How would you like more clients or customers right now?

Would you like another 10… another 100… another 1000?

Now – how would you like to attract those new clients or customers in a way that saves you possibly thousands of pounds in wasted marketing?

… and yes, it absolutely IS possible.

Knowing your Customer Lifetime Value (or LTV) is the key, because it provides you with a better means of understanding what a customer is REALLY worth to your business.

If you can calculate a customer’s true worth, then you can use that information as a marketing tool to strategically plan profitable growth. But understanding the value of a customer to your business is a lot more than just a monetary figure…

It also helps you get to the heart of customer retention, which is one of the key areas that can make a HUGE difference to your business – 5% increase in customer retention equates to approx 35% increase in profits – but I’ll be covering this in more detail in the next post.

One of the problems is, that it is no longer financially viable for the majority of companies to ‘mass market’ their products or services. Over recent years there has been enormous pressure on businesses– especially service organisations – to improve the way they do business with their customers.  Many organisations however, overlook the potential of existing customers to develop their business.

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When I started my Newsletter back in 2006 (which later morphed into this blog) – I had a number of objectives, but one of the main ones was to answer some of the frequently asked questions I was being asked, about the solutions to Marketing issues.

Over the past 3 years, one thing has remained constant, and that is:

Readers still want answers to questions they have about marketing

• About strategy…
• About tactics…
• About thought processes behind campaigns…
• About options…

But most of all about HOW to get things done.

It can be very frustrating trying to find the answer to a specific question you have – I know because I do it all the time – and really I’ve found there are generally 2 ways you can go about getting you answers… Read More »

A big concern at the moment seems to be the perceived increase in competition for every marketplace…

A recession is actually a good foundation for growth… provided you are focusing your business in a structured and targeted way.

But it does mean that it is ESSENTIAL to be able to clearly differentiate yourself from your competitors in the eyes of the prospective client, and critical that you remain (or get) client-focused.

But concentrating on customer care and client satisfaction is only part of the battle, once you have got the clients to buy from you in the first place…

You may have noticed there are HEAPS of marketing messages out there which you have to compete for attention against, and that’s not only from your direct competition.

Everyone is being more careful how and where they spend their money. It doesn’t mean they have stopped; just they are being more choosy about what they spend it on and what is going to bring in the biggest benefit.

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Getting in front of a prospect is only a part of the selling process.

This is closely followed by having to convince them that you are THE solution to their problem (assuming you have correctly identified their problem of course!)

One of the strategies you should be using to convince your prospect is PROOF that you can deliver the solution they need. But this in itself is not enough, it also helps if you can show proof of having done it before – of having helped others who have had exactly the same problem as they are having.

One of the elements you should use – and which should be in every marketing arsenal – are testimonials.
Testimonials from satisfied customers are one of the best and most powerful assets you can build, but how do you go about collecting them?

Now let’s be clear – You’re not looking for the “John is a nice guy and easy to work with…” type comment.

You are looking for a powerful rave review which you can use to attract more customers and clients.
Here are my top tips for collecting effective testimonials which you can use to add power throughout your marketing.

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If you’ve run your own company for any length of time you will know that generating new prospects and converting them into paying clients is the most expensive part of growing any business.

Yet selling more to existing clients costs 5 to 9 times LESS, and is actually an easier sell because the client has already been involved buying from you. As long as they have had a good experience, they are more likely to buy again.

So why is it that people INSIST on driving their customers away?

To give you some examples which may seem familiar to you, here are a few of the things I’ve seen just in the past few weeks…

• A restaurant I went to the other night for dinner with friends had serving staff who were so rude I will NEVER go back (and I won’t be recommending them either)
• A franchise opportunity where the franchisor didn’t answer phone calls or respond to emails, even though a friend of mine had spoken to them once and already expressed an interest in spending £60,000 to buy a License (they kept my friend waiting for nearly a week and when they finally contacted him, it was only to say they were “too busy” to have the meeting!)
• A well known mobile phone provider where the Customers Services representative actually called my partner ‘a liar’ regarding an upgrade request she had previously placed for a new mobile phone (then the girl found the detail already on her computer system but I think she forgot the call was being recorded!)
• A hotel which is actively being marketed as a place with “Good Coffee and Quiet Meeting Environment” to encourage business people to meet there, but where they serve you pre-made (and quite disgusting) coffee. (I like my coffee…)
• A major Energy Provider who sent a number of threatening letters to a friend of mine just before Christmas, to pay an electricity bill for £3,425.37 which they later admitted had been sent to the wrong person in error.

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Well, do they?…

… and what does trust matter in a business relationship?

If you only care about a one-off sale, then I guess you could try and argue trust isn’t as important. But if you can’t build trust, the chance of you getting second and third transactions rapidly diminish.

But with the competition every business has out there, and the economy we are currently in, trust is actually more important than ever if you want to do well today.

So what is trust in the eyes of your client?

That depends on the client and what they view as important but at the very least, these 3 things are crucial:

1. If you state something, make sure it is true.
2. If you make a promise, stick to it no matter what.
3. Always under-promise and over-deliver.

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Doom and gloom, doom and gloom…

Yes, we are in an economic crisis, but when are business owners going to realise that their fate is in their own hands? You can either bury your head in the sand and blame the economy, or politicians, or anyone else you can find to blame, or you can focus on optimising your business to create growth, even in an economy like we have today.

Now is NOT the time to cut back on your marketing and stop hiring the right people.

Now is NOT the time to stop spending money.

But now IS the time to look at spending your money in the right areas.

How do you do this? It will take some planning.

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So nothing has changed since I went away on my holidays…

… the media still preaching doom and gloom… in an “end-of-the-world-is-nigh” sort of way.

But as business owners we have a choice NOT to participate in the recession. But how ready are you to reject the effects of a recession to your business?

If you look back at the late 80’s early 90’s, when we had the last major economic downturn, there were plenty of cases where businesses prospered – even grew – while their competitors went to the wall.

Even in this current climate, I see examples of businesses who are actually increasing their business – even in the “hardest hit” industries (such as Estate Agents, Restaurants and Retail).

Yes it’s true that spending is down…

It’s also true that people are being more careful where and how they spend their money…

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It’s true – last Monday in fact…

I told them I couldn’t help them any more.

Have you ever done that – sacked a client?

I sacked them because they were completely ignoring my advice – the same advice they were paying me to give them…

It happens sometimes, but I think 3 months of excuses is more than enough to put up with.

When I work with a client, I do everything I can to make things work for them. I give them the best advice I can to get the best results I can to give them the best return I can.

But I do expect clients to listen to what I’m saying.

Here’s a brief rundown of what happened…

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I can honestly say it’s been inspiring watching the Beijing Olympics this year. The best results Great Britain have had in over a hundred years. It’s been inspiring.

But whilst watching the Olympics coverage over the last two weeks, it set me to wondering…

What is it that gives these Gold Medallists the ability to exceed and outperform all the other athletes, especially when ALL of the athletes are at their peak?

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