|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Small Business Marketing Tip ? Putting the Customer First.
I am a great believer in the keeping to the basics ? the totally obvious things that we all learn in Running Your Business 101, and then promptly forget. I often have people come up to me after a speech and say, "This is all blindingly obvious, just common sense." And they are right, but my immediate response is always the say, "So are you doing it??"
This question is usually followed by a moment of silence before they explain they have moved on to other approaches now. You cannot forget the basics, because if you do you stop marketing. So if you find yourself by the end of this article saying "this is just common sense," do a reality check, and see if you have stopped using your common sense. I know I often do.
The most important basic to remember is that Marketing is an Attitude to Business that Puts the Customer First. If you and everyone in your business understands this then everything else about marketing falls into place. You have to make your entire business marketing oriented. It's seems not to be a popular concept in the west, but we are here to serve our customers. If we don't they will go elsewhere. Let me relate a story.
Some years ago, late on a Saturday afternoon my eldest daughter remembered she didn't have any school shoes for the start of term the following Monday. Panic! We rushed to a nearby and surprisingly empty major chain store where three members of staff were wrestling with a till roll. I waited... and waited... and waited... Eventually I said, "Can you help me please; my daughter needs some new shoes?" A girl looked up; surprised and apparently irritated by my presence, she pointing across the store said, "The children's shoes are over there, if you find a style you like I'll see if we have her size."
We left... and we raced 15 miles to another town (the stores closed at 5.30 pm) where I knew there was a small privately owned shoe store. When I walked into this little double fronted store it was in chaos. They clearly were having a very busy day. There were empty shoe boxes and children everywhere and the owner of the store was on his knees in the middle of the store checking the fit of a pair of shoes.
As I entered a bell rang on the door. He looked up immediately and said "Oh hello, I'll be with you in just a moment." And he was. I said "My daughter wants fashionable shoes for school but she can destroy a pair of Doc Martins in a week." "I know exactly what you mean," he said, "Let me see what I have." He quickly measured her feet and a minute later returned with two pairs of robust, but very fashionable shoes, one of which my daughter immediately loved.
I have never forgotten that day. This was a man who understood service and delivered it so well that he was able to undercut the chain store prices. He is still in business today 10 years later ? the chain store I am pleased to say, is not. You have to take this kind of attitude in everything your business does.
I walked into an office once and there was a big poster on the wall.
Rules of Our Business
Rule 1 - The customer is always right
Rule 2 - When the customer is definitely wrong ? Re-read Rule 1
If you constantly think how can I make my customers feel great about doing business with me, then they will keep coming back, they will keep telling their friends and you will tap into one of the most powerful marketing technique of all, viral marketing, where doing business with you becomes infectious, and your marketing is done almost entirely by your existing customer evangelists telling their friends how great you are.
About the Author:
Founder and First President of the Professional Speakers Association (PSA), Rikki Arundel is a truly unique International Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Writer. She is openly and proudly transgender and an expert in sales and marketing communications with an impressive track record, and being transgender has provided her with a unique understanding of the differences in the way men and women communicate in business. http://www.RikkiArundel.com
Get your free copy of How to Get Customers Queuing up to Buy at http://www.SpeakingandMarketingTips.com
Advertisement: Honest Riches - Click Here!
Advertisement: Lost AdWords - Click Here!
Advertisement: Get $1 Million A Month In Google Pay-Per-Click Ads Free! - Click Here!
Advertisement: Who Loves Money? - Click Here!
Advertisement: SEO Elite, the GrandDaddy of SEO Software - Click Here!
Bizjournals.com, NC - 8 hours ago
Database marketing firm Merkle Inc. has signed up the Limited as a new client in a three-year contract. The Columbia firm will analyze customer data to help ...
