Focus on the 3 Rs of marketing this festive season - Carolyn Stafford

Forget the 4 P’s of MARKETING this festive season and focus on the 3 R’s of MARKETING by building your REPUTATION, strengthening your RELATIONSHIPS and getting lots of REFERRALS. Whether you are working this festive season or taking a well deserved break, you can work on the 3 R’s of MARKETING to keep business coming in – even if it is while you are on the beach with your family! Let’s take a closer look at 10 tasks you could undertake to get the 3 R’s of MARKETING working for you.

Before reading my top 10 tasks, DOWNLOAD this handout and complete the action plan as you read. You can write down the task on this form, score yourself on how good you are at each task and then decide how important it is to your business. The gap will indicate where you need to focus and will help you develop a simple action plan to work on the important tasks. I recommend you select at least three tasks to work on NOW!

Consolidate your current client relationships
This sounds obvious but I am amazed at how many businesses forget to nurture and love the clients they have in the hot pursuit of new ones. We all know that it costs five times as much to attract a new client than it does to keep a client. So what are you doing to love the clients you already have this festive season? Pareto’s Law states that 20% of your customers will give you 80% of your new business and new referrals. Go through your data-base and identify the top 20% and do something memorable for them like give them a referral, send them a bottle of their favourite wine or invite them to Xmas drinks. Make it personal. A standard e-Xmas card simply doesn’t cut it, sorry.

Seek referrals from your current clients
Write down a list of the clients that you have worked with over the last six months (not necessarily the same people as in task 1). Your list may include suppliers and associates you know who are willing advocates for your business. Once you have a list of say 20 to 50 people, spend a day calling them and asking them for feedback on how you could better serve them and if they would be willing to provide you with a testimonial, a case study or a reference. Let them know that you don’t spend lots of money on expensive advertising and that your business is built on referrals and that any new clients they send your way would be very much appreciated and acknowledged. It’s not what you ask that’s important, but who you ask and how and when you ask.

Build powerful alliances
Smart business owners spend as much time and effort on building alliances with other businesses that offer a complementary service and have the same target clients, as they do on marketing direct to the end user. Set yourself a task to host an Alliance Partner Xmas lunch this year. Give everyone 5 minutes to present on their business, open up the discussion on how you might all start to refer each other business and then brainstorm some ideas on how the alliance partner referral group might work. Remember, building deep relationships with potential alliance partners is a process not an event and it takes time to develop confidence and trust in each other. Make sure your concept has life and longevity and that you have a commitment to see it through in 2009.

Get networking
Your networks are equal to your net-worth. Set yourself a goal to attend at least one networking event each week over the festive season, whether a business event or personal social event. And yes that can include the cocktail party at the Surf Life Saving Club or a lunch with 20 of your closest mates. I would be willing to bet that 80% of the people at these social functions don’t even know what you do and vice versa, yet they represent the best opportunity for potential new business. Don’t turn each connection into a boring lengthy discussion about what you do for work, just find out what they do, get their business card and turn the discussion to more interesting stuff like the exotic holiday you are about to have. Then diary to follow up in the new year for more of a chat. There’s no point in networking if you don’t follow up (which by the way is the most common networking mistake that business owners make).

Be the local media expert
No matter what service or product you offer, everyone has a story to tell or a unique insight to share that the audience of your local newspaper or radio station would be interested in reading or hearing about. Write a short article that leverages the hot topic of the moment whether its the current economic climate, the expected Xmas spend down-turn or the shortage of good child care. Find out who the journalist is that specialises in your topic, send them the article, include some interesting facts and statistics and a powerful picture and follow it up with a phone call. Remember that journalists are people too and they get hundreds of people trying to sell them a story every day and that they have impending deadlines and editors breathing down their neck, so build relationships with them and make it easy for them. In no time, they’ll be seeking your expert advice which will all help build your reputation as the leader in your field.

