Total Marketing Solutions

Can you remember your last great experience?  I thought I could quote mine - but after a great first interaction the company let themselves down on every future action!  I think every company has an element of great service - but is it consistent? Is it reliant on key members of staff or embedded in the culture of the organisation?With increasing expectations and the ability to tell the world what you are thinking,  ensuring that your customers come away happy is now essential to the business strategy. With the increase reliance on technology, the personal touch can be lost, with the processes driving the experience and not the customer!Take time to listen to your customers, not just on ‘tick sheet’ questionnaires, but talk them about what it feels like to be a customer, what are their motivations and issues. A recent conversation with an outpatient  identified that his biggest concern was ‘being forgotten‘ how simple to solve by staff just reassuring the waiting patient!

It’s a staggering statistic but on average  1- 5% of customers account for up to 40% of company revenue. It’s even more staggering when these companies confess to being unsure about who their top - i.e. most profitable - customers are. Our consultant Rennie Gould has seen this problem surface many times with clients who were struggling to maximise their profitability because their marketing strategy failed to focus on their profitable customers. He’s delivering a marketing masterclass in Kuala Lumpur at the end of May to highlight this issue for delegates from across Asia. He’ll focus on customer importance and profitability - placing them at centre stage when it comes to developing a marketing strategy which will deliver real profit. We’ll post more information on the masterclass shortly - in the meantime you can visit the organisers UNI here.

Our last post was going to neatly lead onto the importance of marketing planning (click here for our official take on the importance of developing a good marketing plan.) But then a piece on the BNET report by business coach Ian Sanders outlined the approach taken by one Joe Oliver, of eco-entertainment consultancy Bash Creations. Whilst many would argue that in today’s landscape having a marketing plan cast in stone is far less appropriate than a flexible approach to a fluid marketplace, Joe actually has no marketing plan at all.He has found that his more liberated approach has enabled his company to be more enterprising and more robust for survival in difficult times. He has four tips for navigating your way through the unpredictable business landscape without a big strategic plan:


1.    Think fluid. Don’t get stuck to a rigid strategic plan. Instead, see where the water flows and trust your instincts — not your spreadsheet — in pursuing new options. Make sure your business is agile enough to react to market trends or new innovations in technology. If you spot a new opportunity, you don’t have to check it’s on the plan first — just go for it.
2.    Prototype. Test your ideas in the real world. Better to launch beta versions of your website, so you can evaluate and tweak as you go, rather than trying to perfect the model before you launch. Otherwise you might never get the site off the ground.
3.    Reinvent. Learn to love change and be prepared to rethink what you do and how you do it. Maybe your business feels a bit stale, a bit stuck. You might need to shake up your organization so your clients start thinking differently about you. Re-energize your organization by taking your team on an ‘away day’ to brainstorm new ideas; think laterally about how you can re-engineer your offering to grow the business.
4.    Think goals, not plans. Set objectives for the year: deadlines to meet, products to launch. It’s important to know what you want to achieve — if not necessarily how you’ll get there. This allows you to think big without initially worrying about the details. A goal may be “I need to get a new client every month.” Perhaps you don’t have a strict linear plan for how you’ll actually achieve that — you just start off the instinctive way: word of mouth, social networking, client meet-and-greets, and so on.  You can’t chart this activity on a graph, but mentally focusing on the goals will help you reach your desired outcome.

Ian argues that a timeline or a spreadsheet can’t capture those opportunities that arise from serendipity and random meetings, but if you remove the traditional business planning mindset, you’ll be liberated to grow your business in line with how the world really changes — not with what it says on a spreadsheet.
It’s a brave stance and not for everyone, but it certainly seems to suit the way Joe works and has been able to develop his business. So perhaps in this new economic landscape of 2010 it’s time to take a look at how you work and how you are best able to grow your business - choosing the appropriate path somewhere between “planned to within an inch of your life” and the rather freer approach adopted by Joe. To find out more about our thoughts on marketing planning and marketing plans follow this link.

