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High Impact Brand Appeal

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Business researcher, businesswoman and author Wendy Lipton-Dibner is a highly successful woman who has led highly successful enterprises and has made lots of money by not focusing on money. Yes, that is correct. This brave iconoclast says that the right product or service and a business model that is not quite like what they teach in business school, is the blueprint for building a long-lasting and lucrative business venture and she has the data to prove her claim.

Lipton-Dibner studied 1000+ organizations that covered a wide spectrum: global, small business, for-profit and not-for-profit. She has also operated several business enterprises herself. What her research revealed runs counter to the holy grail of business management, which is 100% focus on generating profit. From product development to customer service, it is taken as gospel that minimizing costs and maximizing sales are the things to do and every aspect of a business must be aligned around the singular goal of making money.

Yet Lipton-Dibner discovered that the most successful and long-lived companies are those that “make a difference” in the lives of their customers. Think of the distinctive, sometimes revolutionary experiences created by Disney, Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, Hermes and Whole Foods Markets. Each of those companies offers products or services designed to help their customers lead more fulfilling, efficient, productive, healthier and/or enjoyable lives. She asserts that there are two types of business enterprises: those that focus on making money and those that focus on making a measurable impact on people’s lives and it is the latter approach that makes the most money.

Ethical growth strategies that position the company to make a positive impact on the lives of customers reap the most success, especially over the long-term. So how can a Freelancer or small business owner integrate this philosophy into his/her operation? As always, everything begins with the customer.

Ask current and prospective customers how your product or service and its delivery mechanism might be adjusted in ways that would make it more user-friendly. Can you design and deliver the ideal customer experience from start to finish and make those who do business with you so happy that they’ll tell co-workers and colleagues, who may eventually become your customers as well? That is the power of your brand appeal and impact.

As you make the changes that will give your customers The Best Experience Ever, you may find that certain adjustments in your business model, operations processes, quality control, or service offerings may need updating and that is to be expected. You’ll also learn how to refine your marketing messages and sales strategy along the way, because you will be much more tuned-in to what resonates with your customers, promoting trust in what you do and making customers happy to do business with you.

Wise fiscal management of your enterprise will continue to be a requirement, but centering your strategies and actions on  the pursuit of the biggest profit margin and net profit often does not pay off in the end. Finding the balance between what it takes to gain and keep customer loyalty and the necessity of sustaining a money-making enterprise is the road to success.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Customer Data: Collecting and Utilizing

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Big data and data mining are buzzwords that have echoed frequently in the business press during the past three or four  years.   The noise level has caused business leaders to feel obligated to collect data from as many customer interactions as possible.   OK,  that’s very ambitious of them,  but now what? There is a lot of talk about big data and data mining and increasingly there is some action,  but the dust has not yet settled.  Many organizations are struggling with how to interpret,  utilize and store the copious amounts of customer data now in their possession.

Customer information is always useful,  but does data collection have meaning for small businesses and Freelance solopreneurs?  What information should a Freelancer collect and what do we do with it once we have it?  Do big data and data mining have any use for the little people?  The answer is yes,  but no.  Big data and data mining are of most use to the bigger players,  who use the costly to acquire information to fine-tune product offers to millions of current and potential customers.

Freelancers and small business owners can start with their client list.  Who has done business with you over the past five years? Who are your repeat customers?  What do they buy from you and when do they buy it?  If you have not done business with a B2B or B2G client in the past two years,  is your contact still at the organization and is s/he still in the same position? Are B2C physical and email addresses current?  Visit company websites and view the staff lists to confirm email addresses,  telephone numbers and job titles.

Customer data might give you ideas on how to improve customer service,  cause you to re-think your pricing strategy,  or help you to discover unexpected talking points for your next email marketing campaign or monthly newsletter.  Your customer data might prompt you to reconsider good customers of years past and get you thinking about how to win them back.  Updated customer information will make it easy for you to send out holiday cards in December to your B2B and B2G clients and do some relationship-building,  an important element of customer retention.

Online customer surveys that are accessible on your website and also emailed to your customer list have the potential to bring in still more useful customer data.  Learn how to devise a survey that makes it easy for customers to share the information that you want.  Keep the questions simple and don’t ask more than 10 to achieve the highest rate of participation.  Freelancers may also want to send out post-project surveys with the final invoice.

