Small really is the new big

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Posted on 28th September 2010 by Krishna Gupta in Business Intelligence

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This post is the third in a series of excerpts from OneCoach CEO John Assaraf’s interview with Rita Gunther McGrath, co-author of The Entrepreneurial Mindset, and MarketBusters: 40 Strategic Moves that Drive Exceptional Business Growth.

Small-business owners need to concentrate on turning limitations into advantages. For example, one of the main advantages you’ve got is your ability to create customer intimacy. You have the capacity, when you’re at that size, to really get to know your customers on a very personal basis, designing a very special experience for them – a true fit for your clients.

Your clients will come to trust you with their needs and feel confident that you’ll be able to help them even without them having to specifically ask for anything. You also have the distinct ability to customize in many cases. But as good as it is to cater to your clients’ needs, make sure you’re not overextending yourself – make sure you’re getting payback for it.

A third advantage to being a small-business owner is that you’re closer to your customers than a large organization, so it’s easier to get the insights about where they’re going. You can actually be much more proactive and respond quickly to them rather than wait around for customers to start complaining.

In this way, you can really collaborate with your clients, asking them questions and determining exactly what they need and how you can best serve them. You need to actively participate with them, observing them, being part of their experience. That’s the key, make sure you’re always active with your business – your clients will notice.

So now that you’ve created a positive and delightful client experience, you made yourself memorable. Congratulations, you now stand out. And now you’ve given people something to talk about – they’re going to tell all of their friends how great your service or product is.

By keeping a pulse on your clients, you constantly keep tabs on what you’re doing right, and what you can do to improve.

This article is written by OneCoach Team!

Help your marketing go viral with sizzling headlines

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Posted on 18th September 2010 by Krishna Gupta in Business Intelligence

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This post is the fifth in a series of excerpts from OneCoach CEO John Assaraf’s interview with Tony Rubleski, president of Mind Capture Group and author of Mind Capture: How to Generate New & Repeat Business in the Age of Advertising Overload.

Your marketing efforts should have a constant emphasis on headlines – the headline has got to sizzle. If you don’t have a headline in your messaging, you aren’t going got be able to get the attention – the mind capture you are seeking. Who’s going to read your message or listen to it if there’s no reason to hook them in a short window of time?

Let’s imagine a dry cleaner looking to grow the referral side of their business (the best form of marketing hands-down). Starting with existing clients is always easier than trying to convert cold prospects, and few things are easier than when people promote your business for you.

So the dry cleaner clips on a flyer to their customers’ dry cleaning with a headline that says, “How would you like to get your next dry cleaning job for free?” This is an example of a ride-along offer. So the headline prompts the customer to read the flyer, which says “Give us the name or the e-mail of someone that you know that would like to have great service, free pick up, delivery and save time.”

What has the dry cleaner done by having that gripping headline on that ride-along offer on the outside of the dry cleaning bag? They gone viral – they’ve given their existing customers incentive to refer their business, and they’ve made it easy to do. And the sizzling headline is the lynchpin that makes it work.

This article is written by OneCoach team!

Getting your marketing mix right

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Posted on 13th September 2010 by Krishna Gupta in Business Intelligence

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This is the third in a series of posts excerpted from a conference call between OneCoach CEO John Assaraf and Tony Rubleski, president of Mind Capture Group, and author of the new book Mind Capture.

OK, so there are thousands of media marketing messages raining down on us every day. And believe it or not, some people think there’s one magic silver bullet to solve this marketing pain.

Well it just doesn’t exist. You have to build a good marketing mix to really cut through all the clutter – one that’s logical, proven and tested to cut through and build your business. The only cure-all that exists here is completely believing in yourself and fully applying yourself. Your marketing mix needs to be logical, proven and battle-tested. That way, as Jay Abraham would talk about it, you can keep building the pillars of your Parthenon.

Together these pillars support your business, and here are a few to think about:

publicity
lead generation tools
a referral strategy campaign
direct marketing tools – Web site, e-mail marketing, your direct mail and offline programs
These are just a few examples of what could be your marketing montage or attack plan.

The point is you can’t survive with just one pillar. It’s similar to trying to stand on one leg when the wind changes. The market is a living, breathing organism and changes too fast to rely on just one form of media. You’ve got to be constantly executing multiple media methods simultaneously at all times. Another example would be playing roulette: You’ve got a much better chance of winning when you spread your chips out among more numbers.

Just make sure you play smart; don’t throw all your chips down at once.

This article is written by One Coach Team!