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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 203
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| Thought for the week: "Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world." Lily Tomlin |
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In this week's issue:
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An important but often overlooked marketing strategy
Some marketing strategies work like a dream in particular situations and small business sectors, while other strategies and techniques produce few or no results at all.
In certain business situations, direct selling methods are the most productive, while in others, referral generation and affiliate marketing systems beat everything else hands down.
In other sectors, direct response mailings will be a waste of time, while brand-building adverts and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns generate awareness levels and orders that weren't happening before.
The sales and marketing technique or strategy you choose to deploy will be determined by the objective you need your business to achieve over a period of time, whether that is to get customers through your door, get orders via mail order, increase visitor levels to your website, or get your sales enquiry line ringing more often.
Tactically, in marketing, you can and should be using and testing different techniques at different times to see which method or combination of methods produces the optimum level of results for you.
However, there's one marketing strategy that every single small business can use on a regular basis, but which often gets overlooked or missed out altogether. And if this strategy is approached properly it can reinforce the effect of the other marketing strategies being used.
The strategy?
Systematically communicating on a continual basis with everyone on your business' radar who has some form of input into the success of your venture.
Just stop what you're doing now and write down a list of the types of people and organisations who have a relationship or business interest in your enterprise.
It might look something like this:
- Current customers who have recently bought from you.
- Your biggest customers.
- Previous customers who haven't bought for a while.
- Previous enquirers who have never bought from you.
- Your employees.
- Other business owners in your peer group or network group.
- Your suppliers.
- The suppliers to your suppliers.
- Your sales agents and distributors.
- Your professional advisers.
- Local journalists and newspaper editors.
- Your trade association.
- Membership associations you subscribe to.
- Businesses that sell complementary products and services to your own.
Communicating on a strategic basis with everyone on your 'radar list' will produce some very tangible business benefits, which can include getting more and better feedback about how your business and services are performing, finding new ways to improve your products, and generating higher enquiry levels about other things your business can offer in your market.
Of course, what this should not involve is simply telling your customers how good your products are, or what else you can sell them. It's all about education, and building trust and credibility on a continual basis, not just with clients, but with everyone who contributes something to your firm. It's about strengthening relationships, creating some buzz and word of mouth about your business, and hopefully increasing people's likelihood to buy more from you.
Having a systematic communication plan can involve using just about every technique and tool at your disposal, such as writing thank-you letters, sending follow-up e-mails, producing regular newsletters, publishing special reports, holding supplier workshops, and arranging personal visits and meetings whenever possible.
The trick is to work at this on a regular and continual basis.
The more you communicate with your customers and with the people who can help your business succeed, the stronger and more valuable your relationship with them will become.
The new Companies Act 2006 (...continued)
Last week we covered several aspects of the Companies Act 2006 that will come into force in just a couple of weeks, on 6 April. Other parts of the Act will be phased in between now and 2008.
The Act has previously come under fire for being too long and complex. With this in mind, law firm Irwin Mitchell has produced a useful ten-point guide to the main provisions of the Act for limited companies. Here's a quick summary of some of the key points:
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Directors' duties are set out in the Act, including factors that directors must consider when making decisions on behalf of the company, particularly when those decisions affect employees or the environment.
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Company secretaries won't be a requirement for private companies any more, but the duties they are currently responsible for, such as filing accounts at Companies House and taking minutes of meetings, will still need to be done.
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Companies will still have to create a Memorandum of Association when they are set up, but this will require less detail. Instead, some of the detailed information currently required in the Memorandum will be dealt with in the company's Articles of Association, which set out the rules for how the company is run.
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Annual General Meetings will no longer be a requirement for a private company unless its Articles of Association provide for this. And the notice period for arranging general meetings where special resolutions are to be proposed will be reduced from 21 to 14 days (except for public companies).
- Companies have to provide certain information, including their name, place of registration, registered office address and registered company number, on their website and on any electronic communications. This provision of the Act came into force on 1 January this year.
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
Most popular books
This top ten list is published on the SoYouWanna information and trivia site, and relates to the top ten most popular books of all time, based on the number sold.