Social media outlets are another excellent source of customer data.  Social media have a way of bringing out uncensored thoughts and you might be surprised by what you learn.  Are your customers willing to engage with you on Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn or Twitter?  Will any join in a Google + Hangout and join in a voice and video live chat?

Collecting data from many touch points is potentially very useful for every business entity,  but what you make of it and do with it are what matters.  Freelancers and small business owners can use customer info to improve revenue by way of expanding billable hours or sales of current customers;  re-establishing business with lapsed customers;  new customer acquisition and relationship-building.  Small data can yield big results when properly interpreted and utilized.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

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12 Sample Customer Survey Questions

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In numerous posts over the years,  I’ve recommended that you conduct customer service surveys to guide your decision-making as you refresh your brand,  update your business model,  promote client retention,  stimulate referrals or initiate any other changes in your business practices.  Customer surveys can unearth all sorts of interesting and actionable data.  A dozen well-written questions can  give revealing insights into what drives the need for your services,  what persuades decision-makers to choose you instead of a competitor and customer expectations that may not be immediately apparent.  Surveys help you learn how your operation stacks up against the competition and can identify business strengths and weaknesses.

To give you inspiration,  I hereby provide a few sample questions.  Send your customer survey along with the final invoice of a project.  Include it on your website,  Facebook, Google + or LinkedIn page.  Announce it on your Twitter feed.

  1. What service did (the company) provide for you?
  2. What factors made you decide to hire (the company) for this project?
  3. Do you feel that your project contact/manager acted in your best interests and your organization’s?
  4. How closely did (the company) adhere to the agreed-upon project timeline?
  5. Do you feel that your project contact/manager responded to your requests for information and other inquiries in a timely fashion?
  6. Considering the value of this project to your organization,  how do you feel about the amount paid as compared to the value received?
  7. If you feel that you received poor value,  please describe the problem (s).  How do you feel about the process of providing resolution?
  8. Would you be willing to invite (the company) to work with you on another project?
  9. Are there additional services that you wish (the company) would provide?
  10. How often do you typically hire outside project-specific workers?
  11. Based on the experience of working with (the company) would you be willing to recommend to a friend or colleague?
  12. Do you have any suggestions for improving the services provided,  or related administrative matters?

Thank you for your feedback. Your honest opinions are sincerely appreciated.

A big part of growing a successful business is through referrals and repeat business.  Clients only return to you or recommend your services when they are extremely satisfied with your performance and have a high degree of confidence in your operation.  Your clients possess a wealth of information that may not only give you the opportunity to bring solutions to their problems and increase your revenues as a result,  but may also give you ideas about how you might attract new business.  The only way to access this information is to ask your clients and listen to their answers.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Big Data and Small Business Marketing

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Let’s start with the definition.  When the term  “big data”  is used,  what does it really mean?  Jon Miller,  co-founder and CEO of Marketo,  calls big data a catch-all term for very large and complex data sets that exceed the processing capabilities of the typical available computer software.  In general,  big data refers to the compilation of everything that takes place over the internet: transcripts from Twitter comments or call center conversations,  online videos,  podcast uploads and visits,  webinar broadcasts,   all blog postings,   all website visits,  all credit card transactions,  all ATM activity,  all online purchases,  online advertisements,   downloads of music and uploads of photos.

As regards marketing,  big data refers to all information that details retail sales,  online sales,  market share,  website visits,  blog reads from your website,  newsletter reads from your website,  responses to online customer surveys,  online response to special offers and online advertising,  plus all marketplace and industry data about global,  national and regional  business conditions.

Whatever it is you need to know about customers,  the industry and the business conditions in which you operate is buried within big data.  But in the avalanche of information,   deciding which data to access and interpreting what is brought forth is the marketer’s challenge.  Determining the right questions to ask is the primary imperative,   as the late great management guru Peter Drucker pointed out.

If you want to use big data in your marketing plan,  then  propose questions that will elicit the answers you need to fine-tune your marketing mix.  Maybe you’d like to become more effective in converting website visitors into customers?  A list of the names of prospects who visited your website,  spent more than one minute reading your blog or newsletter,  forwarded the post to someone and and then tweeted some content about what he/she found to others would indicate a serious shopper for your products or services.  Big data can help predict which marketing activities are most likely to convert a prospect who has reached that level of engagement.

