Transcript Chart Your Course to Business Success

February 7, 2012
Advisors On Target
Chart Your Course to
Business Success
On Target Business Intensive: Session 5
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Homework so far
• Session 1
• Create a working draft of your Mission Statement
• Create a working draft of your 1 and 5 year Vision
• Answer the 10 questions on the handout
• Session 2
• Review your own financial statements and chart of accounts with
what you learned in Session 2
• Session 3
• Create a budget for 2012
• If you already have a budget, review and revise as needed
• Use the cashflow projection model (at the bottom of the budget
tool)
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Homework continued
• Session 4
• Determine your breakeven point for your 2012 budget
• Annual
• For the month of February 2012
• Define your target markets
• Do a competition analysis
• Additional activities
• Values Exercise
• Business Diagnostic Assessment
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2011
Advisors On Target
Questions about
Market Analysis
Process?
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Agenda for today
• Recap last week – Questions
• Reaching your target market
• Channels
• Marketing Strategies
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CRM
Customer Communications Plan
Sales Goals and Marketing Budget
Tracking your marketing and sales
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Marketing Strategy
• Promotion
• How do you get the word out?
• Advertising
• Media
• Frequency
• Effectiveness
• Other Marketing Methods
• Networking
• Home Shows
• Website/Online/Social Media
• Customer Communication Plan
• Marketing and Advertising Budget
• Pricing Strategy
Distribution Channels
• How do you sell your products or services?
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Retail
Direct (mail order, internet)
Wholesale
Your own sales force
Agents
Independent reps
• Has your marketing strategy proven effective?
• Do you need to make any changes or additions to
current strategies?
Channels
• How you communicate your value proposition to your
customer segment
• Channel Types
• Direct – Your Own (Your own website, marketing collateral,
employees, etc)
• Indirect – Others (Referral Partners, Agents, lead generation
services, etc)
• Channel Phases
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Awareness
Evaluation
Purchase
Delivery
Post sale
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Reaching your target markets
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Where do they hang out?
Where do they want to be reached?
How are you going to get their attention?
How are you going to craft your message to attract the right
customer for you?
• How are you going to differentiate yourself so that your
customer will choose you over your competitors?
Choosing the best strategies
• Once you’ve brainstormed the options, ask:
• What strategies will work best for my company for each of my
customer segments (target markets)?
• Which strategies can I best afford or make economic sense for
me to invest in?
• Do I have any data to understand which of my marketing
efforts in the past have paid off?
• Do I know the ROI on past efforts? (Start tracking now)
The most overlooked and underused marketing opportunity for
small businesses…
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The Gold in Your
Database
Steps to developing and implementing a CRM strategy
Creating a communications plan for staying in touch with
your customers, prospects and referral partners
What is CRM?
• CRM = Customer Relationship Management
• Its about:
• Knowing your customers, and
• Using that knowledge to form profitable relationships
• Systems & Technology help us do that:
• CRM software applications
• Customer Communications Plans using multi-media
CRM Is A Strategy
• Systems:
• Collect information and segment customers to know their
needs
• Collaborate with them to plan and create new value,
• Technology:
• Integrate the customer's various touch points with the business
• Develop a single, real-time view of each customer
• Know what to offer customers/customer groups and when they
will be ready to buy it
• People
• Train for customer-centric service
Keeping Customers Can be
Challenging
• Customer behavior can shift rapidly as markets create new
purchase opportunities and alternative means of obtaining
satisfaction
• Value propositions have changed significantly as competition
across all markets has increased
• Customer loyalty relationships are vulnerable when a
competitor offers a better solution
Integrating Customer Information Can
Help Retain Relationships
Source: LGS Group
Inc., Canada
Customer Driven CRM
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What will this customer/customer group buy?
When do they buy it?
What will encourage them to buy it?
How much will they pay for it?
What creates value for them, and if we create
this value will this increase their loyalty to us?
