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Five Oversights That Can Kill Your Business

Business owners usually have long term visions for their enterprise, but most business failures happen quickly, before the owner is able to change course or implement strategies that will correct the situation.  The fatal gap between planning and performance is often the result of one of the following set of factors, although two or more of these can occur simultaneously and accelerate the organisation’s demise. Take a close look at your own business and be sure none of these are taking s...

Focus on your Core Competencies

A core competency is something that a company does well compared to others in its field; it’s an edge that can be used in marketing to offset competitors’ strengths. All successful businesses know their core competencies and conduct their business around them.  Core competencies are many and varied. They can be a technology, such as Apple's development of the miniaturised hard drive that made the iPod name synonymous with MP3 players. They can be a tradition of service like the Red Cro...

Become A Better Communicator

Most of us perform better in one part of the communications process, as either a Speaker or a Listener, but don’t go to the effort to make the most of our communicating abilities by improving the weaker skill. But our communication is likely to be so much better and more effective if we did. It’s not too difficult. Speakers need to be aware of their audience Speakers are good at sending out a message. They’re focused on what they’re saying and how they say it. What they too often m...

How a Customer Advisory Board Will Help Your Marketing

Customer Advisory Board Overview Success comes from meeting customers’ expectations and satisfying their needs. Both expectations and needs change over time and keeping abreast of these changes is essential. The owner of a small business usually knows their customers personally. This is an excellent beginning for the development of a relationship that can help you with you marketing and in the acquisition of new customers. What is a Customer Advisory Board A customer advisory board is a r...

Branding for Business to Business

In B2B marketing a poor brand is confusing to those who make purchasing decisions. Businesses place a higher value than consumers do on the reputation of their supplier so a single, well recognised brand, can be important to winning a sale and turning that into repeat sales.In the B2B context it’s much more effective to create a single powerful brand for the business that can be carried above the products it sells.Research shows branding’s importanceA study conducted by Accenture on the B2B ...

Top four kinds of Marketing Advertising

Most of us tend to use the same kind of ad over and over again. If your ad is pulling in sales, stay with it. But if results aren’t quite what you’re looking for, try switching to one of these top four types of ads.Your ad can simply work to build your company’s image. Most of the banner ads big corporations have on the Internet are designed to do nothing more than familiarise people with the company name. A big chunk of the ads on TV do the same thing. And that’s not bad. Most customers...

Customers Are Only Human

Customers Are Only HumanAs businesses of all sizes increase their uptake of technology and use equipment to save money and take over functions previously provided by people, they’re also running the risk of alienating their customers.Extensive ‘telephone trees’ intended to direct callers into the most appropriate channel to handle their enquiry require customers to go through a series of options even though they already know what they want to accomplish with their call. Something that is m...

Delivering The Goods

Any business which involves selling a physical product requires the ability to arrange delivery of the product to customers in one way or another.Unlike larger organisations, small businesses don't have huge budgets and people available to develop their own carriage service so the most frequent option is to use a third party whose business is shipping so as to ensure logistics are carried out effectively.But to do it in the most cost effective way can involve some deliberation of the options. Th...

Create a Network of Wealthy Customers

Create a Network of Wealthy CustomersWhether the 80/20 rule applies to your business or not, if you can identify your wealthy customers you can target them directly with high-value offerings. And even if you don’t have 20% of customers that you’d consider ‘wealthy’ you can create a network of customers that will help you grow your business and greatly benefit your bottom line.Define your trading areaStart with an accurate definition of your trading area – where your customers are. The ...

Become an expert in your own industry

Whether you sell to businesses or consumers you can increase your level of success by becoming an industry expert – someone who’s well known and acknowledged as an authority on matters concerning your industry. It takes work to achieve this kind of commercial stardom but once you’re at the top it’s almost self perpetuating.Get ready for recognitionPrepare a clear definition of the industry you want to represent, whether it’s a broad one such as ‘retailing’, or very specific, such a...