The Bible is, perhaps unsurprisingly, at number one, and few fiction novels or literary classics have made the list, with practical manuals and inspirational or self-help titles proving more popular:
1) The Bible
2) Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung
3) American Spelling Book, by Noah Webster
4) The Guinness Book of Records
5) The McGuffey Readers, by William Holmes McGuffey
6) A Message to Garcia, by Elbert Hubbard
7) World Almanac
8) The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, by Dr Benjamin Spock
9) Valley of the Dolls, by Jacqueline Susann
10) In His Steps: "What Would Jesus Do?", by Rev. Charles Monroe Sheldon
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 phrase 'a Pyrrhic victory'?
a) a victory or success that was easily achieved
b) a victory or success achieved at great or detrimental cost
c) an unexpected victory or success in the face of adversity
d) a complete or total failure
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) Which market sector has been referred to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for investigation, amid concerns that it is anti-competitive?
a) The organic food market
b) The market for the supply of newspapers and magazines
c) The music downloads market
d) The market for the supply of cleaning products
2) What new money-related trend has been predicted by Visa Europe?
a) The phasing out of the £5 note
b) An increase in card-not-present fraud carried out online and over the phone
c) A new generation of wave-and-pay cards moving the UK towards being a cashless society
d) An increase in niche bank services such as Polish and Islamic accounts
3) Following the demise of the floppy disk, which we reported a few weeks ago, which item will soon be removed from electrical giant Currys' shelves?
a) The VHS video recorder
b) CD players with a cassette tape deck
c) The non-digital transistor radio
d) The traditional light bulb
Answers at the end of the Bulletin.
The National Minimum Wage will rise in October
The Government has announced that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) is to rise from 1 October 2007. The NMW for adults aged 22 and over will rise to £5.52 an hour, while the wage for 18-21-year-olds will increase to £4.60 per hour. The rate for 16-17-year-olds will go up from £3.30 to £3.40 per hour. The NMW has increased by almost 30% more than inflation since it was introduced in 1999.
Waitrose top shop for quality and atmosphere
Small retail enterprises that want to win customers and keep them loyal should look at the example set by Waitrose. The supermarket, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, has topped a poll by Verdict Research to find Britain's favourite retailer. Waitrose was ranked first in terms of quality, layout and ambience. Sister store John Lewis was second in the poll - it's the second year the two stores have taken first and second place in the customer satisfaction survey.
Guidance on the meaning of WEEE
Guidance on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations has been published on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) website. Take-back obligations will be imposed on retailers as well as manufacturers when the Regulations come fully into force on 1 July. The guidance explains the implications the legislation will have for retailers and manufacturers.
Olympic tenders available online
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is making an e-tendering and planning package available, which could be helpful for small businesses that want to compete for contracts to deliver the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Opportunities will be listed online, and businesses can browse contracts or register to be alerted automatically when new opportunities are added. Bids can also be submitted electronically.
Gadget news and reviews
The Pocket-lint gadget news and reviews website has expanded to include a forum for users to have their say, ask and answer questions from their peers. Users can start their own threads, upload videos from YouTube and chat with other members. The site also supplies professionally sourced news and reviews on gadgets including software, digital cameras, audio systems and phones.
This practical book bills itself as an essential guide to the theory and practice of leadership and management. It provides useful tips and guidance on effective management skills, but retains an entertaining approach throughout, covering how to avoid foul-ups, and summarising the types of effective behaviour demonstrated by good managers. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
A Pyrrhic victory refers to a victory or success that was achieved at great or detrimental cost.
Your business could win a legal battle in court, but the distraction and damage caused to your reputation through negative publicity could make this a Pyrrhic victory. |
How's your business radar answers
1) The answer is b) - the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) has made the request to the OFT, as it claims the newspaper and magazine sector is unfairly dominated by a handful of market heavyweights.
2) The answer is c) - Visa and Barclaycard are trialling new wave-and-pay cards, which Visa Europe expects will increasingly be used to pay for small, low-cost items.
3) The answer is d) - Currys has said it will stop selling old-style light bulbs, which have come under fire for their lack of energy efficiency. |
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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. |
