Welcome to our October 2005 Newsletter! In
this issue you will find a listing of our
upcoming events, updates about the On Target
Program and articles to help you run a
better business.
Be sure to check out our Quick Links
in the lower section of the right hand
column for the Tech Tip of the
Month!
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Upcoming Events |
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Dates are set for the
On Target Spring Conference!
May 4 - 6, 2006 in beautiful San
Diego!
The On Target Fall Conference held
in Philadelphia, PA was well
attended and another great
opportunity for On Target
contractors to get re-focused on
their business, learn so new ideas,
re-connect with old friends and make
new ones, and generally raise the
bar on how they will conduct their
businesses over the next year.
On Target Conferences are held in
conjunction with Summit Workshops
for contractors who belong to, or
are considering involvement with,
both On Target and Summit
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Loyalty Is Created, Not Bought |
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Loyal customers have to be created.
This can take some time and effort
but the ROI can be immense. "Not
only do loyal customers provide
incredibly valuable referrals, they
also generate word of mouth that
simply can't be bought through
advertising," says Roger
Hallowell, assistant professor at
Harvard Business School.
When a customer buys from you it’s a
signal that you have something they
want. They’ve responded to the value
proposition you offer and there’s
immediate potential to create a
relationship with lasting value for
both of you. How can you do this
with the greatest possible number of
customers?
Review your value proposition
Your value proposition must appeal
to your customers to create and
retain their loyalty. Their
perceptions of value change,
depending on factors such as the
economy, fashion trends and even
seasonal variations. Regularly
review the value proposition you’re
offering your customers and relate
every element of it to enhancing the
relationships you have. An ability
and willingness to change is
essential to having a marketable
value proposition.
Study your customers
Every customer is unique; each will
respond to a different set of
approaches and satisfactions. You
should study your customers closely.
Talk to them and get to know them so
you can deliver what it is they
want. Learn to identify and cater
for the customers with long term
prospects and then work hard to
satisfy their needs. You may find
that you could serve them better by
modifying your trading hours or by
making payment of invoices possible
over the Internet. If you really get
to know them you’ll find out these
things and be able to capitalize on
the knowledge.
Create team loyalty
When the team members of a business
feel genuine loyalty towards their
employer they’re much more inclined
to provide customers with
personalized service that gets them
back. It’s a feeling of familiarity
that transmits itself from your
people to the people they serve.
Don’t depend on ‘salesmanship’
Today’s customers recognize most
sales techniques for what they are
and are likely to be put off by
them. They want to formulate their
own opinions and not be told what
they like or don’t like. Adopt a
service approach; be ready to assist
the customer in making decisions and
provide answers to their questions.
Treat them as individuals and make
it easy for them to buy from you.
Anticipate and overcome problems
Work with your team to eliminate
potential sources of customer
dissatisfaction, and if you notice
any signs that someone’s unhappy be
proactive and leap in first with a
solution. Make it really easy for
them to tell you what’s wrong, and
then resolve the issue as quickly as
possible. When customers aren't
happy with your business they
usually don't complain to you –
instead, they'll complain to just
about everyone else they know. Its
better that they tell you first.
Information in this article is
sourced from RAN ONE, Inc
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Become An Expert In Your Own
Industry |
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Whether you sell to businesses or
consumers you can increase your
level of success by becoming an
industry expert – someone who’s well
known and acknowledged as an
authority on matters concerning your
industry. It takes work to achieve
this kind of commercial stardom but
once you’re at the top it’s almost
self perpetuating.
Get ready for recognition
Prepare a clear definition of the
industry you want to represent,
whether it’s a broad one such as
‘retailing’, or very specific, such
as ‘manufacturing food colorings’.
Now imagine that you are being
interviewed and have to answer some
probing and analytical questions
about your industry. You’re the
spokesperson and your answers will
be very important to the audience:
- What qualifies you as an
expert in the industry? (This
will probably be your education
and experience.)
- What have you accomplished
within the industry? (Perhaps
you have developed new products
or been elected President of an
industry association.)
- What are you now doing
that’s worthy of recognition?
(Your business could be well
ahead of industry benchmarks, or
you might be on a committee
developing new industry
standards.)
Make notes of your answers to these
questions for future reference in
preparing publicity materials and
website content.
Build on strengths and remove
weaknesses
For some people it’s natural to be
on camera and face up to a
journalist’s questions. For others
it’s best to just write articles,
and still others might enjoy public
speaking in front of a crowd. Most
of us are good at one or maybe two
of these but not up to speed on all
three. This doesn’t mean giving up
on what you’re not good at, but it
does mean that to get a ‘quick
start’ on becoming an industry
spokesperson you have to build on
your strengths and find ways to
overcome any weaknesses. Media
training courses are available that
will give you the skills to stand up
to an interview, whether it’s on TV,
radio or even over the telephone. If
you have basic writing skills they
can be polished up with a
correspondence course or by
attending a workshop at your local
college. And joining Toastmasters,
or a similar organization, is a
great way to become better at public
speaking.
Update your industry knowledge
As an expert you’re expected to know
about developments in your industry.
This means keeping up with what’s
going on both at home and overseas.
You’ll need to join at least one
industry association, and subscribe
to all relevant industry newsletters
and magazines. The Internet will be
a good source of knowledge and
should be searched regularly for the
latest news and advances in your
industry. Attending trade shows and
exhibitions are good ways of staying
informed.
Make your website a source of
information
Your business should already have a
website, but just in case it doesn’t
you’ll need to create one. This is
no time to be shy so place your
photo and biography on the home
page. Give lots of advice from the
site and make your business look as
impressive, and successful, as
possible.
The challenge will be to anticipate
what questions people may have that
drives them to visit your site in
hopes of finding answers. If you can
become their source of answers and
make it unnecessary for them to look
any further you will have fulfilled
their need for an expert and be seen
as one. You might also want to
create an enewsletter that will
reinforce your position as being in
touch with industry events and
developments and can give people who
don’t know you an introduction to
who you are and what you do.
Market yourself to the world!
Just as if you were launching a new
product, you need to prepare a
marketing plan to promote yourself
and your expertise. Identify
speaking opportunities, publications
that might accept articles from you,
and industry activities like trade
shows and seminars where you can
network with others that are
interested in your industry. You
should consider holding your own
seminar or trade event, acting as
both host and guest speaker for the
activity. If your products or
services have appeal to a
significant number of consumers you
can offer to provide a regular
column or series of articles to any
number of local or ‘free’ newspapers
as a way of becoming better known.
Your geographic location is
irrelevant as long as you have a
website where interested persons can
obtain further information about you
and about what you do. And if you
can put together an interesting
presentation that suits a wide
audience you can offer your speaking
services to colleges, libraries,
not-for-profit groups, your local
chamber of commerce and any other
community associations that have
regular meetings.
The follow up is important
Always follow up an appearance,
event or interview with a media
release to all publications and
websites that might be interested.
Your media list will gradually build
up so that you can use it for
sending out releases with your
comments on industry issues or
details of your next appearance.
It’s important to keep your
contacts, your industry knowledge
and your website up-to-date so
you’re always at the forefront of
your industry. The publicity you
receive from being an expert will be
invaluable to your business.
Information in this article is
sourced from RAN ONE, Inc
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Memorable Quotation |
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"A good leader encourages
followers to tell him what he needs
to hear, not what he wants to hear."
– - John C. Maxwell
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On Target News
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Fall is in the air, and though most
contractors stay busy through
October, it is critical that you
starting planning for the latter
part of 2005 and early part of 2006
now!
Get started on your winter work
marketing program if you haven't
already done so.
Review and adjust strategy for the
remaining months of 2005
Review your buisness plan
Start the planning process for 2006!
On Target can help with options that
work for you!
- Business Performance Reivew
- Individual Consulting
- Small Business Program
- On Target Program
Find out more.... |
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