| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Think Creatively While Reinventing Your Marketing and Selling -- Its For Your Survival!
We live in a world that for many has become technologyadvantaged in business and life. Imagine, for a moment, just how communication, science, art, medicine, automation, supply chain and products have all been reinvented. Even consumers' behaviors have been unearthed and changedbeyond recognition. Consumers have become more assertive, demanding, highly skeptical, and more cynical, lesstrusting and with less loyalty to brands and companies. With all the reinventing and shifting in a diversity ofindustries and cultures we find however, little has changedin the process of how marketers and sales proceed tounderstanding why consumers' buy and how they think. Most marketing methods and selling techniques probe forsurface understanding and not the core emotions andfeelings of consumers' behaviors. Marketing and sales people rely on worn-out familiarcampaigns and techniques that simply obtain less thanmarginal results and then place blame on their products,services or the economy. This become more apparent withsales and marketing people in hot industries where demandexceeds supply - sales skyrocket with little effort orskill on the part of sales and marketing. Then, when supplyexceeds demand and there are too many sellers chasing toofew consumers' -- the blame sets in and the excuse makingerupts, causing products and services to fail or dropdramatically below projections. Change doesn't come easy when you're entrenched in deeplyrooted behaviors of which takes much courage to change.Change means thinking differently about how one doesthings, which sometimes goes against all that you werebrought up to believe in. People who hold stubbornly totheir view and can't envision a different world will fightto maintain their current one. To maintain a competitive edge in your business willrequire stepping outside your comfort zone and thetraditional methods of conducting yourself in business. Theworld has become a melting pot of various nationalities andcultures creating the backbone of our economy. Regardless, if you have a world vision of your business or not, theeffects of you succeeding are influenced by yourunderstanding of how consumers' think and how they buy. Consumers' ask for one thing and do another. They makeillogical leaps of judgment and come to unreasonableconclusions based on their experience, memory andunconscious thoughts. The truth is most customers formopinions about you before you ever get a chance to deliveryour service or product. That opinion is formed mostlyunconsciously. Customers' are your only business and requires you to reachbeyond product features, benefits, quality and reliabledelivery methods. Sales and marketing people service theirconsumers in a more efficient manner when they understand how consumers feel, think and experience you and your products and services. The interaction between the confidence of your marketingmessage and the confidence of a salesperson in his/herproduct or service sets the stage for how, when and why theconsumer will or will not purchase goods and services. Whena salesperson conveys confidence in his/her company, product and service, it delivers subtle nonverbal cues tothe consumer. That confidence, if perceived by theconsumer, as authenticity on the part of the salesperson, adds great persuasive power to the decision making of theconsumer. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence and scientific brainresearch showing that human emotions and the unconsciousplays a major role in consumer selection of products andservices. As our multi cultural society matures; it becomesevident that those companies and individual who what toadvantage themselves in sales and marketing must understandthe perception and mind of other cultural groups. That willrequire a better understanding of your conscious andunconscious mind - how memory, experience, and associatedemotions exert a force on the thinking and buying behaviorsof consumers. According to Gerald Zaltman, Professor of Marketing atHarvard Business School -- says that 95 percent ofconsumers' thinking occurs in their unconscious minds. Muchthinking surfaces through metaphors and consumers' memories, which are much more malleable than previously thought --which is why "confidence" adds great persuasive power.Artificial confidence does not work, but authenticconfidence will decisively engender a winning edge everytime when a salesperson truly believes in his/her productsand services. Fostering a shift in sales and marketing will require adeeper understanding of how pervasive the unconscious mindof the consumer works. Breaking into new ground requiresbreaking out of traditional thinking about features andbenefits selling. You need to enter into the mentalactivity of unconscious thoughts, feelings, memories, intentions, metaphors and just how they direct consumers'attention, influence perception and manipulate theirdecisions and actions. 6 key strategic solutions for sales and marketing. 1. Metaphor making in the mind of the consumer is apowerful fundamental that helps them make sense ofinformation received. When eliciting information from apotential client. I asked him what success felt like. Hismetaphor was; "Success feels like the power of driving aPorsche down the highway at top speed." Tying his metaphorto several service benefits closed the sale securely.Understanding and having collected a large range ofmetaphors consumers' use to think about you, your servicesand products enable you to sculpt a more effectingcommunication strategy and increase the potential of apurchase. 2. Improve your mental outlook about you, your products andservices. "You Are The Message." Eliminate negative cluesby preparing yourself with the confidence of a winner. Usefriendly language and genuine enthusiasm; reflectingenergy, trust and openness will open up the consumer whenprobing for their thinking and core metaphors. Assertiveand outgoing personalities, regardless of ethnicbackground, will outpace those people whose characteristicsdisplay shy and timid behaviors. 3. Design your office, retail store layout, waiting rooms, ads and brochures that reflect the Metaphors of yourmarket. Example of how one Doctors office focused onoutpatients care as being more nurturing and responsive.Patients view rooms with chairs lined up in rows as boring, frustrating and long waits. The office was rearranged topromote friendliness and privacy and was supplied withseveral TV's and a computer. The results were a decline inwaiting time complaints and patients felt they werereceiving a better quality of care, referral ratesincreased more that 18 percent and patient cancellationsdecreased by 23 percent. 4. Build into your oral and written marketing/salescommunications stories using metaphors gathered from yourmarket. 5. Probing the mind of your customer/client requires youuncovering the metaphors they use when thinking aboutpurchasing your products and services. Once you haveuncovered their metaphors you can identify some or most ofthe important and hidden drivers of your customer/clientbuying behaviors. 6. Develop an organizational climate and a workplaceattitude that strengthens sales and marketing creativity.This requires breaking into more boxes and not applying themetaphor that suggests you step out of the box. Breakinginto more boxes enables you to gather gleaning newknowledge and will help pry you loose of conventionalthinking. How you think is more important and will producemore productive and innovational ideas than what you think. Don L. Price: Coaching Minds to Succeed -- Author, Sales/Marketing & Positive Change Solution Provider, International Speaker & Mental Fitness Coach http://www.donlprice.com Invite Don to speak at your next Convention, Meeting or Retreat. Optimize your Power to Succeed with Strategic Performance Marketing/Sales and Success Coaching, for Reaching Higher Performance in Your Personal and Business Life. -- Seminars, Keynotes, Retreats, Consulting -- http://www.donlprice.com Subscribe FREE to Price on Success e-Newsletterhttp://tinyurl.com/5bz7w101 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91502
