“Information in the absence of execution is overhead”- Ronald Griffin, SVP, Information Services, Home Depot, Inc.
Many businesses small or large operate in difficult market environments as global competition, legislation and globalization add market and business complexity.
Knowing, gathering data and information, scouring own databases and statistics, operational figures and performance measures not only asks for significant resources but also produces overhead.
As a modern and successful business with constant growth as an overriding goal you should be concerned to extract value from any business activity, especially overhead and administrative tasks. In order to transform a rather administrative effort such as data and information gathering and collection into value adding business activity you need to become efficient, goal oriented and business result focused.
Internal and external data and information need to be transformed into actionable intelligence, actions need to produce results on the front and in your books, your bottom line needs to strengthen as a result of market intelligence, not suffer additional cost burdens.
MarkIntell.com strives to provide resources and business experience to help you with this transformation process. At the end of the day your market and competitive intelligence effort needs to be smooth, efficient, effective and value adding to your operation.
Tools, applications, internal processes and external partnerships, a strong internal network of intelligence users and contributors and most importantly your sales force will be of material importance.
12/02/2009
Market Research Ideas
Online Market Intelligence For Small Businesses
Use the Internet to research and find valuable market information to help build a successful small business without leaving home! Here are some tips for armchair research
The Internet presents a wealth of research opportunities that can help a small business owner gather important market intelligence without leaving home or spending money.
Good market intelligence and simple research can help a new business target its products and services. Getting the right product at the right price to the right market is part of the key to a successful business and is as important to a small business selling handmade items as it is to a large multinational – arguably more so as the small business does not have a market position or global name to fall back upon.
Here are a few ways that can help provide the information required to build a successful small business.
Collecting Good Market Research
The Internet offers a wealth of opportunities for people looking to launch a new product or service. A simple search will return potentially hundreds of pages of information about a given product and companies that are currently selling it. This can help to build an understanding of product ranges, where the gaps are in the market and where there is market saturation
Websites: Internet sites such as eBay, Etsy and other specialist sites are a great source of detailed information and particularly useful for small business looking to sell handmade items. When researching product opportunities it is important to look for areas where there is potential. There is a temptation to tailor a product offering to the most popular areas of the market – however these could also be the most heavily saturated and the competition between companies may mean that the prices are compromised and it is difficult for a new company to break in. (Take a look at this article for more information about using eBay as a research tool)
Reviews and Feedback: Many websites now offer the opportunity for customers to leave feedback or reviews of products. When researching new opportunities this can be a valuable tool, as it gives an insight into the experience of customers and a snapshot of their thoughts at a given time. This can help to determine what a customer might require or expect from a product or service, including price and delivery.
Forums and Groups: Internet forums and groups can be found on the Internet on almost every subject and most of these are free to join. Major portals such as Yahoo and Google Groups offer a wide range of groups and their directories are easy to search. Forums are a great way to find out more about the market need and present the opportunity to observe what people are talking about in a given area. If a small business is interested, for instance, in developing a business selling handmade diapers, then joining a forum and listening to other members as they talk about their wants, needs and experiences gives an insight that is invaluable. Note: It is generally considered unethical to use forums as a sales outlet.
The information that is gathered will help to build a small business that has the foundations for long term success.
Use the Internet to research and find valuable market information to help build a successful small business without leaving home! Here are some tips for armchair research
The Internet presents a wealth of research opportunities that can help a small business owner gather important market intelligence without leaving home or spending money.
Good market intelligence and simple research can help a new business target its products and services. Getting the right product at the right price to the right market is part of the key to a successful business and is as important to a small business selling handmade items as it is to a large multinational – arguably more so as the small business does not have a market position or global name to fall back upon.
Here are a few ways that can help provide the information required to build a successful small business.
Collecting Good Market Research
The Internet offers a wealth of opportunities for people looking to launch a new product or service. A simple search will return potentially hundreds of pages of information about a given product and companies that are currently selling it. This can help to build an understanding of product ranges, where the gaps are in the market and where there is market saturation
Websites: Internet sites such as eBay, Etsy and other specialist sites are a great source of detailed information and particularly useful for small business looking to sell handmade items. When researching product opportunities it is important to look for areas where there is potential. There is a temptation to tailor a product offering to the most popular areas of the market – however these could also be the most heavily saturated and the competition between companies may mean that the prices are compromised and it is difficult for a new company to break in. (Take a look at this article for more information about using eBay as a research tool)
Reviews and Feedback: Many websites now offer the opportunity for customers to leave feedback or reviews of products. When researching new opportunities this can be a valuable tool, as it gives an insight into the experience of customers and a snapshot of their thoughts at a given time. This can help to determine what a customer might require or expect from a product or service, including price and delivery.
Forums and Groups: Internet forums and groups can be found on the Internet on almost every subject and most of these are free to join. Major portals such as Yahoo and Google Groups offer a wide range of groups and their directories are easy to search. Forums are a great way to find out more about the market need and present the opportunity to observe what people are talking about in a given area. If a small business is interested, for instance, in developing a business selling handmade diapers, then joining a forum and listening to other members as they talk about their wants, needs and experiences gives an insight that is invaluable. Note: It is generally considered unethical to use forums as a sales outlet.
The information that is gathered will help to build a small business that has the foundations for long term success.
7/11/2009
Business Opportunities - Ideas For New Businesses
An operational Guide for Home-Based and Micro-Sized Businesses with Limited Budgets.
Business ideas are all around you.
They are lurking in your garage, in your basement, in your kitchen, and in your children’s room. You’ll find them in magazine ads, at your neighbor’s house, and at work. They are right there in the vegetables you brought in from the yard . . . in the stack of papers next to your laser printer . . . in the back of your truck . . . and at the back of your mind.
You don’t need to be a genius or an MBA to spot those ideas and turn them into profits, either. Identifying business opportunities is often as easy as identifying problems many people share and finding a way to solve them. When Matthew Osborne, an entrepreneur from Columbus, Ohio, wanted a way to make money, he found one right at his feet: dog dirt. Unlike most people who just gripe about stepping in it or having to clean it up, he started a business removing dog waste from homeowners’ yards. The business was an immediate success, and after several years, he sold the business for a quarter of a million dollars. Even then, however, he continued to make money from his idea by writing a booklet about how to start a pet waste removal business and selling the booklet on the Internet.
Other business owners have turned their hobbies, interests, and skills into satisfying and often lucrative businesses, simply by seeing a need in the world around them and finding a way to fill it. You can, too.
Do What You Love to DoBusinesses don’t just happen. They are made.
Whether you plan to profit by twisting balloons into smile-generating shapes or orchestrating the growth of multimillion-dollar, multinational companies, your success relies on what you bring to the business. If you love
what you do, your passion for the business will drive you to be knowledgeable, creative, and persistent. On the other hand, if your feeling for what you do is lukewarm, your success will be, too.
