How can I attract more customers?

Marketing your business can be a challenge and it is tough when you are not getting the results you had hoped for. However, I have good news for you. Based on the responses you entered I can see that there is a significant potential for improvement! This means that with a few simple changes (which need not be costly) you can attract more enquiries and convert them into long-term customers. The following sections provide advice and recommendations based on each of your responses to those specific questions.

I can see you are already marketing your business using some of the current strategies available. However, I have good news for you. Based on the responses you entered I can see that there is still potential for improvement! This means that with a few simple changes (which need not be costly) you can attract more enquiries and convert them into long-term customers. The following sections provide advice and recommendations based on each of your responses to those specific questions.

Congratulations – what you are already doing to market your business puts you well ahead of your competitors. Only a small proportion of business are doing what you do. There is even better news though – there will always be potential for improvement! This means that with a few simple changes (which need not be costly) you can attract more enquiries and convert them into long-term customers. The following sections provide advice and recommendations based on each of your responses to those specific questions.

We asked: 1. How wide is your market?

You answered: Very broad - I could sell to many sectors

That's a good start - having a broad market means you have a large opportunity. However that also means you are likely to have many competitors and it is more difficult for you to demonstrate your uniqueness in the market. Is there any way you could specialise in your marketing, by focussing on sectors by geography, industry or social demographic? That could increase your appeal-factor in the market. We cover the pros and cons of market segmentation in our marketing courses.

We asked: 1. How wide is your market?

You answered: Fairly specific - I specialise in a few markets

Specialising is good! Being seen as the specialist in a few markets gives you the opportunity to demonstrate relevance to your customers and they will be reassured that you understand their requirements. Have you segmented your markets and list, and created customised campaigns and website content specifically for each market? This way you can appear to be even more specialised than you actually are. We cover the pros and cons of market segmentation in our marketing courses.

We asked: 1. How wide is your market?

You answered: Niche - I am highly specialised

Specialised is the way to be! Well done. Being highly specialised put you in a good competitive position because there will be fewer competitors also specialising in that market. However, is your market large enough to sustain future business opportunity? What would happen if there were external factors that affected that sector and reduced their ability to invest? Are you so specialised in your market you risk turning away opportunities for neighbouring sectors? There is risk in having all your eggs in one basket. We cover the pros and cons of market segmentation in our marketing courses.

We asked: 2. How well do you know your buyer's needs?

You answered: I have assumed them based on my market knowledge

If you know the market well, you can probably position yourself with relevance to your market. However, knowing the market and profiles of typical customers doesn't necessarily mean you know the customers' motivations or concerns. It would be worth spending time creating customer profiles (known as personae or avatars) to represent your market, and using those to analyse what concerns and motivations could be addressed with your offering. In our marketing courses we show how personae/avatars are used to create a value proposition which in turn helps develop very compelling and attractive marketing messages for your offering.

We asked: 2. How well do you know your buyer's needs?

You answered: I have developed profiles to represent customers ("customer personae")

That's good - having customer profiles (personae or avatars) to represent your target customers is very helpful. I expect you have the customer profile with typical demographics that describe or characterise the individuals that influence the purchase of what you sell. Do you also analyse what they typically desire (Gains) and fear or avoid (Pains)? These are the links to a value proposition which sells to those Gains and Pains which is more effective than simply promoting the advantages of your offering. In our marketing courses we show how personae/avatars are used to create a value proposition which in turn helps develop very compelling and attractive marketing messages for your products or services.

We asked: 2. How well do you know your buyer's needs?

You answered: My customer profiles include pains and gains

Only a few, more forward-thinking marketers actually do this. You are one of the few! Congratulations! Having customer personae/avatars with detailed profiles including desires (Gains) and fears or avoidance (Pains) really helps align your marketing to your customers' requirements. You might think this is the obvious thing to do but comparatively few people marketing their products and services consciously do this.

