The Top Seven Marketing Mistakes

Written by Ted Nicholas


Continued from page 1

Making offers to your customer database is often referred to asrepparttar "back end" in direct marketing jargon. But every business should cash in onrepparttar 120704 huge potential of existing customers by simply making frequent offers to them and giving them more opportunities to do business with you.

5. Management has no method of accurately measuringrepparttar 120705 results from its advertising investments. This is especially so with so-called image advertising.

Solution: The way this is done is to seek a direct response in each promotion. This can be a coupon, telephone call or store visit. Code each promotion. Then when an order is received or a customer visits your establishment, you can propriately trace it torepparttar 120706 particular promotion.

The coding system can be numbers or letters. If you userepparttar 120707 telephone you can utilize separate telephone numbers for each advertisement. Or you can simply askrepparttar 120708 caller which ad or letter they are responding to.

6. As many companies begin to enjoy some early success, many develop a disease that I call "Big-Company-Itis." They start having endless, non-productive meetings. They become bureaucratic. They move as slow as molasses.

Instead of continuing to insist upon a high level of employee performance and keeping a close watch and control over costs, management takes its foot offrepparttar 120709 brake. Costs can spiral out of control. Employee morale can suffer. Soonrepparttar 120710 company is in deep trouble.

Solution: The secret is to think big but operate much like a small business. Well-managed, large organizations that are highly successful are run more like a small entrepreneurial business. Managers have profit center responsibility. Their job is to help increase revenue or reduce costs, or both. They are held accountable. They maintainrepparttar 120711 financial controls and quick response of a lean and mean small business.

7. Management has no systemized upselling procedure in place to upgrade both new and existing customers to a larger sale. Result? Lower sales volume and lower profits than otherwise could be obtained.

Surprisingly, companies I've observed that market direct to consumers, such as mail-order businesses, tend to be incredibly poor at telephone communications and upselling.

Well-managed and properly trained customer service people can add 30%-60% in added sales volume without any increase in marketing or administrative costs. Your only cost isrepparttar 120712 cost of goods sold. Best of all, your customers arerepparttar 120713 beneficiaries of more value and variety for their money. Everyone wins.

But here is where it becomes really interesting. Your gross sales will be much higher. But your net profit will increase by a huge multiple. I've helped companies achieve huge increases in their net profit just by learning effective and professional telephone techniques. It's not unusual to increase profits as much as 5 or even 10 times!

Effective telephone communications and upselling arerepparttar 120714 main reasons forrepparttar 120715 huge success of my own companies. My clients for whom I conduct training of their customer service representatives have experienced similar results.

Solution: Develop a strategy which includesrepparttar 120716 following:

A. Create an incentive compensation plan for your customer service representatives (CSR's) based on added sales. Depending on your profit margins, this can be for example 5% to 10% of additional sales.

B. Run a daily special offered as an "add on" that provides great value forrepparttar 120717 customer. For example, you can offer a new product at half price.

C. Prepare a verbatim script on how to presentrepparttar 120718 special.

Tip: The selling price. Your special offer should not exceed 30% of your average order. This makesrepparttar 120719 decision to acceptrepparttar 120720 special an easy one.

D. Provide your CSR's with some basic telephone training. This should includerepparttar 120721 principles of active listening, voice pitch, pacing, learning to present things in a hearable way, and some gentle closing-the-sale techniques. A big factor is learningrepparttar 120722 secrets of boostingrepparttar 120723 sales without any pressure whatsoever.

Yours truly,

Ted Nicholas

P.P.S. "The secret to success, in life and in business, is to work hard atrepparttar 120724 margin. Relentlessly. It's as powerful as compound interest,repparttar 120725 eighth wonder ofrepparttar 120726 world. Those little marginal extra efforts will inevitably grow into something big." -- Bill Bonner

Little things mean a lot

"God is inrepparttar 120727 details"

Copyright 2003 Nicholas Direct, Inc.

Ted Nicholas is known as the "Entreprenuer's Entrepreneur," having founded and sold 23 companies. He is the author of 14 best-selling books, including: "Magic Words That Bring You Riches" and "How To Form Your Own Corporation Without A Lawyer For Under $75. Go to www.tednicholas.com to subscribe to his free newsletter "The Success Margin."


Know Thyself and Thy Business

Written by Joanne Victoria


Continued from page 1

This method makes it very easy forrepparttar right person to say "Yes!".

A model or environment that clients can connect and feel safe with is essential. If it is presented as "work", they won't hire you. The experience for each of you needs to be rich, fulfilling and enjoyable.

Here’s an example of positioning by concept. It’s one thing to say you're a website designer. A more definitive statement would be to say you design websites for people who are ready for a revised website; know who they want to reach with this website; and have text ready to serve this audience as well asrepparttar 120703 resources to pay for your expertise.

It's specific and would attractrepparttar 120704 perfect client to you as well as your method of working.

The last question is, why choose you.

A simple answer is that you haverepparttar 120705 knowledge, skills and experience critical to their success. Go for it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joanne Victoria works with independent professionals and small business owners who want to streamline their operations in order to achieve more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buy her book, Lighting Your Path! How To Create repparttar 120706 Life You Want, here: http://www.JoanneVictoria.com/

Sign up now for Joanne’s FREE monthly e-zine Lighting Your Path!-Discover Your Inner Truth at: mailto:JoanneVictoria-subscribe@topica.com ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~. Joanne Victoria – Coach, Speaker, Author Tel:415-491-1344 mailto:joanne@joannevictoria.com http://www.JoanneVictoria.com/programs.htm ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Joanne Victoria works with independent professionals and small business owners who want to achieve more and still be true to themselves. Joanne Victoria – Leadership Coach, Speaker, Author Tel:415-491-1344 mailto:joanne@joannevictoria.com http://www.JoanneVictoria.com/programs.htm


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