Turn Old Standbys into New ProductsTruly new concepts are few and far between. Most new products or new business ideas are simply spin-offs of old ones. Inline skates is one good example. Essentially, they are ice skates on wheels or, depending on your point of view, streamlined roller-skates. Other new business ideas are nothing more than new ways of marketing mundane products. Take Dial-A-Mattress, for example. Furniture and bedding stores have always sold mattresses—but not by phone. Not until a furniture salesman by the name of Napoleon Barragan started a business selling mattresses over an 800-number phone line. The idea took hold, and today, Dial-A-Mattress sells some $70 million worth of mattresses each year.
You may not have the money, management ability, contacts, or desire to launch a major new product like inline skates or the energy or desire to build a multimillion-dollar sales organization. But you don’t have to launch anything that large to start a business or introduce a new product.
Years ago when my kids were little, I made money selling beanbags. The twist? I designed them in the shape of frogs and I filled them with birdseed instead of beans to make them pliable and less lumpy to the touch. To attract attention at craft shows, I displayed them in various human poses (sitting up, laying on their side resting their head on their hand, or hugging each other, for instance). I could produce them quickly and kept my costs low by making the frogs from inexpensive fabric remnants. That allowed me to price the frogs low enough to make them great impulse buys.
You can spin almost any skill or industry knowledge into marketable new products or services.
A neighbor turned his skill at fixing cars into a repair and tune-up service. His angle? He was mobile. Customers didn’t have to drop their car off at the shop. Instead, the “shop” (a van outfitted with tools and auto parts) came to them. Another acquaintance built a business by purchasing large quantities of chemicals and repackaging them in smaller quantities.
And several paper suppliers have created businesses by preprinting colorful brochure or flier designs on paper stock. The preprinted papers are then sold to businesses and individuals who use their laser printers to print out their own sales literature and fliers on an as-needed basis.
Look for Avalanches Marketing avalanches, that is.
“Drag your products into the path of an avalanche and you’ll be swept along with it,” says Alan Kaufman. Kaufman was the executive vice president of sales for Cheyenne Software when it was a small, vertical market software company that had big ambitions.
Cheyenne’s owners had been keeping a close eye on trends in the computer industry in the late 1980s. They felt that Novell local area networks (LANs) were about to snowball and started developing enhancement products for Novell LANs. Within six years, the avalanche (combined with good products and heads-up management) turned their little company into a $127 million operation before it was sold to Computer Associates. Cheyenne was the 13th largest software company in the United States and employed nearly 700 people at the time of the sale.
Look for Mundane MoneymakersYou don’t need to create exciting new products or services to go into business, either. Millions of business owners profit by selling routine and sometimes unglamorous services such as window washing, car repair, sandwich making, building maintenance, house cleaning, and plumbing. The key to making money with the mundane is to sell something your customers can’t do, don’t want to do, don’t have the time to do, or can’t get done well elsewhere.
Spin off a More Lucrative BusinessThe business you start today may not be the business you run tomorrow. Entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals sometimes find that their
initial attempts to start a business don’t bring in the profits they had hoped for. Nevertheless, they often benefit by discovering new profit-making opportunities because of contacts or knowledge they pick up running their first business.
Las Vegas resident Beth Waite used to make $7 an hour as a self-employed dressmaker. Her customers often asked her for advice on choosing clothes, and she discovered that information available in books often was confusing and not really helpful. Because of her research, though, she heard of Beauty Control, an image consulting firm. After taking the company’s training course, she started an image consulting business, charging clients $50 an hour for her advice. She supplements the consulting income with profits from the sale of Beauty Control products.
Business ideas are all around you.
They are lurking in your garage, in your basement, in your kitchen, and in your children’s room. You’ll find them in magazine ads, at your neighbor’s house, and at work. They are right there in the vegetables you brought in from the yard . . . in the stack of papers next to your laser printer . . . in the back of your truck . . . and at the back of your mind.
You don’t need to be a genius or an MBA to spot those ideas and turn them into profits, either. Identifying business opportunities is often as easy as identifying problems many people share and finding a way to solve them. When Matthew Osborne, an entrepreneur from Columbus, Ohio, wanted a way to make money, he found one right at his feet: dog dirt. Unlike most people who just gripe about stepping in it or having to clean it up, he started a business removing dog waste from homeowners’ yards. The business was an immediate success, and after several years, he sold the business for a quarter of a million dollars. Even then, however, he continued to make money from his idea by writing a booklet about how to start a pet waste removal business and selling the booklet on the Internet.
Other business owners have turned their hobbies, interests, and skills into satisfying and often lucrative businesses, simply by seeing a need in the world around them and finding a way to fill it. You can, too.
Do What You Love to DoBusinesses don’t just happen. They are made.
Whether you plan to profit by twisting balloons into smile-generating shapes or orchestrating the growth of multimillion-dollar, multinational companies, your success relies on what you bring to the business. If you love
what you do, your passion for the business will drive you to be knowledgeable, creative, and persistent. On the other hand, if your feeling for what you do is lukewarm, your success will be, too.
Turn Old Standbys into New ProductsTruly new concepts are few and far between. Most new products or new business ideas are simply spin-offs of old ones. Inline skates is one good example. Essentially, they are ice skates on wheels or, depending on your point of view, streamlined roller-skates. Other new business ideas are nothing more than new ways of marketing mundane products. Take Dial-A-Mattress, for example. Furniture and bedding stores have always sold mattresses—but not by phone. Not until a furniture salesman by the name of Napoleon Barragan started a business selling mattresses over an 800-number phone line. The idea took hold, and today, Dial-A-Mattress sells some $70 million worth of mattresses each year.
You may not have the money, management ability, contacts, or desire to launch a major new product like inline skates or the energy or desire to build a multimillion-dollar sales organization. But you don’t have to launch anything that large to start a business or introduce a new product.
Years ago when my kids were little, I made money selling beanbags. The twist? I designed them in the shape of frogs and I filled them with birdseed instead of beans to make them pliable and less lumpy to the touch. To attract attention at craft shows, I displayed them in various human poses (sitting up, laying on their side resting their head on their hand, or hugging each other, for instance). I could produce them quickly and kept my costs low by making the frogs from inexpensive fabric remnants. That allowed me to price the frogs low enough to make them great impulse buys.
You can spin almost any skill or industry knowledge into marketable new products or services.
A neighbor turned his skill at fixing cars into a repair and tune-up service. His angle? He was mobile. Customers didn’t have to drop their car off at the shop. Instead, the “shop” (a van outfitted with tools and auto parts) came to them. Another acquaintance built a business by purchasing large quantities of chemicals and repackaging them in smaller quantities.
And several paper suppliers have created businesses by preprinting colorful brochure or flier designs on paper stock. The preprinted papers are then sold to businesses and individuals who use their laser printers to print out their own sales literature and fliers on an as-needed basis.
Look for Avalanches Marketing avalanches, that is.
“Drag your products into the path of an avalanche and you’ll be swept along with it,” says Alan Kaufman. Kaufman was the executive vice president of sales for Cheyenne Software when it was a small, vertical market software company that had big ambitions.
