Bath Marketing Consultancy

Get your marketing ready for 2012

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The countdown to the end of 2011 has picked up speed and Bath Marketing Consultancy feels that there has never been a better time to put together your marketing plan for 2012 than now.
So……what did you learn from 2011? Where did your new business come from? What was the most successful marketing initiative you ran? All of these are very valid questions that will need answering before the marketing planning can take place.

In 2011 I have written over 40 marketing related articles designed to help the small to medium business with areas of marketing they might not be 100% comfortable with, but there have been a number of key messages from my Blog posts that I believe will make the difference to your business. One of the key messages that I hope you will have “got” is that marketing is not a quick fix solution or a singular event implemented in quiet times. Marketing is a process and one that every business must employ in order to grow. I have always maintained that testing initiatives should play an important part in your marketing strategy and that running 5 or 6 separate initiatives continually is the sure fast way to achieve your objectives.

What I have found that works for me? What marketing tools of the trade have helped me grow my business in 2011? Well, not to just jump on the bandwagon, but effective SEO and appearing in Google for the core services I offer has been invaluable in generating enquiries. These enquiries that have come via my website have been “warm” in that they have found me as a result of actively searching for what I do i.e. marketing consultancy, looked at my website in detail and then got in touch with me. More often than not I have ended up working with these people or, at the very least been able to help them as part of a free initial meeting. I have also found that being active in social media has helped me grow my network and open doors. Not only that, but I would like to think that the Bath Marketing Consultancy brand is stronger and more established as a result. Advertising in the “Life” magazines has also generated a response as has meeting people socially and referrals from existing clients.

What I hope you can see is that there is no one sure way to successful marketing. More that a continual, dedicated approach using a number of initiatives is what works for me.

If you are a local company in Somerset and want to come to my offices in Frome for a free initial chat, please get in touch with me.

Leaky bucket?!

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Sometimes a business can be represented by a leaky bucket where there is water going in (new business) as well as water going out through the hole (clients leaving). Your objective is to keep the bucket full of water and to make it overflow if possible. However, every business has a hole in their bucket and it virtually impossible to plug the hole. (The hole doesnt represent unhappy clients by the way!).

There is a multitude of reasons why today’s live client can become tomorrow’s lapsed client – the economy, budget cuts, personnel changes, relocation etc etc but do your best to ensure that the leak is as small as possible, maybe by using contracts or client maintenance programmes.

Anyway, I digress. The danger is to see this whole bucket, water and leak scenario as a short term situation. If you truly believe in winning new business then sometimes the best way to proceed is to assume that every client is vulnerable and that new business is a constant need.

Also, no matter how busy you are at the moment, you must sell for tomorrow and this is where I feel marketing plays a vital role. I have experienced a great deal of prospects coming to me as a knee-jerk reaction to hitting quiet times in their businesses looking for a quick fix with a tiny budget. (this is not meant to offend anyone, but merely point out that distressed purchases come with unrealistic expectations and that planning in advance can make all the difference). If you wait until you are less busy with time available for marketing, there is a good chance you will be too late.

In business, it is not unrealistic to assume that you will lose up to 20% of your billings per year and therefore have to bring in a minimum of 20% per year to stay still. In addition, year on year 10% of your clients will vanish from your list and 40% will spend less.

I have written a number of articles over the last 2 years about winning new business which will help you achieve your goals, but ultimately my suggestion is to plan ahead, be realistic, be proactive and, if need be, to engage the help of a marketing professional.

2011- how has it been for you?

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With only a few working weeks left in 2011, Bath Marketing Consultancy does not know what sort of year you have had, but we are very much looking forward to the Christmas break. In all honesty, it is the “break” part of Christmas we are looking forward to as much as Christmas itself as 2011 has been a long (and phenomenal) year for the business.

Yes, we have worked with over 20 new clients from a huge variety of sectors, but not everything has been plain sailing. Without going into too much detail, I would like to think that I have learnt a great deal this year especially from some of the not so good things that have happened to Bath Marketing Consultancy in 2011.
I saw a quote sometime ago that went along the lines of “an unhappy client can be your best source of information” which has actually been quite apt. I am not saying that we have reams of unhappy clients; far from it. It is more that we have had to adapt with new situations which have tested the structure of how we work, our (low!) pricing, the way we schedule our work and the way we manage certain clients. We have come through all of these tests pretty much unscathed and all the better for doing so.

We have also seen a shift in the marketing requirements from our clients and an increase in the number of potential marketing suppliers prospects see before making their decisions. In terms of what people want from their marketing, the one off projects that played a part in our some of our success in 2010 have been replaced by ongoing marketing needs meaning that we play a much more important and ever present role in the organisations we work with. This has been incredibly rewarding.

