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List of Tips Keep Quiet - until you're ready (Jan/Feb97) Marketing Value vs. Marketing Values (Mar/Apr97) What is a brand? (May/Jun97) Keep your customers (Jul/Aug97) The three keys to business success (Sep/Oct97) Identify and use your USP (Nov/Dec97) Start the year right! (Jan/Feb98) Check out your image! (Mar/Apr 98) Why do people buy? (May/Jun 98) Who is my competitor? (Jul/Aug 98) Proof Read all your marketing Communications (Sep-Nov 98) On other pages Subscribe to our Marketing Tip E-zine A brief guide to competitor analysis Recommended books on Competitive Intelligence About AWARE Quick Tip World Money Exchange Network Group News overview for the business & credit information industries (sample report) News overview for the credit insurance & factoring industries (sample report) "Management Wisdom" - office humour with several grains of truth		Quick Tip Archives Member of UK HyperBanner Keep quiet until you're ready (Jan/Feb 1997) Try to look unimportant, they may be short on ammo. In other words - if you are developing a new product or service - or anything that you would rather competitors did not know, keep quiet about it until it is time to go public. Don't draw attention to yourself with promises of what is to come. This includes mentioning the "new product" to customers and suppliers. Don't be drawn into discussion about what your plans are to the press or boast at trade exhibitions and conferences. Competitors should be tapping all these sources and they will quickly discover your plans, and have enough time to prepare an ambush. Marketing Value vs. Marketing Values (Mar/Apr 1997) Value: A product or service's benefits made up of what it costs the customer to acquire and use the product or service. This comes from the initial price charged, ongoing costs for using the product, the product's lifespan, the convenience of obtaining and using the product and the satisfaction derived from the product or service. Values: The culture and ethos of the company producing the product or service. This will be demonstrated through company promotions and other customer communications and the quality of the products and services produced. The combination of these two elements is what distinguishes one product or service from another i.e. Value + Values = The brand What is a brand? (May/Jun 1997) A brand is... A set of product or service attributes Created at the start of the product or service offer Reliable, dependable and consistent over time The brand should create a preference, be different from competitors' products and reinforce existing strengths. It should also generate pride in employees, be viewed as an asset and act as a focus for the business. A brand is not... Just a name A logo or emblem An advertising campaign or clever slogan A quick or short-term fix for a tactical problem. Contents Back to home page Keep your customers (Jul/Aug 1997) - by understanding the reasons why businesses lose customers... 68% of lost customers are caused by an attitude of indifference toward the customer by an employee 14% of lost customers are dissatisfied by the product or service 9% of customers are lost due to other competitive reasons Only 5% of customers are lost due to friendships with other suppliers Only 4% of customers, move away, die or go bankrupt! Source: US News & World Report. The main reason for losing customers is poor customer service. Keeping customers depends on tip-top customer service - at all stages from initial inquiry to actual sale to handling complaints. The three keys to business success (Sep/Oct 1997) There are only three questions in business that you need to find answers for: how to increase the number of your customers; how to increase your customers' average order value; how to increase your customers' average order frequency. The successful business will concentrate on all three. Gaining new customers is important - but developing relationships with existing customers is just as - if not more - important. Providing answers to all three questions will result in real business growth. Contents Back to home page Identify and use your USP (Nov/Dec 1997) Your USP is your "Unique Selling Proposition" - the thing that makes your customers see you as better than your competitors. This can be made into a slogan and used to promote your business. How to develop your USP If you have more than one business, develop a USP for each. Do not mix your markets. Never say something like "I help small businesses with their financial affairs and I also sell computers". Why are you special? Ask your customers and employees why and also ask them what makes your business different and better than the competition. Don't just use your own instincts. It is your customers' view that is important. Be specific. Re-word your USP until it defines what customers can expect from you. After you are happy that your USP defines your business, turn it into a slogan and use it on every piece of marketing material you produce. You may even be able to use the USP as a headline in your advertisements. Look at other company USP slogans. Use a good one as a guide for yours. Well known examples are: - When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight - Delivered hot in 30 minutes or it's free! - We try harder. But you could be the - Freshest, tastiest cakes in town or - Most plumbers charge extra for weekend call-out. We won't charge you a penny more. This tip is an adaptation of a tip from "Bob's Marketing Tips" written and published by Bob Pardue of Pardue Marketing Group located in Lancaster, SC. You can subscribe to "Bob's Marketing Tips" at http://www.pargroup.com. Start the year right! (Jan/Feb 1998) Take out your business plan! You don't have one? Go to step 3. Otherwise, go to Step 2. Read through it. Check that it lays out a plan that you can use to build your business. Make sure that it covers all the issues you wish to address during 1998. If you find that it has gaps or will not get you where you need to go, move to the next step. If you are happy, well done! (But don't get complacent. Have you aimed too low? Could you achieve more? Re-read your plan and check that you couldn't do better!) Think about what you would like to do during 1998. How could you achieve these objectives. List as many things you want to do and ways of achieving them as possible. (If you need help, contact us). Go to the next step. What are your priorities? What is feasible? Concentrate on those ideas that you can reasonably achieve and establish