Cheyenne’s owners had been keeping a close eye on trends in the computer industry in the late 1980s. They felt that Novell local area networks (LANs) were about to snowball and started developing enhancement products for Novell LANs. Within six years, the avalanche (combined with good products and heads-up management) turned their little company into a $127 million operation before it was sold to Computer Associates. Cheyenne was the 13th largest software company in the United States and employed nearly 700 people at the time of the sale.
Look for Mundane MoneymakersYou don’t need to create exciting new products or services to go into business, either. Millions of business owners profit by selling routine and sometimes unglamorous services such as window washing, car repair, sandwich making, building maintenance, house cleaning, and plumbing. The key to making money with the mundane is to sell something your customers can’t do, don’t want to do, don’t have the time to do, or can’t get done well elsewhere.
Spin off a More Lucrative BusinessThe business you start today may not be the business you run tomorrow. Entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals sometimes find that their
initial attempts to start a business don’t bring in the profits they had hoped for. Nevertheless, they often benefit by discovering new profit-making opportunities because of contacts or knowledge they pick up running their first business.
Las Vegas resident Beth Waite used to make $7 an hour as a self-employed dressmaker. Her customers often asked her for advice on choosing clothes, and she discovered that information available in books often was confusing and not really helpful. Because of her research, though, she heard of Beauty Control, an image consulting firm. After taking the company’s training course, she started an image consulting business, charging clients $50 an hour for her advice. She supplements the consulting income with profits from the sale of Beauty Control products.
6/05/2009
Positioning and Targeting your market
Positioning and targeting market are two of the most important factor in our marketing strategy. The basic of that understanding are the stronger your positioning the stronger your marketing strategy. Both of positioning and target market decision are based on our understanding to customer, to company's capablity, as well as to competitor's capability.
Positioning consist of one, two or three benefits offered by our products to solve the customer problems. The benefits should be better or even can not be compared to your competitors. Positioning should consist of some benefits only, some extraordinary things which you can offer to customers. Mention only the most important benefits. Try to select among these benefits and not to mention too many as the customer will hardly remember it. With the selection you will easily to put you positioning to serve your target market. Put the 3 most important benefits and set them as your positioning. For example : the engineering company will select the benefits they are able to offer to client. The ability to offer to client the financial back up, also the most economic product compared to competitor with the same quality. In order to achieve that, the company has to limit the capacity of the plant should be equal or more than 500 m3/day. So that their positioning has been set based on that capacity.
An effective Unique Selling Point (USP) communicates your firm's unique ability to fill an obvious void in the marketplace. The USP shows your target market how your firm is uniquely qualified to solve their pain or increase their gain. A USP can be your firm's single most powerful marketing weapon.To craft a USP for your firm first make a list of all the benefits of doing business with your firm. Don't leave anything out.Then cut the list down with these guidelines.
1. What things on your list are unique versus your direct competitors.
2. Which of these benefits is most important to your clients?
3. Which of these would be difficult for other's in your industry to copy?
4. Which of these can be easily communicated?
From this set of guidelines you should be able to narrow your search to the top one or two benefits of doing business with your firm.From there it is simply a matter of injecting this chief benefit or USP into everything that you do.Craft headlines that promote your USP, put a USP statement on your stationary and business cards, build your USP into all of your sales presentations.The ultimate goal is to become known to the market as whatever your USP promotes.One final word of warning. You must deliver on the big promise communicated in your USP. Failure to do so may actually do more harm then drifting along without any marketing focus.
Word of Mouth Marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing, which encompasses a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause influencers and social media marketing, as well as ambassador programs, work with consumer-generated media and more, can be highly valued by product marketers. Because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals, it is believed that product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility. Research points to individuals being more inclined to believe WOMM than more formal forms of promotion methods; the receiver of word-of-mouth referrals tends to believe that the communicator is speaking honestly and is unlikely to have an ulterior motive (i.e. they are not receiving an incentive for their referrals).
To promote and manage word-of-mouth communications, marketers use publicity techniques as well as viral marketing methods to achieve desired behavioral response. Influencer marketing is increasingly used to seed WOMM by targeting key individuals that have authority and a high number of personal connections.
Marketers place significant value on positive word-of-mouth, which has historically been achieved by creating products or services that generate such "buzz" naturally. The relatively new practice of word of mouth marketing attempts to inject positive "buzz" into conversations directly. While marketers have always hoped to achieve positive word-of-mouth, deliberate efforts to generate beneficial consumer conversations must be transparent and honestly conducted in order to meet the requirements of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act that prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices." To help marketers understand the difference between legitimate and unfair practices, a number of professional organizations have put forward recommendations for ethical conduct.
Word-of-mouth effects in the life cycle of cultural goods has been mathematically modelled. For evidence as to the conditions under which word-of-mouth communication is effective, see Grewal et al. 2003.
With the emergence of Web 2.0, many web start-ups like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and Digg have used buzz marketing by merging it with the social networks that they have developed. With the increasing use of the Internet as a research and communications platform, word of mouth has become an even more powerful and useful resource for consumers and marketers.
In October 2005, the advertising watchdog group Commercial Alert petitioned the United States FTC to issue guidelines requiring paid word-of-mouth marketers to disclose their relationship and related compensation with the company whose product they are marketing. The United States FTC stated that it would investigate in which the relationship between the word-of-mouth marketer of a product and the seller is not revealed and could influence the endorsement, and said that it would pursue violators on a case-by-case basis. Consequences for violators may include cease-and-desist orders, fines, or civil penalties.
Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)
WOMMA is the official trade association for word of mouth marketing. The organization has more than 380 corporate members who have created a word of mouth profession based on best practices and measurable ROI. WOMMA offers its members the latest knowledge, research, and training through webinars.
Society for Word of Mouth (SWOM)
SWOM is a social network and educational resource for people who want to build word of mouth into the DNA of their organizations. Over 1,800 members from around the world share word of mouth ideas and challenges with each other. SWOM provides education through online and offline events.
To promote and manage word-of-mouth communications, marketers use publicity techniques as well as viral marketing methods to achieve desired behavioral response. Influencer marketing is increasingly used to seed WOMM by targeting key individuals that have authority and a high number of personal connections.
Marketers place significant value on positive word-of-mouth, which has historically been achieved by creating products or services that generate such "buzz" naturally. The relatively new practice of word of mouth marketing attempts to inject positive "buzz" into conversations directly. While marketers have always hoped to achieve positive word-of-mouth, deliberate efforts to generate beneficial consumer conversations must be transparent and honestly conducted in order to meet the requirements of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act that prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices." To help marketers understand the difference between legitimate and unfair practices, a number of professional organizations have put forward recommendations for ethical conduct.
Word-of-mouth effects in the life cycle of cultural goods has been mathematically modelled. For evidence as to the conditions under which word-of-mouth communication is effective, see Grewal et al. 2003.
With the emergence of Web 2.0, many web start-ups like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and Digg have used buzz marketing by merging it with the social networks that they have developed. With the increasing use of the Internet as a research and communications platform, word of mouth has become an even more powerful and useful resource for consumers and marketers.