Following on from last week’s post, what happens once you’ve got a clear idea of where you want to take your business and have a carefully crafted business and marketing plan? If it’s early days for your company then it’s time to think about developing a clear, concise marketing strategy to help you achieve your objectives. If you already have a marketing strategy, given the significant changes in the economic landscape over the past year, it’s also a good idea to revisit your strategy to check for relevance. You may well have been treading water for the past year or so in terms of marketing activity. But during this time, how far have you deviated from your initial marketing strategy in order to survive? And how do you get back on track?

Whether developing a marketing strategy from scratch, or helping clients find their way back to where they want to be, as marketing strategy consultants we ask our clients to think about three key areas:

1. Identify just how much your competitive landscape has changed. Have any new competitors emerged? If so, what are similar services of products are they offering? How have your existing competitors changed in how they tackle this new geography? Understanding how your existing and new competitors are looking to tackle the new landscape of 2010 will help you better position yourself in the market and ultimately better compete against all competitors.

2. Re-examine your target market. Time spent researching any changes amongst your target market in buying trends will give you a clear picture of who your customer is, what influences their buying decisions and what changes they are facing. Again, a clear understanding of your customers will enable you to position yourself appropriately and compete more effectively.

3. How relevant is your product or service? Whilst you may have been chasing every sale at all costs in recent times - and understandably so - this can sometimes dilute the unique set of  benefits you are able to offer. Rewriting your positioning statement can be a very useful way to make sure you are clear about what you offer, who to, and why people should buy from you. Being clear about what you offer makes it easier to communicate your particular benefits to your chosen target markets, making for more effective marketing.

Once you have a clearer strategic marketing direction, you can then set about developing appropriate marketing plans to bring real results. To find out more about how to develop effective marketing plans and marketing planning please follow this link.

When we’re asked to meet with potential customers to help them develop a suitable marketing strategy for their business, rather than hitting them with a “death by powerpoint” presentation on the virtues of tactical marketing,  we always ask what their plans are for their business and if they have a clear, well-defined business strategy in place. And in many cases, the answer is a rather resounding “No!”

But why do we ask about a business strategy if all the client wants is some help with their marketing? The answer goes right to the core of how we do business. Every piece of marketing advice we give our clients is designed to deliver results - and if it’s not part of an overall strategic direction, it’s impact will not only be severely limited but also a potential waste of valuable marketing budget. It might also be entirely inappropriate if it doesn’t reflect the strategic objectives of the company.

Our starting point for developing a marketing strategy always has to be a clear understanding of what our client wants for their business - how do they see their company developing in the future? Are they perhaps looking to sell the company in the next couple of years and enjoy an early retirement? Or are they looking to secure a steady 10% growth over the next five years with a secure dividend stream? Both directions of course have totally different mindsets and both will require a completely different marketing strategy designed to help achieve their own specific outcomes.

For many smaller, owner-managed businesses, the business strategy is inextricably intertwined with the more personal objectives of the business owner themself. Rather than looking for the quick marketing fix (there isn’t one by the way!), we take the time to listen - to their hopes for the business, the issues they are facing and the potential barriers preventing them from achieving their objectives. We first of all help them to bring clarity to their thinking and ask them some searching questions about what they really want for their business. Once we have achieved a clear view of where they would like the business to be in 2,5 or 10 years time, we can then help them develop a clear business strategy.

Once the business has a clear strategic direction to follow, we’re off and running. We can then develop a specific, appropriate marketing strategy which really will deliver the required results. It’s not a quick fix, but it works - that’s what makes us experts at what we do. To find out just how we go about developing effective marketing strategy, take a look at our resources page here.

For many it’s the start of a new sales year and those sales targets might seem like an impossible mountain to climb - particularly with the UK still in a state of economic flux. So just how should you attempt to achieve what might seem like unrealistic targets?  There are many different avenues to explore - some old, some new and some which you just might not have tried before. As strategic marketing consultants, we don’t get bogged down in marketing theory or stop working with clients as soon as the ink on the marketing strategy has dried. We often get involved in analysing sales processes and helping our clients change the way they sell to achieve greater efficiency - and of course results!