Merkle Selected by The Limited to Support Integrated Customer ... MarketWatch (press release)
all 17 news articles
Reuters
Bizjournals.com, NC - 12 hours ago
United Parcel Service Inc. rival FedEx Corp. will cut its marketing budget by more than 25 percent for 2009, the company recently disclosed on its blog. ...
FedEx cuts marketing spend by more than 25 percent Reuters
FedEx to reduce marketing budgets by 25% Brand Republic
all 79 news articles
Bizjournals.com, NC - 12 hours ago
Downtown Greensboro marketing firm Bouvier Kelly has won three awards from the Carolina Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society for its work with ...
CNNMoney.com - 3 hours ago
TMI's marketing plan includes a program where LTC facilities can lease the equipment necessary to perform skin assessments and store the necessary data ...
Wellstar/TMI Announces Estimated Three-Year Revenue Projections MSNBC
all 9 news articles
CBC.ca
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - 10 hours ago
By Sarah Talalay | South Florida Sun-Sentinel University of Florida fan Michelle Jackson has her outfit for college football's national championship game ...
BCS is a political football in 2009 CNN
all 2,643 news articles
CNNMoney.com - 13 hours ago
Proton will start by marketing a variety of enhanced water products that provide health benefits for people and the planet as well as the commercial product ...
Bizjournals.com, NC - Jan 7, 2009
But the HTA will wait until at least late January to spend another $607000 on marketing to South Korea, as well as spending an additional $238000 for ...
Tourism agency holds back funds for Korea marketing Honolulu Star-Bulletin
all 9 news articles
Hürriyet
Brownfield, MO - 10 hours ago
Wheat was a marketing year low at 41900 tons (1.5 million bushels), down 90% from the previous week and 86% lower than the four week average. ...
Corn, Soybeans Fall as Firmer Dollar, Oil Drop Reduce Demand Bloomberg
Corn, Wheat Sales Fall Off a Cliff Farm Futures
Forecast for Turkish wheat raised by US Hürriyet
FXstreet.com The Foreign Exchange Marketall 250 news articles
CNNMoney.com - 12 hours ago
Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. (OTCBB: AMKT) announces that IMAX Theaters is piloting Proximity Marketing at its Palisades theater location in NY, ...
Indianapolis Star, United States - 9 hours ago
With a team of 25 brokers and additional market research, marketing, and client support staff, Summit Realty Group specializes in office, industrial, ...
Stop Your Marketing Leaks
Thirty percent of all the drinkable water that runs between the plant and your faucet is lost to leaky pipes. In marketing, thirty percent of our business... Read More
Mortgage Marketing to Realtors ? Creating a Memorable Positioning Statement
Mortgage marketing to Realtors involves having a crystal clear position that establishes credibility, so that you can develop a consistent dialogue with prospects and guide them... Read More
Read Your Markets Mind - 3 Great Market Research Resources
Starting a new online business, developing a new product, launching a new marketing campaign, buying advertising can all depend on how well you are able to research... Read More
What is a Marketing Plan Anyway?
Building a business that grows steadily in size and profits is like building your dream house. First, you identify what kind of home you want, then you... Read More
Knowing When To Charge More and To Charge Less
More And MoreIt was notable that when I started my business twenty years ago, I came up with a certain "minimum" profit I wanted to make. Within... Read More
Do You Know Where Your Email Address is Today?
Having people go to your website is not always easy: remind them with a special business card.Whether you understand it nor not, the web is likely here... Read More
