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13
May
Read MoreHow to compete with the buying power of big businesses
In my town of 5,000 people, there are 2 supermarkets (a Woolworths and an IGA). There are also two butchers, a fruit and veg shop and a couple of bakeries, all of which are flourishing. How is this possible? Surely the buying power of the big boys would force the small, local operators out of business?
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18
Apr
Read MoreWhy difficult customers are good for business
The first thing to remember about difficult customers is that they always pop up at a difficult time. (Think Murphy’s Law) Usually, they will appear when you are busy working on a complicated proposal or when you’re already dealing with another customer. They might end up insulting one of your staff. Our normal reaction is to be defensive. Not because we are nasty or we don’t want to serve the difficult customer, but because we are human. We get stroppy or avoid conflict. It’s called the fight or flight response.
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27
Mar
Read MoreNeed more sales? Organize your customer database
You may have heard that acquiring a new customer can cost you up to 10 times more than the cost of retaining an existing one, but an unorganized customer database can lead to poorly allocated advertising dollars. I know databases aren't the sexy end of marketing, but I’m a second-generation database marketing geek — and all the strategic decision making and analytics that comes out these babies gets me excited.
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22
Jan
Read More5 Tips for Selling If Your Price Isn’t the Lowest
Price has always been a major deciding factor in the sales process. But what if you don’t have the lowest price? One of the best things you should learn is how to sell on a basis other than price. It's liberating; it's empowering; and when done well it makes for better business. But for many of us, especially if we don't have a strong sales background, it’s easier said than done. Here are 5 handy tips for selling when your price isn’t the lowest:
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05
Dec
Read More6 different ways to use email marketing
You may have heard of Life Cycle Email Marketing. It is built on the notion that all customers are in a different part of the purchasing journey with your business. For prospects that are not ready to buy right now, great email automation can get them further along the buying cycle and automate your sales without engaging your business development team. You can even set up trigger emails to attract the customer’s interest, educate the buyer and nurture the lead. As for new email subscriber, you can send them anything you like, such as a welcoming email, bonus offer if they share your news, free webinar, or a list of your frequently asked questions. These messages can be set up to deploy automatically, also called ‘auto-responders’. You can even space the emails out as a series over an extended period of time. Here are a few ideas for trigger emails to your prospects and clients.
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04
Dec
Read MoreHow to Learn More about Your Competitors
There are many reasons why you need to learn more about your competitors but my three favourites are: To avoid their mistakes. Copy and build upon what they do right. Know their weak points when quoting against or taking their customers off them. Generally, benchmarking can be useful to find out about your competitors. Of course, benchmarking data does have its shortcomings. For example: it might be difficult to determine ideal sample sizes or find an exact business match, so you will need to dig deeper to mine the valuable information you need. Here are some easy ways to find out about your competitors:
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