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Marketing in Action 5 Steps to Attracting More Customers

5 STEPS

TO

ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS

Introducing The Perfect

Marketing Recipe


The Perfect

Marketing

Recipe

INTRODUCTION Search the internet for help with marketing and

you’ll get nearly a billion hits with websites

crammed with information designed to turn you into a marketing god – or goddess.

So why, when there’s such a body of really good

and helpful stuff do I keep hearing the same

thing time and time again. Nearly all the

businesses I talk to want to attract more

customers, get the phone ringing more, generate

more traffic to their website or increase visitors to

their store.

MARKETING IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!

There are no secret handshakes or complicated

formulas that will lead you to the well of

customers ready to be welcomed into your world.

Marketing is all about common-sense. You may

be thinking, hang on; there’s got to be more to it

than that, and you’re right.

I think of marketing as an onion. Not because it

makes me cry every time I think about what it is

or isn’t doing for my business, but because it’s

multi-layered. Every time you peel away a layer

there’s another, just waiting to be exposed. The

more you peel away, the more focused you

become on reaching that flawless layer where

you’re ready to chop and dice your way to a

delicious meal.

KNOWLEDGE IS THE KEY TO UNLOCKING

YOUR POTENTIAL

Marketing is about knowing what you know, and

what you don’t. Delving deeper and deeper until

you have a layer of understanding that leads you

to the delightful eureka moment where you leap

out of your chair, fist pumping the air, knowing

that this is it.

Don’t peel away until there’s nothing left, and

you’ve spent time – and perhaps money –

delving into the deep and dark psyche of your

customer with nothing to show for it. The

challenge is knowing when enough is enough,

and it’s time for action. In fact, that is where the

name for my business came from. It came to me

one day whilst doodling, and well the rest is

history.

Spend time talking and thinking – or in my case

doodling on a white board – then take the bull by

the horns, fire up your mojo and go for it.

Whether you plan to sell more homes or perfect

the perfect scone recipe, we’ll equip with the best

possible tools and techniques to achieve your

more.


I’ve seen the communication landscape

change beyond all recognition. When I

started my career, the internet was just

beginning and has evolved into the

fantastic online resource we have today.

Social media has revolutionised the way

we communicate – in fact we’ve become

publishers – and we have direct access to

our customers. Our customers have

wrestled control of our relationships and

talk to us on their terms when they are

ready to talk, not when we want to talk.

I love working one-to-one and teaching,

sharing the knowledge I’ve built up over a

career spanning the last 20 years.

I’ve worked with over a hundred

businesses helping them understand

marketing, what it can do for them and

teaching them how to use it. What did all

of those conversations have in common?

You guessed it; they were looking for more

customers.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?

Before you continue reading, nail that

down, because knowing where you’re

coming from and what you want to get out

of life sets the tone for everything you do.

When you focus on what you want, how

you want to feel and what you want to

achieve, everything in your subconscious is

focused on making that happen. Let’s

focus on attracting more customers for you.

Get your apron on, it’s time to start

baking!

INTRODUCTION

CONTINUED….

Marketing in Action 5 Steps to Attracting More Customers Marketing in Action 5 Steps to Attracting More Customers

THE FIVE STEPS OF THE

PERFECT MARKETING RECIPE We believe there are five stepping stones to creating the perfect marketing

recipe. The same five steps apply whether you’re offering a professional

service, or sell to the public with a shop window.

#1 Understand your customers

#2 Understand who you are

#3 Keep your customers

#4 Refer more customers

#5 Attract more customers

Remember it’s not rocket science. There’s no complicated formula. Just work

through the five steps.

Let’s create the perfect recipe for your business. Ready for Step #1?


STEP #1

UNDERSTAND YOUR

CUSTOMERS: WHO ARE WE BAKING FOR?

I was captivated by Digby Jones as the BBCs The New

Troubleshooter. When a man of Digby’s experience talks,

I listen Yet I couldn’t help shouting at the TV screen

during one of the episodes.