There are two more steps you can take to further enhance your personae/avatars. You can also consider what might inhibit them from buying from you, so you can pre-empt those concerns by addressing them in your marketing content. You can also consider your personae/avatars' experience and knowledge of your offering. Is this something new which requires education, or is it something which they may have experienced before, perhaps negatively through another supplier? In our marketing courses we show how personae/avatars are used to create a value proposition which in turn helps develop very compelling and attractive marketing messages for your offering.

We asked: 3. Do you sell product and service features or customer outcomes?

You answered: My marketing promotes my products or services

People usually start marketing their business by promoting their products or services - this is perfectly natural. However, in this highly competitive world it is very difficult, some would say impossible, to differentiate yourself based only on product or service features. There will always be someone else selling something very similar.

Also, unless your customers are already looking for specific features, they are likely to say "So what?" when reading about product features. If they are looking for features alone, they are likely to differentiate between suppliers on price, and the only way of competing in that situation is by offering a price advantage, usually a discount.

It is far better to sell what your customers would gain if they bought your product or service, rather than the product or service itself. For example, if you sold specialist diamond-tipped drills to the construction industry for drilling holes in concrete, you could sell on features: 20mm diameter fast-cut drill, diamond tip, low wear. However it would be more attractive for your customer if you sold the outcome: "Our specialist drills cut holes in half the time and last longer, which means you get the job done quicker and save on costs too."

We asked: 3. Do you sell product and service features or customer outcomes?

You answered: My marketing describes what I do and the benefits this has for the customer

That's good - selling benefits is much better than selling features. It shows you are thinking "Why?" However, in this highly competitive world it is very difficult to differentiate yourself based only on features and benefits. Unless your customers are already looking for specific benefits, they may not associate what you are offering with the results or outcomes they would find attractive.

If your customers can't find a compelling reason to buy your product rather than an alternative, often the only way of competing in that situation is by offering a price advantage, usually a discount. It is far better to sell what your customers would gain if they bought your product or service, rather than the product or service itself.

For example, if you sold specialist diamond-tipped drills to the construction industry for drilling holes in concrete, you could sell on features: 20mm diameter fast-cut drill, diamond tip, low wear. The benefits would be fast cutting speeds and longer-lasting drills. However it would be more attractive for your customer if you sold the outcome: "With our specialist drills you get the job done quicker and save on costs too."

We asked: 3. Do you sell product and service features or customer outcomes?

You answered: My marketing describes how I can help my customers achieve what they want

Congratulations! You are one of the minority of people marketing Customer Value rather than product or service features and benefits. Identifying customer “gains”, i.e. what they want or aspire to in a general sense, and “pains”, which is often what gets in the way of a gain or is something they want to avoid are key steps in identifying what represents value to the customer.

Customers are willing to pay for what they believe is valuable to them, so if you can help them achieve those gains and avoid pains then your proposition will appear far more valuable and attractive than if you were selling it as a product or service. This can be quite challenging to maintain, because when we are close to our product or service we can be tempted to revert back to selling features and benefits because that is what we are more familiar with. A clear focus on Customer Value is an excellent approach for your marketing campaigns.

We asked: 4. What is your lead generation strategy?

You answered: I use several different approaches but not integrated

You are not alone. In fact the majority of organisations carry out sporadic campaigns and have other de facto marketing activity running along in the background such as websites and advertising. There is such a wide range of marketing activity now available and affordable that it is easy to experiment with many but not have the results that are hoped for. Using multiple marketing channels is not a bad thing in itself, but having separate marketing activities without an overall strategy means that you are not optimising the returns that you could be making from your investment.

We recommend that you review your markets and personae (see above) and plan out a typical Customer Journey. This will show you the processes and activities the customer goes through in the ATTRACT, ENGAGE and CONVERT stages of that journey. We provide a template for this in our Marketing Blueprint course. Questions to ask are: how will they find out about you; what do they need to know; can they get that information; will they buy immediately or will they need more reassurance; how can you raise their confidence and earn their trust?

