Marketing your small business or service firm can be frustrating – particularly if you don’t have a marketing system in place. This brief video outlines how you can get rid of that frustration and systematically attract your ideal customers.
Archive for marketing system
By Bill Brelsford · Comments (0)
Friday,
January
27th,
2012
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Tags : duct tape marketing, marketing system
By Bill Brelsford · Comments (0)
Friday,
March
11th,
2011
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools are not just for big companies with large sales forces or customer service departments. A CRM system can be a great tool for helping retain your existing customers as well as acquiring new ones. Here are 6 ways professional service firms can use a CRM system to improve strengthen their professional relationships:
- Track Your Ideal Customer Profile – there is often a gap between belief and reality when it comes to the profile characteristics of our ideal customers. Using a CRM system to capture demographic, psychographic, and behavioral (what they refer, do they refer, etc.) can help gain a better understanding of our ideal customers and prospects. Reviewing this data can alert us to changes in our business that need to be addressed.
- Provide a personal touch – Sometimes the little things can make all the difference. Use your CRM system to “remember” things like food and beverage preferences, important dates, preferred method of communication (phone, email, etc.), favorite activities and causes, etc.
- Automate a process – Marketing is all about setting expectations and it is important to make sure those expectations are met when a prospect or customer interacts with your business. One way to make expectations are met is to have processes that are consistently followed by everyone in your company. Most CRM systems allow you create action item sequences that can be assigned to the relevant person at the appropriate time. Take advantage of this feature to create a consistent, high quality experience for everyone who interacts with your business.
- Be a better referral source – Having a searchable database that allows to quickly identify members of your network by expertise and other traits will help you be a more valuable resource to your customers and your referral network.
- Stay in touch with referral partners – Speaking of referrals, one of the keys to nurturing a strong referral partner network is to keep in touch with them on a regular basis. Combine the items listed above to stay in touch and build a vibrant referral network.
- Make your email campaigns more relevant – Email marketing is alive and well. These days, however, sending out a monthly, generic blast may not be very effective. Use the information you capture in your CRM system to create segments that allow you to send more targeted and relevant messages.
John Jantsch has a nice post today about changing your behaviors (or creating new habits) to become successful at marketing.
His post reminded me of a concept that I learned from my friends at Sandler Sales Training called the Success Triangle. I believe is so important to this idea of developing habits for success that I have started including it in all of my presentations.
The Success Triangle tells us that to achieve success we have to focus on all three areas of the triangle – Behaviors, Attitudes, and Techniques.
We often talk about marketing or lead generation techniques. Techniques are important, but techniques alone are rarely the key to success – whether we are talking about marketing or anything else.
The most important part of this triangle is probably behaviors. This is where having a coach and tools to track your progress are very helpful. If you don’t do the day to day activities, it doesn’t matter how many techniques I give you or how wonderful the Duct Tape Marketing System is, you won’t get results if you don’t do the behaviors.
Attitude is important because is tends to drive the other two components. If you have the attitude that “marketing doesn’t work”, you won’t try the techniques and you won’t do the behaviors. Rather than focusing on what won’t work, focus on what you are willing to try, do, or say.
If you are not happy with the results of any part of your marketing system, review the success triangle to help you figure out which area(s) you need to address, Behaviours, Techniques, or Attitude, in order to improve your results.
By the way, I am a big fan of the Sandler Sales System and highly recommend them.
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Categories : Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Wednesday,
May
27th,
2009
Here are some of the most common mistakes I see when it comes to marketing a professional service practice.
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Skipping strategy and charging straight ahead to tactics – One of the fastest ways to lose money and become frustrated with marketing is to fall into the “marketing idea of the week” syndrome. Resist the temptation to “just do something” and spend time developing a strategy.
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Not Finding And Communicating Their Remarkable Difference – To our prospects, one accountant looks like another, one attorney looks like another, etc. The most powerful marketing strategy you can employ is to find and communicate how you are different from everyone else who claims to do what you do.
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Confusing Expectations With Differentiators – Quality work, good customer service, fair pricing – these don’t set you apart from the crowd. They are table stakes – expectations for being in the game.
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Creating “Me” centric marketing materials – one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd in terms of your marketing materials is to stop touting your abilities and focus more on the types of problems you solve for your particular type of clients and how their life is better after they work with you.
