Getting the lowdown on your Competitors
By Ken Varga | December 18, 2008
When I think of this topic, I’m reminded of the movie “The Fly.” Have there ever been times when you wished you were a fly on the wall of your competitor’s office or store? The good news is that you don’t have to be a fly to gather information about what your competitors are up to.
With a small amount of creativity and a willingness to ask questions, you will be able to gather an enormous amount of information about your competitors business and their marketing strategies.
Here are a few ways you can accomplish this.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If a potential customer tells you that they have gotten lower bids or prices from one of your competitors, ask who it was and what there prices were. If you ask, they may tell you and if you don’t ask you will never know.
- Ask your competitor’s customers what made them choose your competitor over you and whether they are completely satisfied with how your competitor treats them. If you find out what they don’t like about your competitor, you can use this to your advantage by offering what your competitor doesn’t do for them.
- Ask your competitors employees for information whenever you have the opportunity to do so. Visit them often so that they get to know you. They might be willing to talk about working conditions, new projects in the works, or even about their income and what they are getting paid. But remember, you must remind your own employees to be careful about what information they divulge about your company to any outsiders. What you are willing to find out about your competitors, they might want to do the same thing.
- Make it a habit of getting to know your competitors and/or their employees. You can meet them at trade shows, industry events or even at local business events such as a Chamber of Commerce meeting. The more you are physically out of your business, the more chances you will get to meet your competitors and others within your industry that know them and can help you with information.
- How about asking your competitors what they are up to. Be direct. Approach them. If they like to brag about their accomplishments or even show off, they may volunteer a lot of information you can capitalize on and use to build and grow your own business.
- All of you have suppliers that you get products from. Ask them for information. The answers to a simple question like, “How’s business this month,” might give you important clues about the direction your competition is going in or if they are having problems. With this information you can create a marketing strategy to take advantage of the moment and the opportunity. Often times your suppliers will know more useful information about your competition and share it with you. So always ask.
- On the Internet, use free sites like www.compete.com, www.spyfu.com and other snoop sites to learn what your competitors’ keywords might be, etc. There are also snoop sites that charge a subscription fee. Some of these sites charge up to $300 per month, depending on how much information you want to gather.. You can find more of these sites using keywords like “tracking competition”, "competitive intelligence", etc.
I’d love to know how you might gather intelligence and information on your competitors, so please add them in the comments section of this blog article.
Topics: Competing and winning, competitive intelligence | No Comments »
Separating Yourself From The Crowd!
By Ken Varga | December 13, 2008
All of us have competition. Competition is an ugly word but competitors are a fact of life in business. Your business must compete with other businesses. You must create an edge separating your business from the competition.
You should learn everything there is to know about your competition and to understand and know what their marketing strategies are.
The first thing you should do is to make a list of the competitors that are a threat to you and your future. Take the time to research them and get a feel for how they deal with their customers, then answer the following questions:
- Do they have testimonials and are they positive?
- Do they offer discounts?
- Do they offer a guarantee and do they have a return policy?
- By comparison, are their prices in line and competitive with yours?
- Do they offer anything special like free delivery or double your money?
- Which areas are they negligent in and how can you capitalize on it?
- How do they promote their business?
- What do they offer that you don’t?
Now you should create a profile of each of your main competitors. Outline how they advertise and why you think their customers shop there; in fact, you should try to locate one of their customers and ask them that question. Next determine what areas they need to improve on and how successfully you can expect to compete with them.
Doing the above will help you understand your competitors strengths and their weaknesses.
Now, evaluate and compare your own strengths and weaknesses, in comparison to the competition.
Once you have this list, you can now shout the differences between you and your competition in all of your advertising and marketing methods.
The information that you glean about your competition will also help you formulate your Unique Selling Proposition.
This is why it’s important to research your competition first. One of the keys to a successful business is identifying what makes your business unique and letting everyone know about it.
This in turn will help your prospects understand why they should buy from you, rather than the competition. When it is used successfully, it makes you the obvious choice in their minds.
The best USP’s consist of unique concepts that set your business favorably apart from your competition.