We always find with our clients who are looking to change the way they sell that a little change can often make a big difference to their sales, so why not try a new approach?

Time - spend time EVERY week prospecting for new business. Sounds blindingly obvious but it’s so easy to get bogged down with existing clients that prospects get forgotten and suddenly the sales pipeline looks empty. An allotted amount of time every week will help to avoid an empty pipeline and contribute to a smoother supply of prospects.

Spread your wings - time spent identifying new markets and applications for your products or services can really pay dividends, particularly if your current sector or sectors are reaching saturation point or are being squeeded by competitors. One of our clients has to date focussed on a particular application for their product in the NHS. Given the impending budget cuts they have identified a potentially lucrative new application for logistics companies - all by thinking about new possible applications.

Improve the “value” in your proposition -  increased competition in a crowded market means you really need to stand out from the crowd - and quickly. Make sure your customers get what you do better and how this really benefits them. Don’t overload them with information - streamline your communications to drive home just how good you are and why it makes sense to do business with you. Be specific for each customer by investing time to find out what makes them tick.

Front of mind - you might deliver a fantastic sales presentation. So might 8 other competitors. Make sure you stay in your prospect’s mind by communicating with them - it might be an email newsletter, relevant tweets, follow-up calls. It goes without saying that in every communication, reinforcing the strength of your value proposition will add weight to your argument and bring you closer to winning the customer.

Define your sales role - It might all sound like basic stuff, but it’s very easy to get sidetracked by customer service issues, which eat into valuable selling time. Whilst it can be difficult to let go or to take a back seat once a customer is up and running, it’s always surprising how much selling time is spent servicing an account - even when a more than capable Customer Service department are waiting to get involved. Finding the right balance is tricky, but it’s essential that the job of selling to new customers remains the focus.

Buff yourself up - it’s true that the business landscape has changed in the last 18 months and so have customer expectations. So sales people need to keep smart - listen to that new podcast, get some coaching, follow your competitors on twitter. In short, spend the time keeping up to speed with what’s going on in your customers’ lives and you’ll be better positioned than your competitors to react to and exploit any changes.

A few tweaks in your sales approach now could put you in good stead for the potentially rocky road that lies ahead for the rest of 2010. None of the above suggestions are hard to implement, but they could result in a significant change in your sales pipeline and bring some light to the end of the tunnel.

We’ve just come across a fantastic free ebook courtesy of John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. With so many people talking about the impact and importance of social media, it’s great to find a really clear opinion on what is proving to be for some a rather confusing medium. In this free ebook, John talks about the importance of  social media for business. It’s well worth a look and should provide some valuable insight into how to use social media for your own business. Let us know what you think!

With the onslaught of increasing noise over social media, the integrated marketing model has reared it’s head again. It keeps cropping up in marketing blogs and articles, but just what does it all mean??? One marketing blogger who has his finger on the pulse is John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing.

Like many other marketing professionals, John has noticed that marketing folks are now using “integrated marketing” to describe their ability to integrate traditional offline marketing with the new sexy social media. In our opinion, as marketing consultants, Integrated marketing is in fact the combination of marketing tactics to help deliver one marketing strategy to more quickly build know, like and trust amongst your customers.

In this sense then an integrated marketing approach is not a strategy, it’s the tactical delivery of a marketing strategy. That distinction is critical, because without the right strategy no amount of talk about integrating multiple platforms and mediums makes much sense. In fact, in many instances integration is simply interpreted as doing more kinds of stuff. The problem with more stuff is that stuff without a central strategy can actually cause one stuff to combat and conflict with some other stuff. The key is to strategically integrate - not just head off in various off- and on-line directions.

To find out more about what John has to say on this matter, go to his blog here.