Digby asked a fairly easy question ‘who is your ideal

customer.' It’s one I ask my clients frequently. In fact, it

is a marketing basic. So when the company featured

admits they’re not sure and that they will probably get

round to doing some research within the year, I – like

many other marketers who may have been watching –

cringed.

Why? Because they were already developing their

website. They were planning to go to market within a

matter of weeks. Yet they hadn’t done their research.

So what would happen if you create a website and plan to

sell, when you don’t know who will buy, how or why?

UNLOCK YOUR POTENTIAL

To get the phone or the till ringing you need to

understand who you want to attract. Who would you like

to hear on the other end of the call, or greet as a visitor

into your store?

Let’s start with who you know. We’ve collated a handy

checklist to help you look at your current and lapsed

customers. Use the this to narrow down your customer

database to a smaller group of customers or types of

customer.

If you have a small customer base this will be quite

straightforward.

My customer database is huge: If your customer base

is large, do your customers fall into any natural

groupings, ie geographic area, needs, interests, types of

business or consumer?

I don’t have a customer database: If you have a retail

operation think about what they come to your store to buy

and the typical buyer of a product range or service.

Ideally you want to come up with no more than 10-12

customer groups. Next think about who you could be

doing business with or would like to and add them to the

list. Now you’re going to have to focus. Rate each

customer group based upon:

Can they afford your products/services

Do they value what you do or have

Do they need what you do or have

Who do you do business with now or in the past?

Who do you enjoy working with or selling to?

Why do you enjoy working with them – similar values, common

interests, same sex?

Are they easy to do business with?

Which customers are most profitable?

CUSTOMER CHECKLIST


STEP #1

CONTINUED To get the phone or the till ringing you need

to understand who you want to attract. Who

would you like to hear on the other end of

the call, or greet as a visitor into your store?

TIME TO START PEELING THAT ONION

I’d like to introduce you to Tom Skelton. Tom is a garden

designer. His main business is garden maintenance, but

he loves designing sensory gardens for children.

Tom spent half a day looking at his customers and

realised there were two main customer groups that he

enjoyed working with, have a budget and value his

particular type of garden design: affluent parents with

young families and childcare nurseries.

Tom now needs to start profiling these two customer

groups. This will help him build up a picture called a

‘buyer persona’ or ‘avatar’.

He starts out by asking himself the following questions:

Who will make the decision to use him

What is their role within the business or family

Age, sex, education and personality

What level of decision-making power do they have

Disposable income or budgetary responsibility

What they want or need

Their motivation behind seeking out a solution

What is important to them about the solution

He talked to past customers, friends, family and contacts

within the gardening trade, about his plans and asked for

their advice.

READY FOR THE NEXT LAYER?

Understanding more about your customers is only part of

the puzzle. To make your perfect marketing recipe, we

need to add something else: their habits. Without this

information you won’t be able to select the right

ingredients when we get to Step #5.

Have a look at our handy checklist and try to find out as

much as you can.

What do they:

Watch—TV, Cinema, Live events

Listen to—Radio

Read—Newspapers, magazines, books

Visit—Websites, places

Engage—social media platforms

Where do they go:

Amenities—doctors, dentists, libraries

Art & Culture—museums, theatres, galleries

Shops and supermarkets

Hair, health and beauty

Bars and restaurants

Events and exhibitions

Where do they live:

Location profile

What groups are they part of:

Sports, leisure and pastimes

Professional and trade

Politics and local government

Business

Mums and tots

HABITS CHECKLIST


STEP #2

UNDERSTAND WHO

YOU ARE:

WHAT ARE WE BAKING?

The communication landscape is cluttered. Every day

we’re exposed to so many messages across the internet

the television, radio and our mobile phones. What’s

more, with a growing global population, it will only get

worse.

We believe for your voice to be heard; you need one

clear message. That one clear message can only come

from understanding who you are and what you do.

Of course, I know who I am, you may be shouting, but do

you?

