Grow Your Business Exhibition

Make sure your marketing investment counts this year...

Do you have an up to date marketing plan?
Have you clearly defined your position in the marketplace? Does all your marketing support that position?
Is your marketing literature is as effective as it should be?

In an economic slump you need to be careful where you spend your money. But marketing is no place to scrimp. In a recession, well-planned, well-executed marketing is more crucial to your business success than ever. Tough economic times provide an opportunity for you to steal the advantage on your competitors: but only if you work the opportunity carefully.

Plan carefully...
Taking the time to create a strategy, plan your approach and define your market positioning is essential. Ensuring that every piece of marketing literature, from your website and brochures to your posters, banners and emails support that market position is a part of this. You’ll not only spend less, your marketing will be more powerful for the consistent approach.

Create powerful copy and compelling design...
Making sure every piece counts with powerful copy and impactful design might mean spending more initially, but in the long run you’ll reap the benefits with stronger returns. And because you’re not getting sidetracked with last minute ‘deals’, there’s no need to bust your budget either.

Quite simply, homespun marketing that fails to appeal to your target audience won’t cut it in this marketplace. A shambolic approach to marketing based on the lowest cost option, however unsuitable, will just result in you wasting money.

Start with a plan: a clear plan. And a budget. Chances are, you won’t need to spend any more money than you did last year. But by planning where to spend it sensibly, you will significantly increase your return on investment. And in this economic climate that’s probably essential.

Guildford printing.com will help you make sure that your investment counts. We’ll help you formulate a plan, define your market positioning and attack the market with gusto. And with copywriting, graphic design, print and marketing services in house, you can be sure that you’re gaining the very best expertise at a price that you can afford.

Post Purchase Dissonance, and how to combat it

You know that unpleasant feeling you get when you’ve bought something and you somehow just feel a little let down by it?

Maybe you feel you paid too much. Maybe you felt the product wasn’t up to spec. Maybe you felt a little ripped off. Whatever the reasons, this is known as post purchase dissonance. Or cognitive purchase evaluation.

I believe that combating this is essential if you are to gain repeat business and recommendations from your clients. And the good news is that there are a number of steps that you can take to reduce or completely combat post purchase dissonance within your clients.

Firstly, talk to people a couple of days after they've bought from you. Just because people haven't complained doesn't mean that they're happy. So give your customers the chance to give you feedback and then take steps to put it right.

Secondly, ensure that you don't make the classic mistake of only investing in smart marketing materials for contact before the sale. How you deal with people, the effort you put in after is just as important, if not more. This means that boxes (if you use them) should be smart and branded, the art of receiving the goods should be just as exciting as ordering them. And if you think that you can get away with home-made invoices, well, this is the time to think again. What does that tell your customers about how you feel about their business?

Design plays a big role in the avoidance of post purchase dissonance. It’s your way of showing that you’re serious about your business. That you take yourself seriously and you believe you’re worth investing in.

But what about you. Have you ever had positive or negative post purchase dissonance feelings? Sometimes it can be the smallest, most unrelated thing that causes a big impression in someone's mind.

I can remember when I bought my Golf a few years back. I went to collect my shiny new car, and there it was - exactly as spec. The colour I'd ordered, with all the extras and on the day they told me it would be ready. And yet do you know what gave me that unpleasant feeling in my stomach? The fact that I'd always heard that when you buy a new car from a dealer you get a bunch of flowers or a bottle of champagne. I looked in the back and there sat... a branded teddy bear! Not the same effect. Not at all.

Contrast that with a recent purchase I made online with Isabella Oliver. The clothes are expensive but I'd looked around for similar quality and wanted to treat myself. The package arrived literally 24 hours after I'd placed the order (BIG tick in the box!) and was so impressive that it actually encouraged me to go back online and order more. Yes, the clothes were fab. But to be honest, I'd expected that. It was the extras that really impressed me, that really gave me the feelgood factor. They came beautifully wrapped in swathes of orange an white tissue paper, with a thank you note from the business owners, postcards to send to my friends (branded of course) and a discount voucher for future purchases.

The Isabella Oliver experience just goes to show how you can use the natural post purchase feelings to your advantage and really cement a relationship with your customer. And at no extra hassle to the company.

