Category Archives for "Analysis"

0 Keeping Your Promise

Every exchange in the marketplace involves at least one promise.  “In exchange for the price of this product or service I shall do this …” The promise is the product or service shall deliver the stated benefits.  The potential customer needs to know not only what the promise is but also that the vendor can meet the promise.

This second is a significant challenge.  How do you prove you capacity to meet your promise?

As usual, I shall use my business to show how to answer the questions in the circuit questionnaire.

How does my promise uniquely solve the customer’s problem?

Organisations with marketing problems are all different.  The organisation may not be aware of their problem  and so choose the wrong solution.  They need to know what the problem is and so it is worth spending time identifying and clarifying it. I take a systemic view of website design because online problems are often a symptom of deeper organisational problems.

People aware their website is a liability can find their problem is one or more of their capacity, vision, management structures or who-knows-what.  They need to address these problems and not prematurely opt for the first solution that comes along.  There’s no point in approaching a website designer if the problem is in your organisation.  Website developers often find their clients difficult because the client does not understand the problems their organisation faces.

It’s better to think strategically from the beginning but wherever you’ve got to, it’s never too late to start over and get the website working for your organisation.

Some people may say, isn’t this an example of the tail wagging the dog?  Do we really have to change so much because we have a website?  This is the wrong question.  You need to look at why you need a website and make the organisational changes you need to meet that benefit.  Get that right and the website will slot into its rightful place.

The Promised Outcome

I take a systemic approach, working with clients to look at their organisation’s objectives and what it needs to change to meet them.  The website is one tool among many that can support overall objectives.

Nobody wants a website.  They are a lot of work.  Many organisations need a website because it is an essential part of their marketing strategy.  So it is important to understand their marketing strategy and where their website fits in.

For local markets, a website can be immensely helpful in support of in-person marketing.  This is what makes local marketing so exciting, it is essentially getting out there and meeting people.  So, your website needs to be fully integrated into your real life marketing strategy.  If your website is a liability either you don’t need one or its role has not been thought through.

So, my promised outcome is to help an organisation understand their marketing strategy and then plan an integrated online and in-person approach.  This includes strategy implementation, including building online presence if required.

Why the Customer will get the Promised Outcome

Whilst the Internet opens up new opportunities for organisations with something to promote, its power often uncovers their underlying weaknesses.  Holistic web design helps you design your organisation so that it takes advantage of marketing opportunities on and offline.

Your Internet presence can increase your organisation’s capacity.  This means with a similar but better targeted contribution of time and resources, your organisation will do more.  I use a non-directive consultancy approach, which means

The right solutions can take time to emerge.  Part of my role is to support the client during the usual period of being stuck (and help them get stuck in the first place – organisations are brilliant at finding reasons not to stare into the abyss!)

The goal is to help the client understand their organisation and what might work.  I challenge the hidden assumptions people make that limit their capacity to respond to their market.

Automate, Simplify and Scale

With an online presence, organisations can find support for their marketing strategy in three ways:

I’m not sure either title fully conveys the promise but perhaps this shows how difficult it is to express complex ideas.  The pages on my website aim to support my in-person marketing approach.  They help me explain the difference between the two approaches and show how they might benefit the client’s organisation or business.

Maybe I will come up with better titles as my work progresses.  However, this is not essential because I have other opportunities to promote my offers before a potential client sees the title.

Do you know of other ways to prove capacity to fulfil your promise through online and in-person marketing?

0 What Makes an Offer Unique?

It is an advantage if you can show how your unique offer differs from everything else out there. This may be easy if you are piloting a new idea, less so if it is a market with lots of competition.

Hairdressers, for example, probably find little potential for differentiating their offer. Even so, some may develop a reputation for some style or service and so they can promote that as their unique feature. Also for something like hairdressing, it will suffice if it is unique locally! There is a limit to how far customers are likely to travel.

To distinguish your offer from your competitors is not necessarily a claim to be better than they are. Making the distinction between what you offer and what others offer can help potential customers decide which they prefer.

