Getting You Ahead of Your Competitors

There is a tradition in marketing that says that you need an average of at least seven contacts with a potential customer before you get a sale. It might go something like this:

1.  The potential customer calls or emails you or signs up to your list. (That’s the first contact.)
2. You reply. (That’s the second contact.)
3. You follow up 10 days later with a phone call (etc)
4. They have some more questions so you send more information in the post
5. You email
6. You call again
7. They call you and they’re ready to buy

 Which contact number do you stop at?

 A typical seven step sales process may go:

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It’s no good having a great USP if you don’t know much about your potential clients. Being the cheapest printer in the area might not matter if your prospects are well-off professionals: they may go for the printer who goes for a mix of quality and speed, for instance.

So, for a good marketing campaign, you need to know what your customers are like, what they like about you (this is where your USP will come in), what will be the most effective methods to bring them in, how you can contact your customers and prospects, the ways you can influence their buying, and lastly, how you can take control of all the processes involved.

In fact, ‘Think P’. Look at what’s important to you and your clients and decide which parts to concentrate on:

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If you understand what it is that makes us respond, you can use the knowledge to develop your marketing approach. Here are a few pointers:

Your brain has three main areas. The outer cortex is known as the ‘new brain’ and is where rational thought takes place. The middle part of your brain deals with your emotions. The inner brain or ‘old brain’, shared by all sentient beings, deals with non-conscious decisions, actions and reactions. The trick is to reach your prospects’ old brains and get that to make the buying decision for them.

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We spoke in the last article about three ways to market yourself in a low cost or free way. Here are four more.

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There are many ways to get noticed by prospects and current clients for free or very little cost. Here are three of them.

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Active Listening

 A marketing friend said to people he mentors, “Can you ask a lot of questions?”

 I think a good part to add to that must be, “Are you a good listener?”

 It’s very easy, when someone has just started giving an answer, to assume you know what they’re going to say (and fill in the rest for yourself) and/or start planning your own answer.

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When you’re working out what marketing you’re going to do when, keep in mind future scenarios, and play a ‘what if’ game.

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