Write and get published on-line
Another great way to establish your reputation as an expert is to write an eReport. People love reading ‘Top 10 Tips to…’ or ‘ 7 Ways to…’. It makes it easy for them to digest. An eReport can be broken down into single articles and published as a blog or included on your website to attract subscribers. It can also be emailed to your clients in newsletters like this one or sent to your alliance partners who could publish it on their website or send it to their clients. The content can also be used to develop podcasts, Youtube video clips or interviews and it can also be sent to the various online media for publication. Find out more about how to get published online with Valerie Khoo’s Top 7 Ways to Get Published Online.

Host an ‘information’ event
You can quickly build your reputation and strengthen relationships by hosting your own events and inviting your clients, their friends and your alliance partners. Invite a couple of speakers to speak on specialist topics that complement what you offer. For example if you are a travel agent specialising in European holidays for seniors, invite some clients to share their recent experiences and host a discussion group. Or if you are a real estate agent, host a property education seminar and invite a well-known property investor to share their ‘Top 10 Tips on How to Find the Best Investment Property’. If you are hosting this event during the festive season, give the event a festive theme to make it FUN and memorable.

Speak to inspire
If public speaking is not your second biggest fear after death, then this is a great way to establish your reputation quickly in front of a larger audience. Use your eReport or article content as the theme for your talk and develop a powerful presentation to give context and visualisation to your words (and to keep you on track). Prepare a short speakers bio that outlines your expertise and gives details on your company and the content of your talk. Identify 10 organisations that have the target market you want to attract ie Rotary, Lions, SWAP, BNI, Chambers of Commerce, Business Enterprise Centres and more and then offer to speak. Most organisations that don’t pay their speakers are looking for quality presenters just like you!

Support your local community
I am a big believer that there is more potential for new business within 5 km’s of where you live and work than you will ever need. It therefore makes sense to get involved and be seen and heard in your local community and to build powerful local relationships. There are hundreds of ways to support your local community such as joining the P&F committee at school, belonging to the local drama group, being involved in Lions, dining at local cafes and restaurants or even sponsoring your local bowls club. During this festive season discover three local activities or organisations that you would be passionate about being involved in and don’t hesitate to make contact. You will meet hundreds or even thousands of new people who could turn into new friends and possibly new clients.

Harness technology to keep in touch
Now if you still have some down time during the festive season after taking on board the above 9 tips and you want to discover new ways to connect with clients, prospects and business associates using technology, don’t hesitate. Sit down with your children (or borrow someone elses) or a technology savvy friend and get them to show you how you can use the internet and technology to build relationships. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, LinkedIn, mySpace, Squidoo, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts, forums, Skype, teleconferencing and webinars are all valid ways of connecting with people online without you even needing to get out of the house or your pyjamas! The world of social media is huge and for many business owners it can be very daunting so I recommend initially learning about and trying out just one or two of them, so you don’t go into internet overwhelm and toss your laptop in the pool.

There are only 3 R’s in Marketing; Reputation, Relationships and Referrals and now you have 10 tips to leverage each of these areas. Remember, the only thing your competition really cannot emulate is the quality of the relationships you have and the reputation that you have built for yourself and your business. Spend some time this festive season focusing on the 3 R’s to help keep your clients and attract new ones. It sure will get 2009 off to a flying start for you. Happy marketing and happy festive season!

CLICK HERE for more information on my Small Business Big Brand DVD Xmas Offer

For more information on my 2009 Small Business Big Brand 30 Day Marketing Challenge available for only 20 elite business owners and launching on 3 February 2009, email me on Carolyn@connectmarketing.com.au or phone our office on 02 9340 7210. 
 

 

 About Carolyn Stafford

Carolyn Stafford is a small business marketing expert who has helped thousands of business owners increase their sales through refreshingly simple yet effective, proven marketing tactics that work. With over 20 years’ marketing experience with businesses small, medium and large, Carolyn is known as the ‘No BS Marketer’, thanks to her down-to-earth ‘tell it like it is’ approach.

Author of the book Small Business Big Brand, Carolyn has appeared in media such as The Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, The Age, SkyNews, Marketing Magazine,Dynamic Small Business, Growth Business and more. Carolyn is an international presenter, mentor and keynote speaker who has educated and inspired over 10,000 business owners around the world on how to improve their marketing. For more information contact Connect Marketing Professionals on 1300 886 107 or email info@connectmarketing.com.au