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"Mark has been working with me since May 2004 on many aspects of my business.
He is very approachable & offers me practical advice and his communication skills are excellent. I would have to say Mark gives his all and is determined to help his clients succeed".
Phil Goad, Owner, www.earth-garden.co.nz
"Mark Gwilliam and his team at Business Advisory Accounting & Tax Services has been my full service accounting department for many years for my companies.
I rely on the fast, friendly and accurate information they provide me to analyse and concentrate on running my business. Any information that I need is readily available. To eliminate the costs and hassles of in-house accounting, I highly recommend Mark's team."
Sina Mead, Engineering & Industry Training Ltd
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‘Marketing’ archive
29.09.2009
by Mark
Gwilliam
How you design your core message is probably one of the most critical and primary steps in marketing. It sets the foundation for creating clear, focused and specific marketing messages. The key message produces valuable strategies for many other marketing applications like your emails, brochures, your “elevator” pitch, sales letters and more.
Developing your core message takes you closer to market control, as your message grabs the attention of your target audience and affirms your branding and product positioning.
Conceive it with insight
Whilst creating your core message, concentrate on your customers’ problems and come up with practical solutions for them.
The reply to the next questions will unquestionably help you to do so.
Who is your market? You must understand your core audience, and the factors that stimulate them.
Why do they want your services? Recognise what their problems actually are, and how you may really help them.
Think about the following points to make your key message more effective.
Keyword analysis - Meticulously evaluate the keyword phrases that you want in your key message to impart your brand and value. And, make a list of words that you ought to keep away from.
Remember your sales cycle: Your key message must be suited to every part of your sales cycle.
Message testing: Assess it to guarantee that it works in all situations.
Train your teams: Everyone in your team who will use this message must be taught why you’re using it and its consequence.
After you have created your core message, it’s time to use it for all your marketing communications such as your website, professional biographies, introduction letters to potential referral sources, networking introductions, radio and print advertisements and even in media releases or while talking to the media.
At Business Advisory Accounting & Tax Services our core message is “helping you succeed” because that’s what we firmly believe in. Our process are designed to do that. Or staff are taught to achieve that. And our philosphy as soon as we walk into our office is that.
25.09.2009
by Mark
Gwilliam
Your customer service level is a significant measure of how well (or how poorly) you assist your clients.
Hence, it is a vital factor of how well your firm will do – especially how good you are at keeping clients and generating ongoing business. Indirectly, it also adds to your referral business – how well you assist current customers will sway their inclination to recommend you to their friends, family and associates.
The following are five strategies by which you can analyse your customer service level. This list is not exhaustive, but this ought to give you a good picture of how good you are at serving your customers.
Can you quickly fulfil orders through your stock?
If you display great customer service level, then you should easily be able to satisfy your customer orders. You should keep meticulous note of what your customers request and whether you have the item they are requesting at the time they place the order. If you are nearly always “out of stock,” then you are not serving your customers in the best way possible.
In a business with a diverse number of products, if you are able to complete the order for about 95% of the time then you are doing fine. If you are a business that offers only one product, 100% fulfilment of normal orders (barring unusually big orders) should be your aim.
Can you deliver your customers’ orders in time?
Another factor that you must assess to test your customer service level is the efficiency of your service or how promptly you are able to deliver the product or service which has been placed. If you are nearly always missing your target delivery dates, then your customer service delivery chain needs major work.
You ought to calculate the amount of customer orders that have been delivered on time to the overall number of customer orders. This estimate should be time-bound. For instance, for a month’s total number of orders, what proportion has been delivered on time? If you register that 95% of the time, your customers receive their order at the designated delivery time, then your company is doing fine.
Can you effectively resolve your customers concerns?
For excellent customer service, you need to respond to your customers’ inquiries and solve their concerns. A straightforward way of measuring this would be to assess the percentage of the amount of customer enquiries that have been successfully resolved to the total quantity of customer inquiries received.
Do you take action promptly to your customers’ mails/emails and phone calls?
How promptly you respond to customers is another means of assessing your customer service level. If you are able to reply to your customers inside 24 hours (less is even better) of getting their phone call, messages or email, then you are doing great.
Do you make the grade according to your customers?
Lastly, your customers themselves can inform you if you make the grade or fail when it comes to satisfying their needs. You can actually carry out a customer survey. The survey should focus on customer service problems so you can determine how well you are able to serve your customers from these customers’ point of view.
