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Ten
Tips for Marketing and Sales
» Thriving rather than Surviving
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1. Be dominant - Position Yourself to be a Market Leader
- Are you content to follow the herd? Step outside of your comfort
zone and dare to lead rather than to follow. Set yourself apart from
the competition by developing your own Value Proposition.
Prospective customers MUST have a good reason to do business with
you rather than your competition. Your Value Proposition answers the
question “Why should I buy from you?”
It could be your superior customer service, your lifetime refund
policy, best prices or the outstanding quality of your products. You
have absolutely no reason to worry about the economic slowdown or
competition once your customers 'experience' your Value Proposition.
Differentiate your firm in the market and you can use your Value
Proposition to handily eliminate your competitors.
2. Assess or Audit your Marketing & Sales
- The best way to review, evaluate, and improve the marketing
function is to undertake a marketing audit – an independent
systematic and comprehensive review of your marketing and sales
efforts.
- The goal of the marketing audit is to assess the effectiveness
of a company's marketing function and process, and provide
recommendations for improvement.
3. Reevaluate your product and service offerings
- In a down economy, it seems like everyone's concerned only
with price. In all likelihood, their real concern is value –
your need to differentiate your firm and products or services in
the market place.
- Look for ways you can repackage existing products or
services in ways that can provide more value. Or, develop a
product or service line that can accommodate smaller clients or
customers with reduced budgets. Adapt a product or service for a
new market.
4. Embrace your database
- Your current database probably houses former customers and
prospects, as well as current customers and suppliers. Now's
the time to go after them. Reactivate dormant accounts and
leads with new products, promotions and services.
- Also, contact current customers for referrals. Give them
ideas they can use to help their business in the current
economy, and they'll be happy to pass you on to others who
could benefit from your knowledge.
5. Measure your MROI (Marketing Return on Investment)
- The problem with many marketing efforts is the inability
of management to ascertain what really works, and why.
That's why smart marketers always measure outcomes so they
know exactly where to invest for the greatest return.
- The more you test and measure, the more relevant data
you'll get. And the more data you get - and analyze - the
smarter, more effective, your marketing will get.
Nine Tips for Recession Marketing and Sales –cont.
Thriving rather than Surviving
6. Cost Controls
- Controlling cost does not mean cutting cost. It means
being smarter with the budget you do have, and wringing
greater value from every dollar you invest in your
marketing program. Closely related to MROI, controlling
costs allows you to invest your money where it drives the
greatest revenue. Do not fall into the habit of doing
something "because you always have."
7. Launch a targeted, integrated new-business campaign
- Now is a great time to launch a customer acquisition
campaign. Strategically, set specific goals, tight costs
controls and strive to sell product and build brand.
Target your best customer profile, and speak directly to
them with your message.
- Develop an integrated campaign across different
media, with a focus on results-driven on and offline
direct-marketing techniques, as well as low or no cost
PR strategies such as speeches, articles in trade
publications, and the like.
8. Reevaluate your marketing service relationships
- Are you totally satisfied with your current
Advertising and PR agencies? What about strategic
marketing counsel? There are lots of smart
practitioners out there, and many may be able to give
you greater insight, higher levels of service, and
greater value for your investment.
- Choosing the right partner is an investment that
is critically important to your organization. Not only
is the expertise itself expensive, but the cost of
investing your limited resources in the wrong areas
can be catastrophic.
9. Enhance customer service
- Do you provide "bullet proof" customer service?
The cost of getting new customers is much higher
than getting more business from existing customers.
- To really grasp what your customers are worth,
figure their “lifetime value ". Each customer you
lose is taking that money out of your pocket over
time. Try never to lose a current customer; in a
downturn, the replacement cost is even greater.
10. Increase customer insight
- The more you know about your customers, the
more accurately you can target market your
products and services to address their specific
needs.
- To do this, marketing executives need to get
down in the trenches. Engage in direct contact
with customers through phone surveys, visit
customers, or ride along on sales calls. Conduct
surveys, and promotions aimed at gathering
opinions.
Copyright
©2005 by Ken Wilson All rights reserved. |
