Most businesses I work with fall into one of three different situations…
(Say these out loud)
If sales are down, why? (Dig deep; this is where the sale is made. If they had a PROCESS in place they wouldn’t be talking to you in the first place)
Leverage Current Marketing Process:
(Look for low closing ratio, sub-par sales people, no follow-up, up-selling opportunities, packaging opportunities, current sales aides, staff allocation of time, reallocation of marketing dollars or redirection of marketing efforts to more profitable areas)
Past, Present, and Prospective Customers:
(Look for a customer base that is not being worked, inactive customers, lack of a data base, cross selling opportunities in the business, back end opportunities, re-activation opportunities etc.)
Joint Ventures Opportunities
(Look for relationships with other businesses, particularly in their in own data base, look for businesses who target the same type of customer or has them in their data base now, look for complementary and even competitive businesses that are near them.)
Media
(Look for the different media they use, do they have an objective, do they use the media for their strengths, do they budget enough to be effective, do they spray & pray, do they reach the right market, with enough frequency, is the message compelling, is donation confused with advertising.)
What current Media are you using?
Local or Neighborhood Marketing
(Look for ways to boost their image in the community if there is unique owner expertise. Ideas for seminars or workshops, maybe you could you write a press release? Are there community relationships that could be established, are there sponsorships or donations that would be appropriate?)
Direct Marketing
(Look for ways in which the business and its products and services could be marketed directly to the consumer through a letter, classified ad, infomercial, etc. See if this could expand the business beyond the local area.)
When should we schedule the next appointment?
