How often has this question been asked by you, your boss, your sales manager, or someone else?

The only one who really knows the answer is your former client.

So, why don’t you ask this person why s/he no longer buys from your company? You might get lucky and find a client who is prepared to talk, but keep in mind that s/he has moved on and may not want to talk to you.

Also, your customer probably will give you only one reason, then thank you for your efforts and wish you well.

How much have you learned? Not much at all.

Recently, I lost a client for whom I had created a suc­cessful direct-mail campaign. This marketing effort had produced a nice 1,148.85% Return on Investment (ROI).

Later, I found out from my client she was upset with the slow response that she was getting from me regarding a marketing questionnaire for which she had paid. After answering the questions, my client wanted her market­ing analysis, but we just couldn’t seem to find a mutually convenient time to get together.

Ultimately, I gave her a refund on the questionnaire and we parted friends.

However, to this day I feel that there had to be some­thing more. Maybe there was a hidden “decision-maker,” someone else who had a final say about who my client does business with or who harbored some ill feeling. I felt very bad when I lost my client because I was hoping that there would be a long and profitable relationship for both of us.

Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the definite reason why someone chooses to stop giving you his/her busi­ness.

It can be hard to determine what complaints s/he had about you that led to the decision. Oftentimes, you are left with very little information. Working backwards to discover what went wrong can be very difficult.

However, if you are prepared to ask a new client for a lit­tle time after the first sale or, even better, after s/he has been buying from you for awhile, then you probably can determine the things that keep him or her coming back and buying from you.

After the relationship with your client gets past the new phase and is “long-term,” ask him/her why you get his/her business. There will be many reasons, not just one or two. You may have to probe a little, so ask some open-ended questions. I’m sure that it will be worth it.

Build a file or a database of the answers that you get—the reasons why your clients came to you, of course, but also (if possible) the reasons that they stopped using your competition.

Learn from their answers and discover what you can do to prevent clients from going somewhere else. You can benefit by using what you have learned with your next prospect. This information will help you to convert him or her into a new client.

What are you willing to ask your clients about?

7 Questions To Ask Before Writing Your Marketing Plan

Have you ever wondered how to streamline creating a marketing plan?

Can I show you 7 simple things to ask to help speed up creating your next marketing plan?

The first question to ask is, “Do I really need a marketing plan.”
You may not. If everything you are doing to bring in all the business you want, don’t change a thing. Even if you or your staff are bored with it. Let it keep profiting until it stops profiting.

Next ask, “What do I want a marketing plan to do for me and my business.”
Many marketing plans are written as part of a business plan. Also, marketing plans are written when looking for new or more funding. Most marketing plans are created as a road map, a guide to the next 12-18 months of marketing campaigns

Now, “What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?” Answer in a compelling way, why anyone would choose your products, services or ideas over all the other choices they have, including doing nothing.

Of course, you are making and “Irresistible Offer” every time you are in front of someone. Business and marketing are all about offers.  You give me this and I’ll give you that. Keep in mind that without an offer, no business transpires. Think of the many times you have seen an advertisment or marketing message and couldn’t figure out what was being offered. Don’t make this critical mistake. State exactly what you will be offering in your marketing plan.

OK, “Where is your ideal future client or customer?” Not just anyone, but who is the ideal fit for your products, services or ideas. Where can you find enough of your ideal future clients to be profitable? When you do find them, how much do you know about their hopes, aspirations, desires, fears, problems, etc? Take off your shoes and walk in your future clients shoes for a week and see, hear and feel what they see hear and feel. Then and only then, will you know their real problems.

I’m sure you’ve decided on which, if any, of the many of the different “marketing media options you’ll want to test.” Options like direct respons mailing campaigns, yellow page ads or email marketing. How about tele-marketing, newspaper display ads or Webinars? Networking, Social media marketing or pay-per-click marketing? We could go on and on and on, but you get the idea. Where are you going to spend your marketing budget?

Finally, as long as you are going after new clients, “How are you capturing their personal information?” I don’t mean their shoe size, waist size or height (but you may need them depending on what you are selling). Are you asking for their name, email address and snail mail address? If not, how will you communicate with them in the future?

Now grab a piece of paper and start answering these questions. Doing so will focus your marketing plan and anyone reading it will know exactly the what, where, when, who and how you are planning to market your business.

Ok, I admit it; there are more then 7 questions to answer.
You should have seen the ones I edited out.
I’ve saved them for another article in the near future, so keep checking back.

What to speed up the creation of your advertsing and marketing plan?

Coming in August http://www.FastMarketingPlan.com

What Makes Your Business, Products, And Services Unique?

It is very important to think in terms of what your business can do for the prospective customer.

A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is the first marketing effort that you should think about for your business. Your USP is written to separate your business from your competition. It does this by telling the world what is unique about the product/service that your business offers.

Your USP should create tension, desire, and urgency in the reader’s mind. Written in one clear, concise sentence, your USP should be the essence of what you are offering.

Your USP should come immediately to your client’s mind when s/he thinks of your products/services.

Can you provide three compelling reasons for doing business with your company? For example, “Fast, cheap, and good” or “Simple, easy, and lucrative.” Your USP then should answer these questions: “How fast?” “Why is it easy?” “What’s so cost effective about it?”

Your USP should be good enough to be used as a headline in any of your marketing efforts. The best USPs are written so tightly that not a single word can be changed.

Here are some examples of great USPs:
“Good to the Last Drop;”
“Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking;”
“Fresh Hot Pizza Delivered in 30 Minutes, Guaranteed;”
“Because So Much Is Riding on Your Tires.”

I bet that you can name the companies to which these USPs belong.

Does your business have a concise, unique, and effective USP?

Why should someone buy your products/services?

Dan Kennedy, the author of many marketing and business books, including How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneurs Guide (Plume, 1996), asks an important question: “Why should I choose your business/products/service over any/every other competitive option available to me?”

This question should help you to open up your mind and get you thinking about your USP. It should give your customers a complete answer to this question.

Does yours?

If you have a problem answering the vital question of why someone should choose to do business with your company, then it will be even harder for your clients and prospects to answer it. This will make it hard for him/her to buy whatever it is that you are selling.

Do you know if your customers realize why they should be buying from your company?

What are the benefits of your products/services?

Sometimes it’s hard to come up with anything unique about your business, so it may be easier for you to express the benefits that you offer to your clients.
H. Brad Antin and Alan Antin, the authors ofSecrets from the Lost Art of Common Sense Marketing (Antin Marketing Group, 1992), have devised an alternative to developing your USP.

They call it a “Statement of Benefit,” or SOB.

Ask yourself, what are the real benefits that people get when they buy from me? Dig deep. Try to identify the biggest benefit of, or the hidden benefits in, doing business with you.

Only after you learn the real reasons why people decide to buy from you can you package and present your information to your buyers from their own perspective. When you do this, you can crush the competition.

When your client or prospect is looking for an answer to a specific problem, your SOB should be able to answer it. Here are two examples of great SOBs: “When it Absolutely, Positively Has to Be There Overnight” and “Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand.” Your SOB should lead your client or prospect to you.

What “benefits” solve your client’s problems?