What can you do in your business to create a feelgood factor after purchase?

Persistence pays: Building profitable relationships with customers

Most of us are exposed to a barrage of commercial messages every day. It’s simply impossible to pay attention to them all. So what do we do? We focus on only those that reach us where we “live”, that hot zone that encompasses only areas of primary self-interest.   With this kind of widespread advertising going on, it’s no surprise that in your own marketing, your first message to your market doesn’t always get   through… let alone acted upon. For this reason, it’s important to “work” a highly qualified and interested prospect repeatedly, so they can at least try out your products and services. To deprive them of this opportunity is to cheat them out of what could very well be in their best interest; buying your product NOW. Not only that, but you’re cheating yourself in that you’ll   produce far fewer sales than you could through an effective system of repeated contacts.   With advertising messages everywhere, it’s fair to say that many people are oblivious to most of them. Deleting or ignoring 99.5% of the regular onslaught is the only way most people could function effectively in their daily lives. To pay attention to every message would leave little time for anything else.   A 'keep-in-touch' system of continuous marketing enables you to routinely convey your message to your best prospects. The obvious goal is to convince prospects to become buyers and the sooner they come around, the lower the cost to you in acquiring that customer.   Some prospects will buy the first time you contact them, provided your offer and copy does an adequate job and you’ve targeted the best possible prospects. The harsh reality is, though, that many people don’t even see your message, or pay any attention to it the first time around. That’s why it’s so important to repeatedly contact your best prospects with your most convincing and appealing offer.   Research shows that prospects often won't respond until after the seventh time they've heard from you, so it stands to reason that you should approach a prospect no less than seven times before giving up on her and moving on.   The best means of getting through to prospects is with spaced repetition. You want to send your marketing communications to prospects repeatedly, over time. I suggest spacing messages apart by two weeks in the initial stages, with a gradual spreading out of any subsequent contacts.   I’d also suggest that you don’t simply mail the same piece over and over again. Promote the same benefits and use similar offers, if you wish, but don’t just send the same sales letter or brochure. This quickly becomes boring to the prospect – even though she may in fact be mulling over your offer. Remember, bored prospects don’t buy.   You’ll want to have systems in place for both your prospect list and your customer list. Often, established customers buy again and again, automatically, without the need to be “sold” each time. The best way to keep customers active is to maintain a system of consistent communication.   Above all, don't get discouraged if your first marketing message doesn't produce the desired effect, and don't give up! As long as you have your   target market correctly identified, and you have tailored your marketing message to fit their wants and needs, then your marketing grit and persistence will surely pay off in the long run. So go get 'em!   Louisa Bird is the Founder of WomensMarketingForum.com - a members only website supporting self-employed women in getting more clients, more easily

 

What comes first? A website or a new logo?

When you're starting a business or revisiting your marketing, where do you start? With your website or with your logo design? When budgets are tight I can understand the logic behind starting with your website - websites can start generating you visible income immediately, they're an essential part of your marketing mix and if you can get the website right you can use the income generated to refine other areas of your marketing.

However, if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, I think you'll see why this logic is flawed.

Great marketing always starts with strong branding. If you don't have a strong brand identity you'll simply be making life harder for yourself. You'll have to fight harder to engage your target audience, you'll have to spend more money (in the long term) getting your marketing collateral looking like it's come from the same company and quite simply, you're missing a trick.

Think of branding like losing weight
Imagine you decided that now was the time to go on a drastic image makeover - you'd lose 3 stone and get a new haircut and new wardrobe. When would be the best time to invest in that new wardrobe? Before you'd lost the weight? Or after? Sure, you'd feel better instantly if you went out and bought a new wardrobe immediately, but ultimately you'd end up throwing all your old clothes away when you reached your target weight. Your body shape would be different, you'd have more confidence and your tastes might even be different. You'd probably feel like you'd reached your full potential and feel as though now was the time to be showing off your new body shape. Do you think that the clothes you bought when you were 3 stone heavier would still work on your new, trimmer frame? Unlikely isn't it?

So why then, does it make sense to design your website before you finalise your branding? Getting the branding right at the outset can actually save you money in the long run. To start with, you'll have a clear set of brand values and brand identity to give to your web designer. This means that you'll incur less creative bills (and probably get a better outcome since most web designers aren't branding experts). You'll also get to where you need to be much faster because your web designer will know what you expect of them. And finally, you'll have a website that truly represents your brand. That really says the right things about your business.

