Double Digit Growth

 

Did you grow at 15.2% last year? The government says inflation was 7.0% last year but did they tell you they changed how they figured the inflation rate from the Jimmy Carter years? In Jimmy Carter criteria the inflation number is 15.2% not 7%. So if you are like most people and I'll bet you are, you most likely lost ground to inflation last year. If you were using Larson & Associates you grew last year. All Industrial Accounts grew by an average of 9.7% with a low of 6.4% growth and a high of 17.2%. So even we lost some and won some.  So what can you do? Get a Multichannel Target Marketing Program from Larson & Associates. Our average multichannel customer using the 3 legged stool method got 16.1%. MultiChannel Target Marketing offers you the potential to gain sales from existing customers or clients, and new sales from new customers faster then you can imagine. Today I am showing you an short overview of what’s involved and how direct marketing works. So what ia Multichannel Target Marketing? Multichannel Target Marketing is really quite simple. It is the building of targeted relationships with your customers and prospects. It works with different marketing platforms to put you in front of your target in multiple ways to be when and where they are. It means marketing your product or service to the people that are most likely to buy what you are selling where they are looking or how they want to look.   In putting a program together I find the best place to start is to build a list of all your customers, past customers and all those you might have send proposals out to. This is only the start. This list is your launching pad to your program.   Multichannel Target Marketing can be one of the most cost-effective ways of expanding your sales. It has the great advantage of being trackable. This means (unlike some other forms of advertising) you can measure the results, know who is reading and seeing your message. Will Multichannel Target Marketing work for your business? That is what we all want to know isn't it. Is this to key to unlocking new clients for you again and again? Targeting your direct marketing. The people most likely to buy from you are: Your existing customers Your past customers Prospects you have sent proposals to but did not act, yet Your specially nitch Because we don't use a 'shotgun' kind of approach. We bring a far more focused attack of target marketing so you get a higher value of return on your marketing investment. The more accurately you can nitch your customer, the better your chance you will have in finding more just like them. Answering these questions to segment the market makes your message even more direct. It allows you to focus maximum effort on the right people. Current Customers Because existing customers are the lifeblood of your business, it's vital that you keep ahold of them. If you don't someone might take them away. Someone like me if your competition hires me before you do. You know how difficult it is to lure a loyal customer away from a competitor - the same should apply to you and your customers. So, your first plan of attack should be directed at keeping your current customers happy.    Keep in touch at least once every 90 days. Depending on the life cycle of your product or service 15 or 30 days might even better. People like to feel special and individual. Show them that you know who they are. Tell them what is new and how they can best benefit from your services or products. If you don’t tell them, who will? I'll say it again incase you missed it, maybe I will tell them if your competition hires me before you do. It is your choice. Keep them informed about what is happening in your business. Offer them a special preview of your new product lines or services. Send updates of new products or services, details of discount offers ONLY for regular existing customers, reminders of your next appointment with them or a list of products when you know they will be buying based on past history. For example, a florist might send a product list before Mother's Day or Valentine's Day or their anniversary. If you have read Harvey MacKay;'s Swim With The Sharks you should already have this information. Right?  Think up fresh marketing ideas that no one else uses. Need ideas, ask me. That is what I do for a living. Side note ask about our "Pick My Brain" program if you need help here. Change the look of your email. Start a monthly newsletter. Let me have Janice or Elizabeth make a monthly phone call to all your accounts. But don't you ever sit your hands crying about how bad business is. Past Customers and Prospects sitting on a proposal Do you have any of these guys? Come on we all do. Open up your CRM and let me get to work. It is like one day I was making calls for a printing company and they turned over their past customer list to me. Talk about a horror story, but I called and found out that 1 out of every 14 calls were not so bad. I even talked to a past customer who went to another shop. They had gone through one of those jobs from hell. You know the kind that what ever they did would not work. They even did a complete press wash on a full sized web (you printers know that that costs) and it still did not come out right. Well I called and listened and listened, using my best Hank Trisler method of empathy got them back in the bidding process.  Same hold true for proposals sent out. There could be any number of reasons why it did not work out. Money? New management? Work flow? Buying a new plant? There is only one way to keep your hat in the ring and that is to keep in contact.  Larson & Associates can do that without you needing to use your valuable time on what might be a fishing expedition. New Customers For most of you this is what you come to a company like mine. You want more business! Do your homework first! As with any marketing exercise, you need to do your homework first. Start by figuring out who are you best potential customers. Nitch yourself and then narrow it down a little father. The more work you put in here to find the best fit for your company the easier it is for me to get you the kind of results you dreamed of. Next, set a budget for your direct marketing campaign as it all things there is a cost. Know it upfront before it bites you in the butt.  Then work through the rest of the start up questions:   What am you going to offer them? Do you have the stock/capacity on hand to meet possible demand and fulfill orders efficiently? You should also complete a break-even analysis to work out what increase in sales is needed to recover the cost of your direct marketing campaign and the overall cost of a new customer. And yes there is a cost for new customers, do you know what yours is. You! Yes You! Every business, large or small, can use targeted multichannel marketing. Quality databases and lists are the key to effective nitch marketing. It is less expensive and more efficient to collect names yourself or let us do it for you, but you can also rent or buy lists (I have done for clients but but the ROI does go down.) Doing it the slow way will take longer and it is better and stronger but if you need a super quick start it is an option or maybe you can work in alliance with other businesses that have good databases that blend with yours.  If you don't call me I can not help you so pick up the phone and call 847-991-1294. I'm waiting for you. We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better  Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101  Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-2194