A unique offer does not necessarily sell! You might come up with an offer that is brilliant on paper but no-one wants it. If your unique offer does not sell, the chances are your marketing strategy is at fault, perhaps the design of your offer, pricing, the way you present its benefits and features.

What make an offer unique ?

Sometimes it is possible to come up with a brand new idea. But even so you may need to distinguish your offer from competitors addressing the same problem with different offers. So, let’s review possible ways in which an offer might be unique.

Organisation or Website?

Understanding organisations is far more important than understanding the Internet. For a client seeking help with the Internet, their success depends on their whole organisation. Change is much more than moving from being without a website to being with one. It has implications for all aspects of how they work.

Creation of a website is not a big job and increasingly clients are able to do this for themselves. What they need is guidance through the early months and help with learning to live with a demanding website.

People may need help to build their website and this will remain so as new possibilities are discovered almost daily. But ongoing support is of greater value. You don’t know on day 1 what particular problems your business is going to face. Whilst websites are fairly similar, organisations are all different and one organisation may have completely different issues to another with a similar website.

Leave a comment, especially if you can think of other ways in which an offer can be unique.

0 What Does Your Proposition Offer?

A proposition is a project proposal. It implies some exchange. The proposition may be made by a coach, who will help their customer achieve something in exchange for a fee. The customer must decide whether the proposition is worth the fee.

The coach does not sell coaching. They sell the outcome; a new skill or something the customer will achieve.

This closely parallels the difference between outputs and outcomes. So, a coach might offer 10 sessions. The customer would have reason to complain if the coach delivered only 8 sessions. However, the important thing is not the number of sessions delivered (output) but the result of the sessions for the customer (outcome). If the customer achieves their desired outcome after 5 sessions, they can call a halt but they will still have received what they paid for.

So, if you sell anything, your proposition must address the likely outcome of purchasing whatever it is you’re selling.

This post is the first in a sequence about propositions. It addresses the third element of the circuit questionnaire. My niche statement, which is my proposition, has changed since then. So, in this sequence I shall focus on my latest proposition.

In the same post, I considered marketing causes. I suggested causes can be either a proposition or a commodity. My niche statement specifically positions me as someone who assists with marketing causes and so I will keep this in sight.

My current niche statement is:

I help local business owners and organisation leaders who are overwhelmed by how to consistently find new customers or members. I show them how to use community-based marketing methods both online and in-person to promote their business or cause and create a devoted following who keep coming for more.

Propositions can offer three outcome types:

Fix a Problem

The big advantage of fixing problems is people with the problem are likely to be aware of it and seeking a solution.

The big problem is people who are aware of their problem often have a hazy understanding of it. Consequently they often seek a particular solution and do not look closely at their problem. This can mean the solution they seek does not adequately address the problem.

You will note how my niche statement does not suggest one particular solution. The problem is finding new customers or members. Often someone with this problem wants a website. This is a solution and it may or may not be the right one. Even if it is the right one, there are many types of website and the even best websites won’t work if the owners are unable to manage it.

If the aim is to fix a problem, the essential first step is to understand it. The problem is not lack of a website or any other marketing approach, so much as failure to engage with the potential market. You cannot fix a problem if you do not know what it is.

The customer knows they have a problem but will not necessarily understand it. To explain it to a coach or non-directive consultant, might help them understand the problem at a depth they have not previously reached. At this point the customer may see new solutions.

Whilst products or services are usually designed by an organisation, causes are outside the control of the organisation.  The organisation can attempt to fix this external problem, ignoring internal issues that prevent them from being effective.

So, the problem may not be climate change so much as, how do we promote our particular solution to climate change?

Prevent a Problem

Here potential customers may not be aware of their problem. A healthy diet is beneficial throughout life but typically becomes an issue in later life when the ill-effects of a poor diet become clear.

So, here the chances are potential customers are unlikely to come forward with a problem or a solution. Indeed they may resist thinking about the problem, however real it may be. Climate change is like that. It still seems relatively easy to ignore the evidence and carry on as if it is not happening.

A client just starting out may want to promote a new idea. Certainly a marketing strategy at this early stage may prevent problems down the road. A good idea under these circumstances is to start small. A pilot programme can identify problems before an offer is rolled out to everyone.

Opportunity to Gain

This is strongly implied in my niche statement. I aim to help people find support for their business or cause. Note the outcome is not always financial. A cause may seek supporters. In practice, most causes need financial support but usually value non-financial support just as much.

Even entrepreneurs need reassurance it is OK to seek financial gain. The reality is if you have a good offer, you need income from the offer if you are to keep going.

Most people recognise this as legitimate. However, they still need persuading the fees charged are value for money. The value of the offer is  its benefits or outcomes, whether they are for customers or the beneficiaries of a cause.

With causes, effectiveness is sometimes expressed as the percentage of the income devoted to administration. The fact this so often hits the headlines is evidence of how important it is to get it right. It can be legitimate to devote 100% to salaries so long as this is clear and the benefits are transparent. After all, many freelance businesses offer great value and their income devoted solely to personal income.

Can you think of other examples of outcomes from propositions?

0 What You Don’t Do

When is it a good idea to explain what you don’t do? Usually it is not a good idea to dwell on what you don’t do. After all you are marketing a positive and going on at great length about your lack of capacity may leave the impression that your services are inadequate.

However, there are times when some awareness of your limitations can be beneficial. If you are aware of them, they can inform your copy in positive ways.

Beneficial Limitations

Sometimes limitations can be beneficial to the client. Indeed, it may be you will choose limitations to attract a type of client. You may be capable of doing X but it is better for your client that you don’t.

For example, Done With You (DWY) website design and construction aims to teach the client the basics so they can grow and develop their site on their own.

You may be capable of a Done For You (DFY) approach but it is an approach that has its own limitations. It is the right solution for some clients. DFY can save time and heartache but for the client who has limited resources, they need to know when it is the best approach for them.

Offer DFY when:

And so on …

You will see this list manages expectations in a positive way. Anyone seeking a DFY approach will know your service is not for them.

However, some may want to combine the advantages of a DFY and a DWY service. This is possible and so you might have a second package that combines these approaches and introduces a different set of limitations.

You will note that what you don’t offer may vary from package to package. Your limitations are not always deficiencies in your skill set so much as strategic decisions necessary for the packages you offer.

Working in Partnership

A third area where limitations are important is where you are working in partnership. Here the issue will be delineating the boundaries between each partner’s role. If there are grey areas, where it isn’t clear whose role applies, we need to discuss where the boundaries lie.

It may be easier where partners have very distinct areas of work. So, a health package might include an expert in nutrition and an expert in physical exercise. Whilst there may be some overlap, it will normally be obvious when one encroaches on the other’s work. Of course they will need to discuss a client’s needs and agree a plan but once agreed they will work in their own domain.

It may be less clear with, say, a partnership between a web consultant and a web developer. There may be many details where they must agree about issues on the boundaries. Their skill in this case may be to say to the client, “look, we’ve shown you 2 ways to do this, it’s your decision which you follow”. This may turn the overlap to advantage but it is important to beware of confusing the client.

This post concludes the sequence about the second element of the circuit questionnaire, products services and causes.

0 Quiet Times for Your Business

Here are two ways to approach quiet times and both view them as opportunities.

Special Promotions

For some businesses, quiet times are opportunities for special promotions. My business goes quieter over Christmas and the summer. It may be worth considering some sort of special offer for those times.

However, there are two reasons why I most likely won’t.

• Most of my packages run over 3 – 6 months and so the chances are they will run across these quiet periods. I may not take on new clients over these times but I may still be working with existing clients.
• I am likely to want to take the second approach to quiet times.

Take a Break!

Quiet times are an opportunity to take a break. Breaks are important, especially for the self-employed who are always in danger of working continuously over very long periods.

A break is also an opportunity to review your business, write, revise your website and carry out other administration to which you never get around when you’re busy.

Use the first approach if you are a larger business with plenty of staff and especially if cash flow is critical. Use the second if you are smaller and need a break!

Watch Your Cash Flow

However, it is important to be aware of cash flow cycles, particularly if you offer a service.  What happens is you put effort into finding customers when things are slow.  As you find customers your income increases and so does the work.  So, you stop looking for customers while you work with the ones you have.  Then you find cash flow declines because you have not been marketing your business.  This is the reason many small service businesses fail.

So, whilst there may be quiet times and they may be welcome breaks, you must have a marketing strategy that is effective during the more active times of the year!  If you can organise things so that you market during the busy times and provide your service during the quieter times, so much the better.

How do you use quiet times to support and refresh your business or enterprise?

This is part of a post sequence about the second element of the circuit questionnaire, products services and causes.

1 Trustmarks

Trustmarks are images or logos that endorse your business by reference to a third-party company or business.

There are two types of Trustmark:

Endorsement Trustmarks

These show other companies or organisations trust your product or service. Sometimes funding bodies, for example, ask you to display their logo when they reward a grant. This may be an advantage because the fact you received a grant shows a third-party recognises your work.

Other possibilities might be

Of course, you should always get their permission before you display their trustmark.

They are an at-a-glance equivalent of testimonials.  Some websites display them together, perhaps as a band above the footer.  If you have a testimonial, you could display the trustmark with it.

Safety Trustmarks

The second type of trustmark are logos that reassure the visitor to your site that it is safe. So, if you are taking payments through the site, for example, you might display the PayPal logo to reassure visitors making payments.  This does not mean PayPal endorses your site’s content from but it reassures because a third-party records the payment.

This type of Trustmark is usually displayed close to where it is relevant.  So you will display the PayPal logo where you request the payment.  If your site sells a lot of things you might show it in your header, so the visitor can see it applies to the whole site.

Conclusion

If you can display trustmarks, it may be an advantage but many websites manage without them and it is probably not worth chasing such endorsements. If you have them, use them and if not don’t worry about them!

This is part of a post sequence about the second element of the circuit questionnaire, products services and causes.

0 From One-Off to Repeated Sales

Repeated sales are the Holy Grail of Internet Marketing. If you have a good product or a service and it is possible to create a good digital version, you can sell it on-line. Many of the get-rich-quick schemes promoted by Internet marketers involve repeated sales.

I would never dissuade someone from trying this if they have a suitable product or service. However, there are a lot of second-rate offers online. Most people are better at providing one-off services or products.

A Case Study – for Repeated Sales

I am aware of one organisation that has provided an excellent service for over forty years. Over that time they have generated a lot of really useful information, they have a pool of people, mostly casual, who design and deliver the service and a list of members and contacts, satisfied customers who have in the past made donations and interest-free loans to the organisation.

Potentially they have a global market and could extend their list and probably find customers who would buy most of what they produced because they support the organisation.

In every respect this organisation could easily market its service online. The organisation is making an annual loss and will in a few years cease to trade. The reason they won’t market online is because they value the personal nature of the service they provide.

Whilst I understand their concern, I think they have made the wrong decision for two reasons. First, whilst delivering the service online may not be as personal as delivering it in person, it is not the same as an impersonal service. There are many ways an online service can be made more personal.

Second, delivering online products and services does not rule out delivering an in-person service. The organisation knows this but has not understood that an online service could subsidise their in-person work. It could in practice lead to increased in-person work.

Of course, these are judgements that have to be made all the time and it is not always easy to get them right. My approach would be to generally encourage organisations that have something genuinely first-rate to roll it out to the biggest possible audience. If it is that good, then the world needs to have access to it.

Developing Ideas

But what if you are developing an idea?  The chances are you are not ready to build a repeat sales product until you are confident you have designed a service that warrants it.  It is not too difficult to produce a high-quality one-off service. You need skills, experience and knowledge but if you have them you are most likely able to find packages that sell and are worth the money.

The hard thing is turning these packages into products that can be repeatedly sold. Not only does the package itself need to be high quality but also you need to be able to market it.

So, here are some intermediate steps you can take to test your market. Products you give away at first can be withdrawn and revised and incorporated into a premium package at a later date.

None of these are likely to generate much income alone but they can be used to test your market and build email lists. They help you practice turning your activities into products and can be used to test a future premium product and perhaps incorporated into a premium product at a later date.

