Author: Beth Agnew
Common sense educator, and master synthesizer, Beth is also a business consultant, writer, speaker, teacher, coach, and laughter leader. She is the author of Water: the Miracle Cure, and other publications.
Support this weblog with a one-time donation, or a small monthly subscription. Your support helps us broadly share this life-changing information. Thank you!
HIDDEN MARKETING ASSETS
--------------------------------------
How much money are you leaving on the table by not fully utilizing your marketing assets? If you have a small- to medium-sized business, with revenue under $5 million annually, you probably have some hidden marketing assets that can be leveraged to increase profits, without spending additional money on advertising.
Advertising is a huge expense. If you know exactly how much business your advertising is bringing you, then that's good! If you can point to the marketing activities that bring in the most revenue, then you're doing a great job at targeting your market.
But if you have a sense that you could grow, or reverse a downward trend, then there's probably money sitting on the table in the form of customer data and marketing strategies that are not being put to advantage.
Where are you now? Is your company:
Where do you WANT to be? Some companies are content with status quo. For example, the owner of a large-truck moving service may be satisfied with enough clients to cover his expenses, salaries for his moving helpers, and make a good living for himself. Growth would require adding trucks and employees, and trusting part of the operations to someone else. In the current state, the owner can go on every job to provide expert supervision and his personal touch. With growth, he would not be able to cover every job himself, and would have to rely upon someone else, who may not have his expertise. Currently, customer satisfaction and referrals come from his personal attention to every detail of the business.
If you do indeed want to generate more revenue, or increase profit on current revenue, there are a number of ways to do that. An opportunity analysis is the first step. In a one-hour conversation that takes you through exploration of your current business situation, hidden marketing assets can be revealed. They may include clarifying your unique selling proposition or irresistable offer, optimizing your current marketing activities and customer base, and positioning you for exponential growth.
Another area of leverage could be your customer support department. Instead of it being a cost centre, it may be possible to turn it into a revenue generator with a few simple techniques and some basic training for your support staff. Wouldn't you enjoy more profit if you could minimize costs?