A business that employs USP’s has a way of competing in the marketplace that goes way beyond price. Price will never be an issue.
Let me know what your USP’s are in the comment section.
Topics: Competiting and winning, Differentiaing yourself from your competition, Grow Sales, Growing your business | No Comments »
More Ideas For Building Your Email List!
By Ken Varga | December 5, 2008
Online newsletters and ezines are one of the most cost-effective tools you can use to market your business. Customers and prospects who subscribe to your newsletter mailing list are giving you the opportunity to establish a relationship with them. That is very important. It gives you the opportunity to develop a relationship with them. Once they opt-in to receive your newsletter by email, you can build that relationship, establish trust, and nail down sales by sending the newsletter regularly. The more subscribers you get the more sales you’ll land.
How can you get people to subscribe to your online mailing list? Better yet, how can you get a lot of people who don’t even know you yet to subscribe to your ezine, thereby asking you to send them information on a regular basis about your business? In my last blog article I gave you some ways to build that list.
Here are several more ways that I thought of since, to accomplish that feat without spending bucket loads of money on marketing.
1. Ask people to subscribe to your newsletter mailing list when they complete a purchase. This is done at the time of purchase. You should train your sales people to ask for it. Yesterday I had a hamburger for lunch at a restaurant called, “The Fox and The Hound.” When I received the check, my waitress mentioned that they have a gift of $5.00 the next time I visit if I would complete a form and allow them to communicate with me via email. You can do the same thing. Just because someone bought a product from you once doesn’t mean they’ll remember to come back the next time they need something that you sell. To get that customer back again, be sure you capture the customer’s email address as part of the sale and include a checkbox on the form letting people indicate that they’d like to be included on your mailing list.
2. Ask current subscribers to forward your newsletter to their friends. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to grow your newsletter list. Remind your readers to spread the word about you by including a note in every newsletter asking them to please forward the newsletter to their friends who would be interested in reading it. Be, sure, too, that there’s a prominent link to your subscription page in every issue of your newsletter. I use a “Forward to a friend” link at the bottom of my Marketing Tip of The Week newsletter. Sometimes I also ask you within the body of the newsletter, near the end of the article, to forward the newsletter to others.
3. Promote your newsletter at seminars and talks. If you give seminars or talks on your area of expertise, be sure to let your audiences know that you have a newsletter and what the benefits of subscribing to the newsletter are. And don’t forget to include your newsletter subscription link in your handouts. I do this whenever I speak at Chamber of Commerce’s in my state, and also whenever I speak at a seminar.
4. Promote your newsletter in your 30-second commercial. Many organizations, such as your Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Clubs, give members a few seconds at the beginning or end of meetings to introduce themselves and their businesses. End your "commercial" with an appeal to visit your website and sign up for your newsletter. Remember to tell them how valuable it is to them and how they will benefit from it.
5. Offer a free gift – If it’s on your website, make it downloadable of course, so you have no delivery charges — to those who sign up for your newsletter. To simplify the delivery process put a link to your freebie in the thank-you note you send to new subscribers. And, just in case any of those new subscribers pass on the link to their friends who haven’t subscribed, put a subscription box on your free offer page, too. Lead it off with a note that says "Not a subscriber yet? If a friend sent you a link to this page, sign up for your own copy of (your newsletter name.)" If your business is offline, you can also offer a coupon as an incentive for them to visit your establishment.
6. Get a friend in your industry to promote your newsletter to their mailing list — then promote the friend’s list in yours. This is called a JV, Joint Venture. It works for both of you.
7. Send a postcard mailing to targeted mailing lists you’ve built from collecting business cards or from the newspaper. I have found post cards to be the lowest-cost way to build my list. Use the mailing to solicit newsletter signups. To get the recipients to take action, offer a free gift (a downloadable product) to people who subscribe by a specific date, or offer a coupon for when they visit your establishment.
8. Never stop soliciting subscribers. This is the most critical step of all. I’ve found over the years that individuals quit too soon. Keep at it and you will succeed. Also, email addresses change, and people’s email addresses become undeliverable. People’s information needs or product needs change, and they unsubscribe. Keep your list fresh and growing by continually promoting your mailings.
