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Special Report #2: 87 Possible Actions for Contractors for Better Marketing!
11 Ways to Dare-To-Be-Different Checklist:
- SAY DIFFERENT THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF. Emphasize your "onlys".
- THINK DIFFERENTLY. Focus on today, rather than yesterday or tomorrow.
- ACT DIFFERENTLY. Give the impression that you already are successful.
- SOUND DIFFERENTLY. Talk the talk of an "arriver", rather than a "striver".
- LOOK DIFFERENT. Take on an appearance that distinguishes you from others.
- SELL YOUR SERVICES DIFFERENTLY. Spell out their unique benefits.
- OFFER SOMETHING DIFFERENT. Make available options that others don't.
- GUARANTEE SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY. Back up your services in a way that others don't.
- TARGET DIFFERENTLY. Pursue a different niche in the market.
- COMMUNICATE DIFFERENTLY. Get your message across in a unique way.
- FOLLOW-UP DIFFERENTLY. Stay in touch in ways in which clients are unaccustomed.
76 More Ways to Better Market Your Business:
- Ask your clients what they think your competencies, strengths, and weaknesses are.
- Visit the facilities of several of your clients and observe how the facility is being used. Ask the workers how the facility could be built different.
- Ask questions to find out: How you construction or product is used? What is its purpose? Ask yourself, "What business are you really in?"
- Ask your clients how much it costs them, all things considered, to use your services.
- To find out how your clients value your services, ask them: What is important to them to you about our services and how are we part of your operation?
- To clarify a value and understand their evidence criteria, ask clients: How will you know when you have value? How, exactly, do you measure value?
- Determine who your clients are. Identify all the organizations and people involved. What does your service mean to each of them and how do they value it?
- Define your services or products from the customer's viewpoint in all cases. What will be your costs to deliver your services or products in a way to ensure you satisfy those requirements?
- Determine how each of the component of your construction process is supplied and by whom? How might that change?
- What opportunities do you now see for making your services more accessible to a wider market? For creating additional value? For changing your promotional approach? For new applications and new markets?
- List the things you do that are different from others in the construction industry.
- List several ways to make your clients feel like they are special.
- Find out what quality means from your clients' perspective.
- List ways you can develop one-to-one relationships with each client.
- List ways you can build emotional connections with your clients.
- Develop specific sales pieces or resumes for each niche you serve.
- Collect testimonials that are specific to each niche in which you work.
- Develop a list of where you can speak or write for your niches.
- Adjust your approach to match the personalities of your prospects and to put them at ease.
- Present in your prospects' primary sensory modes. Convey your message the way they prefer.
- Match your rate and tone of speech with theirs.
- Ask questions that elicit their strategies. Understand what they want?
- Mirror their body language and observe what their body is saying. Become "literate" non-verbally.
- Be aware that different people can be in different stages of the buying cycle. Bring all parties into the same phase of the buying cycle.
- Establish trust and credibility by being totally prepared. Do you homework about their industry situation.
- Your questions show that you are a professional. Ask questions that let the prospects know that you are there to solve their problem and want to do the best possible job for them.
- Actively listen. Eliminate your natural filters by balancing your listening between fact and feeling.
- Take what you have learned in steps 30 through 38 and adjust your presentation and delivery to best match your prospect in every way. Become your prospect's emotional twin and everyone wins.
- List the information you would like to know about every client or prospect.
- Develop a list of questions that will impress a prospect with your knowledge.
- Make a list of questions, the answers to which will cause prospects to conclude that they need your help.
- Use questions to find out what personal issues count with your clients.
- Develop a list of how, why, what, when, who and where questions?
- Be prepared with questions about non-business topics like Family, Occupation, and Recreation that will build rapport.
- List Situation, Problem, Implication, and Needs Analysis questions you can use.
- Practice your active listening skills.
- Develop stories that make your points for you.
- List things that you are doing that you know are habits from the past. Commit to dropping the ones that are unproductive.
- Great customer service is a good basis for success with your current approach. What could you do that would immediately improve things for customers? How about speed up responses, offer a great guarantee, or provide more value?
- Analyze any segments of your business that are shrinking. Is there anything you can do about them? Are they profitable to ride down?
- Analyze the segments of your business that are growing. Do they represent any new trends that you can ride up?
- If you could create the ideal new product or service, what would it be? How can you move toward it now?
- Create a client advisory group. Ask them how your construction process could be better for them? Talk to clients who have complained or left. Do their reasons give you any new ideas?
- Hold a brainstorming session with a cross-section of your employees (including clients, suppliers and others if you're too small). Explicitly ask for the wildest ideas, craziest ideas, and ideas that could never work. Often these will be your jumping-off point for a breakthrough in how you operate.
- Instead of competing with competitors, how can you partner with them? Call three today and set up a lunch with at least one.
- What are you focusing on now that you're trying to avoid? Change your negative focus to a positive focus regarding something you want to accomplish.
- Get your staff involved -- hold a brainstorming session to generate ways to generate referrals.
- Schedule a staff meeting to review how you provide high quality and good service -- use examples from happy customers. Collect written testimonials to use.
- Reward staff--encourage and reward all ideas, not just the ones you actually implement.
- Set target dates with new business goals --by ________(date) we will experience a (percent) increase in new referrals. We will track the source of all new client referrals and reward them promptly.
- Implement a referral source tracking guide to track and reinforce referrals.
- Make a list of professionals you feel comfortable referring to -- create a list with phone numbers.
- Identify one of your top referrers -- invite him or her to have lunch with your staff as a special birthday present.
- Make a list of 10 people who your business needs to thank -- then do it for special reasons.
- Order a quantity of appropriate giveaways -- this will keep your name in front of your client base.
- Research possible trade shows at which to exhibit. Go to the shows whenever possible.
- If it's your first show, decide if your booth will be reusable or a one-time effort.
- If you exhibit at shows regularly, keep a notebook of past problems and successes for future reference.
- Decide on an effective giveaway -- one your prospects and clients will remember.
- Develop a written procedure to train exhibit staff. Decide on ways to reward your staff.
- Develop a program of mailings/faxes/e-mail to reach clients and prospects before the show.
- Set up a program to follow up on show-generated leads.
- If you don't have a Web page, look for a free place to practice with one (for example, aol.com, tripod.com, or geocities.com).
- Consider creating multiple Web pages, each focused to reach one group of customers. Then link them together.
- Work to build your own list for an opt-in e-mail newsletter.
- Send lots of e-mail correspondence and answer your e-mail promptly.
- Get on mailing lists relevant to your interests. The I-advertising Digest (internetadvertising.org) and I-sales Digest (audettemedia.com) are good marketing ones.
- Improve your signature line.
- Arrange links with other related sites.
- Improve your Web page with forms and small Java programs (applets.)
- Complete the features and benefits exercise and design your unique benefit messages for each valuable solution that you offer.
- Select the top three or four markets that you feel have the most potential and gather as much information about them as possible.
- Study the different paid marketing methods. List the ones that you feel would be the most cost-effective to reach your target market.
- Send out press releases with benefits aimed at each specific audience.
- Apply the Marketing Mix System elements and implement a test.
- Evaluate your results, modify only one element at a time, and test again until you find the best combinations.
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