In October 2005, the advertising watchdog group Commercial Alert petitioned the United States FTC to issue guidelines requiring paid word-of-mouth marketers to disclose their relationship and related compensation with the company whose product they are marketing. The United States FTC stated that it would investigate in which the relationship between the word-of-mouth marketer of a product and the seller is not revealed and could influence the endorsement, and said that it would pursue violators on a case-by-case basis. Consequences for violators may include cease-and-desist orders, fines, or civil penalties.
Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)
WOMMA is the official trade association for word of mouth marketing. The organization has more than 380 corporate members who have created a word of mouth profession based on best practices and measurable ROI. WOMMA offers its members the latest knowledge, research, and training through webinars.
Society for Word of Mouth (SWOM)
SWOM is a social network and educational resource for people who want to build word of mouth into the DNA of their organizations. Over 1,800 members from around the world share word of mouth ideas and challenges with each other. SWOM provides education through online and offline events.
5/28/2009
Improve Sales Through Marketing - Latest 5 Ways to Increase Your Sales Using Marketing Strategies
It is not enough that you have great products and the best website in the World Wide Web. If you want to make decent sales, you need to know the best ways on how you can sell your products online.
Here's how you can increase your sales using effective marketing strategies:
1. Plan ahead. Do not promote your products and services without creating an Internet marketing plan first. This can serve as your blueprint and can help you make the whole process well-guided to increase your chances of succeeding in this endeavor. Your plan must include every Internet tool that you are going to use, your marketing budget, the actions that you need to take, and mechanisms that you are going to use in order to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
2. Know your target market. It is very important that you know the online behavior of your target market to make your marketing strategies focused and highly targeted. Identify all the websites that they often visit, the amount of time they spend online, the keywords that they are using on search engines, etc. By doing so, you can easily determine the best Internet marketing tools to use so you can easily connect with these people.
3. Search engine optimization. You need to know how to please the search engines as this is the only way to make your website easier to find online. Do a keyword research and identify the best keywords to target on your website. Launch aggressive link building campaign and submit your site on various directories. If you are running an HTML site, you will need to use relevant tags that can help search spiders in analyzing and indexing your web content.
4. Information based marketing solutions. The best way to capture the attention of your target market is to offer them with the kind of information that they are looking for. You can do this through article marketing, forum posting, blogging, and publishing. If your prospects are impressed with your content, they are most likely to visit your website. This is the first step to convert them to prospects to buying customers.
5. Invade social networking sites. Get your hands on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other networking sites that are popular among online users. Expand your network and advertise your products and services using the sites' bulletin features. Don't forget to communicate their selling points and competitive advantage to increase your chances of making a sale.
Here's how you can increase your sales using effective marketing strategies:
1. Plan ahead. Do not promote your products and services without creating an Internet marketing plan first. This can serve as your blueprint and can help you make the whole process well-guided to increase your chances of succeeding in this endeavor. Your plan must include every Internet tool that you are going to use, your marketing budget, the actions that you need to take, and mechanisms that you are going to use in order to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
2. Know your target market. It is very important that you know the online behavior of your target market to make your marketing strategies focused and highly targeted. Identify all the websites that they often visit, the amount of time they spend online, the keywords that they are using on search engines, etc. By doing so, you can easily determine the best Internet marketing tools to use so you can easily connect with these people.
3. Search engine optimization. You need to know how to please the search engines as this is the only way to make your website easier to find online. Do a keyword research and identify the best keywords to target on your website. Launch aggressive link building campaign and submit your site on various directories. If you are running an HTML site, you will need to use relevant tags that can help search spiders in analyzing and indexing your web content.
4. Information based marketing solutions. The best way to capture the attention of your target market is to offer them with the kind of information that they are looking for. You can do this through article marketing, forum posting, blogging, and publishing. If your prospects are impressed with your content, they are most likely to visit your website. This is the first step to convert them to prospects to buying customers.
5. Invade social networking sites. Get your hands on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other networking sites that are popular among online users. Expand your network and advertise your products and services using the sites' bulletin features. Don't forget to communicate their selling points and competitive advantage to increase your chances of making a sale.
5/23/2009
Sources of Obtaining your Customer
Variety marketing strategies are applied to reach your customers. However the nature of your business also define the best one. B2B business has different marketing approach compared to personal one. In the below explanation we mainly focus our discussion to B2B business. How do you generate your next customers ?
* Satisfied customers :
Both current and previously satisfied customers are the most effective sources from generating your next customers. Customers not only provide the additional business but also refer to other prospects. Referrals of leads in the same industry are very important due to we have better understanding of the unique needs of the organization.
* Endless chain method
Additional leads from each person we interview whether the person are our satisfied customers or even the person did not buy from us. Some people objects to have their names used as a means of opening the door to friends or business acquaintances. Others, particularly those who trust us and enthusiastic over the products or services, will not hesitate to provide the names of additional prospects. The name of lead provided by either customers or a prospect known as referral leads, is generally considered to be the most successful type of lead.
* Center of influence method
In the center of influence method, the salesperson cultivates a relationship with well-known, influential people in the territory who are willing to supply lead information. This method, as with endless method, works best if the center of influence is already a satisfied customers of the businessperson. In industrial selling situation the center of influence are frequently people in important departments not directly involved in the purchase decision such as : quality control, equipment maintenance or receiving. The businessperson keeps in close touch with them over extended period, solicit their help in a straightforward manner, and keeps them informed on sales that result from their aid.
* Promotional activities
Most companies elicit a steady supply of sales leads with the advertising, catalogs, publicity, direct mail, trade shows and seminars. Successful businesspeople develop an effective system for utilizing and managing such leads.
Inquiries
Firm have developed sophisticated systems to generate inquiries from leads. For example the company send out direct mail to potential clients. The firm also places advertisements in trade publications such as Control Magazine. A reader of the ad can request additional information by using the 800 number in ad or by using the reader service card in the back of magazine. A growing trend is to tie the marketing promotion to an 800 number and the inquirer's fax machine. The prospect calls the 800 number, talks to the salesperson (or voice activated system such as voice mail) and then is asked to supply his or her fax number. The requested information is sent within a seconds often while we still on the phone with the prospects.
Trade shows
Many companies display or demonstrates their products at trade shows, convention and fairs. The company has the sales representatives present to demonstrate their products to inquiring visitors, many of whom have not been called on by us before. Often the primary function of salespeople is to qualify leads for future follow up. Typically having 5 to 10 minutes with the prospects, they need to get down to business and qualify the visitor quickly. At the other trade show (e.g : furniture shows) salespeople actually sell and therefore generally spend more time with the buyers.