I hope these additional suggestions help you grow your list and make it very profitable.
Topics: Finding Suspects, Getting Referrals, Growing your business, email list building, lead generation, postcard marketing | No Comments »
Grow Your Email List And Watch The Cash Roll In!
By Ken Varga | November 22, 2008
Here are some ideas for growing your email list so that you can be in constant communication with your prospects and customers.
Email, when used properly, is really a great way to increase your sales and profits. A single email sent to a list of people who have asked to be on your mailing list can bring in business immediately, either through your online shopping cart (if you have an online store), or through phone calls or email inquiries about services you provide, if you are in a service business.
If you don’t have an online presence, the email may help more people to find their way to your establishment, especially when you have an inducement to visit your place of business.
The more targeted prospects you have on your email list, will result in more business being done by them, with your business. When I say targeted customers or prospects, I mean individuals who have asked to be on your mailing list. It doesn’t mean emails you have because someone gave you a business card.
Have an email signup form on every page of your website. Make it prominent on the page. If it’s buried on the bottom of one page on your site, few will see it. Make sure you offer something for free for them to sign up. If you don’t have a free product to offer, you could use one of my e-books (after getting my permission), or even use a coupon for a discount they can use when they purchase from you.
If you don’t have a website here are some further suggestions:
1. If your place of business is a physical store or clinic setting, ask customers if they’d like to receive emails from you notifying them of special offers. Have forms available or some other mechanism to immediately capture their email address.
2. Produce an informational newsletter that appeals to your customers and prospects. Print up one issue and mail it the traditional way, being sure to include a prominent ad telling readers how to get the newsletter delivered to them regularly in email.
3. In addition to sending the printed copy through the postal system, if the newsletter you produce is informative, talk to local libraries and other community resources to see if they would make it available to their patrons.
4. Give out your printed newsletter at your booth at local trade shows. Encourage visitors to take an extra copy to hand out to others who might be interested in the information you provide.
5. This last method is one that I see very rarely used effectively…include a flier promoting your free newsletter or promotional mailings in every package you ship, or in every bag you pack in your retail store.
So go to it and use these ideas to grow your business and create more customers. I’m sure over a period of time that you can think of many other ways to get your customers to ask to be on your mailing list.
Topics: Attract More Clients, Grow Sales, Growing your business, email list building | No Comments »
Dominate Your Market!
By Ken Varga | November 13, 2008
I recently spoke at a friend’s seminar in Los Angeles, and while I was having coffee in the hallway during the break, someone asked me if I would tell him what I thought the most powerful marketing strategy was.
I told him that it didn’t have anything to do with referrals, advertising, or any of the other methods used to create a customer.
Before any of those methods will ever have an impact on your business, you have got to uncover and communicate a way in which your business is different from every other business that says they do what you do. You have got to create a simple idea or position in the mind of your prospective customer or client.
You must create an environment where your prospective customer or client will think of you immediately when they need what you have to offer.
Fed Ex with its “Overnight” theme, and Domino’s Pizza with its “Delivered In 30 Minutes Or It’s Free” promise, are a couple examples.
Another example is how I am offering those of you who do business-to-business selling to put your own title page on my “10 Marketing Mistakes That Steal Your Cash” book and gift it to your B2B customers…free of charge to you. I also allow you to use this newsletter to help you grow your business; you can use it in your newsletter, on your website, or any way that will help you grow. Just let me know when you do so.
When you offer additional benefits like these to your B2B customers, you now become not only the person who provides your product, but also someone who wants to help them grow their business and get more customers. See the difference?
Here are a few more examples:
Whatever business you are in, you can make arrangements with a car wash to detail your customer’s vehicle whenever they visit you. If you’re an accountant, while you are preparing their return, you can have their vehicle cleaned. I bet when they leave, they will rave to their friends about this unique touch.
How about becoming dominant with your offer? I know of an accounting firm that offers their clients a 100% refund on their preparation fee when they refer four new clients. They are known as the 100% refund guys.
