Posted by AndyM on October 21, 2009 under Business Growth | 
I get some “pushback” on this point — the idea that setting your marketing strategy should come a whole lot earlier than “step 3.” Some of it is symantics — of course establishing a Vision for your business 1 year and 5 years down the road is a fundamental step in refining your existing business strategy. As for sliding step 2 “Maximizing the Current” into the mix instead of continuing from Vision on to flesh out an overall marketing strategy, think of it this way.
If you decided that you wanted to become a world-class, competitive athlete within 5 years, wouldn’t it be wise to start eating better and exercising right away, even if you hadn’t picked a sport yet?
The point of step 2 “Maximizing the Current” is to get in shape. No matter what you decide about your target market going forward, what media mix you will be using, and how you will compel your prospects to want to contact you, there is a sale that is about to happen in your business. Techniques I use in step 2 will help you get more profit from it. You have customers surrounded by potential referrals, but they don’t ever think of you. Techniques I use in step 2 will draw out those referrals. Use the increase in profits that merely “getting in shape” will provide to fuel real lead generation…
But you don’t want to be random about generating new business. Step 3 = Set the Strategy. With your customer-maximizing house in order, it’s time to improve the effectiveness of how you go out and get new ones.
Components of your marketing strategy:
- A well-defined target: geographics (where they are), demographics (who they are), and psychographics (why the buy — the emotional appeals that relate to the benefit you can provide). Analysis of your customer database will help you — who are the most profitable customers you already have?
- Your Unique Comparative Advantage: a good description of the problem you solve or benefit you provide and how/why your product or service is uniquely capable of delivering on the solution your target audience needs (we have a formula for developing a powerful UCA)
- Contact methods: the “portfolio” of media you use to contact those in your target audience at the right time, given the benefit you deliver
- The message: an attention-getting and compelling message that exposes the pain — the deficit your prospect is experiencing because they lack your solution
- The offer: the natural, “no-brainer” step toward a solution for your client that you make easily available to them by simply contacting you.
- The follow-through: your multi-step plan to capture their contact information and nurture the initial interest into a burning desire to meet with you, test your product, order it, agree to your pilot program, etc.
Next week — Generate and Convert. Putting that strategy into practice and monitoring, measuring, and improving it!
Posted by AndyM on September 10, 2009 under Business Growth |
Recently I conducted a 90 minute workshop for some of the members of a local chamber of commerce. The topic was how to create (and “live”) an effective Marketing Plan. Before I even got rolling with the material though one of the attendees reacted with “Wow! an engineer who does Marketing?”
I had only gotten through my introduction, describing a bit of my background. Now some of you know that I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell and that my FIRST job was as a manufacturing engineer in a plastics company. I soon moved into sales and management, but that initial role, and my academic engineering “discipline,” influence my Marketing perspective, and help me in my business to this day. So how does this unique “lens” that I use on the function of Marketing help my clients? Let’s look at the definition of “engineer” from the American Heritage® Dictionary:
verb: To plan, manage, and put through by skillful acts or contrivance; maneuver
I have always identified with the process aspect of engineering: make a plan, execute to the plan, refine, repeat. Marketing is a GREAT medium for an engineer to express his or her creativity. And the rewards are AWESOME. So how does an engineer think about improving the profits of a business? As “levers,” of course (mechanical engineering humor — did you get it?).
The Seven Levers of Profit Growth
- Generate more leads: this is a critical one, but it often gets TOO much attention. 10% improvement here with NO other changes to your business = 10% growth in profits. Are you with me?
- Convert a higher percentage of leads: do you follow up with each lead IMMEDIATELY and continue with positive communications through multiple rounds follow up, even when there is no response? 10% improvement here with NO other changes (no increase in leads, for example) = 10% growth in profits.
- Number of transactions: what are you doing to entice your customers to come back more often? Just a 10% improvement leads to…you guessed it = 10% growth in profits.
- Average transaction value: are you and your partners, sales people, order takers systematically (one of an engineer’s favorite words) recommending complementary products, indicating the price break available when more is purchased, and pointing out the bundle of products or services that the customer should review before making a decision? Could you improve a bit?
- Profit margin: as your business grows, you likely have more leverage with suppliers, may be buying in higher quantities, and may otherwise be able to realize the benefits of scale. Increase your profit margin by 10% — grow your overall profits by 10% too!