Seminars
Many firms use seminars to generate leads and provide information to prospective customers. Andrew Corp, an Orland Park, Illinois, manufacturer of electronic communication equipments, may be one of the most savvy practitioners of business to business seminars. To target the right crowd, the company relied mainly in its own database, consisting largely of inquiries. Experts in seminar field regard this core group his year as the most fruitful source of new business. For this year's series, Andrew Corp, also rented three trade magazine mailing lists and matched them with its own list to come up with a final registry of 43,000 names. The company likes to to mix current customer with new prospects in a 1:2 ratio figuring that satisfied clients not only may buy more but may also pass along word of mouth testimony about the company's products. To reach its audiences the sales and marketing department prepare and sent our a four page invitation to its free, daylong seminar. It detailed the topics to be covered, suggested who should attend, and asked for two names to be listed on reply card or by way of an 800 number. During the lunch break, sitting at each lurch table of 10 persons of sales, marketing, or telemarketing rep., who acts as a facilitator and sounding board. The reps job, apart from presenting a company face to the group, is to gather reactions to the morning seasons, provide the names of contacts and request each attendee to fill out one-page evaluation. The questionnaire, is the company's vehicle to have the feedback. It asks such relevant questions as each person's reason for attending, his/her upcoming products requirements, and the status of any projects-included installation date, value of total projects, budgeting phase, and the name of decision makers. A preliminary review starts after lunch. Sales and marketing people separates the lead into 3 categories : (1) qualified leads - companies with projects and budget approved and will be implemented less than 1 year. (2) Companies with plans for projects and perhaps a tentative installation schedule. (3)those who has not set plans but who may be seeking information for future requirements. The evaluation travel to headquarter where the manager take immediate actions on those in the top priority category.
* Satisfied customers :
Both current and previously satisfied customers are the most effective sources from generating your next customers. Customers not only provide the additional business but also refer to other prospects. Referrals of leads in the same industry are very important due to we have better understanding of the unique needs of the organization.
* Endless chain method
Additional leads from each person we interview whether the person are our satisfied customers or even the person did not buy from us. Some people objects to have their names used as a means of opening the door to friends or business acquaintances. Others, particularly those who trust us and enthusiastic over the products or services, will not hesitate to provide the names of additional prospects. The name of lead provided by either customers or a prospect known as referral leads, is generally considered to be the most successful type of lead.
* Center of influence method
In the center of influence method, the salesperson cultivates a relationship with well-known, influential people in the territory who are willing to supply lead information. This method, as with endless method, works best if the center of influence is already a satisfied customers of the businessperson. In industrial selling situation the center of influence are frequently people in important departments not directly involved in the purchase decision such as : quality control, equipment maintenance or receiving. The businessperson keeps in close touch with them over extended period, solicit their help in a straightforward manner, and keeps them informed on sales that result from their aid.
* Promotional activities
Most companies elicit a steady supply of sales leads with the advertising, catalogs, publicity, direct mail, trade shows and seminars. Successful businesspeople develop an effective system for utilizing and managing such leads.
Inquiries
Firm have developed sophisticated systems to generate inquiries from leads. For example the company send out direct mail to potential clients. The firm also places advertisements in trade publications such as Control Magazine. A reader of the ad can request additional information by using the 800 number in ad or by using the reader service card in the back of magazine. A growing trend is to tie the marketing promotion to an 800 number and the inquirer's fax machine. The prospect calls the 800 number, talks to the salesperson (or voice activated system such as voice mail) and then is asked to supply his or her fax number. The requested information is sent within a seconds often while we still on the phone with the prospects.
Trade shows
Many companies display or demonstrates their products at trade shows, convention and fairs. The company has the sales representatives present to demonstrate their products to inquiring visitors, many of whom have not been called on by us before. Often the primary function of salespeople is to qualify leads for future follow up. Typically having 5 to 10 minutes with the prospects, they need to get down to business and qualify the visitor quickly. At the other trade show (e.g : furniture shows) salespeople actually sell and therefore generally spend more time with the buyers.
Seminars
Many firms use seminars to generate leads and provide information to prospective customers. Andrew Corp, an Orland Park, Illinois, manufacturer of electronic communication equipments, may be one of the most savvy practitioners of business to business seminars. To target the right crowd, the company relied mainly in its own database, consisting largely of inquiries. Experts in seminar field regard this core group his year as the most fruitful source of new business. For this year's series, Andrew Corp, also rented three trade magazine mailing lists and matched them with its own list to come up with a final registry of 43,000 names. The company likes to to mix current customer with new prospects in a 1:2 ratio figuring that satisfied clients not only may buy more but may also pass along word of mouth testimony about the company's products. To reach its audiences the sales and marketing department prepare and sent our a four page invitation to its free, daylong seminar. It detailed the topics to be covered, suggested who should attend, and asked for two names to be listed on reply card or by way of an 800 number. During the lunch break, sitting at each lurch table of 10 persons of sales, marketing, or telemarketing rep., who acts as a facilitator and sounding board. The reps job, apart from presenting a company face to the group, is to gather reactions to the morning seasons, provide the names of contacts and request each attendee to fill out one-page evaluation. The questionnaire, is the company's vehicle to have the feedback. It asks such relevant questions as each person's reason for attending, his/her upcoming products requirements, and the status of any projects-included installation date, value of total projects, budgeting phase, and the name of decision makers. A preliminary review starts after lunch. Sales and marketing people separates the lead into 3 categories : (1) qualified leads - companies with projects and budget approved and will be implemented less than 1 year. (2) Companies with plans for projects and perhaps a tentative installation schedule. (3)those who has not set plans but who may be seeking information for future requirements. The evaluation travel to headquarter where the manager take immediate actions on those in the top priority category.
* Lists and directories
Business people should develop the prospect lists of their own by referring to such sources as public records, telephone directories, Chamber of Commerce Directories, newspapers, club membership, and professional or trade membership. Secondary sources of information from public libraries can be useful. We also can purchase a number of prospecting directories and lead generating publications.
* Canvassing
Other name for this method is cold canvass call. Using this method we try to generate the new business by calling on totally unfamiliar organizations. This method had been used extensively for a long time. However using this method can waste business people time as many companies have neither a need for the product nor the ability to pay for it. This stresses the importance of qualifying the lead quickly in a cold call so as not to waste our time. Try to ask them the proper questions to classify the leads whether it worth or not to continue.
* Spotters
Some people use spotters, also called bird dogs. These individuals for the fee will provide lead to business people. The business people sometimes pays the fee simply for the name of the lead but more often pays only if the leads ends up buying the products or service. Spotters are usually in position to find out when someone is ready to make purchase decision.
* Telemarketing
Increasingly, firms are relying on telemarketing to perform many functions the sales representative used to perform. Telemarketing is the systematic and continuous program of communicating with customers and prospects via telephone or other person to person electronic media. Telemarketing is not limited to consumer sales, but also for business to business companies. Telemarketing is now used to sell from 25 cents supplies to $ 10 million airlines. In inbound telemarketing, telephones are used to generate and then qualify the leads. Inbound telemarketing involves a telephone number (usually an 800 number) that leads and or customer can call for additional information. This method have some limitations. First, customer may find telephone calls an annoying inconvenience. Unexpected calls may interrupt their meeting or their concentration at work. Therefor the telemarketer need to respect the client's privacy and not to abuse the privilege. The other limitation, the method limit the verbal messages. Hence this method is not proper for the sales people who need to demonstrate the product, the feature and its benefits. Another limitation, attracting and maintaining the customer's interest and attention is harder over the phone. Finally it is much easier for the lead to say no over the phone. Sales people need to be aware of these limitations. The telephone offer some advantages and can enhance productivity. But it does not face to face selling in all situation.
