What’s Your Value Proposition

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Maria

What is it that your customers want, and what are you promising to deliver them that they understand fits with their expectation of value?   There are many definitions to the question, what is the value proposition, but this is how I ask it of those I work with – because it’s easy to break down and work through to arrive at an answer.

Let’s break it down a little:

What is it that your customers want…  Do they know?  How do you know what they want?  And if you do know, how can you relate that to the features, benefits and advantages of your product or service?

For example – if you are selling accounting services, first identify whether your particular customers are most interested in general compliance, taxation/trust/business planning or other specialist services.  Once you know the answer to that, then spend some time considering what the features, benefits, and advantages are of your particular range of services.

…and what are you promising to deliver…  so if they want specialist taxation services, what exactly are you promising to deliver around that.  ’That’ being their most desired or sought after service.   For example, the benefit to that client of having specialist taxation help from you as an accountant, might be that they have peace of mind and a clean record of compliance as it relates to their complex taxation issues.  Are you able to deliver on THAT level of peace of mind?

… that they understand fits with their expectation of value?…  Are you able to convey clearly to your client that you will charge them X dollars, and in return for that investment in your services, that you will deliver on making their complex taxation issues easy to understand and deal with?

It doesn’t matter whether you are selling decorating,construction,  hair dressing, software, or cream pies.   The question is the same – what do your customers want, and what are you promising to deliver them, that they understand fits with their expectation of value?  

When was the last time you really thought about this?   And has your value proposition changed since then?    Maybe this is something you should re-visit every 2-3 years just to be sure that what you are offering is of the same perceived value to your clients.

Why is it so important to know what your value proposition is? 

When you want to market your business, you need to know what the real juicy parts are to put forward and promote that will most appeal to your target market.  What exactly do they want to resolve?  How can you make someone pick up the phone and make an inquiry with your business?   Its easy when you think about the solutions your clients are seeking and how you can deliver on exactly what they want, and better yet, exceed their expectations of value when you do it.

If you wish to discuss this further we are planning aWEBINAR about this subject, and to touch on the previous topics raised in recent newsletters on the 28th May.   Registration is FREE and details are here.   Don’t want to wait that long?    Then let us know if you would like to book one of  3 complimentary 20 minute sessions with either Maria or Quentin before the end of May.

 

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Red Letter Day

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Maria

When was the last time you got something in the mail that looked really interesting? 

I went to clear the mail on Tuesday, and to my delight, buried among the pile of white envelopes – most with windows indicating they were bills or statements, I found a deep red envelope, with handwritten address, and it was kind of lumpy.

Ooh – how exciting I thought!   Something different…  and I eagerly anticipated all the things it might turn out to be as I returned to my car, anxious to tear it open and discover what ever delights might be within.   The other items were quickly relegated to the ‘so what’ pile, and I was practically tearing the lovely red envelope open before I’d even closed the door…

It was an invitation – to a presentation in town that might be of interest to my business.  And the ‘lumpy’ bit was a candy bar.   Now that might not have been something to particularly get me excited, but I did enjoy those moments of anticipation before I opened the envelope, and I did most definitely appreciate that someone had gone to the trouble of putting the invitation into something other than a plain white envelope, or send me an email.  The most interesting objective of the sender was confirmed – I opened it first!  In fact, it was the only item of mail I bothered to open before arriving back at my office.

So – next time you want to get someone’s attention and you think you need to think outside the box, why not try doing something ‘old fashioned’ instead.

You see, marketing is not really about being overly creative, often it’s about putting yourself in the shoes of the person you want to reach and thinking about what might get to him or her.   How can you put a smile on her dial, or make her think differently/positively about you?

I was also reading a great article the other day that suggested traditional advertising is dead or dying – now it’s more important than ever before to consider public relations and ‘feel good’ things that make sense (as in not gimmicky or slick) to impress our customers.    (I’ll share more about that article next week so won’t get into it too much today).  The most important thing to do regards your marketing is to keep it simple, answer the questions your target market most wants answered about you and how you can help them, and then deliver on what you say you’ll deliver on!

