Understanding Customers and Customer Motivation

Posted on June 28, 2013 by RFM

If you know the answers to the following questions, you will be able to save or reallocate some cost on your publicity and comms budgets. For each target market,

  • How does the potential customer consume information? – this may vary across different age groups – online, offline. Google, aps,
  • How many companies are they aware of in your sector? – unprompted recall
  • If you mention your company in a range of others, does yours come up?
  • What is their perception of your company?
  • What are they typically doing at the moment when they may be looking for products and services just like yours?– on a train?, behind a desk?, at a show?, in the car? etc
  • What do they look for in a provider? –  key attributes etc.

 To my thinking, if you know what makes your customers tick, when and where they are when making purchasing decisions, that will help to identify where to spend your time and money on promotion and communication of your brand and range of products and service.

For more detail on how to gather this valuable type of information and the value of research, contact gayle@rfm.co.uk

Posted in Customer Service, Marketing, Marketing Communications, Research | Leave a comment

Keeping You Top of The Customer’s Mind

Posted on June 28, 2013 by RFM

Interesting work over the last year or so for a manufacturer looking for a small number of key contacts in large organisations throughout the world.  The products are innovative, superbly engineered and the business owner has to keep the name in front of a small number of existing and potential key customers on a regular basis throughout the year.  The challenge is remaining top of the customer mind at all times so that when they do review, the company is included in the opportunity. 

Gayle Agnew at RFM delivers this service – keeping in contact with key customers, building relationships and opening the door for the MD at appropriate times throughout the calendar year.  It is a process which has delivered great results, it is not a mass telemarketing  exercise but a specialist niche approach matching up with the business need of the customers.

For what is a very economical budget, the company have a highly beneficial pro-active sales and marketing service for their company as well as being a huge time saver for the MD!!

Many organisations should think of a service like this.  For any more details, contact Gayle@rfm.co.uk

 

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Practise Makes Perfect.

Posted on June 21, 2013 by RFM

Was lucky enough to play golf at East Sussex National one evening this week as part of a conference.   On the first tee, I noticed a young golfer on the practise ground hitting a huge load of balls.  The swing looked extremely good, each ball cracked off the face of the club and you could hear it was a good hit. Like others in my team, it was something to aspire to and of course we all fired off shots in a variety of directions!

Practise of any talent moves us towards consistency and perfection.  On sales and marketing topics, the basic skills are learnt quite quickly.  It is practise that makes us perfect.  As it was Rory McIlroy on the practice ground, the lesson was obvious!!

For more information on skills sets for practise sales, contact russ@rfm.co.uk.

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Pricing – is it Part of Marketing?

Posted on June 21, 2013 by RFM

Yes of course it is.  We are told by the media to ask for discount all the time and never pay the full price.  As consumers, we see this in every walk of life where companies segment their pricing structure based on different timings, seasons etc.

For the sme companies, often selling to the larger businesses, it is always challenging to give away discount as it reduces the perception of your brand and your quality and the margin without the compensation of increased volume of sales.  Eventually, it means stripping cost out of the product.

Arming your team with ways to counter discounting and price cutting is key to the small and medium sized company having the margin to reinvest profits etc.

Pricing is very definitely part of the marketing mix and needs to be calculated in conjunction with the finance department.

For more information on ways to challenge the dreaded discount word and maintain the position of your brand, please contact. russ@rfm.co.uk

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Movement in Still Photography!

Posted on June 21, 2013 by RFM

Came across a stunning new technique of incorporating movement into stills photography.  Only certain parts of the screen image move which catches the eye, draws attention to detail of the product.   It was used on a very innovative product which creates a new celebration moment in our lives.  The concept is brilliant and the treatment very innovative.  When I spoke with the manufacturer, the whole product is based on research and understanding of the customer. This is a must see!! The concept would work very well online, web and on live action YouTube type images.

If this has sparked any interest or curiosity, please contact us at russ@rfm.co.uk and we can share a link.

Posted in Digital Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Communications, Promotion | Leave a comment

Planning your Marketing Calendar

Posted on June 14, 2013 by RFM

Just a couple of questions

Do you know how your customers like to consume information about companies like yours?

Do you know when your potential customers are susceptible to approach and purchase?

Do you plan appropriate online and offline promotions and communication at the right time?

Do you have a separate marketing plan for each segment of the market you are targeting?

Do your key messages isolate and bring out your points of difference?

Do you integrate your brand awareness marketing with ‘call to action’ marketing to provide leads for our sales teams?

Do you gather response information to allow you to evaluate your marketing?

Do you budget the right amount of time and money to achieve your business objectives?

These are key activities to think through.  For more information on how to plug any gaps, contact russ@rfm.co.uk

 

 

 

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Sales – Where Do They Come From?

Posted on June 14, 2013 by RFM

Sales emanate from a variety of sources.  Often forgotten in the marketing mix,  leads for business and opportunities come from referral, customer service excellence, web, SEO, exhibitions and shows, asking for more business, transactional business activities, transformational business, networking etc, etc, etc.   If you do not have a sales role every day of your business life, maybe you need to think about encouraging enquiries in through communications, both offline and online.  If you do have a sales team out there, check out just how effective they are being.

We service our cars on a regular basis to keep them efficient, we need to service our sales processes on a regular basis to keep our sales engine running properly.

For more information on sales and sales skill, contact russ@rfm.co.uk

Posted in Exhibitions, Marketing Communications, Sales, Social Media Marketing | Leave a comment

“This is a Selling Task!”

Posted on June 14, 2013 by RFM

On the Apprentice this week, the teams had to sell innovative camping products at the Caravan and Leisure show at the NEC in Birmingham.  Alan Sugar or Yes, Sir Alan, said ‘This is a selling task.  You only get one chance at it when it is a big ticket item!”

This has to be true of many trade products.  At shows you only get one chance to make the connection.  Some of the team were able to align their approach to the customer group and the differences in approach really came through. The cost of exhibiting or attending a conference is high in terms of investment.  Any investment requires a return and having a team that know what they are doing on sales is crucial.

 For more information on sales teams that work well contact russ@rfm.co.uk

 

Posted in Exhibitions, Marketing Communications, Sales | Leave a comment

The Difference Between Learning and Training.

Posted on June 7, 2013 by RFM

There are lots of organisations offering a range of programmes on marketing and sales skills.   Before you start, just check out who have been developed as trainers and mastered the skill  of teaching.  The ability to let delegates learn is the key rather than to lecture them. Here is the difference.

A true trainer focuses his efforts on providing material which is relevant to the organisation, the programme and in line with their level of understanding.  The ability to teach well is part of the learning process sitting alongside knowledge of the subject matter.  A good trainer will allow delegates to unlock their own keys to learning and be there as a guide and point of true knowledge for the company.

A good Chartered Marketer can quickly think through the motivations of a customer, help align the business to the needs and wants of the market and provide practical tools for communication and sales. They will see your business from the view of the customer and the chances are that very quickly, you will increase the money and sales made in the business and provide more sustainable employment longer term.

For more info on this, contact russ@rfm.co.uk

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Customer Service is the Way Forward

Posted on June 7, 2013 by RFM

Superb customer handling skills are key to retaining business in both consumer and business markets.

Customer service coupled with revenue generation skill is an even more profitable way forward.  We have seen this work in all sectors, leading to increased revenue and bottom line profit at little or no investment.

For more information on customer handling and revenue generation, contact russ@rfm.co.uk

Posted in Customer Service, Marketing, Sales | Leave a comment