What do your customers want?

Posted on February 10, 2012 by rfmblogadmin

Ask most customers what they want and they will tell you their requirements. What they will NOT tell you is what they really don’t get from you. Past experience would suggest that much of this is in the soft skills area – ‘you never call, you never phone, you never think about me!’ – It is a lot cheaper to keep hold of an existing customer than finding a new customer.

Third party questioning of your customer base will yield some nugget of information to build a customer strategy for your team to implement – it’s all about customer love!

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Exhibition Planning for Expos

Posted on February 3, 2012 by graham

Many organisations see exhibitions in the UK and overseas as 2,3, or 4 days out of the office.  If you are organising an exhibition it creeps up and is on you before you know it – and believe it or not exhibition attendance is exhausting. Many people see exhibitions as customer moments, high points in the calendar year when you can show off product range, engage with existing and potential customers etc. – true purple cow moment.

We would suggest that the 4-6 weeks before the exhibition is crucial for planning and pre publicity. Handling customers correctly at the show is imperative and follow up in the 2 weeks after the show with all those valuable contacts is critical.

The investment in time and money is considerable, it is important to maximise the investment.

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Astounding insights from qualitative market research

Posted on January 27, 2012 by graham

What they buy, when they buy, who they buy from.

Having some reasonable research information on your customers and how they perceive you is astounding and astonishing.

Of all the research information and insight we gather from companies, qualitative insight on how customers perceive and position us is amazing – it can help sales drive, future positioning and always pulls a few corkers out of the cupboard.  Clients who have tried this have found it invaluable.

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Saving money at exhibitions

Posted on January 27, 2012 by graham

Cost of stand space at exhibition halls is high.  Cost of a well put together stand is a significant part of the budget.  Why then do organisations let personnel loose on their stands with little or no skill development on how to work the stand effectively, draw the right crowds and close deals?

We don’t build stands but we do know how to maximise the return on visitors to the stand.  Our exhibition factsheet is on the web.  Talk to us about proven results and extra value from shows.  We have a great record on this.

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Communications strategy – Right place, right time

Posted on January 27, 2012 by graham

Being able to reach customers in the right place at the right time through their preferred channel (traditional or digital) is key to maximising your business opportunity. The range of options now for communication and positioning is immense, often not requiring budget but certainly requiring resource.  A little time at the front end gaining customer insight, understanding communication formats and ensuring the correct messages are being written and communicated will build results in terms of Return on Investment with short term effect.

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Maximising your budget – Squeeze in extra

Posted on January 20, 2012 by graham

Often clients find at this time of year that they have the opportunity to squeeze in some additional projects to ensure that fund allocation phase been fully utilised and that the benefit of those funds are used rather than lost.

In past years we have undertaken very valuable work at this time to trial new concepts, undertake some customer or research work, and develop strong marketing and sales plans to provide a platform for the year ahead.

We are always happy to discuss concepts plans, ideas and see what might be viable.  Now in our 29th year of trading, we have a wealth of profound experience on which to draw.

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International Sales – Just the job

Posted on January 20, 2012 by graham

Here is a fast route into a new market sector.  We have an associate linguist in our offices who has a track record in the following process:

•    Pick a country
•    Tell us your sectors of interest
•    Let us understand your business
•    Report with contacts in the country
•    Initial discussions made
•    Right through to sales and distribution

Here’s the retweet!  A client who has tried this ‘fast market access’ programme has found new markets and within one year is on the 5th order to a distributor.  It is worth finding out about.

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Digital Marketing Plans

Posted on January 20, 2012 by graham

Increasingly, we are being asked to deliver digital marketing plans for customers and clients which cut through the mass of options and begin to use digital methods in a more structured and targeted way.  Time is money and it is as important now to plan marketing as it ever was.  Ask us for some insight into the digital element and how it combines at present with offline and the more traditional elements of marketing.

Our in house Digital Marketing Associate looks after all areas of digital marketing including promotion (SEO, PPC, Social Media), Customer communications (email, auto emails, CRM) and website conversion performance (multivariate and AB testing, improved tracking etc.

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Use it or lose it – quick marketing sales plan

Posted on January 13, 2012 by graham

We are often asked to undertake quick projects at this time of year, – pilot programmes, innovative trials, quick marketing and sales plans, research & insight, skills to provide additional information and material for the year ahead.  Often the impetus is to utilise available funds now for a useful or far reaching project that will have a greater effect in the future.

We heard of a recent situation where unallocated funding was lost and reverted to another part of Europe, – which seems particularly disappointing for Great Britain.

We aim to provide material of the highest integrity, value and focus for clients. The work of our business is in research and customer insight, marketing, sales, and business development plans, exhibitions effectiveness, training and skill development.

 

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Available now – digital marketing strategies

Posted on January 13, 2012 by graham

Through a colleague in our marketing ‘hot loft’, we have a number of £50 vouchers for Google adwords available, – totally free to clients.

The deal is open to clients who have an adwords account less than 14 days old and haven’t used an adwords voucher before.

As an example, if you wanted to test and evaluate new search terms for your site as part of a properly constructed digital strategy, this would be a no cost way to get started.  The analytics and conversion rates may then lead to other activities to increase conversion and retention of customers for your organisation.

We used adwords for one of our search terms over the last 3 to 4 months and have spent £141.  We have supplemented this with good organic search engine optimisation rankings which means our spend is less. Every penny counts.

We provide full digital marketing strategies that deliver clear results.

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