back up your claims with credible industry sources, doing business with your company becomes a less risky proposition for your prospect.

Leverage Your Facilitator

In many instances a third-party that has a relationship with both your company and the prospect can facilitate the meeting. This facilitator can be your law firm, PR agency or a business contact.

The role of the facilitator requires discreet participation - in essence, providing introductions and reinforcing the purpose of the meeting. Additionally, a good facilitator will be an attentive observer, offering on-site counsel that enables both parties to accomplish their goals efficiently.

Keep in mind, however, that with all relationships this is a two-way street. The goal of the facilitator is to represent both sides to ensure a mutually beneficial outcome because he or she has a relationship with both you and the other party. Once in the meeting, it is your responsibility to demonstrate your value to the prospect, not the facilitator's.

Targeting in Action: WAM!NET Government Services

A good example of macro- and micro-targeting working together and creating a positive result is WAM!NET Government Services, a Strategic Communications Group, Inc. (Strategic) client and a major subcontractor to some of the largest IT initiatives currently undertaken in the federal government. As part of its growth strategy, WAM!NET Government Services was evaluating a variety of different business scenarios.

Working closely with the WAM!NET Government Services' management team to determine their specific growth goals, Strategic created a communications strategy reaching out to macro-targets to increase awareness of the company and validate their value proposition to prime federal contractors.

Micro-targeting then put WAM!NET Government Services' management in front of C-level executives with top contractors in the market. Strategic leveraged its market connections to set up and facilitate meetings for the company with three major contractors in the industry. These meetings met expectations because both parties clearly understood how a possible relationship would be mutually beneficial.

As we've seen in both parts of this series, the value of public relations - positioning, awareness and third-party credibility - plays a crucial role in increasing your company's revenue. Public relations outreach to macro-targets creates an environment in which it is easier for your company to achieve its capital, customer and partnership goals.

But, this is only half the battle. You must implement communications outreach to micro-targets as well because they make the buy, partner or invest decision. Once you have the meeting, laser-focus your sales messages, validate them with your public relations results and leverage your facilitator. The end result will be a richer pipeline and a higher percentage of closed deals.

Marc Hausman is president and CEO of Strategic Communications Group, Inc. (Strategic), a public relations agency that helps its clients to increase revenue through targeted public relations programs, and access to the Strategic Network of Relationships™. Contact Marc at mhausman@gotostrategic.com.