14.11.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
Almost everybody in sales has suffered price objections at some point.
However, most salespeople follow the wrong path and try to grab a potential customer by asking invasive questions like:
“If I can offer solution to your such and such problem, will you buy that one today”? or
“Holding back is the only thing that you can do”? or
“What can I do to earn you business”?
Hang on! Such manipulative sales tactics are the real reasons that make the prospective customers feel uncomfortable and they find themselves in a state of pressure to buy that product or services.
But the ultimate answer to this is to eliminate the objections altogether.
You can achieve this by focusing on ways that will help you meet the requirement of your prospective customers.
It is also a fact that the salesperson who asks more and more questions face lesser objections at the time of sale.
The reason is quite simple; that means that the salesperson reveal many potential objections during the early stages of sales cycle. Moreover, there are plenty of questions that are taken up by a sales person that will help you reveal potential objections:
“What is the time frame that you are working with”?
This question leaves a good effect when asked, which means that “When do you think you will buy”, this will help people by putting them on a self-protective side.
“Who else is involved in the decision process”?
This is the most important question that is usually asked by the salesperson. The main purpose of this question is to find out the other person who is involved in the decision making process.
So, if the final decision is influenced by someone else, then you can end your search, and try to close the sale even without his or her presence.
“Who else are you talking to?”
This is the most frequently asked question. This will enable you to understand what other companies or vendors are making their bids on a particular project. This will help you in differentiating yourself from your respective competitors.
“How was the experience?”
You can answer this question based upon your previous experience with your prospective customer.
You can now position your service or product to excel their experience at your competitors.
So, these are a few tips that will help you ask more pertinent information from your potential customers, which will ultimately allow you to position your service and product in a way that suit best your customer’s needs and demands.
21.10.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
Did you know that a good domain name can give a big boost to your online business?
In fact, it can help you take your online business to new heights. Almost every successful company, big or small, is using the Internet to reach its target customers and increase its website traffic. They create their commercial site; create awareness of their brand and market their products and services online.
Personally, I use a company that is based in Australia as I find their customer service and time zones suit me. Please visit here if you’re interested in using them.
But does that mean every entrepreneur who opens a commercial site succeeds in conducting online business effectively and in increasing his/her website traffic. The answer to this question is an emphatic “No”.
You have to be smart enough to grab the opportunity and make your presence felt over the Internet by enhancing website traffic. This will, in turn, give impetus to your onine business promotion campaign.
Now, how do you achieve this?
One of the most important means to increase website traffic is to create a catchy domain name. Choosing a good domain name and registering it properly can work wonders for your online business. Building a site does not suffice the purpose of online business promotion. There are lot more things that you need to do to achieve your company’s goals.
Creating a domain name is just one aspect but a very essential one. You need to understand creating any domain name won’t help. You have to come up with some unique ideas and decide on a unique name that is catchy and meaningful.
A Domain name represents your website address and can end with anything such as .com, .org, .biz, or .info. It is necessary to select a relevant domain name, something that relates to your company or its products. Many people think that they should keep the domain name of their site in the name of their company but top shot Internet entrepreneurs say that you should instead keep a name that reflects the main aspect of your company as in what your company deals in.
If Internet users get a quick idea as to what your company has to offer them or what is in store for them if they click on your link, there are greater chances of your potential customers visiting your site, thereby leading to sales conversion. Be clear in your thoughts and do not confuse your site visitors. It is good to maintain some mystery but don’t hide the thing completely.
Give a clue to Internet users as to what are the benefits they are likely to get if they see your website link and go through its contents. A good idea is to include search engine optimised keywords in your domain name, making your business promotion campaign successful.
Register several extensions of your website such as abc.com, abc.net and abc.org. This will prevent people from copying your domain name and using it to promote their online business. There are many websites that allow you to register your domain name. Conduct your study and select an authentic registrar.
Further information to help you with your marketing can be found at www.themarketingdude.com
10.04.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
This is another important concept. If you currently run one radio commercial or use only your business cards to market your business, you’ll have limited the number of customers you can reach.
By broadening your marketing efforts in several directions, you’ll be able to reach more potential customers – and be able to convince them that they should be purchasing your product or service.
Mix your marketing efforts up. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in a rut of simply sending out direct mail or advertising through an e-mail marketing campaign. Try something new.
Maybe you could send out a promotional item such as a pen once a month, and then follow up with a direct mailing that advertises a discount on your product or service the following week.