So before you rush out and order your new website, just think - am I happy with my branding? Is it saying the right things about me? And if you're not, talking to a friendly design agency who specialises in branding!

Adding Polish Adds to PROFITS! Business attire in the summer

Your outfit speaks loudly about your professionalism, casual dress - casual attitude. Think business first and casual second, as inappropriate dress is distracting and takes the attention away from the business at hand; therefore good boundaries need to be established in a business environment. People become more casual in the hot weather as they wear more relaxed clothes but that doesn't mean their grooming should and this is what can let people look sloppy and untidy.

Five Grooming reminders:
Your outfit needs to always be well pressed and wrinkle free to look professional.
"No ironing" is not appropriate and indicates you may well be a person who lacks attention to detail!
Items should be in good repair.
Hair should be neat and tidy all day not just when you arrive at the office. Check it out when you visit the cloakroom/toilet.
Manicure and pedicure regularly.

Angela Marshall runs Appearance Management. You can find out more about her business image service by visiting her website.

Do you know it takes 7 times?

7 times to do what?

To get your neighbour to stop parking their car across your drive way?

To get a 5 year old to eat brussel sprouts? To get your partner to buy you flowers on your birthday?

No! On average, you have to communicate with a potential customer 7 times before they will buy something from you.

What! 7 times I hear you cry. If I want someone to buy something from me, I have to speak to them or send them something 7 times before they are willing to part with their hard-earned money?

Yup, that's right.

Now, obviously some people will buy on impulse and buy something or a service from you there and then.

But if the average figure is 7, that also means that it could take some people 20 times or more before they are willing to trust you enough to buy from you.

Think about your own buying habits. You are watching Ugly Betty on a Friday night and an advert comes on for a new moisturiser. You open the magazine supplements on a Sunday morning and there is a full colour page advert for that same moisturiser and you kind of recognise it but you are not sure where from.

On Monday you are chatting away to a girlfriend who mentions that she has recently bought this amazing new moisturiser. And so it goes it on until you find yourself at Boots on the high street and you are standing opposite a big display stand promoting that very same moisturiser.

What the hell, you think and you throw it in to your shopping basket.

If you hadn't had seen the TV advert, glanced at the newspaper or heard your friend raving about the product, there would have been every chance you would have walked straight past that promo stand.

If you are running your own business, there is a very high probability that you do not have the budget to advertise during Ugly Betty nor take out a full colour ad in the Sunday Times Style magazine.

But you can create a buzz and get people talking about you and what your business offers.
Communicating with a potential customer doesn't always have to be about advertising (although it can certainly help if you target the right publications) and as a small business, probably on a budget, there are dozens and dozens of ways of communicating with your potential customers.

From speaking at local events to contributing on online discussion forums. From sending people Christmas cards to forwarding them interesting and relevant emails. From talking to people at networking events to phoning someone up to ask their opinion on something.

Communication opportunities are open to you each and every day. And if you think it can take, on average, 7 times of communicating with someone before they are willing to buy from you, isn't it worth being conscious on how you can improve your communication opportunities?

One of the most effective and cheapest way of ensuring you are communicating 7 times is publishing your own email newsletter.

Karen Skidmore runs CanDoCanBe.com which helps women build successful (and profitable!) home based businesses. She'll be speaking on Email Newsletters Made Easy at the Grow Your Business Event on 30th April.

Email Newsletters - Get Personal

It may be tempting when you run a business from home to “pretend” to be bigger than you actually are. You may not want your customers to know that you work from the kitchen table and sort out your washing between answering emails.

However, when building relationships with potential customers, especially building relationships online, the more personal you make your email newsletters, the better.

You don’t need to share your stories about how drunk you got at your cousin’s wedding last weekend or how your daughter has just been awarded a prize for her mathematical ability. But when you write your articles and “talk” to your subscribers, show your personality.

Be fun, be creative, be serious. You decide – it’s your personality. By showing your personality you will be more likely to open up the doors of communication and start to build relationships with the types of customers you want to work with.

Make it personal. After all it is your business.

