We held an event at The Escape this week with Daryll Scott of Noggin, based on some of the NLP principles and how they can be leveraged for a more successful business interaction. The workshop brought to my attention a pattern I have got myself into with sales pitches, in that I keep banging a [...]
Continue Reading →Kidding ourselves that people need what we have
It’s funny how we can tell ourselves that people want (or need) what we are selling. I have been promoting a scheme recently and telling everyone who will listen what a great deal it is. I personally would buy one of these ‘things’ as an individual. But, there is also a company version of the [...]
Continue Reading →Selling a complex product to an naive audience
Had a chat with a new client yesterday about selling to customers who don’t really know what they are buying. At first glance, it seems like an unrealistic situation – that a client wouldn’t know what they are buying, but when you think about it, it’s probably the norm. Last week, my car was in [...]
Continue Reading →Starting Dialogue
Have you ever had a customer turn around and say, “I never knew you did that”? I went to an interesting round table yesterday about public sector and charities engaging with business (and vice versa). One specific comment in particular raised was the need to speak in a relevant language to “the other side” and [...]
Continue Reading →Social Profiles and Personal Brand
Yesterday I gave a seminar about social media marketing and the question of personal profile or company profile raised it’s head. Should I go online as me, or as my company? Larger companies and consumer products/services probably need to lead from the brand, but in the world of small business B2B, people buy people, so [...]
Continue Reading →Contradiction Is Pretty Much Unavoidable
I contradict myself a lot. For instance, two years ago, I was suggesting Blogging as a great tool for small businesses to interact with their clients. Now, I would suggest that it doesn’t reap enough reward for the amount of effort it involves. I had a tried and tested ‘marketing model’ that needs to be [...]
Continue Reading →Balancing Long Term and Short Term Thinking
I am constantly trying to discover what I am NOT good at. It’s the only way I can improve and like most people my list is long if I’m honest with myself. One thing I am ‘always’ good at is seeing ‘big picture’ and having a bloody good guess at where something may be going. [...]
Continue Reading →Create Engaging Sales Propositions For Your Business
Creating a platform from which to sell to a potential client is essential for most businesses, especially those that that are selling on intelligence (service industry). But, how to you generate a new and engaging sales proposition… again and again? Vertical Marketing Well, you could go down the route of creating sales propositions for vertical [...]
Continue Reading →Customer Retention Is A Bit Like Sex
It seems to be a theme for 2009 – keep hold of what you’ve got – belt and braces – batten down the hatches. Client retention is the new “new business” for 2009. Maybe it’s the old 80/20 rule: 80% of your income will come from 20% of your clients 80% effort to get new [...]
Continue Reading →You can't wait for business to come to you
As promised, another comment on my recent visit to the recent Basingstoke Business event. Two different people were bemoaning the fact that they weren’t aware of initiatives going on in Basingstoke. This includes marketing support, as well as tender opportunities that are available to everyone. Tim Coleman, County Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses [...]
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