Google Analytics can reveal part of the game plan,  but only big data can get seriously granular.  For example,  algorithm-based predictions can forecast the expected impact of marketing campaign activity on those who surf your website,  indicating who should receive special offers via email or who should be invited to join a focus group.  Algorithm-based predictions can also forecast the likely impact of marketing activity on the next quarter’s,  or next four quarters’ revenue.

Based on what is learned through big data,  the marketer can make much more specific and informed decisions about target or niche markets that have the most sales potential,  strategies to build brand awareness and loyalty,  advertising choices and budgets for targeted media outlets,   social media choices that create the most buzz and the ROI of that buzz and the marketing message that drives sales.  Who will be your best customers,   why will they be your best customers,   what is the average amount of money the customer will spend in your business,  how loyal is the customer to your brand,  what types of advertising does the customer respond to best,  what kind of social media does the customer respond to best and will those customers create good word of mouth  (still the best form of advertising)  for your business?

So how can small businesses and Freelance solopreneurs access big data?  It can be done by hiring a marketing firm that we most likely cannot afford.  At this time,  big data usage will be the playground of big businesses.   If it’s any consolation,  marketing firms are still trying to get arms around big data themselves.  For now,  traditional marketing analytics will have to suffice for the 99%.

Traditional marketing analytics are useful and certain data we already own: bricks & mortar sales data,  online sales data,  seasonal sales variations,  customer zip codes,  popular service packages,  pricing and the number of Foursquare,  Facebook,  LinkedIn and Twitter followers,  for example.  Market testing is expected to remain a vital part of developing a marketing strategy,   even when big data is used.  Business owners and marketers will continue to measure the impact of promotional strategies employed.  Finally, whether big data or marketing analytics are used when devising a marketing plan,  proposing the right questions,   as Peter Drucker advised,  is where one starts.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Go to the Front of the Pack

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I’m a little bit of an egghead and every once in a while I like to read a good study,  to keep myself current,  or even ahead of the curve,  on matters of health,  business or anything else that catches my eye.  Recently,  I read an interesting study on strategic competitive positioning,  a survey study done this year at Babson College’s Babson Executive Education.

Lead author H. James Wilson competes in triathlons and he used those competitions and their participants as the study framework.  Triathletes assess competitors in a clean and simple fashion:  who is Front of the Pack,  Middle of the Pack or Back of the Pack?  The first two groups are ranked as actual competitors and the latter is seen primarily as new to the triathlon scene and nothing to worry about.  MOPs and BOPs have one goal and that is to improve their time in every event they enter and move up to the FOP.

Wilson applied the FOP,  MOP and BOP classifications to 300+  global companies that had recently reported facing intense competition within their respective industries.  He segmented the companies as follows

  • FOP if they achieved greater than 15%  annual revenue growth in FY09  (5%,  16 companies)
  • MOP if they achieved 1-15%  annual revenue growth in FY09 (48%,  145 companies)
  • BOP if they showed flat or declining revenues in FY09 (47%,  144 companies)

The essential question of strategy is,  are you heading in the right direction?  Wilson knew that the FOPs were doing more than a few things right and to get to the heart of it,  he analyzed the FOPs and identified three ways in which they outpace the also-rans.  He then developed the following survey questions based on those strengths.

Wilson’s data indicate that if you can answer yes to each of the survey questions,  you’re on your way to the FOP.  How do you stack up?  Something to think about.

1.  Are you/is your company becoming more effective at meeting the needs of clients/customers?

Despite the economic downturn that spawned the planet-wide recession (depression?),  FOPs have maintained the trust,  confidence,  loyalty and dollars of their customers.  FOPs understand what customers want and they are better at anticipating future needs and trends.  They put resources into keeping a finger on the pulse of the customer and they know what resonates.  FOPs are proactive in market research and customer outreach.

2.  Have you/has your company recently implemented a significant innovation campaign or launched numerous small-scale innovation pilots?

Brainstorming ideas for new services,  fresh approaches,  an innovative marketing campaign or self-development plans is an important beginning.  It is always necessary to think things through,  examine the big picture and weigh the possible outcomes of your actions.  Just remember that  “implement”  and  “launch”  are the key words.  How many good plans have you left to languish on the drawing board?  FOPs understand that results come from deeds,  not words.

3.  Are you/is your company becoming more collaborative with other Freelancer colleagues/other organizations?

High levels of cross-company interactions distinguish FOPs more than any other factor studied.  FOPs are also more likely to inform those in their network about business opportunities.  As a result,  FOPs receive the benefits of reciprocity more than most,  when referrals come their way.  Think of  how you might include selected non-competing colleagues in business opportunities that would be mutually beneficial.  Perhaps this is the smartest way to scoop bigger contracts for both?  Plus,  you’ll gain exposure to another’s business methods and perspectives and that information will make you even more savvy and competitive.

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving,

Kim

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For a Few Dollars More: Up-selling and Second Helpings

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Business has been rather soft for the past several quarters,  thanks to the tanking you-know-what and alas,  the sales girls at Saks and Neiman’s have not seen me for a while. When cash was in hand,  I built up quite the wardrobe.   I shopped prodigiously and wisely and my outfits still look good (thank you Donna Karan!).

Now when I look for something to wear to a meeting or party,  I must shop in my closet.  Lately,  I’ve been thinking of ways to apply that practice to my business.  How can I wring more action out of what I already have in-house?

In terms of resources expended and conversion rates,  maximizing business opportunities within one’s client roster is easier and more cost-effective.  I pretty much know what my clients want from me.  Still,  I wonder if there are ways to up-sell or entice with additional services? I wonder if I might have opportunities within other departments in an organization?

To figure it out,  I did some low cost market research.  As usual,  the best way to learn what clients need is to directly ask them.  Inviting  a  client to lunch or coffee,  away from workplace distractions,  sets the stage for a productive  exchange of information.

A good conversation opener is to inquire about new initiatives and/or challenges  in the client’s organization.  Ask next what you might adjust re: delivery of services,  service offerings and business practices that will make things easier for your client.  From there,  review the full list of your services.  Clients often will not remember all that you do.  This information alone may inspire your client to envision new roles for you,  perhaps even in those coveted other departments in the organization.

Guide the conversation to become  a  brainstorming session that will reveal where,  when and by whom value-added up-sells would be appreciated.  Arrange introductions to decision makers and obtain important endorsements of your work.  Learn the names and titles of gatekeepers and key influencers.

Client needs fall into two buckets:  anticipated and unanticipated.  The former needs are what you and your client will discuss over lunch.  You may be able to propose how your services can address some of these needs.  They are organizational goals and objectives and have a budget and timetable attached.

The latter needs require good  luck and timing on your part.  Maintaining communication will improve your odds of hitting the jackpot.  These client needs are ad hoc and often spring up suddenly.  They may constitute  a headache,  if not an emergency,  and they sometimes must be quickly addressed.

Position yourself to be at top-of-mind and viewed as the go-to problem solver by:

1). Meeting or exceeding client expectations every time.

2). Creating follow-up opportunities that are not perceived as either desperate or  annoying.

Some Freelancers like to keep a calendar,  so that they will remember to contact clients at regularly scheduled intervals,  sometimes with a newsletter.  The receipt of relevant information is usually welcome,  but my advice is to tread lightly.  Many vendors may be competing for your client’s attention in various ways and saturation point will eventually be reached.  Respect boundaries at all times.

My standard approach is to announce a new workshop to clients,  whether or not I expect them to buy.  Someone could surprise me! Client needs evolve in response to changes in the business environment,  as do yours and mine.  What was brushed off last year may be important now.

Sending news of a workshop is a  “safe” way to contact clients.  It violates no boundaries;  it demonstrates my expertise;  and it will get my name into their prefrontal cortex,  so that if an unanticipated need arises or unexpected money is dropped into their budget,  I”ll be more likely to receive an email.

A clever and indirect method of client contact is to make a referral.  You will receive  significant validation when that third party contacts your client and lets them know that you made the recommendation.

Maintaining contact with clients post-assignment is an effective strategy to mine additional revenue from your client list.  For $20.00 or less,  you can  invite your client  to update you on anticipated needs and learn about  new organization  priorities,  concerns,  fresh business opportunities for you and the decision makers and influencers who control access,  plus get advice on how to improve your business practices and hone your competitive edge.  Additionally,  you will learn how to craft a sales pitch based on selling points that you will emphasize when promoting those same services to similar clients,  new or current.