What we are also seeing is that companies are becoming far more structured in the way they market their businesses and the thought processes they use. Clients and prospects are tending to look further ahead and see marketing as more of an investment for the future than a knee jerk reaction when times are quiet.

What about your marketing for 2012 and have you had a good year where you have learnt new skills?

How to cope with rejection!

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When touting for business, do not underestimate the benefit of picking up the phone. We all know how thick skinned you have to be to undertake this sort of activity, but, with preparation and a calm head, you can really make your mark and experience good returns from making a cold call.
What I thought I would do in this post is put together a way of dealing with some of the most common “rejections” you will encounter when making the “cold call” as a way of helping you feel more confident about making one.
Avoid rejection

So……what is the most common objection made to the cold caller?

In my experience, it is the “I am happy with my current company.” NEVER say otherwise or try and put down the existing supplier. A way of opening the door is to say “Fine, they are a good company and I know of them. However, I’d simply like to meet you to show you our new services so that in the future, you are in the best position possible to evaluate between agencies……”
Secondly, another main objection I have encountered is the “I don’t have the budget” reply when asking for a meeting. Again, acknowledge this objection, but counter it by saying something along the lines of “I take your point and appreciate budgets everywhere are not as they used to be, but we have made some changes in the way we price our services and I think that, when we meet, you will be pleasantly surprised at how competitive we are.”
Thirdly, the next in line is usually, the “I am too busy” objection. A reply could be “I understand that diaries can be very busy at this time of year, but mine is open for 3 months so how about we put something in for 3 months time and speak nearer the time? That way we will both be able to clear the decks and hopefully be less busy.”
Fourthly there is the old “put something in the post” reply when asking for a meeting. What I would do is let the prospect know that your services are tailored (as Bath Marketing Consultancy‘s are!) so you would prefer to meet up even it is just briefly to find out more about……..”
Fifthly, and by no means lastly in terms of it use, is the “I’m not in the market” response. My suggestion would be to flatter the person at the other end of the phone and say “I would have been incredibly fortunate to catch you at the exact time you were reviewing your XXXXX, but there are several new aspects to what i do that I would like to make you aware of for the time when you are reviewing.”
There are many more including getting passed the dreaded pa/secretary or answerphone (see my previous post on this http://www.themarketingexpert.net/2010/12/overcoming-dreaded-answerphone.html) but the above represent what I feel are the most common.
Hope they help.

Design and corporate identity

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Whenever you start thinking about corporate material, the question of design will rear its head. i.e do we use a new style; do we buy in someone to help, what style do we use etc. The next step usually is to review your corporate identity.
Yes, design undoubtedly has a vital role in the presentation and marketing of your organisation.

It is a key means for you to try and distinguish yourself from your competition. It is also a way to reveal your organisations’ “personality.” Traditionally the mix of your identity and house style will feature on your logo and corporate ID such as letters & faxes (if you still use fax!) as well as documents, proposals, stationary, leave behinds, creds presentations etc.

Under such circumstances it is crucial that any review comes from the person at the top of your organisation and, in Bath Marketing Consultancy’s opinion, that high quality outside professionals are brought in to handle the exercise. The need for authority inside and outside your organisation is because this operation is almost certain to result in proposals for some sort of change and this “change” may not be something everyone wants to undertake.

So…if you are to go down the professional route, a full and clear brief must be given to the company selected. This brief should focus on the personality of your business i.e. what does your brand stand for? Remember that design should work at an emotional and rational level so try and consider these aspects in your brief. It might even be worth collecting (subtly!) examples of what your competitor’s literature looks like as well as other examples from different sectors you like. When Bath Marketing Consultancy puts together initiatives like websites or marketing literature, we always do an audit of the existing material and then ask for a steer from clients as to what they like before putting together initial design ideas.

I would always advocate listening to the rationale from your designer and then taking a long term view when making decisions. I am all too aware of the difficulties of decision by committee, but make sure that your designer has identified who you are and what you stand for.
One area Bath Marketing Consultancy tends to insist on is some sort of style guide for a signed off logo which gives consistency across ongoing marketing material……and stops staff playing with the designs!

Finally, marketing initiatives like brochures might have a long shelf life so my suggestion would be to keep names of personnel out of the design (unless the details are yours and you own the business!).

Good luck!

Client reviews = good for marketing

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Assuming that you delivered on the promises you made when starting work with your customers, you will continue to keep them happy between projects the same way you won them in the first place…….by being helpful, professional and accessible.

My suggestion is dont just send out a questionnaire or a sporadic newsletter as part of your marketing activity. Make time and effort to actually see customers even if they aren’t actually giving you “live” work. Maybe even ask for an in-depth client review meeting where both parties can re establish the face to face dialogue and properly go over past work and possible upcoming opportunities. Maybe audit any recent activity or even review what you have done (after all even the BBC reviews their website every 18 months!).