Taking a holistic approach to marketing means that your customers’ requirements can be addressed at every step, and your marketing investment can be focussed where it helps the customer make their way along the Customer Journey towards buying from you.

We asked: 4. What is your lead generation strategy?

You answered: I have a strategy and my marketing activities are aligned with that strategy

Excellent - having a strategy is good. You would be surprised how many people don't have a marketing strategy! Having a joined-up strategy that is aligned with the Customer Journey is even better. The majority of organisations carry out sporadic marketing campaigns and have other de facto marketing activity running along in the background such as websites and advertising. There is such a wide range of marketing activity now available and affordable that it is easy to experiment with many but not have the results that are hoped for. Using multiple marketing channels is not a bad thing in itself, but having marketing activities with a joined-up strategy means that you are likely to optimise the returns on your marketing investment.

 We recommend that you review your markets and personae (see above) and plan out a typical Customer Journey. This will show you the processes and activities the customer goes through in the ATTRACT, ENGAGE and CONVERT stages. We provide a template for this in our Marketing Blueprint course. Questions to ask are: how will they find out about you; what do they need to know; can they get that information; will they buy immediately or will they need more reassurance; how can you raise their confidence and earn their trust? Taking a holistic approach to marketing means that your customers’ requirements can be addressed at every step, and your marketing investment can be focussed where it helps the customer make their way along the Customer Journey towards buying from you.

We asked: 4. What is your lead generation strategy?

You answered: I have a well-planned strategy and I analyse all the results

That is excellent! It shows you are managing your marketing activities well.  Having marketing activities with a joined-up strategy means that you are likely to optimise the returns on your marketing investment. Analysing the results of each marketing activity or campaign is important so you can see what works and what doesn’t. You can then adjust your activities to maximise results. Individual activities are easier to monitor and analyse than measuring the overall effectiveness of your strategy, yet it is the strategy that is most important for generating revenue.

Having a strategy is good, having a joined-up strategy that is aligned with the Customer Journey as well is even better. If you haven't already done so, we recommend that you review your markets and personae (see above) and plan out a typical Customer Journey. This will show you the processes and activities the customer goes through in the ATTRACT, ENGAGE and CONVERT stages. We provide a template for this in our Marketing Blueprint course. Questions to ask are: how will they find out about you; what do they need to know; can they get that information; will they buy immediately or will they need more reassurance; how can you raise their confidence and earn their trust?

Taking a holistic approach to marketing means that your customers’ requirements can be addressed at every step, and your marketing investment can be focussed where it helps the customer make their way along the Customer Journey towards buying from you.

We asked: 5. What happens if your customers show interest but don't buy?

You answered: I hope they come back when they are ready

The good news: those customers will buy when they are ready. The bad news: unless you keep in touch they will probably buy from someone else. It is a statistical fact that 90% of the ideal customers in your market are not ready to buy right now, so if you only focus on people that are ready to buy you are only addressing 10% of the potential market. Worse, some of that 10% are already engaged with a competitor. Don’t waste the 90%!  Have a look at our Marketing Funnel (included in the free Marketing Blueprint course preview) to see how you can ATTRACT and then positively ENGAGE with your market until they are ready to be CONVERTed into customers.

Your engagement strategy can either be to identified individuals who you would manage on a marketing list or to unknown followers on your website and social media. Until they are ready to buy they will only be interested in content that is engaging or useful, not product information. Your content strategy must keep your market connected and engaged by publishing content that is relevant to them. For example, if you run a business hiring water-sports equipment on the coast, your engagement strategy would include weather information, news about water-sports festivals and marine conservation – all topics of interest to your target market that would keep them following your pages. When they eventually want to visit the coast and hire a wetsuit and paddle-board, you would be the first supplier they would consider.

We asked: 5. What happens if your customers show interest but don't buy?