The Holy Grail of how to accurately assess your Return on Investment for any marketing activities you choose to undertake has always been the sticking point for many marketers trying to justify spending their marketing budget. It’s been a rather hit and miss affair to date, particularly with the marketing waters being constantly muddied by new technologies and the different parameters they bring for measuring marketing effectiveness. Whilst the only real truth to date has been that it is crucial to carry out some measure of ROI, just how to do it has been hotly debated.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing has now produced a paper on measuring ROI, which we believe is well worth a look.The report looks at how marketing creates money and how to maximise your return on ideas, whilst achieving superior results from Finance and Marketing. The CIM has talked to over 100 organisations about what works for them and what doesn’t. They have then produced a framework to be used by any size of company to create a greater sustainable value. For those of you who are CIM members, you can find the paper in the Resource section of the CIM website.

When your best marketing efforts remain unsuccessful, you’re understandably left wondering why, why why? So you send out some more direct mail, refresh your website with a tweak here and a bit of SEO there. You might even attend a trade show or buy some advertising, but still you’re left with poor sales.Why is this? The simple answer is that your marketing efforts need to be more than just a random series of tasks. Truly effective marketing is not just a single activity - it’s a well-planned  strategic approach. Here are the top five biggest marketing mistakes we often see companies make along the way:1: MARKETING WITHOUT A STRATEGY Some companies believe their product does everything, that their target market is anyone who has money to spend and that they don’t have competition. But for your marketing to really succeed, you need to define a target market segment where your product/service has the most relevance and the best competitive advantage. Research your competition and their strengths and weaknesses to compare with your own competitive advantage. Once you identify your key advantage over the competition, build this into every marketing activity, choosing marketing vehicles that only cater to a clearly defined group of potential buyers. Now you have a marketing strategy, so now you can develop a calendar of events and associated budget to help you maximise every penny of your marketing budget.2: MARKETING AND SALES GAPEver developed sales materials that never get used by the sales team? Often marketing teams spend time, effort and money creating sales collateral, only for the sales team to reject it because it doesn’t do the job. Not having a clear integration between sales and marketing can result in failed marketing programs, costing you lost revenue opportunities and wasted expenditure.Instead, ask your sales team to participate in marketing planning. Set up a sales advisory committee for both sales management and representatives to provide feedback on proposed marketing programs. Without uniting sales and marketing departments, marketing strategies are only achieving one-half of the equation.3:  INCONSISTENT BRANDINGIn other words, changing your company’s positioning depending on the audience, marketing vehicle used or even person delivering it. This results in a confused audience—unsure of who you are and what your company does. Brand awareness is only built by consistently communicating your company’s position and identity, so that your audience will repeat your positioning exactly as you intend it.To achieve this, it’s important to clearly define who you are and what you offer. Put together a statement that everyone agrees upon, understands and - crucially - supports. This positioning statement must include who you are, what you offer, for whom, for what result and why someone should choose you over anyone else. Then carry out a full audit of all your marketing materials to eliminate any inconsistencies.4: NOT USING THE MARKETING MIX EFFECTIVELY.Using only one marketing vehicle to promote a company and/or its products is a common mistake, especially in this digital age. Many existing marketing plans we see only focus on one activity - direct mail, advertising, public relations - and do not integrate these activities for maximum effect.It’s key to choose a marketing mix that caters specifically to your target market, before creating a schedule to ensure the required coverage across multiple channels. This takes time, but a variety of vehicles, working in concert, will build awareness and generate leads at a far higher rate than any one vehicle alone.5. MARKETING SOMETHING YOU CAN’T DELIVER.Your marketing team has created eye-catching materials and an aggressive campaign for the launch of a new company product or service. The campaign is very successful, but operations cannot handle the demands. They do not have the ability to deliver. Or maybe, the product itself is not available in time, or has production problems. This upsets your customers and demoralizes your sales and marketing team. They stop selling and the pipeline dries up.It’s important to realign the efforts of marketing and operations by assessing what needs to happen to meet any new business demands. If you then create a plan to detail the specific steps required for each team to support existing sales, as well as successfully rolling out the offering to new customers, this will only build confidence within each team and avoid any potential hiccups.