The first way to do that is to ensure you stand out from all the other ‘wanna-be‘s’ in your industry, in a way that represents your attitude to your work, and what solutions you have to offer those whom you wish to do business with.   This is called being brand value conscious.    For example, did the red envelope get my attention?  Yes.  Did the contents inspire me that their company might have something of value to offer me?  Maybe.  But did  the 50¢ cheapest of all options candy bar suggest they’d really thought it all through?  No.

That aside, the sender did make an effort to get my attention – and honestly, I’m sure this worked really well for most of those whom they sent this direct mail campaign to – (those less cynical than me perhaps).   Which leads me suggest three things that were highlighted by my Red Letter day:

1) Standing out with an old fashioned, decorative and hand written envelope really does work if you want to get the attention of someone via the mail – because it’s different, and the old sometimes really does beat the new way of doing things sometimes.

2)  If employing something like this as a tactic when direct mailing people – make sure you think through the whole thing – like not spoiling the effect with a cheesy/cheap/silly add-on.

3) It is harder to do effective marketing now – so thinking outside the square is more important than ever before.  And if something works – keep doing it until it doesn’t work anymore. It’s easier to refine a proven great idea, than to test a possible-maybe idea.

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Are You Bored Yet?

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Maria

Are you bored with your own marketing?

I bet you are!  In fact, I bet that every so often you might go out on a limb and change it, just because you think ‘well everyone must be so sick of that by now’.   And maybe they are.  But chances are, you are the only one who things your marketing is ‘old hat’.

But before you go changing anything, why not do a quick check about things with your clients or customers… because you may be quite surprised at their point of view.

We were doing a half day marketing strategy session with a client last week, and their website content came up for discussion.   Quentin and I both agreed that the BEST thing on their site – a graphic that clearly explained in simple terms, exactly what their company did for their clients – was something they they’d moved to an obscure page, from having been on their home page for a couple of years, because they thought it was old and silly.

“No Way” - we said.

“Yes way” – they said.

HuH?!

We have convinced that client to not only feature this clever graphic, but within a few minutes had easily got them excited about creating more of this kind of thing to add to other parts of their marketing for easy explanations of their services. 

You see, we spend so much time (years usually) with our own ‘stuff’ that it’s easy to see it as flawed, old, and boring. Something new comes along and we are easily persuaded that a new look might be a brilliant idea.    So – before you fall prey to this line of thinking, here’s some useful things to consider that might save you thousands (dollars, headaches, I-told-you-so’s etc).

1) If you have a really well established, well thought out, working hard for you marketing strategy, that includes good marketing collateral like images, fliers, website, a spokesperson or personality for your brand etc, then instead of changing everything, you might like to simply evolve some things first and see what how your market responds.

Update the look of your printed material, freshen up the colours from faded to bright and glossy, sharpen up the logo design – but don’t CHANGE for the sake of change. 

2) Bring in new things, like a key service offering, or customer service style after checking with your customers to see if that is what they want, and test it out a bit first.   For example, let’s say you are an accountant who wants to add a business planning tool to your range of services.  This might be a big deal, and you see yourself as moving slowly away from regular compliance work, to strategy and planning.  First ask a sample of your existing clients if they would value this, and what they’d be willing to pay for it.  Then introduce it slowly, and get feedback and fine tune the new service.

Radical changes for many customers is just confusing – they wonder if your business is under new management or might wonder if you’ve started making too much money to think straight.

3) If you are decided to suddenly go hi-tech, from having been non-glossy and comfortable, don’t be surprised if some of your existing clients resist the changes you make.   They may like the way you present a non-complicated brand.  Of course this also works in reverse sometimes, and you could attract new customers simply because they like the new you, or noticed you for the first time.  If you wanted to shift your customers’ perceptions about you, get some help to ensure you cover all your bases smoothly, and with minimum disruption to your market’s understanding about what you do, and what has actually changed.   If it’s just a fresh look, that’s fine, but if you are making other bigger changes, you need to strategically communicate too.