STUCK IN THE LIFT

We asked Tom – our garden designer - to write an

elevator pitch summarising who he is, the benefits and

how he stands out.

If you haven’t come across an elevator pitch, imagine you

are stuck in a lift with your biggest ideal customer, you’ve

got just 60 seconds to make an impression, what would

you say?

Here’s what Tom had to say.

“Hi I’m Tom and I’m a gardener. I do a bit of digging,

mowing grass, trimming trees, actually I’ll do anything my

clients need me to do in their gardens.”

Be honest, would you remember who he is? Now in Step

#1 we saw that Tom loves designing gardens for children

and the person in the lift just happens to work in the

Children Services department of the local council. A

great contact who could be very valuable for Tom. What

if Tom took this approach?

“Hi my name is Tom, from Helter Skelter Garden

Designs. We specialise in designing sensory gardens for

children. My clients love how my gardens are easy to

maintain, while stimulating the children’s senses and

teaching them to love the outdoors. I’d love to share with

you some of the gardens I’ve created, would you be free

to come along and visit the one I’ve done for Happy Days

Nursery?”

Can you see how Tom has been clear on what he does,

his niche, and the benefits of what he does. What values

do you think Tom needs to get across; fun, professional,

stimulating, safe? Can you imagine how his logo would

look? What his strapline should be?

What do you do?

What’s your story – why are you in business?

Who else can do what you do?

How do you/will you stand out from everyone else who does

what you do?

What are the benefits to your customers of what you do?

What is important to you in the way you run your business?

How do you want your customers to perceive your business

How do you want your business to look and feel?

What colours and images will you use to stand out from the

competition?

What messages will you use to connect with your ideal

customers?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS CHECKLIST


STEP #3

KEEP YOUR

CUSTOMERS: WHAT’S IN YOUR

FREEZER?

It’s been said many times, it costs about 8 times more to

find a new customer than keep an existing customer.

And, if you’ve spent time doing Step #1, you are going to

have a pretty good idea of who you want to keep.

Be smart in your approach to keeping customers happy,

make sure you are covering all the bases, pre, during

and post-sale.

BEFORE THE SALE

Forget about selling, spend time getting to know your

customers

Understand what challenges your customers face and

what their plans are for the future

Infect your customers with your enthusiasm and pas-

sion

Treat your customers the way you like to be treated

Be clear on pricing – no-one likes nasty surprises fur-

ther down the line

Give your customers what they want

DURING THE SALE

Keep them informed with good communication at eve-

ry step in the process

Respond immediately if there are any problems

Be truthful and honest – if there’s a problem or you’ve

made a mistake, put your hand up

Add value to the customer experience wherever you

can

Deliver what you’ve promised

AFTER THE SALE

Say thank you to your customers for their business –

for long term customers send a thank you card on the

anniversary of when you completed a major project or

started working with them

Follow up with your customers after the sale to check

they are happy with the outcome

Ask for a testimonial and referral

Stay in touch every 6-8 weeks through phone, email

or direct mail piece.


STEP #4

REFER MORE

CUSTOMERS:

RECRUIT MORE

BAKERS

Referrals are like gold, and unless you offer an incentive,

they are usually free.

Your referrer has already established a certain level of

trust and credibility by referring you, and the person you

are referred to is usually ready to buy.

The ideal time to ask is when you’ve completed a project

or sale with a customer.

Ask for their feedback on your performance. If you get a

glowing report, ask if they know of anyone else who

might benefit from your product.

WHY WE DON’T ASK FOR REFERRALS

It’s natural to feel uncomfortable asking for referrals, or

even a little scared. We don’t want to come across as

pushy or desperate to our customers. If you’re a little shy

about asking for the referral, here are 12 ways you can

encourage more referrals in your business.

Be referable – deliver on what you promise and exceed

Be referable – deliver on what you promise and exceed your customers’ expectations.

Be clear on the type of referrals you are looking for.