Here’s the last one. Solve a problem. Is there something that customers or prospects fear in your market or seem to believe is universal for what you do? If so, create a system of communicating how you have the answers. For instance: “Painless Dentistry”.
I’m sure you can offer a guarantee that no one in your industry would dream of doing. When I had my insurance company, the department of Insurance said that our customers had a free 30-day look. They could ask for a refund if they didn’t want the product.
I turned that into a guarantee. “If within the next 30 days you feel our product doesn’t meet your expectations, just return it and we will refund the money you gave us.”
I don’t know why a guarantee scares most business owners. You probably guarantee your work anyway. You just don’t say so. Boldly announce that you guarantee results and watch what happens.
Put your creative head gear on and I bet you will come up with a few ways to dominate your market and become the “one” to buy from.
The last step is to communicate your difference in all your promotions and marketing tools, literally shouting about that difference.
Topics: Attract More Clients, Branding, Grow Sales, customer acquisition | 2 Comments »
Increase Profits By Getting Rid Of Bad Customers!
By Ken Varga | October 30, 2008
We have all heard the saying, “The Customer is Always Right.” Well, I disagree with that statement. Customers are not always right.
Great Customers are the ones who contribute to the bottom line of your company. A great percentage of your customers occupy a great part of your time, but little to your bottom line. You must determine who they are and then get rid of them. If you don’t, it will harm you in the long run.
How and what do you do about those customers who seem like more trouble than they are worth?
Each business has customers who know what they want, value your input, and pay their bills on time. The real question is, “Can all customers be educated to become a productive part of your company.
The first thing you should do is to identify your most difficult customers. You know who they are. They constantly complain, are slow to pay, and always want more than you both initially agreed to.
Many businesses carry unprofitable customers without knowing that they are carrying them. Here’s a suggestion…
Every year or so, complete a customer evaluation to decide which ones you should convince to cease doing business with you, so that you can continue to grow. There are companies who can help you with this, where they will profile your customers and help you determine those you should cease doing business with you.
Once you have determined who those customers are, you could try to convert them into profitable ones by using the following:
- Change your relationship with them from a position of weakness to one that is powerful.
- Increase your prices. If you lose an unprofitable one this way, it saves you the pain of doing it yourself.
- Lastly, give your customer a choice of options to see if you can move them into a better relationship that results in a profit for you. For example: Instead of saying, “Would you like this item, yes or no?” ask: “Would you like option one, two, three or four.”
Don’t be afraid to determine which customers are not profitable and more trouble than they are worth. Once you have done this, then cut them loose.
Topics: Increasing Profits | No Comments »
Bringing In More Customers Using Direct Mail!
By Ken Varga | October 24, 2008
If you are currently advertising using TV, Radio or an ad in the newspaper, you can bring in more customers by also using direct mail.
Direct mail puts your message right in front of your prospect in their own home or business. If you send the right mailing to the right list at the right time, your direct mail is cost-efficient and an easy way to get customer attention and sales.
Here are a few ways that I’ve used direct mail in a few of my businesses.
As a reminder: Car dealers and other businesses who rely on residual income a number of times during the year, use this tool very well.
In this fast paced world that we live in, it is hard enough to remember birthdays, let alone when our last doctor visit was. That is where your direct mail piece comes in.
A reminder could be anything from a postcard reminding your customer when they are due for an oil change, or a suggestion to repeat the purchase of a birthday cake.
As long as the service or product is something that needs to be repeated or gets used up, this method will work for your business. Your customer will appreciate this service and will be happy that you provided them with such individual attention.
As a promotion. I don’t think there is a customer who doesn’t like to save money. This is a great method to grab attention and offer an opportunity to save money.
Sending a postcard with a chance to win a new product or offering $20 off a purchase of $60 or more, will inform new and existing customers about what you have to offer and induce them to visit your place of business again.
Make sure you set an expiration date and make it prominent on the mailing so that your customer will rush to save money NOW, before the promotion is over. You can simply say that those taking advantage of this offer within the next 5 days, before (date) will receive (such and such).
