Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 183
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In this week's issue:
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How to educate rather than eliminate your customers
There's a widely held belief among small businesses that marketing a product or service is purely down to good promotion and selling.
Just find out where your customers are, then promote and sell to them as hard as you possibly can, is the theory.
The problem with this approach for a new or recently started business is that most consumers or business buyers wouldn't know your small business from a bar of soap. Your name is new, your expertise is unproven, and your trustworthiness is totally unknown. You don't have a recognised brand or trading track record, and you don't have the credibility that goes with it.
In fact, it's reasonable to argue that the most important function of marketing for a newly started or even an existing small business is to establish that you are knowledgeable, experienced and can be trusted.
People generally don't like doing business with someone they don't know and don't trust. Even if you have the lowest prices around, if your prospects don't believe you or trust you, the result will be few or no sales.
Everyone's tired of hearing the same old weary sales messages, so it won't make any difference when you deliver your perfectly rehearsed sales pitch, because as an unknown name, your prospects' barriers will already be up before you even open your mouth.
Which is why education-based marketing is so important for new start ups and small business owners.
The basic theory behind using education-based marketing as an effective marketing strategy is that it has one main purpose - to establish the trust and credibility of your new business in the eyes of your prospects by using educational rather than traditional 'hard-selling' messages.
So how exactly can you develop or create your educational message, and how can you get this to your prospects?
The first step is to put yourself in your prospective customers' shoes and listen to the questions they would ask themselves at the point where they are thinking of shopping around for the product or service that you offer. What questions do they ask themselves, and what answers can you come up with that will be the basis of your educational message and will help you to attract the attention of your prospects as early as possible in the sales cycle?
Instead of having the usual sales message that goes something like "We offer the best local service at the lowest prices", your education-based message should aim to answer the most commonly asked questions in your prospects' minds, with a title such as "Seven tips and secrets to help you choose (your type of product or service) for your family or business".
For many small businesses, and according to the experience of David Frey, author of our UK Small Business Marketing Bible, the second type of education-based message will out-pull the first traditional sales message by a factor of up to 10:1.
In other words, educational information that helps your prospects to solve problems, answer their questions and make better decisions is the type of information that will attract prospects - and ultimately more customers - to your business.
Once you've developed your educational message, for example in the form of a special report, you'll need to package this and offer it for free to your prospects in return for their personal contact details, or by giving them an easy call to action, which ideally will be for them to call or e-mail you, come into your store, or visit your website for more details about your product or service.
You can package your message in lots of different formats that your prospects can access and respond to, including: in a written report, which you can post to them or hand out in your store; in a PDF report, which they can download from your website; on a five-day course sent by e-mail; through an 'edutorial' piece published in your local newspaper; on a CD-ROM, via a webinar or podcast; or even through a free pre-recorded phone message.
You should pick a report title that is intriguing or has some impact, using words such as 'secrets', 'insights', 'tips', 'advice' and 'how-to', as these generally prove to be good triggers that will attract more prospects.
Education-based marketing is a relatively simple strategy that just about any new or small business can use to their advantage, as most of your competitors are probably using traditional 'selling-based' techniques. With education-based messages, your efforts concentrate on giving your prospects what they want - which is useful information and advice that will help them make a decision - and avoids what they don't want, which is a sales pitch.
Approached correctly, this education-based technique is highly effective, as it attracts prospects early in their decision-making process, helps to cement a relationship of trust, and hopefully will result in you selling more of your product or service.
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For hundreds of practical tips and techniques about finding new customers, increasing sales and growing your business, check out the UK Small Business Marketing Bible. |
Practical guides to fire safety
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Act 2005 has put the onus on businesses to make sure that their premises are safe from fire risks.
Although fire certificates are now a thing of the past, businesses have a duty of care to ensure that their employees and visitors to the premises are safeguarded from danger.
So how do businesses find out what to do, and where can they get practical advice on making their premises safe from fire?
To meet this need, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has published a series of guides that cover a variety of business situations and sectors.
Many of these guides can be downloaded free of charge from the DCLG website.
You can also check out our practical guide to fire safety measures for more details.
Eating out purchases
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) publishes a range of useful data about food trends and consumption in the UK. The latest figures reveal the top purchases made by consumers (by volume) when they eat outside the home.
1) Alcoholic drinks
2) Soft drinks
3) Other beverages, such as tea and coffee
4) Meat and meat products
5) Potatoes (including chips)
6) Sandwiches
7) Vegetables
8) Ice cream, desserts and cakes
9) Cheese/egg dishes (including pizza)
10) Indian, Chinese and Thai dishes
For more information about the trends currently affecting the UK catering, hospitality and licensed trades, why not check out our practical market reports.
Each
week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business
ideas in the UK.
Here
is this week's idea:
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 what the word 'arcane' means?
a) idealistic or utopian
b) modern or trendy
c) overly complex or technical
d) secret or obscure
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
Fraud risks are highest for free e-mail users
If you sell via e-commerce, you should be wary of customers who use free e-mail services such as Yahoo! and Hotmail. Credit checking firm Checkmyfile.com reckons e-tailers who accept transactions from free e-mail services are up to seven times more likely to have to refund the sale because of identify fraud. If you use a free e-mail service yourself, you could also be at risk of having your identify stolen. Checkmyfile.com offers a free identity theft checker on its website, which works out how likely you are to have your identity stolen. You can also try the free tool on this Home Office site to assess your vulnerability - just follow the link to take the test on the left-hand side of the page.
Supermarket suppliers need to complain more
Supermarket suppliers who have a grievance against the multinationals are being urged to make a stand. Too many suppliers are afraid of the big boys to complain about their treatment - because they may lose their contracts if they speak out. But the current Competition Commission inquiry into the power of the supermarkets guarantees anonymity to those who give evidence - and the National Farmers' Union (NFU) Scotland says suppliers must take advantage of the opportunity.
A business directory that's also a market research tool
The Ask Alix website is an online business directory where businesses can add their details. The site can be searched by sector, business type or for a business by name. It's also a handy market research resource - there's an option to search for business reports, and you can even sign up to a business tracker to receive regular e-mail updates of how your competitors are faring.
Fresh ideas for pubs and cafés
Pubs and café-bars are being offered help and advice to cope with the possible loss of trade when the smoking ban comes into force in England and Wales next year. Trade paper The Publican, Club Mirror magazine and clean air scheme AIR are launching the 'Fresh Air, Fresh Thinking' initiative. It aims to uncover ways licensees can bring in new business after smoking has been banned in public places. An archive of stories, articles and case studies will be built up and made available on the website.
Free business equipment online
If you're looking for furniture, office supplies or other equipment for your business but on a shoestring budget, you could do worse than to visit the new Recycle.co.uk site. The site lists furniture and other items deemed junk by their owners - and if you can collect the goods yourself, they're yours absolutely free. The site aims to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill, and contains some absolute gems - from electrical goods to musical instruments. It's free to list items, and you can even lodge requests on the site's 'items wanted' section.
This practical manual is aimed at reducing the number of start ups that fail within the first three years - a figure which currently stands at 66%. It sets out the minimum basics that new business owners must address to ensure that they survive, covering how to avoid common pitfalls and analysing what usually trips new ventures up. Despite its serious subject matter, the book is written in an upbeat and pithy way, and addresses topics such as getting funding, managing money, developing quality products, pricing properly, dealing with customers and motivating staff. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is d).
Arcane means secret, obscure or otherwise mysterious.
When writing content for your business website, you should aim for plain English explanation and not arcane jargon. |
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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. |
