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5 ways to capture customer insights

When I first visit with a new client the first thing I ask is, "Do you talk with your customers?"  I am often surprised to hear that many don't.  This is one of the first check points or pulses in marketing  as this insight is pivotal to how you can strategically manage your business. This feedback shapes everything and so here are 5 ways to capture customer insights.

1. Ring your customers for a chat. Every one likes to be made feel valued and so to ringing your customers and asking them how everything is going and if there is anything they need or you can do to improve your service is a no brainer. Most small businesses don't do it. Make a time in your diary for every month to call at least 5 customers and ask them these questions. You will find the answers shape your business and open up opportunities.

2. Have a database. This is a crucial investment. Once central place to collect information about your customers. The more  you know about them the more you can tailor your services to their individual needs.  There are lots of great CRM products out there to hold your customer information but a simple excel sheet with their details, name, phone number, email address and what they have bought from you is a good start. You can then begin to segment your customers based on different criteria, how much they buy from you, $ value, products or services they buy. This information can then be useful when you start talking with your customers using other social medias including, blogs, newsletters, or lead generation campaigns.

3. Ask your staff for customer insight.I was chatting about this the other day with a client and we decided to put a big whiteboard in the middle of the open office space with Happy Customers, Upset Customers and then people could come and write down what they were hearing and seeing. This gave the CEO much greater visibility to customers and gave the staff some ownership over the customer satisfaction of their clients. So set up some forum where staff can discuss customer issues, good and bad.

4. Do some research. Research these days can be very quick to do and economical. There are a lot of free survey tools that allow you to create surveys quickly ie surveymonkey. When you need to test and idea, get some feedback then perhaps try a survey to your existing cliental. Very quickly you can get a feeling whether you are on the right track and as long as the survey is not too long, they can feel good that they were consulted.

5. Invite customers to your planning and brainstorming sessions. It is sometimes worthwhile to have a customer or a a customer advocate like a marketing consultant involved in your planning sessions for the business to ensure that the customer remains central to the focus of your buisness. This holds the business accountable and by having an actual voice at these forums ensures that the customer is really represented. Other option is to hold a focus group just with your customers around an important decision that you are going to make with the business, to test the concept or pilot it before you commit to it.

So there you go, 5 simple but effective ways to talk with your customers. Get started today, and let me know what you uncover...

10 tips on how do we get qualified traffic to our website or blog or other social media

May 3, 2009
Tips from Ty Downing.

1. Good content - original content. Authoritative content. Your ideas, your words, your audience. No matter where you are writing this, website, blogs, e-zines, ads, social media (twitter, facebook, Linkedin). All of these are getting index and crawled by search engines.



2. Don’t copy. Check this on www.copyscape.com. If you do Google will abandon your site and you will rank lower.

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/wordpress/dCcq
3. For every 100 words you would use your key word or phrase. Google looks for these things and will list you on the search engine. This helps promote your ranking within the engine.



4. Images - tag them. Put a key word phase in this Alt tag under the image. So the key word would be on topic. This also helps search engine rank your content higher in their list.



5. Blog is a potential source of referral for your other communication methods. Search engines loves fresh content. So a blog is a great idea. Within your post link back to your main website. So you can cross market and you can anchor this link into both of your sites and that stream helps you get greater visability on the search engines. You can benefit from your hyperlinks not just others.

6. Track what is working with Googleanalytics and run it on each page. Then you can tweek things in real time. See if your conversion pages are working. Are people bouncing off your page immediately. Bounce rate: land on a page and then how long it takes them to leave. If your bounce rate is high then you are ranked lower in google search engine. So measure and review. Average bounce rate is 40%.



7. Track key words. SEObook is a free tool that allows you to do this. Word tracker - paid service. $59 key words in your content. Another one is googlesktool

8. Title tags and meta tags. Title tag is the title words at the top of you site. These should keep to your key message (70 characters). This is the most important text on your page as this is what the search engine uses first. Meta tag -(160 characters - your positioning or description). This should be done on each page for the best indexing and thus finding by search engines.



9. Backlink - this is a website is linking to you. You can return the favour by doing some outbound links. Backlicks - the more you get the higher up you go in the search engine crawler and ranks you higher.



10. Need a consistent home page address. Keep it consistently represented, one version of your key page. You can fix this by visiting Ty blogsite. This effects your search engine ranking.

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Treat Customers Like Family

Really liked this article on the Service Excellence website http://www.serviceexcellence.com.au/

After a careful marketing strategy, your customers are finally pursuing you. They want your goods, they want your services – but how do you know you have a stable relationship and not just a bad blind date? You want your customers to return in droves, if for no other reason than because, according to the Better Business Bureau, gaining the trust of a new customer is five times more expensive than continuing a relationship with a current one. The best way to maintain a successful relationship is to stop treating your customers like customers and start treating them like…well, like family.