To notify your customers of New Products or Services. It is always an exciting time for any business when they decide to offer a new service or handle a new product. This is a great time to share this excitement with your customers. For example, if you sell software, you can say that you developed an update that will enhance their ability to (whatever) by 45%, therefore saving (Xdollars). The more specific you are, the more you will educate and motivate your customer to take advantage of the offer. Whatever business or service you are in, you can utilize this method to increase sales. Your customers will appreciate your honesty. And don’t forget the human nature side of this method…people like to be kept informed.
The best way to keep your customers informed is by sending them a newsletter. In your newsletter, you may want to include articles that relate to your business, special offers, or even stories about your staff.
When customers and prospects see your newsletter on a regular basis, they will start to remember you and your company as an authority and a reliable source for the products and services you sell. There are several newsletter software programs that you can choose from to format a newsletter. There are even online programs you can use at very inexpensive prices. We use a service called Constant Contact.
Here is a very important point. As you utilize direct mail in your business, be very careful not to bombard the customers with mail. A barrage of mail may invoke an unfavorable response whenever your company is mentioned.
If you have successfully used direct mail in other ways, let us hear what you’ve done. Leave a comment in the Comment section of this blog article.
Topics: Attract More Clients, Grow Sales, customer acquisition | No Comments »
Convincing “Almost Customers” To Do Business With You!
By Ken Varga | October 17, 2008
Convincing “Almost Customers” to do business with you.
All of us have a hoard of prospects that were initially attracted to us for some reason or another. It could have been your ad that attracted them, a direct mail piece, or any other method you might have used to attract that prospect.
Once you have attracted a prospect to look at you, they are very close to buying from you. I call these “Almost Customers,” because they have yet to do business with you.
Here are some ideas for converting them into buying customers.
1. In my experience there are 6 questions you must ask yourself and get answers for. Potential customers will not buy from you until all of the 6 questions are answered. Your potential customer may not think of all of these questions, but they will become your customers if you will answer these questions for them
a. Precisely what are you offering?
b. How should they get it from you?
c. Why do they need or want it?
d. How fast can they get it?
e. What if they don’t like it after they get it?
f. What do they need to do to get it?
Also, if you have a website, make sure that you answer these 6 questions and state them prominently.
Again, it’s not about features but about benefits. Your customer is only thinking, “What’s in it for me.” So answer these 6 questions around providing benefits.
2. Set up a system to consistently follow-up with your prospect. In my experience, most prospects don’t buy the first time they see or hear about you. If you have a system to follow-up, they will eventually buy from you, especially if you’ve answered the prior 6 questions.
Your follow-up can be as extensive as sending them a weekly newsletter with useful information, as I do, or as simple as contacting them occasionally with a new offer.
3. Make a memorable Impression the first time they are in contact with you. Think of powerful reasons for prospects and customers to think of you, especially when they encounter a competitor.
Again, in my experience, most prospects who do not buy from you the first time, will come back to buy later.
4. Send a “Thank-You” message after the sale. It means a lot to them. Just think about all of the Thank-You messages you received whenever you purchased something. Perhaps like most of us, you never received a “Thank-You” message after making a purchase. Can you just imagine how your customer will feel when you are the only one to send them a “Thank-You” message? You will indelibly leave an imprint in their mind that you are one of the few business owners that appreciate their patronage.
If you have other ideas that we can share with our readers, let me know.
Topics: Client conversion, Customer Conversion, Grow Sales | No Comments »
Are Your Employees Your Ambassadors?
By Ken Varga | October 11, 2008
Are your Employees your Ambassadors?
I recently read an article where Herb Kelleher, the individual who made Southwest Airlines famous, said the following.
“Southwest’s communication, its message, is its people.”
That means that they have trained their employees to be the Ambassadors of their company. If you have flown on Southwest, you know what I mean. Whenever I have flown with them, it was a pleasure.
Southwest has over 25,000 employees spreading the word as Ambassadors and you could even call them missionaries, because they have converted many an airline passenger to their cause.
