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never lower bar on design client quality

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:24:36 +0000

IN AN economic downturn, the health of one’s design client roster can become something of an obsession, acting as it does as a barometer for the overall health of the company.
With existing design clients and potential clients alike tightening their belts, the danger in a recession is that businesses get panicked into ignoring their own ground rules on who they are willing - and unwilling - to work with.
But it’s when the market gets tough that design businesses must redouble efforts not to lower the bar on the kind of design customers they wish to engage; a client that was a bad fit for a company when times were good is still a bad fit now. In fact, they’re an even worse fit, because when margins are tight, companies can ill-afford time wasters, bad payers or clients unwilling to place trust in your expertise.
This makes being able to spot such clients at an early stage more important than ever.
How to spot the early warning signs of a bad design client Alicia O'Dell is a director of UK design agency 400. Asked if there are any warning signs to look out for that might alert one to the fact a client could be more trouble than they’re worth, she said: “If a client is worried about price over quality, if they want a response instantly, if they need to have their hand held throughout the initial process – these are all indicators of how they will behave in future.”
O’Dell’s mantra is “Never underestimate the bonus of working with nice people”. She adds: “If you get along with them from the outset, no matter how much they understand about what you do, it'll make the whole experience an enjoyable one.”
Difficult clients ‘are more trouble than they’re worth’  Glenn Elliot, managing director of London-based brand communications agency N1 Creative, advises that clients with no experience of hiring the kind of expertise a company is offering can often be more trouble than they’re worth.
“Such clients can be a challenge, as you need to educate them on so much in order to win their trust. They can end up giving masses of direction, so that when you try to do a job properly, with strategy and insight, they spend all of their time arguing with you.”
Just such a scenario led to N1 recently sacking a “really big” client. “The relationship was just impossible to get right,” says Elliot. “Ironically, we ended up doing some of our best work for them, but the account was an absolute nightmare to run. They went through three account managers in nine months, and we were using up all of our senior management time trying to make them happy. It was really destructive and not conducive to good work. So, despite the fact it was a six-figure account, we had to let it go.”

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Differentiation… with a difference

Tue, 8 Feb 2011 19:01:35 +0000

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the world’s largest organization for professional marketers. Its white paper, ‘Keep calm and carry on Marketing’, is the definitive guide to marketing in a recession. We continue a series of articles based on this paper. PART THREE: Differentiation… with a difference.
IN OVER-commoditized marketplaces, it is crucial to differentiate yourself. One way, advises the CIM, is via thoughtfulness of service.
“Consider the fact that having the right tyre pressure can save 5-10 per cent of your petrol costs,” it writes. “There is a potentially huge dividend for the first petrol retailer to announce that they are providing free air on all their service stations. As it is, they all charge, acting as a deterrent.”
Counter-intuitive marketing can work in recession Encouraging customers to buy less of your product is another way in which you can stand out from the crowd and ultimately increase revenue. It may be counter-intuitive, the CIM observes, but it's a sign of the times.
"I'm still waiting for the first credit card company to say, 'Spend wisely', and to offer customers that don't do so support and counseling with managing their balance," Don Peppers, founding partner of management consultant firm Peppers & Rogers Group is quoted as saying in the white paper.
Peppers adds: "At the moment, their message seems to be, 'The more you borrow, the better off we are and the worse off you are'. Nobody really trusts credit card companies because we know that's how it is. But the credit card company that really wants to get on customers' side will help them live a more responsible life."
Persuade customers to pay less, like Amazon Amazon is an excellent example of how persuading your customers to pay less can be a positive marketing action, observes Peppers. "When I ordered a book from Amazon the other day, I got a warning message reminding me that I'd bought the same book back in April. 'Are you sure you want it again?' the company asked me in a pop-up bubble. They could easily have profited from my mistake, but they decided to do the responsible thing, ultimately making me feel good about the brand."
Finding a differentiator is about thinking from the customer's point of view - the essence of marketing. It also involves keeping track of your competitors and their strategies.
“That said, avoid the temptation to simply copy them – remember that the most sustainable solution for you will be unique to your organization,” the CIM advises.

