Are You Marketing Backwards?
Marketing is like rowing a boat. When you know how the
pointed bow moves smoothly forward through the water
encountering the least amount of resistance. Rowing
backwards, the square stern of the boat pushes against the
water, requiring more effort and increases the risk of
having a wave come over the transom (back) and swamping
it.
Yet most people market backwards, trying to grow their
business while pushing against the greatest level of
resistance. Wouldn't you like to market your business so that it moved
easily forward? What's the first thing most people do to increase sales of
their products, services? They put together a description of
their credentials. Then they pick up the phone, run an ad
campaign, send out a brochure and or build a web site and
ask people to buy. Do you know anyone who has used this approach? Have you tried it yourself? Were you happy with the number of new clients and
customers
you attracted? It's a common misperception that the fastest way to attract
more clients and customers is to focus on asking people to
buy. It looks like the obvious route, but in most cases it
generates only a trickle of new clients for small business
owners. It can work if you're a large company with millions
of dollars to spend building your brand. Why doesn't this
selling approach work for service professionals and small
business owners? A sale is the end point or one of the waypoints in your
relationship with a client. Before they are ready to give
you their money prospects need to be confident that you
have
what they want, and they trust your product or service will
deliver on your promises. When you lead with a focus on selling and your credentials
you run into high levels of resistance. It is like trying to
row a boat backwards. Marketing is about building relationships, one by one. Start
by focusing on what your prospect wants, not on yourself. Think about it. When you pick up the phone or encounter a
friend, what's one of the first things you say? Do you
launch into a monologue about yourself? Most people
usually
start the conversation with a friendly questions or two and
then find a topic of mutual interest. If you have
information your friend is interested in, you share it. I frequently get calls from people who say they hate
marketing. Why? Trying to convince people to buy feels
pushy. An alternative that is more effective - and more fun - is to
focus instead on giving people what they want. Get your
prospect's attention by leading with a question or statement
that succinctly gets them thinking about how you can solve a
problem they have. This is your marketing message or
elevator speech, not your sales pitch. Once you have their
interest, give them something they want in order to prompt
them to contact you. This could be a short report or
article. Does your marketing approach give people what they want?
Does it help start a conversation and a relationship? Once a prospect gives you their contact information, go to
work and make good on their trust by showing an interest in
their needs and giving them a steady stream of useful tips.
The more you give your prospects, the stronger your
relationship will be. Rowing a boat backwards is hard work and won't get you
very
far. There is just too much resistance. To attract more
clients and grow your business stop marketing backwards
and
pushing against high levels of resistance. Give your
prospects what they want, build relationships and you'll
find more prospects buying the solutions you provide.
-
2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and
small business owners attract more clients and be more
successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan eBook,
'7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business'
at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Sum of Its Parts
I just spent a week at the beach with my
family and, as much as I vowed not to think
about work, stumbled onto a highly relevant
lesson for marketing professional services.
CRM: Strategic Engine or Just Another Tool?
CRM?strategic engine or just another technology tool? How would you answer this question about your company's CRM initiative? It depends on how honest you are in answering some other questions, including:
How to Really Get Your Customers
What Really Makes Your Postcard Mailing Successful? The biggest single factor in the success of your postcard mailings is who you send your postcards to.
Mortgage Marketing - Viral-Email, Referral Marketing Strategy
This is a devastatingly powerful way
to extend your marketing reach. For this to
work right you need a website that promotes
your business.
Increase Your Profits Through Customer Loyalty
The job of convincing your existing customers to spend higher and more often can be an extremely tough task. There are many ways of achieving customer loyalty. It can be far more profitable to market existing and new products to an established customer base, than to try and attract new buyers. Offering incentives such as: loyalty discounts, increased order discounts, attractive credit terms, bonuses and dedicated account managers are just a few tried and tested methods for maintaining and increasing customer loyalty.
Ten Reasons Why Most Yellow Page Ads Fail -And Yours Does Not Have to
Grant Directory users are ready to buy Yellow Pages have a major advantage over all other forms of advertising. It's used precisely when people have decided to buy. They open the directory to check out options and sources. The directory doesn't create their desire, but assists in finding the products and services they want. A typical telephone directory has 18,000 display ads - a recipe for sensory overload. Even within any category, readers encounter page after page of look-alikes, all jammed together. So it's easy for advertisers to get overlooked. Catching the reader's attention is tough - unless your ad differs from the others in ways that matter to readers. Find out how to get more mileage from your ad at http://www.yellowpagesage.com a smarter way to attract Yellow Page customers. The ideal Yellow Page ad provides the answers readers want to find A great ad provides the connection between what buyers expect to learn before buying AND what your particular business offers. The more precisely a business understands its customers' frame of mind, the better it anticipates and answers their questions. It can provide specifics, instead of the general phrases appearing in every competitors' ads. Avoid these common reasons why directory ads fail, so you get more mileage from your ad dollars. And a higher percentage of callers and sales.
Fails to provide the information directory users want Information trumps images and expensive extras, like color. Readers are looking for specific answers. Use your ad space delivering them. Words provide persuasion's heavy lifting. If your message applies equally to the other ads around yours, you haven't sharpened it enough. Keep honing the copy until it embodies why people prefer YOU.