Keep things fresh.
People will see you as innovative – after all you’re always doing something new and they’ll never know what to expect next. This will give your business a reputation for professionalism and creativity, two important traits to customers.
Your clients don’t want to work with stuffy businessmen, but rather creative entrepreneurs who put thought into their customer’s needs and wants.
Marketing can take time to pay off.
However, you will notice that some efforts are more effective than others. Don’t waste your time and, more importantly your money, on marketing tools that clearly aren’t working. If your television commercial hasn’t brought in a single customer or made the phone ring, cancel the ad and book a radio spot instead.
Remember…You will have to experiment to find the best combination of marketing strategies and tools for your business.
28.03.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
Before you begin, you must understand one thing. No matter how much money you spend on your marketing strategy, your attempts will be fruitless if you are marketing to the wrong audience.
Before you implement any marketing strategy, first identify your target client.
Determine who wants and needs your product or service. This will ensure that your marketing efforts have a greater chance of success.
You may have already defined your target market. You may have identified your clientele as middle class, 35-55 year olds. This isn’t enough information. You need to know your client intimately.
Learn their education level, their location, and their hobbies. Find out how your clients spend their money. The more you know about your target market, the better able you will be to tailor your marketing efforts.
Your marketing should speak directly to the audience and move them to use your service or purchase your product.
A survey of your target market will help you gain a better understanding of your clientele. You can make your product or service better, and improve communication with your customers by understanding their needs and desires.
Moreover, by listening to your potential customers and acting on their suggestions, you give the client a chance to put their personal mark on your business. What better way to motivate them to give your product or service a try?
28.02.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
Too much “Hard Sell” can mean “No Sale”. With the proliferation of advertising both online and off-line, customers have grown wary of products or services marketed through traditional sales methods.
Entrepreneurs of today must therefore learn how to invest more time and money in soft-sell methods.
Here are some real secrets to making your customers want to give you their money.
Share Information
Take a look at the web, and you will notice that most corporate sites invest considerable resources on disseminating information to their target market.
The information that these companies provide is geared not only to give customers a better idea about the products and services offered; they also help these companies build their brand as well as their credibility in their particular industry.
Notice, too, that one of the growing trends in television commercials is the use of controversial, funny or shocking information to grab viewers’ attention.
Statements like “9 out of 10 women suffer from…” or “the most common defect of…” give information about a topic of interest to the market being targeted. Use this strategy to educate consumers and position yourself as a credible (and thus quality) supplier of relevant products or services.
The Human Touch
You must also improve your relationship with your customers. Most businesses –especially those which are hard to differentiate from their competitors – lose a lot of customers because they lack the will or the means to maintain contact with their customers.
Invest some of your time and money to set up a system which will let you readily and regularly communicate with prospective and past customers. This will help you capture a larger share of your market, and this will motivate your customers to spend more money on your business.
Lower Perceived Risks
For the regular customer, every purchase decision involves a delicate balance between risks and benefits. What happens if the product doesn’t work? Will they replace the defective product with a new one? Will the product work as advertised?
These are just some of the questions that are usually raised whenever a customer contemplates making a purchase (especially a big one).
You should strive to lower your customers’ perceived risks. Offer money-back guarantees or product warranties; showcase testimonials from satisfied customers or industry awards for product quality.
These and other similar methods will assure your customers that you will always stand by your promise or your unique selling point. When customers are less wary, there’ll be less resistance to your products and services.
These are just some of the things that you can do to become irresistible to your customers. Learn more by subscribing to our marketing newsletter.
28.02.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
Having a business without a Unique Selling Point or USP is like running for office without a defining slogan. The result can be similarly devastating: you’ll lose. Your business needs a USP. It’s your business’ unique promise to customers. It cuts through miles of marketing red tape and categorically tells your customers that “this is who we are and this is what we can do for you that any other company cannot”.
Lower Conversion Rate
Having no USP almost certainly means a lower conversion rate for your ads. Your Unique Selling Point is the central marketing message upon which the customers you are targeting will focus; it will be the pivotal factor in converting potential customers into buying customers.
To illustrate, imagine that you are a typical customer who has become tired of pizza delivery delays. Wouldn’t an ad for a pizza place that says “delivered within 30 minutes or your money back” compel you to try out the company that made this claim?2.