a time scale. Put the key dates in your diary. Set aside funds - and allocate resources (including the people who will be needed). Now - go and make it happen. Good luck for 1998. May we all live long and prosper. Check out your image! (Mar 1998) How do your customers see you? Have you ever asked them? One approach to finding out how customers see you is to get a friend to order goods from you - anonymously. Ask him/her to record each stage of the process - and tell him/her to be completely honest and hold nothing back. How easy was it to order? How polite, knowledgable and helpful were your sales people? How quickly was the product delivered? Try the same with a complaint about a product. How easy was it to get through to customer service? How was the response handled? Was the problem resolved satisfactorily? Obviously you can add your own questions. The important thing is to see how customers see you - as if they are not happy with their treatment, they will not recommend you to others or repurchase from you if they have a choice. Why do people buy! (May/Jun 1998) Customers buy things for a variety of reasons. Knowing what these are can help in your efforts to sell to them. You can adjust your promotions, or selling techniques to meet their needs or aspirations more precisely. Some reasons people buy are because:  They want to gain: Comfort Self-Confidence Popularity Security Leisure Knowledge Power Social or business advancement Improved Appearance Praise from others Increased enjoyment Prestige  They want to be: Attractive Successful Creative Efficient Recognised as an authority Good Parents Up-to-date Sure of themselves Gregarious Sociable Influential Individual Hospitable Affluent Healthy Happy  They want to: Express their personality Satisfy curiosity Win affection Protect their family Be fashionable Resist domination by others Copy those they admire Acquire or collect something Take advantage of an opportunity  They want to avoid Effort Risk Worry and self-doubt Embarrassment Uncleanliness Pain Criticism and losing face Time Wasting Who is my competitor? (Jul/Aug 1998) Competitors are companies that make your product or service LESS attractive to customers and potential customers. This has a number of implications. There are also companies that can make your product or services MORE attractive to customers. A often quoted example is Microsoft and Intel. As Microsoft upgrades products, customers are encouraged to upgrade computers - helping Intel, and vice versa. Such companies are known as "complementors" (For more on complementors, read the excellent business text, Co-opetition by Adam Brandenburger and Barry Nalebuff). Using this definition, competitors do not have to come from your industry, and there will be companies in your industry who are not currently competitors. It is customers who define your competitors - not the industry. If customers choose to spend their money on some other product that satisfies the same customer need, then that product competes with you - even if the product purchased would not traditionally be seen as a competitor product. What does this mean for your competitive intelligence activities: Define your competitors based on customer perceptions and values - not on industry assumptions and blindspots. Understand who your customers are - their values and why they purchase from you. Focus and spend more on researching companies who compete directly for your customers or for prospective customers with the same value attitudes and characteristics as your customers. Spend less time and money on companies who are in the same industry but are not competing for the same customers. But don't ignore them - they may change strategy and start competing directly for your customers. If you need help understanding your competitors or try our free advice service. Contents Back to home page Proof-Read all your marketing communications (Sep-Nov 1998) How often have you received a direct mail letter with poor layout, grammar or with spelling mistakes? What image did it convey on the company's professionalism? Before releasing anything that will be seen by customers, potential customers, shareholders or other interested parties, check that there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors and that the overall effect is what you want. It is also important to check that there are no logical errors. Even if there are no spelling mistakes, does the material make sense. Just think about the care - or lack of care - taken when the following were prepared. They show how important it is to check every item that goes out. (All of the following are reported to be genuine errors made by the firms concerned. Sainsbury and Tesco's are major UK supermarkets and food manufacturers. Boots is a quoted UK pharmacy/drugstore. Marks & Spencer's sell clothing, food, and other items with numerous stores in the UK and other countries.) ON TESCO'S TIRIMISU DESERT - Do not turn upside down. (Printed on the bottom of the box.) ON MARKS & SPENCER BREAD PUDDING - Product will be hot after heating ON PACKAGING FOR A ROWENTA IRON - Do not Iron clothes on body ON BOOTS CHILDREN'S COUGH MEDICINE - Do not drive car or operate machinery ON NYTOL (A SLEEP AID) - Warning: may cause drowsiness ON A KOREAN KITCHEN KNIFE - Warning: keep out of children ON A STRING OF CHINESE-MADE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS - For indoor or outdoor use only. ON A JAPANESE FOOD PROCESSOR - Not to be used for the other use. ON SAINSBURY'S PEANUTS - Warning: contains nuts ON AN AMERICAN AIRLINES PACKET OF NUTS - Instructions: open packet, eat nuts. ON A SWEDISH CHAINSAW - Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands. To receive AWARE tips, subscribe to the free AWARE Marketing Quick Tips Newsletter. This contains more than just the Quick Tip produced on AWARE's Internet site. It also contains an edited selection of problems and answers given from our help service, news relevant to marketing and Internet marketing, site addresses - and dialogue with other subscribers on Marketing related issues. Everything posted to the list is moderated by AWARE so you can be sure that this is one list that will stay relevant to your needs as a marketing professional. AWARE Marketing Quick Tips Newsletter is produced approximately every two months. Member of the Internet Link Exchange Contents Back to home page Last Modified :  Sunday, 31-Dec-2006 02:03:47 GMT  Today's Date :  Monday, 23-Nov-2009 03:15:04 GMT

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A.Weiss 1998