Fades into background - doesn't get noticed While larger ads can be overlooked, smaller ads have to work harder for the same shot at being noticed. Overlooked ads cost just as much as chosen ones. The solution isn't about changing the size, but focusing the words to match what readers want to know. It comes down to saying something unique and relevant to them.
Treats the business name or logo like a benefit It isn't. That's probably the least relevant information, as far as directory users are concerned. Yellow Pages aren't the way to build name recognition. But if you've already developed name recognition in other ways, you have a major chance of getting called.
Inconvenient business location Half of all users scan for location before actually reading the ads' information. They only pay attention to businesses that are convenient (within driving distance) and easy to find. (That distance varies depending on the product or service.) So make sure your location is prominent and findable (maybe a map). Or compensate for an undesirable location with house calls or free delivery.
Expects more than an ad could possibly deliver This problem isn't about the ad, but the advertiser's frame of mind. There's too much hype and biased statistics about what the directory can deliver. New businesses, especially, have unrealistic expectations. The longer a business is in operation, the less impact their listing has upon drawing new business.
Treats the Yellow Pages like a stand-alone marketing method It works best for getting new customers, to capture the "undecideds." But relying on mostly new business is an inefficient way to operate. An enterprise also needs repeat customers and referrals to balance out the high financial and effort costs necessary to keep attracting new ones. Therefore, a business needs a variety of strategies to keep, as well as find, buyers.
Trusts ad size and placement to do the work Industry statistics show that larger ads and those toward the front of the category get more calls. But that over simplifies what makes people choose a particular ad. If an ad doesn't fit the reader's preferences or match what they're looking for, it will be passed by (whatever its size).
Looks like the rest Too bad if your ad doesn't capture the eye in the two seconds it passed by - then landed somewhere else. That's all the attention most ads get. Look-alike ads were probably done for free by directory employees. They follow standardized guidelines and templates without much variation. And they don't have a clue about what's special about your operation. That's not the best way to go.
Fails to track the calls so you know why people call No getting around it, if you don't keep track of customers you can't tell how they find you. Or what's working (or not). Logging the source of new business shows how much credit to give to the Yellow Pages (or other marketing efforts).
Callers can't get information they want That ad did its job fine. But the customer still got away because the call wasn't answered or desired information wasn't forthcoming. Fielding calls effectively is crucial because unsatisfied callers just call the next ad. Develop a strategy that covers all your bases An attention-grabbing Yellow Page ad doesn't just happen. The business needs to back it up with additional promotion to get more than their share of calls. But when the directory works together with other marketing effort, they all do better.
©2004, Lynella Grant
How to Put the Profit Producing Power of Couponing to Work for You
Coupons have proven themselves to be highly effective sales tools for every conceivable size and type of business.
How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth? Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - Part 4
Let's continue to discuss the various marketing principles that are involved in "popcorn marketing":
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.
Embracing The Future - Marketing Yourself, Your Business And Your
Introduction
Write It and They Will Come ? 5 Ways that Written Information Products Can Help You Build Your Busin
Whether it's a downloadable report available from your website, a book sold in the bookstore or a brochure that you hand out at a trade show, an information product is just that ? a product that contains information.
Maximizing Your Yellow Page Investment
Yellow Page users are the hottest of all prospects ? someone who has made the decision to buy, and now is looking for a place to do it. Does your ad convince them that your business is that place?
Words that Sell
We all know the English language contains hundreds of thousands of words. But did you know that only 21 of them can easily sell your clients? Yes! It's true. When you know what these proven words are and how to use them to your company's benefit, you'll save both time and money when selling to prospects. In fact, once you master the use of these 21 words, your business will quickly get the results it deserves. (Hint: this paragraph contains 10 of the 21 words. Did you spot them all?)
How to Profit from Your Expertise (Part 1 of 2)
Are you looking for a natural way to market your professional services? What if you could exponentially multiply the number of motivated, pre-qualified prospects you reach in a fraction of the time that networking and referrals require?
Step by Step Guide to an SMS Campaign
SMS is good for:
5 Tips to Grow Your Business Globally
Entering into Global markets is a great way to organically grow your business. However, many small to mid sized businesses have a hard time, if they even venture to go global at all, entering global markets. Here are 5 tips for businesses looking to expand their business by entering global markets:
Build Relationships
Personal marketing makes it easier to sell, by building relationships nurtured on awareness, value and trust. Make your relationships more fruitful by making them personal. Use these powerful yet simple tips from the book, Secrets of Power Marketing; Canada's first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers.
How to Run a Successful News Release Program
Marketing public relations gives you cost effective ways to reach your audience. The trade-off, however, is time. It takes time to develop and execute public relations programs. It can take time for these programs to yield rewards.
Marking Your Territory
We all know the familiar adage "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck..." it's nearly always a duck. The same is true with image, particularly when it comes to the images we portray of ourselves as writers.
The Power of Thank You
Sometimes we loose site of the small things in life that are incredibly important. As a child growing up in America, most people are taught from a very young age to say Thank You in appreciation of a courtesy extended by someone.
|