To attract revenue from unanticipated client needs,  devise unobtrusive ways to maintain the contact by offering value to the client.  Announce  new services,  speaking engagements or classes;  send a newsletter if you dare;  make strategic referrals;  maybe send links to articles that you know will be of special interest.  Make it a point to extract more sweet water from the well.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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A 5 Step Value Proposition Plan, Steps 3, 4 & 5

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We continue to build the value proposition that will convince clients and prospects that doing business with you helps to make them more successful in their own jobs or businesses.  Let the important customers know that they are important by soliciting their thoughts and opinions about your products and services;  let them tell you what you do that makes their work easier or more productive;  and let them tell you what else you might do that would make their work still more productive or less problematic.

Step Three is to motivate customers to sell for you.  When you demonstrate to customers that they’re on the VIP list,  they will love that feeling of importance.  They will feel even better about doing business with you and will be inclined to talk you up and make good referrals for you.  Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising,  make no mistake about it.  It will give your business tremendous credibility.

Bring your top clients behind the velvet rope and into the VIP section.  Oh, and make sure you devise a “rewards program”  for this advisory board.  Pass along a few perks to those who help you upgrade your game.  Perhaps you also can make a referral or two?

So Steps One and Two set the stage for Step Three,  when top customers deliver to you prospects who are ready to spend money.  Personally referred prospects are likely to be pleased with your services, because they will have heard about you from one whom they trust.  An expectation of success will be established.

In Step four,  incorporate what you’ve learned in the interviews done in Step Two. Implement those suggestions that make good business sense.  Make the necessary adjustments if  you get the heads up on competitive activity or changing conditions of some sort.  Don’t let your good  work go to waste.

In conversations with your customers,  what common themes emerge? Be sure to respect and value in your business practices what your customers respect and value.  For example,  let’s say you’re about ready to trim certain costs in order to stay within a particular price range—yet the VIP crowd indicates otherwise.

If leading customers crave a certain level of service,  quality of merchandise,  or style of packaging and they are willing to keep paying for it,  don’t take it away and disappoint them! Stay the course and give them what they want.  They will love you for it and show that love by handing over more money to you.

Lastly,  in Step Five acknowledge your strengths and apply them to running your business. View your strengths through the prism of a restaurant.   Are you front of the house—excelling at customer contact and relationship building,   making sales calls, networking and schmoozing,  forming strategic partnerships?  Or are you back of the house—most comfortable and effective while overseeing operations,  crunching numbers, devising long term strategies,  negotiating a lease?

Recognize where you excel.  If you work solo,  perhaps outsource what can be comfortably handed over to another party (like PR or bookkeeping).  If you are going into business with partners,  make sure that skill sets are complementary and not competing. This will make roles and  responsibilities  easier to delineate and ensure that the important bases are covered, thus improving the venture’s chances for success.

So there you have it,  5 easy pieces that will help you re-examine and re-focus your business practices,  optimize client loyalty and goodwill,  encourage referrals and the right kind of buzz and build up your bottom line.  If you can convince yourself to try the first two steps,  I guarantee that you will be impressed with the results and sold on working through the entire program.

Good luck to you,
Kim

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The Best Prospects

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We are all looking to expand our client base and bring in more business.  Most of us are out there spreading the word about our products and services, meeting and greeting, delivering an expert elevator pitch to whomever will listen and positioning ourselves as experts within our field.

If the gods smile, our efforts will deliver unto us a decision maker and a real sales call. How can one increase the odds of making that happen? Effective prospecting is the method.  Prospecting is a vital function for all Freelancers and business owners.  If  the goal is to have a successful business, then we must make a practice of continually replenishing our sources of potential clients.

First,  let us dispense with the myths.  Prospecting is NOT sales.  Prospecting is a tactical function of sales.   It is the process of identifying and qualifying businesses and individuals who have the potential to become paying customers.

Prospecting is NOT a numbers game. Time = money and you have no time to chase so-called prospects who have a low probability of becoming a customer. You want only those with motive and money to hire you or patronize your business.

Prospecting need NOT be hugely time consuming.  Plan to budget about 15% of your weekly or monthly calendar for prospecting.  Make the time to keep your pipeline filled.

Contrary to common belief,  prospecting is NECESSARY even when billable hours are high and sales are strong.  Because business always waxes and wanes,  it is important to use the good times to create opportunities that will sustain  in the lean times.

So let’s think strategically about the prospecting function.  Start by identifying your key customer groups.  Do you typically work within certain industries? Why not target other businesses within that industry as likely prospects? Your experience within those industries will provide the trust factor that your prospects will appreciate.  You will  know the usual priorities, concerns and preferred benefits.

