Total Marketing Solutions

Making an Impression – Customer experience management

msallis — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:06:27 +0000

What makes a good company stand out from others? Managing the customer experience. Recently I have signed up with two companies to undertake some training. One a multi-national company which have clearly spent considerable budgets on the sales process and marketing to capture my attention and get me to sign up. The alternative a single ‘one man band’ trainer, with a simple page website and a good reputation!

Which do you think made the biggest impression?

Despite the high investment, the multi international company offered the lowest level of service I have encountered in years! Once they took my money (which was quick!) they offered little or no-after sales, not even a confirmation email! With the overheads they carry will they make any profit from my business? Unlikely as I certainly won’t recommend them or repeat the experience!

However, despite limited resources, my one-man band, has being attentive, courteous and provided me with an outstanding experience.

Core to the TMS approach as a marketing consultancy is a focus to really understand the needs and expectations of your customers. We believe that a complete marketing strategy is not just about finding new customers but ensuring the processes are in place to retain those customers by delivering an exceptional customer experience – resulting in long-term profitable relationships.

How web technology is helping us to deliver marketing advice worldwide, without even leaving the office

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:00:21 +0000

It’s becoming more and more prevalent amongst large organisations, but now even small to medium-sized companies are growing more comfortable with and learning to trust remote technologies to help them obtain the best advice in the most convenient format. We’ve recently delivered a highly successful marketing strategy workshop for a Swedish client based in Stockholm, also involving a marketing team in Paris – all without leaving the comfort of our own office. Every element of the process took place online – from initial enquiry, scoping discussion through to final delivery.

An increasing number of smaller c0mpanies are realising that they can trust web technologies to help them first find and then conveniently access the right kind of advice, without incurring travel costs and eating into their working day. Relationships built through the web are increasingly seen as not only convenient, but just good sense. As the success of our workshop shows, in some instances a face to face meeting really isn’t necessary – what counts is the level of insight of the advice provided.

To find out more about how we can help you – no matter where you are – please email us here or call 0845 201 1618.

When the going keeps getting tougher, the tough get segmenting

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:00:07 +0000

There’s no denying the fact that, despite being told we have so much to look forward to this year – the Olympics, the Jubilee – 2012 is still looking like being a difficult year for many businesses, large and small. As a marketing consultant, we recognise that in times of limited budgets, it is important now more than ever, to get the fundamentals right about your customers, your markets and your competitive proposition. You need to make sure you can answer the following questions:

1. Can you identify which customer segments you are trying to serve? (remember – you should segment your market by grouping customers who seek similar benefits, rather than by generic descriptors like company size, market sectors, industry codes.)

2. Are you clear about the benefits they are looking for? How can your proposition deliver these benefits better than your competitors? Why should they buy from you?

If you have clarity about who you are trying to serve, their needs and can then competitively position your offer, you are a long way to succeeding.

The next step is then of course how to communicate this effectively to each of your identified segments, but that’s another story! As marketing consultants working with a wide range of diverse businesses across the country, we undertake this type of segmenting exercise as a starting point for meaningful strategy development. Clarity at this initial stage makes sure that all strategy development is then heading in the right direction, making is as cost-effective and robust as possible.

To tender or not to tender?