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Design clients: Avoiding bad clients

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 13:52:13 +0100

“IF A CLIENT hasn't bothered to research several consultancies before they chose a shortlist, if they are worried only about price versus quality, if they want a response instantly, if they need to have their hand held throughout the initial process - these are all indicators of how they will behave in future.
“It's up to the company to choose what they are prepared to sacrifice or compromise on to make it worth their while working with that client. Never underestimate the bonus of working with nice people.”
Alicia O'Dell, director, 400 Communications

“MARKETING aspirationally is essential if you wish to raise the calibre of your clients. What I mean by that is not just showing your best work, but also hopefully showing work for clients that your target aspires to.
“Being selective about the work you show and the way you present yourself will attract the right kind of client. It won't of course guarantee that they'll all pay on time and take on board every cutting-edge piece of work you put forward, but your power as a brand in itself shouldn't be under-estimated.”
Dean Ford, founder, Dean Ford Creativity

“THERE’S been times when we’ve turned down invitations to pitch for new business because we felt either the people in control of the project were not the company’s real decision makers, or sometimes it’s been because the company is not a good cultural fit.
“You have to ask the right questions and not get too enthused by the fact you’ve been invited in to meet with someone. You can be positive but it has to come with a heavy dose of realism.
Adam McKillop, web designer, Nottingham-based design collective, 13souls.

“START-up companies often come to us for ideas before they are really ready to get going with the project, and we then have to make a decision whether it is worth working with them, both from our side of things and the clients. If they aren't clear about their brief then we won't be either.”
Charlotte Clements, senior account manager,  Deep, a top 100 branding, digital and print agency.

“IF YOU use a lead generation agency you tend to get lower-level contacts. Business Development is the lifeblood of an organisation, and it’s ridiculous to think you can outsource it to someone else.
“Personal recommendations or personal contacts tend to be at a high level, so networking is good, and so is asking current clients whom they could recommend you to.
“Don’t be frightened to do this, or to think that clients will do it without being asked. Wait until you’ve just done a great job for a client, let them know that you’ve grown your team a bit and you’re looking for a new client and ask if there is anyone they know who you could do some good work for – you’ll be surprised how effective this can be.”
Glenn Elliot, managing director of brand communications agency N1 Creative.

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Design Clients: Getting noticed

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:44:57 +0100

“CLIENTS switch off if you are showing them five or six projects that you’ve done in the past. They think ‘So what?’ What we’ve found is if you can create a presentation around the needs of a particular business then that’s a lot better. But you should have some idea of their problems. You have to sell them the benefits of your service and show the strategic advantage to their business.”
Martin Roach, founder of multi-discipline information design consultancy Epitype

“IT GOES without saying that if you're serious about working in the digital realm it's very important that you have a good looking and interesting web site. It doesn't necessarily need to be huge, and less is more in many cases, but it should definitely give visitors a flavour of the kind of work you do, and to some extent, the kind of people you are.
“Your web site should generate enough interest for potential clients and employers to pick up the phone and speak to you, or at least send you an email and invite you in for a coffee.”
Nick Welsh. Mono Industries

“WE TYPICALLY leave a bottle of our branded chili sauce behind with the client when we do a pitch or presentation. It's called a ‘lasting brand contact’. We hope that it sticks around, even if we lose out on the day. We know of quite a few people that still have one knocking around on their desks.
“There’s a second element, a toilet roll with a graphic wrap, that we tend to dispatch a couple of days later. This relates to our account management, and carries the message ‘If you think our creativity is hot, try our service for comfort and support.’ This is very typical of the Firedog language of not taking oneself too seriously, and communicates our values quite well. We find it gives the potential client an insight to how we think.
“Then there’s our fake poo mailer. This one’s a bit more risky, and we created it primarily for local business and PR. The overall message is ‘We are on your doorstep.’
‘We believe we can afford to take the piss in this regard, as the mailer is a brand touch-point and is memorable. Besides, every businesses expects design agencies to be full of shit, so I guess this just works on that principle.”
Clifford Boobyer, creative director of branding agency,
Firedog