* Prospecting via sales letter
Prospectiing via letter should be integrated into an overall prospecting plan. Like the telephone the letter have some limitations. Once the message is sent, it can not be modified. The sender also has no chance to alter the message on the basis of feedback. Blanket mailings, then, can seem impersonal. The business people must first consider the objective of the letter and the audience. Why would the reader want to undertake the action. Why would the reader not undertake the action.
These questions help us writing the letter.
*Other sources of leads
Many business people find leads through personal observations. For example by reading the trade journal carefully, we can learn the names of the important leaders, and hence the decision maker in the industry. Other source is by reading business publications and the local news papers and just keep open your eyes when you drive through your territory.
5/16/2009
Leading For Post-Recession Success - Lessons From BDO Consulting
What to do.
I summarize BDO's recommendations here:
* Take Fast and Decisive Action to "determine core needs and shed excess costs".
* Develop a Comprehensive Approach to cutting costs, finding efficiencies and accelerating cash
* Develop a Comprehensive Approach to cutting costs, finding efficiencies and accelerating cash
flow.
* Manage Costs with Targeted and Timely Reporting rather than waiting until it's too late.
* Manage Operating Results Proactively - before you start losing money.
* Conduct an Internal Assessment for Possible Restructuring in order to ensure you are looking at
* Manage Costs with Targeted and Timely Reporting rather than waiting until it's too late.
* Manage Operating Results Proactively - before you start losing money.
* Conduct an Internal Assessment for Possible Restructuring in order to ensure you are looking at
the big picture and that you understand how your organization fits into the current and future
business environment. Then plan to align it accordingly.
How to do it.
Although finance is not my line of work, Organization & Leadership Development services can enhance the work of Chartered Accountants and Financial Advisors and help organizations ensure success in implementing their advice. BDO tells you what you need to do, Organization & Leadership Development tells you how. The key is in leadership. Strong leadership to establish priorities. BDO's recommendations require leadership excellence in order to establish priorities, guide the process, and implement the procedures for the actions to be taken.
Although finance is not my line of work, Organization & Leadership Development services can enhance the work of Chartered Accountants and Financial Advisors and help organizations ensure success in implementing their advice. BDO tells you what you need to do, Organization & Leadership Development tells you how. The key is in leadership. Strong leadership to establish priorities. BDO's recommendations require leadership excellence in order to establish priorities, guide the process, and implement the procedures for the actions to be taken.
BDO rightly indicates that organizations must take a comprehensive approach to determining core needs and understanding viability now and in the future. In order to successfully actualize BDO's advice an organization needs leaders who will ensure that the steps the organization takes are carefully planned and anchored in core values. If not, they will not be supported by employees or sustainable in an operational sense. Now more than ever organizations need dedicated leaders to articulate and support a clear organizational identity and make decisions accordingly. Many employees are already alarmed at the uncertainty of this economic climate and leaders must help them feel reassured by upholding the organization's values and immersing themselves in the organization's reality. Leaders will need to go back to the Mission and Core Values statements, building plans and making decisions from this foundation. Leaders should also make time for a brief Culture Audit in order to understand the organization's reality to quickly find efficiencies and deficiencies.
In addition, a quick SWOT analysis with key players will also point to current strengths that must be maintained, weaknesses that must be reduced or eliminated, potential threats that must be addressed, and opportunities that can be leveraged, bearing in mind the current climate. Leaders must do their best to make sure that organizational changes are planned and controlled evolutions rather than sudden upheavals. If planning can only take a short time, leaders must ensure the most optimal planning process possible. Core values must be at the centre of this process.
Strong leadership for teamwork.
The actions BDO suggests require support from employees. Thus, strong leadership is also required to ensure teamwork around BDO's proposed actions. Strong leaders will be necessary to drive the process and get everyone on board. Not only because careful implementation is paramount, but because your employees need a pillar of strength in order to re-build or maintain their confidence and abate their fears. People in a distressed organization tend to work together less rather than more if leadership is absent. Absence of leadership only adds to fears and mistrust and often makes employees feel they have nothing left to lose. Leaders must therefore take additional steps to ensure teamwork, making certain that goals, accountability, and decision-making principles are clear, and that everyone feels empowered by the process. Leaders must also be more visible and communicate more. It is often necessary to hold more closed door meetings during a crisis, but leaders still must make it a priority to communicate with all employees and to literally be more visible. Leaders must be seen as allies and as trustworthy. Don't forget that your employees are people with emotional needs, especially right now. They need to know that you believe in them and the organization if they are to rally for the organization's survival.
The actions BDO suggests require support from employees. Thus, strong leadership is also required to ensure teamwork around BDO's proposed actions. Strong leaders will be necessary to drive the process and get everyone on board. Not only because careful implementation is paramount, but because your employees need a pillar of strength in order to re-build or maintain their confidence and abate their fears. People in a distressed organization tend to work together less rather than more if leadership is absent. Absence of leadership only adds to fears and mistrust and often makes employees feel they have nothing left to lose. Leaders must therefore take additional steps to ensure teamwork, making certain that goals, accountability, and decision-making principles are clear, and that everyone feels empowered by the process. Leaders must also be more visible and communicate more. It is often necessary to hold more closed door meetings during a crisis, but leaders still must make it a priority to communicate with all employees and to literally be more visible. Leaders must be seen as allies and as trustworthy. Don't forget that your employees are people with emotional needs, especially right now. They need to know that you believe in them and the organization if they are to rally for the organization's survival.
With strong leadership and careful, albeit quick, planning you can actualize BDO's excellent recommendations.
Promoting Your New Products to Your Target Market
Getting your new product out to your target market is essentially the main goal of your marketing campaign. As a business owner, having to introduce your product to your clients via your marketing campaign such as your brochure printing, is one of the priorities of having a business.
Despite the problems and troubles associated with marketing, business owners still have to promote new stuff in order to maintain the interest of their target market. Often, marketing efforts are justified and successful. Leads are generated and buyers are produced that makes one’s business achieve its goals. On the other hand, when goals are not achieved through brochure printing or any other marketing campaign, most products are often ignored. This is when business owners and marketers should double their efforts when coming out with the best marketing campaign such as printing brochures for their products and services.
Most mistakes are committed from the marketing collateral itself especially when printing brochures for example. Even with the best brochure printing company and graphic artist, you as a business owner understand that not all marketing campaigns get to achieve what they’ve set out to do. And most errors are made during the testing of the product itself. Testing your product means getting to know your research, its market acceptance, as well as the suggested pricing, and product development and feasibility of your research. And this boils down to how your target market will receive your new product. It’s not enough that you believe in your product; what’s more important is getting your target market to consider the effectiveness of your merchandise.