Communicate the changes and what they mean to your existing and potential customers so that they understand what you are trying to change.  Take the Guess-work out of it all, and for this you may need professional marketing help. 

4) Test your changes.   I met a man on a plane one day 15 years ago, who at that time had been using the same woman to front his national television advertising for 9 years.  He and his marketing people felt if was time to change from that style of advertising and that she was becoming too invisible to the viewers, because she’d been around for such a long time.    He explained to me that within only a few months they went back to her to renew her contract because their brand took a hit and sales plummeted.  15 years later, she’s still doing almost exactly the same style of advertisements for that company and I gather she’s still making them a lot of money because she’s a familiar face, who has grown to become an integral and trusted part of that company’s brand. 

Don’t be afraid to change things back again if what you updated didn’t get you the results you wanted. That’s a better option than trying a succession of new things. 

Change is good.   If we didn’t make changes, we’d still be buying our groceries from people behind a dusty wooden counter in tiny little general stores.   But when it comes to marketing changes, don’t go assuming that what you do well is no longer relevant, or appreciated by your target market, or that what you do doesn’t work any more.   You might even be very surprised at what your customers notice, and appreciate about you.

 

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From A to B – Angst to Brilliant

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Maria

Is your business going through ‘the change’?

Your business may be in any one of these stages right now, but what can you do about taking it to the next steps? 

There’s the infancy stage (Start-up),  the puberty stage, (you have a tiger by the tail, working 70 hours, and feel stretched to breaking point) the maturity stage, (you survived the first 10 years and now feel like you know what you are doing, and making some money) and then the mid-life crisis stage, (you think you can diversify, experiment a little, and maybe bet the farm on some big expansion ideas), eventually followed by the calm well established stage before either dying,  or you close up shop because you have had enough, can’t afford to keep going, or just because you can’t sell it and no one else wants it or it may end up being re-born into a new version of itself as a new owner takes over.

Of course your business might not survive any of these stages of it’s existence, but if it does, and you get to that point where you have to start deciding what to do with this grown up who has taken a lot of your time, love, energy, and attention over the years, then it’s time to take a really good look at ‘whats’s next’ and some succession planning.   Surprisingly, unlike having children who go through all these same stages of life, you can actually start with an exit plan in mind from day one, or at any other time of it’s life.

It’s very easy to drift along in a business for years. growing slowly but steadily and then wake up one day to find you have not 2, but 22 employees, who have organically just arrived, fit in and shuffled about for as long as it suited them, supporting you, but not necessarily doing much more.   Time comes at last to consider the value of your company when you have a desparate family of people, working because it’s just what they do, and you yourself are so immersed in the tightly woven threads of your enterprise that finding ways to change and start working ON the business is a massive challenge to work through.  The reality is that the  business is likely to be diminished in value to prospective buyers because it’s totally dependent on your own position in it.

Case Study – A Software Company

We met David last year, when he approached us for help with marketing.   Like many companies, he’s been operating for a number of years, and has grown organically from small to quite large, but because the growth has been steady, there has not necessarily been a lot of planning into it – it’s just kind of happened.   Now, as he considered either selling or bringing in partners, many things need to be address, such as how the company would grow under someone else’s direction – the potential, and the biggest issue of all, how will he personally start to let go of so many things he’s naturally just included in his extensive list of tasks, in order to become less firmly entrenched in the company.    A new buyer or investor wants to know that he or she can maximise on the potential of the business going forward.

One significant issue for a prospective new owner or investor:

How much is the potential growth tied into key people in the company- including the current owner?  Can a new owner slip in and start working in the business (or engage suitable managers to do so) and grow it, without having to worry about treading on an old owners toes, or having to endure a long hand over period due to how much knowledge is carried around in someone’s head? 