“EMAIL broadcasts are a great way to keep clients up to date with news and new services that you are offering. It’s important not to bombard clients, so we tend to broadcast them every quarter, creating a seasonal flavour that fits our visual identity, plus we look to add a fun element.
“We run competitions that also entice the audience to browse our website.
For instance, in our last email broadcast we ran a 'Going Bonkers over
Conkers' competition, in which we hid a conker somewhere on the site. Clients had to search our website to find it and discover the secret code written on it.
“Three winners received an iPod. It was great fun, and our clients loved the idea of it, but best of fall or us, it drove a lot of traffic to the website.”
Martin Hadfield, creative director, Carbon Creative

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Pricing strategies in marketing

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:25:13 +0100

In this second post probing the importance of pricing in purchasing behaviour, we examine the role price structure plays in establishing a market advantage.
By Sean Ashcroft In his report called How To Stop Customers From Fixating on Price, co-author Marco Bertini explains how to use pricing to reduce price sensitivity.
Bertini, assistant professor of marketing at London Business School, says that pricing should always draw attention to the value a product or service delivers, “and ideally to the one dimension that most meaningfully differentiates it from those of competitors”.
Achieving this, he says, will almost certainly require a price structure revision, and gives a real world example to illustrate the point: “Goodyear’s problem for a long time was customers were unwilling to pay a premium for the innovations it introduced to extend tread life. Without a clear reference price for tyres, buyers gravitated to the lowest price.
Pricing structure in marketing 1. Goodyear charge by the mile  Bertini explains how Goodyear solved this problem by pricing its various models on the basis of how many miles they could be expected to last, rather than their engineering complexity. “This highlighted the advantage of those innovations for customers and taught them a new way to compare offerings that was perfectly aligned with the company’s value proposition,” he says.
Revisiting pricing structure is something far too few companies tackle, writes Bertini. “When managers worry about pricing, they typically focus on determining the optimal price point for a given product.”
Managers, he says, readily drawing upon market testing or research techniques -- ranging from simple surveys to full-scale conjoint analyses -- to discover how much demand would be generated at different prices.
They will also factor in variables, such as advertising or merchandising budgets -- or the lack of them -- as well as analyzing different customer segments.
“But what they fail to do,” says Bertini, “is examine the larger framework in which such questions reside”.
Pricing structure in marketing 2. Case studies He cites case studies of businesses who have examined this larger framework:
- Industrial explosives firm, Orica, which escaped commoditization with pricing that charged customers according to the fragmentation of the rocks extracted rather than the amount of explosives spent.
-- General Electric, which changed its airline engine pricing to deliver ‘power by the hour’.
-- Pultry health firm Embrex, which offered poultry breeders inoculations ‘by the egg’, aligning pricing with the value breeders seek from healthier animals.
“All these companies realize that pricing based on units sold does little to set them apart from the competition,” concludes Bertini. “In fact, it promotes price comparison by establishing a simple common denominator that customers seize on.
“Telling customers they’ll be charged according to the value delivered encourages them to reassess their preferences in line with that value, and sends a powerful message that the seller stands behind its offering.”

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Product pricing as a marketing strategy

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:39:42 +0100

In the first of two posts examining the importance of pricing in purchasing behaviour, we look at why customers and clients get so hung up on price.
By Sean Ashcroft FACED with an abundance of options for products and services, it can seem customers and clients behave as if only one factor matters in the buying decision: price.
A report by Harvard Business Review – called How To Stop Customers From Fixating on Price -- explains that this price obsession is because customers and clients view products and services as commodities.
Report co-author Marco Bertini, assistant professor of marketing at London Business School, says the problem, while thorny, in not insurmountable.
Product pricing as a marketing strategy 1. Undercutting peril  Bertini observes that while most markets today are mature enough to feature intense price-based competition, “the constant undercutting to capture customers sometimes spurs efficiency gains, but more often it damages brand equity and erodes profit margins”.
He adds that this is compounded by low expectation on the part of customers: “They fixate on price, and lose interest in marketing communications and all but the most radical innovations.”
But Bertini contends that it’s possible to “jolt customers into considering the value of your offering in terms of quality and personal relevance”. He explains that the idea is to persuade customers that they have a meaningful decision to make, and that the way to achieve this is -- paradoxically – to use the last thing businesses want to be decisive: price.
Product pricing as a marketing strategy 2. Four strategies  “Our research suggests four pricing moves in particular can diminish the salience of price in a transaction,” says Bertini, who goes on to outline these options:
1. Pricing structure Companies can change pricing structure, as Goodyear did when it priced tyres according to how many miles they would last.
2. Stimulate curiosity Willful overpricing may seem like a counter-intuitive strategy, but it will get you noticed. UK cosmetics company Burt’s Bees took this approach does with its natural beauty products.
3. Price partitioning Price can be ‘partitioned’ to make customers notice a key benefit. IKEA does this by charging separately for a table’s top and legs, thus alerting customers to its modularity.
4. Blanket pricing Bertini says firms can put the same price tag on a range of options, causing customers to weigh their preferences. Swatch took this option when it charged $40 for all of its watch designs.
What all of the above strategies share, observes Bertini, is the close link between pricing and customer attention -- a link that’s not yet been explored by marketing adademics, and one with significant implications for businesses.

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Customer segmentation: prospects crucial, too

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:09:35 +0100

By Sean Ashcroft WHEN discussing segmenting a target audience, many people do not see beyond existing customers. Yet what about the segmentation of prospective customers and clients? This is important, too.
When seeking new business it’s crucial to establish whether there’s a market for your products and services. Plus, you need to identify the type of people that constitute ideal customers. This may be based on existing customer profiles, or maybe you wish to expand your horizons and identify new classes of customer.
Whatever your ambitions, the key thing is to paint pictures of the type of individuals that represent members of your target audience. Your prospect, are likely to have different needs, wants, values and opinions – and they will respond quite differently, depending on the marketing method you use.
Marketing Donut cites the following examples of the vastly different customer prospects that can form a company’s target audience:
Mature males; disposable income; retired, or in semi retirement; live in a rural environment.
Teenage girls; living in cities; low disposable income; aspirations to enjoy life to the full.
These are extreme examples, but they show just how different segments can be and why it’s crucial to target communications precisely, and not send the same messages across an entire customer base.
As you analyze your customer base, it will become clear there are a number of distinct groups with specific requirements.

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Customer segmentation: a checklist

