Business Growth Marketing

When Small Business Fails to Grow – Part 2

Here’s more to the story about the small shop that had to close due to competition from “the big boys”. The shop in question sold exotic and “funky” furniture pieces, accents, and other decorative items. It had a good location in a heritage building on a main street, and an energetic, smart business owner who had experience in marketing in the fashion business. They were making good use of Facebook to post photos and other information about their products. They had received a number of excellent reviews via social media and had received some local publicity. They were listed in most of the local directories of shops and businesses. The business owner was committed to environmentally-responsible (sustainable) wood items, and he recognized the value of running the business “on the cheap”, without unnecessary expenditures. This is a great foundation for a thriving small business.

In fact, this business DID have a unique selling proposition. It carried one-of-a-kind, exotic, unique, different, and unusual furnishing items. Its location positioned it to cater to an upscale customer who had money to spend. While the business may have had to pay a fair bit to import these items, the customers wouldn’t have minded the necessary markup due to the uniqueness of the products. Also, there were ways the business could have lowered costs on those pieces. The neighborhood in which the store was located had undergone an urban revival, raising the demographic to people who had disposable income and who were looking for lifestyle enhancements. (more…)

When Small Business Fails to Grow – Part 1

Came across this note from a contact on Twitter: “My friend just had to close his small shop. He said true retail is dead and that one just can’t compete with the big boys.” This saddens me. This shop closure represents a loss in many ways: loss of capital, loss of jobs, loss of a dream. And it didn’t have to happen. My guess, and it’s probably a good one based on the person’s comment, is that this shop owner didn’t know how to leverage his marketing assets.

He didn’t have a USP — a unique selling proposition. That is the BEST way to compete with the “big boys”. A small shop can differentiate in ways that are beyond the big box stores. It can offer more personalized service, including stronger customer relationships. It can offer niche products that are unprofitable for mass market stores to carry. It can add complementary services that enhance the value to the customer. (more…)

Systematize your Business Growth

When I speak with clients about the Core Four marketing steps that every business should undertake when looking for growth, part of my job is to help them understand that making marketing part of their business systems is vital to make their business a going concern.

Crafting a Unique Selling Proposition (USP), integrating that USP into all your marketing activities, setting up processes for customer relationship management (CRM), and establishing processes for joint ventures and alliances all contribute to making a marketing system that is repeatable, measurable, and effective.

If you do not have systems in place in your business, you are at risk. Here’s why. If your sales processes depend upon the knowledge of the business owner or the top sales person, you need those individuals in order to make a sale. Customers may buy because they like you, or because you have a business relationship with them. But if those people are not available, no sale can be made. By writing down the USP and ensuring it is communicated during every customer contact, you take the sales process out of the head of the business owner and the top sales person and make it into a system that anyone can use. (more…)

Hidden Marketing Assets

How much money are you leaving on the table by not fully utilizing all of your marketing assets? If you have a small- to medium-sized business, with revenue under $5 million annually, you probably have some hidden marketing assets that can be leveraged to increase profits, without spending additional money on advertising. These are assets in which you have already invested.

Advertising is a huge expense. If you know exactly how much business your advertising is bringing you, then that’s good! If you can point to the marketing activities that bring in the most revenue, then you’re doing a great job at targeting your market.

But if you have a sense that you could grow, or reverse a downward trend, then there’s probably money sitting on the table in the form of customer data and marketing strategies that are not being put to advantage.

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Grow your Business with an Up-Sell

A few simple words could be worth hundreds of dollars in increased revenue for your business. The most famous examples of up-selling, of course, are “Want fries with that?” from McDonald’s and in the movie theater “Do you want butter on your popcorn?”. Just asking if the customer wants another item gives them a chance to say Yes and adds money to that sale. Another obvious option is the up-size — “Would you like a Large for 25 cents more?”.

Nearly every type of business has the chance to offer an additional item. At the hair salon, if the customer is getting hair coloring, ask if they want their eyebrows and eyelashes colored as well. Salons already do a good job selling hair care products, but it works better if a similar item cannot be found elsewhere at a better price for comparable quality. If your car is in for maintenance, an oil change “while it’s on the hoist” is a good potential up-sell. It’s even more attractive if there is a discount from the normal price. (more…)

Four Core Activities for Business Growth NOW

In a New Year, we all like to revitalize our businesses and make plans for growth and improvement. This is a great time to look at how you are spending your marketing dollars and what you can do to get more revenue without increasing your budget.

When I go through an opportunity analysis with a client, I look at four main areas where they can see rapid business growth:

1. Their Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or extra value proposition.
   What this business does better than any competitor.
2. Integration of the USP into all marketing and business activities.
   The business and all staff have to be “living” the USP in everything they do.
3. Existing customer database. This is a huge, often-untapped resource
   in any small-to-medium enterprise.
4. Alliances and partnering. This is a very powerful way to grow.

The free, no-obligation opportunity analysis is basically an asset-finding interview, where we discover the many ways that the business is leaving money on the table. Along the way, we often find other problems that can be quickly solved to increase revenue. (more…)