- Generate referrals from customers: so now you have more customers (from the above activities); what can you do to derive more benefit for your business from each customer than your competitors can? Nurture those relationships to generate referrals. Guess what — it’s a win-win. Provide over-the-top service, keep in touch with your customers regularly, and provide them the means and the incentive to refer you, and they will do it gladly.
- Extend customer buying lifetime: the number one reason why your customers will try one of your competitors? It’s not because they’re dissatisfied (not usually), price isn’t even the number one reason — the number one reason people try buying from someone else is that they don’t feel their primary provider cares all that much. Keep in touch, continually offer incentives for them stick with you, thank them for their business in creative ways, and you will keep them around MUCH longer.
So what do you get when you improve in each of the above aspects — flexing each “lever” just a bit? Massive profit growth. Your business may not be conducive to modifications of each variable, but make improvements of just 10 to 20% in a handful of areas and you’ll add 50%, 100% or more to your bottom line!
Want to learn how to make those levers move and put more profits in your pocket? Register for immediate FREE access to Lesson #1 of our online workshop series.
Posted by AndyM on March 7, 2009 under Business Growth |
Stock market have your stomach in knots and your head spinning? Talk about stress. What’s worse than fretting over things that we just can’t control?
I know I talk about “best-kept secrets” a lot, but that is just the way I see things. When the vast majority of people walk right past a dollar bill laying on the sidewalk, then I can only conclude that the fact that it is there is somehow a secret reserved for a select few.
Want to know the “secret” to investing money and earning 100%, 1,000% return or even more, within a few months? “Pssst…listen here…”
The Best Investment You Can Make
Let’s suppose you invest in stocks, bonds or mutual funds. What kind of return can you reasonably expect to make? 5%? 10%? 15%? Maybe. And if you’re really lucky… maybe 20 or 25%.
But along with those numbers, comes a certain amount of risk. We know this now more acutely than ever. You could very easily lose it all in the process.
But an effective marketing campaign could have the potential of generating up to 5,000% or more in profits.
If you spend, say, $100 on an ad or a campaign and it returns $1,000 in profits, you’ve just earned 10 times your ROI (Return On Investment). That’s a 1,000% return. And if it were to return $5,000 in profits… you’d have a 5,000% return.
But I can hear your questions now. “How realistic is it to invest $100 and get a $1,000 or a $5,000 return? I mean, does it ever happen? And if it does, is it the exception rather than the rule?”
Good questions. All of them. And the answer is… Yes, it is realistic. Yes it does happen. And yes, it is the exception, rather than the rule.
Now, don’t let my answer to that last question (the exception, rather than the rule) dissuade or discourage you. It doesn’t have to be that way. Follow a few simple rules, get sound advice, and treat your marketing spending like the INVESTMENT it really is to ensure maximum results.
Tips From An “Investment Advisor”
O.k., let’s have some fun with this “investment” analogy. I often refer to my relationship with my clients as “marketing advisor” — so let’s run with it. Some strategies to maximize the return of your marketing investments:
- Allocate Your Assets: You’d never put all of your financial eggs in one basket — don’t do it with your marketing either. However simple, be sure to always have multiple ways that you can predictably generate new business.
- Invest Incrementally: When experimenting with a new stock or other financial instrument, you are advised to “wade in” slowly. In the world of marketing, the saying is “test, test, test.” Don’t buy a list, send out 5,000 letters, then cross your fingers that you get some business. Test different offers to small groups first, and measure your results.
- Protect Core Wealth: A good financial advisor will not only try to grow your assets, he or she will work to protect a core of your wealth from risk. What are your business’s core assets? your existing and former customers. The odd thing about your existing customers is that not only are they the “core” that you need to protect, they will also be the source of highest return on your marketing investment.
- Systematically Monitor Results — Don’t Obsess: Lots of trading in financial markets is proven to diminish returns. On top of that, it is a waste of valuable time that could be spent being productive. Constantly tinkering with your web site can be a big drain. Put that energy into planning a closed-loop marketing tactic, execute on it (don’t keep changing the plan!) and measure results monthly.
- Get Sound Advice: You can never be on top of the best practices of investing money as much as someone who does it for a living (at least you shouldn’t try). Hold them accountable to results and get them to articulate how and why their proposed actions will help you meet your goals. Need I articulate the marketing side of this point?