Are you a member of a business association? Do you have visibility within the group? Are any of the members your clients? Have you made good referrals for any members? Think about  which member businesses could benefit from using your  products or services.  Leverage your proximity to these targets to learn more about their businesses.  Once again, the trust factor will be on your side, especially if a member or two are clients of yours or you are visible in the association.

This approach can also work with job titles.  For instance, who usually hires you–the VP of marketing, the CEO, the CFO, or the director of development? Target that title as you prospect.  Prior experience will have taught you what will resonate with these individuals, thus adding to your  credibility.

Once you’ve developed a list of targets, devise an approach.  Might any of your colleagues have contacts within these organizations? Do company names appear in the online member listing of the chamber of commerce or neighborhood business association? Is there a trade show coming up that the prospect –or company representative–  may possibly attend (trade show sponsors are ususally listed on the show’s website)?

When you meet someone at the targeted company (oh, happy day!), let the contact/prospect know that you’ve done your homework and see possible alignment between their business and your product.  Emphasize outcomes and benefits.  Aim to schedule a time for further discussion with either the ultimate prospect or someone who can substantively influence the decision.

If you are met with an objection, handle it with aplomb.  If the answer is, “we already have someone” inquire about current or recent projects.  Offer a comment or two that displays your expertise in the subject. You may discover that the objection was just a smoke screen.

If the answer is ” I have to think about it”,  let the person know that you  respect their desire to make an informed decision.  Ask what information might assist the decision, who else in the organization you might speak with and when you can follow up?

The objective is to get a dialogue going and not get shut down.  If you choose your prospects wisely and plan a good approach,  you are guaranteed to bring in at least a mid-level client nearly every quarter.  Now get busy!

More next week,

Kim

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Starting A Business? Consider Your Marketing Strategy Part III

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Even if you will not seek financing for your business and the marketing plan is for your eyes only, you will thank yourself many times over if you take the time to thoroughly research and account for all aspects of marketing, especially sales expectations for your products and/or services.  Make sure that you  understand  exactly how you will  make sales contact with prospective customers.  In your plan, note whether your business will sell primarily  B2B,  B2C  or  B2G.

THE SALES STRATEGY–PROJECTIONS

Sales is the tactical manifestation of marketing.  The theories of marketing are brought down to earth to make contact with the customer and will be validated (or invalidated) by the sales revenue generated.

When planning a new business venture it will be necessary to make sales projections (also called forecasting), ideally for 36 months into the future, to give yourself an idea of the revenue potential of your business.  It’s sort of like fortunetelling, but there are resources available to help you make a reasonable estimate.

Marketresearch.com gives current industry profiles and other data, covering 16,000 lines of business in 300+ markets. You’ll need to become a registered user;  some (but not all) info is free.  Another excellent source for business data is Boston Public Library’s Kirstein Branch. You can access certain info online at bpl.org and most is free.

Example:  in your business, you are the only sales person during the first year.  If sales are promising, you may decide to hire 1-2 sales people in year two and maybe another 1-2 more sales reps in year three.

There is data that gives the average sales revenue per full time sales representative in nearly every industry. That data will allow you to chart your expected gross income for the year, based on the number of people selling for you.

However, bear in mind that a new business is unlikely to achieve the benchmark figures during the first 3-5 years of operation.  Remember also that gross revenue is not net revenue—there are expenses associated with selling like salaries, product brochures and office supplies.

Competitive intelligence data can help confirm the accuracy of your sales projections.  However,  Freelancers and those competing with privately held companies will not be able to ascertain how much revenue is historically generated yearly by those competitors since the data is not public.

What I’ve discussed here is known as the Comparative Method of projecting sales.  It is generally more useful to project for new businesses using this method. There is also the Build-up Method, where the entrepreneur identifies all likely revenue streams and then estimates the dollar volume that can be extracted from each source in a given month (or quarter).  The Build-up Method tends to work best for businesses that have been up and running for a few years and therefore have a sales history and documented revenue streams.

Finally, consider the impact of  sales trends for your industry (meaning consumer demand) and the relative strength of the local and regional economies on your products/services.   Sales projections will never be 100% accurate.  It will be wise to keep your forecasts conservative.

