Marketing & Sales Lesson

September 16, 2008

Does your marketing suck? Are you having challenges pulling more prospects toward your business? Is your marketing activity “Customer Centric”? Do you know that “W Clement Stone”, one of the greatest marketers in his time made more money in during the recession than at any other time just by adopting a unique marketing and selling technique that many underestimate. He went as far as sharing his secrets about how he did it so that everyone could learn from his experience.

For now, I want to just focus the next few days sharing some information about marketing with you. Some of you may have already attended my marketing workshop in July, where there were nearly 30 businesses that rated the seminar/workshop as “Very Good” or “Excellent”. As a result, none of what I am about to share with you will be new.

I want to take this opportunity to share with you what “Customer Centric” means and why it is relevant to your business. You may have heard about different marketing concepts in the past and you may have been baffled by some of the complicated terminologies which very often do not really add value to your business. Rest assured that marketing is not meant to be complicated and if the truth be known we are all marketers, always marketing ourselves, albeit sub-consciously.

For your “Marketing & Sales” to be effective, it must be “Customer Centric”. In other words, it must be built around the concept of serving the needs of your market, in a manner that is acceptable to the prevailing laws of the operating jurisdiction. Hear is the challenge, the biggest mistake that many businesses make is to first, “Fall in Love” with their products and services and thereafter their customers. Some businesses are so in love with their products and services that the word “Customer or Client” have very little value beyond the cover of the brochure that carries a bold statement that they care about customers or they are a member of the “Customer Association For Top Quality Services”- so to speak. By the way, I just made this association up, I am sure you know what I mean.

Being a “Customer Centric” in your marketing and sales activity is about developing a cultural mindset of service to your target market. This is not always perceived as easy but it can be if you have the right systems and tools in place, which is where we come in. When your business is being driven by such a philosophy, it becomes totally aware that its primary purpose is to provide effective and reliable solutions to the problems of the target market it serves and then, exchange the solutions for cash from customers. When this happens, all parties in the transaction win, and so everyone in the relationship is happy.

I cover this concept in my book “My Business Is My Business” which you can obtain from http://www.mybusinessismybusiness.com

Let me ask you a quick question; Is this how your business conducts it affairs. Do you know what your customers’ needs and wants are? Do you focus on solutions as opposed to features of your products and services? I want you to think about this very hard. You may have thought you are already doing so but when you attend our marketing workshop you will soon find you there is still room for improvement. Let me share an example of an experience with you. I once came across a business that attended one of my workshops and describes his products as an ordinary pen similar to WH Smith. Upon reviewing a sample of his pens, I immediately discovered they were not ordinary pens. They were marketing tools that serve an important part of the marketing mix for clients. The business owner focused on the feature of his products and did not see the solutions which then means his capacity to sell his services was severely limited. The solution the business provides centred around delivering a cost effective marketing tool mainly to small business owners, to raise market awareness of clients’ existence. The pens have a strong potential to generate leads through prospecting and so forth………… Can you see how perception can change the way you describe your business to the market. Can you see how our training courses can immediately add value to your business, as you re-position your business? When you buy a drill, you are doing so because you want a hole. If all you heard from the supplier was nothing more than the feature of the drill, I am sure you will not part with your money to buy it. As long as you can get a hole very quickly on the wall and of the required depth, you are not too concerned about the feature assuming it is safe to use in the first place.

A word of caution; just because you have a sound solution to a problem does not mean your marketing will be effective. Solution is one element of marketing. There is the element of “Prospecting, Converting Prospects to Customers, Retaining Customers and Up Selling Customers. You need to know what is involved in handling all these stages and our course will teach you how to do them effectively.

By Friday 19 September, I will share some information about internet marketing with you, as a strategy for business growth. In fact, you may well be getting an e-book on “Search Engine Optimisation” from my marketing partners. Oops I should not have mentioned this. It should have been a surprise. I can’t keep a secret.

If you are not already registered for our “Autumn Courses”, you need to do so urgently to ensure your place is secured. All prices are competitive for the value you will be achieving through these courses.

To access information about the training workshop go to: http://www.businessservicessupport.com/training_workshops.php

Do you know that we now offer online courses? If you are unable to attend a course you can also register for the online version.

To access information about online training go to:

http://www.businessservicessupport.com/online_training_courses.php

If you are a “Woman in Business” or “BAME Business”, you can access our evening teleseminars. This service has been put together to ensure you can access quality training in the evenings over the phone or via webcast. To register for free, you should go to:

http://www.bsslearningcenter.com

Please share this information with as many businesses that needs the support.

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