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:02:00 +0100

By Sean Ashcroft NO TWO customers or clients are the same, which is why a templated approach to business can never work – any more than a one-size-fits-all strategy would work in one’s dealings with family, friends and colleagues.
To become more effective in identifying and serving the needs of your customers or clients it’s important to segment your target audience into smaller groups.
Customer segmentation: 1. Understand what makes customers tick Andrew Gerrard, of UK communications agency InTouch Marketing, says segmenting a market “helps you develop a deeper understanding of clients and customers, and discover what makes them tick”.
In turn, this means your communications with customers will be more targeted, relevant and effective.
Audiences are segmented by type, with the most typical categories being:
- Spending patterns
- Gender
- Location
- Age
- Socio-economic group.
Customer segmentation: 2. Understanding buying behaviour “What’s important are those differences that actually affect buying behaviour,” says Gerrard. “What makes each person buy? If you run a hairdressing salon, for example, the type of offers you make to customer groups would differ along gender and age lines.
“For a mail order business, you’re better analysing buying patterns, and split customers into groups according to how much they spend, how often they buy or what products they are most interested in.”
Customer segmentation: 3. A customer segmentation checklist  The following is a customer segmentation checklist, as published by Marketing Donut, a joint venture business resource set up by Google and the Royal Mail.
1. Who do we want to talk to?
- Customers
- Lapsed customers
- Potential customers
2. What do we know about these groups?
- Name
- Address
- Phone number, email address
- Purchase history
- Profitability
- Contact history
3. Where do we hold this information?
4. How up to date is it?
5. Does it comply with data protection rules?
6. Have we checked telephone and fax preference service?
7. Are email addresses opt-in?
8. What is the buying history of customers? Are they:
- Big spenders
- Specialist buyers
- Occasional shoppers
- Old customers.
9. Have we segmented customers into different types?
10. Have we developed profiles of each type of customer?
11. Is our marketing communication targeted?
12. Are there some easy wins?
13. In cold contact what is our response rate?
14. What is our conversion rate?

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Competitive Strategy - a book review

Thu, 8 Jul 2010 20:24:35 +0100

MICHAEL E Porter’s Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors simplifies the complexities of commercial competition, furnishing businesses of all sizes and disciplines with a methodology for optimizing competitive advantage strategies.
The work comprises three parts - General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions. Its brace of appendices -- Portfolio Techniques in Competitor Analysis, and How to Conduct an Industry Analysis -- will also be welcomed by its target audience.
Competitive Strategy Part I This is a discussion of the structural analysis of industries, examining overall cost leadership, focus, and differentiation.
Competitive Strategy Part II  Here, Porter discusses competitive strategy in different sectors and under various conditions, including fragmented industries with no market leader, start-up industries, mature sectors, declining industries, and global markets.
Competitive Strategy Part III  This deals with strategic decisions facing businesses, such as vertical integration, expansion, and entry into new markets.
This book first appeared in 1980, and its publisher claims that “more than a million managers, investment analysts, consultants, students, and scholars” have applied its ideas “to assess industries, understand competitors and choose competitive positions”.
Extravagant, perhaps, but there’s little doubt this tome is required reading for anyone who wants to become a student of competitive advantage strategies.
About the Author
Michael E. Porter is Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and the author of 14 books,

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Small business competitive advantage: the basics

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 11:46:04 +0100

By Sean Ashcroft ALL businesses face competition, no matter how small the niche. Even the only restaurant in a small town has to compete obliquely, with cinemas, bars and other leisure-time outlets where potential diners may chose to spend their time.
Small business competitive advantage: 1. Think global  Plus, with an increasing amount of goods, services and leisure options being purchased or researched online, firms are no longer competing only with businesses in their vicinity: you could find that you’re actually up against companies overseas, too.
Or it may be that rivals for customers and income could be a start-up that’s offering a substitute or similar product that threatens to makes your own redundant. Competition is not simply just another business that might take money from you – it can be a competing product or service that's being developed, and which you ought to be selling, or looking to license before somebody else beats you to it.
Small business competitive advantage: 2. Resources And don't just research what's already out there; you need to be on the lookout constantly for new entrants to the market. The resources and strategies below are just some of ways you can identify competing companies, products or services:
- Local business directories
- Local Chamber of Commerce
- Press and online advertising
- Press reports
- Exhibitions and trade fairs
- Questionnaires
- Online searches for similar products or services
- Information provided by customers
- Flyers and other marketing bumpf sent to you (especially if you're on a bought-in marketing list)
- Search for existing patented products similar to yours
- Planning applications and building work in progress

The above article was drawn from content on Business Link, the UK Government’s website for businesses of al sizes.

