Business Talk

Each day that I continue to interact with business owners and executives convinces me more and more that the majority of them have forgotten why they are in business. These very bright individuals are so focused on yesterday's and today's problems and challenges. This focus has kept them away from the purpose of business.

If you were to respond to this question: What is the purpose of your business or better yet, What is the purpose of business regardless of the type of business? How would you respond?

I agree with Peter Drucker, one of the most accepted business gurus, when he made this statement.

The purpose of business is to attract and maintain customers.

Business owners and executives understand the first part between their marketing and sales activities. Yet, what about customer maintenance or what I prefer is the term Customer Loyalty?

When those in business understand that the true and real purpose of business, then they understand that there are only 2 measurements - profits and relationships. Most business executives can find the first measurement on their Profit &Loss (P&L) statements to other financial records. Yet, where do these same individuals find the measurement for relationships?

Some potential measurements would be:

• Number of referrals received
• Longevity of customers
• Historical longevity of customers
• Average value of customers
• Historical value of customers
• % of total sales coming from referrals

This relationship data is just a critical to the bottom line as net profits. For without relationships, those loyal customers, will your business be in business? So, why are you not tracking this key measurement?

Of course, tracking this date also suggests that you have a strategic business plan or business action plan. What is incredible to me after 10years in this business of helping others build their businesses is the continued belief that the word plan is a dirty four letter word. It must be dirty because so very few people have one, but they know that they need one.

Avoid the other dirty four letter word - DoIt. Take action now to discover the second measurement of business relationships within your business. Be honest as you answer how you are not only attracting new customers, but even more importantly maintaining existing ones.

When your actions are aligned to the purpose of business, you will increase sales and even better work smarter and not harder while your piggy bank is being stuffed with all those crisp, new greenbacks.

How many times have you forked over xx dollars just to watch that money go down the drain? Have you ever wondered what went wrong or what you could have done differently? I know I have.

Advertising is truly a game of hit and miss. It's a numbers game. The more someone sees your company, your product, or your name advertised, the more someone hears it being talked about by columnists, reviewers, or a trusted friend, or reads about it on forums and blogs, the more trustworthy it becomes. And without trust, there simply is no way you or your business can win!

So how do you and I build that trust? That's what I've been pondering the last few weeks and I have to say the only way to build trust is to create trust. And to create trust, you must:

? Be patient.
Trust doesn't happen over night. Most people don't willingly give trust away, you have to earn it.

? Pay for regular ad spots.
Don't pay for a one shot deal, but pay for 6 months of advertising in the same publication. Give the publication's readers a chance to familiarize themselves with your company and your products or services.

? Send samples of your product to people who can and will tell others about your product.

? Ask for testimonies from past clients and/or customers.
Use those testimonies in all your marketing and advertising materials. And if a testimony is vague, ask for specifics. (Think of those infomercials. You don't just hear that a product works, the guest tells you how it worked or why it worked.)

? Send press releases on a weekly basis.
It's not enough to send a yearly press release. There are simply too many companies competing for the same free publicity. If your current press release doesn't draw enough attention, perhaps the 2nd or 10th or 50th press release will.

As you begin planning the next stage of your marketing plan, I encourage you to think about ways you can build trust. Then take the necessary steps to turn that trust into profitable sales.

Slack marketing discipline makes you poorer and denies your potential customer base the opportunity to benefit from your products and services. You just have to get in there and take part in the competition with other businesses for the attention of potential buyers in the marketplace. You have to be sensitive and hardworking in todays marketing environment.

Remember there are just too many marketing messages out there, about 3000 a day per person by the latest estimations. Refine your marketing techniques so they are not disturbing and annoying. They should be targeted and welcome. You will have to work hard to prevent consumers from simply ignoring your message.

You might feel that your marketing efforts are wasted. This might well be the case if these efforts are not handled methodically and sensibly. Usually business owners in this predicament are forgetting the basics which are stashed somewhere there far in the back of their minds. Companies too often lack marketing discipline and making a few changes to their marketing habits and outlooks could make a huge difference to their bottom lines. The most common problem is that a company pulls in several different marketing directions at once. There is no centralized marketing strategy to draw the threads together.

Here is a list of areas you should attend to improve business marketing discipline:

1. Ensure uniformity when it comes to logo, taglines, colors, feel and design. Often within companies each department is doing its own thing when it comes to corporate identity. Rule this out by creating an easily followed corporate ID manual.

2. Do away with minimalist advertising campaigns. Too many business owners believe that a couple of print ads will lead to instant success. Forget about this technique. Create an overall, global marketing campaign employing a variety of marketing techniques.

3. Use professionals to do a professional job. It is no good getting amateurs and then expecting a professional job. Too many business owners fall into this trap. Use professionals

4. Make the most of your first impression. You have only one opportunity to make a first impression. Maybe it will be in the form of a business rep, your storefront or your website. Make it the best first impression you can.

5. Always understand, define and remember your target market. This is self explanatory but you would be surprised how many business owners do not do this. There is one way to ensure you stick to your target market. Write down who they are and keep referring to this core profile

6. Create a marketing plan and then implement it. It sounds so basic - but thousands of business people fail to do this.

7. Keep track of your marketing expenditure and calculate your ROI. Again it sounds obvious. Make sure you do it.

8. Engage in effective and low cost networking and charitable giving. Do not get caught up in giving that will not promote your business. Keep a lid on it.

9. Sell solutions, benefits and good value to customers. Modern customers are way past wanting to see your spec sheets. Show them how their lives will change through using your product or service.

10. Do create an internet presence. As soon as you have finished this article go and reserve the domain name for your company. As soon as possible after that, create an online presence, no matter what business you are in.