Karen Skidmore runs CanDoCanBe.com which helps women build successful (and profitable!) home based businesses. She'll be speaking on Email Newsletters Made Easy at the Grow Your Business Event on 30th April.

How to ruin your brand in 5 seconds flat

Your new letterhead and business cards are back from the printers; your exquisitely designed website is all ready to go. All you need now is some photos of yourself, your team and your products.

So, grabbing the digital camera you make a quick tour of the office, snapping everyone at their desks, take a few shots of your products and post the photos onto your website; maybe you even use some in your leaflets. That’s the great thing about digital photography isn’t it? Now, anyone can take photographs like a pro without having to go to the time and expense of hiring a pro, right? Wrong. If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, owning a digital camera is not the only prerequisite for taking professional-looking pictures; if it was, not only would everyone be doing it, they’d also be doing it well; which is certainly not the case, as a glimpse at many companies’ websites and brochures will show! As the photographer Ansel Adams said “You don’t take a picture, you make a picture”.

So, why should you use a professional photographer?

Your brand values are reflected in everything from the words you use to the design of your marketing materials. A mismatch between any of these will weaken your business image.

Whilst it’s tempting to go for the instant result at no cost, will that result send out the desired message about your business?

Don’t forget that it takes seconds for someone to make up their minds about you and your company. How many times have you looked at a website, business card or brochure and been put off by the unprofessional quality of the design, graphics or typeface?

Photographs speak volumes - if you and your people are at the forefront of communicating your business message, then it’s vital that your photos create the right impression first time. And if you have a great product, you should be doing it justice by presenting it in the best way possible. Using the services of a professional photographer will help you send out the right message about your business. Good photography can enhance an already great brand; poor photography can destroy that brand’s credibility in seconds.

Here are just a few of the ways in which a professional photographer can help you create the right business image :-
• By identifying the best locations and backgrounds and “designing” the shot
• Using professional lighting techniques at all times
• Matching the style of photography to your business image
• Advising on the type of clothing that will work best for a portrait session
• Posing subjects in the most flattering way
• Being aware of and sensitive to the feelings of those being photographed and being able to put them at ease within 5 minutes of meeting them
In return, you will benefit from:-
• A consistent style for all your marketing material which supports and enhances your business image
• Professionally lit portraits and product shots at all times
• An ongoing relationship with a fellow professional who, in effect, becomes another member of your team whom you can call on whenever you need to
• Professional presentation and post-production of all your images
• More time for you to spend on your business
Anna Saverimuttu is a Guildford-based photographer, specialising in portrait and event photography for businesses and individuals. To see more of her work, visit www.annasaverimuttu-photography.co.uk
Or, contact her for an informal chat and further advice on 01483 571119 or at annasaverimuttu@aol.com

Corporate Entertainment: not just for the big guys – and it can help your bottom line!

Entertaining your clients is a great way to thank them for their business, reward and increase their loyalty and to make them feel valued. Events can also help to launch a new product or service, mark a company anniversary or success. But one of the key benefits of corporate entertainment is that it can bring in more business, impacting directly on your bottom line.

Large corporate entertainment companies offer a wide range of services from sporting event packages and team-building away days to Mediterranean cruises. But there are plenty of lower cost options accessible to businesses of all sizes: taking your clients out to dinner, to the theatre, to a local sporting event, or of course a wine tasting – these are all affordable corporate entertainment options.

Think about it – an evening in a room with some of your best clients and potential clients. The atmosphere is relaxed and sociable, with plenty of time for chatting – it could be just the opportunity you need to clinch that big sale or secure new business from an existing client.

What kind of event is right for you and your customers?
There are some questions you need to ask yourself before you spend some of your hard earned money on a corporate entertainment event.

Who is the target audience? Make sure you choose something that will appeal to those people: the type of event, where it will be, and when.
What type of event will work for you? Do you want the opportunity to network? Or are you looking for something memorable as a thank you for their business?
What is your budget? Several smaller events run through the year may give a better return and “hit” more clients than a single, spectacular one.

If you get your client entertainment events right, your business will benefit from increased loyalty, goodwill – and sales. Corporate entertainment can and should form an integral part of the overall marketing strategy of all businesses, no matter what size.