Tell your network of contacts, the types of ideal customers you’re looking for and ask for their help

What other complimentary services might your ideal customers use? Talk to them and discuss an exchange of data or cross promotion.

Ask clients for testimonials, LinkedIn recommendations and case studies.

Add a note on your website and email signature about the types of ideal customers you are looking for.

Give a referral.

Encourage social media likes, shares and retweets with interesting content that your contacts will want to share with

their network.

Add share buttons to your email newsletters to encourage the spread of your content.

Thank your contacts or customers when they refer you on – this can be an email, phone call or card in the post. One of my contacts had special cards printed just for this purpose.

Create a referral program and reward customers and contacts every time they refer you on to a new paying customer.

Include a referral card with every shop or internet sale.

REFERRAL CHECKLIST


STEP #5

CREATE YOUR

PERFECT

MARKETING

RECIPE

By now you’ll have invested quite some time

understanding what you do, who your ideal customers

are and will have developed detailed buyer personas.

You’ll have identified existing and lapsed customers and

have put in place a good customer service programme to

keep them happy and to refer you on.

Now it’s time to start creating your perfect marketing

recipe.

KNOWLEDGE = RESULTS

How effective you are at attracting new customers,

depends upon how well you’ve done Step #1.

If you have peeled away at that onion and got some

good insights and understanding about your ideal

customers, Step #5 almost becomes a little, dare I say it,

easy?

This is where I get a glint in my eye and a smile on my

face. I start rubbing my hands together, as this is the

really interesting bit.

If you go to Amazon.co.uk and enter the word cookery,

you’ll see there are nearly 100,000 cookery books full of

techniques and recipes from some of the best cooks in

the business. How many scone recipes do you think

there might be? How many of these are the same or

have slight variations?

Marketing is no different. You need to decide what

you’re baking – what you’re doing – who you’re baking it

for – in my case I’m gluten-intolerant, so that affects the

ingredients I use – and the best way to do that – the

recipe.

You wouldn’t use a chocolate cake recipe to make lemon

drizzle, for example, well you might, but you might find

yourself a little surprised by the result.

RECIPE TEMPLATE

We’ve developed a generic template for the perfect

marketing recipe. The template covers the five phases

of your customer’s buying cycle.

First you look to raise awareness and attract their

interest. Once they become aware of you, collect their

details or connect to stay in touch. Whilst you’re staying

in touch, inspire them with interesting information and

content.

If you’ve done the first three steps you should be on their

shortlist for when they’re ready to buy, you just need to

convince them to use you. Finally Steps #3 and #4 kick

in.

Now comes the tricky part; making it work for you.

Choosing the right ingredients to get you the results you


STEP #5

CONTINUED

want can seem bewildering. But remember what I said

about knowledge. The more information you have on the

habits of your ideal customers - go back to Step #1 if you

need to - the easier it becomes to decide what to do.

BUDGET AND TIME

When deciding on the ingredients you’re going to use in

your perfect marketing recipe think about how much

time you have to devote to marketing your business and

how much you can afford to spend on marketing. Allow

this to guide you when making your decisions.

Then once you’re ready fire up your mojo and go for it!

Check out our blog at www.marketinginaction.co.uk as

we’ll be posting examples from various industries,

starting with what Tom our garden designer found out

when he looked into the habits of nursery managers.

Happy baking!


THE NEXT STEPS Now you’ve learned the five steps of The Perfect Marketing Recipe,

it’s time for you to head off to look at your customers, the impressions

you give and the ingredients missing from your customer attraction

strategies.

It might look daunting right now, especially if your customer database is in the thousands. Make a commitment to implement one step every week, so at the end of the week you can look back and see how you’ve generated an insight or result that you weren’t able to last week. I’d love to hear from you about how you get on and the results you generate. You can tweet me http://www.twitter.com/MktgInAction, or pop over to my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Mktginaction and drop a post on my timeline.

CONNECT WITH US:

Online: www.marketinginaction.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MktgInAction

Facebook: facebook.com/mktginaction

Telephone: 01780 250130
