Think you can't afford to implement any effective marketing tactics? Think again. Here is one of five ways to make a splash on a shoestring budget. We will continue to share the remainder in future posts.
Are you motivated to expand your client base and spread the word about your products and services? Consider this, are you wondering if you should even bother with marketing programs if you don't have thousands of dollars to spend? With the majority of the country getting ready to open up, now is the time to Getty UP! The answer, of course, is yes. It's financially riskier for companies not to market. And there are hundreds of cost-effective ideas you can use to increase your revenue. Here are five high-impact approaches to market your company that doesn't cost a bundle, and that can work for virtually every company.
1. Talk to your clients. Yes, we said it, talk to your clients. It's incredible how much money businesses spend to gather market information and attract new clients when they have a wealth of opportunity and information in their existing client base. One of the best ways to increase revenue is to talk to existing clients. Ideally, this should be done by someone outside your company, so clients are willing to be honest, and open. We can do this for you. BTW.
When you assess perceptions, you don't need to talk to hundreds of individuals; choose 5 to ten clients and contact them to ask if they'd participate in a phone interview. Here's how it works:
1. Please send a letter or email asking for permission to have someone contact them about your company.
2. Have the interviewer call and ask value-based questions such as:
What problems were you trying to solve, or what challenges were you facing when considering the services of YOUR COMPANY?
How vital were YOUR COMPANY'S services in solving your problems or addressing your challenges?
What did you value most about this company's work?
What other products or services do you wish they offered that could help you with different problems?
3. After all the interviews, compile the information to discover trends and themes.
4. Send a thank-you letter or note to every client who participated. Include critical lessons from the interviews and explain the specific changes you plan to make to your company based on this information.
The critical part here is to use what you learn. If you don't make changes to your company, then you've wasted everyone's time. One company that we recently did this for tripled its business in one year-the the owners learned what people wanted, how their solution made a difference, how to present it, and how to price it and then proceeded to make changes that improved those areas.
Keys to success: The conversation with your customers is just that, a conversation. Don't fire questions at them; instead, have the interviewer engage in an interview and gather as valuable data as possible. Remember, it's not about how satisfied they are-it's about how much they valued your product or service. Please stay tuned for more effective ways to market your company.