Let’s say your customer walks into the store for the first time. Do you remind them of a shark pursuing its prey? Or are you friendly and helpful? Customers will respond better if you take the time to learn a few things about them – their name is a great start – and create a human connection before moving on to business. Compliment their clothes. Ask about the sports team whose logo they boast. Even a comment about the weather will help move you out of the rank of the greedy salesperson and make you more of a person. Remember details they mention – their kids, their spouse, their goals. Are they purchasing the product because they are tired of fighting with their teenagers? Can you sympathize with a brief sentence about your own? Make the customer an individual, treat them like someone important. Actually listen to them, the way you listened to your uncle at your last family gathering. Then, when your customer leaves, take a few quick notes for future reference.

Once the transaction is complete, do what any polite family member would do after a party – write ‘thank you’ notes. I’m not talking about a bland, one-size-fits-all printout, though this will still outperform most of your competition.. Take a few minutes to scribble a handwritten note, only three to five lines long, thanking them for choosing your business. Remember those personal notes you took? Mention one. For instance, “I hope your children really enjoy your new Tivo, and you finally get to watch your own shows!” Or, “I hope the fishing rod you purchased helps you bag the biggest one on the dock when you go to the lake this weekend.” Individualize it. Ideally, once you have made the sale, you can take a minute or two to scribble the note, while things are still fresh in your mind. Your customer will remember that you went the extra mile, and will most likely feel the thanks are sincere – making them not only more inclined to return, but also more likely to spread that good karmIf you really want to take them by surprise, give them a call. I don’t know about your family, but my mother loves to hear from me – and she especially loves to tell me what I did wrong. After a few days, ask them a few brief questions regarding your service. The key phrase: “What could I have done to make you more satisfied?” Make sure you remember what they said and learn from it, too. If there was a serious complaint, make sure you follow up on it to solve the problem quickly and efficiently, with the ultimate goal of customer satisfaction. Outsource it to your company care department if you must, but imagine how your customer would feel if you called and really did follow up by asking how many fish he caught. He would think, wow, that salesperson really does remember me and really did listen!

Next on your list, maintain a file your customer. Make a note of when they return to your store, what they buy, and any other comments they made. Then, cater to their interests. If your fisherman said that he would be looking for a part for his boat in the future, keep an eye out for when an appropriate one would come in. If your Tivo buyer mentioned he would have to get a DVD burner to permanently record their favorite shows, give them a call or send them a letter when the item goes on sale. Better yet, give them a discount before you give one to the rest of the general public – and let them know it. After all, wouldn’t you give your brother first crack at saving money?

Periodically, send them a letter – again, handwritten is best. Remember all those letters to your grandparents? Enclose a flier with a brief note: “I thought you might be interested in this new kind of bait being developed, since you don’t like the sliminess of the other brands.” Touch base with them once a quarter. In this high tech world, databases abound that will alert you when you haven’t contacted someone in three months. Keep your name and your concern at the front of their mind, and when they shop, you will be at the front of theirs.

People would rather buy from someone they know, someone they believe genuinely cares about them and their needs. I’m not talking about forcing a relationship to increase your profits, although that will certainly happen. Instead, try to genuinely meet the needs of those you come in contact with. Help them solve their problems. Don’t forget about them once you have their money. Foster a good relationship, rather than a sales pitch. You will find that your customer will share his positive thoughts with others, creating an extended family of customers for life.

How to attract visitors to your site?

Great practical article of how to attract visitors to your website.



http://www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/ebusinesscolumnist/article80220.html

74% of small business have no marketing plan!

Carolyn from Connect Marketing did a recent survey of small businesses with some interesting results.

The survey highlighted that 89% of small business owners considered marketing as either their first or second priority, yet an astonishing 74% said they did not have a marketing plan! Failing to plan is planning to fail and a well thought out plan that has at least six strategies working in tandem is the only way to generate a consistent flow of quality leads, month in and month out.

Here are the findings:

The survey was completed by 149 small business owners with a breakdown as follows;
53% were solo operators
13% employed 1 other person
30% employed between 2 and 20 people
4% employed 20+ people


TOP 10 FINDINGS ON THE ‘STATE OF MARKETING’ FOR SMALL BUSINESS
62% of people associated the word ‘marketing’ with either selling, advertising or branding.

44% said marketing was their FIRST priority and
45% said it was their SECOND priority.
In total, a whopping 89% place marketing in their top two priorities in their business!

Yet… 74% said they don’t have an up-to-date written marketing plan that is regularly followed!
Of those that don’t have a plan, 65% said they feel they need one with many stating they don’t know how to go about it.