THE SALES STRATEGY–CUSTOMER CONTACT

How the business owner makes contact with prospective customers will be governed by a number of factors, one of the biggest being is this an online business or is it in real time?

If  you expect to sell online, be sure to have a website with a good shopping cart set up and secure credit card processing.  Your website will function like an ambassador and an employee,  so create  it with respect. The site must communicate your brand very well, must download quickly every time and must be user friendly.  A content management system will allow you to keep the site updated yourself.

Driving traffic to the site will be your #1 job and search engine optimization will be critical.  As was suggested in a  comment to last week’s posting, internet discussion groups are a very useful way to connect with customers and create buzz.  They are a great way to drive traffic to your website.

Catalogues do double duty, allowing customers to order by telephone or the website. They are expensive to produce (product photography is costly) and print, but they still catch the customer’s eye and are widely used by the likes of LL Bean and Staples. To the customer a good catalogue is a keeper, so you don’t have to print more than once a year.  Get a toll free phone number for customer convenience.

Next, decide whether the best way to sell to customers will be face to face or by telephone.  What is traditional for your business, meaning what do competitors do? Of course, you can create your own style.  Your sales may occur primarily by telephone, but a visit to prospects to introduce yourself to decision makers and gatekeepers can be a wonderful way to separate yourself from the pack and develop relationships.

Other selling methods include bid submission (e.g. the trades or selling to the government), referral arrangements and inclusion on preferred vendor lists (e.g. caterers and florists  at a function space).  For some businesses, two or more customer contact methods will be used to generate sales.

Next week we’ll start talking about money.

Kim

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Starting A Business? Consider Your Marketing Strategy Part II

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The marketing plan integrates all activities that are required to reach the customer,  from defining the position,  image and promise of  value that form the brand identity, to the style of  product packaging, to where and how the product or service is sold.  It can be argued successfully that the marketing portion of your business plan is the most important.  Investors and lenders will surely take an in-depth look.  Let’s float some ideas on how to create some buzz for what you’re selling.

THE ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

The time tested way to get the word out to broad swaths of potential customers about the debut of your business and the advantages and benefits offered by your products and services is through advertising. The advertising methods that you choose will depend upon the customer, the business you will enter and your budget.  Think carefully about how you can reach customers in cost-effective ways.

Be prepared to do an advertising roll-out, step by step, to introduce your business to potential customers.  You’ll start with business cards and a brochure or contact sheet (for Freelancers). You may also have a website, or you may wait a few months until you can budget that project.  Depending on your business, you may do a leafleting campaign to announce your opening and place promotional fliers in selected locales.

You might do an open house. You might offer discount coupons. You might give away an inexpensive branded promotional item to your first 50 customers. You may take out a small ad in a local newspaper or in a business group newsletter, or place a banner ad on a website that is popular with your target customers. You could start a blog! Brand identity will guide your advertising and promotional activities.

If you have some money to work with, you may decide to hire a PR firm.  If you can find a PR person who 1). has contacts in your industry and 2). will actually produce the results they promise, then by all means sign on.  Getting articles written about you in print and online publications or even a coveted guest spot on local TV is a wonderful way to spread the word, establish credibility and expertise and bring in clients.

But be advised that PR people often oversell.  In all likelihood, if you sign up for the economy plan, they’ll do nothing for you except take your money.

So create your own PR.  Networking will be a big part of your promotional activities, so read the article in this blog and work on your Expert Elevator Pitch. You would be wise to join a few professional and business organizations like the chamber of commerce and at least one or two others. You need to get the word out about your business and start filling your sales pipeline with clients.

You need info on happenings in your industry and business environment. You need to meet colleagues and yes, competitors. This latter group can be very helpful. They can tell you pitfalls to avoid. They can tell you the backstory about suppliers and vendors.  They know your customers better than you do.  If they’re nice, don’t be too proud or too shy!

Social networking will also be an important part of your promotional strategy.  Depending on your business  MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and/or Facebook will give you an online presence in addition to your website.  See the article Your Personal Brand Part II for tips on creating the right online presence.

Finally,  developing an advertising calendar will be very helpful.  It looks good in the plan and is a practical way to budget advertising dollars and ensure that you include all advertising options that both reach your target customers and make sense for you.  It will remind you to place seasonal ads when appropriate and meet advertising deadlines.

I’ll be back next week with Part III of Marketing, the final segment.

Kim