Can the company survive a change of ownership in terms of the existing staff and how they currently operate?  A new owner might bring in a new culture and not everyone will adapt well, but for some this might be very important.   This is something that can affect the perceived value of your company, and therefore, ensuring that the company can function without any one person is a big deal.  It’s well worth considering at the earliest possible stage of your company’s life exactly what you can do to minimise it’s reliance on Key People.   As Michael Gerber said in The Emyth Revisited, “if you can’t take 6 months off from your company, you don’t own a business, you have a job”.

We started by working with David to identify all the areas where the organisational structure was working and what needed to change.  Then we addressed with him the best ways to ease a significant amount of work from his personal daily lists, and started helping him to delegate more to others in the company. Along with this came an increased focus on staff and management development skills, and we introduced the concept of a ‘meetings rhythm’ to help improve the overall communication between departments.

There may be many specific areas your company needs to consider in terms of future planning, but the best place to start is this:

  • List all the daily/regular challenges with staff and the logistics of providing your goods or services.
  • Then list all the ‘best possible’ ways the company might function without these challenges.
  • Think about the many things you might need to do to meet the two lists up.

Then, consider working with an objective outsider to get hands on help to get your business into the best possible shape you can get it to by a predetermined date.  By that time it might be ready either to sell, bring in another investor or partner, appoint a good general manager, or commence succession planning if handing over to the next generation.

I’m not saying it will be easy, but it’s definitely well worth it! And the sooner you start, the better.

 

 

 

 

 

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Small Business Apathy in New Zealand

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Maria

We’ve been heads down and tails up lately, working on extending our ability to help SME’s and professional service providers, and in this capacity, given that we’ve been somewhat ‘reinventing’ ourselves and driving and testing some of our own marketing, we think we’re pretty well placed to offer the following observations about business in New Zealand in 2012.

First a quick run down of all that we’ve done to start the engines and keep our own business turning over, by bringing on new clients:

  • Created and run free seminars in our town
  • Offered free one-to-one introduction sessions for coaching and mentoring to our target market
  • Offered ‘loss leaders’ strategy sessions to get potential clients talking and experiencing what we do
  • Sent out regular newsletters to our database
  • Phoned direct contacts (the old fashioned way of prospecting)
  • Knocked on a few doors (more old fashioned stuff)
  • Asked for referrals from very happy customers
  • We focused on our own visibility with our marketing and networking
  • Became an NZTE/government service provider
  • Joined the Chamber of Commerce

Off all of these activities, there are some which are a complete waste of time, and others which are working really well.   It’s the ones that are not working though, that have created the most confusion.  

 So – we’ve put our thinking caps on about the obvious issues:

  • Are we too expensive?  Our fees are mid range in our market place. 
  • Are we offering a service that is of limited value to our target market?It’s marketing and strategy help for SME’s… you decide! 
  • Are we targeting the lowest hanging fruit?Yes, but so is every other marketing and business consultant, and so we know we have to stand out from the crowd better. 
  • Are we practicising what we preach?  Yes!  And have awards, and great testimonials to confirm this. 
  • Should we change our deodorant – maybe they just don’t like us! Well of course not everyone is going to love us all the time, but on the whole, we’re confident that we’re ok. 

So the most obvious thing that then comes up is Small Business APATHY  brought on as a result of endless ‘getting by’ and ‘struggling more than usual’ for a long time now – since about 2008.   3 years is a long time to be second guessing yourself – as many of us do now, more than ever before – about business decisions.  Since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis, banks have stopped easily lending out money to business operators, the slow-to-a-trickle cash flow experienced at times feels more like someone turned the tap right off, not just reduced the flow to a trickle, and general negativity in our attitudes is really not helping.

We are recommending – like most other coaches and consultants are – that our clients go the extra mile with customer service, and quality of delivery whether it’s products or services, and of course refining all parts of your business from expenditure, to production vs profitability, measuring everything to improve management capability, and not giving up!  

We also recommend that our clients offer guarantees, improve and refine their marketing tactics so as to stand out from their own crowded supplier market places.

Let’s talk about guarantees for a moment as a marketing strategy.  

