In this post, I am going to show you a very simple way to make your marketing massively more powerful.
Most small business owners / entrepreneurs have only a vague idea of what they want from their business. They tend to be highly-motivated and launch themselves like a rocket into their work. However, with a little more forward planning, it’s possible to totally transform your sales results!
Imagine setting off on a journey; from where you live to an unknown destination 300 miles away. How would you prepare for that trip? You would probably check the route on a map, so you knew where you were going and how to get there.
You might also check the weather and traffic conditions and ensure you had enough fuel. With all this in place, you stand a 99.9% chance of getting where you want to be!
If that journey had been ‘planned’ ahead the way most small businesses plan ahead, it would have been very different!
There wouldn’t be a clear destination, so it would have been impossible for them to plan a route. In other words, they wouldn’t even know if they are heading in the right direction or not! With no idea of where they’re going and no route to follow, they could end up anywhere.
Marketing and planning
If you study any successful business, you will see that they deliberately plan what they want in advance. As a result, they can spot immediately if they are on target or heading in the wrong direction. They are also able to anticipate potential hazards and even identify the people; whose help they will need in order to succeed. Because they know where they are going, every step takes them closer and they can plan ahead with far, far more confidence than the average business.
How to smash your sales targets with a little planning!
Here’s a quick way to find exactly what you need to do, in order to reach your annual sales target. It also gives a quick insight into the power of using firm figures.
List your desired turnover & profit figures
You need to know what you are aiming for in real terms. This means writing down what you want to ‘get’ from your business financially.
List the number of sales needed in order to hit those figures
Once you know how much money you want to earn, you need to identify how many sales you must make in order to reach that figure. This then becomes your annual sales target.
List the number of enquiries needed to generate 1 sale
How many meetings, calls, emails, letters from prospective clients / customers do you need on average, to generate a sale? If you need 100 sales to hit your sales target and each sale requires 3 enquiries, your initial focus should be on generating those 300 enquiries as inexpensively and quickly as possible!
Divide the number of enquiries needed by 12
In the above example, you would need to generate 25 enquiries a month in order to hit your annual sales targets. This means you would now have a very clear picture of the kind of marketing activity you need to invest your time / money in, if you want to succeed.
What next?
Now that you have a good idea of ‘the numbers’ required for you to hit your sales targets, you need to start generating those sales / enquiries! To help you, here’s a list of 10 of the most effective forms of marketing for small and medium-sized businesses that I know.
Over to you!
What forms of marketing have you found to be most and least effective for your business? Please share your experiences with us and leave a comment below!
this is great info! i may link to this in my blog!
An excellent checklist, thank you so much Jim!
Hey Jim
Timely post, can you recommend a program for those of us that haven’t ever committed their life to proper planning?
Mike
Mike,
I would like to throw your question ‘out there’ and see if there’s a program that people can recommend to you.
Are you talking about a program for developing a Marketing Plan?
Great post Jim! I will be sharing this one with the rest of my group
Though you’ve written it about marketing, it is a reminder that business development activities belong to all departments.
Cheers, Keli
Nice post,many thanks Jim! Shall wait and see more wonderful comments involved here.
Jim, This post comes a the right time. Thanks for helping everyone find a way to market their business professionally!
Jim, thanks for the 10 marketing tips. Great information. Attraction vs. Pursuing really stood out for me. Offering your customer something attractive vs. trying to get them to buy makes sense.
If your market is normal everyday people, meaning you have a website, all you need to do is be funny, interesting and offer something useful. That means don’t send surveys, don’t bother them with spam…answer client emails in a timely fashion which most companies don’t do…lastly if you have a website use uservoice.com…just do it. don’t ask..do it.
[...] this, I spend 70% of my life studying about internet entrepreneur and 30% making money online Your marketing map! – jimsmarketingblog.com 12/30/2008 In this post, I am going to show you a very simple way to make [...]
This is a good general outline of market planning. I have found that a great way to communicate with potential customers is generating content that they want and getting them to sign up voluntarily. Newsletters, either online or off, can generate brand awareness and lead to new revenue streams.
If you don’t have the money to hire someone to write out a marketing plan then you are too small to need one. Simple bullet points on a napkin or google to do list is all you need because while you are planning someone else is doing. Use google notes to highlight key info…add it to your todo list and enact it. In these difficult economic times things are going to change quickly. You need to be liquid in your approach…it is like DMfail. A website that would take the DM @ twits that were suppose to be private and publish them. TC did an article on the site at night.
How many of you did a DM @friend please check out my url…keep it private?
See the reason I mention this is you have to be ready to pownce because some people got front page coverage on a site TC reviewed just by being liquid and aware.
List the number of enquiries needed to generate 1 sale.
I’d say this is sometimes the hardest part because most small businesses probably don’t know that magic number.
I’m going to be honing in on determining how many leads does it take – and the effectiveness of each channel (not all leads are equal after all). Also trying to add some A/B testing to the mix.
Chris,
The easiest way to find the number of enquiries per sale, is to start tracking every enquiry you get.
Then, compare the number of enquiries against the number of transactions.
I also recommend tracking where the enquiries come from. This will allow you to see where the best value and highest volume of enquiries originate.
This is what we have done right from the start and it really works. Is there any other way?
Focus and work towards a goal. Set realistic goals, make a schedule and just do it.
And I really like the comment from Gebadia about answering emails quickly. So important!
Youri perhaps I should elaborate. I am building a Facebook app and so I am looking for hosting. I contacted rackspace and they took 2 days to respond. If they had responded within 4 hours..they would of got my business but because they took so long I went to Amazon and that is who I am using.
It always amazes me how companies will spend money on email campaigns or surveys but won’t bother to answer emails or have contact us forms. Email campaigns are spam. When a person sees they got mail..it is exciting, someone loves them..and then when it is sales crap it is always a disapointment associated to your company.
On the other hand when a user emails you, it is a chance to blow them away. Take the time to really explain things. Have a bunch of youtube videos and link to them. Have your twitter info, give them a way to your company blog. Say to them..if you have a problem or anything is not clear just hit reply.
All your doing is helping someone have success at using your services which means long term loyality. Even angry emails are a chance to win a user.
Remember when they contact you, they will take the time to read your response.
Having a marketing map is critical for success. As part of that planning process, I also find it crucial to stop at various points to assess and evaluate the things that are working and the things that are not. Then making tweaks and adjustments to refine and move forward.
We also use Blackberries which allow us to respond quickly.
Question here though: can you respond TOO quickly?
A great ‘back to basics’ post Jim.
I will be sharing this advice with my small business clients to make sure they are ready for 2009!
I would echo Chris Kluis above, in that many small businesses have no tracking (of anything!) in place. Like you I am sure, highlighting this fact with my new clients, really does endear you to them!
Great blog. Happy New year Jim.
Jim,
I’m installing a CRM now to help track that information. I’m a numbers man by default and love information to analyze.
All I can say is that CRM’s are cheap enough and robust enough now that every small business should invest in one.
Here’s to 2009.
Youri does anyone ever go to Walmart and complain when they get service fast? Besides fast will make you standout in ways the big boys cannot copy..the CEO Brandon at http://www.shrinktheweb.com responds so fast that I love the guy…I have put a free shortcut on the website I am building on it without him asking. I tell everyone how he has the best client service I have ever seen. All because he responded too fast..
Just wonder if it would make you look desperate. We are often very busy but because we use good technology we can respond really quickly.
Sometimes within 10 minutes and there have been occasions where people were very surprised.
Does everyone here share the view that it is always positive to respond quickly?
Well when you are dating…lol..it is…what business are you in?
I’d argue that an attempt to communicate within 2 hours should be made PERIOD.
I am in coffee. We teach barista courses, roast coffee for coffee shops, restaurants etc and provide coffee equipment.
Within 2 hours is very interesting. We can certainly do this, not a problem.
I always like to get my clients to focus on numbers like this. however I wonder if you’ve any thoughts on what factor to add to existing metrics to take account of the effect of the recession. I’ve got in my mind 50-100% increase at least for the next 6 months.
Rgds
Laurence