Archive for November, 2009
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
In my post 5 ways to know you’re stuck in neutral I spoke about one of my most common encounters when dealing with SMBs (small and medium sized businesses):
The company who’s stuck in the word-of-mouth rut…relying on the good of others to bring them business.
The problems with wholly relying on word-of-mouth
- You can’t project what new business you anticipate when you’re not the one prospecting.
- You’re relying on others, who aren’t intimately involved with your business, to sell your business
- Word of mouth has very limited reach: If you’re looking to expand into a new geographic area, market or industry it’s near impossible to extend your reach relying on existing customers.
- If you’re not pro-actively marketing yourself, it’s just as easy for people to spread negative word-of-mouth about your company
- A client is likely only going to refer you when they hear someone is looking.
- Overall, word-of-mouth is a passive strategy.
So, what to think about before selling
Who is your target market? Be thoughtful. Don’t only think demographics and geographics, make sure you think about psychographics and behaviors (For examples of these market segmentations, check out this netMBA article). Be specific. The mistake many companies make is being too broad with their target market. There seems to be a general fear of leaving any one segment out. But the problems with being vague are that it’s more expensive to sell & market to a broad audience, it creates confusion for your sales people and it costs you more money working on businesses that are not a good fit.
What are their needs, wants and desires. Good sales is about being relevant and meaningful. Understanding the basic needs of your target market is important. Understanding the specific needs of a potential client is imperative.
Know your competition. How do they market themselves? What is their market share? What is their growth strategy? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Intimately understanding how they position themselves is critical to knowing how you can stand out and differentiate your business.
Know what makes you remarkable. The vast majority of prospects you connect with will either be entirely happy with their existing supplier or be open to speaking with more than just your company. To thrive, you have to stand out. Know what makes you different, better and meaningful.
Have sales support ready. There’s nothing worse than lighting a fire with a potential prospect who says, “I don’t have anything right now, but I like what I hear. Please send me some information”…and you have nothing to send them. Make sure you have a website and brochures ready for when you make your first call.
4 easy ways to take control of selling your company
1. Referral Selling: Ask your clients to recommend other companies that could benefit from your products/services. Ideally you want your client to set up an introduction as opposed to simply providing you with a list of names. Ask your customer why they think this business could be a good fit. You’ll get more insight on the prospect’s needs and their behaviors from your client than a website or Google search.
2. Lapsed Customers: Go back to the list of customers who haven’t worked with you in the last year or two. Contact them and find out why you haven’t heard from them. It could be simply you’ve been out of sight, out of mind…or perhaps you messed up a past project. The key is to understand why and what you need to do about it to get your client back.
3. Upsell Existing Customers: Simply put, 1. It costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to grow an existing customer, 2. You should know your customer’s business inside-out as well as their needs, 3. You client knows you and what you’re capable of. This magical formula makes upselling an existing customer so palatable.
4. Supplier Partnerships: Your suppliers can be your best asset. Tell them you’re looking to grow your business and ask them for referrals. You’d be surprised how hard your suppliers will work for you.
What tactics would you add?
Read more
Shifting out of neutral . Thinking for tomorrow
Shifting out of neutral . Overcoming procrastination
Photo via Jenny Downing
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
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Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
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. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network
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The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
Continuing our 5 tips to know you’re stuck in neutral series, we’re now going to focus on issue number 2:
You’re likes-focused. What I mean by that is that you spend the vast majority of your time doing things you like to do and putting off the things you need to do.
We’ve all been there. We have a deadline and we’re running out of time. But the funny thing is that everything else seems a lot more interesting and important. You keep clicking on your email to see if perhaps your computer’s sound notification has stopped working and you really do have a new message. Perhaps now is the time to go through that pile on your desk and get reacquainted with the files you haven’t cracked open in months. Or even better, maybe Chatty Cathy down the hall would love to catch up on the latest episode of The Office.
This nasty little habit is also known as procrastination. Procrastination is actually quite misunderstood…it’s often associated with bad time management skills. But in reality the reasons for procrastination are usually deeper rooted.
3 reasons you procrastinate
1. You don’t know where to start
2. You have self-doubt
3. You don’t enjoy the task
3 ways to resolve procrastination
1. Acknowledge the problem
We’ve all heard the saying: The first step to resolving a problem is admitting you have one.
2. Get to the root of why you’re procrastinating
It’s important to understand why you’re putting things off. I’ve listed 3 possible reasons above, but there are many reasons why someone procrastinates. Understand what is demotivating you.
3. Act
There’s no magic bullet to procrastination. It’s self-induced and the only cure is to make a concerted effort to overcome it. Saying that, here are a few tips to help you act:
- Break the task down into small increments and accomplish it in stages
- Schedule these tasks to be done at the beginning of the day
- Reward yourself when you’ve finished it
- Create an environment that doesn’t have distractions
- Ask for help
- If you fall off the wagon don’t punish yourself…just get back on
I don’t believe in shying away from challenges – after all, they’re what make us grow. But if all else fails and you are crippled by a task that is affecting your ability to run a great business, find a way to delegate it, outsource it or learn it.
For more information on shifting out of neutral:
3 tips to think for tomorrow
5 ways to know you’re stuck in neutral
Image via Myki Roventine
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
I haven’t done this in a while, but this one was too good to pass up. This totally unique cake from Momofuku Milk Bar in New York is an attention-getter. What say you – head turner or head scratcher?
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network[PSGallery=34b04kusb]
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
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The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
I was out shopping for holiday decorations for the front of my house and came across some absolutely beautiful Christmas tree ideas. One of my favorites was this unique alternative to a Christmas tree.
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
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The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
Earlier this week I attended the ISES Toronto Gala 2009. It was an unseasonably gorgeous Canadian fall evening as we rolled up to the historic Eglinton Grand. It was quite special to see our name in lights…the ISES Toronto Red Velvet Holiday Gala.
It was wonderful seeing so many old friends. Richard Aaron, President of BizBash Media made it up for the festivities (pictured above between my husband and Bryan Bell of Decor & More). One of my favorite ideas for the evening was having candygrams for sale. For $5 you could buy 2 candygrams and write a note to anyone at the party. If you received a candygram, your name would be called by the DJ and you could collect your note and candy cane. Richard was the man of the hour – I believe he received 2 or 3!
After dinner I was flabbergasted to receive the Dedication Award from the ISES Toronto Board. I’m so honored. Thank you so much to everyone who created this amazing evening!
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
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The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
On a beautiful fall day in Toronto 4 bloggers met up for fun, frolic and a bit of gossip.
I had the pleasure of meeting up with Tracey Kumer-Moore of Las Vegas Wedding Concierge, Cindy Johnston of Platinum Events and Cynthia Martyn of Cynthia Martyn Events for a lunch at Brassaii in downtown Toronto.
As I breezed into the restaurant, which was full of lunch time revellers, I spotted these three ladies immediately. I had met Tracey very briefly at The Special Event Show in LA as we all shuffled out of the main ballroom after a keynote. A bit like Salmons swimming upstream, we tried to fight the rushing sea of people exiting the room…without much success. Prior to today, that was the first and last time I saw her.
I’ve spent more time with Cindy, having the honor of having a great lunch with her a few months ago. And this was my first time meeting Cynthia in person.
The amazing thing was it was like I’ve known these ladies forever. I guess that’s the amazing thing about social media. You spend your time on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn building great relationships before you ever meet. Our face to face meeting served simply as an extension to the conversation we had already been having online. I look forward to continuing to nurture these relationships and many more!
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
Art-world it boy, Que Houxo is taking the rest of the world by storm with his live performance black light and paint masterpieces.
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
