Whatever business you are in, you probably have competition.  And, if you’re honest, some of your competitors will be better than you at delivering some products and services.  (And, of course, you’ll be better than them at delivering others.)

And therein lies the opportunity… your competitors can be your closest allies, if you’re all clear on what you offer or what you stand for.  And, more importantly, what you don’t.

Let me give you an example to illustrate… we work very closely with a company called AWOL Solutions; a catering and hospitality consultancy.  On the face of it, they may appear to compete with our marketing consultancy services in the hospitality sector.  But, in actual fact, they refer me a large proportion of my business, and vice versa, as we both know where one of us starts and the other stops.  Whilst I can assist with low-cost, low-risk marketing strategies, AWOL can advise on purchasing the right stock, menu selection and driving profitability through the kitchen.  We only overlap slightly – and it works in our favour.

Consider for a moment who you may be able to work alongside – and whether there are any opportunities to do that.  Who would you need to call and arrange to meet?  (I would urge you to pick up the phone now and open the door.) Co-opetition can be a fabulous source of business – and I hope it proves to be as successful for our new Government.

Threat to Business?

Music companies such as EMI and Warner Brothers viewed online music downloads as a threat and used legal sanctions to pursue those who downloaded.  The British Government has now outlined a bill to try and stop illegal downloads – but in a Talk Talk survey published this week, 83% of 18-34 year olds said they would defy the law and continue accessing music for free.

Over 7 million people are allegedly file-sharing illegally, according to a recent study by the British Phonographic Industry.  It’s estimated this costs the industry £200m a year.

Marketing Opportunity?

Whilst EMI and Warner Brothers viewed downloads as a threat, Apple saw an opportunity.  They created the iPod and iTunes to take advantage of the new market and last month, they celebrated their 10 billionth music download.

Increases in the number of legal digital music services also pushed income from online sales up by almost 73% to £30.4 million for PRS for Music.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but teenagers have always shared music.  I remember swapping CDs with my friends when I was younger and, if we found a really good one, we’d both buy copies.  And, in fact, in a recent report for Panorama, DJ Jo Whiley found that people who illegally download music are also the biggest buyers of legal music.  It seems they download and listen, share good tracks with their friends and then buy high quality versions – legally – just like we used to.  A survey conducted by Davos showed that 42% of illegal downloaders were listening with a view to buying and that Person to Person pirates spent an average £77 per year on legally acquired music, compared to just £44 shelled out by those who comply with copyright laws.

The Future..?

Online shopping has also changed the way teenagers are asked to buy music – gone are the days when we would save our pocket-money and head down into town.  With online downloads, teenagers now need to borrow a parent’s credit card – if they’re under 18, they can’t have their own.  Perhaps that’s one barrier that needs removing?  And perhaps that’s one opportunity for mobile internet?

There’s no doubt the digital economy has changed the music industry – but are companies really taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, or are they throwing their toys out of the pram – and with them the chance of even larger profits?

As local authorities struggle to cope with budget shortfalls, it’s expected job cuts may reach 20,000 across the UK.

Nottinghamshire Council announced yesterday that it planned to shed up to 1,500 jobs and Birmingham City Council is expecting to cut 2,000.  These cuts, says the Independent, are mirrored across the country.  (Visit http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cash-crisis-hits-town-halls-from-truro-to-aberdeen-1904125.html for the full story.)

So what does this mean for your company?

• If you only deal with the public sector, now could be a good time to look at alternative markets.  Are there organisations in the social, not-for-profit or private sectors who could use your product or service?  If so, what relationships do you need to build / what networks should you consider joining?
• 20,000 cuts means 20,000 job seekers; many of whom will have great contacts into the public sector and an understanding of tendering for work – could they be an asset to your company?
• If you are marketing your business to the public sector, they are highly likely to be focused on savings – if you can save them money, that may save jobs.  Focus on that element of your product or service and you may get a hearing – particularly if it’s a fast payback.
• A significant number of people losing their jobs are likely to set up their own businesses.  If you help start-ups, that could prove a great opportunity for you – can you perhaps be proactive and approach the local authorities to offer training and guidance to people who may want to take that route?

As always, opportunities abound in any ‘bad’ news – you just need to look harder for the positive outcomes sometimes.  Spotting these opportunities – and getting our customers in front of them, so they can take advantage – is what we do as marketing consultants – if you don’t have someone in-house watching for these opportunities, you should maybe ask for some outside help from a local marketing company.

This year may well have been the most difficult year of your business life; either in terms of your own business or the businesses of your customers and colleagues.

Christmas gives us an ideal time – the one perfect chance in the year – to say ‘thank you’ to our customers for their business.  And, since 67% of customers leave a company because they think you don’t care about them; this is your opportunity to prove you do.

The following are some simple ways you can say ‘thanks very much’

• Send a Christmas card
• Make a special trip to see them and say ‘thank you’ personally
• Send a ‘relevant’ gift
• Invite them to an event
• Give them a call to say thanks

If you aren’t planning to thank your customers this year, when will you?  Next Spring promises to be pretty tough and you will need your customers to help continue your success.

Just as you have seven seconds to make a first impression, so does your shop window and your sign.  But, how many of us simply put our company logo on our signs and mistakenly think that’s sufficient?  We have an amazing opportunity to share our marketing messages, but we choose not to.