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5-step plan to boost client retention

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:24:06 +0100

GIVEN that it’s far more expensive to find new clients than retain existing ones, marketing consultants are frequently astonished at how many companies take their clients for granted, or fail to maximize revenues from these key relationships.
One such consultant is Bruce W. Marcus, one of North America’s leading law firm and professional services marketing specialists.
“Some firms have full-scale client retention programs, some simply have a philosophy about clients, but others don't seem to grasp the dynamic of client service,” says Marcus, author of 15 books, including Competing for Clients and Client at the Core (see image below, right).
He adds: “Ask your clients how many times they've been approached by your competitors, and pursued aggressively, and then ask yourself if you can continue to be sanguine about keeping your clients happy, on a day-by-day basis.
“Successful professionals are those who've learned the difference between client relations and client service. Both are important, but one is not the substitute for the other. In client retention, you have to have both.”
Marcus’s advice goes beyond client-management basics, such as doing great work, being responsive and polite, and meeting agreed deadlines. These are the so-called hygiene factors – it’s what the client is paying for; you get no credit for doing them, but lose clients for not doing them.
He urges providers of professional services to embrace the following areas if they are to enjoy high client retention rates:
Become immersed in a client's business and industry.  It may help you seek new ways in which other of your services can help the client.
Frequent contact points, beyond engagement.  The client should know you exist between contracts, between matters, between consultations.
“You help both the client and yourself when you send a brochure on a subject of mutual interest, or a copy of a clipping in which you've been quoted on a subject the client might care about,” explains Marcus. “Or a simple newsletter, either your own or one of the excellent packaged ones, covering information of interest or concern to the client.”
Maintain personal relationships.  “Not just drinking and dining to keep the client happy,” emphasizes Marcus, “but establishing and reinforcing a sense of mutual understanding and trust. The degree to which the client calls on you for business advice is as much a matter of personal trust as it is professional trust.”
Quality control systems that are visible to clients  “You may have your internal quality control systems, but if the client doesn't know that, then the client has no reason to believe they exist,” warns Marcus. “More importantly, the quality control systems should relate to the client's business, not yours.”
Regular client surveys “Anybody who doesn't take active steps to keep aware of client attitudes toward the firm is somebody who likes surprises,” says Marcus.
He concludes: “Those who are most successful at client retention are those who actively work at it. They have programs and checklists. Even small firms that are aware of the need for it have programs that focus on paying attention. They listen. They contact. They understand the economics, and know what kind of return they're getting on their investment in it.”

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Attracting new customers –- narrow the focus

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:20:19 +0100

By Sean Ashcroft JOHN Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing runs through a number of effective methods for small business owners to narrow their focus on the ideal customer profile for their company. His advice includes:
-- Make a study of what constitutes an ideal customer for your business. Many business owners aim for bigger clients, but these may be unsuited to you. Clients who place great value on what you do may be a better bet, and those who pay on time and treat your staff with respect may also rank highly in your ideal client profile.
-- Place all existing clients into a spreadsheet and highlight those you enjoy working with. Who you want to work with is as important as who wants to work with you.
-- Look at ‘psychographics’. These are the things that clients do and say that signal to you that they are likely to value what you do. Do they expect to pay a premium? Do they participate in associations and trade bodies? Do they subscribe to particular business to business magazines?

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Presentation Mistakes - the 8 cardinal sins