When you are experiencing hard times, this is the very time that you really should be focusing on being the very best you can be and what you do. Because the customer is more discerning about what they are investing in, and you are in many ways even  less indispensable than before (when the economy was booming).    If you are prepared to stand behind your product/service/company values, then say so.   Put it in writing.   Make sure you take away any roadblocks to decision making for your clients.

Make it easier for them to do business with you. 

Think outside the box about all the ways that customers might further benefit from your unique approach to doing business.  Last week we worked with a company who we determined would be really well placed to offer a monthly payment system for their necessary services (a 2-3 times a year necessity) and so are now developing a service programme with automatic monthly payments instead of the old ‘pay when the job is booked’ system, which also increases their cashflow and ability to offer a reminder service to their customers, further increasing loyalty too.

How can you potentially get more creative at dealing with your customer’s APATHY about getting what they want or need from you?   Decide what they most want and need, and how you can put their greatest desires or challenges at the front of your offering.

 It is really sad to be sitting in meetings every week with a wide range of business owners and managers and really feeling the pain that they are in, due to the ongoing tide of change and reduced opportunities that have dogged them for the past three years.   We get a great inside view of exactly what is an what is not challenging them, and we know very well just how many extra hours are worked, difficult decisions are made, and the level of stress there is in being self employed lately.

So in closing, there is one very important thing that needs to be mentioned here.

In most instances, clients we’ve worked with have nearly always discovered that they are leaving money on the table by trying to be all things to all people.   Those who are pushing through the hardest barriers are those for whom flexibility and change comes a little easier.   By standing your ground, but shoring up that ground beneath you through moving into a tighter business niche, your resources are less thinly spread.  And that really does make a huge difference to your ability to survive and thrive in these challenging times.

When this global financial crisis becomes a thing of recent history, those who followed this advice will be the ones who secure their position in the future.

NOTE – and yes we are willing to guarantee the work we do –  so talk to either Quentin or Maria today if you want positive change in your business, that doesn’t always mean spending more money, but in most cases just means working a lot smarter with what you already have. 

MFCN333SPUTH

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Overcoming Small Business Apathy

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Maria

My last blog was focused on observations about small business apathy in New Zealand, and what we as consultants and coaches are noticing every week in our market here.   This is not helped by the media announcing that more than 38,000 Kiwis’ moved to Australia last year, and that we are at an all time low immigration deficit.

Not a week goes by when I’ve not heard of someone else planning a move to Australia, and in many instances, the grass really has turned out to be greener there.  But this is not about crying over the spilled milk of our acknowledged brain drain, but a look at what we who choose to stay here can do to help ourselves recover from the downturn in our economy and how it’s affecting our individual small businesses.

Because the other side of the coin – and there are always two sides – is the fact that there are also many companies of all sizes, simply thriving right now.   Some industries more than others of course, but overall, there is success to found in every town, on every street.   One only has to look at the number of houses being built, and talk to architects about how busy they are.   Or consider the fact that there are still new and expensive cars being purchased, and the beauty industry is thriving.

So what’s the secret?  

There is no secret to this – but it does take focusing on the ‘right’ things to keep from falling and drowning in a sea of business apathy.

Here are some simple tips for  overcoming small business apathy

1) Surround yourself with more positive than negative people

2) Think outside the box about what you do that you could become a specialist in something and promote that as a premium service or product to help you stand out from the crowds

3)  Reduce your costs in business. Stop doing things that don’t serve you, including checking the phone/internet plans you are on, travel more economically when practical to do so, repair instead of replacing so often, and ensure you get better productivity out of every department

4) Get rid of dead weight.   How much unnecessary space, junk, old habits and extra people are you hanging on to. Do you really need all of that?  Maybe this is the time to rationalise in a few areas of your business, and of your life.

5) Learn new things.  What are you paying someone else to do that is really easy for you to do and do easily?  I’m all in favour of paying experts to do what they do best, but there are many hangovers from days of old that might be better served by you or your key people learning new and improved ways to do some things.

6) Invest in some time with a good small business coach – get a plan together and get some help with implementing it over a defined period of time.  Just coasting through your business is often where you loose opportunities and can leave money on the table – an outside objective view can do wonders for any business owner.