10 Reasons Why Businesses Fail at Marketing.
1) They don't fully understand it.Perception: Marketing is advertising. Reality: Marketing may not even include advertising. Perception: Marketing is an expense. Reality: Marketing is an investment. _______________________________________________________________________... Read More
The Benefits of a Marketing Plan
What is a Marketing Plan? Marketing is to do with matching the features and benefits that your products and services are able to provide with specific customers... Read More
Competitive Research and Google
It all started out with an email message: "I am starting a new one of a kind company ... at least I think I'm one of a... Read More
Mark Twain?s Great Marketing Idea
To tell you the truth (and about 53% of this article is true), I don't know where I heard this story about Mark Twain. But I've heard... Read More
B2B Marketing - Why it Should be Subtle
Subtle adj. Showing or making, or capable of showing or making, fine distinctions of meaning.How many times have you been told that: great marketing has to be... Read More
Five Cheap Tricks for Promoting Your Business
If you're like me, you're always looking for ways to promote your business - without spending a ton of money. Well, you're in luck. This article lists... Read More
If You Do No Other Preparation
Far too often we see small businesses rush into doing things without planning and preparing. Unfortunately, marketing is a great case in point. Many small businesses set... Read More
Client Attraction Technique #1: Niche Marketing
When asked "what business are you in" many business owners often identify an industry, for example, "I'm an accountant" or "I run a beauty salon " or... Read More
10 Surefire Ways to Add Sizzle to Your Brochures
Businesses rely on brochures as their front line in communicating their products or services. Yet according to Shannon Cherry, APR, many find them not as successful because... Read More
How to Turn More Referrals Into Paying Clients
60% of all small business owners, sales and solo-professionals claim that more than half of their new business comes from referrals. Yet when asked about the process... Read More
Top 9 Strategies To Attract More Clients Now
1. Advertise in trade journals, ezines, and web sites that cater to your ideal client.One secret for gaining substantial increase in sales is to communicate where your... Read More
Is Your 4X4 Trail Rated?
"Traction. Articulation. Ground Clearance. Maneuverability. Water Fording. We've put your new Jeep vehicle through extreme tests on the most extreme off-road terrain we could find. Trail Rated... Read More
The Top 10 Ways to Market your Business or Professional Practice Without Networking
While focused, strategic networking is usually the most efficient way to build your professional practice, there are many other ways to market your business. Personal networking may... Read More
There?s More to Marketing ROI (return on investment) Than Meets the Eye
All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, "I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got... Read More
10 Steps to a Great Newsletter
A newsletter can be a wonderful, economical way to communicate with prospects, customers, employees or distributors. Just follow these ten easy steps for newsletter success.1) Define Your... Read More
E-commerce : The Bottom of Pyramid Approach
For centuries and most of the decades in the 20th century (i.e when computer was invented) access and communication was the tool of rich and ultra rich... Read More
Putting Your Website to Work
Websites have replaced the brochure as the "must have" marketing tool for businesses large and small. While virtually every business has a website, few are harnessing the... Read More
Quiz: Where is Your Marketing Message?
Wondering if your marketing message is dancing in the spotlight right in front of your target market or is busy cowering by the punch table nowhere near... Read More
Put Your Marketing To The So What? Test
Want to get Better at your Marketing today?For many service business owners, marketing can be a real mystery. We don't really know exactly how it works. We're... Read More
The 30 Incredible Ways To Sell Your Products Now and Sell More
How to sell more and sell quickly online for your products and service? Here is the long list for your reference. 1. Turn your ad copy... Read More
Five New 5 Ps!
NO! When I say "5 P's", I'm not talking about the big 5 P's of marketing everyone's familiar with.Here I'm NOT referring to Product, Price, Place, Promotion... Read More
Marketing on the Cheap: Write? Right!!
We all know the value of writing articles for promoting your website or online store. However, writing articles to promote your old-fashioned, traditional brick and mortar business... Read More
10 Beer Budget Event Marketing Tips
Are you planning an event or participating in a trade show any time soon? If so, consider the following 10 low-cost marketing tactics before mailing your payment.Event... Read More
Business Postcard Marketing: 35 Ways to Use It
Postcards are an effective way for many business owners and marketing managers to attract new customers and increase sales from existing ones. Postcards are inexpensive to produce... Read More
Why Market to Generation X?