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Failing To Have A System for Referrals – most accountants and attorneys tell me the #1 way they get business is through referrals. However, very few of them have a system in place to make sure referrals happen consistently. If your referrals seem to come “feast or famine”, you probably need to review your referral system.
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Having An Invisible Website – Over 70% of US adults begin their search for local services by searching the internet. Do they find your website when they search for “accountant in Kansas City”?
- Failing to Cultivate – for most service professionals, there is a time lag between the times when our clients need our services. If they are not thinking of us before they need us, how likely do you think it is they will remember us when it is time to buy?
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Not Marketing to Existing Clients – Don’t forget to keep marketing after the sale. You can’t get angry with clients for buying other services you provide from someone else when you didn’t tell them you offered those services as well.
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Failing to Use A Marketing Calendar – Successful marketing isn’t about hitting the home run. It’s about doing a few things well and consistently. Get in the habit of working on your marketing system.
What other challenges do you face that I left off this list?
Visit our main website to learn about marketing programs for CPAs, accountants, tax preparers, and financial planners.
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Network Solutions, LLC and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business recently teamed up to conduct a baseline telephone survey of 1,000 small business owners with the goal of taking the pulse of small businesses and track their competitive health over time.
American small business owners scored highest in customer service and compliance (defined as the ability to understand and comply with laws and regulations, including ensuring data security).
The study gave small businesses the equivalent of a "C-" in the Marketing and Innovation. According to the study:
“Small businesses are not as successful as they would like to be in effectively marketing themselves to grow their business beyond their current size.”
According to the report, small businesses can improve their competiveness grade by ramping up its Internet business solutions. “Internet business solutions” include more than just a website, but also making a commitment to online advertising, allowing customers to view and order products online, providing email customer service and self-service options to customers.
We Duct Tape Marketing coaches, are big believers in harnessing the power of the internet when it comes to small business marketing. While some of the conclusions of the report may seem a little self serving given what Network Solutions sells, I think the advice related to creating internet business solutions is sound – when viewed in the context of creating a marketing system.
Websites, blogs, social media, etc., can all be effective marketing tools. However, one of the easiest ways to waste money and become frustrated trying to market your small business, is to charge into implementation before developing a sound marketing strategy.
If you would like to be more successful in effectively marketing yourself to grow your business beyond your current size, create your marketing strategy first, and then search for the tools and tactics to help you implement that strategy as efficiently and effectively as possible.
You can find the report referenced above in NetworkSolutions Research Library.
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For Immediate Release
Bill Brelsford
Rebar Business Builders
913-962-9261
435- 514-2044 fax
bill@rebarbusinessbuilders.com
www.RebarBusinessBuilders.com
Kansas City Small Business Marketing Coach Announces Marketing Mastery Program
Today, more than ever, small business owners need Simple, Effective, and Affordable ways to market their products and services. Rebar's Marketing Mastery Program shows small business owners how to take their business to the next level by treating marketing as a system rather than an event.
Lenexa, KS – April 7, 2009 – Bill Brelsford, owner of Rebar Business Builders, and a local Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach, announced the launch of their Marketing Mastery Program.
The Marketing Mastery Program is designed specifically for owners of small businesses and independent professionals who want to take their business to the next level. Based on the Duct Tape Marketing System, Marketing Mastery is a unique blend of workshops, software tools, coaching, and support.
“The Marketing Mastery Program doesn’t try to turn small business owners into full time marketing experts” said Brelsford, “Rather, we help them master the marketing process, so they can make sure that every $1 spent on marketing brings in more than a $1 in return” .
Business owners have the opportunity to attend up to five workshops per month, including a monthly problem solving \ coaching session to addresses challenges specific to their business. Workshops are delivered in a virtual classroom setting, allowing business owners to attend from their office or home. “Business owners have huge demands on their time. We wanted to make it as convenient as possible for them to get the help they need” says Brelsford.
More information at – http://www.RebarBusinessBuilders.com\MarketingMastery
About Rebar Business Builders
Rebar Business Builders focuses on helping small business and independent professionals who want to take their business to the next level. To learn more about their services, visit www.rebarbusinessbuilders.com.
About Duct Tape Marketing
Duct Tape Marketing is a unique turnkey small business marketing system created by award-winning small business marketing expert John Jantsch. Visit the Duct Tape Marketing Blog, a Forbes favorite for small business, at http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog.
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Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved