Marketing Mentoring Ideas for Coping with Recesion

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How to Get More Referrals, Attract New Clients &

Decrease Costs During a Recession

I came across this article on success.bz which was written by Joanne Black.  ALthough it’s clearly written for the American market, it has some useful Marketing and mantoring ideas for small business owners in the UK or for that matter anywhere in the world.

Have your phones stopped ringing yet? The economy is lagging and dragging. We’ve felt the effects in the United States. Now we’re seeing global implications.

So, how do you tackle economic uncertainty?

Cut advertising, travel, training, marketing, and discretionary expense line items? Cut purchasing? Ouch!

The pipeline starts to dry up and the anxiety level goes through the roof. Many people think that since there’s nothing they can do, they should just do nothing. But “nothing” is futile thinking.

What If You Could Reach Your Market Without Incurring Any Hard Costs?

The only budget you need to worry about is your simply your time… your time to ask for referrals!

You know about referrals. When a qualified prospect is referred to us, we get a new client typically between 70 and 90 percent of the time. Additionally, we are pre-sold. Our selling time decreases. Credibility increases. And, we ace out the competition.

There is no other business-development process that can claim these results. Results are the only thing that matters. And, now you will be able to achieve results simply by implementing the following 8 “Killer” strategies.

8 “Killer Steps” to Attracting New Business in a Lagging Economy

1. Broaden Your Perspective

What business are you in? Redefine and reinvent yourself. Determine how you can create a leap in demand for your products and services. Build new alliances and consider alternate distribution channels. Don’t go solo. It’s important to assemble a group of advisors and get their input and creative ideas. Include people who have differing points of view from you. Not easy, but critical.

2. Be Nimble and Innovative

You’ll never have all the facts. Make quick decisions. Be fearless and make tough choices. Create new uses for your products. Why not a new business model?

3. Dazzle Your Current Customers

Your current customers need care and feeding. Don’t ignore them at the expense of new business, because they are your best source for new business.

4. Prioritize Wisely

The most important activity for any salesperson is to do what’s “closest to cash” the first thing every single day-whether it’s following up with a prospect, writing a proposal, or closing a deal.

5. Become an Expert

Companies hire experts because they can’t afford to make mistakes. Position your company as the expert with a specific product or in a specific market niche. Become an expert and people will be more likely to refer you.

6. Stay Connected

If you want to get more referrals you have to network like crazy. Attend a minimum of one event a week. You never know who you will meet and what you will learn. Never let your network go down. Networking is an essential referral marketing activity. So go make connections and build your business.

Talk to people and find out how you can help them. How is their business doing? Are they impacted by the lagging economy? How? Don’t email, call. You make connections by talking to people and by spending the time to have a robust conversation.

7. Don’t Cut Prices, Increase Value

There’s a lot of chatter about cutting prices in a lagging economy. Many small business owners think businesses are cutting back, so prospects don’t have money for their projects. But, by cutting prices, you’re cutting your profits even further. Instead, consider how to “get in and get started.” Divide your offering into smaller chunks, get results, and create traction. Or, give more value. When you offer high-value products and services, people will refer you and you will get more sales, even in a recession economy.

8. Commit to Building Your Referral Business

Referrals are always terrific, but they mean even more in a lagging economy. Don’t let the lagging economy trickle down on you. Take charge and make your phone ring again! Let your prospects know how much you care about them. Tell and show just how much you appreciate their business. Inform them that you’d like to help people just like them. And, don’t forget to thank your prospects and clients for their referral.

Follow these tips and you will get more referrals. You will attract new business. You will get more clients. You will accelerate your sales. And, you will achieve higher results without increasing your cost of sales. In fact, there’s a great chance that you will decrease your costs!

Visit Joanne’s website at http://www.nomorecoldcalling.com/ for more of her ideas.

Marketing Mentoring – Marketing Course

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marketing mentor oening seminar

marketing mentor opening seminar

The Marketing Mentor programme is a monthly series of conference calls to give mentoring advice plus monthly calls with marketing mentoring covering ‘open’ sessions. Not forgetting the marketing seminar at the start of the programme.  The open sessions cover whatever people on the course want to – not just the subjects covered duringthe normal monthly sesions. 

The idea is to open up the call to discuss anything that the caller is interested in.  The result is that everybody on the call benifits from real life solutions to real life marketing problems.  Several people on the course say that this alone is worth the monthly fee – but of course there is a great deal more.

