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Why you should focus on your Customer Market

Who is your customer (or client), and what do they want from you? 

These are two simple questions which many businesses struggle to be able to define. If you don’t know who your customer is, then it is impossible for you to maximise your business potential, because you won’t fully understand their needs and you could be leaving sales opportunities on the table.

Even worse, if you don’t understand your customer type, then you are oblivious to the fact that they may be on the path to extinction – which means….that your business may only be a few … Read More

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How to gain Sustainable Client Referrals

There is a gold mine of new opportunity in your existing client base – you simply need to know where to look.

Business is very much about sustainability – the sustainability of new client opportunities/leads along with good sustained profit and cash flow. Drawing these together makes for a very profitable business operation in the short term, and fosters strong enterprise/business value over the longer term.

So, how do you tap into this sustainable flow of new opportunities?

One way, is via referrals from your existing client base. 

Referrals from people who already know and value what you do … Read More

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Top 10 elements for successful brochure design

A well designed brochure will stack the “sales” deck in you favour and drive deeper profit returns. When you are selling, you want your prospect to see as much compelling and relevant information as possible, to both provide critical product/service information and to support your sales process.
Brochures come in many shapes and forms, with some aimed at marketing, some at selling and a number which are a hybrid and sit in between. Regardless of the use, there are 10 elements which need to be considered to make your brochure an effective profit making tool;

Purpose

Consider how

… Read More
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Increase your sales effectiveness with quality collateral

Selling is about showing your customer in a convincing way, that your product (or service) is worth the value you are asking and….. that it meets their need or desire. Naturally, this point is not rocket science, albeit the way in which you show them or prove up the value of your product can have many layers of skill to it.

Over many years of working in a sales environment, we have noted that the vast majority of customers are visual in the way in which they assess the value of a product. What this means is that when … Read More

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Compelling Copy Which Sells

If someone said to you, “you’re going to want that Kidney..” – would you pay attention? I did. How about if someone said, “if left alone, it will continue to devour the cells around it” – do you think you would listen to what they said next? It got me.

Both examples are Compelling Copy.

I appreciate that both are medical based, however each show how compelling copy can entice or intrigue the audience into wanting to know more or to do something – which is typically the intent of any marketing.

Headline comments are perhaps … Read More

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Web site mishaps which will cost your business money

The web site of today is like the business card of 20 years ago – no serious business would be without one. It provides your name and contact number, but is also a window into the business, with your design, logo and flair. As with a business card, you can tell a lot about a business with even a quick look at their web site – but…as with business cards, not all web sites were born equal.

Regrettably, some of these sites have never successfully “drawn breath” and have either been a pure cost to the business, or have … Read More

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Who is your business communication written for?

Have you ever read a business note, perhaps an email or a letter and thought – huh, what’s that about…..as the tone or content of the note is as if its been written for someone else? Well perhaps it has!

In business I have found that the principle of writing for a “third party” audience, is actually not that uncommon. Often these days its in email format, with the note written more for the benefit of the person checking or reviewing the document than the recipient. The third party could be the boss, a manager, … Read More

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Effective Business Reporting

To run a business efficiently and profitability takes more than just luck. In addition to having a good service or product, successful businesses typically have a strong management information framework in place to ensure all of the critical elements of the business are running correctly.

I often liken this information to the dashboard instruments in a car – where you have a range of information to let you know how you are travelling and the condition of the car. A good management information pack does the same for a business.

Every business has “key elements” in it … Read More

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9 Point Test to evaluate if a new Product Idea is Viable

We have all had them, the “business epiphanies” or “golden ideas” which come to us over the weekend whilst swinging a golf club, doing laps in the pool or just mowing the grass. In the moment….. these new product or service ideas are the perfect combination of simplicity, profitability and marketing brilliance.

By Monday morning these moments of creative thinking have….started to tarnish….with some more considered thought seeing a gap or two appear. By Wednesday, most of these ideas have been discounted and by Friday, are all but forgotten.