Unfortunately, this is not often the case. Moreover, testing is needed during the product introduction itself. Testing allows you to be flexible, particularly in creating a more adaptable product that can change according to the needs and wants of your target market. Everything boils down to the simple fact that your product get sold and purchased by your prospects. It won’t be effective if at the end of day it fails to arouse interest among your client base. Testing is therefore significant because it helps you as the manufacturer to cull and filter all the ideas and support you get for your new product. The end result of which is to ultimately get the most satisfaction from your target market. The key is to have your target market to approve your new product. They have the final say on the success of your marketing campaign. Even with an excellent and effective product, your target clients will be the ones to ultimately decide whether your offer is worth taking or they would just ignore it for the simple reason that they’re not convinced of its impact to their lives.
Focusing On Your Demographics
Who is your perfect customer? Is she the working mom whose age is between 35-50, or the single suburban yuppie of 25-30? Usually marketing campaigns, whether its invitation printing or poster printing, work on the premise that you as the business owner knows your target market so you could form your message to focus on the right people.
Knowing full well your demographics can go a long way in providing the most effective marketing collateral in your custom invitation printing for example that can get more positive response. However, relying on a wide range of demographics is not that good either. Not only do you make your marketing campaign very general, hoping to catch as many as possible in the process; but you are also providing a very vague message on your invitation printing or print posters for example.
You also make the mistake of leaving out a portion of your target group that may have the prospects that actually have a need for your offer. So instead of having a less than effective marketing collateral to promote your business, what if you get very specific in your demographics? What about going down to a specific demographic such as an individual? The point here is to go as low as possible in your chain of target market and get focused on a particular segment.
Focus. This is the name of the game – thinking past generalities and the majority to get focused on your target. This is to ensure that you point to a particular segment that would benefit more from your offer in your custom invitation printing for one, thereby making your message more effective and valuable. The way to do it in your marketing campaign such as your invitation printing or custom invitation printing is to make a profile of your individual. What makes a perfect match? This means targeting an individual that you believe is the perfect fit for your offering. You need to go down and get to the nitty-gritty of things. Thorough research of your profile for your individual can guide you to have the most information that you need.
Nevertheless, do not let your insight and intuitions go unnoticed. These qualities can get you what your research lacks. Next, be sure to provide a multi-dimensional design in your collaterals by including images and other elements that can attract your individual’s attention. Integrate the senses to help you come up with a unique idea that can pique their interest. And always remember to never let your creativity be boxed in. Understand your individual’s personality and be sure to interact with it to create a more responsive marketing collateral. The key is to narrow down your target and focus on the individual in your market. When you do, you will be able to think of fresh and new ideas that can provide you with unexplored paths in your marketing efforts.
5/12/2009
How To Write A Letter That Gets You A Face-to-Face Meeting
It's a simple fact. The best way to sell anything is face-to-face. When you're literally in the room with a prospect, you can probe for areas of customer interest, read body-language, sell with emotion and personality, answer objections, and most importantly, close the sale. In the old days, the Fuller Brush man, the Avon Lady, and other intrepid souls would make the rounds and work their magic in person, right in the prospect's living room. Obviously, today, marketers can't afford to have a sales force contact every single prospect personally. So we use direct mail, e-mail, advertising, etc., as proxies for a flesh and blood sales force. We must depend, as Grey Advertising put it, on "salesmanship in print." This means that lead generation is the name of the game. We use irresistible free offers to get people to raise their hands and only then put precious human assets in touch with them (telemarketers, regional salespeople, etc.). But you know, sometimes you don't WANT to generate leads. You don't WANT a six-month sales cycle. What you want is an APPOINTMENT. A chance to walk right into the decision-maker's office, sit down with him or her, and make your case in person! One of the best ways to get a personal appointment with a key prospect is to send them a terrific letter which paves the way for your personal call. The letter can't be some soporific "Allow me to introduce myself" piece of junk. You really have to spark their interest, make a great impression, and be sure that when you call, you'll be able to make that important appointment. Here are some ideas for creating a door-opener letter that can help make you a winner . . .
1. Don't use a #10 envelope. Go FedEx Hey. You're not writing 600,000 people. You're contacting just a few key prospects who you want to meet personally. So make a splash by using an overnight service. That way, you'll look major league and can be 100% certain that your letter will get noticed. The guiding principle is, when you're contacting a small number of people, your cost-per-mailing can and should go up!
2. Consider a "dimensional" mailing In the jargon of direct mail professionals, a dimensional mailing is a package that actually has something stuffed inside it (i.e. it has three dimensions). Often, by adding an attention-getter, you can be sure your package will get opened.
3. Make sure you've got something really important to talk about You should only try to set up an appointment when it's appropriate. Want to demo something that's really hot and will save the prospect a lot of money? Go for a one-on-one meeting. Want to discuss creating a strategic partnership that truly has upside for both of you? Shoot for the meeting. But don't try set up an appointment for some routine sales presentation. Save the big guns for when you really need them!
4. Start your letter with punch Don't pussy-foot around. Get to the point. For example, you can roll into a get-an-appointment letter for yourself like this: "Dear Steve: I want to ask you for something extremely precious. Forty-five minutes of your time." The letter can go on to explain why such an expenditure of the CIO's valuable time made excellent sense.
5. Dramatize what will happen at the meeting Don't simply say that you want to make an appointment to stop by and chat. Give it a little excitement: "Key members of my team would like to fly to Chicago and meet with you at your corporate headquarters in July. They have created a personal briefing that will give you new insight into your competitors' technology plans . . .etc."
6. Tell them what they'll learn The letter you write is all about proving that a meeting is worth having, so be very explicit about what information you have waiting for them. Consider using bullet points to break out the benefits.
7. Prepare them for your phone call and explain that you will call to set up an appointment. Let them know when you will contact them. Make sure that if they don't answer their phone, their gatekeeper should know you will be in touch. The take-away message? Keep up your lead-generation efforts for sure. But if you ever need to meet with a truly important prospect in person, a well-written letter can be a great door opener.
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5/10/2009
Understanding Your Customer
Understanding your customer is your core business. Every failure in marketing is caused by lack of understanding the customer's needs hence misinterpreting them. To understand your customer you should talk and survey them. Hence you will get better idea about how to satisfy their needs.
Why many managers often forget to talk to their customers once they need to develop the marketing strategy. Some of the easons are :
* The pressure to gain short term target
* The manager believe that they already knew the customer's need
* They don't want to hear customers talk about negative side of their company's products and
service
* They are too confident to their products
* The belieft that customers are so dependant to their products
Prior you conduct the survey, try to find out the benefit of your product. The benefit itself represants the customer's problem, which is in your side the customer's problem could be turned to be your business opportunity to satisfy them. However your product's features represant the specification of your product or service. You should differentiate between these two in order to have better feeling of your customer's need.
Actually it is difficult task to identify your real customers. For B2B business especially, everyone who is getting involved in purchasing decision could be defined as decision making unit. The decision making unit could be categorized into :
1. Users
2. Initiators
3. Influencers
4. Gate keepers
5. Deciders
6. Stoppers
Try to identify these decision making unit, so that you can suits your marketing strategy for each.
