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John Young articles |
Business image must match
customer expectations
In previous columns,
I’ve talked about understanding your target market and
your customers. We’ve looked at thinking small to win.
Marketing expert Philip Kotler tells us to find an unmet
need and fill it. Sounds simple doesn’t it? However,
finding that niche and then filling it to the
satisfaction of the consumer by aligning your image to
meet their expectations is a little more complicated.
More... |
Cocooning goes sophisticated, bringing wealth of
opportunities for alert entrepreneurs
It’s surprisingly
easy, in business, to miss the hurricanes – the trends
that will affect the market landscape
in major ways for years to come. You can be so consumed
by the daily tasks of launching or running a business
that you miss the brewing clouds signaling change –
important change – is afoot.
More... |
Coddling your customers
is worth the effort
Coddling customers can sometimes seem like an enormous
and expensive undertaking, but more and more
success-driven companies are looking for creative ways
to become more customer-focused.
More... |
Customer buying habits
are linked to personality type
I read with great interest a recent column by my
colleague Karen Martin, entitled Understanding
Customer "Buying Habits Key to Marketing, which set
the wheels upstairs just a 'spinnin'. Karen touched on
the concept of retailers and service providers needing
to grasp the sometimes obvious but often subtle buying
habits of different personalities.
More... |
Focus Marketing Efforts on the
Right Customers
In my last column I wrote about Deal Seekers versus
Affiliation Buyers. Deal Seekers, you might remember,
love to compare and negotiate as part of the buying
process. They're researchers who may visit a number of
stores or vendors as part of the buying decision.
Affiliation Buyers, on the other hand, hate shopping and
dream of finding a store they trust where they can rest
assured that they have made the right choice. They're
frequently repeat customers.
More... |
Marketers Must Manage
Word-of-Mouth
In my last column, I wrote about how word-of-mouth
spreads through network hubs and pointed out the
differences between expert hubs and social hubs. Some
networks are merely groups of normal every-day folks who
have a circle of friends and acquaintances who pass
information about products or services among themselves.
Usually there will be a nucleus or network hub. Those
who love to spread the good or bad news are sometimes
referred to as “lead users” or “opinion leaders”, and
these folks are “social hubs”.
More... |
Marketing makes money
Have you ever wondered
why some businesses seem to continually generate great
profits and show new growth year after year?
More... |
Meet client’s objections head on and close that sale
Over the
past few weeks, we’ve talked about strategic selling,
overcoming the fear of selling and building
relationships, but sooner or later in the sales process,
you’ll probably run into roadblocks you haven’t
encountered before. Have no fear! Regroup and probe your
client about what’s holding them back. Your use of
tactical problem-solving can help you overcome the
problem and get on with the sale.
More... |
More Power of Buzz
In my last column, I wrote about the most powerful force
in the marketplace. Everyone agrees that "Word-of-
Mouth" (WOM) is the best kind of positive marketing, but
most businesses have no idea how to make it work for
them.
More... |
Overcoming the Fear of Selling for Business Success
Is the
fear of approaching new people keeping you from selling
your stuff? Did you know that your business success is
largely linked to your ability to spread the word about
what you do best? Don’t fret anymore! Here’s the how-to
on finding leads, getting appointments and making sales.
More... |
Pricing is Vital to Company Image
In my last column I talked at length about creating an
image for your company. I wrote about understanding the
different socio-economic groups and determining the
image that will attract the consumer group you wish to
target as your niche. We learned how important it is to
know our prospects so well that we would recognize them
when they to walk through our door.
More... |
Savvy exhibitors make the most of trade show
opportunities
You’re manning your booth at the trade
show, and the crowds are pressing in. Your incentive
gifts are going like hotcakes, and you’ve got an
overflowing list of contacts with whom to follow up
after the show. A month later, most of the contacts have
materialized into sales. Word of mouth from those
customers leads to more sales. Reflecting on all of
this, you sign up for your next booth and decide never
to miss a trade show again.
More... |
The most powerful force in the
marketplace
As a marketing specialist, I continually work at
deepening my understanding of what motivates the
exchange of currency for goods or services. In recent
articles I've talked about different types of buyers and
what sets them apart from each other. I've written about
how advertising is primarily directed at the "Deal
Seekers" or "Switchables For The Reason Of Price Alone",
leaving the often neglected "Affiliation Buyers" to find
their way to the vendor they will be most comfortable
dealing with.
More... |
The Psychology of Spending
The
extravagant spending and unbeatable sales of the holiday
season may be only a memory now, but there’s a lesson or
two in the empty stockrooms and burgeoning purses of
successful retailers. There are many reasons why
consumers spend their hard-earned dollars—some are
straightforward, like satisfying our basic needs, others
are more psychological, like ‘cyclical buying’ and the
‘fear factor’. Knowing how and why consumers buy can
help you take advantage of sales and marketing
opportunities long after the Christmas binge has passed.
More... |
Understanding client needs: the secret to building a
solid sales relationship
If building relationships is what
selling is all about, then understanding client needs is
all-important to fostering the relationship.
More... |
"Webinars" have Become Essential
Business Tools
These last seven years as a workshop facilitator and
presenter of marketing concepts have proven to be both
enlightening and educational. Just about a year ago I
was asked if I would be interested in doing a series of
"webinars" for a national organization in the publishing
industry.
More... |