I would think that getting repeat business from customers would be a requirement as a minimum, but keep in mind recommendations that they may give to their contacts as well. In Bath Marketing’s opinion, you must give yourself the best chance to expand with your clients as they expand so staying in touch and the methods for doing so, should be something you have a plan for in your marketing plan.

However, always do an internal review before this sort of meeting so that you can assess the real monetary value of your client to your organisation (not all clients are actually profitable in my experience!) as well as the possible cross selling opportunities. My old MD used to really push KIT (keep in touch) and I have to say that I fully agree with him!

Running a Seminar as part of marketing?

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The decision to run a seminar should not be taken lightly. It is very likely that you know your subject matter inside out and could pull together a presentation very quickly, but a seminar is a tool that is used to enhance your reputation so care, attention and in particular, preparation should be taken. There might be an argument for a conference rather than a seminar as this would imply that you are on a major marketing push and have reputable speakers from outside your organisation. 

Seminar or conference, it is all about making it a success and it is not as easy as it seems. Once you have fixed the date, it is going to happen! You cannot postpone or cancel as this would have very negative implications for your business, so plan ahead and here is my checklist:

Choose the actual title with care; make sure that you are offering something valuable like “how to achieve…….” or “The benefits of …….”
The venue is paramount. Make sure you visit in advance and have good audio visual equipment (if required).
What about the parking, signage, cloakroom facilities, refreshments etc
Produce formal invitations that are sent out in advance and that specify format, content, directions, timings etc
Follow up your invitations by telephone! (obvious, but very often missed)
Chose the best date (avoid start or end of the week, national holidays etc)
Try and give at least 6 weeks notice of the event to your invitees
The location must be accessible with parking & possible overnight accommodation if required)
Make the timing of the event comfortable – not a whole day of non-stop talking
Use outside speakers if possible to add credibility
On the day of the seminar/conference, make sure you have enough staff on hand as well as badges for the delegates – remember they are unlikely to know each other!
Make your leave behinds good

In other words, if you are going to invest time and money into this sort of marketing activity, do it properly and for the right reasons. I feel that one of the best ways of achieving success is to get a professional company/organiser in to arrange the event……………….and a professional marketing company to do the marketing!

The Marketing tools of the trade

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Marketing is a multifaceted process. It offers a wide range of tools for placing your service/product in front of clients and prospects. The main “tools” available are:

The web
Cold canvassing
PR
Advertising
Direct Marketing
Print
Conferences, seminars, exhibitions etc

Bath Marketing Consultancy suggests you use them all! If each tool is used for the right purpose, has the right objective, at the right time, for the right TA, they could be incredibly effective.

Before you say anything, I appreciate there are other marketing tools that I haven’t mentioned such as telesales (or telemarketing) which is ostensibly phone canvassing. However, there are 2 types of telesales, 1) is closing a sale and 2) is closing an appointment. The skills required for both to achieve success vary, i.e. to close a sale, you might use an introductory offer. To close an appointment, you may well use “I am in your area….”

The tools of the trade!

One initiative that may well yield results is client entertaining, but be careful that it doesn’t appear like bribery!

What marketing tools do you use and what works best? Feel free to leave me a comment.

Seasonal marketing

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Do you experience seasonal fluctuations with your business? If so, you are not alone! One of the trends that Bath Marketing Consultancy is experiencing right now is enquires from people experiencing just this; a period of downtime in their businesses due to the (supposed!) British summer.

Summer?


What these people seem to be saying, quite correctly is, “yes, I know the summer impacts on my business, but I am going to lay the marketing foundations for the Christmas period and get in touch with a marketing professional to help me.”

Fluctuations in a business are very hard to predict exactly, but there are times of the year when traditionally businesses will be quieter than others. For example, December and January tend to be quiet as the “silly season” is in place. In addition half terms, school holidays and then summer holidays. In fact, there may well be less of a buzz about in business when major sporting events are on like the Rugby World Cup, Football Cups, Olympics etc.

 During these times business is likely to be slower, enquiry rates may well fall and invoices take longer to be paid. We are all in the same boat! The trick is to make sure that you have a consistent marketing plan that will continue marketing your business during these quiet times.

You could look at bursts of marketing activity before these times or incentivising prospects to commit to working with you before they go away or take a holiday. Similarly, there is always the option of you mirroring these quiet times by taking time out too. 

One key area I would suggest is do not go quiet yourself with your own marketing or you risk going of radars. Yes, there is a possibility that the markets you appeal to may well become smaller in seasonal fluctuations, but there will still be a market there for you to talk to. So do not stop Blogging, Tweeting, Advertising, Link Building etc as continued marketing and brand awareness activity over a sustained period of time really pays dividends.