The 5 customer stages

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
When people buy from you, they go through 5 stages: 1. Awareness  If they have never heard of your name / your brand, they won't come to you. Awareness building is what a great deal of marketing activity is really about. 2. Prospect Someone who is going through the qualification process.  As all Sales Managers know, businesses must have a ‘pipeline’ of potential customers that they have identified, talked to and qualified. 3. Customer Someone who has bought from you once.  Money has changed hands on a single occasion. Therefore this is 'transactionally based'. This means that there probably won’t be a deep relationship (yet). If you have been in business for some time – you may well have a significant number of ‘dormant customers’. Recommendation: go back and start communicating with them again. Remember: It’s five times less expensive to sell to a customer, as it is to a stranger. 4. Client The next stage is to turn customers into clients - through repeat business. This may include up-selling (i.e. increasing the size of the sale)...
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Better Business Management

By Jacqui-Hogan1 Comment
When was the last time you took a step back to think about what you want to do to make your business more successful? Here are are few simple, but essential, tips: Define clear Goals As far as possible, define the goals in terms that can be measured. Then, as changes are proposed (and they will be!), you have a set of well understood and defined criteria against which to measure the impact and relevance of changes. And there will be changes! More>> Review your business plan You do have a Business Plan, don’t you? A good business plan will save you time, money and possibly even your business. But you need to look at it regularly, and update it as business conditions change. If you haven’t reviewed it in the last year, take some time to do it now. More> Innovate Are you stuck for ideas to take your business forward? If you’ve got staff, they can be a fabulous source of new ideas to improve...
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How to get more clients

By Ben TempleNo Comments
How to get more clients is a question that we are often asked. Here is a seven step process: 1. Who are your ideal clients? You should be able to answer this question instantly. Within your marketing plan, write descriptions of your chosen market segments (groups of people with shared needs). It's all too easy to try to sell to everyone you come into contact with. Smart businesses decide who they wish to serve and they channel their time, money and resources into communicating with target market segments. 2. Use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system in order to keep track of dormant, current and prospective clients. The busier you get, the more complex this process becomes. 3. Use a customer education approach as this will bring people to you. Provide useful, helpful, interesting and up-to-date information and package it in helpful ways. 4. Increase your promotional mix. Most businesses don't use enough promotional techniques. The Marketing Compass has researched several hundred promotional options...
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How to influence people and attract more customers

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Whatever you push against in life tends to push back against you. The alternative approach is to bring people, resources and customers to you, using the power of influence. The direct approach can appear to be the best option. Which is why so many businesses still cold call prospective customers. I was talking to a business owner yesterday and I asked her how she attracted new clients. "I pick up the phone and try to get a meeting," she said. "OK," I replied, "who are you calling?" "I usually work my way through a directory," she responded. Oh dear, I thought. She must be able to handle a considerable amount of rejection. The challenge with this approach is that she is starting without any relationship at all, with the person she is trying to get through to. Therefore, this is an extreme example of 'push marketing'. Another example would be the knock at your front door in the evening, from someone representing...
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Customer timeline

Customer timeline

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Marketing is a journey. To begin with, members of your target market haven't heard of you. Your job is to create awareness amongst this group of people. The answer is to create a customer timeline. You receive sales enquiries. Some people don't buy. Those that do become customers (transaction based). Some of your customers buy regularly from you. A business relationship develops and these people become clients. Some of your customers and clients (and some of their friends) become advocates. Cherish your advocates, as they are selling for you, without thought of reward. Some of your customers and clients 'fall asleep' (metaphorically speaking) and stop buying from you. Your job is to wake them up. Ask for referrals from people who have bought from you. Use the promotional mix to attract new customers to your business.   1. Awareness. 2. Enquiries. 3. Customers. 4. Clients. 5. Advocates.     Source: The Marketing Compass Manual If you have any questions about the customer timeline, just ask! Join us COMPASS membership is FREE! * Create a profile & promote...
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Member Spotlight – David Willis

By Ben TempleNo Comments
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - David Willis was one of the first people to join The Marketing Compass. He is a specialist in the use of data. He extracts useful information from complex data systems. David helps local businesses and major brands move from a position of losing customers to generating £millions of sales by using better customer information. If you need help in this area or ever come across a company with data issues, by all means get in touch with David. Join David's groups here: Customer Relationship Management and Database Marketing David's Profile: www.marketingcompass.co.uk/members/david-willis/ David's website: www.information-drivers.com Do you want to be the next member in the spotlight? Contact us...
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The power of being customer centric

The power of being customer centric

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Within this 2 minute video, Nigel Temple talks about the power of being customer centric. The other option is to be product focused and the trouble here is that products won't give you referrals. If you sell services, Nigel has advice for you as well. He touches on segmentation and the importance of thinking deeply about this concept. There is also some (optional!) homework for you. We hope that you enjoy this brief video and by all means let us know your feedback. Relevant blogs include 'Do you have a concise marketing plan?' and 'Segmentation is a key element of your marketing strategy'. Incidentally, if you subscribe to our newsletter, you will receive a free marketing toolkit, which includes a concise marketing plan template. You can drop this into a wordprocessing document. Alternatively, if you become a Navigator member of The Marketing Compass, we will open up a comprehensive online marketing plan for you. As you will see, Navigator membership is not expensive...
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