Getting The Answers
• Not all your customers have the same needs but to be able to
establish the different sorts you need information
• It makes sense to build up a profile of your customers and
group them according to their different requirements because
this will give you a good idea of how likely they are to
purchase what you are offering
And The Benefits Are....
• The benefits of CRM can be substantial and include:
• Increased sales to new and existing customers through better
timing, identifying needs more effectively and cross selling of
other products
• More effective marketing communications using a more personal
approach
• The development of new/improved products/services
• All of which result in the payoff of:
• Enhanced customer satisfaction and retention
• Increased value from your existing customers - and reduced costto-serve them
Creating Your Own CRM
System
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Collecting information about your customers
Creating a customer information database
Providing a way to access the information
Analyzing the customer data, and
Using the information to meet customer needs; market
more effectively; and enhance the customer experience
Collecting Information About
Customers
• Look at your entire business to establish what customer data
already resides where
• Don’t leave any source out of consideration. They all contain
customer information, often on the same customer for
different aspects of their dealings with you that might later be
useful to profile their value to you and determine their needs.
What Information Do You
Need?
• To segment customers and build a picture of what might
appeal to them you need more than just contact details:
• Responses to campaigns
• Sales and purchase data
• Account information
• Complaints record
• Web registration data
• Service and support records
• Demographic data: age, occupation etc.
Selling B2B?
• Selling B2B requires collecting information about your
business customers – firmographics:
• What industry sector they are in
• Public or private
• Size of company
• How they buy from you and the size and frequency of their
purchase
• Also rate how valuable they are to your business
• All this information gives an idea of who are your best and
worst customers, and what they buy from you
Create A Customer Information
Database
• Centralize your information by bringing it together in a
database of some sort
• Standardize your information by making sure you have a
consistent way of recording it
• Keep it centralized as a database so other team members
can access it and be up to date on that customer
What Sort Of Database Do I
Need?
• Consider:
• Number of customers and amount/types of data you want to
collect – and the possibility of scaling up in the future
• Your budget
• Your in house expertise
• The need or the benefit of integration with other business
systems
Analyzing Customer Data
• Data mining can now start to give some really useful
information about your customers to:
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Develop targeted marketing campaigns
Sales offers
Identify trends in product likes and dislikes
Develop new services for the customer
• Result - increased customer loyalty
Using The Information
• It’s five to seven times more expensive to acquire a new
customer than to retain an old one
• Do more business with your your current customer
• Use customer data productively to:
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meeting your current customer’s needs,
marketing more effectively to them,
identifying cross selling and upselling opportunities to them
enhancing their experience in dealing with you
Improving Your Marketing
• Typically, 80% of profits will come from just 20% of your
customer base.
• If you could identify that 20% and gain an understanding of
what it is they like about your product or service, you can
develop personalized marketing for them
• With this knowledge of customers you can:
• Develop targeted marketing campaigns aimed at your most
profitable customers
• Cross sell and upsell to them
• Identify what marketing channels are most successful
Enhancing The Level Of Service
• Offer special services to
specific segments
• Offer improved service level
• Offer new services
Marketing to your Customers
• Most under-utilized marketing
• Largest source of business
• 65-70% of Painting Contractors business comes from
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Existing Customers
Referrals from Customers
Referrals from Contractors/Designers
Referrals from other Referral Partners/Business Networking
Your Customer
Communications Plan
Start with Your Database
• Customer List
• Prospects
• Referral Partners
Tools to Manage Your Contact
Data
CRM Software
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ACT!
Goldmine
Salesforce
Microsoft Outlook
Google Apps
Custom Software
Others
Other Tools
• QuickBooks
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Access
Key to Success –
Commitment!!!
• Keep Your Master Database Up to Date
• EVERYONE who handles customer information must be committed
to maintaining the database
• Auxiliary Lists in other software must be updated from the Master
Database
• Email Newsletter Software (Constant Contact, etc.)