Heather Dougherty runs Red White & Rosé offering fun, informative wine events in London, Surrey and the Blackwater Valley. Heather can be contacted on: 07962 133487 or heather@redwhiteandrose.co.uk

Take your business to new heights with the right marketing

One of the harsh facts of life is that having a great product is no longer enough to guarantee success in business. Why? Because no matter how good your product may be, if no one knows about it and the benefits it can bring, no one’s going to buy it.
However if you have a great product or even just a good one and you market it expertly, then you are virtually guaranteed a seat at the high table of business success.
Mike Jennings, a Surrey based business development consultant with the Quantum Organisation explains how we can all take our businesses to new heights.

Many people regard marketing as one of the dark arts, a mysterious world only the few can enter. However to decide how to market a product you just need to put yourself in the customer’s position and ask yourself “what would persuade me to buy this product”. Unfortunately very few of us actually go through this process which means that we continually make mistakes which stop our businesses from realising their potential.
I’m going to look at a couple of areas which can provide significant improvements to business’s performance.

There are seven factors which determine the success of a business. If you are serious about achieving growth, then it is imperative that you focus on all seven. When any business makes this commitment, then their competitors had better look out.
The seven factors I’m referring to are:

1. The number of leads your business generates. Leads are the life blood of new business and without qualified leads you new business activities will grind to a halt
2. Your conversion rate – how many of your prospects you convert into customers. You can have a hundred hot leads but if you don’t convert a significant percentage not only are you wasting your time but you’re probably in the wrong business.
3. The number of transactions. You must maximise the amount of business you do with your customers. If, for example, your customers buy from you on average 4 times a year, by increasing that to five times you have immediately grown your turnover by 25%
4. The transaction value. This is where the up sell and cross sell can make all the difference. Your fixed costs stay fixed and your turnover and profit increase.
5. The margin.- I think this one speaks for itself.
6. The lifetime value of your customers. This is an area too many businesses ignore. The lifetime value is the amount of profit any customer delivers to your business during the whole time they trade with you. Only when you know your customers lifetime value do you know how much you can afford to invest to win them as a customer in the first place.
7. The last point you need to focus on is referrals. Referral business is not only the cheapest form of customer acquisition it also delivers the best prospects. If every one of your customers referred just one new customer each year, you’d probably never have to do any more marketing again ever.
The key point in all this is the importance of focusing on all the seven factors. Concentrating on one in isolation might grow your business by a few percentage points but concentrate on all seven areas and your business will go through the roof.

If you want to maximise your sales another subject you should consider carefully is the question of customer guarantees. When we buy something the number one question in our minds is “will this product do what I want it to do, will it be right for me”. If we’re not certain then by buying it we’re taking a bit of a risk. It is this risk that stops many people from buying. If you can offer a money back guarantee you immediately remove the risk and remove the largest barrier to purchasing. In addition, the risk reversal guarantee immediately sets you apart from your competitors and also makes a very clear and unequivocal statement to your customers of the total confidence you have in your product.
A good example of this would be if you suffer from a bad back and want to buy a new mattress. It doesn’t matter what the sales blurb says, at this stage you don’t know whether the mattress will be right for your back or not. So you either have to take the risk or not make the purchase. Now if the retailer takes the risk away and offers you a week’s free trial with the option to return it if you don’t find it comfortable, then the decision becomes easy. If the salesman really knows what he’s doing and offers to pick it up free of charge if you decide that it’s not the right mattress for you, then the sale should be guaranteed.
One of the key areas of resistance, I find, to giving guarantees is the question “won’t customers take advantage of the guarantee and won’t I have to give them their money back”.
Well the answer is yes, you may have to. But for every one you have to refund, there will be another ten satisfied new customers, who will now have the confidence to buy from you again in the future. And the one you did refund will be very positively disposed towards your business and just think how many other people he will tell about his free trial and refund.
So if your business is not performing in the way you want it to, you should give serious consideration to these areas because those businesses which get it right will reap the benefits.

Mike Jennings is offering a no-obligation marketing consultation to Surrey businesses. If you feel you could benefit from some expert advice and guidance contact him on 01483 200387 or email him at: mike.jennings@quantumorganization.com. Alternatively you can visit Quantum’s website at www.QuantumOrganization.com