These 6 business ideas are not new, but they are worth considering carefully.  Whether you are in the midst of boom or bust times,  each of these makes sense to do – and to share with others who want to know your ‘secrets’ overcoming small business apathy.

 

 

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Prophets in Your Own Village

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Maria

You might have heard this before but it’s really hard to be a prophet in your own village.   This is simply because everyone knows you as the local carpenter, or baker, or teacher… and despite the fact that maybe you haven’t warmed up your ovens or built a new house for a decade or more, the villagers find it very hard to re-position you in their own minds and so it won’t matter how enlightened, smart, savvy you may become in a whole new area, most of your local community will still mentally ‘see you’ as your old self.

So how do you get around this? 

Sometimes you have to leave town and then return to it wearing a whole new look.  New robes, grow a beard, longer hair – or in modern times, freshen up the suit, glam up the logo, and start talking to new people.   Eventually the people you used to know will catch on that you’re more interesting, and have a lot more to say on whole different topics than baking cakes or making tables.

In Hamilton New Zealand, where our offices are based, we’re experiencing the regular challenge of having to reestablish our ‘new selves’ as marketing consultants providing strategic marketing services and brand communication services to our local market, despite the fact that Maria has been doing this for a number of years with international clients.   Quentin too has been thought of as being a retail specialist and media account manager – not as the consultant who specialises in retail sales and marketing, with media expertise that we define him as now.

We decided to become Waikato Marketing Communications Specialists in the wake of the global financial crisis, partly to cut down on travel time and costs  and also because we saw a definite need for our services in our own back yard.  Six months on, our re-branding and fresh focus is paying off, and we’re enjoying serving our local business community.  But, we’re also very conscious of that concept about it being a very hard thing to do to re-position yourself in the minds of the people you’ve grown up with.

But the best part of this has been our need to stretch our own knowledge, test our theories, and expand our expertise in ways that we might not have done in other times.   It’s also worth noting that when you return to your village and start working locally, there are different expectations of your success held by others, as well as by yourself.   For example, those who knew you before are more likely to scoff at your failures than people who met you first as the new you, and your own expectations of success are more pressured personally because you do feel the need to achieve better outcomes for those with whom you’ll meet at the PTA or Chamber of Commmerce meetings.

All in all, being prophets in your own village is not really the issue – and it’s wise to remember this when you return to it in fresh robes.   The point is to trust yourself and your knowledge, and know that in the 21st Century, your reputation will travel more quickly than at any other time in history, and doing the best you can do, with the knowledge and resources you have available to you is the best you can do. And just because some other Peter, Paul, or Mary pays a visit and is perceived to have more knowledge, expertise, or resources than you do (just because their accent is different), doesn’t mean you are not also able to compete equally if you believe in yourself and the value you bring.

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You are in the Customer Service Business

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Quentin Weber

What Business Are You In?

This is a bit of a trick question. It might seem obvious what business you are in as you stand in the middle of your store/office/workshop. Most people will answer something like “I sell furniture, so I’m in the furniture business”.

But everyone is actually in the same business, the customer business.

As Peter Drucker said “The sole purpose of a business is to create and keep customers”

Without customers, there is no business.

So if everyone is in the customer business, what does this actually mean? It means that as a business owner or manager you need to put the customer at the centre of your business. You need to understand that everything your business is and could be is solely tied to what your customer thinks of you.

Your employees – and not just your ‘front line/customer service staff’-  need to understand that their fate is tied to the customer. Managers need to make sure all staff see the connection between success of the business and the customers’ satisfaction.

So how does a business put the customer in the centre of the business?

The best place to start is by creating a customer service/experience plan. This plan will create unique service/experience levels at every touch point the business has with the customer.

Many businesses think customer service is something you just do, not plan. But like the old adage “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

2012 may be the year of the dragon for many but remember this is also the year that you are in the Customer Service business.

To find out more on how we can help improve your customer service check out Retail Sales & Customer Service Training on our website.

