More Of What Makes Marketing Work
More Of What Makes Marketing Work
Many small business think every person in their city or town is a prospect for their service. While this sounds like a great concept, it can be disastrous emotionally when you consider your expectations. If you expect 100% and only 5% become customers you may feel like you're not really accomplishing your goals.
So when you're sending out your messages, keep your target market in mind and hone in on those people who match your perfect customer profile. It is far better to send out a series of messages to fewer prospects than one message to everyone that falls on deaf ears.
The purpose of your marketing messages should be to grab the attention of the prospect. If your ad or direct mail pieces looks like every other small business in your area, you don't have a chance. If your store sign just says DRY CLEANER without a name, logo, tag line, color scheme, or something to set you apart, you're just wasting your time and hard earned money.
Marketing should be a consistent message generator to a highly targeted audience that attracts attention and breeds familiarity. This marketing process should deliver value in terms of educating the public about dry cleaning in general and about your service in particular. It should lead prospects by the hand, whet their appetites for more information and more contact with you and move them from a prospect to a customer.
Proven methods include building trust, what others say about you, what you stand for and say about yourself as a business owner. What contribution are you making to your own community? Which of your prospect's problems can you solve better than your competition? Why? Think about these questions and let them form the basis for your marketing plan for next year.
DELIVERING YOUR SERVICE WITH CARE
Once you have your prospects attention and interest, the next step is to build desire. First they have to trust you know what you're talking about. They have to believe you walk your walk and talk your talk, that your service and quality is as you say it is. Sometimes this requires showing a prospect with a free trial or testimonial from a satisfied customer.
It is often said that your reputation as a company is determined by the value of your lowest paid employee. If that employee has a positive attitude, loves coming to work every day, loves what he or she is doing, this enthusiasm will spread like wildfire through the plant, the front counter and on to customers. But if the employee is negative, has a chip on their shoulder, looks at their job as a necessary evil, you've got a "turkey" on your hands and need to think about next Thanksgiving, if you get my drift.
I recently heard a national speaker talk about great customer service. She said to a crowd of credit union customer service people, "Don't be just employed, be employable." This is an attitude you, as the owner of your business need to foster in your people and they in turn will foster goodwill and positive word of mouth to your customers.
INFORMATION - FEEDING THE RELATIONSHIP
We live in a world of information overload, yet people crave relationships, even with businesses. You have an opportunity with a new customer to deepen your relationship by providing a constant stream of informational resources. Use newsletters, emails, online newsletters, your website, brochures, articles, flyers and presentations to inform customers. Tell them about the environment, your equipment, your employees, how to solve a problem related to your business. Take advantage of the newsletter services in the industry and use them to your advantage - - outsmarting… not outspending the competition.
SYSTEMIZING YOUR MARKETING AND YOUR LIFE
Finally, putting all of these elements together. Begin to formalize the approach you take to marketing. If you wait until a slowdown it may be too late. With a system and plan of action that works consistently for you, not against you, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Systemizing your marketing is merely putting a series of auto-pilot marketing tactics in place that work for you on a consistent basis in attracting new customers and building relationships with current ones. In the meantime your workers and front line staff have to be ready, willing and able to deliver your message of friendly enthusiastic service that is infectious and builds loyalty.
More Of What Makes Marketing Work - To learn more about this author, visit Allan Katz's Website.
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SENDING OUT YOUR MESSAGES
Many small business think every person in their city or town is a prospect for their service. While this sounds like a great concept, it can be disastrous emotionally when you consider your expectations. If you expect 100% and only 5% become customers you may feel like you're not really accomplishing your goals.
So when you're sending out your messages, keep your target market in mind and hone in on those people who match your perfect customer profile. It is far better to send out a series of messages to fewer prospects than one message to everyone that falls on deaf ears.
The purpose of your marketing messages should be to grab the attention of the prospect. If your ad or direct mail pieces looks like every other small business in your area, you don't have a chance. If your store sign just says DRY CLEANER without a name, logo, tag line, color scheme, or something to set you apart, you're just wasting your time and hard earned money.
Marketing should be a consistent message generator to a highly targeted audience that attracts attention and breeds familiarity. This marketing process should deliver value in terms of educating the public about dry cleaning in general and about your service in particular. It should lead prospects by the hand, whet their appetites for more information and more contact with you and move them from a prospect to a customer.
Proven methods include building trust, what others say about you, what you stand for and say about yourself as a business owner. What contribution are you making to your own community? Which of your prospect's problems can you solve better than your competition? Why? Think about these questions and let them form the basis for your marketing plan for next year.
DELIVERING YOUR SERVICE WITH CARE
Once you have your prospects attention and interest, the next step is to build desire. First they have to trust you know what you're talking about. They have to believe you walk your walk and talk your talk, that your service and quality is as you say it is. Sometimes this requires showing a prospect with a free trial or testimonial from a satisfied customer.
It is often said that your reputation as a company is determined by the value of your lowest paid employee. If that employee has a positive attitude, loves coming to work every day, loves what he or she is doing, this enthusiasm will spread like wildfire through the plant, the front counter and on to customers. But if the employee is negative, has a chip on their shoulder, looks at their job as a necessary evil, you've got a "turkey" on your hands and need to think about next Thanksgiving, if you get my drift.
I recently heard a national speaker talk about great customer service. She said to a crowd of credit union customer service people, "Don't be just employed, be employable." This is an attitude you, as the owner of your business need to foster in your people and they in turn will foster goodwill and positive word of mouth to your customers.
INFORMATION - FEEDING THE RELATIONSHIP
We live in a world of information overload, yet people crave relationships, even with businesses. You have an opportunity with a new customer to deepen your relationship by providing a constant stream of informational resources. Use newsletters, emails, online newsletters, your website, brochures, articles, flyers and presentations to inform customers. Tell them about the environment, your equipment, your employees, how to solve a problem related to your business. Take advantage of the newsletter services in the industry and use them to your advantage - - outsmarting… not outspending the competition.
SYSTEMIZING YOUR MARKETING AND YOUR LIFE
Finally, putting all of these elements together. Begin to formalize the approach you take to marketing. If you wait until a slowdown it may be too late. With a system and plan of action that works consistently for you, not against you, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Systemizing your marketing is merely putting a series of auto-pilot marketing tactics in place that work for you on a consistent basis in attracting new customers and building relationships with current ones. In the meantime your workers and front line staff have to be ready, willing and able to deliver your message of friendly enthusiastic service that is infectious and builds loyalty.
More Of What Makes Marketing Work - To learn more about this author, visit Allan Katz's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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