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:52:19 +0000

We seem to have spent most of the last month submitting tenders for various pieces of work. As a marketing consultant we have to question whether this investment in time is worthwhile for ourselves and for our clients and only time will tell if all our blood, sweat and tears will have paid off. But whether you love them or hate them, tenders are an integral part of winning new business for many companies, large or small. And they’re here to stay. Companies and other organisations now more than ever need to be sure that their budgets are used to maximum effect and selecting the right partners lies at the heart of ensuring the best return on investment. With competition for even the smallest contract gaining in intensity, winning competitive tenders is becoming an art form all of its own. So what is the best way to go about winning your next tender?
Experience shows that first of all, a dose of brutal honesty is key to you submitting a meaningful tender where you at least have a shot at winning. Deluding yourself about your experience or your company’s capabilities will only waste time, valuable time which could have been spent on more fruitful business development activities. With this increased competition, companies are now able to look for an exact fit for their specific requirements. Once you have decided you could deliver the tender, making sure that you demonstrably satisfy all the required criteria is key. Make sure you do your homework around the tender and understand the wider implications too.
In addition to making sure you can tick all the relevant boxes, writing a successful bid not only requires a concise, precise language but also a degree of creativity to make you stand out from the crowd. Sounds easy, but getting the right tone and content is a real skill. Making sure that it accurately reflects your capabilities to convince that you are the right company for the job takes a lot of time and effort. Deciding whether you spend your time on the tender rather than other development activities is another matter and one that can only be answered by your own particular set of circumstances. There’s nothing like an empty pipeline to get you sending off a flurry of tenders, but if none of them are a good fit, it’s probably time which could have been spent more fruitfully. If your pipeline is looking rather sickly and your track record of winning tenders is not exactly Olympian, then give us a call on 0845 201 1618.

Is your search engine usage slipping?

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:09:14 +0000

Just when we all thought we were spending too much time searching for all manner of things online, it turns out that this might be slowly changing. Gone is the novelty of sifting through endless search engine results. With a rapidly-increasing number of apps now targetted at our own specific information needs, there is a slowly-emerging trend in reduced online searching. Instead, more people are relying on a well-targetted and highly relevant app to deliver the information required – be it a certain type of restaurant in a specific city to the latest surf report for your favourite beach (Crackington Haven in case you’re interested!)

So what does this mean for those companies already investing in SEO and PPC campaigns? As their customer base slowly develops a more sophisticated taste for the more personal information they are looking for – rather than the information they don’t want – companies will need to develop a deeper understanding of how best to communicate with their customers. Watch this space……

Email marketing still on the up

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:34:34 +0000

A recent study produced by the DMA in conjunction with Alchemy Works claims that consumers are responding more favourably than ever before to email marketing. The report – which credits improved segmentation and better targeting for this growth – blows apart some common myths about the effectiveness of email marketing.

Whilst many might believe that consumers are being bombarded by endless numbers of unwanted emails, the report clearly contradicts this. Over 60% of respondents were signed up to 10 or fewer senders – a surprisingly low number considering the options available to your average consumer. So whilst your email is not necessarily clamouring for attention amidst a sea of competitors, getting onto that list of 10 represents another challenge.

In 2010, one in 10 consumers stated that 50% or more emails they received were of interest. In the 2011 report, this number increases to one in three.

Amongst the more surprising findings was that fact that only 3% of consumers pick up their emails on a smartphone, whilst 61% don’t check or use email at work.

What the report reflects is that there is now a greater understanding of how to segment markets and how to make email content appealing to specific segments. It also shows that 45% of respondents don’t act on an email immediately, but file the information for later use. This makes response tracking far more complex, but would hint at an even greater effectiveness for your email campaign than straight click thru numbers.

Our experience as marketing consultants with expertise in digital marketing enables us to help customers get on their customers top ten list with relevant content to targetted customers.

Is web design a dying art?

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:49:23 +0000

Whilst we are always at great pains to stress the strategic nature of our marketing consultancy, we obviously do get involved in helping customers to develop or improve their online presence. We have over the years helped customers develop some highly successful websites across a variety of sectors, working together with our web design partners.

But as any quick sortie into google will testify, setting up a website is no longer the sole preserve of the web designer. Thanks to an ever-increasing array of web design tools, together with cheap hosting packages and idiot-proof content management systems, companies are able to launch a website at a considerably lower cost than hiring a web developer/designer. But what does this new trend signify for the vast number of highly skilled web developers out there?

Thankfully it does not appear that the writing is on the wall for the truly creative, talented developer. What has happened is that, whilst the barriers to entering the online market are being lowered every day, finding the right person to create a truly compelling, commercially robust online presence for your company is still a difficult goal to achieve. The technical, routine aspect of setting up a website is now no longer shrouded in mystery. But creating a valuable online resource, which accurately reflects and promotes your company and your brand values in an original way is still something of an art.

The combination of engaging content, fantastic design, powerful SEO and bespoke coding is still beyond the capability of any off-the-shelf package. And the importance of getting each of these core elements absolutely right is still at the heart of what makes a great website really work for you. Web design isn’t dying, it’s just growing up.

A refreshing take on the 4 P’s of marketing might give you a different perspective

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:42:04 +0000

The original 4 P’s of marketing – Price, product, place and promotion – devised back in the early 1960′s by the American Marketing Association – have been extended and tweaked over the years. They still represent the basics of how to shape your strategic marketing thinking but times have changed – even the definition of marketing itself has changed dramatically over the last 60 years. Duct Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch has come up with an interesting take on what the 4 P’s might stand for in today’s ever-changing marketing landscape. Today’s marketing is all about building trust, according to John, and today’s 4 P’s are all about how a customer experiences dealing with your company.

P stands for Passion – when a business owner has a real passion for what they do, good things can happen. Leading with passion and connecting to others within your company and your customers will bring about a desire to commit.

P stands for Purpose – why you do what you do. A clear definition of your purpose builds trust – amongst your employees and your customers – because it enables them to see their own values in action.

P stands for Positioning – with a clear understanding of purpose it’s easier for companies to then position themselves within their market.

P stands for Personality – letting all those who come into contact with the business understand its personality and actually experience its purpose.

Whilst you might not agree with John’s suggested new P’s, it’s an interesting slant on a tried and tested way of looking at the basic marketing building bricks of your company. To read his blog in full, click here.

Customer experience management: just another fad or does it have any real value?

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:08:51 +0000

As marketing consultants we’re increasingly in demand to help our customers improve the buying experience of their own customers. What started off as seemingly another fad from across the pond has in the past couple of years grown considerably in popularity. But can customer experience management really deliver results? In its early stages it was difficult to talk about any concrete ROI, the real value delivered by spending any money on looking at and then improving the “Customer Experience.” But now companies are more likely to ask how to get it right and do it cost effectively, rather than whether they need to do it in the first place.

So where to start? The obvious starting point is gaining a clear analysis of a customer’s relationship with the company at every point of contact, in other words to create a map of their journey. With a clear idea of how a customer buys from you, it’s then easier to look at how the relationship forms. And in order to build this relationship into a longer term, beneficial arrangement – rather than a one-night stand – there needs to be a shift away from a focus on the transaction to building a relationship with the customer. This is particularly true for businesses where technology, whilst speeding up the purchasing process, destroys all customer intimacy. Yet this is where an improved customer experience can have the greatest effect – both in terms of building a better relationship with your customers and of course – ROI!

The Social Media space just got more crowded…

admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:16:17 +0000

Just when everyone was getting to grips to the various social networking methods and how to use them, the online social space has just got more crowded with the arrival of a new competitor to LinkedIn called BeKnown. It has been developed by Monster, the jobs website, and perhaps the most interesting thing about BeKnown is that it resides within Facebook as an app. This now means that Facebook’s estimated 700 million users will be able to create a network of professional contacts, separate from friends and family contacts. Primarily developed to help jobseekers find their next new position, it’s going to be interesting to see just how effective BeKnown will become. Especially as Facebook use is banned at many companies within the UK – not that anyone spends time at work looking for a new job….

And if this major new development is not enough, Google has finally unveiled Google+, their new social layer designed to change the whole search engine into one giant social network. It is in effect Google’s answer to Facebook, with users able to share photos, videos and links with their network of friends. It’s only just being field-tested, so it will be interesting to see how the Google leviathon squares up to Facebook.

For companies who have now dipped their toes in the water and who are using LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, this is a new opportunity to exploit – but just how good they will be remains to be seen. We manage the social network accounts of a number of clients in our role as marketing consultants, and each one has seen a significant benefit since starting their social networking campaign. Whilst evidence of success remains more anecdotal than factual but what does seem certain is that companies who do not embrace social networking are missing an opportunity – and one which just got considerably bigger. After all, if Google and Facebook are developing and expanding their services, there just might be something in it!