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Can Message Board Marketing Work For You? One of the things that makes the Internet fun is all the message boards and forums. You can sound off about nearly anything, get and give advice, and even build a relationship or two. Marry Your Marketing Plan Make a vow to keep up your marketing schedule in good times and not so good times.I have said it time and time again that marketing, no matter what type you choose, is a building process. Your Marketing Plan - Prerequisite to Success Marketing is a vital aspect of a business' operations. It has been said that, "Nothing happens in business until a sale is made". The Newest Marketing Course Certainly the newest earth quaking event in Internet Marketing insider circles is the release of John Reese's New, Traffic Secrets marketing course. I say certainly because I suppose to know what for you as Small marketer is more important. Marketing Effectively to More Than One Audience What's a small business owner to do if they have more than one audience to market to? Perhaps they need to attract clients but they also need to recruit business partners or vendors. Do they need two marketing plans or can they use one plan that tries to address both aspects?This is a great question that applies to many different types of businesses who find they need to market to more than one group of people. Grow Your Business By Getting Your Customers Buying From You More Often - 35 Ideas 35 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity:There are 3 ways to grow any business. Just 3:- Get more customers- Get more from each sale- Sell to each customer more frequently. Simple Marketing Strategies Versus an SEO Line of Attack! Each and every day those of us on the Internet are bombarded with information about Search Engine Optimization and all that goes along with it. For the majority of folks who are promoting a business online, this can often lead to confusion especially when it comes to understanding key words, meta tags and title tags. Promotional Mugs: Become a Part of the Legendary Coffee Experience When you want someone to like you, associate yourself with something that they love. Take coffee for instance. The 3 Unknown Steps of Marketing Success To be your own marketing expert you first need to know where to begin. It's no good learning how to be a good copywriter, if you don't know what medium is best to promote your work through. The Power Of A Story If you want your marketing to be effective, you absolutely must connect emotionally with your prospects. And one of the best ways to do that is by telling a story. Step by Step Guide to an SMS Campaign SMS is good for:? Short lead times and immediacy? Cost effective personalised communication? Ongoing 1 to 1 relationships? Automated data capture and compliance? Direct revenue and uplift opportunitiesBasic Rules for SMSIn addition to permission, there are five key elements that differentiate SMS marketing from traditional marketing. These are also the key success factors for its use. Mortgage Marketing to Realtors - Creating a Memorable Positioning Statement Mortgage marketing to Realtors involves having a crystal clear position that establishes credibility, so that you can develop a consistent dialogue with prospects and guide them at every stage of the relationship building process.Declaring your position begins with creating a Positioning Statement. How Well Do You Know Your Prospects? Find Out With This 10-Point Quiz It's crucial to know your prospects if you want to market effectively to them. Take this quick 10-point quiz to see how well you know and understand your prospects. Top 3 Reasons Why Your Headlines Fail Many professional copywriters estimate that the headline contributes to 80% or more of the success of any ad, article, or sales letter. One direct marketing expert goes so far as to credit the headline with 100% of the success or failure of any ad or sales letter, because if the headline fails to pull the reader into the main body of the ad or sales copy, then there is no chance of success! And they are both right! If your headline fails to perform its' function of getting the reader to read further into your copy, then the headline is fully responsible for the failure of the ad or sales letter. 25 Ways To Get More Business Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that you include Pauls name and resource box, and keep all hyperlinks as live links. Complete Article with Resource Box at end: Need more business? Who doesnt? Thankfully, new business is pretty easy to get, but you do have to do something to get it. How to Use Your Newsletter to Research Your Market A few decades ago, in the early days of automatic banking terminals, the management at Citibank made a somewhat reluctant decision to introduce automatic tellers. They were anxious to cut costs, but they assumed that customers would rather deal with human tellers, had they the choice. Two Methods of Marketing Using Joint Ventures Whether you're a contractor a local merchant with 150 employees, whichever, however or whatever, you've got to know how to keep your business alive during rougheconomic times. Anytime the cash flow in a business,large or small, starts to tighten up, the money management of that business has to be run as a "tight ship. Promotional Products As a promotions director for a lot of super markets, one of my key responsibilities was finding promotional products for the events we make. I worked with distributors to order, design and customize these items to promote the super markets image to the general public. How Do You Get Past The Gatekeeper? The best joint ventures are with people in your own network - those that already know, like and trust you. However, there's nothing to stop you from partnering with "cold" contacts - those you've never associated with before, and you would therefore need to build a relationship with. Keep Costs Down and Keep the Marketing Strategy Simple One of the biggest mistakes we could make as business owners is spending too much money on marketing our service or product without knowing how to market it correctly. I've seen plenty of money wasted on marketing that did not produce any sales and most home based business don't have too much money to waste when ramping up.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |