Business and marketing lessons are all around us if we choose to notice them.

As I’ve been doing a 30-day blogging challenge and wanted to be able to give concrete examples and use my photos I’ve been deliberately looking for lessons during my time in Vienna where I was catching up with some friends who were over from Montreal

So… here are just some of them…

Displaying your Products

Display your products in an eye catching way especially in a busy market where there are lots of stalls with the same type of products.

Let people try!

Let people have a taste of your products – whether it’s felafals in a market or a chapter of your online information product or a free discovery session with you. People buy what they know, like and trust. As I always say to my clients you need visibility and credibility.

A local piano company left one of their pianos out in the museum quarter so that people could play it.

Let them be part of your products!

The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien provided deckchairs for people to sit in outside the museum. Each one had a copy of a painting hanging in the museum.

Let people be a part of your product.

The same museum brought to life one of the stunning gold pieces in the museum and then left the replica base on display for the public to try out.

Bring your products to your target clients

It’s always a good plan to bring your products to where your clients will be as this guy selling beers did during the parade to promote the electronic music festival.

Even if begging is your way to get an income do it where there are lots of people and ideally a captive audience after a society wedding !

Make them be part of your marketing!

The Albertina Gallery invites people to sit on the decorated steps leading to the entrance and post their photos on social media sites.

Look around you when you’re out and about  – there are zillions of business and marketing lessons you can learn or be inspired by! Don’t forget to share them in the comments!

There is an ideal client for every product and every service but whether you need to worry about who that ideal client is depends on whether you’re targeting a niche or the mass market.

For this post I’m going to assume you’re targeting a niche market – whether you’re making customised cakes; unique wedding dresses; coaching people who are starting out in business – anything where you are customising a product or providing a personalised service.

If you know who your ideal client is it’s easier to ensure your product or service is available where and when they want to buy it. It’s easier to talk to them in the language they use and interact with them in the places where they hang out.

Deciding who your target clients are

But how do you decide who your target clients are ?

If you’ve been in business for some time you know the people who drive you crazy and the ones who are a delight to work with. You can make a list of the characteristics of the clients who you feel comfortable with and who you’re always pleased to interact with, work with, go the extra mile for.

You might find that you tend to attract women or just men; people of a certain age; people with children; poeple without children.

If however you’re just starting out in busness then you need to approach this matter from a different direction.

• You might want to think about that sort of topics that people ask you for advice on and who those people are – not in terms of whether they’re your friends, family,  colleagues but what are their characteristics: gender, age, financial situation
• You might have decided what custmisable product you want to offer or personalised service and then you could ask around people who want or need that service or product and see whether thiere are common characteristics – again gender, age, etc

But…  you also need to determine whether they can afford you. For example I would love to offer to help people who are former caregivers (as I am check www.caregiverjunction.com if you’re curious) however the majority of these lovely, caring people either don’t have the money or who are nervous to spend very much money. Since you’re not social services and  you’re not running a charity you need to make money so that type of client is someone who you would help on a scholarship basis so you might offer x number of these scholarships each year.

Attracting your ideal clients …

… and only your ideal clients.

So how do you do this?

If you offer services you’re less likely to get hassles if you make it clear who you can help, who you work best with. For example on my web page about my coaching services I say that we’d work well together if:

• you’re serious about coming up with a viable idea for your business.
• you’re really committed to evaluating your business idea so that you only move forward with a business that has a strong chance of success
• you really want to be successful in your business endeavours
• you can handle me not taking your hard earned money to have a cosy chat, tell you what you want to hear and avoid any issues.

Yes – this is very straight talking but… there’s no point spending my time trying to help someone who does nothing or very little. It’s frustrating, drives me round the bend and I run the risk of them saying they didn’t get any benefit from  working with me. If it puts people off then that’s fine – however it will (and does) attract my ideal client.

A coach or consultant is only as good as their reputation and the last thing you want is someone buying your programme, not bothering to implement the action points, ignoring your sound advice and then saying that you weren’t any good. Word of Mouth can be both positive and negative and you need it to be positive.

Your Action Points

Lot’s of these today !!

• think about the characteristice of the people who ask you for advice; the people who want to work with you (that you enjoy working with… this is crucial)
• if you’re starting out in a business or starting a new business research the people who might need your service – what are the common characteristics?

My Questions to you

• do you know who you ideal clients are?
• how did you determine who they were?
• what are the consequences of having ideal clients?

Useful marketing lessons can be learned as you wander the streets – provided you’re tuned in and on the look out for them!  These lessons may be things not to do  and they may be ideas that you could adapt for your business or organisation.