• QuickBooks
• Maintain Segmented Lists so you can reach out to a subset
Database Segments
• Define Groups
• Customers
• Home Owner Customers
• Business Customers
• Contractors
• Commercial Property Owners
• Prospects
• Bid a project
• Inquired about your services
• Referral Partners
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Contractors
Designers
Property Managers
Business Contacts
Classify Your Customers
• Classifying Your Customers
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Characteristics
Buying Patterns
Interests
Types of Services purchased
When services were performed
Rate Your Customers
• Rating Your Customers
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A - Best (Ideal) Customers
B – Pretty Good/Average Customers
C – Substandard (Upgradable?)
D – There shouldn’t be any (Fire them)
Develop a Communications
Plan – 1
• Who
• Customers
• Prospects (Prior bids)
• Referral Partners
• How Often
• Depends on the “Who”
• At least 4 times per year, probably no more frequently than monthly
• When
• Peak interest periods
• Slow business cycles
• Natural touch points (holidays, at the end of a job, at “X” period following a
job)
Develop a Communications
Plan – 2
• Media – What’s best for your “who” lists?
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Direct Mail (Postcards, brochures, flyers)
Letters
Newsletters (Print or Electronic)
E-blasts (Specific Purpose – Special Offer)
Greeting Cards
Telephone Calls
In Person Meetings (lunch, coffee)
Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter)
• Variety – Mix up media
• Reach more people where or how they like to participate
• Manage costs with less expensive media
Develop a Communications
Plan – 3
• Cost
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Review Annual Budget
If needed, time larger expenditures to projected cash flow
Choose marketing media that fits your budget
Refine Monthly Budgets to reflect marketing plan costs
• Action Steps
• Set Action Plan so you can deploy communications on schedule
• Keep Marketing and Keep Your Brand Alive!
Develop a Communications
Plan – 4
• What do I say?
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Relevant information to customer’s needs/wants
Highlight timely services
Provide value (Educate, Inform, Inspire, Entertain)
Offer specials
Ask for referrals
Call to Action
• How do I say it?
• Be customer centric – make it about them
• Be yourself, use your own voice
Conclusion
• CRM really comes down to this – it’s a way to store the sort
of information that adds value for your customers when
they do business with you
• It needs to be supported by a team trained in a customercentric approach
• You must be committed to the process
• With a solid CRM system, you can create a customer
communications plan that’s easy to implement
• When you communicate with your customers you get
more business!
Using Customer Information In
New Ways
• New CRM possibilities can make a business more customercentric
• It can work for Small to Medium Businesses
• If you can identify your most valuable customers and market to
them more effectively, you can increase your revenue
substantially.
Sales Forecast/Sales Goals
• Provide a month by month sales forecast for the next year
based on
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Historical Sales
Market Research
Seasonal Flow
Growth Assumptions ( Budget)
• Project Number of Leads/Bids required to achieve sales goals
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Average size job
Close Ratio
Lead to Bid Ratio (use 95% if you don’t know)
To calculate required leads: Sales Goal ($) divided by Average size
job, divided by close ratio, divided by Lead to Bid Ratio
• Example: $60,000 sales goal divided by $4,000 Average job,
divided by 35% close ratio, divided by 95% = 45 leads needed
Why track sales?
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Track effectiveness of marketing efforts
Track return on investment of marketing dollars
Track effectiveness of sale techniques
Track effectiveness of various sales people – owner, estimator,
outside sales person, etc.
Sales Tracking Tools
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Close Ratio – Bid to Sales
Dollar Value Bid to Dollar Value Sales
Days to close
Lead to Bid Ratio
Lead to Sales Ratio
Cost per lead
Cost per sale
Effectiveness of Marketing Tactics
Homework
• Fill in information for Target Markets, Competition and
Marketing Strategy (Marketing Plan – Parts 1, 2, 3)
• Create a Marketing Budget using the template
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