Generation X"--the 40 million or so people born between 1965 and 1976--understands it is living in a world of uncertainty where neither the govern¬ment nor private employers... Read More
Supply And Demand And Marketing
According to Dough McCormick, Chariman and CEO of iVillage, Inc, "Technologists focus on supply but they don't understand advertising is focused on demand. Just because we have... Read More
Small Business Marketing Tip - Focus on a Niche or Target Market
I think selling and marketing today often feels a bit like talking to a brick wall and that in interesting metaphor to help grasp the importance of... Read More
An Easy Start to Mail Order
Listing names of Big Mail Requestors, and sending out packages ofBig Mail is an easy way to get your start in the business ofselling by mail. There... Read More
The Beginners Mail Order Business Guide
No claim is made that the steps outlined would be successful for someone else. Each individual should obtain whatever professional advice may benecessary for his particular operation.... Read More
Tips for Trade Show Rentals
Trade show rentals allow you more flexibility and the opportunity to change your booth with every expo if you wish. You can rent nearly any booth components,... Read More
Meaning and Marketing - The Trigger
In previous articles under "Meaning and Marketing", we have learned about the verb "To Be" and that the name of God is I AM.Stephen Hawkings, the world's... Read More
Simple Marketing Strategies Versus an SEO Line of Attack!
Each and every day those of us on the Internet are bombarded with information about Search Engine Optimization and all that goes along with it. For the... Read More
Did Jesus Get Killed for Practicing Interruption Marketing?
I'm reading Seth Godin's Permission Marketing and he brings up the difference between Interruption Marketing and Permission Marketing.Interruption Marketing is when you interrupt people from what they... Read More
How to Add Warmth, Color & Texture to Your Advertisements
"?A powerful agent is the right word?" --Mark TwainAnd what true words those are! Your marketing efforts have the ability to succeed?or to fail?based on the words... Read More
Marketing With Business Cards
Many businesses today overlook the importance of business cards as a very powerful marketing weapon. Their business cards contain just a name, company, address and phone number.... Read More
3 Quick Robotic Online and Offline Marketing Strategies to Help You Work Less and Make More Money
What is Marketing? There are many text book answers to this but I like these two definitions the most.To be successful, you have to understand what marketing... Read More
5 High-Impact Marketing Tips
Here are 5 high-impact marketing tips you can use to boost your sales quickly. All are simple to implement and they involve little or no new expense.1.... Read More
Effective Lead Generation
How to Gain your Prospective Clients' Attention and Generate the Leads You Need to Make Your Business a SuccessIf you've ever tried to get a child who... Read More
Website Marketing: 10 Uncommon Bonuses That Will Help Make Your Product Hotly In Demand
Giving away free bonuses is an important website marketing secret that can ignite your sales.1. Consulting-Give your customers advice on topics related to your product or service.... Read More
Trade Show Promotional Products ? Boosting Booth Traffic
I was about seven or eight years old when I learned the value of promotional items at trade shows. I just didn't know it yet. I was... Read More
Perceived Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Q: My partner and I are having a hard time coming up with what we feel is the perfect price for our new product. We know what... Read More
Trigger Button Marketing
Sometimes, experiencing bleak sales is a matter of failing to find your prospective customers' trigger buttons.By trigger buttons, we mean anything that the customer would find of... Read More
Marketing From Both Sides Of The Ball
In the world of business, marketing is often conveyed as a game. It is not uncommon to hear or read of a company "playing the marketing game"... Read More
Are You Sabotaging Your Marketing Success?
What?!? Sabotage your own success? Who would do that? Well, you'd be surprised how many small business owners think they are effectively marketing their business, when in... Read More
How to Take Your Law Firm to the Next Level
How to Take Your Law Firm to the Next Level Third in a series of three articlesSO you've done such a good job at bringing in new... Read More
Customers Are Like Vampires
No, customers aren't bloodsuckers (well, maybe a few are!) and they don't come out only at night. According to legend, vampires don't come in until they are... Read More