Here are just a few that I came across during one afternoon  wandering in the late summer sunshine of Vienna.

This street musician started to play to these two children when they took an interest in his music and yes the parents dropped some coins into his case.

Something worth thinking about – who is your client – the person who consumes or the person who pays?

Some not good marketing moves included the people selling tickets to concerts who were very pushy. Their focus was on selling rather than telling people about a concert and giving them the opportunity to buy. People generally don’t like to be sold – they like to buy.

As to showing fresh tuna in the menu photo of your tuna salad and then serving a scrappy little portion of tinned tuna – that’s a total no-no. In many jurisdictions it’s illegal to misrepresent your products. It’s definitely unethical. It’s also not smart from a business perspective. You won’t have happy customers, you won’t have positive word of mouth and you’ll probably get a bad review on Tripadviser (they did).

But let’s stay with the marketing actions that could give you ideas as to how to market your products or your business or organisation.

One of my recent blog posts was about making your products available to people where it’s convenient for them. The Franciscan Church didn’t have a shop but it was using a machine that normally would have snacks or drinks in to sell CDs, books, candles etc

The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien provides deckchairs for people to sit in in the gardens outside the museum.

Each deckchair has a copy of a portrait that hangs in the museum. Maybe you could do something similar to promote your products or your organisation.

The same museum has a world famous collection of items made in gold.

On the day I was there they were bringing to life one of the items (the Saliera). You can see it on the poster in the photo to the left and then below the two people painted in gold.

As an aside the friends I was with thought it would be fun to have our photos taken sitting on it –  fortunately we were warned (just in time) that the  gold was wet and we’d end up with golden backsides!!

Your action point

• next time you’re out and about keep your eyes open for marketing lessons – you’ll be surprised what you discover !

It’s important to know as much as you can about your customers and target clients. This enables you to deliver what they want, where they want it, when they want it. It enables you to talk to them about your srrvices and products in the  places where they’ll be listening.

It’s also important to consider all the points at which you ‘touch’ your customers i.e. have some form of interaction with them. These are known in the trade as touchpoints.

A touchpoint is any time a potential customer or customer comes in contact with your brand–before, during, or after they purchase something from you.

Identifying your touchpoints is the first step towards creating a customer journey map, and making sure your customers have a great experience throughout that journey.

How to identify your customer touchpoints

The best way to identify your customer touchpoints is by making a complete list of all the places where your customers might come into contact with your brand.

Here’s an example of the possible touchpoints at which someone might interact with a travel company when they’re booking a holiday.

• sees advertising campaigns
• gathers information maybe online and/or collects brochure form travel agency
• books the holiday – online or in your travel shop
• receives confirmation of booking – email or in the post
• receives request to make Final balance
• collects travel documents
• orders currency
• collects currency
• checks in online
• parking at airport (you could send them informaiton about parking options)
• check-in at airport
• flies to destination
• greeted at the airport
• transferred to their hotel
• welcome meeting
• stays at hotel
• activities e.g. excursions
• transfer to airport
• check-in at the airport
• flies home (meal, in-flight magazine)
• welcome home letter
• take currency back
• prepares for next holiday

Your Action for Today

• Make a list of all the touchpoints for your products and services

If you care about your customers and take the trouble to get to know them then you have a strong chance of retaining them as customers.

Existing customers are one of your most important assets – they’ve already chosen you instead of your competitors! Keeping their custom costs far less than attracting new ones!

The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20% – Marketing Metrics.

It costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one – Bain & Company.

Benefits of Retaining Customers

There are numerous benefits of keeping the customers you already have:

• satisfied customers like to buy from you and this can increase your market share
• existing customer relationships are opportunities to increase sales
• repeat customers usually cost less to service
• loyal customers will tolerate things going wrong and be more forgiving – of course you need to recognise this and show your appreciation
• satisfied customers may be prepared to pay a premium price
• their expenditure tends to increase over time
• your sales, marketing and set up costs are amortised over a longer customer lifetime
• in fact retaining customers can actually reduce your marketing costs
• if you have loyal customers this makes it easier to introduce new products / services
• it helps cross selling
• increases profitability
• it enhances opportunities for feedback – a loyal customer is as likely to answer a questionnaire as a dissatisfied one who wants an opportunity to complain
• happy customers will spread the good word about your business and provide referrals if you’re a services business
• a satisfied customer can be a great ambassadeur for your brand (- think WoM)