44% said they don’t have enough KNOWLEDGE of marketing.
40% said they take a scatter-gun APPROACH to marketing.
Only 14% said they get the RESULTS they would like from marketing.
64% said they don’t have enough MONEY to do marketing properly.
56% said they don’t have enough TIME to do it properly.
50% said they don’t have good PEOPLE or resources to help them with marketing.

MORE DETAILED FINDINGS
What are the three most common words that come to mind when people think of marketing? Sales 25%
Advertising 20%
Branding 17%
Other 38% (all one off words where no pattern could be identified)

Other less common words associated with marketing were; promoting, money, cost and creativity. For me these findings confirm that there is generally a misperception about what marketing is. Marketing is traditionally about the 4 P’s - having the right Product at the right Price at the right time, in the right Place being well Promoted. Advertising and selling are but one component of the last P of marketing. More recently I have defined marketing as the ability of a business to generate a consistent flow of quality leads which ultimately comes from getting the 4 P’s right and through having a clear customer value proposition and points of difference.

What priority would you currently give marketing in your business?
First priority 44%
Second priority 45%
Third priority 9%
Minor priority 1%
Not a priority 1%
It’s not a surprise that marketing has come up as such a high priority for business owners in today’s slowing economy. I suspect businesses that have traditionally just relied on word-of-mouth referrals without having to focus on marketing as a ‘true function’ in their business, are now finding that it has become of much greater importance due to a slow-down in new business enquiries and sales. Given all the other functions that a business has to perform (ie HR, IT, Finance, Sales, Service etc) the fact that a whopping 89% placed marketing as one of their top two priorities says that we need to focus on giving small business owners practical, low-cost, consistent solutions that can be easily implemented - and NOW!

Do you have an up-to-date written marketing plan that you regularly follow?
No 74%
Yes 26%

If you don’t have a plan, do you feel you need one?
Yes 65%
Maybe 27%
No 8%
Many people stated they didn’t have the time, money or resources to get a plan and that they didn’t really know where to start to get one.

Respondents were asked to rank the current state of marketing in their business.

Do you have enough knowledge of the best ways to market your business?
No - 44%
Yes - 21%
Maybe - 35%
Knowing what marketing NOT to do, is as important as knowing what to do. Successful business owners are knowledge seekers in all areas of their business, especially marketing.

Do you tend to take a scatter-gun APPROACH to your marketing?
No - 40%
Yes - 40%
Maybe - 20%
A marketing plan helps avoid the scatter-gun approach. It just needs to be simple and focused with a minimum of 6 prongs working together to generate required leads.

Do you get the results you want from your marketing?
Yes - 14%
No - 46%
Maybe - 40%
Marketing is a numbers game. We need to be completely aware of the cost per lead and conversion rate so we can measure the ROI of every marketing activity.

Do you have enough money to do marketing properly?
No - 64%
Yes - 13%
Maybe - 23%
I recommend investing between 7% - 10% of your target revenue in marketing.

Do you have enough time to devote to marketing?
No - 56%
Yes - 30%
Maybe - 14%
If you can outsource the non-revenue producing areas of the business to focus on the revenue producing areas such as marketing, selling, servicing clients and product innovation, that would be a good start. I recommend spending at least 6 to 8 hours a week on marketing.

Do you have good people to help with marketing?
No - 50%
Yes - 26%
Maybe - 24%
There are many innovative ways to source good marketing and business development support. Consider establishing formal distribution alliances or employing commission sales people and agents or getting some University students on work experience. In summary, it appears there is a fair degree of pain around marketing, with people consistently feeling they don’t have enough money, time or resources to do it properly ultimately resulting in a huge degree of disappointment in return on investment. Working to a simple plan and annual marketing calendar and then dedicating some resources and time to it, is a good start. Then the key word is PERSISTENCE to generate a steady flow of new business leads, month and month out, rather than having the peaks and troughs so many businesses experience.

When it comes to using online resources or websites to help with marketing which ones do you regularly use?
No-one 28%
Connect Marketing 18%*
Google 18%
Flying Solo 8%
Twitter 6%
Facebook 6%
Other 16% (family, friends, business associates and other e-resources etc)
The findings indicate there does not appear to be one single trusted source where small businesses can get all the education and tools they need when it comes to helping them market their small business.

Five steps to building brand equity for the small business

by Mike O'Toole


Instinctively, every small business owner understands the importance of brand equity, even if they may not be able to define the idea. Marketing-speak aside, brand equity is how your customer recognizes why you are different and better than the alternative.


Brand equity is built on that customer's direct experience with your product or service. This experience, repeated over time, creates equity or value in your brand. And it serves as a shorthand in the buyer's mind that separates you from everyone else.


