Marketing Strategies to Put Yourself Out of Business
Want to learn how to lose a billion dollars? Just follow the marketing strategies used by GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler. Yes, some of the largest corporations in the world are missing some basic tenants of marketing and it's worth taking a look at what they're doing wrong so you don't make the same mistakes. You don't want the following headline written about your company. "GM Hits Billion Dollar pot hole" - Miami Herald "GM shares fell to a 12 year low." - New York Times What are some of the most glaring mistakes a handful of car companies are making? 1. Discount Pricing GM and Ford offer free loans and rebates worth thousands of dollars to prompt people to buy their vehicles. Good idea? When you need to resort to bribing people to buy your products or services, it's a sign that something is terribly wrong. The idea is to provide value, help your prospects understand the perceived value and charge enough to make a reasonable profit. When you start discounting your product as a means to get people to buy it you've entered an endless downward cycle. The next time a prospect buys, they'll want an even larger discount and there will always be somebody who will undercut you on price. Eventually you'll end up like GM, losing lots, maybe not billions, but enough to threaten the life of your business. 2. Making Products People Don't Want According to the New York Times, "General Motors and Ford have swerved off course for a far more basic reason: not enough people like their cars." Whoops! The objective is to market a product or service people want. 3. Not Paying Attention to What People Want If you want to make money you'd pay attention to what your prospects want? Right? In the case of Daimler Chrysler you'd be wrong. At the Detroit Auto Show crowds loved the two-seat 8 foot long "Smart Car". So logically Daimler Chrysler decided not to sell it in the United States despite booming sales in Europe for years. Zap, a Santa Rosa CA firm, saw an opportunity especially with rising gas prices and went direct to the European Daimler dealers to buy the cars. Surprise! Ten thousand U.S. buyers put themselves on a list to order over $55 million worth of cars in just a few months. Avoid discount pricing, provide products and services your prospects want and you can avoid losing a billion or instead make 55 million. I don't know about you but if I lose ten thousand dollars I get upset and when I make a million in a year I'm pretty happy. Charlie Cook2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Plan eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Are You Playing Checkers or Chess?
When you think about how to attract more clients for your professional services, are you playing checkers or chess?
Getting Personal ? Innovative Marketing for Small Business Owners
The small business marketing strategy you can't afford to miss
Everyone loves a story. Even if you don't particularly like reading them chances are you love watching them, either on TV or at the movies. Imagine if your marketing literature was like a great story: people would read it from beginning to end for one thing (as opposed to just throwing it straight into the bin), and they'd be more likely to tell their friends about it, too. Your small business marketing could be famous! Well, maybe?
How To Market Effectively Even If No One Understands What You Do
So how do you effectively market your product or service when one knows anything about them because you're in a new and emerging industry? How can you expect to get customers if no one understands what it is that you do?
Boost Your Business With Testimonials
When used correctly, testimonials can boost your response dramatically. They help build the prospect's perception of believability, stability, honesty, and value in your product or service. When prospects see all those testimonials, especially from people to whom they can relate, they gain confdence in you. They become less worrried about making an error in buying what you sell.
No One Gives A Damn About Your Business. Unless You Give em A Reason To
The good news is that there are thousands of people looking for what you offer. The bad news is that those people are extremely tough to attract not to mention that your very livelihood depends on it. It's a scary thought when you think about it. And many don't. Some are simply ignorant to the marketing realities. For others the expense and complexity associated with any kind of formal marketing effort is simply too intimidating. They rely souly on word-of-mouth. The fact is, word-of-mouth is great, fabulous, wonderful and not enough if you're serious about growing your business.
Non Products Exist in this World
"Both the market and the distributive channel are often more crucial than the product. Products are within the business as the accountants define it. They are within its legal boundaries. Economically the other two areas are as much part of business."
- Peter Drucker, Managing for Results.
5 Ways to Use Your Business Cards More Effectively
Contrary to popular belief, the best use of business cards is not making origami or collecting dust. But, in this article you will find 5 of the most effective ways to use your business cards on a daily basis!
Consider Consumer Psychology
In your marketing efforts, be they on or offline, it's wise to consider the psychology of the consumer you are targeting. If you've done your homework you've developed a profile of your ideal customer and how your unique selling point speaks to them. Now, as you begin to develop a marketing strategy, writing ad copy, developing radio copy, and creating web copy, it is an understanding of consumer psychology that will help you speak to the consumer.
Marketing Quandaries
Being in a quandary prevents you from moving forward in developing and marketing your business. When we're in a quandary, we are in a state of perplexity and doubt. We don't know how to move forward to accomplish those things that are crucial to attracting clients and growing our business. One of the first things we need to recognize about being in a quandary is that we are, in fact, in one! There are a number of easy, simple things that you can start doing today to get yourself out of that place of being stuck.
The Testimonial Writing Machine
Almost every small business marketer knows that they should gather testimonials to use in their marketing materials.
Medias Dirty Little Secret
I'm constantly amazed by all of the media reps from all of the different media outlets that can help your advertising to "reach the right people."
Want To Be A Stronger Marketer? Work Your Marketing Muscles!
You want to be more flexible? You have to stretch your muscles. Want to be physically stronger? You have to find a way to workout and build your muscles. Want to be a stronger marketer? You've got to work your marketing muscles.
Walking Talking Advertisements
So you've made a sale. Great!
10 Proven Ways To Accelerate Your Profits
1. Make copies of your web site in many different
languages. This'll allow foreign speaking people to
read your web site and advertisements.
How to Leverage Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool
Second in a series of three articles:
Utilizing Your Best Hidden Asset To Increase Sales
You probably already have in your possession one of the most valuable
and powerful assets you can possibly own. But if you're like most
business people you probably aren't using it to its full potential.
Pamphlets and the Money They?ll Put in Your Pocket
People are making a fortune on pamphlets. If you go into an airport you can purchase a pamphlet for around $6.95, and it probably cost under fifty cents to produce. It blows my mind to think that little folded up booklets are the sole reason that some people are rich today. It's crazy.
Generational Marketing
Having run a multi-state franchise company with multiple brands it became obvious to me early on that if one were to properly respond to the needs and desires of your customer base; you must indeed, understand generational marketing. The X'ers have a completely different mindset than the "Boomers" or the "Matures." As I thought about this I also realized that it did not matter if you business was big or small; if you were the franchisee or the franchisor. All businesses must understand who their customers are and how the think and how this relates to their buying behavior. I am going to recommend a book to you, which you should go out and read immediately:
Creating Your Unique Selling Proposition or USP
Creating Your Unique Selling Proposition
Produce More Sales from your Email Promotions - Part 2
Do sales come from your ezine regularly? How many well-written articles do you submit per week to Online ezines? How often do you send thank you's and follow up messages to your different email groups?
|