For most products be cautious about the value of what you can put together. Many services deliver for their clients and never put anything online. One reason for this will be that they lack the material someone will value and be able to use without expert guidance.

This is part of a post sequence about the second element of the circuit questionnaire, products services and causes.

0 Availability

Availability is another aspect of timing for offers of products services or causes. For services, availability is closely related to capacity. The issue is not the best time to launch or promote an offer. It is periods when we can’t take on more clients (and so disappoint them) or have too few.

Work may be seasonal. A coaching service may find work slackens off at Christmas and during the summer holidays. A hairdresser on the other hand may find these are periods when there is more work.

Whilst you can anticipate times of year when work increases or decreases, be prepared to be surprised! Is a sudden fall in sales seasonal or an issue such as adverse publicity?

How to Respond to Times When Work is Scarce or Plentiful

A fall in sales may be an opportunity to make a special offer. If you have spare capacity, it may be better to sell it at a reduced price than to do nothing. If the spare capacity includes paid staff, this will be more important.

Address oversubscribed services with increased capacity. Self-employed people offering specialist services may need to find some way to spread customers over the year. However, if too much work is a serious issue then  maybe the shape of the business needs attention.  Increasing staff is only one option.  Sometimes you can change the way you deliver a service to cut time commitment. For example a one-to-one service might be delivered to groups.

There is one remedy many businesses overlook when tackling over-subscriptions.  That is increasing prices.  Higher prices will result in fewer customers (keep increasing them until the numbers drop to something you can manage) and possibly more income.  With fewer customers, you may be able to increase the time available for each customer and so the value of your offer will increase.

Whilst these may not be pressing issues for you, it is worth having a few ideas in advance to carry out should need arise.

This is part of a post sequence about the circuit questionnaire’s second element, products services and causes.

0 Making Changes to Your Offer

Products services and causes change.  There are many reasons for making changes to your offer, for example:

If something sells well, it may not be urgent to change it. However it may be possible to anticipate the market and introduce a change when sales begin to dip. Anticipating changes in the market and knowing how to respond is something you increasingly understand with experience.

External and Internal Pressures

Change might be driven by internal or external pressures. External pressures drive change in your offer over which you have little control. Fashion or changing seasons might be examples.

Internal pressures are changes you undertake as your offer evolves and you learn more about the market. The market itself does not change but you identify changes that better fit your market’s needs. There may be good times to introduce these changes but overall they are not dependent on external events.

Sometimes changes have little impact on marketing. A consultancy service might change its offer but the consultant reveals the details only when making an offer. Such a service sells through reputation and not so much through the detail of its offer.

A shop selling large numbers of products might plan seasonal campaigns or occasional promotions of one product.  They may launch new products at certain times of year based on their experience of seasonal changes.

Like everything else, this is worth considering even if changes to your offer are likely to happen after long periods of time.  Everything changes and it is worth knowing when and how your offer might change, so that you prepare for when changes need to happen.

This is part of a post sequence about the second element of the circuit questionnaire, products services and causes.

1 Launching New Offerings

Whilst an established product service or cause will be selling, new offerings may take time to become established.

So, what happens when you introduce something new to the market? Earlier in this sequence about products services and causes, I posted about unique offers. Understand the distinction; your offer does not have to be unique to be new to the market. It always helps to identify aspects of an offer that are unique; after all why should someone buy from you if your offer copies everyone else’s?

However, this post is not about the unique aspects of an offer, so much as the timing and how you launch it on the market. If you have not marketed this particular offer before, how do you introduce it to the market?

Here are some things to consider:

Another thing to consider is whether you want to launch your offer with maximum impact so that you get a lot of immediate attention. The alternative is to slowly publicise your offer. You might want to do this so you can pilot a new offering, before you launch it on the open market.  The following approaches begin with the more gradual and move onto those with a greater immediate impact.

Whatever option you choose, there will be a lot of detail to work out, so it is worth giving thought to these issues before you introduce something new to the market.

This is part of a post sequence about the circuit questionnaire’s second element, products services and causes.