Marketing Mentor – Marketing in the Credit Crunch

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Marketing and Marketing Mentoring is never more important than during difficult times.  Research clearly shows that when times get tought, marketing it even more important to your business.  I was speaking to Sir Eric Peacock on Friday afternoon.  We both agreed that there are interesting times ahead that are filled with oppertunities galore.  We are both very busy at the moment and he told me about several important deals he has done. “There are lots of brilliant oppertunities to gorw market share” he said.  I couldn’t agree more.

The key to make the most of it is to do the right type of marketing and I cover this ins a new free seminar and free tips booklet – details of both are on this website. 

Make no mistake the coming years will bring disaster to some and great weath to others.  Decide which is going to apply to you and if you want to make your marketing support you in your decision – get yourself a marketing mentor to help you from only £40 a month.

Sir Eric Peacock thinks there are golden oppertunities ahead

Sir Eric Peacock thinks there are golden oppertunities ahead

Marketing Seminar

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rapportautumn08lisabutcher1

Lisa Butcher talks about the Quest Institute

Lisa Butcher talks about the Quest Institute

When I was running a recent marketing seminar I was aksed how easy is it to get decent media coverage and PR for a small company.  Surely, they asked, only a large comapny can get any decent coverage.

I totally disagreed and said that small companies can get good PR coverage if the can tell an interesting story.  The most recent example of this is our clients The Quest Institute who attended the Marketing Mentor seminar in September.  One of their clients Lisa Butcher is on the cover of Rapport Magazine this month with a 2 page sorry about them on the inside.  They emply just 4 staff but are brilliant at what they do.  

They are also in this month Running Fitness magazine and have recently appeared in Zest as well as on BBC Radio and several other publications.  It has nothing to do with the size of the company – it is to do with how interesting and relevent the story is to the publication.

Other people who have experianced the marketing mentoring offered in the marketing Mentor programme can tell a similar tale.

Marketing Seminars – Hemel Hempstead November 6th

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I am delighted to say that I have been asked to present my new seminar ‘12 Proven Marketing Ideas to Help your Business Weather the Economic Storm’ at workhotel in Hemel Hempstead.

This will be a Breakfast Seminar running from 07:45 on Thursday, 6th November 2008 (Finishes 09:30 – 10:00) at workhotel, 575-599 Maxted Road, Hemel Hempstead, HP2 7DX see www.workhotel.com

Many businesses are feeling some of the painful affects of the credit crunch. As a topic at the top of most people’s agenda Alastair Campbell, in cooperation with workhotel, is hosting a seminar to give you some insight in how to weather this economic storm and come out of it with your business intact.

This will be a valuable networking opportunity, so why not invite a colleague to join you?

£10 per person, including a continental breakfast, coffee, tea and orange juice.

To book your place just call 0844 255 5555 with your credit or debit card details or email jenny.woolford@workhotel.com and a member of our team will contact you to confirm your booking.

I think that this will be a useful event to prepare your marketing for what is to come in 2009. If you are in Hemel Hempstead, St. Albans or surround areas this Marketing Seminar book out the morning of Nevember 6th and join us.

Marketing Mentor – Time saving tips

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Break the whole project down into small and then even smaller steps. Ask yourself if you could complete 5 of your new tiny steps by the end of this week of course you could. You will then have made a start. Once the project is in motion, it is far easier to keep it going.

Marketing Seminars – Free Seminars

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Free Marketing Seminar 17 marketing ideas to grow your business – Free Seminar  This is your chance to claim a FREE place at a marketing seminar to run at Hothorpe Hall near Market Harborough this May following on from the very popular event that took place in March. #####PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED UP!  A NEW DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED FOR JUNE 2008 SHORTLY######The Ideal Marketing Company is delighted to present a free marketing seminar to be held at Hothorpe Hall. This early evening seminar takes place on May 15th from 6pm and is free to any business owners or people with a marketing function within a company. Date: Thursday May 15th

Time: 6 for 6.30pm till 8.30pm

Location: Hothorpe Hall, near Market Harborough in Leicestershire

Cost: FREE

Title: ‘The 17 Marketing Cogs Seminar’

Discover the 17 essential marketing areas you need to be engaged in to win more new business and keep your existing customers for longer.

