The first thing I recommend is that if you have not had a vacation and you are working 12 hour days, 7 days a week, you really need to take a week at the beginning of the summer and RELAX and ENERGIZE yourself!  Think back to when you were in college cramming for finals and trying to exist on 2-3 hours of sleep a night.  Let’s face it, you became a walking zombie who only got through the week of hell because you knew that there was an end date to exam week and then a vacation break directly after.  As a business owner, learning to recognize the signs of “burn-out” is key to your success and longevity in the industry.  Stepping away from your business and in to a week or two of fun and relaxation will have you refreshed and ready to make the most of working the remaining days of summer with new ideas and a vitality that could be missing right now.

The second thing I recommend to do during the quieter months of summer is to prospect for new business.  Attend business networking groups that are outside your local area, go to workshops and seminars that attract businesses that could be potential clients, and spend time taking key clients that may still be working hard like you out to lunch or for a day of golf as a way of thanking them for their business. Use this time to  reach out to your customers with cards or emails during the slower months which will help with retention and possibly expand your business if you add a “refer-a-friend” program in the newsletter.

Finally, the summer is a great time to meet and do planning for your marketing for the remaining year and in to 2011.  One of the biggest problems that small businesses have is that they are always putting out fires and often do not have time for real planning or creating a strategy for their marketing.  Their websites never get updated, they still struggle with understanding how to position social on-line networking as a way to market their business and they seldom analyze what the ROI is for the advertisements that they are currently running.   The hit or miss type of marketing they have done all year often is a result of being hurried and the summer months allows the time to organize, regroup and make a successful plan.

In addition to these three things, summer is a great time to do an office make-over or have a professional organizer help you to set-up systems that work for your business.  Move your desk,  paint the walls, add a few plants and have an organizer help you to get rid of the piles of paper and watch how fast your sales improve when your work space is one that you are happier working in!

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

LET GO OF YOUR FEAR!

Target marketing cannot work and offer the sales results you need until you let go of your fear.  “EVERYONE” is not a target market. The fear factor is one of the key reasons people fail at selling or marketing their product.  Most business owners have never worked for other companies as a “straight commission” sales person so they are not familiar with going after the “A” client and optimizing their sales day so that it results in closing key revenue accounts.  They have not learned through time and aggravation and small paychecks that you can work just as hard with a small sale as you can a bigger client and that your closing ratio improves when you zero in on a potential market that is more likely to buy the product.

“Sales is a numbers game”.  This is something my sales manager loved to say to me when I used to sell TV advertising campaigns and he was right.  If I have an average of 8 hours of selling time in a day, who should I spend that time going after? What will be my strategy and who do I “Focus” my time on so that I make the most money and have long-term relationship accounts?

FOCUS…FOCUS…FOCUS!!!

There are only so many hours in a day and so much of an advertising, marketing and sales budget… remaining focused on what you wish to accomplish is the first step to determining your target market.

• WHAT IS YOUR GOAL?

• WHAT DOES YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER LOOK LIKE?

*Who are they?         *Where are they located?      How will you reach them?

• WHO DO YOU FOCUS ON AS A POTENTIAL OR “LIKELY” CLIENT & WHERE WILL YOU FIND THEM?

BUY TWO  CUPS OF COFFEE & INTERVIEW YOUR CLIENTS!

You would be amazed at how helpful people can be when you just ask them for their help. For most of us we cannot afford to pay a big marketing company to do an in-depth analysis of who are “target market” is so what does a small business do? Buy 2 cups of coffee and ask your clients for 20 to 30 minutes of their time for an informal interview about them.

What you need to find out [if possible] from the interview:

• Age or Age Group?
• Male or Female?
• Socio-Economic or Ethnic Group?
• Education level?
• Marital Status?
• Do they have kids?
• Psychographics???                                                                                                                                              [Their beliefs, likes, dislikes, personality, why they bought your product, etc]

• Income Level?  What do they regularly spend money on?
• Profession?
• Location?

NOTE: before the internet and on-line social networking the location  was pretty straight forward to where do they live, work and buy goods and services, but today you need to know if they are tech savy, belong to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc and if they prefer to shop on-line or at the store directly or both.

• Do they read the newspaper [which one and is this on-line or in print]? What radio station do they listen to and what TV shows do they watch? Are they a member   of any local business groups or read any business publications?

• Finally, this is a KEY question to ask them: WHAT SERVICES COULD YOU PROVIDE THAT WOULD MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR THEM???

GO TO A QUIET PLACE & ANALYZE YOUR DATA

Try to survey as many customers as possible either in person or on the phone and then go to a quiet room or place so that you can analyze ALL your data and look for patterns or similarities.  Maybe you notice that most of your clients are females ages 35-55 who have a college degree, hold professional positions, have an income of over $125,000 per year and prefer to save time by shopping on-line.  Or, the majority of your clients might have children and so they are looking for family oriented activities that are geared for saving money and are good for the environment or their health.

DO YOU LIKE THE GROUP THAT STANDS OUT & ARE YOU MAKING $$$?

Hopefully, the data you get from your current base of clients that help you determine the target market is in-line with your goals for your business.  For instance, if you find that you have attracted many customers who are difficult to service because their needs are so unique and you do not feel you are making a profit with the time invested, you may need to discard that group as your target market, but use what you have learned to help determine what you could do either in your marketing material or sales process to reach a more ideal target market and increase your profits!

*CREATE MARKETING MATERIAL, ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS & YOUR SALES APPROACH AROUND THE GROUP YOU NOW KNOW AS YOUR TARGET MARKET!

AIM, FOCUS & SHOOT at the TARGET!!!

LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES & SEE THEM AS AN INVESTMENT!

Target Marketing saves companies both time and money by helping them to know who the best prospect is for their business and how to appeal to them as a consumer.  Even the biggest companies have made mistakes in marketing that cost them money and valuable time, but knowing what didn’t work and why, can be as important as what does work!

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Also, if you find that certain items in your store are not being sold as frequently as others you might wish to “bundle” them with other items that are more popular.  A local gift shop merchant used this strategy when creating holiday gift baskets for last minute shoppers.  She looked around her store and saw the items that were collecting dust and put them in attractive baskets with some of the quick sale items that everyone commonly buys.  She didn’t mark-up the cost for the basket or bow or her time for assembling the holiday gift arrangement, but was thrilled to have shoppers buy the baskets for the regular price of all the items in the gift basket arrangement.    She used a clever way of “bundling” items to get the end result she needed.  Even if you are a service provider, consider ways that you can add value and increase sales by offering several of your services for one flat price. This is a great way to get a running start for higher sales in 2010!

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Think of the last time you were in a situation when someone was talking badly about someone else? How did it make you feel? What if you knew the other person that was being talked poorly about and it was someone you like? You may have spoken up or chose to remain silent, but after they left did you wonder who else that person speaks poorly about and if they would ever slam you? Slamming your competitor when on a sales call can work the same way. Whether it is based on facts or falsely perceived facts, it still makes people feel uncomfortable and that can turn against you. Taking the high road and choosing to speak only to your own strengths supports that you are confident with your product offering and not selling out of fear. Even when I am asked by a potential client to tell them why I am better than a competitor I select my words carefully and speak from my strengths and not someone else’s weaknesses.

There will always be a percentage of sales people who use negative selling to close a deal, just like there will always be negative ad campaigns during political races. However, if you are a small business selling locally it will serve you better if you focus on what your own strengths are and not a competitor’s weakness. Be confident in what you have to offer a potential client and try not to let fear take over your sales pitch. Happy selling!

All my best to your success!
~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”