Other way to understand your customer is the market research. Market research could be ranged from simple one up to multiple complex research which spend so much company's money. However you can also conduct the simple one by asking the questions to your customers regarding their need, the competitor might do to your customer, environmental trend etc. You can arrange the questions for survey and having the feed back for analysis.
You should recognize also the weakness and strong points of the data gathered by you or the marketing research company as it will impact the data analysis.
Marketing survey could be focused to all of players and movers who will influence the marketing performance of the organizations. They could be end users, reseller, competitors, suppliers and trend. However most of marketing survey usually is focused to the customers, their needs, habita and behaviours.
The study of end users included :
* Segment : The characteristics which can be used to identify and differentiate the
customer
* Purchasing behaviour : how they learn about our product and service and mhy they choose
them
* Need : the benefit offered to customers and priority
* Perceived value : maximal value to be paid and why
* Product : evaluate the competitor's products and services available in market
* Brand : accesories which is associated to our brand
* Copy of advertising : advertising comparison
* Media : the media where our customers obtain the information
* Selling presentation : content of presentation
* Pricing : how customers react to price changing
* Buying behaviour
Kind of data for marketing survey is divided into :
1. Primary data : the data which is collected by marketing person and its colleagues inside
the company. The survey is designed by them.Therefore the company
aware about the weaknesses of the data and its limitations.
2. Secondary data : the data which is gained by marketing research company or other third
party
4/25/2009
Promotional through the ideal customers
From ratio 80/20 you will get the customers who will contribute 80% of your total revenue. The next question are they your ideal customers? The answer : they are not exactly your ideal customers. Because your ideal customers will double your current revenue. How do they do it? They will double or even multiply it by using the power of mouth. The ideal customers are so dependant to you. They are madly need you. You can even say that they are so dependant to you hence they can not live without you. Form the ideal customers you can expect the satisfied clients who will have no complaints to your products and services. The will promote you, without you are asking for, through the power of mouth.
How do you identify whether the existing customers are your ideal customers or not? To identify it you should conduct the survey. And the survey should be done by yourself as the owner for initial stage of the business so you will have a better feeling and understanding your customers. The survey could be divided into two categories i.e qualitative and quantitative survey. Qualitative survey will describe who is your customers. The quantitative survey will determined the reason of your customers to choose you. Classify your customers and prepare the mean (average) of your tabulation. Input the mean into the table and label it as existing customers. Next stage, prepare the other table and label it as your ideal customers. You can imagine the five classification of your ideal customers and put it into the table. Compare these two tables. The gap between these two tables describes the gap between your existing and ideal customers .
How do you identify whether the existing customers are your ideal customers or not? To identify it you should conduct the survey. And the survey should be done by yourself as the owner for initial stage of the business so you will have a better feeling and understanding your customers. The survey could be divided into two categories i.e qualitative and quantitative survey. Qualitative survey will describe who is your customers. The quantitative survey will determined the reason of your customers to choose you. Classify your customers and prepare the mean (average) of your tabulation. Input the mean into the table and label it as existing customers. Next stage, prepare the other table and label it as your ideal customers. You can imagine the five classification of your ideal customers and put it into the table. Compare these two tables. The gap between these two tables describes the gap between your existing and ideal customers .
From the above you will get the figure about your ideal customers. Be focus on them and put all of your effort and strategy to satisfy them. And they will double your revenue as a feed back.
4/18/2009
Pareto Law in Marketing
Marketing strategy has been applied to gain our clients as many as possible. However, have we ever asked whether our existing customers are our ideal customers or not. Do you also know that there is Pareto Law in maketing or 80/20 Law. Pareto Law could be happened in our daily activities.E.g : Check your e-mail last weel. You will notice that 80% of your incoming e-mail has been sent by only 20% of person in your total number of your address e-mail list.
Application of Pareto Law in marketing can be used to identify that 80% of our total revenue has been yielded by 20% of our customer. The effort in marketing whether promotional, advertising, Public relation, salesmanship etc should be concentrated to reach and satisfy the 20% clients. Our clients who will bring 80% of our total revenue.
Hence we should start to identify that particular clients and be focus on them to reach and satisfy their need. Your marketing startegy wil be more focus to achieve and even over the target.
Application of Pareto Law in marketing can be used to identify that 80% of our total revenue has been yielded by 20% of our customer. The effort in marketing whether promotional, advertising, Public relation, salesmanship etc should be concentrated to reach and satisfy the 20% clients. Our clients who will bring 80% of our total revenue.
Hence we should start to identify that particular clients and be focus on them to reach and satisfy their need. Your marketing startegy wil be more focus to achieve and even over the target.
4/14/2009
The answers for your marketing problems
The application of marketing is a mandatory for whoever want to start their business or want to increase the number of business in your working place. We should consider many factors and choose the best marketing strategy in order to be more competitive in front of your clients. Your option could be the pioneer or the follower in the business and each option brings its consequences. The marketing itself is required to change the uncertain condition to be certain condition, something easier to be measured.
This blog is only the sharing place and a little contribution from the author based on some literature and professional experience as sales and marketer in B2B business. Many ideas and concept has been introduced to us. The best strategy and concept depend on condition and experience. Choose the concept suits to your system and condition. The decision is in your hand as the best consultant for your own business.
Marketing is a kind of art as so many creativity involved to change something uncertain to certain condition. The art of marketing involves not only logical aspect but also emotional aspect, region preference, ethnic, etc. In the global financial crises recently we still required the application of suitable marketing strategy. Even in the crises many companies has reduced the number of man power, still the company requires the marketing person. As even in the crises, in order to survive the company should receive the income whether from existing business or from new business. During the crises you should change the marketing strategy. One of my literature offered the strategy by provoking the customers. In this way, you should increase the aggressiveness not only offering the solution but also provoking the customers to use your product or service and having the benefit from you. You decide which one is the best. This blog is only offering you the alternatives to be used. The second way is internal changing inside your company. You should adapt to your environment. During the crises you have the option to look at inside your company. Evaluate your core competence. If you already knew your core competence, you can start to change the kind of service and product to be offered to your client. The source of input for evaluation or core competence as well as the the changing of nature of your business should be gained from all level of the company. So you will have more complete picture for your objective.
E.g :
An engineering and contractor for water treatment company, which used to sell and build the installation for water treatment, has many engineer who are able to design, construct and maintain the water treatment plant. The ordinary process after the construction is continued to after sales service period. Engineering people has be equipped with the knowledge and skill to repair and maintain the plant during the warranty period. Many of their client has no man power and capabilities to repair and maintain the plant once the warranty period finished. The company has noticed there is opportunity to offer the man power and gaining the maintenance order from the clients. During the crises many clients has deleted their projects which consumed the big portion of their annual budget. However they still keep the routine budget for maintenance and consumable parts. Form this angle, the company once again noticed 2 opportunities to offer the skillful man power and to offer the financial investment. The source of fund could be gained from company's own fund or by getting the fund from the bank. As the result, the company offered the water as end product to the client. The problem of man power and financial has been removed from the client's side to the company side. The necessity to have their own man power and invest in big amount has changed the nature of business of the company in order to survive during the crises period.
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