You answered: I add them to a list and occasionally email them

The good news: those customers will buy when they are ready. The bad news: unless you keep in regular contact they will probably buy from someone else. It is a statistical fact that 90% of the ideal customers in your market are not ready to buy right now, so if you only focus on people that are ready to buy you are only addressing 10% of the potential market. Worse, some of that 10% are already engaged with a competitor. Don’t waste the 90%!  Have a look at our Marketing Funnel (included in the free Marketing Blueprint course preview) to see how you can ATTRACT and then positively ENGAGE with your market until they are ready to be CONVERTed into customers.

Your engagement strategy can either be to identified individuals who you would manage on a marketing list as you probably do now, or to unknown followers on your website and social media. Until they are ready to buy they will only be interested in content that is engaging or useful, not product information. Your content strategy must keep your market connected and engaged by publishing content that is relevant to them, rather than emailing product and company information which may only be relevant to you.

For example, if you run a business hiring water-sports equipment on the coast, your engagement strategy would include weather information, news about water-sports festivals and marine conservation – all topics of interest to your target market that would keep them following your pages. When they eventually want to visit the coast and hire a wetsuit and paddle-board, you would be the first supplier they would consider.

We asked: 5. What happens if your customers show interest but don't buy?

You answered: I have an engagement strategy that keeps them in my marketing funnel

That is an excellent strategy, and one that only a very small proportion of organisations demonstrate effectively. You understand the importance of engagement, so that those customers will buy when they are ready. Unless you keep in regular contact they will probably buy from someone else. It is a statistical fact that 90% of the ideal customers in your market are not ready to buy right now, so if you only focus on people that are ready to buy you are only addressing 10% of the potential market. Worse, some of that 10% are already engaged with a competitor. Engaging with the 90% is essential for success! 

Your engagement strategy can either be to identified individuals who you would manage on a marketing list as you probably do now, or to unknown followers on your website and social media. Until they are ready to buy they will only be interested in content that is engaging or useful, not product information. Your content strategy must keep your market connected and engaged by publishing content that is relevant to them, rather than emailing product and company information which may only be relevant to you.

For example, if you run a business hiring water-sports equipment on the coast, your engagement strategy would include weather information, news about water-sports festivals and marine conservation – all topics of interest to your target market that would keep them following your pages. When they eventually want to visit the coast and hire a wetsuit and paddle-board, you would be the first supplier they would consider.

We asked: 6. How many potential customers do you lose to your competitors?

You answered: Too many, my market is very competitive

It can be very frustrating when you have great faith in your products and services and put a lot of effort into marketing, but the customers don’t buy from you. That happens to everyone, but if it is happening a lot it is worth reviewing some of the fundamentals of your marketing.

One of the most powerful things you can do is review your unique sales proposition (USP) to focus on what makes you different, and why people would buy from you. We cover this in our marketing courses and there is a formula and template to help. If you can’t readily explain the difference between your offering and an alternative (which may not be a competitor, it may be “do nothing”) it will be very difficult to win on anything but price or features.

It is no longer possible to compete on product or service uniqueness. There will always be a competitor who can (or says they can) do the same or better. Instead, try focussing on what makes you different which is probably a combination that is truly unique. For example, if you were setting up as a Virtual Assistant (VA) you would be competing with thousands of other VAs. I came across a VA recently who specialised in VA services to security consultants. She had worked in security and knew all the terminology and acronyms so although she had narrowed her market, she has a very powerful USP and can compete successfully against generalist VAs. Could you do something similar by specialising or combining your attributes?  

We asked: 6. How many potential customers do you lose to your competitors?

You answered: More than I would like, but we win our share

It can be very frustrating when you have great faith in your products and services and put a lot of effort into marketing, but the customers don’t buy from you. That happens to everyone, but if it is happening more than you would like it is worth reviewing your unique sales proposition (USP). 

The USP helps you focus on what makes you different, and why people would buy from you. We cover this in our marketing courses and there is a formula and template to help. If you can’t demonstrate the clear advantage of your offering over an alternative (which may not be a competitor, it may be “do nothing”) it will be more difficult to win new customers.

It is no longer possible to compete on product or service uniqueness. There will always be a competitor who can (or says they can) do the same or better. Instead, try focussing on what makes you different and is relevant to your market. This is probably a combination that is truly unique. For example, if you were setting up as a Virtual Assistant (VA) you would be competing with thousands of other VAs. I came across a VA recently who specialised in VA services to security consultants. She had worked in security and knew all the terminology and acronyms so although she had narrowed her market, she has a very powerful USP and can compete successfully against generalist VAs. Could you strengthen your USP by specialising or combining your attributes?  

We asked: 6. How many potential customers do you lose to your competitors?

You answered: Most serious enquiries become customers eventually

You are in a very fortunate position if you don't lose many customers to the competition! However, timing is everything and if your sales pipeline is more extended than you might wish, it is worth looking at how you can secure commitment from your potential customers sooner. The more time that passes before they place an order, the more chance a competitor has or the customers change their minds. 

When I had a sales role, we had three messages we focussed on for every contract. "Why buy anything" - the justification; "Why buy from me" - the value proposition/USP; "Why buy now?" which is a combination of the first two. If it is worth doing, then why wait to get the benefits?

We asked: 7. How do you keep in touch with your customers after they have purchased?

You answered: We don't - or maybe a Christmas greeting or change of address

It is very easy to be so involved in delivering your services and attracting new customers that you overlook one of your most important commercial assets – your existing customer base. It is far more expensive, difficult and time-consuming to win new customers than to sell to existing customers – as long as you maintain the relationship. This need not be much of a burden, a simple “keep-in-touch” email once a quarter is better than nothing. If you aim to start with that, you can very easily increase the engagement with customised communication and more frequent contacts if relevant and informative rather than pushy. I welcome the emails from our financial advisor because he keeps us up to date with market movements and other implications for our savings. Although he is providing free information (which I value), I am also well aware he is reminding us of his services on a regular basis! 

We asked: 7. How do you keep in touch with your customers after they have purchased?

You answered: We have a customer list and send out occasional updates such as newsletters or product news

You clearly recognise that one of your most important commercial assets is your existing customer base. It is far more expensive, difficult and time-consuming to win new customers than to sell to existing customers – as long as you maintain the relationship. However, your communications need to represent value to the customer, in other words they need to be useful in some way. If your customers are not interested in product news at the time, your communications will not be useful and will more likely be annoying than welcomed.

Instead, why not communicate with your customers about something that will always interest them, even if it is not actually about the product or service they buy from you. I welcome the emails from our financial advisor because he keeps us up to date with market movements and other implications for our savings. Although he is providing free information (which I value), I am also well aware he is reminding us of his services on a regular basis! What could you include in your customer communications that would make them look forward to your emails?

We asked: 7. How do you keep in touch with your customers after they have purchased?

You answered: We have a communication strategy to keep customers engaged with interesting and useful content.

You clearly recognise that one of your most important commercial assets is your existing customer base. It is far more expensive, difficult and time-consuming to win new customers than to sell to existing customers – as long as you maintain the relationship. Your communications need to represent value to the customer, in other words they need to be useful in some way. It is a great strategy to communicate with your customers about something that will always interest them, even if it is not actually about the product or service they buy from you. I welcome the emails from our financial advisor because he keeps us up to date with market movements and other implications for our savings. Although he is providing free information (which I value), I am also well aware he is reminding us of his services on a regular basis!

This can be more challenging if the service is very repetitive, and even more so if the purchase was a one-time project such as a new kitchen. Your communications keep your name in front of the customer, but are you making the most of the commercial opportunity this represents? Complementary products, joint ventures with other suppliers who address the same market and customer referrals are all opportunities for you in your customer communication Call To Action (CTA)