Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 281

Thought for the week: "The most important thing is to forecast where customers are moving and to be in front of them." Philip Kotler

• How to target B2B sales
• Link building tips from SEO Book
• Free digital PR e-book
• Power of branding guide from the Design Council
• Social media jargon explained
• Win a year's Vodafone 3G Mobile Broadband contract

How to target B2B sales

Business-to-business (B2B) sales are by far the largest sources of revenue for smaller firms, dwarfing sales to consumers. So how do firms that carve out B2B success operate? The rules that most of the success stories follow are few and straightforward. Here are some of them.

• Rule 1: Know exactly who your product or service is aimed at. Focus is key: do not try to sell to everyone. Even if you could sell to every business, don't even try. Instead, address only those who will show the best return for your investment of sales, cost and effort.

• Rule 2: Know exactly what problem it solves for them. A problem can be defined as a blockage to progress. It may be a metaphorical lump of concrete lying across your customer's path, which you can remove. Whatever their mind-set, you must be able to say in a couple of sentences how you will help them move closer to their goals. If you cannot, revise the offering until it becomes that clear.

• Rule 3: Know exactly what benefits your client gets from solving that problem and set prices according to the customer's benefits, not your cost of production. Of all the ways of raising profits available to a firm, putting up prices has to be the easiest. Yet many small firms price timidly. Why? The main reason is that they expect, quite reasonably, to be required to defend their price. In many B2B situations the opportunity exists to break this cycle. If you know what the customer would save by buying your proposition, base your pricing on that. It is completely defensible and usually ends up with the customer paying more.

• Rule 4: Make sure that you surpass your competitors in at least one important respect. The customer needs at least a single, clear reason to switch to you. So why not provide it? Anyone can offer extras that are not part of the core product, yet are still powerful motivators. And what's more, they are a lot easier to invent and adjust.  Extrinsic motivators include faster delivery, extra back-up, installation and maintenance services, longer warranties, guaranteed trade-in, loyalty bonuses - just look around you at the techniques used by other trades and see if they can be applied to your business.

• Rule 5: Tell them about the benefits. The sales skills gurus tell us that customers never buy products, only benefits. So they ought to buy the benefits that your proposition offers. If they do not, don't be tempted to cut the price. Keep on pushing the benefits. Keep reminding them what a good decision they made in choosing you and keep the wolves at bay.

This tip is an extract of an article from EnterQuest's sister publication, BETTER business magazine. Subscribers to the magazine can read even more articles to help them run a better business, including:

Make sure your firm gets paid on time. Why do so many businesses struggle to maintain cash flow? (Issue 142)

How can you help your customers? It's easy to get carried away when you're trying to win sales. Your pitch should not be about how great you are, but exactly what your business can do for your customers. (Issue 143)

How to make your adverts work better. There's no doubt that advertising can work - but only if it's done well. That means getting the maximum impact and paying attention to detail. (Issue 144)

To receive a free copy of BETTER business magazine simply send us your name and address to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com, putting 'EQ magazine offer' in the subject box.

Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.

• High-fashion organic clothing. Organic clothing is not a new trend but it can be hard to find organic or eco-fashion that goes beyond basics like t-shirts and vests. Lux Life Apparel is a US-based retailer that sells a range of fashionable clothing that is organic and eco-friendly.

• Solar-powered tote bags. For those who want to use renewable energy on the go, a solar-powered tote bag could be just the thing. From US firm Noon Solar, the solar panels in the bags can be used to charge mobile phones and MP3 players.

Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.

Do you know the meaning of the word 'laudable'?

a) deserving of praise
b) likely to be true
c) laughable
d) renowned, well-known

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up?

1) The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has said the latest rise in inflation was caused by which main factor?

a) energy bills
b) fuel prices
c) personal care items
d) property prices

2) A survey by HSBC has revealed that businesses want to grow in the coming year despite tough economic conditions. What do nearly half of those surveyed think they need to consider in order to expand?

a) overseas trade
b) expanding on a local basis
c) expanding on a regional basis
d) become an Internet trader

3) Some 5,000 food businesses are to benefit from grants from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to help them do what?

a) diversify into new markets
b) promote themselves more effectively
c) implement better health and hygiene systems
d) learn new cookery skills

Answers at the end of the Bulletin.

Link building tips from SEO Book

Link building - the process of encouraging other sites to link to yours - is one of the most effective ways of ensuring more traffic and a high ranking in the search engines. SEO Book offers 101 tips on how to tackle the process.

Free digital PR e-book

The a to e is a free e-book about digital PR. It discusses how to implement a digital PR programme using tools and tactics such as SEO, blogs, social networks, webcasts and podcasts. The chapters contain handy links to PR tools such as press release analysers.

Power of branding guide from the Design Council

The Design Council has released a series of guides to help small businesses learn more about design principles. The Power of Branding: a practical guide covers topics such as why businesses need brands to be successful and what brands can do to help improve a business.

Social media jargon explained

The concept of social media has a lot of buzzwords and jargon associated with it, which novices might find hard to interpret and understand. The Common Craft site has translated it into plain English, offering articles and videos discussing things like Wikis, social bookmarking, and Google Reader for people new to the topic.

Win a year's Vodafone 3G Mobile Broadband contract

EnterQuest has teamed up with Shimmer Telecom, an independent provider of telephony, data and IT services, to give a lucky reader a 12-month subscription to Vodafone 3G Mobile Broadband worth over £300.

A service ideal for use on your laptop, and requiring no more than a simple USB stick, the plug-and-play mechanism works with any PC or laptop, including Apple.

With the Vodafone mobile service, you can browse the web, access your e-mail and, if your machine is set up for it, use your PC as a phone using VoIP.

Shimmer is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a 12-month subscription. Just answer the following question:

Q. What does the acronym VoIP mean?

a) Voice-over Internet Protocol
b) Voice-on Internet Protocol

E-mail your answer, together with your name, address and daytime telephone number, using "Vodafone 3G competition" as the e-mail subject line, to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.

All entries must be received by 30 September. EnterQuest and Shimmer Telecom will use the information you provide for their own marketing purposes only and your details will never be shared with any third parties (except to arrange delivery of the prize). Competition rules and terms and conditions for the prize are available on request.

This book helps those thinking of becoming their own boss to get inspired and think creatively about the type of business they could run. It covers a range of niche business ideas and fads from around the globe and includes advice and information on how to make your own small business succeed. Check out:

Small Business Ideas: 400 Latest and Greatest Small Business Ideas, by Terry J. Kyle

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Good luck

The EnterQuest Team

This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate.