4. Have realistic expectations. Many people expect overnight results and give up when results they wanted don’t materialize as they had hoped. Unrealistic expectations always lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. Talk to other business people to find out what they are experiencing at any given time. You may be surprised at what you will learn.

Define realistic, quantifiable performance metrics that reflect your business goals.

5. Be persistent and persevere. There are going to be times when you get very frustrated with what is going on around you. If you don’t think this is true my guess is you haven’t been doing what you are doing for very long. Truth be told, business can be extremely frustrating. There are times things can seem so overwhelming you wonder how you can get through situation. It is when you revisit why you are doing what you are doing and what your purpose in business is that you can get back on track. If success were easy, everyone would have it. Persistence and perseverance can pay handsomely.

6. Create a focused marketing message. The main purpose of marketing is to identify appropriate markets for your products and services and then open up a conversation with those markets. That simply means finding market segments that can benefit from your products or services and communicating with them in a way that motivates them to take action.

Keep in mind; first action is not always going to be to buy. Your customers first action my simply be to stop by your store. Maybe it is to make a phone call to gain more information. Perhaps it is visiting your website to fill in a request form.

Regardless of what first step is it is what you do after someone takes first action is crucial to success of your business. Develop a solid follow up system that allows you to develop long-term relationships with your client base. The health of your bottom line depends on it.

7. Believe in yourself and your vision. Regardless of how much you want something, there will be times temptation is to give up and throw in towel. The greatest test of your character is to be willing to follow through to very end. You must find ways to believe in who you are and keep your vision close to your heart. Many years ago I was taught to keep going on my dreams and to not quit five minutes before miracle.

Fact is I never know when miracle will arrive. The only way to find out is continue forward in spite of all outward appearances.

* Effectively match products and services to identified needs and wants of customers within target market segment(s), and * Craft focused advertising and promotional campaigns that convincingly articulate value proposition offered by these products/services in addressing specific needs of various target markets.

Market segmentation is definitely more an art than a science. Some of more common segmentation screens utilize geographic, demographic, socio-economic, psychographic, usage and/or benefit considerations. There are, however, also a number of creative market segmentation research and analysis techniques that have proven to be quite effective. Market segmentation offers uncanny ability to match products and target markets.

In doing market segmentation research for financial services products and services, we find that inclusion of various “attitude differentiation” factors can be particularly relevant. By using appropriate segmentation screens, marketers can significantly increase effectiveness of their marketing messages by:

* First, sub-segmenting prospects/clients based on their purchase dispositions as follows: ­ Innovators: Those who seek out innovation. ­ Early Adapters: Those comfortable with new and/or different. ­ Mainstream: Those who “go with flow.” ­ Late Adapters: Those that need an extra nudge to “get with it.” * Then, crafting specific messages that appeal to prevailing attitudes within specific groups based both on individual disposition and stage of particular product or service in its market cycle.

An effective market segmentation strategy can be an important tool in increasing success of financial sales and marketing communications programs. While most financial services organizations acknowledge importance of marketing segmentation, very few use this powerful tool to its full potential. Too many firms base their market segmentation strategies on cursory or intuitive analysis of their markets, rather than deliberate market research and target market analysis. With all potential benefits, we strongly believe that every financial services marketing professional should take a hard look at how to maximize benefits that market segmentation can offer.

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