Here is a question for you. “Are your employees your missionaries?”
Here are some guidelines for turning your employees into ambassadors/missionaries:
- Train them, constantly, to keep their dedication, skills, and enthusiasm at the highest levels.
- Select only those who you feel will be excited enough to represent your company on the highest level.
- Keep only those who display their zeal when talking to a customer or potential customer.
- Reward them well. They are the individuals who are bringing profit into your company, so share the wealth.
This is a good place to start. If you need more detailed help in doing this, see Step 3 in my book “Up The Loyalty Ladder”, and Chapter 3 in my book, “How To Get Customers To Call, Buy & Beg For More.”
Topics: Attract More Clients, Branding, Grow Sales, Growing your business, customer acquisition | No Comments »
Tips On Finding And Using A Virtual Assistant
By Ken Varga | October 2, 2008
One of the questions I recieved asked for tips on finding and using virtual assistants.
A Virtual Assistant, also referred to as a VA, is technically an administrative assistant. They handle a wide variety of tasks and work to make life and work easier for the busy professional. In most cases, VAs are contracted by small business owners and entrepreneurs.
The key difference between a virtual assistant and an administrative assistant is the fact that the VA is an independent contractor or self-employed individual, while the administrative assistant would be your employee.
When you use a VA, you do not have to worry about taxes, insurance, and a variety of other expenses as you would have to with a traditional employee. Furthermore, a VA takes responsibility for their own equipment and needs, which means further savings for you.
Before choosing a virtual assistant, you need to be clear about just what they’ll do for you, as well as your own responsibilities. Furthermore, you should know whether or not you really need a VA. Ask yourself some questions to find out:
- Are you having trouble meeting deadlines?
- Are you overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do?
- Do you find that you need more help, but cannot hire due to lack of resources or space?
- Do you not have enough time in the day to get things done?
- Are you focusing more on administrative duties than you are income-producing activities?
- Are you spending your time doing minimum wage work?
If any of these apply, then yes, you might have a need for a virtual assistant.
What Does A Virtual Assistant Do?
A VA has many duties. They are there to help you and your business succeed. Aside from traditional administrative duties, they are also there to help you in outsourcing. When you need more help, whether it is to complete projects on time or because you lack experience in a certain area, a VA can help you find someone to get the job done.
Other duties include:
• Preparing Documents – such as correspondence, presentations, reports, statements, and so forth.
• Data entry
• Research
• Bookkeeping
• Billing
• Reminders
• Mailings
• Emails
• Transcription
• Appointments
• New Client Services
• Paperwork
• And much more.
As you can see, a virtual assistant can literally be the backbone of your business.
What should you look for in a virtual assistant?
Because the VA will be working closely with you, the first thing you want to look for in a VA is a personality that meshes well with your own. Here are some other things that you want to look for:
1. Experience – this is an important factor, however, just having experience as a VA or administrative assistant is not enough. You will need to look for experience in tasks that you will specifically need. The services provided will vary from one virtual assistant to the next, so be sure that they offer services that you will actually need.
2. Organized – Organization is an absolute must. You need your VA to be able to organize your projects, and quickly. You need them to know where everything stands when asked and be able to provide you with an update at the drop of a hat. This does not mean that they have to memorize everything, but having things organized will make their life, as well as your own, so much easier.
3. Training – Having someone who is a certified virtual assistant or who has taken classes specific to the title is a good idea. Of course, you can also look at experience or degrees if they exist. This goes right along with experience. When they have the right training, they will be more efficient and valuable to your business.
4. Has The Ability To Meet Deadlines – Deadlines are important to any business. If you must meet deadlines regularly, be sure to choose a virtual assistant that takes responsibility and meets any deadline that you set.
5. Communicative – You need a VA that will maintain communication with you regularly. They should report to you, by any means that you choose and keep their channels of communication open and clear during working hours.
You can start finding the right VA now. You can start your search with websites like International Virtual Assistants Association ( http://www.ivaa.org ) or sites with freelancers, like www.elance.com.
Topics: outsourcing, virtual assistant | 5 Comments »