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Is it time to Validate Concerns rather than Overcome Objections?
If we take the perspective that 1) Most third parties who have an opinion about a purchase decision at this stage in the process have the best interests of the buyer in mind; 2)Their opinion makes complete sense from their perspective; and that, 3)Nobody likes being told that they’re wrong… then looking again at the wisdom of Objection Handling can turn your thinking inside out.
Critical ways brands can improve the quality of their customer interactions
Mapping, understanding and enhancing the points of interaction with customers is what the best brands do to sustain their success. In this post Stephen Bateman explores how the Touchpoint Leaks framework can help you to do the same.
Will this new client energise your business?
3-Minute Read: Saying no to new clients is one of the most important things you need to do to grow a healthy business. There’s a lot written about creating a profile for your ‘ideal customer’. We think it’s as important to truly understand, and have the discipline to avoid, the ‘wrong customer’ for your growing business.
How to keep up with digital marketing
This month, members of our Facebook Group voted for me to focus on the topic of 'Digital Marketing: Keeping up with trends and choosing the right platforms'. The sense I got in the group and from discussions with clients is that there is a looming sense of always...
Can you grow a business without spending money on marketing?
We help people to out-think, rather than out-spend, their competition. In fact, a number of business owners come to us saying that they spend no money on marketing at all. This is either because business comes to them via referral, or because they do it themselves and haven’t counted their time as a cost to the business. So, here’s the question… can you, and should you, grow a business on free marketing?
Making time for marketing with a default diary
If I had a pound for every time I'd heard an ambitious business owner, or those in their team, tell me that they struggle to make time for marketing, I truly would be a very rich woman. Time is our most precious resource, and in a fast-growing business the competing...
Can your potential buyers picture your products?
One to the key tasks of your marketing is to help your customers to get a sense of what it would be like to work with you, or own your products, before they become a customer. In the Watertight Marketing methodology, we talk about this specifically as part of the...
How do you find clients that sustain you energetically and financially?
For many of our clients, it's not necessarily that they need more clients, it's that they need more of the right clients. And, in many more cases, once this has been clearly defined and a strategy put in place to reflect it, they end up getting more anyway. In this...
Is your sales forecast a living tool that drives confident decisions?
Building out a sales forecast is a key foundation in informing confident decisions about your business, not least your marketing activity. So often, this is an annual, and largely academic, exercise. Embracing your sales forecast as a living tool for your business is essential for long-term growth.
8 practical reasons to create a vision board for your business
It’s that time of year when social streams are awash with people setting goals for their year ahead. Lots of people will have spent a few happy hours cutting a sticking to create a vision board for their life, and crafting daily mantras to manifest what they’ve pictured. Just as many will dismiss the idea as a load of hokum. Here’s what I think…
Would you like to spend a month a year in Bali?
We often ask business owners to visualise their perfect day. This can result in them thinking about what their ideal year would look like. A nice holiday, or spending even longer away from the business, is high on their lists. Whatever stage of set-up, or...
Marketing and sales – what’s the difference?
There's a perennial debate if you've hung around marketing and sales people for long enough, and that is "What is marketing, and what is sales?" For me, marketing is the process of taking your goods and services to market. For many others, marketing is...