As business owners we all seem to struggle with a number of aspects relating to the internet or indeed ordinary marketing and there is no really solid reason for it to be like that. There is a problem though and that problem is noise, the noise that gets created by every other firm jostling for position.
No matter where you look there a million and one specialists offering services that will transform your business and your presence, what constantly amazes me is that there is so little thinking done before a decision to one with run tool or another, or the lack of responsibility about that decision.
Perhaps we find it a bit easier because we specialise in marketing services, but of course we struggle in different ways. You would be surprised at the problems we cause ourselves. It's this issue of tools that I want to focus on, see the thing is these tools change from month to month and certainly from year to year and many people in business run off to work on the next shiny new thing. They also get a bit miffed when they don't work as expected.
One thing that I spotted early on my sales career was a fundamental and it's this I want to run through today. This or even these fundamentals cannot be forgotten and once they are employed in your business things will start to shift in your favour, there is not one modern tool that can compete with this, no social media or pay per click, no YouTube video or direct mail campaign. Indeed I can think of nothing that works quite the same as what I am about to explain.
The fundamental two rules are simple just not eas and here they are.
Rule One – all of your business market must be part of a clearly defined process and measured. Which means you must be able to clearly identify money spent or action taken with a result, as sale or an enquiry.
Rule Two – you must make sure you MANAGE your relationships with customers. That does not mean that once a year you send them some half baked generic newsletter that is the same you send to every other customer. It has to be relevent contact and it it has be regular – it's a relationship – more like a marriage and less like a one night stand.
Thats it. If you get these right you will never have to worry about selling anything ever again.
Richard