Would we have been better off not having … Read More

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Communicating your Close line for Impact and Results

In business, communicating your “close” line for impact is often a crucial factor in success or failure.

The right timing for a marketing advance, to lodge a finance application or even enter a queue……all appear to have timing influencing the outcome.

The reality is that there are a number of factors at play, however good preparation is able to guide you to the right time for optimal success. 

There is no better example of this than the right timing in either dispute resolution or negotiations. Preparation to ensure that you pitch your point at the right time – … Read More

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The One More Thing for business success

Whether it be in sport or business, the difference between success and failure can often be simply doing one more thing than the competition. The extra phone call, one more prototype, another sales approach, an additional quality check, a larger focus group, an extra tier of service etc etc…..any of these can be the secret ingredient to business success.

A few qualifiers;

– know your competition as this will provide some form of benchmark. This is not to say that your competition is setting the right pace, but as a minimum it provides a starting point.

– work from … Read More

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10 Commandments of Business

Many business owners are time poor and simply don’t find the time to read the more comprehensive articles. So if you are looking for a bunch of potent tips for your business – then this short article is for you. 

Aptly named the 10 Commandments of Business, these are 10 activities which will add bottom line value to every business.

Thou shalt…

  1. … plan for the business. This should be aligned to a clear vision of what the business is seeking to achieve, along with its key strategies and measures to get there.
  2. … understand your cashflow. Cash is
… Read More
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Marketing for Small Business

90% of businesses want more sales….. and for the vast majority of these businesses – this is exactly what they need. Many businesses can make a better margin out of their existing sales, but overall a greater level of sales is what is required to allow a meaningful increase to the bottom line.

Effective marketing is the ultimate answer for increased sales opportunity, with many different marketing methods available, BUT….. a critical aspect which is frequently overlooked in the assessment of marketing effectiveness is the time and cost of the activity.

If left unchecked, not only could the … Read More

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What is your product or service worth?

Pricing… pricing… pricing… it’s all about the getting the price right – so that your price point is not only accepted by the market…. but also delivers sufficient profit to your bottom line.

So what is the right price, who determines this and how is it calculated?

To answer these questions I normally discuss two concepts – “Cost” and “Value”.

Cost – is the cost of delivery of a product or service for sale, so this is your cost of goods sold, your fixed and variable overheads at a product or service item level. It is important to … Read More

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Fail to have a Business Plan is Planning to Fail in Business

“Fail to plan is planning to fail” – Winston Churchill.

Even though this well used line receives universal acceptance in conversation……. few businesses “walk the talk”.

If fact, based on a number of recent business reviews it’s obvious that more planning goes into an overseas holiday, than many business owners put into planning for the success of their business.

Few businesses were actively “not planning”, with the majority either not having the time or seeing it as a low yield activity. This finding did not just apply across business planning, but equally to marketing, employees, sales and cashflow … Read More

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Business Marketing – “Shark” versus “Anemone”

At the heart of any successful sales program are a heathy number of leads generated by a well formulated marketing program. Equally, where sales or revenue levels are not hitting the mark – then generally there is no effective marketing plan in place.

Few businesses have the volume of sales or revenue that they want, with a sizeable group hovering below what they actually need to have a sustainable and viable business. 

Common within most of these is the absence of a defined marketing strategy, instead having a collection of marketing activities with little or no congruity, measurement or … Read More

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Sure Fire Business Killers

Operating a business has its challenges due to the many and varied issues drawing on the owners time – people, product, sales, collections, just to name a few. Thus it’s no wonder that many business owners operate “in” rather than “on” their business – which has its dangers.

Heading the list of dangers is the loss of sight of the “whole of business” picture, because as the business owner, you are too close to just one element. It’s like falling in love with the look of a shiny red sports car because that’s all you see – whereas if … Read More

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