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 20:12:29 +0100

This is the first of a series of posts probing problems and strategies surrounding effective business presentation skills. Part 1: Common presentation problems.
By Sean Ashcroft COMMUNICATION is the oil that lubricates business – but a recent study by the CBI identified that the British economy wastes over £40 billion a year because of poor management and poor communication. The main costs come in high staff turnover and lost business.
In-house and client-facing presentations are events that too often leave people on the edge of their sleeping bags. The following are the most common causes of life-sapping presentations.
“Do you believe the standard of presentations in your workplace is satisfactory?” asks Richard Johnson, director of the College of Public Speaking. “Or do you suspect the standard is far from satisfactory. Whatever you believe, the truth is that 90% of attendees at most presentations have switched off within the first 5 minutes.”
The most common causes for this sorry state of affairs is:
Presentation mistakes 1. Nerves This affects many people to varying degrees, but if you are solely focused on controlling your nerves you will be unable to deliver a good presentation. Imagine trying to aim for double top in a darts match when you are shaking with fear.
Presentation mistakes 2. Lack of training For most parts of your job you are probably given reasonable training, guidance and help by more experienced colleagues. However, for some mysterious reason there are 3 things that many organizations do not do well – manage people, interview and selection skills and …. deliver presentations.
Presentation mistakes 3. Death by PowerPoint  The majority of presentations simply duplicate what the speaker is saying – would you bother to watch television if it sounded like listening to the radio combined with reading a book? Wouldn’t you just choose to read the book or listen to the radio?
Presentation mistakes 4. Ignoring the audience We’ve all been bored by the person in the pub who wants to monopolies the conversation and talks for ages without letting anyone else get a word in. So why don’t we think about how boring a 30-minute presentation is if it sounds like someone just sounding off in a pub?
Presentation mistakes 5. Deadly dull data  In a social setting, when people drone on about something that has no interest to you, it makes you want to walk away. Even worse is when people drone on about something that does interest you, but manage to make it an exercise in tedium. How many presentations have you sat through which fall into one or both of these categories?
Presentation mistakes 6. Reading to oneself Many people come to presentations as actors would to a first dress rehearsal; they simply read their notes, and the audience may as well not be there. It’s why theatres are full for performances and empty for rehearsals.
Presentation mistakes 7. Lack of conviction If the presenter cannot generate sufficient enthusiasm in their delivery, why should the audience listen?
Presentation mistakes 8. Aimlessness Would you start a journey from your house to a strange, far away town without plotting directions? So why do so many presenters confuse their audiences by going off at needless, dull tangents?

This post is drawn from The Essential Need to Improve Presentation Skills Within The Workplace, a white paper from the College of Public Speaking.

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SME-development-strategies -- a 4-step plan

Fri, 21 May 2010 16:39:27 +0100

TO BE successful in developing a business, there are four things that cannot be ignored. The following should be undertaken in numerical order.
SME development strategy 1. Quiz your clients  What do your clients want more of? What do they want less of? If you never ask, you’ll be left guessing.
A great way of gleaning this information is through anecdotal evidence. This you gather by dropping these and similar questions into conversations with your clients, explaining that it’s aimed at providing a better service. This will not only help you service client needs more effectively, but will demonstrate to existing clients that you are a proactive and concerned service provider.
Such information gathering has a double benefit, as it gives you an excuse to re-establish contact with lapsed clients. If they are lapsed because of dissatisfaction with your service then it’s important that you know the details. And again, it demonstrates that you care – and may well be the prelude to bringing them back on board as clients.
SME development strategy 2. Show interest in client affairs  Meet with clients regularly; discuss their business; attend their internal meetings; conduct free in-house seminars for them; read their trade magazines; and do them small favours. This is more important than entertaining and schmoozing with clients. Take care of business relationships first, and maybe cement this later with personal relationships building.
SME development strategy 3. Rediscover the passion If referrals aren't providing insufficient new-client business, go back to steps one and two, and make sure you're doing all you can to follow them.
Next, do this: identify which new clients you’d be willing to serve free. This will help you draw up a list of dream clients – those whose business you are passionate about.
Once you've decided who you want to serve, design a package of activities to demonstrate you have a special interest in them, that you have something of value to offer them, and that you are willing to work to deserve and earn their trust.
Prove your interest and worth by giving dream prospects something useful: an article, a speech, a piece of research, an idea, or a seminar.
SME development strategy 4. Listen, and you shall be heard Once a prospective client shows some interest in you, the key is listening, not talking. The key talent in good selling is being good at getting the client to tell you his or her problems, needs, wants, and concerns.
Treat your prospect like a client from the minute you meet: react, give ideas, explain options, and provide an education. Don't wait until you're being paid before you're helpful.

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