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Does your customer service measure up to your brand?

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Maria

Last week I had a total of 17 Customer Service Experiences, (CSEs) and only one of them was outstanding.   To say I was disappointed at the end of the week is a little understating things, and here’s why.

These CSEs were a combination of things like being served as a gas station, served coffee, served meals at restaurants or cafes, served at the bank, served at the supermarket, and phoned by a customer service call centre as a follow up on a recent change of contract with my telecom provider.

That’s a lot of times to be paying over my money, and expecting a smile, or an opportunity to feel good about parting with my hard earned cash.    The only really great CSE I had was at the gas station, where this young woman who had the biggest friendliest smile on her face not only helped me by hanging up the nozzle, but also by the time I got to the counter, she was there with that same big smile ready to complete the transaction.  She talked, and made me like it was a sunny day (it was raining) and complemented me on my dress.   Then she did something truly special… she wished me a really good day - and sounded like she meant it.

Now I don’t know about you but being told ‘have a good day’ has become a little cliche in terms of customer service.  Everyone says it – well ok, a lot of people say it – but very few actually sound like they even know the words usually go together, let alone are used to convey well wishes to someone else.

So let’s talk about you for a moment.

  • What expectations do you have about the way people might feel about your business every time they connect with you?
  • Do you or your staff say ‘have a good day’ and make your customers feel like they really do mean it?
  • Does the brand promise you have  get delivered on by your team every step of the way?

Why or why not?

If your brand promise is average service, cheap products, and almost-on-time delivery then you can just about get away with anything!  But, 90% of the companies who ever sit down to discuss their brand strategy or marketing with me say that ‘service is what makes us better or different’ so… something doesn’t quite add up.

When it comes to the way your brand communicates with your customers, it’s a good idea to study Richard Branson and the Virgin brand.   Virgin is about fun, adventure, feeling good, challenging the status quo,  and you’d be hard pressed to find these not happening within the Virgin group of companies.   From flying on their planes and being told to not leave your kids or belongings behind so that they can be listed on Ebay, to finding fresh thinking about all parts of the customer experience in their phone or record stores – there is some obvious thought that goes into making customers feel good about the whole brand. 

That’s where loyalty is built into the value of the brand and the dollars are in the details.

Why not make a list of all the times you get served this week and see what or who stands out because they affected your face the most.   Who gave you the biggest grins and the worst grimaces? Then start to look at your own customer service and see just what you can start doing better, so that next time someones asks if your customer service is measuring up to your brand, you’ll be able to say:

“Absolutely yes it does!”

…and know that that is what keeps your customers raving about you, returning to you, and spending more with you.

When your customer service measures up to your brand, you’ll start to notice you get a lot more referral business  - now doesn’t that sound great!

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Do You Want to be Famous?

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Maria

Do you want to be famous to your target market?  Why?

I’ll tell you why…  so that they know who you are, the value you provide, and the reason they should do business with you, and not your competitors, and why not to quibble about your fees.

You see, if you are the preferred choice in your industry, then those things become simple ‘no brainers’.   If you are the person or company who stands out above the rest, then your price doesn’t matter to those who really want to get what you have to offer. This is because they already know what they are getting for their money – and that’s YOU.

So how do you become famous to your target market?

You follow the yellow brick road, and along the way you get exceptionally good at marketing yourself as the expert in what you or your company does.   You pick up some companions along they way like mentors, inspirational people, experience, and the ability to speak well about your expertise and what it means to those you serve.

You might also stop off and join some associations, talk to some journalists, and further research and write about some of your theories.    Through this you become even more experienced, and better at communicating your expertise.  You get ‘great’ at knowing your strengths and the niche you fit into in the commercial market you are in, and you finally learn how to say no to some opportunities and yes to the ones that matter most.

This is the journey that every successful expert travels.   There are no shortcuts, and no easy answers to the riddles that pop up to torment you on your journey.   The road to fame does not have to be glitzy and ‘a la Hollywood’ but it will be filled with tests, opportunities, and rewards.

So – do you want to be famous?

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