Top Tips for Making the Most of your Corporate Signage:

1. Tell people who you are
2. Tell people what you do
3. Tell people why you’re good
4. Give them a way to contact you
5. Give them a call to action
6. Locate it where it can be seen by the most people
7. Illuminate it, so people can see it at night
8. Use your corporate colours to great effect
9. Ensure it matches your other branding
10. Use a professional

Your sign may be the first point of contact between you and a new prospect.  It’s a perfect opportunity to create an impression of your business, so don’t leave it to chance.  Have your signage professionally designed – by someone who understands both design and signmaking, so they can advise you on the best brand design as well as the best materials to achieve the look you’re aiming for.

You have just seven seconds and your first twelve words before someone has created an impression of you.  They then spend the rest of their time with you trying to find evidence to back up that first impression.  And, once it’s made, it’s almost irreversible.

So, if you were stuck in a lift with Richard Branson and had seven seconds to tell him what you do, what would you say?

This is “your one moment to impress or depress, depending on what you say and how you deliver.”   Rob Brown, How to Build Your Reputation.

Our top tips for a great elevator pitch are:

1. Tell people about you – not your job description (are you an accountant, or do you save people tax? Which introduction do you think has people wanting to know more?)
2. Make great eye contact when you’re speaking
3. Smile
4. Deliver your elevator pitch with passion and enthusiasm
5. Prepare – know what you are going to say
6. Have 7-second, 5-minute and 10-minute pitches prepared
7. Don’t forget to ask the other person about them (listen to their answer, so you can ask another intelligent question)
   
8. Be specific about who you are, what you do and what makes you different
9. Create a picture and tell a story if you can – give people your message in technicolour and put them in the picture
10. Be careful of invading people’s personal space

Someone probably asks you every day what you do for a living, but do you take full advantage?  Having elevator pitches prepared will mean you never have to miss that golden marketing opportunity.

‘Just six weeks to go’ I was cheerfully told in a local gift shop today.  Christmas truly is creeping up on us and, whatever your religion, it’s a fantastic opportunity for business.

For a start, it’s the one time in the year when no-one minds you writing to them to wish them a Merry Christmas.  Which presents a great opportunity to remind them about your business.  But, how do you make sure the memories last longer than the turkey and the money you spend is a worthwhile investment?

Showing Off’s Top Ten Christmas Marketing Tips:

1. Do send cards – people still like to receive them and email is no substitute
2. Use Christmas as a time to thank people for their business
3. Don’t forget your top referrers – you want to thank them too
4. If you’re giving a gift, make sure it’s relevant to the receiver
5. Try to give something that will last – or at least provide lasting memories
6. Branded gifts are great if they’ll be used constantly – but again, make sure they’re relevant
7. Do have a Christmas party – you’re staff definitely deserve a thank you this year
8. Remember your suppliers – a well placed thank you goes a long way
9. Could you throw a party for your customers instead of gifts, and use it as a networking opportunity for them?
10. Buy yourself something to celebrate getting through a tough year – and share it with the ones you love

Have fun and be prepared.

It’s fair to say that people are absolutely fed up with the recession, and the doom and gloom it’s brought.  We’ve started to see some signs of recovery and, feedback from the hospitality industry suggests this Christmas could provide an amazing opportunity for plenty of businesses.

Christmas party bookings are coming in thick and fast, and it appears people are set to have a huge amount of fun this party season, after a tough year – so how can your company take advantage?

Here are just a few of our top tips:

1. Create a pre-Christmas offer to encourage sales before the holidays
2. Ensure your Christmas menus / products are out early (now at the latest)
3. Contact all the people who bought last Christmas and ask for their order
4. Send cards to all your customers and prospects thanking them for their business
5. Hold a Christmas party for your staff and your customers
6. Thank the people who referred you business this year

Some of these may sound like small details, but it really is the detail that counts.  And, if you don’t thank your customers, referrers and suppliers, someone else may well do next year.

I’ve just started reading Brian Tracy’s ‘Advanced Selling Strategies’; a fantastic book that I can highly recommend.  It got me to thinking and the first chapter alone reminded me of some great sales tips that I’ve come to take for granted.  They are definitely worth repeating though, as they could make a huge difference to your sales conversions…

1. One of the most important tips focuses on attitude.  If you enter a ‘sales opportunity’ thinking you’re going to fail, or be knocked down on price, then you probably will.  You generally achieve the outcome you imagine, so focus on the positive and you’re likely to improve your success rate.
2. Consider yourself to be self-employed.  Whilst you may well be self-employed, you may have sales agents or employees who are not.  But, it’s only when you (or they) take responsibility as a business-owner for sales and targets, that conversion rates increase.
3. Be the best sales person you can be.  If your role in the business is sales, you need to learn how to be good at sales.  Read sales books, attend seminars, develop your skills and invest in yourself.
4. Take a consultancy approach.  The top sales people see themselves as consultants or problem-solvers, not sales people.  They have great relationships with their customers and find solutions for them – which may or may not be what they’re trying to sell.  They put the customer and their relationship with them first and the sales follow.
5. Become a doctor – examine, diagnose and then prescribe.  Leading sales people ask lots of questions.  And the better the questions you ask, the better the answers.  You get to the route of the customers problem, before you ‘prescribe’ a solution.  That way, you can offer a better solution – and are more likely to get the sale.

These are just five tips from a single chapter of Brian Tracy’s book.  If you’re responsible for sales, I would recommend reading the rest of it (I won’t be sharing any more of what I read, as that wouldn’t be fair, so it you want to benefit from Brian’s experience, you need to buy the book – it’s only £7.50 on Amazon!)  It would also be worth sharing this book with your sales people.