Ways you can Retain Customers

• smile when you see them – simple but often business owners or their staff fail to do this
• make your customers feel valued – listen to them, have empathy
• make it easy for them to get information about your products/services
• make it easy for them to buy from you
• say Thank you!
• use positive social proof
• use the words they like to hear
• reduce pain points and friction
• reduce/ eliminate buyers remorse
• provide anticipatory service e.g. a hairdresser who texts a client to remind them of their appointment
• be dependable
• if you have a specific list for your customers you can make them special offers, send them Christmas greetings
• if they have a complaint handle it promptly and courteously – complaints are golden opportunities – handle them well and you’ll have a hapy but also a loyal customer – who will speak favourably about your company, it’s products/services
• have a customer loyalty programme – it can be as simple as after x number of purchases they can have y% off the next purchase or an entitlement to comething for free
• if you have a Facebook page reach out to them – interact with them, respond to what they have to say to you
• ask for their feedback on your ideas for new products or services – people like to feel included and that their opinion matters
• provide great customer service
• smile – again
• remember to say Thank you!

My question to you:

• what do YOU do to retain your customers ?

It’s obvious isn’t it? We should care about our customers and yet.. how many times do you feel like tearing your hair out or wringing someone’s neck because they didn’t treat you well as a customer or potential customer ? How many times have you said recently “I won’t be going there again” ?

I’m sure as consumers we have way too many examples of a lack of customer care and I’m equally sure this is because so many firms don’t see the need to care about their customers and so don’t institute a customer care culture – hiring poeple who care inately care about people and training them in how their company likes to care about its customers.

The Benefits of Caring

If a company cares about its customers – and its potential customers – there are so many benefits:

• maintain / enhance reputation
• earn customer respect
• aids customer retention
• fewer complaints
• builds customer loyalty
• differentiates (= it could become your USP – Unique Selling Point. Think Zappos or Singapore Airlines)
• reduces marketing costs (it costs less to keep a customer than to acquire a new one. A satisfied customer can be a great ambassadeur for your brand – think WoM)
• satisfied customers like to buy from you and this can increase your market share
• makes it easier to enter new markets – whether geographic or to introduce new products / services
• aids cross selling
• increases profitability
• enhances opportunities for feedback
• benefits your staff – happy customers, fewer complaints makes the day brighter for your staff

Sadly so many companies – large and small – seem to have never even thought about customer care or they provide customer service yet do no more than begrudgingly process their customers.

When customer service is seen as a cost, the main objective is to deal with people quickly. But once you see it as a way to create marketing resonance, the focus shifts. All customer service should have the goal of improving the experience for the customers, with the objective of getting them to spread positive word of mouth.

SOURCE:   Empowered: Unleash your employees, Energize your customers, and Transform your business by Josh Bernoff & Ted Schadler

Customer Expectations

It’s important to know what your customers expectations are. You should get to know your customers, ask them what their expectations are, tell them what they can expect and then live up to their expectations. It’s important to maintain consistency.  If you give too little service the client may complain:  ‘customer service was poor’ but if you give too much service they may say that ‘service was intrusive’.

On the latter point I’ll always recall a dinner out with my staff at a very fancy restaurant in Paris where you only had to extend your hand to pick up the sale for example and a waiter would be there to grab it and pass it to you. At first we were bemused but then it became irritating. I guess we weren’t their ideal clients !

And that’s a topic for another blog post – knowing who your IDEAL clients are. This is especially important when you provide services.

And so..

My questions to you..

• do you care about your  customers and potential customers?
• why?
• in what ways?

“Customer care isn’t just for when things go wrong it starts before someone even buys from you.” – me!

Back in the summer I needed a new pair of Keen hiking shoes. There are only three stores in my area that sell them. Each of them carried just two or three models. The owner of the first store totally put me off by insisting that walking shoes are different to general shoes and they ease in when they’ve been worn for a while. I know my  left foot and if it isn’t happy in a shoe in a shop it will never be happy in it. But the owner wouldn’t have it that I knew my own foot really well and just kept insisting that they’d be fine, he’d been selling shoes for years blah blah blah.  I won’t be going back.

My next attempt was at a stockist in Exeter. A lovely shoe shop selling a variety of shoes and sandals several of which I rather liked. So… in addition to trying on one of the three models of Keen hiking shoes I also tried on a Wolky walking shoe and a lovely pair of sandals. The walking shoe had such a stiff sole it hurt my left foot. The sandals were too big in size 5 for my left foot and too small in size 4 for my right foot. The Keen shoes were just not suitable. The owner’s face became increasingly grim and unfriendly as I rejected each pair of shoes I tried on. Finally when I Sstood up to keave she tartly commented: “So you’re not buying the walking shoes either.” I asked when the Wolky winter boots would be coming in and she replied in a few weeks but her face was grim and the voice unfriendly. I was a marked woman. I’d tried shoes on and hadn’t bought anything. She lost me as a customer that day because the shoes I liked were uncomfortable but she’s lost me as a customer in the future because of her attitude.

Here’s what she could have done:

• smiled at me
• shown empathy towards my not insignifcant problem with the structure of my left foot
• offered to order in some  Keen shoes from the catalogue without any obligation to pay up front and have them even if they were comfortable
• offered to take my email address and send me an email when the new range of Wolky boots came in or call me

Had she done those four simple things not only would I go back but I would recommend her shoe shop.

It’s so imporant to make someone feel valued at all touchpoints whether they’ve yet to buy from you or they’re someone who buys regularly. If you don’t show the person that you understand them, have empathy with their issues or concerns and value them then they won’t become a customer or they won’t remain a customer.

In the UK people criticise stores like Argos but customer care at my local Argos is impressive – they remember me, they remember what I bought last time, in the mum days they ask after her, when she passed away they were so sad for me the guy came round the counter and gave me a hug, they solve any problems I have with items I’ve bought without negative comments or criticisms. And it’s not because they have a great manager as most of them don’t like the manager very much. They’re just really hot on customer care. In fact for me they’re the absolute gold standard when it comes to customer care.

It’s really important to know who your target clients are and to find out as much as possible about them.

Why?

Well… if you know who they are it’s easier to:

• deliver products and services that they want, where they want them, when they want them
• gain valuable insights into how your target clients make their decisions to buy
• determine your market position vis-à-vis other firms
• deliver your products / services with a compelling value proposition
• segment your market
• ensure that your marketing message attracts their attention
• promote to them in the places where they’ll see your promotion
• keep in step with their evolving needs

Things to know about your customers

• Who they are
• What they buy and why
• Where and when they buy
• How they make the decision to buy
• Recency
• Frequency
• Value
• Which customers are new
• New customer acquisition rate
• Lost, lapsed and dormant customers
• How many customers are being lost
• What distinguishes loyal customers

Things to know about your target clients

• Characteristics
  • Location
  • Age
  • Family situation – single/couple – children
  • Education
  • Income
  • Leisure interests
• What they buy
• Why they buy something and what purpose will it serve (what job will it do)
• How they make their decision to buy
• Where they buy
• When they buy

There are various ways to find out more about your customers and target clients. One of the most popular being questionnaires so …. that will be the subject of my next few blog posts.

Meanwhile….

My Questions to you…

• do you know who your target clients are?
• how much do you know about them?
• do you think you know enough about them?
• if you don’t what do you propose to do about it?

I would argue that it’s really important to segment your existing customers – not just on the basis of geography, demographics etc but on the basis of their purchase history.

These are just some of the ways in which you might segment your existing cusomers – including those who have lapsed.

First time customers – when someone buys from you for the first time why not send them a thank you card? I’ve been sent thank you cards even when I’ve only spent $47 but then again I’ve heard nothing when I’ve spent thousands of dollars with someone – not even an automated email to wish me a happy christmas!

Repeat purchasers – if someone buys from you regularly why not make them a founder member of a membership club or a loyalty scheme; perhaps offer them early and reduced price access to new products or if you’re a coach offer them a free session. Don’t forget it’s cheaper to keep a customer than get a new one. Not only will a loyal customer keep buying from you but they’ll also talk favourably about your business (Word of Mouth). Take particular care of High spending purchasers. In marketing we talk about the Lifetime Value of a customer. Look out for my post on this topic.

Lapsed purchasers – someone who’s purchased from you in past but haven’t signed up for any of your webinars or offers recently is someone you need to reconnect with. Sadly companies often neglect lalpsed customers. I notice with my Tesco Clubcard that if I don’t shop at Tesco for a while I don’t get any vouchers from them whereas if they sent me £5 off if I spent a modest £25 it might encourage me to resume shopping at Tesco.

I’m a big fan of Hubspot who produce some great blog posts. Last year they wrote a post about  Ecommerce Segmentation Hacks for Profitable Customer Loyalty. They suggest:

1. Offer improved support for high revenue customers
2. Upgrade shipping for high frequency buyers
3. Identify product experts for reviews
4. Surprise customers who open emails but don’t purchase
5. Incentivize brand promoters using Net Promoter Score (NPS)
6. Remind last minute purchasers to buy now
7. Get at-risk customers to shop with you again

SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU

How do your segment your existing customers?

If you don’t segment them why not?