To claim a free place (and bring up to 3 friends with you) please call 01858 44 55 43 e-mail seminar@idealmarketingcompany.com

Marketing Seminars – Fully Booked!

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Marketing Mentor - Creating a clear marketing benefit

Just to let you know that my marketing seminar at Hothorpe Hall on Tuesday night is now fully booked.  In fact, there are now 92 people confirmed for the 60 places available.  From previous experiance a good number of people who say that they are going to attend seminars don’t actually turn up on the day.  I am hoping this is the case for Tuesday otherwise we are going to have to get a few extra chairs!

So iff you would like to attend I’m afraid you can’t – but don’t worry, the next free seminar will be taking place in May.  Details will be on this website shortly.

Marketing Mentor – Customer Service

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Marketing company from Leicestershire has good sales ideas

Five top tips to keep clients coming back for more

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

We have all heard the phrase ‘The customer is king’ but how many of us pay it more than lip service?

The truth is, for the average small business, it is far more cost effective to target your limited marketing resources towards your existing customers than to constantly spend a fortune trawling to attract new ones. After all, it costs seven times more to attract a new customer than to maintain an existing one.

Think of your customers a bit like a bath. Your taps are new customers arriving into your company. The bath plug or effective customer service prevents your customers from leaving. It takes a lot of energy and effort to constantly have new customers arriving all the time, but preventing them from leaving is a great deal simpler.

Why do my customers leave?

A whopping 75% leave because of ‘perceived indifference’. That means that they stop doing business with you because they feel that you aren’t interested in them; that you don’t make them feel special anymore. When a rival company writes to them with a special offer, they can be tempted away because you never bother keeping in touch.

So, while you may think you are treating your customers well, most of them probably think otherwise. When a customer leaves they don’t usually make a fuss or complain they quietly slip out the door never to return.

Making them stay

Perhaps you really are going out of your way to serve your customer, but they just don’t realise it. Well perception is reality, so if 75% are leaving because of ‘perceived indifference’, here are five easy-to-implement ideas on how to change their reality:

1. Capture their details and keep in touch with them. At least once a month write to them or e-mail them with a special offer, product preview, clearance sale, new product line, open evening or whatever. This lets them know that you are thinking about them and finding new ways to serve them

2. Ask them how you are doing. Conduct a customer satisfaction survey on an annual or regular basis depending on your customer base. You can even offer an incentive if they complete the form. This will help you see where you could be better even if it’s only down to perception.

3. Conduct regular customer forums. This allows you to tell your best customers more about what you are up to and to find out from your customers what they like about your service and products. It can also be a useful opportunity for customers to meet your staff (especially background staff) and of course, other customers. If you’re feeling brave, let them talk about you while you are out of the room for an hour and then listen to their feedback on what they like and don’t like about your company.

4. Develop more than one contact point. If a buyer leaves or your contact leaves, the relationship between your two organisations disappears overnight. But if you have more than one point of contact, the relationship is far stronger and can withstand the odd member of staff moving on. When a carefully planned company pairing system really works, your two organisations become so closely intertwined that no other company will get a look in. For example, an office supply company or printers can act as a virtual stockroom delivering items the same day they are required. This locks out the competition and makes you indispensable to the day to day running of your customer’s business.

5. Be honest. Own up to mistakes, and don’t pretend to be something that you are not. You can’t build a long-term relationship that is based on mistrust. A customer would rather you held your hands up to making a mistake than trying to shift the blame where it doesn’t belong.

So remember, whilst most companies spend their hard-earned marketing and sales effort attempting to attract elusive new customers, they probably have most of the business they will ever need sitting on their database.

Free Marketing Seminar – Leicester

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Marketing Mentor - Creating a clear marketing benefit

Many thanks to everybody who came along to the LCB in Rutland Street Leicester for a short seminar I was asked to run on pricing by www.cirt.org.uk.  It seemed to go well and I tried to make that point that people are interested in value rathr than price.  They will pay the price if you can make it clear what value they are getting out fo what you are selling. 

Afterwards a number of people asked about future events and I was pleased to be able to tell them about my FREE evening seminar on the 17 key marketing areas that everybody should be engaged in.  It takes place at Hothorpe Hall on March 18th.  There are now only about 4 places left (!) so if you would like to attend please contact me today at alastair@idealmarketingcompany.com and let me know haw many places you require.

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