Less Memorable
People tend to think of businesses and brands the way they think of other people. Some are hard to remember and yet others (the noisiest, the most trustworthy, the most artistic, etc) are very easy to remember because of their defining characteristic. In the same way, businesses that are able to invoke emotional responses from customers through a defining characteristic are usually remembered and get referred to others.
Loreal’s “because you are worth it” manages to cut through the price issue by addressing its customers’ need for quality and their desire to pamper themselves and to feel good.
Less Focused
Not having a USP also decreases the focus for your business and leads you to try covering all the bases – to try satisfying all of the implicit and explicit promises you make to your customers. This stretches out your resources for less the market share.
Consider Head & Shoulders’ USP “you get rid of dandruff”. By focusing on the dandruff issue, Head & Shoulders is able to concentrate all of its resources in delivering this single promise. It is also able to corner a specific niche or portion of the shampoo-buying market. Indeed, being generic hurts your business. Stand out from the crowd through your unique selling point. Start by reading about how you can formulate a USP for your business. Resources abound online; marketing newsletters are especially helpful in this regard. If you are finding it exceedingly hard to create your own USP, seek professional marketing help.
27.02.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
Hitting the right prospect-rich vein in business is like being given a get-out-of-jail-free card in Monopoly or a toll-free pass at the expressway. In other words, it’s a fast, free ride to a successful business outcome. Just like a vein of gold, one prospect will lead to another until you’re swamped with orders, customers and profits. The question is: how exactly do you find such prospects?
Prospecting involves casting your net far and wide to determine where the more promising opportunities lie. Think of it as a market reconnaissance mission. Far from being a hit-or-miss exercise where you cannot easily anticipate how well things will go, the art of prospecting is actually a very precise way of determining the most efficient use of your marketing dollars.
Here are some tips in prospecting:
Look before you Leap
Prospecting involves time and money. To avoid wasting both, you need to do some research beforehand. Read local trade magazines and newspapers. Pinpoint the organisations, areas, churches, groups, and networks to which your target market belongs.
Make sure that your target customers truly belong to these groups before you finalise your prospecting plans. Furthermore, contact your friends and acquaintances to see if they can introduce you directly to your prospects.
Systematise
The goal of prospecting is to gather as much useful information using the least amount of resources possible. Thus, you need a definite prospecting plan outlining your prospecting dates, locations, activities, and goals. This will let you cover the widest area possible and the greatest number of prospects without spending more than the necessary amount of time and money.
Careful planning, moreover, will let you prioritise highly productive business activities.
Generate Impact!
Of course, prospecting won’t be very effective if you can’t create a favourable impression on your prospects. To ensure that you are remembered or referred, briefly explain what you do and offer in the most interesting way.
For example, if you’re in the construction business, you can provide energy-saving construction advice to people who are planning to build their own homes. Save your sales slides in your handheld device, so you can do an impromptu presentation whenever an opportunity arises.
Lastly, don’t forget to distribute professional-looking business cards containing pertinent information – the services your offer, your contact numbers and a website they can check for more information.
Remember one more thing. Be creative! Create opportunities where apparently none exists. Turn PTA meetings, wedding receptions, grand openings, and other similar activities into prospecting opportunities. As an alternative, you can let a professional “mine” your market for you; you can also purchase a leads list from a reputable list company.
24.02.2008
by Mark
Gwilliam
What’s the most important part of any ad or sales letter?
The headline, of course.
What’s the hardest part to get right?
The headline.
That’s correct. The headline will make – or break – your ad and it’s the toughest part to write. Until now, that is.
Instead of struggling to create a headline that will get you the action you need, what if you could simply answer 4 simple questions and press 1 button to get 100 killer headlines? And… wait… what if it only took 17 seconds?
That’s okay. I didn’t believe it either until I saw this amazing software in action. Check out this online video to see Shawn Casey actually create 100 superb headlines:
We’ve all struggled to create great headlines. Some work. Most don’t. What an exercise in futility. You can waste so much time and energy. And who can afford to hire a copywriter. Forget it.
That’s why I was so excited to discover this software. Anyone can create killer headlines – no experience necessary.
You’ll experience new feelings of calmness and control as open the software. You’ll enjoy the simplicity of entering short answers to 4 easy questions. You’ll be astonished as you push 1 button and create 100 killer headlines.
And the best part is… you’ll love the results you get when these new headlines get your ads the response you deserve.
So…
Stop struggling with headlines.
Stop settling for mediocre results.
Stop doing things the hard way.
Grab your copy of this software now and enjoy new success.
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