Brand equity is what creates loyalty that carries beyond price or the occasional product or service bump in the road. It is the quality that motivates your customers to recommend their friends or colleagues to you.

Everyone wants brand equity. But building it, when you are more likely to qualify for the Inc. 500 rather than the Fortune 500, can be a puzzle. Particularly when the role models for brand equity are global icons like Coca Cola, Volvo, or Sony—hardly your peer set.
The good news is that the path to building brand equity is clear. Here are five simple steps you can take to get started:


1. Clarify your position
The first step to building brand equity is to define your positioning: the single thing your company stands for to your customers. Single is the operative word here. Good positioning forces hard choices.
To define your brand position, get the key leaders in your company together. Decide what makes you different and better than your competition. This might sound blindingly obvious, but most small businesses are too busy responding to customers or making payroll to do a lot of introspection.
You don't need an agency or consultant to get started. There are a couple of good exercises out there that you can do on your own. A simple one that I like is the Positioning XYZs:
"We are the only X that solves Y problem in Z unique way."
Where...
X is the category of the company, product, or service or other offering you've chosen to own.
Y is the unmet need of your target audience.
Z is the differentiation, advantage, or key positive distinction you have over your competition.


2. Tell your story
Clear positioning is critical, but positioning statements are internal touchstones, not external expressions. Your next job is to make it interesting, to imbue the rational positioning with emotion.
All brands are stories, and a good way to get started is to document and share your best corporate stories: the founding insight of the company, the times you went to extraordinary lengths to take care of a customer, or the background behind the big product breakthrough.
The good news is that with ubiquitous broadband access and Web-based applications, it is within every company's grasp to share these stories more broadly through rich-media video and audio.
B.Good (http://www.bgood.com/), a small restaurant chain in Boston, has done this well. It's a burger joint that promises "real food," positioning itself against the typical fast-food burger and experience. The real food story begins with the stories of the "real people," the founders whose corporate values are based on their experiences growing up at their uncle's restaurant. You're reminded of these stories when you're in the restaurant or checking store hours online.


3. Bring it to life
Once you have the story, you need to bring it to life. Make sure that the way your company looks and feels to the outside world matches that truth. This leads to questions about your corporate identity: Do the basics (starting with your name and logo) make the impression you want? And your broader system for communicating to the market: Web site, brochures, your retail environment.
A client of mine talked about his Web site as a "corporate veil" that obscured what made the company special. Does your corporate identity reveal the best truth about your business, or does it hide it?

4. Start building brand before they buy
Think beyond the transaction. Brands begin at the transaction level, but the brand experience goes much deeper. The opportunity to create a brand impression starts long before the buying decision. The principle is a simple one: Give away an artifact of your brand for free. In the professional services world, this means a taste of your service or your intellectual property. Here are two creative examples:
Igor (http://www.igorinternational.com/) is a naming consultancy based in San Francisco. It has built a methodology—and a client list that rivals those of much-larger branding agencies. That methodology is laid bare in a 100-page guide to naming that it gives away—without any registration requirements—on its Web site.
This move is both generous, in the spirit of Web content "wanting to be free," and also incredibly shrewd. The naming guide is rich, detailed, and outlines a very clear process for naming. Igor understands that giving away IP (intellectual property) doesn't cost it business—but it is its lead business generator.
It doesn't have to be just IP. Peet's (http://www.peets.com/), the coffee retailer, allows customers to send their friends an "eCup," an email redeemable for a free cup of coffee. This is an ingenious way to enable the fiercely loyal customers of Peet's to promote the brand themselves.

5. Measure your efforts
Here are a few direct ways to measure the progress of your brand:
Ask your customers. Survey a subset of customers, prospective customers, and (ideally) people who chose a competitor over you. You'll be surprised at how candid people will be about your strengths—and your weaknesses. Make sure you ask the most important question in any customer research: Would you recommend us to a friend or colleague? Research (check out www.netpromoter.com) has shown that the willingness to recommend is the most important indicator of brand health. This research can be done quite cheaply online, using free or near-free tools like KeySurvey (http://www.keysurvey.com/) or SurveyMonkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/).
Check your search rankings. I don't know all of what Igor measures, but I do know it fares very well in what is perhaps the most important measure of them all: organic search results. Type "product naming" on Google, and chances are you'll see Igor come up in the top three listings (the earned ones in the middle, not the paid ones on the top or side).
Monitor the social media conversation. In most categories, consumers are holding a very active and candid conversation about the brands they love and hate. Check out what they're saying about you in blogs, bulletin boards, and vendor-rating Web sites (http://www.technorati.com/ or http://www.yelp.com/ are good places to start).